BY PAUL JUNOR

There has been evidence presented during the two weeks of hearings in Toronto to the lawyers representing the government. As 2024 comes to an end, there is faith and hope that there will be a favourable outcome. If the lawsuit is certified, it will make a significant impact on the lives of former and current Black public federal service employees.

The petition was started on December 2^nd, 2020, and is directed to: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Anita Anand (President, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat) and Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada). As of Thursday, December 12^th, 2024, there have been 34,409 signatures out of a total of 35,000. The petition noted that it is on behalf of tens of thousands of Black federal public service employees who have faced systemic discrimination and racism at the hands of their employer, the Government of Canada.

The Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination and the Michaelle Jean Foundation led by the Black Class Action Secretariat delivered the signatures of the petition to the Prime Minister’s Office located on 80 Wellington Street in Ottawa on Tuesday, February 10^th, 2024 (International Human Rights Day).

The focus of the petition is directly related to the Black Class Action lawsuit. The focus of the lawsuit is on three specific areas in which Black public servants are affected including:

• Barriers to promotion
• Lack of career advancement opportunities
• Pervasive anti-Black racism

The petition focuses on the following:

• Canada’s acknowledgment of systemic racism
• Ongoing discrimination despite acknowledgments
• Government’s failure to act, despite previous settlements

The Facebook post on Monday, December 9^th, 2024, by the Black Class Action Secretariat states, “The fight for justice for Black public service workers is increasing at a critical moment. On December 10^th, 2024, we’ll deliver 35,000 signatures to the Prime Minister’s Office, demanding action on the Black Class Action lawsuit. This petition is a call for equity, accountability, and justice. It’s time for the government to deliver the change Black Canadians deserve.”

The petition calls on the Government of Canada to implement the following four measures in the lawsuit.

• Establishing a new designated category under the Employment Equity Act for Black Canadians to ensure proportional representation and to address the unique challenges faced by Black public servants.
• Developing and implementing a comprehensive diversity and equity plan to ensure proportional representation of Black Canadians at all levels of government.
• Creating a Black Equity Commission to monitor, report, and ensure accountability for anti-Black racism within the federal public service.
• Issuing a formal apology from the Prime Minister of Canada for the historic and ongoing discrimination against Black public servants.

Sharon DeSousa, National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada states, “This government must stop denying justice for thousands of Black workers who have endured systemic racism in our public service. Settling the Black Class Action lawsuit and implementing these long overdue changes to the Employment Equity Act are critical steps to remedy decades of injustices and discrimination for workers.”

Nathan Prier, President of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees states, “International Human Rights Day commemorates the global pledge to secure the inalienable rights entitled to every human being, regardless of race, colour, religion, or sex. The Canadian government continues to pay lip service to ongoing issues of systemic discrimination and racism but has failed to make meaningful change that will impact the lives of everyday Canadians.”

Nicholas Marcus Thompson, President and CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat states, “It has been nearly a year to the day when Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan committed to creating a designated category under the Employment Equity Act, and that promise still has not been realized. With a federal election around the corner, all of the progress that has been made through our advocacy work is in jeopardy of being lost. It is imperative that this government see this through.”

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

It is convenience that often lures busy Torontonians into the clutches of processed foods. Grab-and-go meals, flashy packaging, and the promise of instant gratification make it all too easy to succumb to the allure of the drive-thru, or the supermarket aisles overflowing with pre-packaged snacks.

While these options may seem like a time-saver, their impact on our health can be a slow and insidious erosion of vitality. Today, we’ll delve into the hidden costs of this convenience, exploring how these readily available options may be compromising our well-being. We’ll also offer practical strategies for breaking free from the processed food trap and cultivating healthier eating habits, even in the midst of a hectic Toronto lifestyle.

Over the past few years, there’s been a growing number of studies about ultra processed foods and how they are responsible for the increase in chronic health concerns today. According to recent studies, ultra processed foods now constitute 50% to 60% of the daily energy intake among high-income countries, and low-and middle-income countries are starting to follow in our disastrous footsteps.

If you look past their attractive packaging and “enjoyable” flavours — properties that are intentionally given to these foods to make them more marketable and appealing to consumers — you’ll see that these convenient, mass-produced foods are putting your health in jeopardy.

A recent Swedish study provides compelling evidence that ultra processed foods increase all-cause mortality, especially among women. The October 2024 study aimed to understand the molecular impact of consuming ultra processed food and how it affects mortality.

The researchers used data from the Malmö Diet and Cancer cohort study, which began in 1991, and involved 27,670 participants. The participants were asked to keep a food diary, recording their daily meals for a week, and were interviewed as well about their diet. Their blood samples were also collected and analyzed.

In the featured study, the primary subgroups that make up the participants’ processed food intake included: starchy foods and breakfast cereals (26%), beverages (23.3%), sugary products (18.4%), sauces and fats (15.5%) and meat and fish (13.6%). These are all classified as “NOVA 4 foods.” What are NOVA 4 foods? Here’s a summary of the NOVA categories:

• NOVA 1 (Unprocessed or minimally processed foods) — These are edible plant and animal products (whole foods) that are minimally modified or preserved to improve their shelf life and ease of preparation.
• NOVA 2 (Processed culinary ingredients) — They undergo grinding, refining and pressing. Honey, salt, sugar, butter and vegetable oils fall under this category.
• NOVA 3 (Processed foods) — These are made by combining NOVA 1 and 2 — Group 2 foods are added to Group 1 foods to enhance their “durability and sensory qualities.”
• NOVA 4 (ultra processed foods and drinks) — They contain little to no Group 1 components and are industrial formulations that use unusual additives outside of Group 2. These foods are mass-produced and highly processed for high palatability.

After analyzing their blood results, the researchers found that higher intake of ultra processed foods was associated with “unfavorable lipid profiles,” including reduced HDL, or “good cholesterol” and increased VLDL or “bad cholesterol.”

These findings show that there is a positive association between ultra processed food consumption and mortality from: cardiovascular disease, cancer. and respiratory disease. Again, a stronger link was seen in female and older participants, compared to male participants.

In an article titled, “Ultra-processed Foods and Human Health: an Umbrella Review and Updated Meta-Analysis of Observational Evidence,” researchers reviewed existing meta-analyses and publications involving ultra processed food consumption, covering a wide time period — from the inception of these foods up until 2023.

The results were startling, as they showed that ultra processed foods were associated with 25 different negative health outcomes among: adults, children and adolescents. These include respiratory diseases, kidney, liver, or gastrointestinal diseases, mental health problems and more.

We’re all hooked, it’s true, but remember, it’s not about deprivation, it’s about liberation. The sooner you remove ultra processed foods from your diet, the closer you will be to a healthier, happier you. Start small. Trade that sugary fizz for sparkling water. Swap those processed chips for a vibrant rainbow of veggies. Each bite of whole, unadulterated goodness is an investment in your well-being. It’s a chance to reclaim your health, one delicious, nourishing choice at a time.

REFERENCES:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261561424003807

https://www.news-medical.net/health/The-NOVA-Method-of-Food-Classification.aspx

https://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(24)00122-5/fulltext

Eating Ultraprocessed Foods Raises Mortality Risks, Especially for Women

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Humanity’s journey towards self-expression began not with the brushstroke of an artist, but with the etching of symbols onto clay tablets. Deep within the fertile crescents of the Nile and the Tigris, two civilizations – the Egyptians and the Sumerians – independently stumbled upon a revolutionary concept: writing. This wasn’t merely a tool for record-keeping, but the very foundation upon which: storytelling, poetry, and ultimately, creative writing would be built.

These early writing systems, though rudimentary, were a testament to the human spirit’s yearning for expression. Pictograms, crude depictions of objects, served as the initial building blocks, but their limitations soon became apparent. How could one represent abstract concepts like love or justice? How could the fleeting essence of a fleeting emotion be captured within the confines of a static symbol?

Human ingenuity, however, proved to be an unstoppable force. Writers began to experiment, combining pictograms to convey complex ideas, employing clever puns to represent sounds, and gradually evolving these crude symbols into a more sophisticated system of communication. This was the birth of language as we know it – a dynamic, ever-evolving tool that allowed us to transcend the limitations of time and space, to share our experiences, and to explore the depths of the human condition.

From the epic tales of Gilgamesh to the haunting beauty of Egyptian love poems, these early writings provide a glimpse into the soul of humanity. They reveal our deepest fears and our most cherished hopes, our triumphs and our tragedies. And within these ancient texts, we can trace the origins of creative writing – the art of crafting stories that resonate with the human heart, that challenge our perceptions, and that inspire us to dream.

Less than one week after Sheridan College President Janet Morrison announced the suspension of 40 programs, including the Bachelor Honours in Creative Writing & Publishing, Sheridan students have launched a letter-writing campaign, “Save CW&P,” directing students, alumni, and members of the writing community to write letters pressuring Sheridan president, provost, and board of governors to reverse this decision, and place the program under review instead of cutting it completely.

This campaign is backed by all six current and former Sheridan Writers-in-Residence, which include: award-winning authors Liz Howard, Gary Barwin, Adam Pottle, Naben Ruthnum, Kate Cayley, and Cassidy McFadzean.

The CW&P program offers the only substantial and sustained formal undergraduate-level training in publishing in Canada, with 60 students currently interning at: Big Five, mid-level independent, and small presses, cultural organizations, literary awards and foundations, non-profit organizations, and private companies. CW&P alumni are working widely across the arts and publishing sector. Considering that the 2022 Canadian Book Publishing Industry Diversity Baseline Survey reported 74.94% of publishing workers in Canada are White, programs like CW&P are vital in bringing new and diverse voices into Canadian Publishing.

The Writers-in-Residence caution that ending the CW&P program will have devastating consequences for the future of CanLit. Sheridan Reads has welcomed internationally renowned authors such as Marlon James, Vivek Shraya, and Waubgeshig Rice to its Mississauga campus to participate in lively conversations with the Sheridan community. Authors across Canada have had their work featured in the CW&P’s award-winning literary journal, The Ampersand Review, and dozens of writers in the GTA have read at the Ampersand Review reading series, instilling new life into Mississauga’s literary scene, and giving authors valuable opportunities to promote new work.

Authors such as Dennis Lee, winner of the Governor General’s Award and Order of Canada recipient, and Martha Baillie, winner of the 2024 Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction have contributed letters to the campaign.

Liz Howard, winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize, and finalist for the Governor General’s award, said in a statement shared by Save CW&P, “It was a great honour to serve as the program’s inaugural writer-in-residence and I saw firsthand how this program impacted the lives of students through classes led by field experts to opportunities to interact with some of the most vital writers of our time, such as Cherie Dimaline and Alicia Elliot. I urge the administration to preserve this exceptional program.”

Save CW&P also shared a statement by Mississauga author Manahil Bandukwala: “The presence of this program has transformed Mississauga’s literary scene… This is a devastating loss not only to students, but a thriving arts community in Mississauga. Students, professors, and Canadian literature will feel the impact of this loss for years to come.”

I had a chance to interview Cassidy McFadzean, a Writing Resident in the CW&P, and she shared her concerns about the decision to end the program. “I have been meeting with students all year, and the immediate shift will impact students three years from now. Students are heartbroken that after three years, it will no longer be available. Creative writing is expanding across Canada. It doesn’t make sense why they would cancel this program. Publishing is also such a big deal. Students have a chance to enter into an internship, right out of school. Why are we denying them that?”

“What are your thoughts on the rationale behind the decision to suspend the program? Do you believe these reasons are valid,” I inquired?

“The program is not breaking even, or so they say. There is a lack of transparency. It was suspended without any consultation with students. Some programs were put under review, and they could have done this with the Creative Writing & Publishing program. We have been receiving support letters from great writers across Canada. The students have launched a petition, and they have been using other social media campaigns.”

To suggest that a college should dismantle its creative writing program is not merely a setback; it is a denial of our very essence. It is an attempt to stifle the human voice, to silence the stories that make us human, and to erase the legacy of those who, millennia ago, first dared to put pen to paper and unleash the power of the written word.