Wednesday, August 20, 2025
ADVT 
National

B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Apr, 2020 10:39 PM
  • B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic
  • B.C. university creates institute to take microscope-telescope view of pandemic
< 12 >

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed the world at a tipping point that's challenging social, political, economic and environmental structures, says the director of a new academic research institute at British Columbia's Royal Roads University. Dr. Thomas Homer-Dixon said Monday the pandemic is an event with the power to cause those structures to fall like dominos or shift radically to new paths.

"I don't think people for the most part have recognized the reality of this factor of the possibility of tipping events," he said at a news conference. "But now we've all experienced it together over the recent weeks and have much more familiarity with what it means."

Canadian-born Homer-Dixon, an author who researches threats to global security and has previously taught at the universities of Toronto and Waterloo, was introduced as the director of the newly created Cascade Institute at the university.

Homer-Dixon cited the rise of a "soft authoritarian regime" in Hungary and recent social distancing protests in the United States as examples of fast-moving social and political reactions connected to the pandemic.

The collapse of the cod fishery in Eastern Canada in the early 1990s and the stock market crash in 2008 are examples of earlier tipping events that changed society's structures in Canada and globally, said Homer-Dixon.

"I think this has been a rude lesson for people around the world in just how fragile our circumstances are and the stability and everyday patterns of our lives," he said at a news conference. "I think it's a wake-up call because the expectation would be if we continue down this pathway with these converging stresses that we will be seeing more and more serious shocks."

University president Philip Steenkamp said the institute will bring together research leaders to address challenging and connected issues facing the world, which include the pandemic, climate change and economic inequality.

He said the university has plans to operate the institute for a decade, which will challenge researchers to study, develop and propose solutions to society at large as opposed to focus primarily on academic pursuits.

Homer-Dixon said the institute will examine issues connected to the pandemic in microscopic detail, while also taking a longer telescopic view to the future. He said the research will offer new approaches and possible solutions to face the many challenges posed by the pandemic.

"Fundamentally, we face the possibility of tipping towards a situation in the future under these multiple stresses of division, of animosity and potentially violence," he said.

The path could also move in an opposite direction towards a belief system of solidarity and community as a response to the challenges of the pandemic, Homer-Dixon said.

"It's quite possible we're at a cuspal moment in history, not just nationally but globally which will determine which of these pathways we follow."

MORE National ARTICLES

Canada focused on fighting COVID-19 Trudeau steers clear of WHO controversy

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused Wednesday to join the escalating global debate about the World Health Organization's handling of the COVID-19 crisis, insisting Canada remains focused on working with experts around the world to combat the pandemic. Trudeau repeatedly batted back questions about Donald Trump's plan to halt funding to the UN agency and review what the U.S. president says was a failure to properly assess the threat posed by the novel coronavirus back in January.

Canada focused on fighting COVID-19 Trudeau steers clear of WHO controversy

With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months

Canada could see the end of the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic before autumn, according to federal projections, but only if strong physical distancing measures are strictly maintained the whole time. Even in that best-case scenario, the federal public health agency projects that a total of 4,400 to 44,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months.    

With strong control measures, the federal public health agency projects that 11,000 to 22,000 Canadians could die of COVID-19 in the coming months

Canada lost more than a million jobs in March, but April may be even worse

The Canadian economy lost an unprecedented one million jobs in March — the worst recorded single-month change — as the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, lifting the unemployment rate to 7.8 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Thursday. The loss is eight times worse than the previous one-month record, yet economists warned it will likely be even worse in April, when the impact of physical distancing practices and other measures became clearer and millions of Canadians began receiving emergency federal aid.

Canada lost more than a million jobs in March, but April may be even worse

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

Total number of cases broken down by province and the total number right across the country. 

The latest numbers on COVID-19 in Canada

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19
B.C. Finance Minister Carole James says the province lost 132,000 jobs last month, but it's going to get worse before it gets better due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She says the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force numbers indicate B.C.'s jobless rate rose to 7.2 per cent from five per cent in March.

BC Finance Minister Carole James projecting a grim outlook of the job market in the wake of COVID-19

PM Justin Trudeau feels normalcy can only return with a vaccine in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says while he hopes to spend some time with his family this Easter weekend, his focus is on getting new emergency aid legislation passed. He says discussions with opposition parties continue on the bill, which backs up the new wage subsidy program. Trudeau says it is important to debate the democratic processes that could be put in place in the COVID-19 era, which the opposition wants to have.    

PM Justin Trudeau feels normalcy can only return with a vaccine in the COVID-19 Pandemic