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In Britain and Canada alike, university fees are too high—and getting higher

simon wallace

Last week thousands of British students descended on London’s Conservative Party headquarters to protest drastic increases in tuition fees. Despite protestations from Liberal-Democrat leader Nick Clegg, the changing fee structure will make education much more costly—potentially three times more costly—for all students. Proponents of the fee hikes trotted out the usual lines about parental support, reasonable […] More »
September-October 2010

Canada is more diverse than ever—except in the halls of power

Gary PietersWebsite

Canada is no longer the Great White North—except at the boardroom table. Consider this: the population growth of racialized or non-white groups continues to outpace that of white Canadians. This has created a shift in the demographic balance of the Canadian mosaic, with our population on its way to becoming a “minority majority.” According to […] More »

Margin of Error #5: Don't just preserve the long-form census. Set its data free

allison martell

I suspect you already know why I think scrapping the long-form census is a terrible idea. Good data is good for society. Done right, statistical research keeps us all honest, forcing us to interact with the world as it actually is, rather than imagining ourselves as part of a reality that is personally or politically […] More »

Margin of Error #4: Inside Maclean's dangerously empty statistics on teenagers

allison martell

The online version of Maclean’s recent piece on young women really doesn’t do the print version justice. “Inside the Dangerously Empty Lives of Teenage Girls” was splashed across the cover, along with two dangerously empty looking girls. As usual, the cover suggested something more comprehensive and controversial than the actual article inside the magazine—in this […] More »

Margin of Error #3: Why journalists of the future must be math-literate

allison martell

A year of layoffs and anaemic ad buys has given journalists an excuse to turn inwards like never before. By now, even folks outside the industry must be sick of hearing about the Future of Journalism — my own fervent hope is to never read another article about social media for reporters. But I do […] More »

Margin of Error #2: Why charter schools may not be as good as you think

allison martell

The charter school movement is enjoying something of a renaissance in the United States. Charter schools—which receive public funding but are privately run, thus removing some features of normal public schools, notably established teachers’ unions—are one of President Obama’s priorities.  They are also the cause du jour for New York City’s hedge fund managers. Education […] More »

World Aids Day by the numbers

Graham F. Scott

Year by which G8 countries pledged “universal access” for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and care: 2010 Estimated number of people, globally, currently receiving that care: 4,000,000 Estimated number of people, globally, still waiting on that pledge: 5,000,000 * Percentage of Canada’s population that is Aboriginal: 4% Percentage of new Canadian HIV/AIDS patients who are Aboriginal: 10% […] More »

Margin of Error #1: How much is a university degree really worth?

allison martell

[Editor’s note: Today, we introduce a new regular feature on the blog: Allison Martell will write “Margin of Error” once a month, looking at numbers and statistics in the news. Visit her website or follow her on Twitter.] Welcome to Margin of Error. Each month, I will be picking apart some number or statistical problem […] More »

Friday maybe-FTW: NDP name change has everyone talking. Good.

Graham F. Scott

The New Democratic Party convenes today in Halifax for its federal convention, and one of the hottest questions is whether the party will drop the “New” from its name. Sure, there’s a bunch of boring old policy meetings and stuff, to, you know, lay out a vision for the country and junk, but there’s something […] More »