Rapid urbanization (largely fuelled by immigration) resulted in congestion, lack of adequate affordable housing, shared accommodation and overcrowding, overtaxed municipal services in places, and the proliferation of infectious disease. While this description certainly fits the situation in which we find ourselves today, it was written about conditions in the first decade of the 20th century! (Tindal et al, Local Government in Canada, Nelson Education, Chapter Two) The City Healthy movement developed in response, with its emphasis on the prevention of illness through advances in urban planning, parks, housing, and social services.
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I know that these are stressful times, but why are we so prone to embracing conspiracy theories that are completely without foundation? Perhaps the most absurd – with a large number of followers in the U.S. and, sadly, some in Canada too – is known as QAnon. Incredibly, it claims that a cabal of Satan-worshipping Democrats, Hollywood celebrities, and billionaires run the world while engaging in pedophilia, human trafficking, and the harvesting of blood from abused children (for its supposed life-extending components). The most recent example of a conspiracy theory has arisen in response to “the great reset” which has been proposed as the way that economies should come out of the pandemic. |
AuthorC. Richard Tindal, Ph.D is a retired Professor of Government. He taught for 30 years at St. Lawrence College, Kingston and was an occasional Visiting Professor at Queen's University. He has also written and consulted extensively about government. Archives
October 2023
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