Podcasts about nova scotia department

On the phone-in: Energy efficiency expert, Barry Walker and Eric Murphy from Halifax Heat Pumps answer questions about heating systems. And off the top, the CBC's Jean Laroche talks with Scott Tingley from the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources about improvements to the provincial wildfire protocols. And we hear about an Indigenous police officer in Summerside, PEI, who has won an award.

LYNN GALLANT BLACKBURN In December 2005, Paula Gallant, a 36-year-old mother and grade three teacher, was tragically murdered in Halifax. This devastating loss changed the course of Lynn's life. Inspired by Paula's life and legacy, Lynn Gallant Blackburn is determined to find purpose in her sister's untimely death.  Lynn advocates for victims' rights, raises awareness about the impacts of violent crime, and actively works to end men's violence against women and girls. Through her personal experiences, she seeks to offer comfort and insight to other victims of domestic violence, reminding them they are not alone. From a victim's perspective, she provides insight about her experience to politicians, the Nova Scotia Department of Justice, the public, the media and any other forum which gives victims a voice. She has presented her finding and recommendations to the Nova Scotia Department of Justice; The Canadian Criminal Justice Congress and she has been published in the 2009 National Victims of Crime Resource Guide with a feature called "How one victim of murder chose to be a survivor". She has been instrumental in influencing policy and legislative change in Nova Scotia and continues to create awareness about violence against women and the rights and needs of victims.  For almost twenty years, Lynn has carried this story within her heart. On, December 5th, 2024, it would have been Paula's 55 birthday, and the day Lynn chose to release her new book called For the Love of My Sister, which has been published with generous support from Connect Women's Centres of Nova Scotia. Through her book, Lynn not only shares her personal story of loss but also serves as a voice for countless others impacted by domestic violence. Her work offers a unique and in-depth look at the systemic issues that survivors face, highlighting the need for societal change and support. CORA COLE Like many women, Cora cherishes her various roles in life, including daughter, friend, wife and Mum. She has spent nearly 20 years working in healthcare and the non-profit sector. While travel and hiking are favourite pastimes, cooking and baking edible food remain mysterious skills she has yet to master.  Thankfully, her writing is something others seem to enjoy.   For more information visit: https://womenconnect.ca/book-launch-gallant/ TOPICS OF CONVERSATION: The Personal Journey of Lynn and Paula: Exploring their bond, shared experiences, and the vivid memories that shaped their lives together. Transforming Grief into Advocacy: Lynn's strength in pushing for justice and improving support systems for victims' families. The Fight Against Gender-Based Violence: Insights from Cora's work and the broader societal conversation influenced by Paula's story. Justice System Challenges and Reforms: Key obstacles and the changes needed to better support victims' families and prevent violence against women. Paula's Legacy and Looking Forward: How sharing her story inspires societal change and what's next for Lynn in her journey. FOR THE LOVE OF MY SISTER The overwhelming sense of gratitude and love I felt at Thanksgiving, surrounded by my two sisters, their husbands and our five children, allowed me to finally exhale. With a sense of unimaginable contentment I finally let go of the breath I was holding since my parents died. This pure love carried me straight through to Christmas, until murder entered our lives. This is a true story about how love never gives up. This is Paula Gallant's legacy.

The Nova Scotia Department of Education announces a new policy on cell phones in the classroom, starting in September. The CBC's Jean Laroche has the details. Two men from PEI discuss their family connection to D-Day and their trip to Normandy this week. And on the phone-in: Colette Robicheau provides advice on decluttering. Plus, two young students from PEI talk about their D-Day project.

Evening Teatime November 30th, 7 pm EST, joining to share a real-life crime story and trigger warning. T-E-A is the award-winning author Sherri Aikenhead's Author Page". Joining Miss Liz to discuss the life of Karissa Boudreau in her book called "Mommy Don't" Join us and keep this story in the public eyes of how one mother turns into a murderer. How a mother kills her daughter is a question many of us have—Globe and Mail & Toronto Star bestseller in May 2023, a month after its release. LIVE STREAMING TO MULTIPLE PLATFORMS AND PODCAST STATIONS AND APPS. LIVE SHOW ON MISS LIZ'SDon't" YOUTUBE CHANNEL BELOW. Please give it a quick subscription and be notified when the times are live. https://youtube.com/@misslizsteatimes?si=VhVODhNkY__evnOtSHERRI AIKENHEAD is an award-winning communications professional and former journalist who has worked at newspapers and magazines in Halifax, Toronto, and Edmonton. A mother of three boys, she is a recipient of a Canadian Progress Club Women of Excellence Award. She was the communications director at the Nova Scotia Department of Justice in 2008 when Karissa Boudreau was murdered. This is her first book.https://www.sherriaikenhead.com/#teatimewithmissliz #makingadifference #murder #reallifestories #awareness #canada #awardwinning #journalist #communication #newspapers #magazines #globeandmail#torontostar#departmentofjustice #storiesthatmakeadifference #storiesthatimpactlives#likefollowshare #triggerwarnings #joinus #livestreaming #podcastshow #youtubechannel #subscribe #supportforsupport

CBC Reporter Tom Ayers finds out why the Nova Scotia Department of Labour has launched an investigation into the finances and governance of the Cape Breton Injured Workers Association.

Anger still percolates through the community around Bridgewater, fifteen years after the murder of 12-year-old Karissa Boudreau. Sherri Aikenhead was working in the Nova Scotia Department of Justice when Penny Boudreau pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her daughter. She vowed to someday tell that story and she has in her new true crime book called Mommy Don't: From Mother to Murderer / The True Story of Penny and Karissa Boudreau. This week marks the fifteenth anniversary of the charge being laid. It also gives Penny the opportunity to apply for early parole under the so-called Faint Hope Clause. That is a since released statutory provision that allowed prisoners who have been sentenced to life imprisonment with a parole eligibility period of greater than 15 years to apply for early parole once they have served 15 years. Aikenhead reflects on the writing of the book, the chance for parole and her thoughts on the impacts felt on the community a decade and a half later.

Scott Tingley, a provincial spokesperson with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, provides an update on the wildfire burning in SouthWest NS. Hassett resident, Wanda Mullen, shares her experiences today with the fire situation. Some people on PEI are concerned about the threat of fire. And on the phone-in: Lesley Anderson on genealogy.

For further reading, check out the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture Food Safety fact sheet.Hosted by Jenn de la Vega Research by Alicia BookVideos edited by Chris De PewKnife logo by pixel artist Rachelle ViolaLinksSuggest a wordSupport the show on Patreon!Captioned video versions on Youtube Share this show with your friends Follow CulinaryWoTD on Twitter

Some of the new residents of Nova Scotia may not know that wildfire season runs from mid-March to mid-October. And for almost a decade, there has been a system in place to let people know the risk of fire spreading in wooded areas. Instead of requiring residential permits, people are asked to check the Burnsafe map on the Nova Scotia government website after 2pm on any day they want to burn organic materials on their property. It shows a colour-coded guide to when burning can be done within the rules. If a so-called controlled burn gets out of hand, the property owner could be facing a bill for the crews that show up to deal with it. Kara McCurdy works with the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources and Renewal. As a Wildfire Prevention Officer, one of her duties is to help clarify the rules and the reasons behind them.

Host Brad McCallum, Agri-Commodity Management Association, chats with Dr. Wilma Schenkels, Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, Dr. Andrew Morrison, Nova Scotia Department of Environment, and Todd Bergen-Henengouwen, Animal Health Emergency Management (AHEM) Project, discussing why an emergency preparedness plan is critical for the farm, as well as how to begin creating this plan. Producer: Ashley Anderson (ACMA) 7 Atlantic Central Drive East Mountain, Nova Scotia, B6L 2Z2 (902) 893-7455 Visit us: agricommodity.ca Follow us: Facebook and Twitter: @MaritimeAgCast Email us at: aanderson@agricommodity.ca or bmccallum@agricommodity.ca Host: Brad McCallum Edited by: Ashley Anderson of ACMA Music: “Neon Lights” by Matt Weidauer and "Smoke in a Box" by Micah Dahl Anderson (ArchesAudio.com)

On the 27th episode of The Career Planning Show, we feature an interview we conducted with Margaret Schwartz in April 2021 while she was serving as Strategic and Youth Initiatives Outreach Coordinator with the Government of Nova Scotia. She now serves as Communications and Community Navigator with Placemaking 4G and TRIBE Network. A natural connector and storyteller, Margaret works with the Halifax-based recruitment firm Placemaking 4G to intentionally connect with communities to share career opportunities, and helps to amplify the firm's story through its communication channels. Holding a degree in Public Relations from Mount Saint Vincent University and eight years of experience across multiple non-profits and most recently, a position with the Province of Nova Scotia, Margaret is guided by her will to unite others on a shared sense of purpose – to create and amplify equitable opportunities for historically excluded groups in the Atlantic region. Through a Cluster Employment initiative, Margaret's time is shared with the Tribe Network, where she helps entrepreneurship and innovation-focused members navigate funding, entrepreneurial resources and programs created for racialized communities. Margaret also serves as a board member at Team WORK Cooperative, fund development committee member at MacPhee Centre for Creative Learning, mentor with EduNova Cooperative's Study and Stay Program, and mentor with Halifax Partnership's Connector Program. In our interview with Margaret, we discussed the importance of tapping into your personal and professional networks for career advancement given that 8 out of 10 jobs that employers hire for in Nova Scotia are not posted online, the fact that it's important to build your self-confidence to reach out cold to employers to express your interest in joining them based on your skills, values and overall fit with the organization, the opportunity to tap into post-secondary career centres and community employment services organizations, the ikigai career planning framework, the importance of finding a mentor and developing the three critical soft skills of collaboration, communication and critical thinking. Connect with Margaret via LinkedIn or Twitter, and see her Amplify East profile. Resources: Placemaking 4G Tribe Network Ikigai framework Government of Nova Scotia Department of Labour programs and services “Humans Wanted” report by RBC Halifax Partnership's Connector Program EduNova's Study & Stay Program OneNovaScotia dashboard NPower Canada To learn more about The Career Planning Show, visit Rascanu.com/TheCareerPlanningShow.

Indigenous author Rebecca Thomas tells us about the Nova Scotia Department of Education stopping efforts to have her book used in classrooms. We hear more about the removal of the Sir John A. MacDonald statue in Charlottetown from Mi'kmaq photographer Patricia Bourque. And, Doug Bethune joins us on the phone-in to answer your car-related questions.

Doctor Strang and the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness didn't do much to help us sort out the mixed messages about AstraZeneca and the mRNA vaccines. Telling people to discuss it with their health provider or pharmacist didn't help the two people who died from COVID this week.

Host Brad McCallum, Agri-Commodity Management Association (ACMA), chats with Dr. Wilma Schenkels, Chief Veterinary Officer, Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, and Jonathan Wort, Perennia, about disease management within sheep. Producer: Ashley Anderson (ACMA) 7 Atlantic Central Drive East Mountain, Nova Scotia, B6L 2Z2 (902) 893-7455 Visit us: agricommodity.ca Follow us: Facebook and Twitter: @MaritimeAgCast Email us at: aanderson@agricommodity.ca or bmccallum@agricommodity.ca Host: Brad McCallum Edited by: Ashley Anderson of ACMA Music: “Neon Lights” by Matt Weidauer and "Smoke in a Box" by Micah Dahl Anderson (ArchesAudio.com)

Host Brad McCallum, Agri-Commodity Management Association (ACMA), chats with Dr. Wilma Schenkels, Chief Veterinary Officer, Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, and Jonathan Wort, Perennia, about disease management within beef cattle. Producer: Ashley Anderson (ACMA) 7 Atlantic Central Drive East Mountain, Nova Scotia, B6L 2Z2 (902) 893-7455 Visit us: agricommodity.ca Follow us: Facebook and Twitter: @MaritimeAgCast Email us at: aanderson@agricommodity.ca or bmccallum@agricommodity.ca Host: Brad McCallum Edited by: Ashley Anderson of ACMA Music: “Neon Lights” by Matt Weidauer and "Smoke in a Box" by Micah Dahl Anderson (ArchesAudio.com)

Host Brad McCallum, Agri-Commodity Management Association (ACMA), chats with Dr. Wilma Schenkels, Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture, and Jonathan Wort, Perennia, about the importance of having a Veterinary-Client-Patient-Relationship (VCPR) and Herd Health Program on the farm. Producer: Ashley Anderson (ACMA) 7 Atlantic Central Drive East Mountain, Nova Scotia, B6L 2Z2 (902) 893-7455 Visit us: agricommodity.ca Follow us: Facebook and Twitter: @MaritimeAgCast Email us at: aanderson@agricommodity.ca or bmccallum@agricommodity.ca Host: Brad McCallum Edited by: Ashley Anderson of ACMA Music: “Neon Lights” by Matt Weidauer and "Smoke in a Box" by Micah Dahl Anderson (ArchesAudio.com)

Forest fires are a hot topic these days, we get a status report on active forest fires in the province, and find out what the season looks like so far. David Steeves is a forest resources technician with the Nova Scotia Department of Lands and Forestry.

This is the third and final special French-language episodes of the Future Fix, or 'Face au Futur.' Des appareils portables comme les montres intelligentes qui suivent nos pas et notre fréquence cardiaque, des dossiers de santé numérisés, des suivis à distance pour les maladies chroniques; les initiatives en santé intelligente ne cessent de se multiplier. Pour avoir une idée plus claire de ce concept et de la forme que cela peut prendre, nous sommes entretenu avec Dida Berku la conseillère municipale de Côte-Saint-Luc. Elle nous explique en consiste le projet en santé intelligente « VillAGE », finaliste du défi des villes intelligentes d'Infrastructure Canada. Et, afin de de réfléchir plus en profondeur l'avenir de la santé, Jonathan Veale du département de Santé et de Bien-Être de Nouvelle-Écosse nous a accordé une entrevue. Il témoigne de la nécessité de mettre les technologies numériques au profit de l'inclusion sociale et de l'accessibilité pour permettre un avenir de la santé plus prospère. From portable smart watch technology that follows our heartbeat, to distance medical consultations for chronic illnesses, smart health initiatives are on the rise in communities across Canada. On this episode of 'Face au Future,' host Katia Gaid is joined by Dida Berku, City Councillor in the City of Côte-Saint-Luc, Quebec, to explore VillAGE, the smart health initiative that made her city a finalist in the 2019 Smart Cities Challenge. Plus: Jonathan Veale, Chief Design Officer with the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness on new health technology, social inclusion and accessibility.

Why do maritime fish fight currents, waterfalls and man-made barriers to get to inland ponds and lakes to spawn? What barriers do they face? How does that odd behaviour help the ecology of wetlands? And, how can we make their job easier? We talk with Nic McLellan, the Atlantic Science Coordinator for Ducks Unlimited Canada to find out. Plus, we discover what tracking road race runners has to do with counting fish. Did you know ducklings have their own social network? No spoilers, but you'll be amazed by how those little ducks make sure they all share the same birthday, thanks to a quick chat we had with Dave Howerter. He's the Director of National Conservation Operations at Ducks Unlimited Canada. Dave's up on the equivalent of bird Twitter. Listen up. Making ContactLike to learn more about these topics and other aspects of wetlands conservation? You can at ducks.ca. And, you can email your questions and feedback to communications@ducks.ca. Guest Bios Nic McLellanConservation Programs Specialist, Atlantic Canada Nic McLellan grew up in Sackville, NB where he developed a keen interest in biology and the outdoors. Prior to his current job at Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), Nic worked on several research projects with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources. These projects involved a variety of bird species including shorebirds, songbirds, seabirds, and waterfowl. David Howerter, PhDDirector, National Conservation Operations Dave Howerter is an accomplished scientist with a track record of successfully managing a complex scientific program, demonstrated ability to build teams, build consensus, and develop partnerships. Dave is responsible for all programs national in scope related to engineering, education, international partnerships, government relations, research and conservation planning.    

On this episode of Innovating Employment, Amie Haughn, Director of Employment Programs at the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education, joins the program to discuss how they developed a collaborative approach to reforming their employment and training landscape, using an approach that empowered service providers to gather together and determine how to restructure employment services in their community. -------- Amie Haughn, directrice des programmes d’emploi au ministère du Travail et de l’Enseignement supérieur de la Nouvelle-Écosse, se joint à nous pour discuter de la façon dont sa province a développé une approche collaborative pour réformer le milieu de l’emploi et de la formation au moyen d’une approche qui a permis aux prestataires de services de se réunir pour déterminer comment restructurer ses services d’emploi.

Genome Canada names its latest GAPP Recipients, DelMar Pharma lists on NASDAQ, and OPKO health acquires Toronto’s Transition Therapeutics. We have this and more on this week’s Biotechnology Focus Podcast! Welcome to Biotechnology Focus Podcast. I’m your host Shawn Lawrence. Story 1 We start this week’s show in the biotech business world with a longtime player on the Toronto Life Science scene being acquired. Miami based OPKO Health says it is buying clinical stage Toronto-based biotechnology company Transition Therapeutics, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $60 million. Through the acquisition of Transition, OPKO will take over the full clinical portfolio of the company including a treatment for type 2 diabetes and obesity, a treatment for low testosterone and a third neuropsychiatric drug candidate that targets patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. The first product, Transition’s lead metabolic drug candidate TT401, is a once- or twice-weekly oxyntomodulin for type 2 diabetes and obesity that the company calls the most advanced candidate among glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1)/glucagon receptor dual agonists. In a recently completed Phase 2 study of 420 patients with type 2 diabetes, subjects receiving the highest dose of TT401 peptide once weekly demonstrated significantly superior weight loss compared with currently approved extended release exenatide and placebo after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. TT401 also provided a reduction in HbA1c, a marker of sugar metabolism, similar to exenatide at weeks 12 and 24. Transition had regained full development and commercialization rights to TT401 in April of this year after Eli Lilly and Co pulled out of an existing development partnership that had the two companies working together on what they called at the time a next generation diabetes drug. In doing, Lilly opted to not advance the compound into Phase 3. The assets is a fit for Opko as it already has a couple of development stage oxyntomodulin in its pipeline – including MOD-6031, a long lasting version, and TT401 fits nicely as a complimentary shorter term treatment. The second product included in the deal is Transition’s TT701, a once-daily oral selective androgen receptor modulator for patients with androgen deficiency. In terms of its clinical showing, In a 12-week study of 350 male subjects, TT701 showed significantly decreased fat mass and increased lean body mass and muscle strength without significantly changing prostate specific antigen levels. The third product is ELND005, a neuropsychiatric drug candidate that is an orally administered small molecule. It has completed Phase 2 clinical studies in Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome patients, however it failed in this trial. This is probably why many news outlets reported that only two products were being acquired in this deal. It will be interesting to see what Opko Health has in mind for its future clinical development. Both companies expect the transaction to close during the second half of 2016, subject to approval of Transition Therapeutics stockholders and other customary conditions. Story 2 Our next business story involves DelMar Pharmaceuticals, a BC-based company developing and commercializing cancer therapies in new orphan drug indications. The company commenced trading on July 12 on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the trade symbol DMPI.In honor of the listing, the company also got to ring the Opening Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square, New York City, on July 14, 2016. Jeffrey Bacha, chairman and CEO of DelMar Pharmaceuticals commented that listing on NASDAQ will better position the company in broadening its shareholder base, increase its appeal to institutional investors, and provide improved liquidity. The company’s lead drug in development, VAL-083, is currently undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. as a potential treatment for refractory glioblastoma multiforme. It has been extensively studied by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and is currently approved for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and lung cancer in China. Published pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that VAL-083 may be active against a range of tumour types via a novel mechanism of action that could provide improved treatment options for patients. And now for a quick break, and when we return, and when we come back we’ll talk about Health Canada’s plan to protect Canadians against the increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance. If you could have a face-to-face conversation with government to discuss the life science industry, what would you say? Biotechnology Focus would like to give you the chance to engage with government and have your voices heard via our special “Hot Button Issues survey”. We kicked off the survey June 24, and response thus far has been terrific, so much so that we’ve decided to extend its run time through to Friday July 22. We want to hear from you on such hot topics as reimbursement of new technologies, funding challenges like access to capital, intellectual property, procurement, the state of the industry and more. This survey is open to everyone in the industry, including the business sector, academics, research institutions, service providers and more. It’s also open to individuals at all levels, from the C-level to support staff. The timing for this survey couldn’t be more right as the Federal government has just launched a call to help shape Canada’s “Innovation Agenda”, and, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains has asked us all to step up and voice our opinions, to help further shape the future of Canada’s knowledge based economy. This survey is your chance to get involved! Your answers will be featured in a special high profile issue that will be sent to Deputy Ministers, Assistant Deputy Ministers, Cabinet, Directors and Generals, working in Health Canada, Industry Canada, Agriculture & Agri-Food, Foreign Affairs & Internationals trade, the Privy Council, as well as other public sector executives in federal and most provincial departments. So, don’t miss this opportunity to participate and have your voices heard. Simply visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/biotechfocus. Remember, Friday July 22, the survey closes. And welcome back to the Biotechnology Focus Podcast, and to get us started on the second half our show we have some exciting funding news related to a partnership between a major charitable organization and an Ontario clinical stage company. Story 3 The funding partnership involves Sernova Corp., a company based in London Ontario that is developing disruptive regenerative medicine technologies for the long-term treatment of chronic diseases including diabetes and hemophilia. They have entered into a research funding agreement with JDRF, a leading global organization that provides funds to type 1 diabetes research and is an advocate of such research. JDRF is providing Sernova up to $2.45 million and these funds will be used to advance human clinical trials of Sernova’s CPS technologies for treatment of hypoglycemia unawareness patients with severe type 1 diabetes at a major transplantation center in the U.S. Type 1 Diabetes is a life-threatening disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the pancreatic cells that produce insulin—a hormone that is essential for life because of its role to help the body use glucose. The goal of the study is to provide patients with hypoglycemia unawareness a novel cell therapy treatment utilizing Sernova’s proprietary Cell Pouch System™, a highly vascularized, cell macro-encapsulated implantable and scalable device to reduce or eliminate the need for injections of exogenous insulin. JDRF has previously provided funding to advance the development of Sernova’s technologies through a preclinical collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and according to Derek Rapp, JDRF president and CEO, JDRF is excited about this collaboration as well. Initiation of the clinical trial is scheduled for the second half of 2016. Story 4 In an effort to protect Canadians against the increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance, Health Canada is taking the first steps towards implementing a new Federal Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when an antimicrobial drug – an antibiotic, antifungal or antiviral drug – is no longer effective at controlling an infection it was once used to treat. This can cause an increased risk of infection, longer infection times, and a greater risk of death. The decreasing effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs is having a significant impact on our ability to protect Canadians from infectious diseases. It also has profound impacts on our healthcare system, global trade, agriculture, environment and health sectors. As part of Health Canada’s action plan, the department is seeking feedback on a regulatory proposal that it hopes will strengthen rules governing the importation, sale and use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock. This covers Surveillance – Detecting and monitoring trends and threats to inform strategies to reduce the risks and impacts of antimicrobial resistance, Stewardship – Conserving the effectiveness of existing treatments through infection prevention and control guidelines, education and awareness, regulations, and oversight, and finally Innovation – Finding new solutions to counteract loss in antimicrobial effectiveness through research and development. According Canada’s Ministry of Health the proposed changes to the Food and Drug Regulations would restrict the importation of certain veterinary drugs, require drug manufacturers to follow stricter rules, require provision of sales information to regulators to allow for improved monitoring of antimicrobial use, and introduce an easier way for manufacturers to sell low-risk veterinary health products. Consultations on the proposed regulatory changes are already underway, running for a 75 day period, ending on September 8, 2016. The proposal was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on July 2, 2016. Story 5 Our final story of the week features Genome Canada announcing the recipients of Round 5 funding under its Genomic Applications Partnership Program. GAPP partners academic researchers with users in the private and public sectors to promote genomics-derived solutions to address challenges or opportunities facing users. The projects are expected to have considerable economic and social impacts in the near term, spurring innovation, commercialization and growth in Canada. Further, through a Genome Canada and Mitacs partnership, GAPP supports training the next generation of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Several of the projects announced in this funding round involve research internships, which will prepare Canada’s next entrepreneurs through hands-on experience. As part of the round, a total of $5.3 million in federal funding through Genome Canada will go to five projects, with an additional $11.6 million invested through partners including provinces, private and public sector organizations. The five projects in this round are: Dr. Casey Hubert, University of Calgary, who is working with the Nova Scotia Department of Energy to derisk offshore oil and gas exploration in the province using innovative genomic approaches. Dr. Christoph Borchers, University of Victoria and Dr. Gerald Batist, McGill University, who are working with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to validate new technology that will help healthcare professionals match the right cancer treatment to the right patient. Dr. Charles Goulet, Université Laval, who is working with Vineland Research and Innovation Centre to use variation in aroma-related genes to develop more flavourful tomatoes. Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, University of Toronto, who is working with SiREM to use specific microbes to accelerate the rate of biodegradation and enable less expensive cleanup of contaminated industrial sites. And Dr. Xiao-Yan Wen, St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, who is working with Edge Therapeutics Inc. to develop drugs for preventing intracerebral hemorrhage – a form of brain hemorrhage responsible for 10 per cent of all strokes. You can find out all the details of these GAPP Round 5 projects via a backgrounder on the Genome Canada website. We’re always looking for your feedback, story ideas and suggestions so we’d love to hear from you. Simply reach out to us on twitter: @BiotechFocus

Join us as we explore the apparent increase in challenging student behaviors. Is the rise real or imagine? What is the most current thinking on handling troubling student behavior? Follow: @bamradionetwork @raepica1 @notjstcute #edchat #edreform #ece #earlyed #AskingWhatIf Follow: @bamradionetwork @raepica1 @JustinMinkel @jasonflom #edchat #edreform #ece #earlyed #AskingWhatIf Barbara Kaiser has worked for over three decades as a Director, teacher and education consultant. She is the co-author of Challenging Behavior in Young Children: Understanding, Preventing and Responding Effectively and developed a Provincial Anti-Bullying Strategy with the Nova Scotia Department of Education. Amanda Morgan, MS, has nearly 20 years of experience teaching children, parents, and teachers in a variety of environments. She currently writes at the blog, Not Just Cute.

At the start of this episode Don is very annoyed because he bought a microphone stand, carried it to various continents without using it, and now he cannot find it. In its absence he has resorted to using a hat. The podcast opens with discussion about making podcasts. A listener asked how episode titles are selected in response to the title of Food Safety Talk episode 68: “We found it in Wild Pig Feces”. The process for podcast title selection is to look for random, out of context phrases from the show, text about them 30-40 times to select one, and lastly make sure it isn’t too long. One of Ben’s students, Lily Yang, also expressed interest in podcasting. He advised she can learn a lot by studying other podcasts. Recommended podcasts are Merlin and Dan’s Back to Work podcast on 5by5 and the WTF podcast especially the episode with RuPaul. Another resource is The Podcast Method website. The focus of this episode was professionals making poor risk management decisions. A health inspector from the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture tried to stop a mother from breastfeeding in her farmer’s market booth despite the fact that she had proper hand washing facilities. The department later apologized. Ben and Don applaud the well-reasoned response the mother, Tanessa Holt gave. Additional excitement brought to you by the 'Theater of Public Health’ includes a middle school in New Jersey was closed because a staff member had C. difficile . Ben provides an historic example of risk management vs. communication virucidal footbaths were installed at airports in response to foot and mouth disease outbreak with the understanding that they were not effective. The guys talk about how there is often a lack of data to inform risk, for example with the proposed use of hand sanitizer between handling money and then food. Or maybe the data does exist, but isn't at the forefront of public health recommendations (the removal of tomato stem scar). Ben and Don talk about gaps existing between regulations and practical ideas for implementation. Don found Rutgers dining hall did not have a vomit clean up plan and the Food Code is lacking specific best practices. One good resource for vomit clean up is here. The conversation turned to public perceptions of food risks. Food safety professionals are perhaps not proactive about correcting public misperceptions. A counter example is South Dakota soybean producers who aim to correct misperceptions people have about GMOs and pesticides through a new advertising campaign. Don talks about an interview question related to safest cuts of meat. Regarding food safety ranking Mike Batz has created a top ten list of food-pathogen combinations. For better or worse, the Mother Jones article is here. In recall news, Chipotle took a pork carnitas off of their menu because they suspend a pork supplier due to animal welfare concerns. Lastly, Don received an urgent voicemail from the department administrator to sign a very important document and stated that 'lack of planning on other peoples part does not does not constitute an emergency on my part.'

In the summer of 1996 I presented a series on CBC Radio’s Island Morning program, produced by Ann Thurlow, called Consumed by Technology. I’ve managed to recover the audio of the episodes, along with the “show notes” and transcripts, from The Internet Archive and I’m posting each episode here for posterity. This fourth episode of Consumed by Technology focused access to information; it aired on July 30, 1996. Karen Mair was the host. It used to be that in rural communities on Prince Edward Island, the local telephone operator was the “central clearinghouse” for all types of information. If you wanted to know what the hymns were for church on Sunday, or whether Mrs. MacIsaac had given birth yet or what the price of apples at the general store was, you’d just pick up the phone and ask. The last rural telephone operator left service almost 20 years ago, but the idea of a “central clearinghouse” for information is still alive and well. Show Notes These are the original links that I released with the episode; each is a link to the Internet Archive’s cache of the site at the time. The Numbers Canadian Social Insurance Number Disclosure Regulations Special Joint Subcommittee Studying State and Commercial Use of Social Security Numbers for Transactional Identification How to get a Second Social Security Number Government and Privacy Federal Information Commissioner Federal Privacy Commissioner Privacy Protection across Canada Information For Sale ServiceOntario Kiosks Internet Department of Motor Vehicles Sherlock International Research Bureau Transcript INTRO: It used to be that in rural communities on Prince Edward Island, the local telephone operator was the “central clearinghouse” for all types of information. If you wanted to know what the hymns were for church on Sunday, or whether Mrs. MacIsaac had given birth yet or what the price of apples at the general store was, you’d just pick up the phone and ask. The last rural telephone operator left service almost 20 years ago, but the idea of a “central clearinghouse” for information is still alive and well. For another in the series “Consumed by Technology,” Peter Rukavina joins me now to talk about this, and to tell us what he found out when he asked the question “What have they got on me?” QUESTION: So the operators are all gone, but their spirit lives on? ANSWER: Well, perhaps a vague shadow of their spirit, a distant cousin, you might say… As you suggested, in days gone by, rural telephone operators played a central role in community life as the chief “keepers of information. “ After telephones came along, pretty well anything important that had to be communicated had to pass through the local telephone exchange. This meant that the operators had a pretty good handle on everyone’s life and goings on, and so if you wanted to know something, there was a good chance the local operator would either know themselves, or could tell you who did. In their own way, they were pretty powerful people in their communities. Today, telephone operators are gone, but what has lived on is the notion that having a central clearinghouse for information makes you a pretty powerful person. In this “wired world,” the place that information gets stored — the clearinghouse — is not in the minds of telephone operators, but in databases in computers. And so today, it’s really the person with the fastest computers and the best databases that holds the most power. Now with all of that in mind, I decided to set out to answer the question “What have they got on me?” I was curious to know how much information about me and my everyday life is sitting out there in the computers of the world, what it’s used for, and who can get access to it. QUESTION: Well… what did you find out? ANSWER: I started by sitting down with a piece of paper and listing out all of the businesses and organizations and governments that I knew had a file on me. I started with things like my driver’s license, my bank accounts, my Social Insurance Number, the credit bureau and continued on to things like the local video store, my Internet provider, and all of the magazines that I subscribe to. And on and on. Now I don’t tend to get surprised about much when it comes to information and technology, but I must say that I was overwhelmed by the size of this list when I was done… in 10 or 15 minutes I came up with almost 50 places that had some sort of information about me in their files. And those were just the places I knew about. Once I had this long list in hand, I decided to zero in on a couple of the items, make some phone calls, and see what more I could find out about exactly how and what was being recorded about me. I started with my driver’s license, which I figured was a good place to start because it has a reputation as being a sort of “universal card” — people ask for it when you want to rent cars or videos or sign up for a cheque cashing card at the grocery store. I assumed that if someone had my driver’s license number they could just phone the driver’s license people in the government and find out where I lived and what kind of car I owned and whether I’d run over anybody lately. QUESTION: And were you right? Well, actually, no. Much to my surprise, when I talked to the Highway Safety people in the Department of Transportation and Public Works I was told that driver’s license information is absolutely, positively confidential. The only people who could get at it were them, me, and the police. I asked them why, if this was the case, people still asked for my driver’s license number when I signed up for things that had nothing to do with driving. They had no idea. If it was useful to others, they said, it certainly wasn’t because of anything they were doing. Now, as I said, this all came as something of a surprise to me; I’d always thought driver’s license information was public. And then I found out why I’d always thought this. Being an Ontario boy, I got on the phone to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. I never actually did get to talk to a real live person, but I was told by the talking computer that answered the phone that if I sent them $12.00 and an Ontario driver’s license number, they would send me what they call a “Driver Record Search,” which lists the name and address and three years worth of accident and speeding ticket information for the person with that license. And if I lived in Ontario, I could do the same thing simply by walking up to something called a “Service Ontario” machine where I could slip in my credit card, and get the goods on as many people as I could afford. QUESTION: They’re obviously a little more liberal with their information in Ontario… what about closer to home in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia? ANSWER: Again, it seems to depend on where you are. The person I talked to at the Nova Scotia Department of Consumer Services gave me pretty much the same answer as I got from Prince Edward Island: driver’s license information is not public. They seemed shocked that I would even ask. In New Brunswick, however, the Motor Vehicles Branch told me that if I sent $8.00 to their office in Fredericton, I could get the driver record of any New Brunswick driver and I wouldn’t even need their driver’s license number, just their name. I was curious to see what the American take on driver’s license information was, so I headed out on the Internet so see what I could find out. I did a search for the phrase “obtain driver’s license information” and, wouldn’t you know, that first thing that popped up was an business calling itself the “Internet Department of Motor Vehicles.” Just by filling out a form right there online, giving them a state and a name, for some states a driver’s license number, and my credit card number, for $20.00 they would email or fax me back any driver record, for any driver, anywhere in the United States. QUESTION: So it seems that we might be ahead of the pack here on the Island when it comes to protecting people’s privacy… ANSWER: Well of course some people would suggest that we’re actually behind the pack… again, it depends on who you talk to. In fact that brings up one of the Big Issues that surround keeping information about people on file, and that’s the question of who owns the information. Is, for example, my driver’s license file my property or the government’s? Now you might think that someone having access to your driver’s license file isn’t such a big deal. But what if that someone is an insurance company that turns you down because you got into an accident 5 years ago that wasn’t really your fault. Or a local car dealer who just happens to have a deal on the latest model of the car you’re driving now — in your colour! The point is that it’s hard to foresee what others might do with information about you. The situation becomes somewhat more complicated if you start looking at the issue not just of one government database or another being public, but the potential power of several of those databases combined. This is really where the telephone operators got their power: not from just knowing that Mr. Jones wasn’t at home on Sunday night because he wasn’t there to accept a long distance call, but also knowing that he used to be married to a mysterious woman from Toronto, a woman reported to be seen in Charlottetown on Sunday morning. Computer people call this “the power of systems integration.” QUESTION: So it’s not knowing all the little bits of information as much as having them all collected together… ANSWER: Exactly. Now if I continue down my list and just look at the branches of government who have files on me, I see Revenue Canada with a complete record of what I earn and what I spend in my business, the Passport Office with a record of my comings and goings in and out of the country, the Customs Office with information on what packages I’ve received from outside the country. The Department of the Environment knows what size my septic tank is, the Land Office knows what my house is worth. If I owned a dog, I’d need a license and that a record of that license would be in somebody’s computer. Now although I don’t really consider it anyone’s business but my own whether I own a dog or not, or what the size of my septic tank is, I’m not too concerned that information like that “gets out.” Imagine, however, if all of these databases were, effectively, “One Big Database.” What if it was possible to go up to a machine in the mall, slip in a credit card, and for 10 or 15 bucks find out everything that government knows about any person: where they live, how long they’ve been there, what they earn, who they’re married to… whatever. Now I should hasten to add that this is, in fact, not the case at least right now. There isn’t, at least yet, “One Big Database” of government information and, in fact, government’s have been quite strict about how they share their information with other governments. But the potential is certainly there for this sharing to happen. Take the example in Ontario where the provincial government is trying to get access to federal government files to help them track down people not making child support payments. This is another one of those instances where the basic issues themselves aren’t really that new — governments have been keeping track of us for years — but the power that computers bring to the task of collating and sorting and distributing this information changes the dynamic of the issue so much that we all have be a little more vigilant about keeping an eye on what governments are doing with information about us because they can do so much more now than ever before. QUESTION: Now that’s government information, what about information that businesses keep on file about us? ANSWER: I’m reminded of a call that my friend Leslie Niblett got when she was living in El Paso, Texas for a time. A woman from Houston whose name was also Leslie Niblett phoned her up, out of the blue, one day in the midst of a hunt for the Leslie Niblett that was making her life hell. It seems that some other n’er-do-well Leslie Niblett in Texas had skipped out on making their JC Penny Department Store card payments and that this fact had been incorrectly noted on the Houston Leslie Niblett’s credit file. She was now trying to buy a house, and was being turned down for a mortgage because of this. Her only solution was to call every Leslie Niblett in Texas until she found the one who was making her life so difficult. Lord knows if she ever did find her, and even if she did, what she could have said… I’ll be back next week to talk about how this could have happened, how it could happen to you, and generally about how businesses can use the information they have about us to sell more stuff. EXTRO: Peter Rukavina operates Digital Island in Kingston, PEI… he’ll be back next week with another in the series “Consumed by Technology.”