The following is an interview with Professor Swan conducted by Emily Papsin, Editor-in-Chief of this paper from 2020-2021, now an articling student at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. It was first published in Issue 3 of Volume 92 on 9 October 2018. Please enjoy. – Tomislav Miloš, Editor-in-Chief When is your birthday? 10th of October. In two weeks I turn 80. How do you feel about that? Some...
On 3 January 2022, following several days of jury deliberation, the founder of Theranos was found guilty on four counts of fraud. The final decision concluded a high-profile trial involving a now-dissolved blood testing start-up. Theranos Inc., founded by then nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Holmes in 2003, was a health care tech start-up for consumers, once valued at ten billion USD and poised to...
The six thousand and two hundred kilogram, six and a half meter wide successor to the thirty-one year old Hubble space observatory, also known as the James Webb Space Telescope, launched on 25 December 2021. This tennis court-size, honey-comb shaped, sun coloured telescope is an engineering feat where the apparatus had to unfold itself in space. James Webb’s creation from its design to execution...
There has been intense scrutiny of fossil fuel corporations due to their emissions intensive activities, but I propose stepping back and widening the sphere of responsibility to get to the root of the problem and turn our attention to who is enabling these practices. Financial markets play a central role in the climate crisis, and they should not be absolved of liability because they are indirect...
When I was a very young child, I used to be unreasonably scared of the dark: I had to have a nightlight, an adult awake when I was going to sleep, and of course, my trusty anti-ghost water gun under my pillowcase. Then, as I grew older, I developed this irrational fear that I would somehow swim out to the deep end of the beach and a tide would submerge me into a watery prison where I would be...
Note: The following article was written in 2021 and does not reflect announcements/changes that have transpired since then. Since resuming in-person education, a spotlight has shined brightly on Ontario youth and efforts towards limiting COVID-19 transmission in schools. Following the adult vaccination roll out, youth ages twelve and up were given the green light to receive mRNA vaccines in May...
In Germany, just decades before the Holocaust, Jews were welcomed and celebrated members of society. They participated in all aspects of life and were generally considered to be German. Hitler’s commanding officer in World War I was actually Jewish. But, with the problems that plagued Germany following their failed campaign, they needed someone to blame. They rallied against the Jews. Hitler...
I’ve tried running with my phone in nearly every imaginable way: armband, waist pack, pocket. The armband gets sweaty and gross about five minutes into the run, and if you want to send a message or change playlists you have to unstrap the apparatus, try to punch through the thick layer of plastic to engage the touchscreen, and then strap it back up. The waist pack feels restrictive, and, again...
*SPOILERS INCOMING* I have been a fan of Spider-Man for about as long as I can remember. The first birthday gift that I ever received was a Spider-Man comic book. I read the book multiple times until the pages started to wear down. Not long after, I dressed up as Spider-Man for Halloween for the first time (I say first because it happened more than once). I have vivid memories of my mother...
This year, we saw a plethora of movie musicals hit the screens—both the big and small ones—with the debut of Dear Evan Hansen, In the Heights, Tick, Tick…Boom!, Encanto, West Side Story, Annette, and the dreaded Cinderella. As a musical theatre lover for my entire life, this year seemed like a dream come true. In trying to watch as many of these musicals as possible (even the not so critically...
Usually, at this time of year, I would be able to rank the teams that have made the playoffs, but with the introduction of an extra week, us football fans must wait an extra week to see who gets into the big dance. However, I can still list five of the biggest storylines heading into the playoffs. #1: GOAT-ing, injuries, and Antonio Brown The defending champions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have...
With the Omicron variant sweeping through the country, the Raptors may not have an audience to cheer them on right now, but we are always there to support our favorite (by default) Canadian basketball team. Now that the Raptors are nearly halfway through their first NBA season back at home during the COVID era, here’s a look at how the Raptors are faring this season. Overview & the bench The...
Could Chelsea’s response to the Belgian striker’s interview signify the end of player power at the club? In the midst of a run of matches in which he missed out on playing time owing both to being stricken with COVID and not having fully recovered enough to play the full ninety when he became available, Romelu Lukaku gave an interview to Sky Italia. For any other player in the Chelsea side, this...
“It is better, however, to get no return than to confer no benefits. Even after a poor crop one should sow again; for often losses due to continued barrenness of an unproductive soil have been made good by one year’s fertility. In order to discover one grateful person, it is worthwhile to make trial of many ungrateful ones.” In his eighty-first letter to Lucilius above, Seneca touches upon the...
In the late hours of Friday night (12 November 2021), the COP26 negotiations ended and the Glasgow Climate Pact was born, arriving one day late and three draft proposals, many frustrated delegates, and many disappointed climate activists later. It is easy to look at the past two weeks of COP26, with the news cycle largely focusing on either protests or ambitious commitments announcements, to find...
In November 1921, insulin was discovered as a revolutionary treatment for diabetes, transforming diabetes from a death sentence to a manageable chronic condition. Dr. Frederick Banting from London, Ontario, and his medical assistant Charles Best co-discovered insulin on 14 November 1921. The discovery marked a significant breakthrough in medicine and therapy for patients with diabetes...
The inner-workings of the administrative state can seem hazy at best, even to those who take it upon themselves to study it. That’s not entirely a criticism—I understand that the varied aspirations and tensions of the administrative state often result in complex systems and procedures, and to expect otherwise is both unrealistic and reductionist. That being said, these systems and...
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev was an enthralling story from the start. Considering my propensity to skip the summary and dive right into the book (especially when it comes highly recommended, which this one did), I admittedly had to take a second to confirm that the book was indeed fiction. I am absolutely in awe of debut author Dawnie Walton—this book was incredible. The interview-style...
There exists a widespread belief that in the late 1800s, a pizzaiolo constructed a dish called La Pizza Margherita in honor of the Queen of Italy, Margherita of Savoy. The toppings used were to demonstrate and celebrate the unification of Italy, with tomato (red), mozzarella (white) and basil (green)—ingredients inspired by the tricolore, the national flag of Italy. Over the past two years, I...
Heading into TIFF Lightbox last week for the first time in what felt like a century, I was excited to see Spencer, owing to what little I knew about the film being completely polarizing. Tales of the lengthy Cannes ovation had filtered down to me, but so too had tweets that likened the film to an overlong, anxiety-inducing Chanel ad. While I had high hopes for Pablo Larraín’s first feature since...
Whether you call yourself a Swiftie or not, Taylor Swift’s latest re-release of a past album—Red (Taylor’s Version), which came out on Friday, November 12—is a clear triumph both musically and in terms of the artist’s broader mission and path. In 2019, the now thirty-one year old artist announced that she would be re-recording and re-releasing her first six albums after a dispute with her former...
I was wrong. In my predictions piece, I had ranked the Atlanta Braves last, effectively congratulating the NL East division winner for getting into October by default. They beat the Milwaukee Brewers, a team better than them, convincingly. They beat the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers, the favourite to win the Commissioner’s Trophy. A quick note on the Dodgers, they had a payroll of $267 million—$64...