Quebec's Language Wars

"He said: 'I don't have to speak to  you in English, speak French'. And I said: 'I can't speak enough for you to understand me or me to understand you'. He said: 'Then go get somebody'. I said: 'I can't, I'm alone'."

"I said: 'Is there nobody there who can speak to me in English?' And that's when he hung up on me."

"He spoke English like you and I. He had no accent, anything. He wouldn't let me speak any English. He just kept cutting me off."

"At the end, I said: 'We were guaranteed [English] for medical things."

Susan Starkey, 75-year-old Pointe-Claire resident

 

I want to reassure anyone speaking English, including immigrants, that we will not refuse to treat patients in English if it's needed."

"[The law] changes nothing [when it comes to health care. Claims to the contrary are unfounded] disinformation."

Quebec Premier Francois Legault 

"The services of the Regie de l'assurance maladie du Quebec [RMQ] are not considered as part of the services offered by the health network. We must conform with the dispositions of Bill 96."

"In keeping with the new articles of the Charte de la langue francise, ministries and government organizations, including the RAMQ, must demonstrate the exemplary use of French."

"[The RAMQ has adopted a two-year transitional policy to] modulate the duty of exemplarity to respond to the needs of our clientele [if all reasonable efforts to communicate in French have been exhausted and] the exclusive use of French to accomplish the mission of the RAMQ would be compromised."

Caroline Dupont, spokesperson, RAMQ

Major provisions of Quebec's new language law have gone into effect and there are concerns Bill 96 could impact access to services for those who don't speak French.  CBC

 

The Province of Quebec's Bill 96 was adopted over a year ago. At that time serious concerns were voiced, mostly by the Province's anglophone population, that their human rights to equal language treatment in the francophone-majority population would be imperilled once the law came into effect. That service in English would be denied them in a hospital setting, or in a court of law, or through government services. Quebec's premier assured that demographic that they would continue to receive such essential services.

At the time that Bill 96 was introduced, the Quebec government warned that the French language stood in danger of being eclipsed by English, and that it was imperative they do something to avert such a potential outcome, hence the new bill that would mandate all services to the province's citizens must be prioritized in French and English withheld. Such assurances aside, where Ms. Starkey had no complaints over a hospital setting honouring the need to recognize the rights of English speakers, the province's health insurance agency was exempt.

In the past five months, Ms. Starkey's 82-year-old husband has experienced a catastrophic health failure, transitioning from a once "fairly fit" man, given his age, to one having to be fed through a tube. He had recently undergone an emergency quadruple bypass, a heart valve replacement, resulting in internal bleeding, paralysis of the throat, food aspiration and a few incidents of pneumonia. "There was twice when we didn't think he was going to make it", Ms. Starkey remarked.

Hospitalized for five months at three different institutions, recovery was finally at the stage where her husband was considered strong enough to return home, feeding tube and all. His nourishment intake is confined to a special prescription diet of ISO-Pro obtained through their local pharmacy. Initially the formula was not covered by the Regie de l'assurance maladie du Quebec, but it was covered the second time while the third time it was only partially subsidized. On enquiry the pharmacy informed their client she would have to contact RAMQ for clarification.

The public servant who responded to her subsequent call refused to listen to her explanation of her situation as long as she spoke English. This was an entirely new and different experience altogether. During her husband's five-month stay at the Royal Victoria Hospital, at Ste. Anne's Hospital and at the Catherine Booth rehabilitation facility, there was no problem whatever communicating in English. "Everyone was wonderful", and then came her experience with the RAMQ.

Since June 1, it appears, the RAMQ -- much like the Societe de l'assurance automobile du Quebec, or city hall -- is permitted to communicate in English only with a narrow subset of the population. Eligible are Quebecers previously receiving services in English, Indigenous individuals and those immigrants resident in the province for less than six months. Those wishing services in English must "attest" in "good faith" that they qualify, even if all they plan to do is search out English content on a public  website.

Ms. Starkey's husband is an anglophone, he has lived in Quebec his entire life. Although his wife was born in Alberta, she spent most of her adult years in Quebec, having arrived in 1968. As an example of the reduced comfort given to English-speakers in the province, a bureaucrat in the Ministry of Natural Resources rejected a death certificate issued by Quebec in English to settle an estate, without a certified French translation. The municipality of Notre-Dame-de-l'Ile-Perrot no longer shows English films through its summer outdoor screening, concerned it could violate Bill 96.

The ISO-Pro required by Ms. Starkey's husband is expensive, for a couple without private insurance, and he is unable to speak or advocate for himself. Susan Starkey put off a scheduled surgery for spinal stenosis to enable her to care for her husband. Canada has two official founding languages, French and English. Federally, any citizen is able to demand to be served under the law in the language of their choice. Canada is officially bilingual. Only the Province of Quebec is opting to be unilingual.

The English section of the city of Montreal's website now carries the banner: "Who can view this page? This content is intended for the public covered by the exceptions under Bill 96." Image: montreal.ca

"It took me two days to be able to talk about it."

"I got off the phone, I was stunned. I was so humiliated because I've taken a gazillion French courses. But I've had a couple of bad head injuries where I've lost most of it."

"And I was never very good at language or at music. I can speak more than I can understand."

"I was so humiliated and angry."

Susan Starkey

"Privacy Preserving" Eye Scans to Foil AI

An attendee scans her face at a facial recognition entry gate at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 8. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg News)

Did not Western news outlets and China pundits deplore the fact that Beijing planned to scan all 1.3-billion Chinese residents' faces to enable the Chinese Communist Party to keep track of all its citizens and aid in its long-range, yet short-term plans to instant identification and aid in coercion of its population? A population for which there is no privacy, where the state apparatus follows all its citizens' moves and directly influences its thinking en masse. 

 

That's China for you, administering the world largest population (recently overtaken by India) to firmly plant its metaphorical fist in everyone's face. Privacy? Freedom? Human Rights? 

An immense plan for total control, suitable for a totalitarian society that seeks to control each and every aspect of its peoples' lives. Dystopian to the extreme. And then there's a Silicon Valley entrepreneur with a plan to scan the iris of everyone on Earth, not just one country's vast population. The goal ostensibly far more humane; to protect society at large from the prospect of Artificial Intelligence posing as human, and the need to secure a method in which biology can be separated from technology. 

 

Different entirely, hmmm?

"Maybe it will work out and maybe it doesn't, but trying stuff like this is how progress happens."

"I'm hopeful Worldcoin can contribute to conversations about how we share access, benefits and governance of future AI systems."

Sam Altman, founder, OpenAI 

Sam Altman's Worldcoin verifies that people are humans using eyeball-scanning orbs.

Business Insider

 

Having launched ChatGPT on the world, with computer scientists at the fore of this brave new world of communications questioning its outcome, Sam Altman launched project Worldcoin in Britain on Monday including 34 other countries, a venture whose aim is to scan billions of eyes with the use of a mounted orb the size of a football weighing six pounds to scan people's eyes for the generation of a  unique digital record.

Worldcoin names that digital record a World ID; "proof of personhood" and Altman has argued it will enable people to proffer proof online that they are human, not robots, not fraudsters. Such verification, he says is a requirement to challenge and counter the growing threat posed potentially by Artificial Intelligence, the very technology he has himself been front and centre in advancing.

GM Seoul

 

"Increasingly powerful AI models will further amplify the difficulty of distinguishing humans from bots", the company offers in its announcement of the Worldcoin U.K. launch. There is roughly 150 working orbs deployed by the company around the world, two of which are located in London, and so far the company has signed up some two million people representing a tiny fraction of the roughly eight billion total world population it has plans to cover.

Concerns around the potential risks of a startup gathering massive amounts of sensitive biometric data has privacy advocates alerted. Worldcoin insists however, that its proprietary technology is "privacy-preserving", that its orbs delete the biometric data gathered by default. Although the venture was officially launched on Monday of last week, the project has been in operation since 2019.

Initially the project focused on first sign-ups within low income countries, including Sudan and Malaysia. Some people who signed up believed the project was government operated, or had official government backing, according to an MIT Technology Review. Cryptocurrency of the same name backs up the venture. Local contractors operate the face-scanning orbs. Their reward is in cryptocurrency Worldcoin for signing up new users.

As well, people who submit to ID-checking scans will receive 24 free Worldcoin tokens also, which began trading at $1.70, leaping to a high of $3.53.

And in China...

"The public is increasingly worried about the abuse of facial recognition technology", Yang Wanming, vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, said in a news conference on Wednesday. "The calls for strengthening protection of facial information are increasing."

 

Photo: Mack DeGeurin

Canadian Homelessness and Traumatic Brain Injuries

"The report of the Canadian Paediatric Society and one by the American Academy of Neurology note that sports-related concussions continue to rise along with repetitive head injuries,which are more difficult to diagnose because they often have fewer symptoms or none at all."

"In Canada, more people annually suffer a traumatic brain injury than are diagnosed with breast cancer, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury and HIV/AIDS combined. And that doesn't account for the others who fall under the broader category of acquired brain injury. Those injuries result from asphyxiation from an opioid overdose, strokes, tumours and other neurodegenerative diseases."

"Though Canadian data on opioid-related anoxic brain injuries are scant, Health Canada says its best information is that five percent of people hospitalized after an opioid overdose have anoxic brain injuries."

Daphne Bramham, columnist, Vancouver Sun

A message is written on a door outside a tent at a homeless encampment at Strathcona Park in Vancouver. A new study says the rates of brain injury are endemic among the homeless.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck.

The Canadian Traumatic Brain Injury Research Consortium for Brain Injury Canada has identified evidence, published in a report through research they compiled explaining to an extent the alarming rising chaos on city streets across the country. The report states that within the homeless community,70 percent suffer moderate to severe brain injuries, 14 times the rate of the general population, while almost a quarter of homeless with brain injuries also have substance-use disorder.

 

Moreover, while most of these individuals sustained brain injuries prior to losing their homes, they now are also likelier to sustain additional brain injuries resulting from falls (mostly women) and from physical assaults (mostly men). There are three classifications for traumatic brain injuries; a single severe concussion; several concussions; or concussions occurring in rapid succession.

 

Debilitating headaches, dizziness and confusion can result from even mild cases of traumatic brain injuries, while moderate to severe injuries can be the cause of cognitive, mood and behavioural changes along with decreased mobility. Daily assistance with eating, bathing and using a toilet are hallmarks of the most severely injured, a condition that makes work difficult, leading to unemployment rates of 75 percent among the injured.

Over 165,000 Canadians receive injuries in falls, sports-related hits, vehicle accidents and assaults and these people with traumatic brain injuries are 2-1/2 times likelier to attempt suicide, more likely to suffer from psychosis, and 2-1/2 times more likely than the general population to be incarcerated for a criminal offence. Brain Injury Canada urges Health Canada to classify moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries as a chronic condition resulting in long-term cognitive and neurological decline which would then require ongoing supports beyond initial hospitalization.

There is evidence that 60 percent of women who experience intimate partner violence have sustained traumatic brain injuries. Canada's Indigenous population is disproportionately among those suffering from traumatic brain injuries. Children, along with seniors are most at risk of injury with falls accounting for half of those events. With children aged between five and 19 who are hospitalized, 45 percent of brain injuries are related to sports

School-age children are significantly more likely to report psychological distress and attempt suicide, in the short term and potentially become the next generation, long term, of homeless, drug addicted and the incarcerated. Earlier in the year the Canadian Paediatric Society issued a position paper reiterating urgent calls for prevention, better education, diagnosis and treatment, recommending an end to bodychecking in all recreational hockey leagues for all players under age 15.

Lacking medical assistance, people with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries may end up in survival mode on the streets; one of the root-cause societal problems that continues unaddressed, noticed by the general public only when a newsworthy event is reported of incidents involving homeless people in psychotic episodes resulting from individuals suffering from untreated traumatic brain injuries.

 

A homeless camp in Abbotsford in June that was later dismantled. Startling research shows that of those unhoused, 70 per cent had moderate to severe injuries — 14 times the rate in the general population. Photo by Arlen Redekop /PNG

The World of Competitive Sports Weighs In

IOC Flag

"The IOC has received a lot of support. It is very encouraged by the fact that the vast majority of the international community understands the challenging situation for sport and supports its values-based course of action. This has been expressed by many statements from political leaders at the level of the United Nations, intergovernmental organizations and heads of state and government."

"Just recently, in May 2023, the Group of Seven [G7] Leaders expressed support in a statement at their summit in Hiroshima/Japan. Early in July, the Non-Aligned Movement, chaired by Azerbaijan, which includes 120 of the 193 UN Member States, also declared its support."

"The G7 statement says that the G7 are “fully respecting the autonomy of sporting organizations” and want to ensure that “Russian and Belarusian athletes are in no way appearing as representatives of their states”. This is fully aligned with the position of the IOC in this respect."

International Olympic Committee

Sport officials remain split on whether to permit Russian athletes to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Governing bodies have taken to permitting Russian athletes to participate in Olympic qualifying competitions, but as neutral competitors only, dispensing with national flags or anthems, after most sports following Russia's invasion of Ukraine barred Russian competitors. The IOC has not itself decided whether Russian and Belarus athletes can compete at the Paris Games.

For the in-house sport of boxing, the IOC remains uncertain enough to delay action. Most sports allowing Russians to return have followed IOC advice to refer to them as "individual neutral athletes", continuing to bar those under contract with the military or who have publicly supported the war. Another recommendation of the IOC is to block Russia from team sports such as soccer or basketball.

The IOC has recommended that all athletes that serve in the Russian or Belarusian armed forces, such as Sofya Velikaya, should be banned from international competition   Getty Images

Understandably, Ukraine remains fiercely opposed to any Russians being allowed to compete. Ukrainian athletes and national teams are boycotting competitions where Russians are permitted to return. A government decree was issued last April in Ukraine. In search of pro-war posts by Russian athletes, activists from Ukraine have been trawling social media for evidence of support of the Russian invasion to help disqualify such athletes from competing.

The World Athletics Council excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from competition following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, stating their decision will remain in place "for the foreseeable future", reflecting a March vote of the World Athletics Council. World Aquatics on the other hand has stated it finds favour in allowing Russia and Belarus to return to swimming, diving, water polo, artistic swimming and has set up a task force expected to produce a report in late July. 

 

Men's and women's tennis tours sought not to exclude Russian or Belarusian players after the invasion, fining tournaments that did decide to impose restrictions.While Ukrainian players continued competing in tournaments, most refuse to shake hands with Russians or Belarusians. However, Russians and Belarusian players cannot enter national team competitions while the International Tennis Federation has not committed to a final decision on the Olympics, awaiting the qualifying June 2024 world rankings.

From early 2024, gymnasts from Russia and Belarus will be permitted to participate as "individual neutral athletes", even though Russian gymnasts have been among the most vocal supporters of the war. The IOC runs Olympic boxing in Paris and in-house qualifiers following a feud of long standing with the International Boxing Association and its Russian president. Host nation Poland of the June European Games refused to allow Russian athletes.

Ukraine boycotted the world championships in judo and taekwondo after Russians were allowed to compete. The "neutral" delegation of Russian athletes in judo included some athletes previously identified by the Defence Ministry as holding military ranks. The International Judo Federation said all Russian competitors were employed at a state sports training facility and had opposed excluding any Russian competitors.

Since the IOC remains firm on excluding Russia from team sports with no Olympic sport defying that regulation yet, it remains unlikely that Russian teams will be competing in soccer, volleyball, basketball or handball at the Paris Olympics. A ban on "team events in individual sports" such as relay races or the team all-around in gymnastics also comes under a recommended ban by the IOC.

After the Russian weightlifting team refused to sign a waiver accepting the conditions for "neutral" status that included a promise to "continue to abstain from expressing any support to the war", Russia boycotted weightlifting events, while Belarusian athletes signed and are competing. 

 

Some sports like archery have delayed their decision-making, while canoeing is planning to allow Russians back in some Olympic qualifiers. Rowing will permit only single sculls and pairs, while no larger Russian crews will be allowed to take part.

 

The IOC has recommended that International Federations and event organisers suspend athletes that publicly support Russia's war against Ukraine  YouTube

"In an event of any athlete failing to respect the strict conditions of participation, the International Federation and sports event organizers concerned should immediately remove them from the competition and suspend them from any further competitions."

"You will see here that with this criteria we are trying to address the point of any athletes making statements related to the war."

IOC director for the athletes department Kaveh Mehrabi

Better Safe Than Sorry

"The extraordinary success in HIV prevention in the gay neighbourhoods of Sydney is due to decades of government leadership. Working in partnership with community and clinical organizations, effective research-based interventions have been designed and implemented."

"These numbers show us that virtual elimination of HIV transmissions is possible. Now, we need to look closely at what has worked in Sydney, and adapt it for other cities and regions across Australia."

"My life in research has been over that period [1980s to 1990s]. So, it has been terrible, and it has been extraordinary and now it is getting close to wonderful, really, with the possibility that we have."

"Now, we need to look closely at what has worked in Sydney, and adapt it for other cities and regions across Australia."

Professor Andrew Grulich, epidemiologist, Kirby Institute, University of New South Wales

"Overseas-born men who have sex with men, heterosexual populations, people from culturally and linguistically-diverse backgrounds and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."

"So, it is a question of equity as well."

Jane Costello, chief executive officer, Positive Life

Safety Sam, The Condom Man, distributes free condoms on the steps of the Sydney Opera House

 

Australia may become the first country where HIV transmission will come to a timely end, following success of a program where the spread was "virtually eliminated" in inner Sydney. In the 1980s and 1990s thousands of men died in inner Sydneym representing an area that has been central to a large population of gay and bisexual men. Last year just eleven new cases were reported. An "extraordinary success" that researchers point to, paving the way for these areas of success to be recognized as the first in the world to succeed in the UN's target to eliminate HIV transmission.

That success is proof that existing strategies available to prevent the spread of the virus worked exceedingly well. The dramatic reduction in infections demonstrated that an end is possible to the decades-long pandemic that caused the death of over 40 million people. New infections fell by 88 percent between 2010 and 2022 in inner city neighbourhoods ravaged at one time by the virus, according to data given at the International Aids Society's HIV science conference.

According to Professor Grulich who made the presentation, the decline was linked to clear government leadership and an approach that was community based, with widespread outreach, testing, prompt treatment and strong uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among those at risk of contracting the virus.

The results were localized, however, and not seen city-wide. In Sydney altogether, new cases fell by merely 31 percent since 2010, the researchers discovered, attributing this to lower rates of testing and less use of PrEP, which prevents transmission through sex when used beforehand.

"Achieving the last mile of the virtual elimination of HIV in Australia will require additional interventions – including those specifically designed to reach women."

"While the gay, bi-sexual and men who have sex with men communities are very aware of the benefit of prevention tools like PrEP, the heterosexual community is pretty much oblivious."

"We need greater education – including as part of secondary school curricula – to raise awareness around how to prevent HIV, including new tools like long-acting injectable PrEP."

Heather Ellis, communications and engagement coordinator for Positive Women Victoria

Inner Sydney, where the gay community was devastated by the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, is now leading the world in reducing HIV transmission  (ESTHER LIM)

"These encouraging findings from inner city Sydney show just how far we have come since the early days of the AIDS pandemic before we had effective testing, treatment or prevention tools."

"A durable end to Australia’s HIV epidemic requires a cure and a vaccine, and the scientific community won’t stop until we discover them."

Sharon Lewin, IAS President, IAS 2023 International Chair, Director, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne, Australia 

Astronomical Geological Anomaly

"[While the chemical composition of the 656-gram rock suggests a terrestrial origin, the presence of a] fusion crust [caused by a fiery trip through the atmosphere points to it having arrived from space]."

"[Certain isotopes in the meteorite] point to a very short [10,000-year] but significant exposure to galactic cosmic rays, and preclude that NWA 13188 is a man-made 'fake' meteorite."

Geophysicist Jerome Gattacceca, French National Centre for Scientific Research

The Northwest Africa 13188 meteorite found in the Sahara desert in Morocco a few years ago. (Image credit: Albert Jambon)

A meteorite discovered a few years ago in the Sahara desert has been revealed by scientists studying it that the space rock startlingly appears to have originated on Earth itself. Their careful studies have led to the conclusion that this is a boomerang meteorite. It became such when a small asteroid hit Earth a few thousand years ago, disturbing terrestrial rocks with sufficient physical force to propel them into space. One of these pieces of rock, now catalogued and named Northwest Africa 13188 (NWA13188) has been orbiting Earth for millennia until it fell back to the Sahara.

And while this explanation, informed as it is geologically and astronomically, is intuitively speculative in nature, the fact is this unusual specimen was discovered by a meteorite hunter in 2018 and subsequently sold to a French collector, Albert Jambon. "I purchased this one just because it was odd. Nobody knows what this stone is really worth", he explained.

 

The hypothesis of the mysterious 'boomerang' meteorite was formally presented at an international geochemistry conference that took place in Lyon, France, by geophysicist Jerome Gattacceca. His and his colleagues' hypothesis has been called into question by other geologists who find it concerning that an asteroid sufficiently large to knock rocks into space has left no trace of its impact with Earth. There appear to be no known craters large enough and young enough in space-time to qualify for identification as to the source of the mystery. 

Dr. Gattacceca feels that a huge volcanic eruption might also have been the source of sufficient power to violently blast a rock into orbit, and so he plans to conduct more tests on NWA 13188 to accurately assess its age and devote a more investigative approach to realize a reliable amount of time it could have spent circuiting in space. Should it be proven that this is indeed a boomerang meteorite it would qualify as the first of its kind.

There was another confirmed sample of a meteorite from Earth, discovered in 1971 when the crew of Apollo 14 brought back a rock from the moon containing a small fragment of Earth which had been knocked awry by a collision with an asteroid four billion years ago which landed on the moon. It only took a few million additional years to be uncovered by another impact 26 million years ago.

The fall of an asteroid to Earth in the artist’s image. Source: Dzika Mowka/iStock/NASA

Mediterranean Diet, Actually

"Our study reinforces dietary guidelines recommending vegetable oils such as olive oil and suggests that these recommendations not only support heart health, but potentially brain health as well."

"Opting for olive oil, a natural product, instead of fats such as margarine and commercial mayonnaise is a safe choice and may reduce the risk of fatal dementia."

"It is also possible that olive oil has an indirect effect on brain health by benefiting cardiovascular health."

"Given that olive oil is the primary source of added fat in a typical Mediterranean diet, we were interested in examining its association with fatal dementia."

"Olive oil may play a beneficial role in cognitive health through its rich content in monounsaturated fatty acids, which may promote neurogenesis. It also contains vitamin E and polyphenols, a trusted source that have antioxidant activity." 

Dr. Anne-Julie Tessier, Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health

An Auburn University study tested the effects the consumption of extra virgin olive oil or refined olive oil had on participants

Uncertain what precisely drives the salubrious effect of including olive oil in one's daily diet, the educated guess by experts is that the antioxidants in olive oil is able to pass through the blood-brain barrier, having a direct effect on cognition. It is well known and accepted that olive oil improves heart health;  again, the assumption that it may have an indirect impact on maintaining a healthy brain, according to the speculation of nutritional science.

 

A new study out of Harvard University goes a little further; researchers followed 90,000 people in the United States over a thirty-year period. In that time frame, 4,749 of the study subjects, around 5.2 percent, died. According to the results of the study people who consumed over half a tablespoon of olive oil daily acquired a 28 percent lower risk of dying from dementia during that time, in comparison with others who never, or rarely consumed olive oil. 

Evidently the study concluded that replacing one teaspoon of margarine or mayonnaise with the equivalent amount of olive oil daily was associated with up to a 14 percent lower risk of dying from dementia. Still, the link between olive oil and dementia mortality risk remained, even when a superior diet was accounted for, leaving the impression that the oil may contain properties uniquely beneficial for the brain.

Previous studies have linked higher olive oil intake with a lower risk of heart disease. Incorporating olive oil as part of a Mediterranean dietary pattern has also been shown to help protect against cognitive decline. Credit: Neuroscience News

 

"Other compounds such as oleocanthal and oleuropein are [also] considered beneficial."

"There is also some evidence showing that it is the combination of all these different compounds more than a single element responsible for the positive effects."

"EVOO [extra-virgin olive oil] enhanced the blood-brain barrier function and functional connectivity between different brain areas in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which could emphasize EVOO-phenolics’ effect."

"Our findings showed that EVOO and ROO improved cognitive function as determined by the improved clinical dementia rating and other behavioral scores."

"Interestingly, the MRI scans results were not the same between EVOO and ROO. While EVOO enhanced the blood-brain barrier function and the functional connectivity between different brain areas, ROO increased the functional brain activation to a memory task in brain regions involved in cognition."

Dr. Amal Khalil Kaddoumi, professor, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University

Professor Amal Kaddoumi, standing, recently completed a study that found extra virgin olive oil may have positive effects on individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Auburn University

"These results are exciting because they support the health benefits of olive oil against Alzheimer’s disease,"

"Based on the findings of this study and previous pre-clinical studies by us and others, we can conclude that adding olive oil to our diet could maintain a healthy brain and improve memory function."

Professor Amal Kaddoumi

Concerns Over Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine

"Ongoing military activities have eroded safety systems, disrupted routine maintenance, weakened emergency response capabilities and impacted operating staff, increasing the risk of a severe accident [at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant complex in Ukraine]."

"No immediate protective measures would need to be implemented; [there is no foreseen] appreciable risk [to people in Canada]."

"Although there could be some controls put in place for imports from Ukraine and surrounding areas due to potential contamination."

"A timely and well-coordinated response will be necessary to address public concern and high risk perception, and maintain trust in government."

"[A national Missile Warning Protocol had been ratified and] initial engagement [with the provinces and territories had taken place]."

Internal Public Safety Canada 

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and the Dnipro River are seen on the other side of Nikopol, Ukraine. (Evgeniy Maloletka/The Associated Press)

The possibility -- remote or immediate -- of a tactical nuclear exchange taking place in Europe, or the potential of a spread of radiation from a power plant explosion in Ukraine has motivated Internal Public Safety Canada to update its emergency protocols. Measures, according to the release of the notes, include updating a highly secret plan to ensure continued functionality of the federal government within a severe crisis. 

Steps were underway to finalize a protocol for advising the Canadian public of an incoming ballistic missile, an issue the notes also address, according to The Canadian Press which obtained the notes under the Access to Information Act. A series of federal discussions and initiatives supporting Canada's catastrophic nuclear event preparedness was prompted with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022.

The notes were prepared in advance of a meeting of senior bureaucrats involved in emergency management, arising out of concern focused on the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine, hit by shelling. The anticipation was that the potential for an uncontrolled release of radioactivity through direct exposure or by eating contaminated food would be dependent on regional proximity to the plant. Potassium iodide pills were procured by Global Affairs Canada as a precaution, stocks distributed to Kyiv and other diplomatic missions.

 

Outside of Ukraine itself, following a major radiation release from Zaporizhzhya, no radiological effects to health were foreseen. Public Safety, under the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan, would coordinate communication to the public in the event of an international nuclear event. The Continuity of Constitutional Government plan was also undergoing a "rapid refresh" of the process for relocating key institutions such as Parliament and the Supreme Court to an alternate site outside the National Capital Region which could become a target of possible Russian retaliation of unfettered support of Ukraine.

Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine

 

"I think that shows a responsive system. It's actually very encouraging that they're taking a good, solid look at this now."

"[Overall, Canada has long had well-thought-out and developed plans for dealing with a nuclear emergency, given the number of power reactors on its soil]."

"I honestly believe that we're in decent shape. Can it get better? Yeah, anything can get better."

"[Although some sensitive material in the newly released notes was withheld from release, it] looked encouraging that they were addressing the right things."

Professor Ed Waller, researcher of nuclear security, Ontario Tech University

Brookings Institute