Ahh the 1980s. What a time to have lived through….when the panache of the laid back 1970s transformed into an MTV generation that fueled itself with (briefly) New Coke, parachute pants, Mr. T and Miami Vice. You may already know about “the car”- the one that taught Tom Cruise how to drive a stick and made famous the line “Porsche, there is no substitute”, but as the decade closed and styles began to change so too did the vastly misunderstood yet gorgeous 928.
Enter the 1989 Clubsport
Highlights
A matching numbers German-market example initially retained by the Porsche factory per its Porsche Germany build sheet
One of just seven lightweight 928s optioned with the “M637” Club Sport package built for 1989, one of Porsche’s rarest creations
Special lightweight Club Sport package features include the absence of a sunroof, a lighter exhaust, a lack of undercoating, and lighter magnesium-alloy wheels
Special sporting Club Sport package features include manual sport seats, short throw shifter, limited-slip differential, lowering by 20 mm, 150 mm wider track, and special badging
Fitted from the factory with special “SP” stamped “M28/41” 5.0-liter V8 engine producing a conservatively factory rated 320 PS
The only 928 Club Sport finished in Forest Green Metallic (Tannengrün Metallic) over a Cashmere Beige and Black leather interior
There are rare Porsches that many know about — the 997-generation 911 Speedster (356 total) and 2010 911 Sport Classic (250 total) come to mind — yet there are those special cars built in low double-digit quantities that are exceedingly uncommon and far less known. Take this lightweight series of 911s, for example. Just 20 1967 911 Rs were produced, only 21 1984 911 SCRS, and just seven years later Porsche produced 22 Carrera 4 Lightweights. The 911 wasn’t the only model in Porsche’s lineup that received the lightweight treatment in small quantities, and it was the 928 on which Porsche engineers interestingly focused their weight saving efforts.
Their initial efforts focused on four prototypes gifted as company cars to each of the four factory 962 sports racing prototype drivers that season: Jochen Mass, Derek Bell, Hans Stuck, and Bob Wollek. All four loved the changes made to their prototypes intended to comfortably transport them across the continent at high rates of speed to the European races. In fact, Derek Bell enjoyed his so much he kept it as his daily driver for 18 years! With such a positive reception, Porsche made these changes available to the public the next year as “M637” Club Sport option. Those 928s optioned with M637 were approximately 120 kilograms lighter than their S4 stablemates due to the removal of comfort features like the rear wiper, a portion of the wiring harness, and PVC undercoating.
Heavier parts were lightened. The exhaust system, a smaller AC compressor, and magnesium wheels special to the Club Sport were added. In addition, the 928 Club Sport featured stronger acceleration due to a modified final drive ratio, short shifter, a limited-slip diff, a transmission without vibration dampening, and sports seats. The Club Sport also featured lowering by 20 millimeters and a 150 millimeter wider track along with special badging. Finally, the Club Sport was fitted from the factory with a special “SP” stamped 5.0-liter V8 engine likely producing more than the conservatively estimated 320 PS, due to special camshafts, a 1 mm increase in valve lift, a modified engine control unit, and a higher rev limit. Following their tried-and-true path, Porsche, along with their racing drivers, developed a 928 with more power, lighter weight, and better handling — a true Porsche Club Sport!
This matching numbers 928 Club Sport on offer is one of just seven production lightweights built for 1989 and is the only example finished in Forest Green Metallic over a Cashmere Beige and Black leather interior. It was originally retained by Porsche AG as a special “Werkswagen” company car for longtime Porsche employee Bernd Kahnau. Kahnau was no mere employee. After his father’s passing – a longtime Porsche employee himself — in 1979, Kahnau was personally recruited to work for Porsche at the request of Ferry Porsche. The former BMW employee quickly became immersed in all manner of important development projects, most notably as a production planner for the 928, 911 Club Sport, 911 Speedster, and 911 models from the 993 to 991.
Beyond being equipped with the highly desirable Club Sport package, this rare 928 was optioned by Kahnau with air conditioning, a tinted windshield, and a Blaupunkt Bremen radio in addition to the sporting items inherent in ordering a Club Sport. It is said that Kahnau was very attached to his Club Sport, as the green on tan livery matched the colors of his English country house! He owned it for approximately two years before it eventually landed with an individual based in Switzerland, where it was located until at least 2019.
Most recently, under current ownership, this matching numbers Club Sport has been the focus of a lavish amount of attention totaling over €65,000 worth of repairs and servicing between 2019 and 2021. Most importantly, following a 33-point Porsche inspection at 120,800 kilometers in 2019, the car visited Landsharks in 2020 for a new water pump, fresh coolant and engine oil, filters, and an oil pan gasket. At the same time the thermostat was replaced, along with the clutch disk and pressure plate, and engine electrical items including the ignition cable, distributor cap and rotor, spark plugs, and two knock sensors.
Underneath, the Club Sport received new brake discs and pads front and rear, a new brake master cylinder, the replacement of the center catalytic converter with lambda probe, and a fresh battery. This work along with other sundry items and parts totaled €22,736.91. Following an accident to the rear of the car, additional invoices from Landsharks that year show the Club Sport was the recipient of cosmetic attention as well with interior saddlery work, a new windshield, new seals, unibody work to repair the rear accident damage, and fresh paint in its original shade of Forest Green Metallic. In 2021, the air conditioning system was refurbished with a new compressor, dryer and a system clean with new liquids and fluids. Today, this rare, well-preserved 928 Club Sport with its matching number engine and transmission is offered with 122,748 kilometers at cataloging with a copy of its Porsche Germany build sheet, recent service paperwork, and manuals.
For each of them Calder establishes a general fated course of movement, then abandons them to it: time, sun, heat and wind will determine each individual dance… Each of its twists and turns is an inspiration of the moment… It is a little hot-jazz tune, unique and ephemeral, like the sky, like the morning.
-Jean-Paul Sartre, 1947
[NEW YORK -April, 2024] — GRAY is pleased to announce Calder, an exhibition of sculptures by Alexander Calder from the 1950s and 60s. The decades at mid-twentieth century were especially significant for the artist, whose objective to create space and movement at ever more immersive scales is expressed by the range of work in the exhibition. From the intimate interplay of color seen at a small scale in Contrepoids jaune, c. 1953 to the monumental statement in black and white of Clouds over Mountains, 1962, one experiences the breadth of Calder’s invention in color, volume, form, gesture, and motion.
Calder is the twelfth exhibition at GRAY to include works by the artist, whose 1966 solo show at Richard Gray Gallery was installed at the gallery’s very first location in Chicago. The exhibition opens at GRAY New York (1018 Madison Avenue) on April 18 and will be on view through June 21, 2024.
Clouds over Mountains.
At the center of the exhibition is the large-scale sculpture Clouds over Mountains, which combines a series of angular black silhouettes with four curved white forms that hover above. Celebrated in the year it was made by leading critics such as John Canaday and Donald Judd, Clouds over Mountains is a seminal work, representing a milestone in Calder’s development of expansive standing mobiles.
The exhibition also features two important mobiles: Horizontal Red Moon Gong, 1957 and The Two Yellows, 1962. Both hanging mobiles, the works are key examples of Calder’s ability to find harmonic balance in an orchestra of counterweighted elements created in painted sheet metal, and brass in the case of the former work.
The exhibition takes place in GRAY’s New York gallery on the Upper East Side, the entrance of which is framed by a terrazzo sidewalk designed by Calder in 1970. The sidewalk, a cunning pattern of arcs and rectangles, was commissioned by three galleries then located on the block–including Calder’s long-time gallery Perls Galleries–and stretches from 1014-1018 Madison Avenue.
Calder at GRAY reactivates the physical location of the gallery. From the dynamic sculptures installed within the gallery to the geometric forms fixed in terrazzo outside, Calder’s eye for kinetic potential endures.
ABOUT ALEXANDER CALDER
Alexander Calder (b. 1898, Lawnton, Pennsylvania–d. 1976, New York City), whose illustrious career spanned much of the twentieth century, is the most acclaimed and influential sculptor of our time. Born in a family of celebrated, though more classically trained artists, Calder utilized his innovative genius to profoundly change the course of modern art. He began in the 1920s by developing a new method of sculpting: by bending and twisting wire, he essentially “drew” three-dimensional figures in space. He is renowned for the invention of the mobile, whose suspended, abstract elements move and balance in changing harmony. From the 1950s onward, Calder increasingly devoted himself to making outdoor sculpture on a grand scale from bolted steel plate. Today, these stately titans grace public plazas in cities throughout the world.
Calder’s 1966 inaugural solo presentation at GRAY was the first of a number of exhibitions to feature the artist across the decades, including Sculpture Works on Paper, 1974; Contemporary Masters, 1987; Forty Years, 2003; Fun House, 2013; GRAY at 60, 2023; and most recently Calder, 2024.
In this, our new high tech world, a lot of people may think I’ve gone decidedly crazy.
I’ve always wanted the man cave ‘aka’ cinema room to have a nostalgic feel to it. I started collecting videos at the tender aged of 11. All my friends growing up called me videoboy lol because I was the go-to-guy to get films from on vhs videotape but one format that always intrigued me was laserdisc.
A Little History
LaserDisc (often abbreviated as LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium, initially licensed, sold and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978. No one can say for sure if the disco craze at that time was responsible for its early name or if it was simply a play on the word ‘disc’. Whatever the reason, the early DiscoVisions have distinct cover designs which make them quite collectible and they have a certain unique retro-funk all of their own.
Although the format was capable of offering higher-quality video and audio than its consumer rivals- VHS and Betamax videotape, LaserDisc never managed to gain widespread use in North America, largely due to high costs for the players and video titles themselves and the inability to record TV programs. It was not a popular format in Europe and Australia when first released but was popular in the 1990s. By contrast, the format was strongly embraced in Japan and in the more affluent regions of Southeast Asia, such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, and was the prevalent rental video medium in Hong Kong during the 1990s. Its superior video and audio quality made it a popular choice among videophiles and film enthusiasts during its lifespan. The technologies and concepts behind LaserDisc were the foundation for later optical disc formats including Compact Disc (CD), DVD and Blu-ray (BD).
A Little Boasting
LaserDisc had a number of advantages over VHS (and Beta) videotape. It featured a sharper picture with a horizontal resolution of 425 TVL lines for NTSC and 440 TVL lines for PAL discs, while VHS featured only 240 TVL lines in NTSC (VHS HQ offered 260). It could handle analog and digital audio where VHS was mostly analog only (VHS did have PCM audio in professional applications but was uncommon), and the NTSC discs could store multiple audio tracks. This allowed for extras such as director’s commentary tracks and other features to be added onto a film, creating “Special Edition” releases that would not have been possible with VHS. Disc access was random and chapter based, like the DVD format, meaning that one could jump to any point on a given disc very quickly. By comparison, VHS would require tedious rewinding and fast-forwarding to get to specific points.
Please be kind! Rewind!
LaserDiscs were initially cheaper than videocassettes to manufacture, because they lacked the moving parts and plastic outer shell that are necessary for VHS tapes to work, and the duplication process was much simpler. A VHS cassette has at least 14 parts including the actual tape while LaserDisc has one part with five or six layers. A disc can be stamped out in a matter of seconds whereas duplicating videotape required a complex bulk tape duplication mechanism and was a time-consuming process. However, by the end of the 1980s, average disc-pressing prices were over $5 USD per two-sided disc, due to the large amount of plastic material and the costly glass-mastering process needed to make the metal stamper mechanisms. Due to the larger volume of demand, videocassettes quickly became much cheaper to duplicate, costing as little as $1 USD by the beginning of the 1990s.
LaserDiscs potentially had a much longer lifespan than videocassettes. Because the discs were read optically instead of magnetically, no physical contact needs to be made between the player and the disc, except for the player’s clamp that holds the disc at its center as it is spun and read. As a result, playback would not wear the information-bearing part of the discs, and properly manufactured LDs would theoretically last beyond one’s lifetime. By contrast, a VHS tape held all of its picture and sound information on the tape in a magnetic coating which is in contact with the spinning heads on the head drum, causing progressive wear with each use (though later in VHS’s lifespan, engineering improvements allowed tapes to be made and played back without contact). Also, the tape was thin and delicate, and it was easy for a player mechanism, especially on a low quality or malfunctioning model, to mishandle the tape and damage it by creasing it, frilling (stretching) its edges, or even breaking it.
My NTSC/PAL hybrid player.
LaserDisc players also had several advantages of VHS and other format playback machines. Some models, such as my Pioneer CLD-1850 are able to playback both NTSC movies and PAL movies. Since I live in the UK- this means that I can buy Laserdiscs from America or Japan (or anywhere in the world that uses NTSC video) and they will play in my machine. Try doing that with VHS or DVD. Another important innovation for Laserdisc was the fact that it was the very first home video format to offer Dolby Digital Surround Sound- often referred to as AC-3 on Laserdisc jackets and hardware. Many fans of Laserdisc are still enjoying this feature because some movies such as the Alien AC-3 LD were released with their original cinema surround mix on the AC-3 Laserdisc and those mixes are unavailable on today’s modern formats such as Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray. Many early LD players can even be modified to turn them into AC-3 LD players.
The Death And Re-birth Of Laserdisc
By the time of the advent of the DVD, LaserDisc had declined considerably in popularity, so the two formats never directly competed with each other. In fact, combination LD/DVD players were introduced into the marketplace and continue to be quite popular with collectors as these players tend to be flagship models with advanced features such as digital 3D comb filters and digital frame memory and effects. It’s too bad that I couldn’t afford the format at the time , and I really don’t know why I’ve decided to pull the trigger now as Jez would put it lol.
Prices on the used market are still quite high on these combi players but other machines are affordable and the LD’s themselves can usually be found at affordable prices with exceptions for the ultra rare and more obscure releases. I can’t say exactly
Some of my LD collection.
what has me so excited again about Laserdisc and why I’m back in the hunt but I really like the way the discs are packaged in big vinyl like slips, they look so cool. The artwork has totally sucked me in. I’ve started my journey, but I don’t know where it will end. And of course that journey has to begin with Schwarzenegger LD’S. “Get to da choppa! Hurry!”
This isn’t such a complex principle after all. Essentially, the idea is- if we can see strong similarities in design between say a Planet and between a structure or diagram that represents something else, then the inherent ‘sameness’ means an intelligence is at work, not some form of randomness. We’d love to hear your thoughts- agree or disagree? Comments are welcome at the bottom of this post CP
Nothing exists for nothing, the universe is not itself made, and nothing in it has nothing to do.
The moment Mankind has been waiting for over a millennium has finally arrived. A tangible proof of off-planet life has occurred. The higher powers have at long last shown their hand.
In nineteen ninety nine, a website called ‘The Revelatorium’ was launched. The website revealed many aspects of the higher dimensions not previously known. By the fall of two thousand and thirteen the Revelatorium had morphed into a full revelation of the Intelligent Design by which all of Creation has been blueprinted and expressed.
The verity of the Design has now been proven in real time.
The drawing is Figure 77 in Chapter 8 of the Revelatorium. The figure depicts the cubistic blueprint of the first six dimensions of the Outer Creation according to the formats of the Intelligent design.
This image is of Saturn’s North Pole and was taken recently by the Cassini probe.
If you carefully compare the Revelatorium and Cassini pictures you will see that they are structurally identical. The Revelatorium drawing was done in two thousand and two. The Cassini probe was launched in 2009.
Both have a clearly defined center hexagon area representing the first, second, and third dimensions collectively. Particularly confirmed is the red circle area in the middle.
A second greenish coloured hexagon ring with pink splotches around the first hexagon ring matches the ring of six different cubit designs around the center of Figure 77, representing the fourth dimension.
A third, blue colored hexagon shaped ring with uniform pink splotches around the second ring matches the ring of twelve identical cubit designs around the second ring of six cubits of Figure 77, representing the fifth dimension.
And finally a fourth hexagon shaped ring with faint pink splotches and completely different background color around the third ring matches the ring of eighteen identical cubit designs around the ring of twelve cubits of Figure 77, representing the six dimension.
A close up of the Cassini image in black and white shows the features more distinctly, in particular the first second and third dimensional hexagon and circle aspects in the middle
In short, the Saturn hexagon is a concrete lower dimensional proof of a higher dimensional factor.
The striking similarities in the respective pictures are not coincidental. The Saturn hexagon is home of the Solar System government. The hexagon is a magnetic resonance reflection in the third dimension of the domain’s six dimensional configuration. The population lives within its fifth dimensional band of materialization, represented by the thick ring in the hexagon, and ring of twelve similar designs in the same location in Figure 77.
As the cubistic matrix of Figure 77 would imply, the whole Intelligent Design is dirt simple and can be understood by anyone. The basic elements of the Intelligent Design consist solely of a sphere, a cube, and straight lines. The rules by which the elements work together hold the key. There is aught in existence not of the Design.
In figure 77, the red spheres represents Intelligence, the blue straight lines represent Energy, and the yellow cubes represents Substance. The attribute of the Father is Intelligence, the attribute of the Son is Energy, and the attribute of the Holy Ghost is Substance. Intelligence, Energy, and Substance is all there is.
The two most fundamental elements of the whole Design are The ‘Cube and Sphere of Alpha and Omega’ and the ‘Cubit’.
The Cube and Sphere comprises the entirety of the fourteenth dimension and acts as interface between the un-materialized inner form of the Creators in their fifteenth dimension as the Holy Trinity and above, and their materialized outer form in the thirteenth dimension and below as ‘Creation’.
The Cube and Sphere projected one dimension down to the thirteenth dimension comprises the ‘Cubit’, shown below. The ‘Cubit’ is the basic genome of Creation. By principle of the Cubit the whole of Creation has been blueprinted and expressed.
If you look again at Figure 77, you will see that it is composed entirely of variations upon the cubit. The variations reflect specifically different frequencies according to rule. By the rule the differing frequencies comprise the differing aspects of Creation. By this simple principle, the Intelligent Design is capable of blueprinting and depicting all of Creation in all of its aspects. The current Creation is over nine hundred trillion light years across and still within its infancy.
The Intelligent Design can be found in its totality at website http://www.revelatorium.com/. For details about every thing going on now inter-dimensionally, also see: http://www.revelatorium.com/. For the Silo, Delahnnovahh-Starr Livingstone.
As Canada’s aging population continues to grow, there are concerns about the financial and physical capacity to meet its growing care needs.
Seniors’ need for housing and care is a complex issue involving many government policies and, therefore, government has many avenues for the exertion of control and adjustment over the issue. Much room for improvement is evident in the quality of, capacity for, and financial support for meeting these needs. This analysis provides a summary of the challenges and gaps in the current state of senior support policies and provides insights to inform future policy.
This Commentary examines the household spending patterns of seniors, the availability of different housing and care options, the costs of providing care in different settings, and government policies that subsidize support services in homes, retirement communities, and long-term care. The results show that the availability and costs of different services and types of care vary significantly across the country. In particular, seniors with below-median incomes face affordability challenges related to shelter costs, with these costs becoming a potential barrier to access to retirement homes and other support services if not publicly available. Further, there is unmet need for home care across Canada, which invests less in home and community care than other OECD countries.
To ensure there is adequate capacity to provide care for high-needs seniors, provinces should invest in expanding home and community care and prevention.
Previous research has shown that about 30 percent of entries to long-term care homes (LTC) could be delayed or prevented (CIHI 2017). Investing in expanded home and community support services and providing financial supports for low-income seniors to access the care they need where it is most appropriate, can reduce the demand for more intensive (and expensive) LTC or hospital care. There are waitlists for LTC, and “alternate level care” seniors occupying hospital beds, which contributes to higher costs, lower hospital capacity for other treatment, and lower quality of life and declining health for the affected seniors. In addition, a significant proportion of below-median-income seniors face housing affordability challenges. Ensuring housing needs are appropriately met can improve the quality of life of seniors and prevent premature entry into higher levels of care. Differences in the availability of services and how they are funded across the country can inform strategies to improve accessibility and capacity. Notably, Quebec has more seniors’ care spaces, lower vacancy rates and lower rent charges than other provinces, while providing comparatively more support to senior households through tax credits.
Overall, limited fiscal capacity, growing demand due to demographic aging, and the growing costs and complexity of care needs for aging seniors all present a significant conundrum for policymakers. There is a daunting challenge in determining the appropriate level of support, ensuring it is well targeted, and allowing for seniors to choose what is best for them. Government policies should encourage seniors to remain independent as long as possible, but also ensure they have adequate financial resources and access to support services if they are required.
There are multiple options for housing accommodations as seniors age, and the choice will depend on their preferences, families, level of need, and the affordability and accessibility of the various options. This section discusses the different care needs that seniors might have as they age. It also illustrates the continuum of care: seniors choosing assisted/supportive living accommodations or receiving home care will have a range of needs, and care must be flexible enough to suit an individual’s needs.
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) are a set of essential everyday tasks and activities that individuals typically need to perform to live independently and maintain their overall well-being. These activities are often used in healthcare and long-term care settings to assess an individual’s functional abilities and to determine their level of independence. When someone experiences limitations in one or more of these areas, they may require varying degrees of assistance or care, ranging from minimal support to full-time care. Health professionals use ADL assessments to develop care plans and tailor assistance to meet an individual’s specific needs and promote their overall quality of life. The specific ADLs may vary slightly in different contexts, but the core activities are as follows.
Personal hygiene and grooming: including bathing/showering, caring for teeth, medication management, etc.
Dressing: choosing appropriate clothing and putting it on independently.
Eating: feeding oneself and preparing simple meals.
Mobility and transferring: being able to walk, get in and out of bed, or independent transferring from one surface to another (such as from a bed to a wheelchair).
Toileting and continence: The ability to get on and off the toilet, maintain personal hygiene, and manage incontinence, if necessary.
Medication management: the ability to follow medical care plans without the need for assistance or reminders to take necessary medications.
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living: activities that are not essential to basic self-care, but are crucial to independent living in a community such as managing finances, planning and preparing meals, doing laundry, going shopping for essential items, etc.
Notably, most of the ADLs have little to do with direct healthcare needs. Instead, they are a set of daily activities that could be provided by different types of support services including meal delivery, housekeeping, laundry services, and social activities. Seniors requiring support with some ADLs could benefit from one or more support services, even if they do not have advanced healthcare needs. Healthcare is an important component of supporting seniors to remain independent, however, many of the activities that are required for independence fall outside the traditional scope of healthcare.
The options for support available to seniors are directly related to their care needs. Those who are able to live independently can choose their accommodations based on lifestyle and preferences. Those requiring occasional or minimal assistance can remain in their homes and receive help from family, other informal caregivers, and possibly publicly funded home and personal care services, or they could choose to privately pay for some services such as regular housekeeping or food delivery services. They might also choose to move to a retirement home or community where meals and other services are provided, as well as ongoing opportunities for socialization. As care needs become more intensive, seniors may require ongoing or live-in support from a combination of public or private home and nursing care services, family, or an informal caregiver at home. In the retirement home setting, there are many options to address increasing care needs. However, as care needs become greater, affordability plays a factor in how long a senior might stay in a retirement home before moving to LTC where care needs are generally fully subsidized by government, and room and board charges are limited by regulations.1
At home, those requiring hands-on or total assistance require significant and ongoing care. At this stage, a caregiver must be available at all hours to assist with many basic ADLs, and the options for care become more limited. Those without an available caregiver in the home will likely be best served by residing in long-term care homes that have health providers on site at all times of day. Depending on their health conditions, hospice and palliative care might also be appropriate for end-of-life care. Increasing numbers of retirement homes are offering heavy care and dementia care services, and publicly funded home care can be accessed to supplement some of the costs. This still, however, presents a significant financial burden to seniors. Often, even though a retirement home can safely and appropriately meet the care needs of a senior, LTC becomes the preferred option. Most often, this is because of the cost differential between what the government will subsidize in a LTC setting versus the limited home-care services available to offset privately paid retirement home care costs.2
The options for care and assistance with ADLs reflect progressive levels of need. As care needs become more intense, the options become more limited (and/or costly). Those requiring ongoing care can choose to live in a long-term care home, or might be able to remain in a residential setting – home, retirement home, assisted living facility – if they and their families have the resources to supplement publicly provided services, and if the appropriate services are available privately. Of course, those that are independent have a full range of choices for where they might want to live, except those places reserved for people with higher care needs. More than three-quarters (78 percent to 91 percent) of Canadians would prefer to receive care while continuing to live in their homes as they age, but only one-quarter (26 percent) expect that they will be able to do so (Sinha 2020, March of Dimes 2021). The different types of seniors’ accommodations and short-term respite care programs are described in Box 1. It is important to note that there is overlap between many care options and levels of need – two seniors with similar care needs might use different combinations of services. This is particularly the case for people with minimal to moderate needs for support. Similarly, the options will vary in terms of availability and costs depending on the location, the ownership and operation models of the different residences, and the level of public coverage and involvement in different levels of care. The next section provides a summary of the availability and costs of various seniors’ living arrangements across the country, focusing on provinces with larger populations (BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec).
There are 2,076 long-term care homes in Canada. At first glance, LTC in Canada appears to have a comparable amount of beds and financial resources in comparison to international peer countries. Canada has close to the average number of LTC beds relative to the size of the senior population, but still fewer than countries such as New Zealand, Finland, Germany, and Switzerland. It also has a comparable proportion of the senior population receiving LTC care and homecare, relative to international peers (Wyonch 2021). It spends more per capita than the OECD average on funding LTC but spends less than other OECD countries as a proportion of GDP. The GDP proportion of health spending for inpatient LTC is above average (Wyonch 2021).
Despite higher-than-average spending, there are long waitlists for LTC in many Canadian provinces. In Ontario, there were, as of Oct. 2022, almost 40,000 seniors waiting for LTC, and 76,000 receiving care; this means the waitlist currently exceeds 50 percent of care capacity (OLTCA).3
The median wait time was 130 days in 2021/22 (213 days for entrants from the community, and 80 days for hospital entrants) (HQO). In Quebec, the waitlist is much smaller (4,235 as of June 2023). However, seniors might still wait up to two years for a placement (Bonjour Résidences).
The cost of long-term care varies across provinces, but charges payable by the resident to cover room and board are generally standardized by regulation within each province. For example, in Ontario the maximum monthly co-payment for LTC is $1,986.82 – $2,838.49 depending on whether the room is shared or private. In Quebec, room and board charges for public and contracted private long-term care homes (CHSLD or centre d’hébergement et de soins de longue durée) are $1,294.50 – $2,079.90, depending on the type of room. Quebec also has unsubsidized (uncontracted) private CHSLD, where the average monthly costs are between $5,000 and $8,000, depending on resident’s needs (Bonjour Résidences).4More than half of LTC homes (54.4 percent) and the majority of retirement homes are privately owned and operated. There is no consistent ownership pattern across the country: in five provinces, the majority of LTC homes are privately owned and operated, with the other provinces having majority public ownership. All LTC homes in the Territories are publicly owned. Both publicly and privately owned LTC homes provide ongoing care for some of the most vulnerable members of society. At both public and private LTC homes, healthcare is publicly funded and most support services will be included in room and board rents. Seniors must require significant care to qualify for LTC.5
Individuals requiring support who don’t have a caregiver in the home are much more likely to be admitted prematurely to LTC homes. Indeed, about one in nine new entrants could potentially have been cared for at home or in a retirement home setting. These new residents are more likely to have previously lived alone or in a rural area where formal and informal supports are less likely to be available (CIHI 2020b).
Retirement homes offer a wide variety of services and programs targeted at different client types. These include those who are fully independent and wish to live in a congregate setting for the lifestyle and social benefits, those with mild to moderate care needs, those with heavier care needs, and those who require specific dementia care programs and supports. In Ontario, for example,15 percent of homes provide dementia care, 34 percent provide assistance with feeding, and the majority provide services to assist with other ADLs (Roblin et al. 2019). Prices of retirement home care vary significantly by location, as well as by amenities and services offered as they are market driven (and are not generally directly government subsidized). Various provinces have senior rental accommodations that provide care needs: in Quebec the services are called “seniors’ residences”; in BC “assisted living”; in Ontario “retirement homes”; and in Alberta, “supportive living.”
Many retirement homes offer more extensive health and personal care services. These additional services increase costs for seniors since they are either charged as additional services or will be incorporated into higher room and board costs. In Ontario, if these additional services are provided by the retirement home, the additional services are not directly publicly subsidized. In some cases, residents in retirement homes might also receive home care or assisted living support that is provided by a separate agency, either publicly or privately. Most retirement homes are privately owned and operated. Their activities and levels of care provision are regulated by provinces, but prices will be determined by market factors and the amenities and services offered in each location.
In Ontario, retirement communities are regulated by the Retirement Homes Act, 2010 (RHA), and are licensed and inspected by the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority (RHRA).6Each retirement community can offer up to 13 care designated services, for example, assistance with dressing and personal hygiene, medication management, and providing meals. Services might also be publicly provided through home care. About half of seniors currently living in retirement homes have care needs that would qualify them for publicly provided home and community care. Home care services supplement the care services in the retirement home at no cost to the resident and assist with affordability of the retirement living option for seniors with care needs.
In Quebec, private seniors’ residences are rental facilities that are mainly occupied by people over 65, and offer various services such as nursing care, meal services, housekeeping, and recreation. Private seniors’ residences must hold a certificate of compliance from the Government of Quebec ensuring they comply with health and safety rules. Similarly, in Alberta, the provincial government sets accommodation standards for supportive living facilities. Supportive living operators require a licence if they provide accommodation and support services to more than three people, provide meals or housekeeping services, and arrange for safety and security services. Alberta also has Designated Supportive Living where access is determined by an assessment by a health professional, room and board charges are determined by the Alberta government, and accommodations provide 24-hour publicly funded health and personal care services on site.
In British Columbia, retirement homes are divided into categories: independent living, and assisted living.7Assisted living is divided into three classes: i) seniors and persons with disabilities who have chronic or progressive conditions, ii) mental health care, and iii) substance use care. Assisted living residences provide housing, hospitality services and support services, and they may be privately paid, publicly subsidized, or a combination of both. Independent living seniors’ residences are essentially retirement homes targeted to seniors who need minimal assistance and are not generally publicly subsidized. For seniors requiring assistance, assisted living spaces are publicly subsidized based on income: a maximum of 70 percent of after-tax income goes to housing and support services in assisted living. However, there is a minimum fee of $1,093.50 per individual ($1,665.60 per couple) and maximum monthly rate for publicly subsidized assisted living is based on market rates for rent and hospitality services in the same geographic area.
Though individual retirement homes and assisted living facilities might have waitlists, there are fewer concerns about overall capacity. Across provinces, both standard and heavy care spaces are at least 10 percent vacant (Figure 1).
Alberta has the highest vacancy rate for standard care spaces (26.8 percent) and the lowest vacancy rate (10 percent) for heavy care spaces, suggesting a need to transition some standard spaces to heavy care spaces as the population continues to age and care needs intensify across the senior population. Ontario notably has the fewest seniors’ care spaces relative to the size of the senior population, particularly for heavy care units (3.0 spaces per 1,000 seniors over age 75). A long waitlist for LTC and few spaces for seniors with less intensive – but still significant – care needs suggest a need to expand the number of spaces available for seniors across the care continuum. Notably, British Columbia has the highest vacancy rate for heavy care spaces, despite having relatively few spaces (14.4 per 1,000 seniors over 75). It also has the highest rent among provinces for heavy care spaces ($6,726/month) and the largest increase in rent between standard care and heavy care spaces (Figure 2).
Quebec has more than three times the amount of seniors’ housing spaces in comparison to other provinces, relative to the size of the senior population. It also has the lowest median rent for both standard and heavy care spaces by a large margin. Median rent for a standard care space ($1,873/month) is about half the cost of other provinces, and a heavy care space in Quebec ($3,566/month) costs less than a standard care space in Ontario ($3,845/month).8Quebec having triple the supply but similar vacancy rates to other provinces suggests that lower prices are a result of a significantly higher supply of seniors’ care spaces.
Demand is also likely to be higher in Quebec due to policies that indirectly support private seniors’ residences and LTC through medical expense and home care tax credits.
Home care covers a broad range of services, including personal support for ADLs, homemaking services such as housekeeping, laundry services and meal preparation, and can include professional services such as nursing, occupational therapy, or social work. Across Canada, about 6.1 percent of households receive home care services and 2.8 percent of households have unmet home care needs (Table 1). Unmet need is highest in British Columbia and Ontario, and lowest in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Notably Quebec and Atlantic Canada also have the highest proportion of households receiving home care.
In Ontario, publicly covered services are generally tailored to an individual’s needs and delivered in their residence (a home in the community or retirement home), following an assessment by a case manager or health professional. Services are delivered by third-party agencies that can operate on a non-profit or for-profit basis. In Quebec, seniors can access discounted home help through the Financial Assistance Program for Domestic Health Services program. After approval, seniors receive a discounted hourly rate for various home care and support services provided by qualifying domestic help and social economy businesses.9 Many services provided by home care agencies and domestic help businesses can also be purchased directly through the private market. This option gives a completely free choice of services, without the need to qualify for government assistance, but must be paid for out-of-pocket. In BC, home support services can be purchased privately, or can be publicly subsidized, based on eligibility. If publicly subsidized, home care recipients are charged a daily rate for services, based on their income.1010 In Alberta, home care is narrowly defined as providing medical support for people so they can live in their homes. After an eligibility assessment, services are provided under Alberta Health Care Insurance meaning that if a service is not insured, it is not publicly funded.
Over half of home care services are paid from government sources (52.2 percent), and 7.3 percent are covered by insurance. More than a quarter (27 percent) are paid for out of pocket (Gilmour 2018). Government sources are more likely to cover health home care services than support services. In 2015/2016, more than half of nursing care services (54.3 percent) and 42 percent of other healthcare services had a monthly cost (Table 2).
In many cases, seniors receiving home care will also receive help from informal caregivers (for example, family members, neighbors, and adult children). Informal care reduces the direct public costs of supporting a senior to maintain their independence in their home, but it can represent economic deadweight loss if informal caregivers reduce their hours of paid work.11In addition to formal in-home services, there are also seniors’ day-programs to provide care throughout the day, and respite care beds for when informal caregivers might need additional support or if the senior needs additional care for a short period of time.
Depending on the jurisdiction, “assisted living” services overlap somewhat with home care and retirement home services, but generally target those with higher care needs.
Assisted living programs are defined differently across the country. In Quebec, “Resources intermediaries” provide housing and access to support services for individuals with minor to moderate loss of autonomy. In British Columbia, Assisted Living provides housing, hospitality, and social and recreational services to adults requiring a supportive environment due to physical and functional health challenges. In Ontario, Assisted Living Services provide support for people with special needs who require services at a greater frequency or intensity than home care, but without the medical monitoring or 24/7 nursing supervision that is provided in long-term care. Services are provided by third-party agencies that operate on a not-for-profit basis. In Alberta, Designated Supportive Living is broken down by levels of service, ranging from 24/7 provision of health and personal care services for those living independently, to providing specialized residential dementia care (AGO 2021).
Assisted living services are generally publicly funded, with limited room and board co-payments when housing is included in services. They are targeted to cover gaps in the continuum of care between independent living options and long-term care, and the services provided can overlap with both to ensure appropriate levels of support are provided and seniors are not prematurely admitted to long-term care.
Alternate Level of Care patients are people occupying an inpatient bed, but whose needs no longer require acute level care. ALC patients occupy 12.7 to 27.5 percent of beds in acute-care centres across the provinces and represent 15.5 percent of all acute-care bed-days in Canada (excluding Quebec) in 2021-2022 (CIHI 2023). ALC patients are most often admitted to acute care as a result of an injury or illness, but subsequently cannot be discharged home as their clinical condition requires new additional support and/or care services such as home care, transfer to a long-term care facility, or another form of specialized care (rehabilitation, psychiatric or complex). In some cases, ALC patients might be admitted for predominantly social reasons: no acute or rapidly accelerating medical condition is present, but certain circumstances force patients and caregivers to turn to emergency departments (for example, real or perceived failing of social services or lack of adequate community supports) (Durante et al. 2023).
ALC patients represent a complex health system challenge with many contributing factors. Lack of access to preventative and primary care services, or to home care and other social services, can result in patients going to emergency rooms when an alternate level of care would be more appropriate. Similarly, a lack of capacity in home care or long-term care can result in ALC patients remaining in hospitals for extended periods of time. Both scenarios represent an inefficient use of limited (and expensive) hospital resources and constrain capacity to provide acute care. From a financial perspective, each ALC patients represent a cost of $730 to $1,200 per day to Canada’s healthcare systems (Whatley 2020).12
While inefficient spending is concerning, preserving limited acute care bed capacity is necessary to prevent bed shortages and ensure accessibility for Canadians. Canada has fewer hospital beds relative to the size of the population than most OECD countries, and high occupancy rates in acute care beds show that the system is strained. While there is no agreed upon “optimal” occupancy rate, 85 percent is often considered the maximum rate to reduce risks of bed shortages. The average across OECD countries was 69.8 percent in 2021. Canada was one of three countries to have a rate over 85 percent and had the fewest beds per capita in the high-occupancy group (OECD 2023).13If Canada reduced the number of ALC patients and the number of days an ALC patient spends in hospital, it could significantly reduce acute care capacity concerns. A 13 percent reduction in ALC days would be sufficient to bring acute care occupancy down to below the 85 percent occupancy threshold to prevent hospital bed shortages, since ALC patients currently occupy 15.5 percent of capacity.
There are opportunities to reduce ALC patient days, both from within the hospital setting and by improving and expanding community and support services. Increasing the number of seniors’ care spaces, increasing the scope and provision of home care, improving primary care access and ensuring that necessary support services are accessible and affordable for seniors would all alleviate the strain on hospitals by preventing admissions and allowing for more rapid discharge of ALC patients to alternate levels of care. Within hospitals, incentives for physicians, families, and the hospital generally encourage longer than optimal stays. Front-line clinical staff (especially physicians) have strong incentives to avoid conflict and risks resulting from acute-care discharges (Chidwick et al. 2017).14Hospitals in some provinces charge a daily fee to recoup the costs resulting from ALC hospitalizations. The fees are generally equivalent to the daily rates for room and board in LTC, not the full cost of an acute care bed. This means that there is little incentive for seniors or their families to prefer one care setting over the other if a patient is destined for long-term care. The hospital, however, cannot charge patients this fee unless they need continuing or chronic care – destined for more or less permanent institutional care.15Hospitals, therefore, have an incentive to designate ALC patients as chronic and in need of long-term care, so that they can recoup costs. In Quebec, hospitals do not charge fees related to ALC. In that case, seniors and their families have an incentive to prefer hospital care over home care, a retirement home or a long-term care home since these options do have financial costs. Provinces should examine their hospital fee policies related to alternate level care to ensure that clinicians, hospitals, and seniors are not incentivized to provide or receive more advanced healthcare services than are necessary to meet the needs of the patient. Hospitals should also evaluate policies and guidance for clinicians and front-line workers on making discharge decisions to reduce referral to long-term care when it can be avoided.
Addressing the unmet care and housing needs of seniors could significantly reduce the number of ALC patients and their lengths of stay in hospitals. Reducing ALC days and admissions would likely be sufficient to reduce the strain on acute care capacity to levels more comparable to international peers and reduce the risk of bed shortages.
Different settings and types of service provision, with different public programs and levels of subsidization, make comparison across provinces challenging. In this section, I compare public costs of seniors’ healthcare across the country and provide estimates of the public costs of care provision across different settings in Ontario and Quebec.16
Rather unsurprisingly, per capita health expenditure increases with the age of the population, since older and frailer individuals have increasingly intensive healthcare needs. There is some variability between provinces, with New Brunswick and British Columbia having lower spending per capita on care for seniors. Across the country, more than $1 of every $4 of provincial government healthcare spending goes to caring for people over 75 years of age. From 2010-2020, total provincial and territorial government spending on healthcare for the population over 75 increased by 40.5 percent to $52.77 billion, while total government spending on healthcare increased by 56 percent. In some provinces, increases in seniors’ healthcare spending have been driven by growth of the senior population (ON, NS) (Figure 3). Some provinces have contained these increasing costs by reducing per capita spending on seniors’ healthcare (NB, AB, NFL). In others, both increasing senior populations and increased per capita spending contribute to spending growth (QC, PEI, MB, SK and BC). Only in PEI and BC has spending on seniors’ care kept pace with overall increases in healthcare spending.
Meanwhile, seniors are spending more on their own healthcare and living expenses. In 2019, the average senior household (75+) spent $14,440 on housing and $3,260 on healthcare (Table 2). Healthcare costs have stayed relatively constant in real terms from 2010 to 2019, and increased less than total consumption, though private insurance premiums have increased by 117 percent. Food and shelter costs, however, have become more expensive. Seniors who rent their homes are facing challenges in addition to affordability, with more than half of those in unsubsidized rental units having inadequate, unsuitable, or unaffordable housing (Table 3). As needs increase with age, the cost and availability of options will factor into the lifestyle choices seniors make about where they live.
In Ontario, a senior with high care needs would likely qualify for long-term care or assisted living. If those services aren’t readily available, they might require a stay in hospital as they wait for an assisted living or long-term care bed to become available. Regardless of the care setting, the personal costs are similar.17
From a public finance perspective, however, there are different costs associated with different levels of care. A hospital stay for someone over 80 years of age ranges in cost from $4,306 to $11,361 per episode of care. Long-term care costs the province $5,870.70 per month per patient, and the average cost of assisted living is about $1,494 per month per patient.18Previous analysis has shown that the total cost of care is lower in heavy care retirement spaces than in LTC, and that public costs are significantly lower due to residents paying privately for services in retirement homes (Table 3). Public spending is lower if people receive advanced care services at home, or in retirement homes, than in long-term care. Hospitals are the worst option. They have the highest public cost and are also a limited resource. Every hospital bed occupied by an alternate level care patient (ALC) carries an opportunity cost and makes the bed unavailable for acute or critical care, or surgical rehabilitation and monitoring.
The picture for high needs patients in Quebec is similar to that in Ontario, but with notable distinctions. There are no private costs for a hospital stay in Quebec, and room and board charges for public LTC range from $1,294.50 per month to $2,079.90. Quebec has private LTC homes that cost residents $5,000 to $8,000 per month, depending on level of care need.19The public cost of a hospital stay for a patient over 80 years of age is higher in Quebec than in Ontario ($5,627-$14,488), as is the level of subsidization of public LTC ($5,837.73 – 9,379.60 per month per client, depending on type of room). There are similar public costs associated with a hospital stay or a month in LTC in Quebec, but the need to preserve scarce hospital resources remains, meaning that from a public cost perspective, the preference would be for high needs patients to be in LTC homes. If the senior can afford it, a heavy care bed in a private retirement home or private LTC home is most beneficial, from a public finance perspective. Research has shown that the government pays 79.7 percent of residential care costs and 81.7 percent of nursing home costs, or about $53,500 per user of a residential care facility and $82,400 per user of a long-term care facility. Comparatively, home care is estimated to cost $7,140 to $23,634 per client, depending on level of care need (Clavet et al. 2022).20
For mild to moderate needs, seniors can depend on informal caregivers, public or private homecare services, nursing services, or they can choose to live in retirement homes offering the services they need. In many cases, some combination of services is required. Home care services in Quebec can be heavily discounted depending on the level of assistance qualified for under the “Domestic Help” program. In Ontario, those qualifying for public homecare services don’t have out-of-pocket costs.21 In both provinces, homecare services can also be acquired privately, in which case there is no direct public cost.22 In both provinces, retirement homes are generally privately owned and operated and offer a variety of services across a spectrum of care needs. In Ontario, the average rent for a retirement home is $3,845 per month, representing a less affordable option when compared to average household costs.23 In Quebec, retirement homes represent a slight savings compared to the average senior household’s expenses.24Quebec has many more senior living spaces than Ontario, relative to the size of the population. It also has a much lower vacancy rate. As discussed in detail in the next section, different tax credits in each province provide different levels and types of support which likely affect both the accessibility of different types of support services and the distribution of seniors’ receiving care in each setting.
In addition to publicly provided services and subsidies on home and health care services, there are also tax credits that reduce the cost of support services and equipment for seniors. Quebec makes more expansive use of tax credits to support seniors remaining in their homes as they age than Ontario. People over 70 years of age in Quebec can claim up to 38 percent of eligible expenditures through the refundable tax credit for home support services.25 Services eligible for the tax credit include meal preparation or delivery services, nursing care services, home and personal care services (such as housekeepers, landscapers, or aides to assist with bathing, dressing, feeding etc.). For homeowners, only eligible services can be refunded. For tenants, however, a portion of rent can be considered if it includes eligible home support services. Similarly, retirement home residents can claim the portion of their rent that relates to meal preparation and home care services. The total amount that can be refunded takes into account total income, level of dependence, family structure, and the eligible expenses incurred throughout the year. An independent senior could qualify for a maximum of $7,020 in refundable credits based on the maximum service spending of $19,500. Dependent seniors can be eligible for up to $9,180 in refundable credits. The credit is reduced when family income exceeds $69,040.26
In Ontario, residents over 70 years of age can claim up to $1,500, or 25 percent of eligible expenses up to a maximum of $6,000, through the Ontario Seniors Home Care Tax Credit. Eligible expenses fall into several categories including walking aids, hearing devices, wheelchairs, hospital bed for home use, oxygen, vision, dental, or home nursing care. The maximum tax credit is reduced by five percent of family net income over $35,000, meaning about a quarter of households with a member over the age of 75 will qualify for the maximum credit. Claimable expenses are amounts over 3 percent of net income. The Ontario home care tax credit covers both services and equipment but does not allow for rent deductions, while the Quebec credit is for eligible service expenses only. Notably, the level of support provided by the Ontario tax credit is lower than that in Quebec. It covers a smaller proportion of the population and refunds a significantly lower amount. See Boxe 2 for examples of the difference in refundable tax credits for a senior couple in each province.
The federal government and Quebec also offer tax credits for improving home accessibility. The federal home accessibility tax credit is available to people 65 years of age or older, or those with a disability. Eligible recipients can claim up to $10,000 related to renovations or purchasing equipment that improves the accessibility and safety of the home. The renovations must be of an enduring nature and could include wheelchair ramps, walk-in bathing installations, and support bars. Quebec’s tax credit is similar to the federal credit. The Quebec Independent Living tax credit for seniors covers 20 percent of eligible expenses over $250.
There are also tax credits to support informal caregivers. At the federal level and in Ontario and Quebec, immediate family members can claim a tax credit for providing care for a disabled relative. Quebec also offers a refundable tax credit of 30 percent of total expenses for caregivers paying for respite services that provide a short-term replacement for care and supervision of a disabled relative.27
The tax credits available to help seniors stay in their homes are quite expansive, and generally consider age and household income levels. In some cases, the tax credits have restrictive criteria, such as requiring the person receiving care to have a disability, making them more targeted to the population requiring more intensive and ongoing care. In Quebec, the home support tax credits go a step further than in Ontario by including a portion of rent related to services, making retirement home care partially eligible, and by separating tax credits related to devices and services. The tax credits are also available to different age groups: tax credits for home equipment become available at age 65 under federal and Quebec subsidies and are available to those 70 and older in Ontario. Both Ontario and Quebec have reserved tax credit eligibility for home nursing care and other home care services to those age 70 and over. The timing of the availability of tax credits loosely follows the progression of care needs as people age and is targeted at the population in need of assistance – without requiring medical assessments and case managers to determine eligibility.28
However, there is a significant difference in the level of support provided between Ontario and Quebec. As the examples in Boxes 2 and 3 show, the question of whether a senior lives in an owned home or rented accommodations (including retirement homes) significantly changes the level of tax subsidization received in Quebec, but not Ontario. In either case, seniors are likely to qualify for more refundable tax credits to support independent living in Quebec than in Ontario.
Developing public policies to support seniors as they age should be informed by seniors’ preferences and levels of need. Some senior households requiring lifestyle or healthcare services have the financial resources to invest in adapting their homes, or to pay for services.
Many seniors are homeowners and have the ability to downsize or transition to a retirement home or other rented accommodations using the unlocked equity to pay for their accommodations or supplement publicly provided healthcare and lifestyle support services. A significant number of senior households, however, face affordability challenges and are in inadequate or unsuitable housing. This section provides a brief overview of the household spending patterns of seniors and their housing needs, with the aim of informing policies that best provide targeted support to seniors most in need.
The Household Spending Survey from Statistics Canada provides insights into the number, composition, and spending patterns of households across the country. According to the 2019 survey data, there were about 1,991,750 households with at least one person over the age of 75, representing 13.5 percent of the total.29 Nova Scotia has the highest proportion of households with seniors (15.24 percent) and Alberta has the lowest (10.77 percent). The data show that while the majority of households with seniors are living within their means, senior households with below-median incomes, and those who rent, are more likely to face affordability challenges or have difficulty accessing adequate and suitable housing.
Most seniors live alone or as a couple (42 percent and 35 percent, respectively). The distribution of seniors among housing types is similar to the rest of the population; a majority live in single detached houses (54 percent) and about 3 in 10 live in apartments or condos. The majority of senior households own their home without a mortgage, and seniors are more likely to own a second property than the population average. The majority of households with seniors depend on government transfers as their main source of income (52 percent), followed by other forms of income (27 percent) and employment earnings (17 percent).30In general, 75+ households have lower spending and consumption than the average household and spend a lower proportion of their income.31 Senior households spend less than the average in all categories except healthcare and custodial services (though they still spend less on household operations overall). Examining average income and consumption patterns across provinces shows that the average household with at least one person over the age of 75 can meet its needs and still reserve about 30 percent of income as savings, a similar rate to households overall.
Averages, however, can mask more worrisome spending and consumption patterns at the lower end of the income distribution. Households with below-median income have consumption expenditures that exceed their incomes.32 Shelter and food costs represent about 46 percent of consumption expenditures across lower-income households in general, and 53 percent for lower-income households with seniors. Shelter costs exceed the 30 percent affordability threshold for below-median-income households with seniors.33 It is difficult to determine the level of need from these data alone, since many seniors have significant savings to support their consumption. Lower-income seniors who do not have significant savings would be more likely to face affordability challenges. Ontario has the lowest spending on shelter for lower-income households with seniors ($8,862), and those households have significantly lower shelter costs than the average across lower-income households in the province.34 In Quebec and Alberta, shelter costs exceed 35 percent of consumption expenditure for senior households. In British Columbia, seniors who rent spend 46.1 percent of their income on shelter.
The importance of shelter costs to seniors’ expenditures, particularly below-median income households, warrants further investigation. Statistics Canada’s housing indicators provide further details. Households where the primary maintainer is over the age of 85 generally have higher rates of housing inadequacy, unaffordability, and unsuitability than the average across all households (Table 4). Seniors show higher rates of “core need” housing than the general population (see Box 4 for definitions of housing indicators).
In all major provinces, more than a third of renters are in housing that is inadequate, unsuitable, or unaffordable. There are some challenges related to housing indicators for homeowners. Rates of inadequacy, unsuitability, or unaffordability are generally lower for seniors 75+ than for the overall household average. Those who rent are more likely to face difficulties. Notably, more than a third of senior renters in ON, BC and AB cannot afford to move into more suitable housing.35 Quebec, comparatively, has lower rates of core housing need than the other provinces, suggesting that a higher proportion of households could afford to move to adequate or suitable housing. This implies that Quebec has fewer affordability challenges relative to the other provinces, particularly for renters and seniors, despite similar levels of inadequate, unsuitable, or unaffordable housing.
As seniors age, it becomes more likely that they will downsize housing to unlock equity and/or move to more appropriate housing. Similarly, they might choose to transition to renting accommodations in seniors’ care spaces. Between 2016 and 2021, 36 percent of over-75 households sold their homes (CMHC 2023).36This rate has declined over time, showing that more and more seniors are remaining independent for longer and choosing to remain in their homes as they age. Older seniors are more likely to transition to rented accommodations (including private market rental units, retirement homes and LTC) and are also more likely to require supportive services. Declining rental rates and a higher proportion of seniors owning their homes shows a preference for aging-in-place and shows that many seniors can maintain their independence for longer than seniors in previous cohorts. Most seniors would prefer to age in their homes, but many are concerned that they won’t be able to afford to do so. Some seniors are pooling their resources and investing in shared accommodation and care services (Sylvestre-Williams 2024).
There are also “naturally occurring retirement communities” when the majority of inhabitants of a multi-unit dwelling are seniors, or seniors choose to purchase housing in close proximity to each other. These naturally occurring communities could provide opportunities to improve the efficiency of home and community care services. They also reveal the preferences for housing and support services of seniors with adequate financial resources to be strategic and plan for their desired retirement. This could provide insights for new models of seniors’ care that reduce costs by supporting the independence of lower-wealth seniors and encouraging seniors with means to contribute to the costs of their support services.
Overall, the data on household spending and income show that the average household is able to afford its needs, although spending patterns change with age and require higher healthcare expenditures. In general, 75+ households have lower spending and consumption than the average household.37 Seniors that have below-median incomes, however, are facing affordability challenges similar to other households in the category, particularly with regard to shelter. These insights suggest two important factors to consider in developing seniors’ care and support policies. First, many senior households have sufficient resources to fund some lifestyle support and healthcare services, meaning there could be opportunities to develop markets for seniors’ support services to supplement the under-provision of publicly provided home care. Second, some seniors are facing affordability challenges, meaning targeted support policies that holistically consider housing, support, and healthcare needs could reduce the likelihood that these seniors will prematurely enter long-term care or become ALC patients in hospitals. For the Silo, Rosalie Wynoch /C.D. Howe Institute.
Clavet, Nicholas-James, Réjean Hébert, Pierre-Carl Michaud, and Julien Navaux. 2022. “The Future of Long-Term Care in Quebec: What Are the Cost Savings from a Realistic Shift toward More Home Care?” Canadian Public Policy 48: 35-50.
Chidwick, Paula, Jill Oliver, Daniel Ball, Christopher Parkes, Terri Lynn Hansen, Francesca Fiumara, Kiki Ferrari et. al. 2017. “Six Change Ideas that Significantly Minimize Alternate Level of Care (ALC) Days in Acute Care Hospitals.” Healthcare Quarterly 20(2): 37-43.
Durante, Stephanie, Ken Fyie, Jennifer Zwicker, and Travis Carpenter. 2023. “Confronting the Alternate Level Care (ALC) Crisis with a Multifaceted Policy Lens.” Briefing Paper. University of Calgary School of Public Policy 16(1). Available at https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/sppp/article/view/76748
Nuernberger, Kim, Steve Atkinson, and Georgina MacDonald. 2018. “Seniors in Transition: Exploring Pathways Across the Care Continuum”. Healthcare Quarterly 21(1): 10-12.
Roblin, Blair, Raisa Deber, Kerry Kuluski, and Michelle Pannor Silver. 2019. “Ontario’s Retirement Homes and Long-term Care Homes: A Comparison of Care Services and Funding Regimes.” Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 38(2): 155–167.
Dusty book stall archeologist and writer Jonathan Guyer oversees the far reaching effects of visual culture in our modern ‘all about appearances’ world.
Jonathan Guyer on CBC -Canada Broadcasting Corporation
Through frequent excursions to the bookshops of downtown Cairo in Egypt, Guyer has unearthed a wealth of forgotten political narratives and overlooked illustrative histories. Book-ending his fascination with the alternative story lines of locally appropriated Western comics, Guyer’s faith in the ethical and ideological potential of cartoons and satirical imagery extends to the underground artistic movements of contemporary self-published zine-makers. In his eloquent interview, the prolific and level-headed writer remarks on welcome shifts in the Middle Eastern visual landscape, the necessary and terrifying obligations of artists, and the autonomy of art in an authoritative society.
Bascha Mon Prince Street Rag oil on canvas
Adaptive and indomitable painter Bascha Mon has traced each frame of light between the new and full moons. Bound to spontaneity and guided by intuition, Mon’s practice feels out a logic from the sanctuary and purgatory of a blank canvas. Impelled by the psychic pains of a laboring human family, Mon retrieves the fragments of her commiserating heart from the cold grasp of reality, like pulling her distorted reflection from the surface of the water. Expressed in her stirring and poignant interview, Mon’s necessary attachment to art conceals a deep solidarity with the misplaced souls of the Earth, who struggle to make sense of an existence where whimsy and intense meaning coexist. The sage observer and painter is never dissatisfied by an individual work, as no piece is anything less than perfect if it belongs to a whole.
Shipping Container is a book on Literary Theory by Craig Martin
Reading something interesting?
Tom Allen, is ensnared by the vehement poems of mid 19th century writer Jules Laforgue, the progenitor of free verse in the French tradition and treasure to the great modernist poets. Laforgue fashioned his fervent style of observation from the fiery idealism of the symbolists and the microcosmic subjectivity of impressionism. Another one of our users, Niels Van Tomme, is pleasantly amused by the playful and engaging Shipping Container, Craig Martin’s contribution to the Object Lessons series. Martin’s colorful prose enlivens the itinerant existence of this ubiquitous transport vessel, the unsung hero of our convenient and mobile world.
Urging the flow of time and water is the promise of change made by a fork in the stream.
Marshmello the artic pup, also known on instagram as @cryptopup, made history last week, as the first pet digital collectible art project selected for the lunar museum (“Lunaprise”) on the moon. The project was conceived by Dallas Santana, a well-known film director, web 3.0 innovator and Founder of Space Blue, the company that oversees curation of the Lunaprise Museum. Santana first introduced Marshmello the artic pup, to the world as an digital collectable art project in 2018.
Marshmello To The Moon. NFT by Space Blue
The super rare digital collectible art of Marshmello To the Moon, selling for $950K usd / $1.3M cad each, took off from from Cape Canaveral on a ride on SpaceX Falcon 9 and landed on the moon February 22nd , becoming the first pet dog character to land on the moon since the legendary Snoopy, who traveled with Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon back in 1969. The artwork will be auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds donated towards impactful projects for humanity and animals.
Artwork of the popular adorable pet also made history as the first bitcoin art project to land on the moon and is inscribed as a very popular digital art form called bitcoin ordinals.
The Lunaprise Museum on the moon will house digital inscribed twin etched nickel and nanofiche system of the earth based digital collectibles, along with 222 other curated art projects which will last over 1 billion years on the moon. Marshmello the artic pup character has also already confirmed her official NASA boarding pass to be included in the NASA Mars missions, and other space programs coming up.
The twin images of Marshmello’s artwork will be engraved on metallic lunar plates and digital archives which will last over 1 billion years on the moon. Marshmello’s story and her mission set many space and art history records, including the first pet art project selected for this NASA-administered project, and became the first pet dog character to land on the moon since the legendary Snoopy, who traveled with Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon back in 1969. Conceived by a well-known film director and NFT Innovator (Dallas Santana), Marshmello was first introduced to the world as an NFT art project in 2018, long before the term NFT gained widespread recognition.
The Real-life Dog
Marshmello, the real-life dog, is known for many collaborations with top celebrities, movie stars, models from “America’s Top Models”, and “Deal or No Deal” models, all who babysat the adorable pet. Marshmello found fame without even trying, went viral “peeing” on an Oscar Event Red Carpet ( getting millions of views), got over 50 million views while dating Logan Paul’s Pomeranian “Kong”, and appeared in the NFT movie The 9th Raider and many music videos.
As this pioneering canine character prepares for its historic lunar landing, fans can soon explore the captivating Marshmello furry universe through an engaging book series, with an animation series also in development- also all sent to the moon for archiving as digital twin artwork preserved on the moon. This lovable pet dog character is on the brink of capturing hearts and minds across the globe as it embarks on its groundbreaking journey to the final frontier in art history. As mentioned above, Marshmello the character has also confirmed her official NASA boarding pass to be included in the NASA Mars missions, and other space programs coming up. For the Silo, Tiffannie Ramos.
Social media is a big part of every young athletes’ lives. However, we are still figuring out how it fully affects their mental health and well being. This study examined 591 athletes aged 12 to 19 from 42 different sports. Here is what we found:
Spending too much time on social media can simply make athletes feel bad and give them unhealthy thoughts about food.
They feel this way because they compare themselves to others. They also have trouble sleeping due to too much screen time.
Being accomplished at sports made athletes compare themselves. However, it did not change how they slept, felt, or ate.
Athletes who play professionally or compete at a high level often felt the effects of too much social media on their sleep. This was truer for them than for those who only played sports for fun.
So, it is vital to consider how social media can harm the mental health of young and developing athletes.In the future, we can help them by focusing on the pressure of comparison and ensuring they get enough sleep. This way, they can perform their best in sports and remain healthy in mind, body and spirit. For those interested in exploring more about maintaining a balance between digital engagement and health, resources like this one from our friends at Hellspin casino review might offer extra insights into managing digital consumption.
Definition of Mental Health
You can feel happy and fulfilled in some parts of your life while also dealing with mental health issues. This idea tells us that taking care of our mental health is not about fixing or avoiding problems. It is also about improving our lives and the places that are so good inside. This means we should look at everything. We should look at where we live, the people around us, and how we care for ourselves. This will help everyone feel their best. So, it is not about getting rid of the bad stuff but also adding more good things to our lives. This way, we care for our mental health thoroughly and helpfully.
Social Media Stress & Recovery in Young Athletes
Young athletes have a lot on their plate. They have the usual stuff like school, friends, dating and hobbies outside of their sport. They also have to put lots of time and energy into their athletic development. At a minimum, this means training, competing, and taking off enough time to recover. Plus, they feel a high level of pressure to do well in their sport. This means they are dealing with stress from two significant areas of their life at the same time. They need to find ways to relax and recover. Getting the balance right is critical. They must work hard but rest. It keeps their mind and body healthy.
Media Influence Dynamics: The Differential Susceptibility Model
Few studies have examined how using social media and other digital media affects the mental health of young athletes. One study found that online spending might be linked to unhealthy eating habits. Since young athletes are both kids/teens/young adults and sports players, we looked at research on both groups to learn more. We have found a significant need to understand more about how being online a lot can affect young athletes. It can affect their minds and bodies. By combining what we know about kids and athletes, we find new ways to help them use digital media more healthily.
Decoding Media Usage: Methods and Measures
When measuring digital and social media usage, several dimensions might matter. This is according to Keles et al. (2020). A standard measurement is time spent using digital media (Verbeij et al., 2021). This is an economic measure. It has been shown to match media usage in diary studies (Valkenburg & Peter, 2013). However, recent studies have criticized self-reported digital media time. They say it is not accurate (Parry et al., 2021). Verbeij et al. (2021) report that in adolescents self-reported
Design and Procedure
Before the survey, we made sure everyone knew what the study was about. They knew joining was their choice, and their answers would be kept private. If the athletes were under 18, they and their parents had to sign a permission slip. Once we had their OK, we gave them a unique link to the survey that they could fill out when they had time. We wanted to hear from athletes in many sports and at all levels. This includes beginners and pros. We wanted to look at how digital media affects their mental health. We told them how important their thoughts were for our study and encouraged lots of them to take part. After they finished the survey, we gave them a chance to win something cool as a thank-you for helping us out.
Results
We found a medium link. It connects how well athletes sleep to how much they compare themselves to others. It also connects to their mood and lousy eating habits. We needed to show how these things are connected to make our study’s findings reliable, so we included steps in our research. They compare themselves to others regarding sleep quality and feeling down when eating.
Discussion
This study aimed to explore how adolescent athletes’ digital media usage is related to their mental health, focusing on outcomes verified by the author in previous research. Athletes can struggle with eating disorders and stress. This has led us to look into their body image and eating habits. We also discussed how comparing ourselves to others and lacking good sleep might play a role. Our study checked out how spending much time online and seeing perfect images can make young athletes think negatively about themselves and how tough they are mentally. We also explored how too much screen time before bed can disrupt their sleep. Sleep is crucial for feeling good.
Conclusion
Our study was one of the first to look into how using social media affects the mental health of young athletes. We talked to 591 athletes from all over Germany. They play 42 different sports, so we got a good look at what is happening with young sports stars in the country. We discovered something interesting: Being hooked on digital media is detrimental. It can impact how these young athletes feel. They spend much time on social media. For the Silo, Rina Wagner.
So if you are a relentless adventure junkie, which countries should be on your radar this year?
Our friends at BestCasinoSites.net evaluated factors including the number of roller coasters, casinos, rock climbing opportunities, mountain bike routes, hiking trails, and off-road trails in 61 countries, to compile a global index ranking the best countries to visit for thrill-seekers.
Canada among top 15 countries for adventure lovers
From biking the Gulf Islands to ziplining over Niagara Falls, Canada ranks 12th best country to get that adrenaline fix, earning a notable final score of 6.87/10. With 60,300 hiking trails and 5,980 mountain biking routes, Canada boasts a geographically diverse landscape and is home to North America’s second-highest peak, Mount Logan, topping out at 5,959 meters.
Mount Logan is a whopping 6KM in elevation and ranks sixth in the world for most prominent peak.
Adrenaline checklist in Canada: Experience Niagara Falls on a zipline, Rock or ice climb in the Rocky Mountains, Jump over the Cheakamus River with Whistler Bungee.
Whistler Bungee: offering a 160 foot jump over the glacially fed River below.
France reigns as the adventure capital of the world
According to the study, France is the world’s adventure capital, boasting an overall adrenaline score of 8.86/10. Prized for its stunning mountain ranges from the Pyrenees, Alps to Chamonix, the country offers over 720,000 hiking trails. Test your limits by conquering Europe’s highest peak, the Mont Blanc ranges, towering at 4,810 metres, or by jumping on one of France’s 227 thrilling roller coaster rides!
Adrenaline checklist in France:Cliff Jumping from the Calanques, Rock climbing overhanging limestone in Provence, Cycling on a glacier.
Trailing behind in second is Mexico, achieving a final score of 8.56/10. Your journey to this Latin American gem can be incredibly action-packed as you scale Mexico’s iconic snow-capped cone, Pico de Orizaba, with a peak of 5,636 metres above sea level; tackle one of the world’s biggest sport climbing areas at El Potrero Chico; or indulge in the thrill of games at any of the 364 casinos* Mexico boasts.
Adrenaline checklist in Mexico:Extreme urban downhill biking in Taxco; Bungee jumping at Los Cabos, Zip-lining in the Jungles of Yucatan.
The land of paella and sangria ranks as the third must-visit destination for adventurous souls, scoring 8.41/10. Spain offers an enticing array of outdoorsy pursuits, boasting the highest number of thrill-seeking trails – from rock climbing (10,600), mountain biking (6,430,000), to hiking (10,300,000) – among all cities studied. Spain’s pristine landscape appears tailor-made for adventure enthusiasts.
Adrenaline checklist in Spain:Rock climbing In Picos De Europa; Canyoning at Junta de los Rios; Andalucía, Walking the El Caminito del Rey.
Argentina takes fourth place, earning an impressive final score of 8.34/10. Home to the third highest peak (6,960 metres) in the study, The Aconcagua attracts over 3,000 mountaineers annually, despite being nicknamed the ‘Mountain of Death’. With a whopping 172 casinos*, including South America’s largest casino complex, the Trilenium, Argentina offers ample opportunities for both seasoned risk-takers and casual players alike.
Adrenaline checklist in Argentina: Mountain biking in Bariloche; Ice trek on top of Perito Moreno Glacier, Paragliding with Condors in Córdoba.
From kayaking down the Grand Canyon to cliff camping in Colorado, the United States rounds off the top five adrenaline hotspots, earning an impressive final score of 8.16/10. With the highest density of casinos in the study totalling 2,937 across the country, and over 900 roller coasters – including the world’s second-fastest roller coaster, Kingda Ka – America is a must-visit if you crave the rush of adrenaline.
Adrenaline checklist in the US: Rafting in the Grand Canyon, Mountain biking the Grand Staircase in Utah, Rock Climbing in Yosemite National Park.
For the Silo, Alasdair Lindsay.
Methodology
The experts at BestCasinoSites.net compiled a global index ranking the best countries for thrill-seekers by considering seven factors, including: (i) Number of casinos (ii) Number of roller coasters (iii) Number of rock climbing trails (iv) Number of mountain bike trails (v) Number of hiking trails (vi) Number of off road trails and (vii) Highest peak height in each country.
Note: Countries with more than two missing values were omitted, resulting in 61 countries in the final dataset.
The experts collected the data from the below sources:
Note: In countries where gambling is illegal, the average number of casinos of all countries was taken (excluding US because of being a huge outlier) to ensure fairness and avoid penalising any specific country.
Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body features works from Kelly Akashi, Lisa Alvarado, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Andrea Chung, Sky Hopinka, and Anna Mayer On view through August 17, 2024.
Kelly Akashi, Life Forms, 2022. Collection of Barbara and Michael Gamson. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Paul Salveson.
March, 2024 [Houston, TX]— The Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University announces the exhibition Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body opening May 31 and on view through August 17, 2024. Bringing together new and recent work by six contemporary artists based in the United States, the exhibition explores vital connections between the human body and the land. This focused presentation emphasizes how art and artists can build awareness toward integrated ecosystems in the face of intergenerational trauma, continued exploitation of the Earth’s resources, and climate change.
Featured artists include Kelly Akashi, Lisa Alvarado, Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Andrea Chung, Sky Hopinka, and Anna Mayer. Spanning a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, ceramics, collage, photography, video, and sound, the presentation also features two site-specific interventions commissioned by the Moody. Lisa Alvarado will create a monumental wall mural and Anna Mayer will mount an installation with locally sourced clay consisting of more than fifty new objects. The diverse practices presented in Resonant Earth demonstrate a critical engagement with histories of the land, primarily in the Western and Southern United States. Collectively, the exhibition addresses the local environment while considering the forced migration and displacement of people and plants across geographies.
Executive Director Alison Weaver notes, “This project foregrounds artworks that speak to our lived experience in the United States, highlighting how personal and social histories shape our natural surroundings and our individual bodies. This summer we look forward to welcoming visitors who bring their own experiences to the galleries.”
Sky Hopinka, Mnemonics of Shape and Reason,2022. Still. Courtesy of the artist.
About the Exhibition Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body seeks to illuminate the intertwined social and material histories of specific ecologies, ranging from farms along the US-Mexico border, to former Japanese American internment camps in Arizona, to the extraction of land in and around Houston. With geographical references that privilege biological memory and somatically inherited knowledge over a dominant linear history, these artists highlight the intergenerational pain of displacement and the healing power of reconnection to our place on the planet. The artworks on view echo our fraught engagement with the environment, while implying webs of interdependence in which the natural and the cultural are inseparable. The six selected artists draw on Indigenous and diasporic forms of knowledge, culture, and materials to envision modes of transformation and regeneration in relation to ongoing struggles for environmental and social justice. A selection of new and recent work by Kelly Akashi underscores the artist’s interest in temporality and memory as contained in the land and the body. Her sculptural work incorporates a range of material processes and is installed spatially as a constellation of objects that reference her personal and family history as well as the passage of time, the ephemerality of the human body, and the impermanence of the natural world. For example, in Conjoined Tumbleweeds, Akashi cast entangled plants growing at the site of a Japanese American incarceration camp in Poston, AZ. The bronze sculpture refers to her father’s imprisonment there during World War II. A cast of the artist’s own body, fragmented, appears as a blue crystal hand in Inheritance. Adorned with Akashi’s grandmother’s ring, the fingers wrap around a stone from Poston, invoking the biological memory of the body as well as geological time. Through double-sided hanging paintings, and a major site-specific wall mural accompanied by a sound installation, artist and musician
Lisa Alvarado explores social histories of the land, including the Chicana/o Movement and her own family’s experience along the US-Mexico border. Her free-hanging abstract paintings allude to generations of migrant farmers in the region, while referencing textile traditions and muralism of the Americas.
Compositionally anchored at the corner of the gallery space and expanding outward along horizontal and vertical planes, Alvarado’s site-specific mural suggests “being in-between,” both spatially and conceptually. In the monumental painting that encompasses the viewer, Alvarado also considers meridians—both celestial, in relation to one’s position on Earth and the sky, and those used in traditional non-Western medicine to trace the pathways within one’s own body. Cast from the trunks of non-native trees in Los Angeles, large-scale sculptural works from Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio’sCaucho (Rubber) series reference intertwined histories of plants and people. The artist, whose family is from El Salvador, considers experiences of migration, solidarity, and civil war that resonate with some Central American communities in Los Angeles. Deeply invested in the social histories of materials, Aparicio’s artistic media suggests layers of meaning and the inseparability of the natural and the cultural. For instance, his use of rubber, which is made from the bloodlike sap of trees, recalls its importance as an Indigenous Mesoamerican technology and subsequent exploitation by colonialist extraction and trade. An immersive planetarium installation together with collages by Andrea Chung reflect the interconnected histories of materials, processes, and places of the island nations in the Caribbean Sea and Indian Ocean. In her research-based practice, Chung often subverts tools of European colonialism while considering the multiplicity of the relationships that enslaved people had with the Earth. Inspired by star charts, and seeking to invert colonial maps, The Westerlies: Prevailing the Winds is a dome structure shrouded in cyanotype canvas that invites the viewer to be surrounded by the night sky and ocean as both expanse and enclosure. In collages featuring late-nineteenth-century ethnographic photographs of African women, Chung adorns the images with intricate beadwork, gold ink, and reproductions of delicate flora atop traditional birthing cloth, exploring the relationship between the people depicted and the land. Videos by filmmaker, photographer, and poet Sky Hopinka portray landscapes traversed by the artist, interweaving personal and collective memory. A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Hopinka explores Indigenous homeland and language through rhythmic and poetic accounts. In the selected videos, the artist layers visual and audio recordings, music, and text, to consider intergenerational connections to a place as well as the ongoing effects of colonialism while prompting the viewer to consider one’s own relationship to landscape and memory. Twenty-five pairs of newly created wall-mounted ceramic vessels and sculptures will be part of a site-specific installation by Houston-based artist Anna Mayer, who engages with the land locally. Known for her social and sculptural practice, Mayer’s process involves analog firing techniques while critically engaging pre- and post-petroculture. In her hand-built ceramics, the artist incorporates what she calls “gleaned clay” (available as a by-product of other processes such as flooding, drought, or construction), sourced from the Houston area. Described as “implements” by the artist, the shapes of the wall-mounted objects reference drill bits and hammers as well as body parts and geological sediment. The series will be installed over photographic wallpaper depicting damp cement, suggesting water seeping up from the ground into the gallery. Additionally, Mayer is making new large-scale ceramic vessels that will be positioned among existing furniture at the Moody, underscoring their corporeal presence and connection. This new body of work examines how tools function as an extension of the body, commonly used to excavate earth, while reflecting a polyvalent approach to the land. Resonant Earth is curated by Molly Everett, Assistant Curator, Moody Center for the Arts. The exhibition is made possible by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance, the Brad and Leslie Bucher Artist Endowment, the Tamara de Kuffner Fund, the Kilgore Endowment Fund, and the Sewall Endowment.
Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio, Ruta de las flores, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles
About the Artists Kelly Akashi’s (b. 1983, Los Angeles, CA) major solo exhibition, Kelly Akashi: Formations, originated at the San José Museum of Art (2022–23), and traveled to the Frye Art Museum in Seattle (2023), and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2023–24). Her work is currently the subject of a solo presentation at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA (2023–24) and has been included in several group exhibitions internationally. Akashi is based in Los Angeles, CA.
Lisa Alvarado (b. 1982, San Antonio, TX)has exhibited and performed widely, with recent solo exhibitions at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT (2023) and at REDCAT, Los Angeles, CA (2023). Originally from San Antonio, TX, Alvarado now lives and works in Chicago, IL.
Eddie Rodolfo Aparicio’s (b. 1990, Los Angeles, CA) work is the subject of a solo exhibition at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, on view until June 16, 2024. His work is featured in the 2024 Whitney Biennial in New York, NY, and Prospect.6 in New Orleans, LA. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles.
Andrea Chung (b. 1978, Newark, NJ) has received solo presentations at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI (2023), the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2022), and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, CA (2017). Her work has been exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Center, Los Angeles, CA (2021), the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL (2019), and in Prospect.4, New Orleans, LA (2017). Chung grew up in Sugar Land, TX, and is now based in San Diego, CA.
Sky Hopinka’s (b. 1984, Ferndale, WA) work has been the subject of several solo exhibitions, including at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil (2023), LUMA Arles, France (2022), Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (2022), and the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY (2020). He is a 2022 MacArthur Fellow. Hopinka recently joined the faculty at Harvard University as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, and is currently based in Cambridge, MA.
Anna Mayer’s (b. 1974, Macomb, IL) practice spans Los Angeles and Houston. Her recent solo presentation at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft (2021) was preceded by exhibitions at Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX (2016–17), and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA (2012). She lives in Houston, TX, and is an Associate Professor of sculpture at the University of Houston.
Lisa Alvarado, Spinning Echo, 2023. Courtesy the artist and Bridget Donahue, New York.
Special EventsFriday, May 31, 6–8 p.m. Opening Reception for Resonant Earth: Contemporary Perspectives on Land and Body Celebrate the start of the exhibition with the artists.Saturday, June 1, 4–6 p.m. Dimensions Variable: National Information Society Together with her band National Information Society, featured artist Lisa Alvarado will activate the gallery space with a special musical performance.Fridays, June 7, 14, 21, and 28 at 12 p.m.
The Moody Wellness Series Join us on Fridays in June for meditation and yoga in the galleries, offered through a collaboration with the Barbara and David Gibbs Recreation and Wellness Center. Saturdays, June 8, 15, 22, 29, 2–4 p.m.
Moody ArtLab Guests of all ages are invited to create a hands-on craft inspired by artwork featured in the summer exhibition at our self-guided activity station on Saturdays in June. Materials and instructions provided. Saturday, July 20, 12–5 p.m.
Summer Jam Community Day Celebrate summer at this all-day, family-friendly event featuring an indoor farmer’s market, art activities, and local food vendors.
Featured image: Mnemonics. Sky Hopinka
About the Moody Center for the Arts Inaugurated in February 2017, the Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University is a state-of-the-art, non-collecting institution dedicated to transdisciplinary collaboration among the arts, sciences, and humanities. The 50,000-square-foot facility, designed by acclaimed Los Angeles-based architect Michael Maltzan, serves as an experimental platform for creating and presenting works in all disciplines, a flexible teaching space to encourage new modes of making, and a forum for creative partnerships with visiting national and international artists. The Moody is free and open to the public year-round.
Social Media:@theMoodyArtsPhone: +1 713.348.ARTSAddress: Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University6100 Main Street, MS-480, Houston, TX 77005(University Entrance 8, at University Boulevard and Stockton Street)
Hours & Admission Exhibition spaces are open to the public and free of charge Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and closed on Sundays, Mondays, and holidays. Events and programs are open to the public. For schedule, tickets, and prices as applicable, visit moody.rice.edu.
Directions & Parking The Moody Center for the Arts is located on the campus of Rice University and is best reached by using Campus Entrance 8 at the intersection of University Boulevard and Stockton Street. As you enter campus, the building is on the right, just past the Media Center. There is a dedicated parking lot adjacent to the building. Payment for the Moody Lot is by credit card only. For campus maps, visit www.rice.edu/maps.
About Rice University Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice’s undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as the best value among private universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
Bulletproof Founder Dave Asprey was a sickly person who had Lyme Disease and numerous food allergies. Tired of spending each day feeling ill, he went in search of a way to cure his body and live a better, healthier life. He calls this quest “biohacking” and through it he succeeded beyond his wildest imagination. Using what he learned, he created the Bulletproof brand to help others do the same.
Using his plan, he lost 100 pounds with little exercise, upgraded his IQ by more than 20 points, exponentially increased his health and energy, and enjoys a highly effective life with just five hours of sleep a night. The secret is simply being smarter about what you eat.
The plan calls for eating more organic food, including select fruits and vegetables; increasing daily intake of healthy fats by eating grass fed butter, 100% MCT [medium chain triglycerides- see below CP] oil, brain and octane meats; cutting sugar and processed foods, and drinking mycotoxin-free coffee such as Bulletproof coffee with upgraded coffee beans.
Dave Asprey- super smart guy. CEO of Bulletproof, Author of The Better Baby Book (Wiley, 2011)
Today, Dave along with hundreds of thousands of others, are tougher, stronger professionals who are sleeping better, performing better (mentally and physically), and have improved their ability to handle stress better or eliminated it completely.
Here are his top five ways to ‘Biohack’ your life and body:
1- Get sick less by eating more foods with vitamin D3 and magnesium
2- Upgrade your fuel – Eat the Bulletproof Diet (high healthy fat, moderate healthy proteins, and lots of vegetables).
3- Upgrade your hardware – Practice HIIT [High intensity, interval training CP] not endless cardio
4- Drink Bulletproof Coffee for the boost in brain function and energy while ending of food cravings.
5- Upgrade your software – use technology to train your nervous system to behave the way you want. The Bulletproof FoodSense app measures food sensitivities as an example.
By incorporating these five things, people tie in to a better life overall. They sleep better, perform better (mentally and physically), and improve their ability to handle stress, even to gradually eliminate stresses altogether.
All of Dave’s findings, advice, diet details, and research is available on his website free of in hopes of building a healthier, happier world. For more information on Bulletproof, please visit www.BulletproofExec.com
The honorable Paul Hellyer (dec. August 2021), Canada’s former Minister of Defense, Aeronautical Engineer and Pilot appeared on Russian TV about a decade ago with Sophie Shevardnadze to discuss extraterrestrials and UFOs.
“We have a long history of UFOs and of course there has been a lot more activity in the last few decades since we invented the atomic bomb.” he said.
Hellyer has stated that “UFOs are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head.”
Former Minister of Defence for Canada Paul Hellyer
Shevardnadze asks Hellyer, “Why do you say that UFOs are as real as airplanes flying over our heads?” Hellyer responds, “Because I know that they are. As a matter of fact, they’ve been visiting our planet for thousands of years.”
Hellyer claims that UFOs have been downed by military action, and alien technology has been harnessed by Earthlings.
He stated that, as far as technology is concerned, they are light years ahead of us, and we have learned a lot of things from them. A lot of the things we use today we got from them, you know – led lights and microchips and Kevlar vests and all sorts things that we got from their technology and we could get a lot more too, especially in the fields of medicine and agriculture if we would go about it peacefully.
But, I think, maybe some of our people are more interested in getting the military technology, and I think that’s wrong-headed, and that’s one of the things that we are going to have to change, because we’re going to have to work together, all of us, everywhere on the planet.
Shevardnadze asks Hellyer if shooting down these UFOs is risking an interstellar war, and, if so, “should we be creating a Star Wars force (President Trump created the United States Space Force while in office) to defend ourselves from possible invasion or something like that?” Hellyer responds, “I think it’s a possibility, but it’s a possibility especially if we shoot down every UFO that comes into our airspace without asking who they are and what they want. Right from the beginning we started scrambling planes, trying to shoot them down, but their technology was superior enough that we weren’t able to get away with it, certainly not for a long while.
During that period of time they could have taken us over without any trouble if they wanted to, so I think, rather than developing our own Star Wars to protect ourselves against them, we should work with the benign species that are of a vast majority and work together, and rely largely on them, of course, and cooperate, so that we would be contributing something at the same time; I don’t think there’s any point in us developing a galactic force that would tempt us to ride on our own and get into mischief.”
Mr. Hellyer being interviewed on Russian Television.
“We spend too much money on military expenditures and not enough on feeding the poor and looking after the homeless and sick,’ he said.
‘They would like to work with us and teach us better ways but only, I think, with our consent. They don’t think we are good stewards of our planet.
‘We are clear-cutting forests and polluting our rivers and our lakes. We are dumping sewage in the oceans. We are doing all sorts of things which are not what good stewards should be doing and they don’t like that.’
‘Our future as a species, and here I mean all of the species in the world, is potentially at risk if we don’t figure what’s going on and work together to try and make life more amenable for all of us, and to work with our neighbors from other planets as well.’
Aliens are also responsible for some of our modern technology including the microchip, LED light and Kevlar vest, he said.
Hellyer said there has been a lot more activity with aliens in the last few decades since we invented the atomic bomb.
One of the technological advances that humans have aliens to thank for are Kevlar vests. Hellyer described one group as ‘Short Greys’ who have very slim arms and legs and are about five feet high with large heads.
While Hellyer said he has never met an alien, but has seen a UFO near his cabin on Ontario’s Lake Muskoka.
Hellyer described several types of aliens including ‘Tall Whites’ who are working with the U.S. air force in Nevada. ‘They’re able to get away with that; they had a couple of their ladies dressed as nuns go into Las Vegas to shop and they weren’t detected,’ he claimed.
Another group of aliens are called ‘Short Greys’ who have very slim arms and legs and are about five feet high with large heads. A third group are called ‘Nordic Blondes’ and Hellyer said that if you meet one you’d probably say, ‘I wonder if she’s from Denmark or somewhere.’ For the Silo, George Filer.
One of the greatest rock frontmen of all time, Queen’s Freddie Mercury was famous for his theatrical style and four octave vocal range.
Born Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar, he fled to England with his family in the wake of the Zanzibar Revolution, in which many Arabs and South Asians were massacred. Settling near London, he studied graphic art and design (which he would later use to design Queen’s logo) and sold second-hand clothes with future Queen drummer Roger Taylor at the Kensington Market.
Garden Lodge- Trees in bloom
He fronted a series of bands, but his career really took off in 1973, when he joined with Taylor, guitarist Brian May, and bassist John Deacon to produce Queen’s first self-titled album. He would perform over 700 shows with the band, thrilling sold-out stadiums with his unique style and strong connection to his audience. He died of AIDS in 1991, but his music lives on, with Queen’s Greatest Hits the best-selling album of all time in the UK, and two of his songs “We Are The Champions” and “Bohemian Rhapsody” voted best songs of all time in major polls, and his induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Mercury left his Kensington home to his former partner and longtime friend Mary Austin.
Garden Lodge- Dining Room.
Though he would pursue romantic relationships with men, he considered Mary the love of his life and common-law wife. Garden Lodge is a stunning Neo-Georgian mansion which served as Mercury’s “country house in London”, a sanctuary from his high-intensity life on tour. Meticulously preserved for thirty years by Austin, this time capsule of music history is offered for sale for the first time since Mercury’s purchase in 1980, accepting offers in excess of £30m ($38m usd/ $51.7m cad).
Freddie’s grand piano which once lived at Garden Lodge sold via Sotheby’s Auction for $2.2m USD/ $2.96m CAD.
Garden Lodge’s centerpiece is a two-story drawing room, which once housed the grand piano on which Mercury composed his signature hit, “Bohemian Rhapsody.” French doors lead from the Japanese sitting room to the beautiful gardens. Every room of the house is infused with Mercury’s vibrant personality, with design choices made personally by the artist, including citrus-toned yellow walls in the intimate dining room, and floor-to-ceiling mirrors in the lavish dressing room that once housed his extensive collection of stage costumes. Surrounded by stone walls, the chance to own this unique cultural landmark is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Garden Lodge- A view from the hall looking towards the famous ‘Green Door’.
According to Austin, “This house has been the most glorious memory box, because it has such love and warmth in every room. Ever since Freddie and I stepped through the fabled green door, it has been a place of peace, a true artist’s house, and now is the time to entrust that sense of peace to the next person.”
Freddie- at home in Garden Lodge and in bed eating a meal that needed a peppermill close by.
Kensington is an upscale London neighborhood known for its stately Victorian homes. Nearby options for entertainment include the Natural History Museum, the Design Museum, Kensington Palace, and Kensington Gardens. The chic boutiques on Kensington High Street and star-studded concerts at Royal Albert Hall are both within walking distance. Popular with celebrities, the neighborhood’s notable residents include Eric Clapton, Stella McCartney, Rowan Atkinson, and Dido. For the Silo, Bob Walsh/toptenrealestatedeals
The listing is held by Knight Frank. Photos of Garden Lodge courtesy Knight Frank.
Inuk artist becomes the second person from the West Baffin Cooperative to receive prestigious award.
Kinngait (Cape Dorset), Nunavut – Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona has been named a recipient of the Governor General’s Awards in the Arts for her dedication to the expression and practice of Inuit art and her contribution to Canada’s larger contemporary art community.
ᓱᕕᓇᐃ ᐊᓱᓇ SHUVINAI ASHOONA
For more than two decades, Ashoona has been changing the face of Inuit art. Working from her home base in Kinngait, Nunavut, Ashoona’s ever-evolving drawing practice has resulted in a still growing body of work that stands as a unique contribution to the artistic expression of her time. Ashoona’s innovative drawings, many of which are ambitiously scaled, freely mix elements drawn from historic Inuit culture with contemporary references to more recent history and popular culture.
Untitled. 2010.
Her subjects include fantastical and otherworldly beings as well as self-reflexive images that comment directly on the process and practice of representation. Never content to follow rules and expectations, Ashoona’s unconventional artistic vision has successfully challenged and revolutionized how the public perceives Inuit art and contemporary Indigenous art more generally, helping to create a new space for expression and artistic freedom.
A longtime artist member of West Baffin Cooperative, Ashoona works frequently at the organization’s Kinngait Studios and has become a mentor to many next generation Inuit creators. “I don’t even think about getting awards for making my art,” said Shuvinai Ashoona. ‘I’m just happy when people can see my drawings in galleries and museums and books. I think this award means that many, many people are getting to see my artworks.”
Throughout her career, Ashoona has maintained a busy practice supported by an expansive program of exhibitions.
Her work has been featured in several important exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada, including Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art, that institution’s landmark 2013 showcase of contemporary Indigenous expression from around the world. “Shuvinai Ashoona is one of Canada’s most influential visual artists and has fast become an internationally important creator,” said West Baffin Cooperative President Pauloosie Kowmageak. “Ashoona has achieved remarkable success and recognition for her art practice and for the community of Kinngait; I can’t imagine a more deserving recipient of this prestigious award.”
Handstand. 2010. Stonecut and stencil.
Ashoona has been active within the commercial gallery sphere as well. Her work has been featured in several solo and group commercial exhibitions, many of which have been presented by Vancouver’s Marion Scott Gallery, which nominated her for this award, and Toronto’s Feheley Fine Arts. Ashoona’s drawings have also been collected by many of Canada’s major art institutions, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Musée des beaux arts de Montréal and the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Ashoona has also collaborated with artists from beyond her Baffin Island community, including Shary Boyle (2015) and John Noesthedan (2008).
“Shuvinai Ashoona’s startling expression makes connections and bridges cultures,” said Robert Kardosh, third generation owner of Vancouver’s Marion Scott Gallery. “Her images tell us something important about ourselves and the world we all share. This award acknowledges and celebrates that deep resonance. It’s also a testament to her tenacious dedication to her vision and community.”
In 2022, she produced her first immersive installation, entitled Help Us. Commissioned by the Marion Scott Gallery, Ashoona’s floating constellation of drawn geometric forms was featured that same year at Art Toronto, where it earned critical and popular acclaim.
The last five years have been especially important ones for the artist, not just for her continuing creative growth but also in terms of her growing national and, increasingly, international profile. In 2019, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery in Toronto presented Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds, an exhibition that brought together a decade’s worth of Ashoona’s most ambitious works. Curated by Nancy Campbell, the high-profile exhibition toured to several venues across Canada, exposing the general public to Ashoona’s singular vision while confirming her status as one of Canada’s most exciting and talked about contemporary artists.
The exhibition’s catalogue is itself a monument to Ashoona’s practice and place in contemporary Canadian art. At the beginning of 2019, just as the Power Plant’s exhibition was being launched, it was announced that Ashoona had won the 2018 Gershon Iskowitz Prize at the AGO, making her the first Inuk in history to win this prestigious award. In 2021, as part of the terms of the prize, the artist’s work was profiled at the Art Gallery of Ontario in a major exhibition that was entitled Shuvinai Ashoona: Beyond the Visible, making her work even more visible to a wider audience.
Alongside these major breakthroughs within Canada’s borders has been a recent series of announcements, exhibitions and awards that reflect Ashoona’s steadily growing reputation abroad. In 2021, Ashoona’s work was featured in a solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, entitled Shuvinai Ashoona: Drawings. The exhibition in Miami wasn’t only Ashoona’s first show in a US museum, but it also marked the first time that a US contemporary art institution has presented a solo exhibition by a Canadian Inuk artist.
In 2022, Ashoona’s work was included in The Milk of Dreams, the 59th International Art Exhibition, also known as the Venice Biennale.
Ashoona’s inclusion in this major international showcase brought her distinctive expression to the attention of a global audience for the first time. The official jury’s decision to award Ashoona one of two special mentions brought even more attention to her installation, further attesting to her work’s unique power and appeal. Those same drawings are currently being featured at London’s The Perimeter, in a presentation entitled Shuvinai Ashoona: When I Draw, the artist’s second solo exhibition in the UK. For more biographical information about Shuvinai Ashoona click here. For the Silo, Paul Clarke.
Featured image: SHUVINAI+ASHOONA-2009 untitled graphite coloured pencil and pentel pen.
A romantic restaurant opens in Outer SpaceStarting from 2025, it will be possible to propose during an intimate dinner in space. On board a space capsule lifted by a stratospheric balloon, lovers will have the opportunity to savor an exceptional meal prepared by a French Michelin-starred chef and served by an AI-powered robot.
The agency ApoteoSurprise, specialized in orchestrating extravagant marriage proposals in Paris, is launching a brand-new service priced at 750,000 euros/ $1.1 million cad, allowing the romantics of tomorrow to ask for their beloved’s hand at an altitude of 35 kilometers. Upon their arrival at the spaceport, a pilot will welcome the couple and invite them to board a spherical and futuristic space capsule equipped with top-notch amenities for their comfort. In the center of the cabin, a table will be elegantly set, reminiscent of the most refined Parisian restaurants. The lovers will be introduced to StellarEmbrace, the robot that ApoteoSurprise developed in collaboration with a British startup. Equipped with artificial intelligence, the robot will adapt to the emotions and desires of the couple, providing a truly unique interaction. From the moment they meet, StellarEmbrace will address the young woman by her name and, presenting her with a bouquet of roses, announce that a gourmet dinner for two in space awaits. Lifted by a helium-inflated stratospheric balloon, the pressurized capsule will then embark on a peaceful two-hour ascent, offering breathtaking 360° views of our planet through its immense windows. At an altitude of 35 kilometers, the space module will be above 99% of Earth’s atmosphere, allowing the couple to gaze at the curvature of the Earth, its blue halo, and the total darkness of space. Like only 600 astronauts before them, the lovers will experience the overview effect, a cognitive shift that will redefine their view of the world and connect them to all of humanity. The woman and her partner will take their seats at the table, and for three hours, the robot will serve them a five-course gourmet dinner with wines and champagne specially crafted for the occasion by a renowned French chef with two Michelin stars. A carefully selected playlist will accompany the culinary experience, featuring iconic tracks such as “Space Oddity” (David Bowie), “Across the Universe” (The Beatles), or “Walking on the Moon” (Police). Just before dessert, StellarEmbrace will playfully interrupt the tasting to inform the man that he has forgotten something important. The robot will promptly bring him a luminous box that a secret code will open. Suddenly, the suitor will remember the code and enter it. The box will split in two, revealing a luxurious case containing an engagement ring. The man will then propose to his beloved, sealing his love in the eternity of space. A little later, the capsule will begin its slow descent. After a two-hour journey, the betrothed will be back on Earth, discovering that the robot has recorded every moment of their voyage, from their arrival at the capsule to their tender farewells.
About ApoteoSurprise: ApoteoSurprise is a high-end agency specializing in the organization of spectacular marriage proposals in Paris. Founded in 2006 by the aeronautical engineer Nicolas Garreau, the company offers 30 turnkey proposal packages online. These include the appearance of Cinderella’s carriage with a magical slipper, a shower of 1000 roses covering a yacht during a dinner cruise, the sending of a messenger dove to one’s beloved, a limousine tour with a super-bright declaration of love displayed at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and starting from 2027, a romantic voyage around the Moon. Available at prices ranging from 290 euros to 125 million euros, ApoteoSurprise’s extravagant engagements have enchanted over 2000 lovers in its 17 years of operation. This includes celebrities such as heads of state, Hollywood actors, television stars, or players from the FIFA World Cup.
CENTER FOR ITALIAN ART ANNOUNCES NEW EXHIBITION: NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES ON VIEW NOW UNTIL- JUNE 22, 2024
Nanni Balestrini, Cavallo, 1963. Collage on paper. Private collection, courtesy Frittelli arte contemporanea, Florence
(New York, February/March, 2024) – The Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA) has launched its new exhibition, NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION. ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES, curated by Marco Scotini. This is the first retrospective exhibition in the United States of Nanni Balestrini (1935-2019), an Italian experimental visual artist, poet, and novelist known for his revolutionary artistic practice and passionate involvement in the social-political movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Born in Milan in 1935, Balestrini was a key protagonist of post-WW2 Italian literary and social avant-garde movements: he approached experimental poetry with a visual sensibility stemming from the artistic use of collage, and with a compositional practice that gave importance to the editing and recombining of existing texts (especially newspapers, magazines, and political slogans) in search for the expression of a collective enunciation.
Nanni Balestrini born July 1935 died May 2019
Nanni Balestrini, 65000 Ètudiants, 1972. Mixed media on panel. Collezione Emilio Mazzoli, Modena
Nanni Balestrini, Cronogramma, 1960s. Collage on paper. Private collection.
He worked side by side with contemporary composers interested in the creative potential of stochastic music and the relationship between computer technology and art. Much of his radical artistic and literary research also developed in dialogue with his participation in the student and workerist movements of the late 1960s and 1970s, and their explosive political charge. Much emphasis has been placed on the exclusively typographical character of writing in Balestrini’s artistic works. This exhibition will instead draw attention to the double acoustic and visual level of Balestrini’s word or, better yet, to what Paolo Fabbri described as its “phonic-optic indiscernibility.”
NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION. ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES, curated by Marco Scotini, focuses on two crucial decades in the career of Balestrini, the 1960s and the 1970s. It includes over 70 works by the artist, along with a range of documentary material. The works from the 1960s illustrate a creative phase when Balestrini shared research interests with Luigi Nono, one of the most important 20th-century experimental composers, and when the neo-avant garde literary movement Gruppo 63 was also founded. The creative relationship between Balestrini and Nono lasted an entire decade, and the exhibition sheds light on the search for the disalienation of the word pursued by both, as well as on their use of technology as a way to seize and subvert the means of industrial production and explore their artistic potential.
The final works in the exhibition date back to the late 1970s; some of them were conceived in connection with a poem dedicated to the New York City electricity blackout of 1977. Planned as an “action for voice” to be performed by Greek-Italian lyricist and vocal experimenter Demetrio Stratos in May 1979, the work was never performed due to the premature death of Stratos and Balestrini’s indictment surrounding the political movement Autonomia Operaia.
The exhibition also includes a reconstruction of Balestrini’s Tape Mark I (1961), one of the earliest examples of computer-generated art. A combinatory poem produced by an algorithm written in the Unix programming language on a massive IBM mainframe computer, Tape Mark I anticipates many of the contemporary questions surrounding Artificial Intelligence, and was featured in the 1962 edition of the Bompiani Literary Almanac, which was dedicated to “the application of computers to ethics and literature”, a theme of utmost relevance today.
To provide context to Balestrini’s work, the show features a selection of early words-in-freedom works by Futurist artist Carlo Carrà, a form of avantgarde visual poetry that liberated words and letters from the conventions of grammar and syntax, making them part of visual and performative compositions. This technique was co-opted by the Italian Neoavanguardia in the 1960s, due to the revolutionary potential of the early Futurist movement. NANNI BALESTRINI: ART AS POLITICAL ACTION. ONE THOUSAND AND ONE VOICES is on view at CIMA (421 Broome Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10013) from February 22nd – June 22nd, 2024. See visiting hours below.
Python reconstruction of 1961 electronic poem “TAPE MARK 1”
Nanni Balestrini, Giornale di bordo (La partita a carte), 1964. Collage on paper. Private collection, Mirano (Venezia)
CIMA OPEN HOURS: • Friday and Saturday: 11am to 6pm with guided tours at 11am and 2pm (last entry at 5pm)• Members-only hours: Monday-Thursday by appointment• General admission: $15usd for guided tours; $10usd for open hours• Members & students: free ABOUT CIMA:Founded in 2013, CIMA is a public non-profit dedicated to presenting modern and contemporary Italian art to international audiences. Through critically acclaimed exhibitions—many of them bringing work to U.S. audiences for the first time—along with a wide variety of public programs and substantial support for new scholarship awarded through its international fellowship program, CIMA situates Italian modern art in an expansive historic and cultural context, illuminating its continuing relevance to contemporary culture and serving as an incubator of curatorial ideas for larger cultural institutions. CIMA works to add new voices to scholarship on modern Italian art with annual fellowships that open fresh perspectives and new avenues of research. A visit begins with a complimentary espresso, followed by an informal exhibition tour with one of the resident fellows. Visitors are welcome to linger for additional viewing and conversation.
ABOUT CURATOR MARCO SCOTINI: Marco Scotini is an art critic and curator. He currently is artistic director of FM Centro per l’Arte Contemporanea in Milan, a center specializing in the preservation and enhancement of private collections, artists’ archives and the promotion of contemporary art. Since 2004, he has been director of the Department of Visual Arts at Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti of Milan and Rome. He is scientific director of the Gianni Colombo Archive, the Bert Theis Archive, the Clemen Parrocchetti Archive and the Nanni Balestrini Archive. Since 2014, he has been responsible for the exhibition program of PAV- Parco Arte Vivente in Turin. He was artistic director of the 2nd Yinchuan Biennale in 2018 and was a member of the Italian Council from 2019 to 2021. He has curated exhibitions for leading national and international art institutions, including the Albanian pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2015), three editions of the Prague Biennale (2003, 2005, 2007), Anren Biennale (2017), 2nd Yinchuan Biennale (2018) and was advisor for Bangkok Biennale (2020 and 2022). He took part in the 17th Istanbul Biennale (2022) and the BETA Timișoara Biennale (2022). He has been part of the project TV Politics at documenta 14 (2017). Scotini’s project Disobedience Archive is part of the 60th Mostra Internazionale d’Arte della Biennale di Venezia (2024), curated by Adriano Pedrosa.
Canada’s immigration point system is designed to select skilled immigrants who have the potential to contribute to the country’s economic growth and meet its evolving skills needs. However, Canada faces challenges in fully leveraging increased immigration levels to enhance the well-being of Canadians due to weaknesses in capital investment and a quantity/quality trade-off in selecting economic immigrants. Furthermore, recent reforms may work at cross purposes to this goal. They include category-based selection that targets low-paying occupations, which can discourage capital investment, and a recent surge in the number of temporary residents in low-wage jobs that also may have adverse effects on the quality of potential candidates for permanent residency.
This study compares skilled immigration selection policy in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, with the objective of identifying key areas for improvement in Canadian policy. The skilled immigration point systems in Canada and Australia share some similarities, with both prioritizing a two-step immigration process, placing an emphasis on English proficiency and workforce age, and requiring pre-migration credential and English proficiency assessments. However, the two countries differ mainly in their strictness of criteria and their emphasis on occupational and language skills. Furthermore, Australia has shown more agility and creativity in its skilled migration reforms. Reforms in the UK and New Zealand have also put them ahead in the competition for talent.
Based on this international comparison, the author makes recommendations for improvement. They include: 1) Setting a Minimum Points Threshold for Eligibility. As it is, Canada imposes no minimum points threshold for eligibility in its Express Entry points-based system. 2) Considering a Pre-admission Earnings Factor. Studies show the importance of pre-immigration earnings in predicting immigrants’ outcomes after arrival. The UK, New Zealand and Australia include this factor. 3) Boosting Standards under the Language Requirement. Official language skills are as important in predicting the initial earnings of principal applicants admitted under Canada’s Express Entry system as pre-immigration Canadian work experience, and even more important than educational level and age at the time of immigration. 4) Raising Business Immigration Numbers. Canada faces the challenge of weak business investment but is failing to select business immigrants with entrepreneurial skills, putting it at a disadvantage compared to competitors like Australia and the UK.
The author thanks Tingting Zhang, Charles DeLand, Rosalie Wyonch, Charles Beach, Jodi Kasten, Mikal Skuterud and anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft. The author retains responsibility for any errors and the views expressed.
Parisa Mahboubi is a Senior Policy Analyst and leads the C.D. Howe Institute’s human capital policy program. Her research interest focuses on social policy with a concentration on demographic, skills, education, and labour market concerns. In addition to authoring research studies, she regularly writes a column for the Globe and Mail’s business section.
New York City – February, 2024 – In a historic moment that marks a significant milestone in the intersection of art, music, and space exploration, the Lunaprise Museum proudly announced the successful lunar landing of artworks as part of SpaceBlue’s’ curated and managed archive on the recent Lunar Lander as part of the historic space mission. Though not the first art project to involve the Moon (reported here by us July 2019), it is the first art project to remain on the Moon.
Among the historic pioneers is a pioneering trio: designer/artist Kelly Max, artist Samy Halim, and music producer/artist Brayden Pierce. This momentous event sees these creative visionaries become among the first artists in history to archive their works in the form of digital twins on the moon for over a billion years in a nano fiche disk, establishing a lasting legacy that transcends the boundaries of Earth.
A New Horizon for Art and Music
With the successful landing of the Lunar Lander on February 22, 2024 at 6:23PM EST the Lunar Landing has achieved a groundbreaking feat by hosting the first museum on the moon called Lunaprise. Among its prized collections are the collaborative efforts of Kelly Max and Samy Halim on the Modernist Art project, and Brayden Pierce’s musical compositions that have resonated with themes of space exploration and innovation.
The Modernist Art collection, highlighted by the “MoonRider” piece carrying 180 names pivotal to the artists’ journey, alongside a comprehensive collection of 420 Modernist Originals and 9,724 generative Modernist Genesis Artworks, represents a significant contribution to this lunar museum. Selected by Curator SpaceBlue and launched on February 15, 2024, these artworks not only celebrate the creative spirit but also symbolize human achievement and aspiration.
This nickel disc containing compressed files of the artwork is now curated on the Moon.
Kelly Max’s contributions to the Lunaprise Museum mission extend far beyond his collaboration with Samy Halim on the Modernist Art project. Together, Kelly and Samy designed the Lunaprise Mission Patch, a symbol of human creativity and resilience in the face of the vast unknown. Kelly’s visionary approach didn’t stop there; his role expanded as he became the lead designer for all key brand communications for the mission, showcasing his leadership and creative expertise in shaping the mission’s identity.
Brayden Pierce: Echoing Through Space
Introduced to the Lunaprise Museum mission by Kelly, Brayden Pierce’s artistic contributions have carved a unique niche in the halls of space history. As the first-ever EDM artist to have his music on the moon, Brayden Pierce’s “Capture The Moon” is immortalized on the moon in two versions: The Modernist Edition and the MOOON.PARTY Mix. This collaboration with Kelly underscores a synergy between the two creatives which exploded into the founding of MOOON.PARTY: a visionary venture that aims to blend art, music, space, and space content recording into a pioneering festival brand. This initiative, co-founded by Kelly and Brayden, is set to redefine immersive entertainment experiences, leveraging the backdrop of space to inspire and captivate audiences worldwide.
“Bringing art and music to the lunar surface goes beyond exploration; it signifies embedding humanity’s creative essence into the fabric of the cosmos. This endeavor isn’t merely a step forward for us as individual artists but represents a monumental leap for global art and culture. Collaborating with Samy, Brayden, and the Lunaprise Museum on this mission has unfolded as a profound journey of discovery, unity, and limitless creativity. Together, we’ve ignited a beacon of human expression on the moon, casting light across the cosmos to inspire future generations to dream beyond the confines of our known world. This project mirrors the moon’s impartial gaze upon Earth, reminding us that in its light, we are all seen equally. Our ultimate aim is to embody this universal perspective, fostering a tangible sense of unity on Earth, now enriched by the presence of art and music in the lunar realm.” adds Kelly Max.
Legacy Beyond the Stars
The Lunaprise Museum landing not only signifies the establishment of the first museum beyond Earth but also serves as a beacon of human creativity and ingenuity. Lunaprise is leading a historic disruption in space tech, leveraging patented technologies to archive and authenticate digital assets using blockchain, heralding the convergence of space exploration and digital technology. Collectors of music and art will delight in rare, verified assets that are one-of-a-kind, linked to identical twin digital files stored in the Lunaprise museum on the moon. The artworks of Kelly Max, Samy Halim and Brayden Pierce, now permanently archived on the lunar surface, stand as a testament to the boundless potential of artistic expression. Their achievements herald a new era where art and music extend their reach into the cosmos, inspiring future generations to dream big and reach beyond the known limits.
Working with thousands of clients over the years as an online dating coach, I’ve seen so many simple errors intelligent singles make that hamper their chances with online dating.
Before you say online dating does not work (it does), or it will not work for me (why not?), or my friends tell me horror stories (believe me, they are doing something wrong—it’s them, not the app/site), here are some things to think about:
A unique Profile
Short and Sweet sells. No one wants to read a long monologue. Here’s an excerpt of a profile I wrote for a male client that got great traction….and a relationship:
NO: beets, videoconference dates, whining about online dating apps, Red Wings, selfishness, arrogance, snakes. I can’t grow a bougainvillea to save myself. It grows like a weed here and I can’t keep it alive for 10 days.”
We had trouble keeping up with the responses he got!
Your Profile It must be grammatically perfect with no mistakes. Yes, people read these and if they see you using “there” and “their” wrong, they very well may skip right over you. Spellcheck is your BF!
Messages If I hear one more woman tell me the man should reach out first, I’ll lose it!. Men love when you make the first move. If they do send a message, it can be one of two big mistakes:
It’s a short generic message
It’s a 3-paragraph novella where you are cross-eyed by the end with way too much information. Nobody will read this.
The Phone thing Pre-date, why do you need to chat on the phone? Here are the issues with that: A. A 45–60-minute call—client all excited as they have so much in common and the first date expectations have risen astronomically. Very few dates can measure up now.
B. A short, awkward call and no date ensues. This is a bummer because the other person may just not be good on the phone—perhaps a bit reserved, shy, etc. This could have been the right person for you!
Ok, the only time I encourage a phone call is if there is significant distance.
You live within 20 minutes of each other. Go on the date. It’s coffee or a drink. Get dressed and go!
Your photos Nobody, yes, nobody goes to your profile first. Photos make or break you.
If you are serious about online dating and going on good dates or perhaps beginning a relationship, 5-6 great photos are a necessity. And by that I do not mean filtered, air-brushed, highly edited photos. I just mean you at your very best. And current—as in from the past year. And what you will look like when you show up on your date.
Action shots sell. I had a NYC Wall Street-type juggling in a pic. Plus, he bowls. (I guess no one bowls and that grabbed a bit of attention). Not the stereotypical private equity guy, right?
I hope this helps you a bit—I love what I do and enjoy my one-on-one contact with clients. It’s one of the reasons that I sold It’s Just Lunch (I founded it in 1991 and sold out to Private Equity when we had 110 locations globally) as I missed client contact. Remember, it only takes one! For the Silo, Andrea McGinty.
The intense debate pitting private versus public healthcare in Canada needs a reality check. Private aspects of healthcare exist in different forms and to varying degrees across Canadian provinces, largely depending on their respective legislation and regulations. For healthcare professionals providing insured services, most bill through the public system, but not all. The current and future scope of their role is the pressing issue at hand.
Health Canada has had success in eliminating extra billing and user fees under sections 18 and 19 of the Canada Health Act. However, provinces have considerable authority in determining key terms like “medically necessary” or “insured services” that are covered under the Act. The result has been a diversity of approaches. Provinces have the legislative tools to constrain the growth of private healthcare, if that is their objective. Similarly, provinces have considerable authority to increase the scope of private healthcare, if that is their objective (even within the current parameters of the CHA), by revising provincial legislation or regulation.
Either way, the specific policy direction undertaken would be different for each jurisdiction, as the legislative and other barriers to private healthcare (such as market size limiting the viability of private delivery) vary across provinces. This Commentary provides clarity about the different forms of “private” healthcare and a comprehensive view of the current policy landscape defining the balance between public and private healthcare.
All health systems incorporate some mix of public and private healthcare. In 2021, public sector spending in Canada amounted to 73 percent of total healthcare expenditure, exactly equivalent to the OECD average of 73 percent (OECD 2023). Yet these summary figures tell us little about the public/private contours of any healthcare system. Private healthcare can manifest in a multitude of ways, and the precise configuration of the relationship between public and private healthcare tells us more about the system than the absolute level of public or private spending.
Under the Canadian Constitution, provinces have wide-ranging jurisdiction over the provision of healthcare in Canada, both explicitly (hospitals) and through judicial interpretation (“matters of a merely local or private nature,” as well as authority over insurance). The Canada Health Act (CHA) does provide a national framework (supported by federal transfer funds) that has, for several decades, ensured a certain level of congruence across provinces in the provision of public healthcare. But each province’s health legislation is unique, and it is this interplay between federal and provincial legislation that provides a regulatory space for private healthcare. Variation across provinces means private healthcare in Canada is not a uniform phenomenon.
The objectives of this Commentary are fourfold: first, to describe the ways we can understand “private” healthcare; second, to explain the different ways provincial legislation permits or prohibits aspects of private healthcare; third, to discuss the supply- and demand-side variables causing private healthcare to take its current shape across provinces; and fourth, to analyze the relationship between provincial healthcare legislation and the CHA with reference to the expansion of private healthcare in Canada. This Commentary does not address the utility of private healthcare per se. Rather, it focuses on the confusion inherent in so many discussions referencing “private healthcare.” Both exponents and critics of private healthcare can pick and choose from numerous manifestations of private healthcare to support their respective positions. By requiring proponents and opponents to clarify precisely what they mean by “private healthcare,” the potential costs and benefits can be more clearly identified in each case.
What do we mean by “Private Healthcare”?
Critics of private healthcare point to the costs and inequities of the American healthcare system to argue against it, while proponents reference European mixed public/private models to show how effective it can be. Any discussion of the role of private healthcare should therefore first clarify what, precisely, is meant by “private healthcare.” Healthcare systems can generally be broken down into three constituent parts: delivery, financing, and regulation. Any of these elements can include a public or private (for-profit or not-for-profit) component (Wendt et al. 2009; Böhm et al. 2013; Marchildon 2022).
Much healthcare in Canada is delivered by private providers. When medicare was introduced in Saskatchewan in 1947, physicians vehemently protested. A settlement was reached only when the province agreed to recognize physicians as private independent operators rather than as employees of the state (Marchildon 2020). This model was followed by other provinces as they introduced their own medicare legislation. Ambulance services across Canada are often private, with these companies negotiating service contracts with health authorities or provinces. Nursing care in hospitals and district nursing programs is generally provided publicly, but private nursing firms (such as the not-for-profit VON for home care, or for-profit firms supplying temporary placements in hospitals) are also commonly utilized.
Historically, hospitals in Canada (especially those founded by religious orders) were largely based on a private, independent, not-for-profit model. As hospitals became amalgamated into health authorities, they were consolidated in provincial governments’ financial statements and their operation was generally subsumed within the public infrastructure – even as many (especially larger) hospitals with boards of directors remain not-for-profit organizations.
What, exactly, is a “not-for-profit” (NFP) organization in Canada, and how does it differ from a private or a public one? Legally, NFPs are “bodies corporate without share capital”: in other words, revenues must be directed to the mission of the organization rather than to shareholders. NFPs also enjoy specific tax breaks. Unlike fully public bodies, however, they are self-governing. Generally, they will have boards of directors who are accountable for funds raised and debts incurred. Like directors in a private company, these directors have a fiduciary responsibility to use resources wisely. Unlike private companies, directors of NFP organizations are directly responsible to the corporate entity rather than to members (i.e., shareholders). The corporate entity, in turn, is responsible to the government jurisdiction (federal or provincial) wherein it is incorporated.
Increased attention has been paid to private surgical companies. Individual medical specialists are generally considered independent private operators who contract their services to medical facilities or universities, although their payment models often include elements such as base salary, research stipend, fee for service, etc. Surgical specialists have in many provinces established discrete private businesses where bulk services (a specific number of certain surgical services) are provided over a set period for a negotiated price (e.g., the Shouldice Hernia Centre in Ontario or Scotia Surgery in Nova Scotia). They may use public infrastructure (hospital operating rooms) or provide their own physical space. There is considerable debate whether contracting these services is superior to establishing them as part of the public system (e.g., Day 2023; Lewis 2022; Longhurst 2023). However, as the funding and administration of these services is controlled by provinces (or provincial health authorities), and as patients use these services as they would fully public services (i.e., free at point of delivery), they are not considered a “two tier” form of access to healthcare. Patients cannot access these services directly; rather, they are routed through the public system. Grey areas of private service delivery, described in more detail below, include the private delivery of medically necessary diagnostic services, infusion clinics on hospital sites, and certain forms of virtual care.
Also relevant to the discussion of private delivery is the type of private entity under consideration. “Private” hospitals that are not-for-profit may in fact operate more like a public institution than a private one; here one might usefully distinguish institutions which are functionally embedded in provincial healthcare system (e.g., via accounting practices) from those that operate at arm’s length. Conversely, evidence from the United States suggests private not-for-profit hospitals can also show the kind of profit-driven behaviour more commonly seen in for-profit entities (Silver-Greenberg and Thomas 2022). Others have argued that small independent private health clinics (such as Algomed or Bluenose, in Canada) are in a different category from large American corporate entities (such as the Hospital Corporation of America) (Deber 2003).
As noted, some privately provided services (such as ambulance services or surgical clinics) are often funded publicly. And, while it is not as common, publicly provided services can be funded privately (e.g., in systems where money follows the patient, private insurers may be able to find places for their patients in publicly funded hospitals). Charitable NFP organizations can be another source of healthcare funding. In Canada, much attention is paid to the division of healthcare into services that are, or are not, insured publicly. For example, the provision of cosmetic surgery (undertaken for aesthetic reasons) is commonly private, and is paid for privately and directly out-of-pocket. The private provision of services that are publicly funded (such as cataract or hip replacement surgery), as noted, is more controversial, but is not uncommon within Canada. The main point of controversy in Canada is whether publicly insured services should also be available for direct purchase to individuals within the private sector, bypassing the public system altogether.
Out-of-pocket financing in Canada is largely targeted to healthcare services that are not covered by public insurance (the precise list of insured versus non-insured services varies across provinces). Only 12.6 percent of Canadian healthcare expenditure in 2021 was comprised of out-of-pocket spending (WHO 2023); the remainder was covered by public or private insurance.
Public insurance: In all provinces, most medically necessary healthcare services are largely funded on a tax-based model, where citizens support healthcare services through their general tax contributions. Some provinces do require provincial inhabitants to pay “healthcare premiums” but, as these contributions simply go into the provinces’ general operating funds, rather than a bespoke account used only for healthcare, these premiums can be considered simply as another form of taxation. As a condition of receiving federal health transfers, the CHA requires that each province has a public insurer. Böhm et al. (2013) argue, for this reason, that states such as Canada and Australia, which are structured on a public insurance system, are more properly considered to possess “national health insurance systems” rather than “national health systems,” as typified by the UK.
Each province has the authority to determine what it insures publicly (which is why coverage for “medically necessary services” varies across provinces). In general, medically necessary services provided by physicians and in hospitals are covered (as required by the CHA) but, as explained below, this is much more complicated than it appears. Services such as vision care and dental care provided in hospitals are also generally covered, as are diagnostics, physiotherapy, and other related services.
Provinces are not required to cover everyone: those in the armed forces or federal penitentiaries, for example, are insured by the Government of Canada. Although provincial healthcare systems provide many of the services for these specific groups, the provinces are reimbursed by the federal government. Those injured in the workplace are usually covered by workers’ compensation. Certain categories of migrants (such as refugees) are also insured federally until they receive permanent citizenship status, whereupon they fall under provincial insurance. Depending on the type of work and the length of stay, migrant workers are insured both through provincial health plans and workers’ compensation programs (for a fuller discussion, see Fierlbeck and Marchildon 2023).
Most provinces expand public health insurance beyond what is required by the CHA. While the CHA does not specifically mandate the public provision of dental care, optometry services, and pharmaceuticals outside of hospitals, provinces generally have some form of coverage of these services for vulnerable groups. These are determined either by cohort (e.g., seniors or children), service (pharmacare or dental care), income category (below a certain ceiling), or some combination of all three. These programs vary considerably across provinces.
Private health insurance: Formally, there are several types of private health insurance, each serving a different function.
Supplementary health insurance covers any goods or services that are not covered by public insurance. In Canada, these include companies like Blue Cross, Sun Life, or Canada Life Assurance. Any healthcare system incorporating public insurance will also have an array of private and private not-for profit supplementary health insurance companies which generally cover vision care, physiotherapy, pharmaceuticals, travel insurance, etc.
Complementary health insurance completes the cost of a service, where public or social insurance only pays partial costs. In many countries, for example, public insurance will only cover around 60 percent – 80 percent of hospital stays, pharmaceuticals, primary care, and sometimes even emergency care. In these cases, private insurance will “top up” the remaining costs so patients do not have to pay out-of-pocket. Some insurers may ask patients to pay the remaining costs up front, and reimburse them after the fact; others may cover the costs at point of payment. This “top up” system is not common in Canada, but in Quebec (which mandates pharmacare insurance) private insurers are allowed to cover any co-pays for pharmaceuticals that patients must pay directly for amounts not covered by the mandated insurers.
Substitutive health insurance applies in systems (e.g., in Germany) where citizens earning above a set income are allowed to opt out of public insurance systems altogether, and use private for-profit insurance to cover medical needs.
Duplicative (or “dual” or “parallel”) health insurance is the source of most political controversy in Canada. Duplicative insurance privately covers services that are also offered in the public sector. Four provinces (Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and PEI) explicitly prohibit duplicative insurance, three (Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Quebec) explicitly permit duplicative insurance under certain conditions (i.e., only for certain services, only if the insurer is private not-for-profit, only for services provided by practitioners outside of the public system), and three (Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick) neither expressly permit nor prohibit it (Appendix Table A2).1 The advantage for those with duplicative insurance is that they can access these services quicker, or access more enhanced variants of these services. It is really with this particular kind of private insurance that the issue of “two tier” healthcare arises. The argument in favour of duplicative insurance is that it “takes pressure” off of the public system (e.g., Globerman 2020), while other research has found that public wait times actually increase when publicly insured services become privately available. One reason given for this is the depletion of resources from the public sector. Policy analysts also suggest that those offering private services have incentives to keep public wait times longer, as patients will only find private services attractive if they cannot easily access them in the public sector (e.g., Besley et al. 1998; Duckett 2005). Countries such as the UK that permit duplicative insurance nonetheless continue to have considerable issues with long wait lists in the public health system (e.g., Duncan et al. 2023).
Private not-for-profit insurance: Another category of health insurance that causes much confusion is statutory health insurance (SHI; also referred to as “social health insurance” or the “Bismarck health system”). This system is quite common in Europe, although the precise configuration varies across states. In this model, health insurance is not covered in the first instance through general taxation revenue. Rather, workers and employers pay into “sickness funds,” which provide health insurance benefits depending on the terms negotiated. These sickness funds are technically “private” bodies operating on a not-for-profit basis. They are, however, highly regulated in their authority and function. Because of the degree of regulation – and the importance of the social function they fulfill – they are generally considered a form of “public” insurance. However, governments tend to differ in their approach to consolidating these operations into government expenditures.2 Jurisdictions using this model of health insurance have different methods for covering unemployed or retired persons, often including funds directed from government taxation revenue or from pooled sickness funds.
The nature of “private” healthcare is determined not only according to the way services are delivered or funded but, more importantly, according to the way they are regulated. Permitting a “private” form of health service or insurance is not an all-or-nothing condition; governments have the authority to determine the terms and conditions under which these services are to be offered. There can, for example, be limitations on the kinds of services offered or insured, on the professions allowed to offer them, on the prices that can be set for them, where they can be provided, and so on. These limits, as discussed below, can be enough to discourage the provision of health services even when these services are technically legal, as the terms within which private services are allowed may not be sufficiently profitable. In the European Union (EU), governments are more restricted in their ability to regulate private healthcare services because, ultimately, the ethos of the EU is to maintain the free movement of goods and services. Fully public health services are under the authority of member states but, where states utilize private components in their healthcare systems, attempts to limit the ability of private health firms to compete can result in charges of breaching fair-competition regulations. In Canada, however, there are fewer restrictions on the limits that provinces can place on private health providers, given the political will to do so. The regulatory aspects of healthcare financing and delivery will be addressed in more detail in the next section.
Another category of “private” healthcare is the implementation of private-public partnerships (P3s) in healthcare (McKee et al. 2006). In the past, this has been limited to large capital projects, such as the construction of hospitals, but more recently the implementation of P3s has expanded to the point where verdicts on their effectiveness can be rendered. Importantly, there is no single model of public-private partnerships; each is generally negotiated on its own terms. Proponents explain the logic of this approach as capturing the advantages of both systems: governments can access more competitive financing for projects, while firms undertake the process of construction more efficiently with each day of overrun increasing the cost of a project. Critics argue that the logic of P3s rests in the effectiveness of offloading costs to the other partner, and that the party with the most expertise in negotiating P3 contracts (generally large multinational firms with experience in this area) are those who are most able to shift costs. At the same time, because P3 projects allow costs to be diffused over a long period of time, budget-conscious governments have been eager to enter into these agreements.
Empirical evidence suggests that the effectiveness of P3 projects in Canada has been quite varied (Murphy 2008; Vining and Boardman 2008; Siemiatycki 2015). More recently, provinces have expanded the use of P3s to include large outlays for medical infrastructure. These agreements, often known as “value partnerships” or “managed equipment service agreements,” generally focus on diagnostic equipment – providing MRIs, CT scans, and X-rays – and they range from 15 to 30 years. The private partner will source, install, and maintain this equipment over the life of the agreement. As the private partner owns the equipment and covers the cost of installation, there are minimal upfront costs for the public partner. Other advantages of this model include a reduction in equipment downtime, decreased administrative burden in monitoring equipment maintenance, protection from unpredictable costs involved in equipment failure (CADTH 2022), and a replacement plan for equipment that reaches the end of its recommended useful life. At the same time, long-term service contracts can diminish flexibility in accessing different equipment over the lifespan of the contract, and the private contractor may demand confidentiality agreements which could diminish the transparency and accountability of the process. Like other forms of P3s, the effectiveness of managed equipment services will largely depend on the specifics of negotiated agreements, including clearly defined outcomes and expectations, as well as transparent and accountable protocols and public scrutiny of this documentation (CADTH 2022).
While “internal markets” are not formally an aspect of private healthcare per se, they frequently arise in discussions of the utility of private healthcare mechanisms in the reform of public healthcare. Most famously employed in the Thatcherite reforms of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, this model simply divides public healthcare professionals into “purchasers” of acute care services (usually primary care professionals) and “providers” of acute care services (usually hospitals). The theory underlying the purchase-provider split is that GPs will select the best value for money, obliging hospitals to compete by offering quality services for less. While the results of Britain’s experiment with the internal market are mixed at best (for a discussion of the internal market reforms see, e.g., LeGrand, Mays, and Mulligan 1998; and Ham 2007), a number of other countries (such as the Netherlands) have since incorporated this mechanism into their own healthcare systems.
Conclusions
The nature and extent of private healthcare provision has always been a subcurrent in discussions of Canadian healthcare. As Flood and Archibald clearly demonstrated in 2001, however, the precise nature of private healthcare depends upon the structure of provincial legislation. In general, provinces with a critical mass of population and wealth had to be more actively restrictive in their policy instruments regarding private healthcare, with smaller provinces able to enjoy a more liberal legal framework safe in the knowledge that low demand would make the opportunity immaterial. While legal frameworks are generally holding firm, the practice and context of healthcare provision have been changing rapidly. Both supply and demand pressures are making private healthcare more available and more attractive to those requiring healthcare.
This Commentary has not discussed the provision of duplicative private health insurance in Canada. The experience of post-Chaoulli Quebec has shown that the demand for duplicative insurance is still limited given the current policy framework (see Quesnel-Vallée et al. 2020). Nonetheless, if private service provision becomes widespread, and the demand remains constant (or increases), provinces that permit private insurance (but have not experienced demand) may well see its tentative development within their jurisdictions, while provinces where duplicative insurance is proscribed may experience greater political pressure to allow it.
Laverdière (2023) has argued that a “plausible interpretation” of the CHA is that “transfer reductions can only occur when the public system in a province or territory does not provide satisfactory access to medically necessary services.” This is not an incorrect observation per se; it merely confuses the legal and political aspects of the CHA. Whether provinces have met the contractual conditions to expect the funds set out by Ottawa is a largely technical matter. The success that Health Canada has had in eliminating extra billing and user fees under sections 18 and 19 is illustrative of the utility of a clear and specific set of requirements that are monitored and enforced (with the added incentive that provinces can recoup any past losses if they make prospective changes). More complicated are the charges that provinces have been non-compliant with the CHA beyond sections 18 and 19. Because provinces have considerable authority in determining key terms like “medically necessary” or “insured services,” it is difficult to make justiciable claims against provinces for non-compliance more broadly. The contest over diagnostic services and virtual care will be an interesting one. But the terms of the dispute are more political than legal. As in the past, the federal government is using the CHA as a political statement to affirm its commitment to public healthcare; as such, the legal outcome of the controversy may be less important than the political battle.
Is the CHA obsolete? The demand that the CHA should be revised, either to prevent or facilitate private healthcare, is misplaced. The instruments determining the extent of private healthcare largely rest, as they always have, with the provinces and the political will of their electorates. In the past, the best barrier to privatization has been an effective and responsive public system. For this reason Ottawa’s role in funding provincial healthcare remains paramount. Provinces have the legislative tools to constrain the growth of private healthcare, if that is their objective. Similarly, provinces have considerable authority to increase the scope of private healthcare, if that is their objective (even within the current parameters of the CHA), by revising provincial legislation or regulation.
Either way, the specific policy direction undertaken would be different for each jurisdiction, as legislation and other barriers to private healthcare (such as market size) vary across provinces. For example, should Ontario wish to expand the private provision of healthcare, it could simply rescind sections 15(a) of the Ontario Health Insurance Act and section 10(3) of the Commitment to the Future of Medicare Act (along with the corresponding regulations). To expand the scope of private healthcare, the nine provinces that already allow physicians to opt out of the public insurance system have a number of mechanisms at their disposal. These include permitting physicians to charge above the current fee schedule where that is now explicitly prohibited, reimbursing patients who use private-sector physicians where they do not already do so, or permitting “dual” or “duplicative” insurance where it is currently prohibited. The greatest effect would be in the wealthier and more populous provinces where a critical mass of individuals who would be willing to pay to access these services would make private healthcare a viable commercial venture. The scope for expanding private healthcare in smaller provinces is more restricted, but still could be facilitated by, for example, allowing physicians to bill above the public fee schedule.
Similarly, provinces can use legislative mechanisms at their disposal to further restrict the expansion of private healthcare by, for example, refusing to reimburse patients who have paid physicians directly for services listed as “insured services” (as some already do). Doing so could also potentially expand private healthcare by increasing the number of non-participating physicians (who are outside the purview of the CHA). However, this could in turn be addressed by restricting the fee schedule of non-participating physicians or, like Saskatchewan, by permitting liberal private care only up to the point that it is deemed to undermine public care. Moreover, simply by changing the definition of “insured services” from “medically required services provided by physicians” to “medically required services provided by physicians and nurse practitioners” (which can in some jurisdictions be done through orders-in-council alone), some provinces could forestall the expansion of private nurse-practitioner-run clinics. Provinces can also control the precise scope and nature of additional private healthcare services by tightly regulating the specific terms under which these services are permitted. Quebec, for example, has for years allowed private health insurance only for specific procedures; Saskatchewan permits private health insurance, but only if offered by non-profit entities. Privatization, in this way, does not necessarily entail a “wild west” of unrestricted commercial ventures. At the same time, provinces that pursue this route will also have to commit considerable resources for monitoring and ensuring compliance (where currently most provinces simply utilize a complaint-driven system).
Canada’s unique federal system means that fears of privatization can also be useful in leveraging more funding from Ottawa. Rather paradoxically, provinces have an incentive not to contain the growth of private healthcare within their borders in order to make the case that more public funding is necessary. At the same time, Ottawa has agency with regard to going beyond the mandated provisions of sections 18 and 19. It could demand provinces cleave to the spirit of the CHA by publicly insuring services regardless of whether they are provided in the way they were when medicare was first conceived. Ultimately, however, governments are responsive to their electorates. The legal intricacies that exist in the nexus of provincial legislation and the CHA will always remain secondary to the wider political opposition to, or support for, private healthcare. To engage in this political debate, however, it is important to understand clearly what private healthcare is and is not, and how it manifests within the legislative landscape of each jurisdiction. For the Silo, Katherine Fierlbeck.
Dr. Fierlbeck is cross-appointed to the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, the Department of International Development Studies, and the European Studies Program at Dalhousie University. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the Healthy Populations Institute, and is on the research committee for the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy.
The Emmys and the Golden Globes took place last month, and the Oscars are now just around the corner. With nomination season underway, a new study has revealed which nations and US states produced this year’s most acclaimed actors.
We asked our friends at Spin Genie to analyze 2024’s nomination lists for the Oscars, Emmys, and Golden Globes to reveal the countries with the most nominated actors in the world.
Countries with the most nominated actors
Rank
Country of nationality
Number of Nominees
1
United States
111
2
United Kingdom
25
3
Australia
6
4
Canada
5
5
Ireland
3
1. United States
Number of Nominees: 111
Home to Hollywood and major film studios, the United States dominates the global acting scene, producing some of the most outstanding talents on the silver screen. America stands out with 111 actor nominations across major awards, including the Golden Globes, Emmys, and the Oscars.
Some of the most notable nominations include Robert Downey Jr. and Emma Stone, who have both won Golden Globes for their performances on the big screen. Both have also secured Oscar nominations, Robert Downey Jr. for his supporting role in ‘Oppenheimer’ and Emma Stone’s performance as an ‘Actress in a Leading Role’ in the comedy fantasy ‘Poor Things.’
2. United Kingdom
Number of Nominees: 25
The UK has the second most nominated actors, with 25 nominees in total in the Emmys, Golden Globes, and Oscars. From Carey Mulligan to Daniel Radcliffe, some several noteworthy actors and actresses are shaping the landscape of international film recognition.
‘Succession’ star Matthew Macfadyen received nominations from the Emmys and the Golden Globes, winning awards for his supporting role in both.
3. Australia
Number of Nominees: 6
Australia ranks third with six nominations across the three notable accolades. The country has produced remarkable talents, from everyone’s favourite ‘Barbie’ Margot Robbie, who received a nomination for ‘Best Performance by a Female Actor’ at the Golden Globes, to royalty’s finest, ‘The Crown’s’ Elizabeth Debicki, who won a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for her supporting role as Princess Diana in the popular series.
4. Canada
Number of Nominees: 5
Though falling short on today’s list, Canadian actors have done exceedingly well in the past and this year, Ryan Gosling landed a nomination for ‘Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role’ for his performance as Ken in ‘Barbie’.
Here are some Canadian-born actors who have been nominated for an Emmy, Golden Globe or an Oscar:
-Ryan Gosling. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “Half Nelson” in 2006 and for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “La La Land” in 2016. -Elliot Page. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for “Juno” in 2007. -Brendan Fraser. Won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The Whale” in 2022. -Brian Cox. Nominated for both Golden Globes and Emmys for his role in “Succession”. -Kieran Culkin. Nominated for both Golden Globes and Emmys for his role in “Succession”. -Jeremy Strong. Nominated for both Golden Globes and Emmys for his role in “Succession”.
Further research shows:
Meryl Streep has received the all-time most Oscar nominations, with 17 nominations for Best Actress and 4 for Best Supporting Actress. The Sophie’s Choice and Devil Wears Prada actress has received a total of 21 nominations and has won 3 of them.
California is the state with the most nominated actors, with 23 nominees. New York is just behind with a total of 16 nominees.
Pierre Koenig was one of the most iconic architects of the mid-century modern movement, which focused on functional designs, harmony with nature, geometric lines, and the use of steel and glass. Koenig’s final project, a gorgeous geometric home in Santa Monica known as the Schwartz House, has been listed for sale at $4.55 million usd / $6.13 million cad.
More like a work of art than a typical house, the rare historic home sits atop four structural steel columns, designed to minimize the home’s ecological impact and promote a harmonious relationship with nature. The residence’s rotated design is focused on southern exposure and capturing the sea breezes to conserve energy but also offers an attention-getting look. Stark lines, black-steel framing, galvanized wall panels, and floor-to-ceiling glass provide the classic mid-century modern aesthetic for which Koenig is so famous.
More from our friends at toptenrealestatedeals.com. Photos by Cameron Carothers.
NBAF is manifesting more this year: more impact, more engaging programming, more opportunities for artists, more exposure, and more funding. We are coming for it all in the new year! In celebration of what will be an amazing year, it is my honor to give you a peek into what we have in store as we prepare to do things even bigger and better in 2024.
Our programming theme for this year is “Artistry Unbound,” an exploration of the resounding power of African American art to propel us toward the realization of our collective freedom. This theme celebrates the profound contributions of African American artists in their relentless pursuit of social justice, equality, and financial equity. It celebrates the trailblazers who have paved the way for a new generation of artists, continuing the legacy of social commentary and artistic innovation. This theme calls us to be “black on purpose” and create programs that directly speak to the injustices that we still face as a people and find artistic and creative ways to address these issues.
We are excited to bring this theme to life through carefully curated programming that will kick off with the NBAF Black History Month event, “Blacklisted! Banned Book Fair”, which speaks directly to the injustices highlighted through recent campaigns designed to censor and diminish Black voices.
Blacklisted! Banned Book Fair takes place on February 24th and 25th, and aligns with NBAF’s mission to:
Expose audiences to important and diverse works by African American authors,
Educate the public on how the banning of African American literature has been part of a larger pattern of censoring voices that advocate for social justice, civil rights, and the dismantling of racial prejudices,
Engage young and old readers alike with the wealth of African American books available to them, and
Entertain audiences with informative panel discussions, staged readings, an indie book market, and more! For more info, please visit our Black History Month page on nbaf.org
There are so many exciting things on the horizon for NBAF this year and we look forward to bringing you quality multi-disciplinary programming focused on uplifting and highlighting Black art and artists in new ways throughout 2024. As we continue our transition back to larger immersive events and chart a path back to the renowned NBAF Festival, our team is committed to innovatively presenting the best in Black art and we look forward to continuing to make an impact in the community with your partnership. We look forward to seeing you soon online or at an upcoming event! For the Silo, Stephanie R. Owens.
Reflecting on the remarkable journey of 2023, we’re excited to share the significant impact your support has made on our mission and community. We encourage you to delve into the highlights and accomplishments of the past year in our 2023 Impact Report, available here.
Click on the image above to view a visual journey of the transformative moments and positive change that helped us achieve in 2023.
NBAF PROGRAMS & EVENTS
Check out these upcoming events from NBAF!
Blacklisted! Banned Books Fair Saturday & Sunday, February 24th & 25th Atlanta, GA Calling all authors, literature lovers, and vendors to join us in celebrating the written word! NBAF’s 2024 Black History Month program, Blacklisted! Banned Book Fair celebrates the African American authors creating work that challenges the status quo and speaks truth to power.
The programming features:
• Moderated panel discussions with Black Authors, Activists & Intellectuals • Indie Black Book Market featuring African American booksellers and authors • Youth Book Fair with interactive children’s activities • Community Book Drive to benefit youth-centered non-profits • Interactive exhibitions about banned African-American literature and authors • Social Photo booths, food vendors & more!
Mark your calendars and get ready for a weekend filled with storytelling, creativity, and activism. This interactive experience is in partnership with the Morehouse College Movement Memory and Justice Project, South Fulton Arts, 44th & 3rd Bookseller and the Black Writers Weekend.
If you’re an author, bookseller, or have literature/education or activism related products, apply to be a vendor on the NBAF website. Spaces are limited, so secure your space today!
Taking place at the Atlanta History Center and in partnership with Neiman Marcus, FA+F attendees enjoy food + drinks, an impeccably curated fashion show, fashion icons and artists award presentations, and are introduced to the winning student designer of the annual Fashion Forward Student Design Competition.
Fine Art + Fashion raises funds to support NBAF’s operations and programs for artists of all ages and disciplines, particularly our youth arts education programs for underserved students of African descent.
2024 NBAF Fashion Forward A Competition for Student Fashion Designers NBAF Fashion Forward honorees are selected by a distinguished panel of judges and receive a cash prize of $1,500. The 2024 NBAF Fashion Forward honorees will be presented at NBAF’s Fine Art + Fashion Benefit on Wednesday, March 27, 2024 in Atlanta, GA. To get started, check out nbaf.org/fashion-forward to download the Fashion Forward Fact Sheet to learn more about the application requirements. If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Fashion Forward Coordinator, Page Yang, at pyang@nbaf.org. Please mention thesilo.ca when contacting. The deadline to apply is Friday, January 26, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST. APPLY HERE!
2024 Artist Project Fund Applications Eligible Metro Atlanta Artists Apply Today The 2024 Artist Project Fund (APF) is a $2,000 usd grant and 6-month artistic development program for Metro Atlanta artists seeking funds to complete an ongoing project. APF supports 20 professional artists in the completion of an ongoing artistic project, fosters a sense of community and creative collaboration, and provides immersive artistic and career development experiences to help them grow as artists and creative entrepreneurs. The deadline to apply is Friday, February 2, 2024 at 11:59 PM EST.
New Merch! Your purchase supports NBAF’s year round programming.
Select from special limited edition art prints, t-shirts, tote bags, note books, and more!Black Art Matters TeeNBAF Commemorative PinsRadcliffe Bailey NBAF 10th Anniversary PostersBlack Art Matters stainless steel tumblerNBAF tote bagNBAF Logo Unisex Hoodie With Shop Payyou can get it now and pay later! Pay in 4 interest-free installments for orders over $50.00.
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Mahboubi, Skuterud – A Multi-Pronged Strategy for Managing Canada’s Surging Non-Permanent Resident Population
January, 2024 – Recent years have seen an unprecedented increase in Canada’s non-permanent resident population, far surpassing increases in annual admissions of new permanent residents. This unbalanced growth in the two migration streams will inevitably result in a growing undocumented population and forced deportations. Both developments risk inflaming Canada’s immigration politics and undermining public confidence in the immigration system. It is imperative that the government take immediate steps to stem the ongoing growth in foreign student and temporary foreign worker entries. Here’s how it can do it.
Recent years have seen an unprecedented increase in Canada’s non-permanent resident (NPR) population far surpassing increases in annual admissions of new permanent residents. This unbalanced growth in the two migration streams will inevitably result in a growing undocumented population and forced deportations. Both developments risk inflaming Canada’s immigration politics and undermining public confidence in the immigration system.
It is imperative that the government take immediate steps to stem the ongoing growth in foreign student and temporary foreign worker entries.
Several factors have contributed to the NPR population surge, including ad-hoc programs aimed at expanding eligibility for permanent status, the well-documented postsecondary appetite for international tuition revenue, and eased employer access to temporary foreign workers, most notably in low-wage occupations.
Statistics Canada estimates that by the fourth quarter of 2023, Canada’s non-permanent population had exceeded 2.5 million, while entries of new permanent residents remained below 500,000 and which the government has announced will stabilize in 2025. The tightening bottleneck in temporary-to-permanent residency flows is worsened because many permanent slots go to applicants residing abroad, not non-permanent residents.
A key factor driving the growth in non-permanent inflows is the government’s repeated announcements of ad hoc programs aimed at easing the pathway to PR status for lower-skilled migrants who would otherwise struggle to clear the hurdle of the Express Entry skilled-based points system.
Examples include the February 2021 decision to provide permanent status to all economic class candidates in the applicant pool regardless of their eligibility scores and the April 2021 provision of pathways to 90,000 “essential workers” including cashiers and truck drivers. And the government expanded the program in January 2023 to give PR status to undocumented construction workers and plans to broaden the program, allowing all undocumented people to apply for permanent status.
No wonder large numbers of migrants try their luck.
But given limited permanent admissions, large numbers of justifiably hopeful NPRs will be unable to realize their dreams. As their study and work permits expire, many will be unable or unwilling to return to their home countries. This leaves them increasingly vulnerable to workplace exploitation, which can distort wage outcomes in lower skilled labour markets, and leaves them in poverty with no recourse to government supports because they are ineligible.
Canada urgently requires a multipronged strategy to stem this ongoing NPR growth and restore the stability and integrity of the immigration system. In our view, policies should be aimed at helping applicants make better decisions about seeking NPR status in Canada by offering a straightforward, predictable system against which they can realistically assess their prospects.
On international students, we recommend reintroducing the cap on off-campus work at 20 hours a week that was waived in October 2022 and recently extended to April 30. Continued policy punting is unhelpful in restoring predictability for prospective foreign students. Study permits have become de facto work permits, and brings job-seekers, not committed students.
We also recommend restricting study permits to institutions of a certain standard. Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) whose students are currently ineligible for Post-Graduate Work Permits should also be ineligible for study permits. The government should also revoke designation based on the measured immigration and labour market outcomes of an institution’s graduates. Those outcomes should be regularly published by the immigration department to help prospective migrants make informed decisions and combat false dreams pushed by education recruiters.
On temporary workers, extended measures allowing, for example, 30 percent of certain workforces to be low-wage temporary foreign workers, need reconsideration. Stemming the growth in the Low-Wage Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and restoring the pre-2020 hiring regulations recognizes recent evidence of adverse effects of this program on wages and local unemployment rates.
Most important, the government needs to bring back predictability in its permanent resident admission system in the economic-class applicant pool. Though well intentioned, the one-off programs easing the pathway to permanent status are contributing to temporary resident explosion. The department needs to return to its Comprehensive Ranking System as it did before 2020. The transparency of its points system and a stable minimum eligibility score over time will mean that applicants can see what skills or training they need for entry, thereby advancing the objective of our skilled immigration program.
If these policy levers are collectively applied, they can stem the unhealthy growth in Canada’s non-permanent population, restore fairness and transparency in the permanent admission stream, and secure the immigration system’s integrity and sustainability. In doing so, we can ensure that Canada continues to be a welcoming and prosperous country for all. *note this article was sent as a letter by the C.D. Howe Institute authors to The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Parisa Mahboubi is a senior policy analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute. Mikal Skuterud is a professor of economics at the University of Waterloo, director of the Canadian Labour Economics Forum and a fellow-in-residence of the C.D. Howe Institute.
The League of Wrestling Mask Portraits is a growing body of work, undertaken in 2023, by realist painter, Richard Delaney. The work is a satirical, Pop Art-style, examination of the famous and controversial people of our time, such as Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Elon Musk, and Greta Thunberg. Delaney paints their approximately, life-size portraits, in an unconventional manner. Politicians and celebrities are depicted wearing personalized wrestling masks (as in professional wrestling, aka Lucha Libra, often referred to as Mexican wrestling masks). They wear their masks as if ready to battle/wrestle in the social and political ring.
Each mask is customized for the individual wearer with clues to their identity imbedded in the design.
The symbolic clues help the viewer identify the person when the facial features alone are not enough. For example, the design of Greta Thunberg’s mask reflects her climate activism. Yellow flame-patterned, patches, around her eyes, nose, and mouth, rise up to symbolically melt what appears to be an ice cap on the top of her head, causing melt-water to flow into the blue, ocean-like area of the mask, covering her face. The dominant colours, light blue and yellow, reference Thunberg’s country, Sweden, and its flag.
Delaney’s paintings in oil and acrylic are garish, bombastic, and humorous. They are fresh and contemporary while being reminiscent of 1960’s Pop Art. The visual aesthetic is like a combination of cartoon, realistic painting, and or photo collage. The mask component has a hint of vintage, comic book art, and pulp art illustration. In contrast, the facial features of the subjects are rendered in a somewhat, photorealistic style.
Conceptually, the League of Wrestling Mask Portraits, is very much Pop Art, and may have roots in the work of Warhol.
Both artists use mass media as a reservoir of ideas. They each present the concept of fame and celebrity in a uniquely identifiable style. There is no doubt that the ‘mask’ in Delaney’s work is simultaneously a visual brand, and a concept to be pondered.
Delaney has coined the terms “maskified” and “maskification,” to describe his portraits. The maskified portraits cannot be viewed without some consideration for the basic idea and purpose of a mask, that is, to conceal true identity, and or to project a persona. The maskification of Donald Trump, for example, in a red mask with gold trim and crown, draws a comparison to classic comic book superheroes or villains, depending on one’s political stance. The connection with Mascaras de Lucha Libra is of course, intentional, and it is this simple juxtaposition that makes the work visually and intellectually, compelling.
Delaney plans to produce a large collection of portraits by the end of 2024.
Ultimately, he imagines them displayed and for sale in a contemporary art gallery. For the time being, they are available to view on social media in the form of humorous reels and videos. There are many potential subjects that Delaney would like to paint, including, for example, Dylan Mulvaney, Joe Rogan, Kamala Harris, King Charles, Pierre Poilievre, and Jordan Peterson. Who do you think should be maskified? You can make suggestions by following Delaney on social media where he will be frequently unveiling new paintings for his League of Wrestling Mask Portraits.
Some of us are participating in Dry January – (giving up alcohol for the whole month after enjoying it during December festivities) has become pretty popular worldwide. We must agree it`s giving the New Year a quite strong health kick.
Dry January`s popularity is not a surprise at all and has a lot of benefits; it saves money, makes people sleep better, no hangovers (hello morning sex), and brings numerous health welfare – reduced blood pressure, improved skin, more energy – the thing that people really need, according to LELO survey. For 61.28% of respondents, low energy level makes them hard to make it through January.
And even though you might not be a regular drinker, you (and your liver) surely deserve a small break. With this in mind, LELO endorses Dry January with a small note on a side – not everything has to be dry (wink, wink).
While Dry January has its charm and a good cause, there is a widespread myth that it is also quite a challenge – especially if you want to continue enjoying your sex life. An encounter without the help of that small something that makes you relax your nerves might sound less exciting, but actually, it turns out, all that not drinking has some pretty positive effect on your sex life.
And no, it`s not just about the “being present at the moment”; being sober significantly improves the physical side of sex. If you have ever experienced drooping after drinking, you`ll know that erectile dysfunction is a real thing.
Drinking can cause struggles to get and have an erection, leading to disappointment in sex.
Besides that, studies have shown that women are more likely to orgasm when they are entirely sober because alcohol reduces physical sensitivity, meaning it`s also harder to feel pleasure. Also, women might struggle to get aroused in the first place when drinking. Making your vagina free from the influence of alcohol gives sex a whole new dimension.
Also, it is a fact that alcohol leads to irresponsible sex encounters; people are more likely to forget to use condoms because alcohol lowers inhibitions, leading to unwanted pregnancy and STIs. Being alcohol-free sounds pretty responsible here, right?
Men are not being left out- Lelo F1S Red.
Studies show that alcohol often leads to having partners you might not actually be that keen on, as well as post-sex unsatisfaction. Knowing this, Dry January will ensure you choose people you want, make sexual decisions you are comfortable with, and enjoy it without regret. Additionally, according to the LELO survey, 93.7% of people would be willing to try something new sex-wise to cheer themselves and/or their partner. Is there a better timing than “depressing” January?
Some of LELO’s new and best selling adult products.
To wrap it all up, cutting out alcohol (a well-known depressant) will make you well rested and more energetic, which automatically increases your libido and improves your sex life. The highlight of Dry January will be more exciting and engaging sex – the one you actually remember. And if we add 51.7% of our survey respondents who will consider buying a new toy to incorporate into their love life, January will be anything but dry.
It seems that every where you turn these days, it is becoming incorrect to celebrate the Christmas holidays in “the manner in which you have become accustomed”- at least in the matter in which I have become accustomed.
To truly celebrate the Christmas season, and that’s what it is, no matter what anyone says, I have become open-minded and willing to accept EVERYONE’S ideas for the holiday season. If you disagree, please refrain from attending any “holiday” parties or dinners, taking the day off on December 25th or 26th (should you work for a company that still acknowledges these days as holidays) and carry on as usual. Should you happen to work for the government you are safe (for now) as they would never legislate against their own days off, although when it comes to politicians, I don’t believe never is in their vocabulary (particularly when it comes to matters involving taxes).
The true “spirit” of the holiday season (oops, I meant to say Christmas) is for people to pause and give thanks. According to the man-made calendar of months and years, we are getting ready to start a New Year.
We give thanks for the things we have received in the past (not to be confused with Thanksgiving, another man-made tradition) and offer gifts to the people that have blessed us over the past year.
Being the humble (not humbug, Mr. Scrooge) creatures that we are, we also accept gifts from others (although for most it is not OUR birthday), all the while muttering that we aren’t worthy. Once these gifts are exchanged, a significant amount of “Why would she buy me this?” and “I don’t NEED another scarf” or “Does he think I’m that big?” are voiced in private, to be repeated over the next month or so. In the days immediately following Christmas, our thankful spirit has usually been diminished significantly.
The greatest reason for pausing at the end of the year (and any time, for that matter) is to be grateful for what you have. Being grateful does not mean that you have to thank every one in your life personally, and you DON’T have to buy them a gift. If you are expecting a gift from someone you are probably going to be disappointed, and if you don’t reciprocate in kind you are going to be REALLY disappointed. If you have chosen to be open-minded I want to thank you for getting this far. I hope that you will also be open to a spiritual suggestion that will make you feel happy inside even though you may have received nothing outside.
Whether it is Christmas, Rosh Hashanah, the Chinese New Year, Hanukkah or Guy Lombardo’s Rocking New Year’s Eve, let those people who enjoy these festivals enjoy them. When someone acknowledges you with a holiday greeting that you are unfamiliar with, don’t believe in or if it makes you blow a gasket, pause for a moment and reply with a hearty “That’s The Spirit!”. Unless they have an aversion to ghosts, that reply should be fairly safe no matter what the season.
Let others grumble and complain that Christmas is too commercialized, the spirit of giving has been lost (or is too expensive), kids are spoiled today, no one appreciates anything and the holidays are just too much of a hassle anymore. Bellowing “That’s The Spirit!” right back at them is a great stress reliever, and at the very least will allow them to walk away from you (quickly, perhaps) in much the same way Lucy was bowled over by Charlie Brown’s enthusiastic “That’s It!” in “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.
At the risk of revealing my upbringing, I wish everyone a “Merry Christmas”, “Happy New Year” and a “God bless us, everyone”. By the way, for me it truly IS a wonderful life… For the Silo, Rick Fess.
Kids never seem to get sick when it’s convenient. It always seems to hit in the middle of the night or the morning of a big test, and it’s not always obvious if they need to see a doctor or not. If your little one’s sick, your teen needs a doctor’s note for school, or you have health questions, Maple has you covered.
Even if your child isn’t currently sick, getting virus after virus may feel unavoidable. However, there are ways you can help to protect your kids from the worst of cold and flu season. Here’s how to keep your kids healthy this winter and what to do if they come down with something despite your best efforts.
How to keep your kids from getting sick
Cold weather doesn’t have to mark the start of fever and runny nose season. Here’s how to help protect your kids from getting sick.
1 Stay up to date with vaccinations
Getting your child to roll up their sleeve for a vaccine isn’t always easy. Despite that, the flu shot is a great option for protecting your family against the virus. The flu vaccine changes every year based on which strains of flu are circulating. While it can’t completely guarantee your child won’t get the flu, it does prime their immune system to recognize the virus more quickly. This helps protect against more severe illness and any accompanying complications.
2 Prioritize healthy eating
No one food can completely protect your child from getting sick. However, vegetables, fruits, protein, and healthy fats provide necessary micronutrients to support their immune system function. Kids don’t always want to eat what’s best for them though. Even if they’re not a picky eater, devouring a rainbow of vegetables might not be your child’s thing. If you’re worried they’re not getting enough nutrients, speaking to a dietitian can help you understand if your child’s diet is lacking anything. Even better, they can suggest healthy meals your kids will actually eat.
3 Supplement their diet with vitamin D
Vitamin D is one of the building blocks of healthy immune functioning. But it’s difficult to get enough from sunlight and diet alone, leaving many Canadian kids deficient. Incorporating a vitamin D supplement is a great way to make sure they’re meeting their requirements.
4 Promote proper hand hygiene
The influenza virus can live on some surfaces for up to 7 days, just waiting for a chance to go from your child’s hand to their mouth, nose, or eyes. Support your child to wash their hands properly to help curb this.
5 Consider masking in public indoor settings
They may not be everyone’s preference, but masks are a great tool to prevent your child from breathing in cold and flu viruses. As an added bonus, they also help safeguard against COVID-19 when worn in public indoor places.
6 Ask them to give their friends space
Flu and cold viruses pass easily through close contact. Remind your child not to share utensils, food, or drinks with their friends.
7 Create good sleep habits
Lack of sleep can negatively affect the immune system, putting your child more at risk of getting sick. Keep a consistent wakeup and lights out schedule and avoid screens for at least an hour before bedtime to encourage a full night’s rest.
How to help your child recover comfortably
Viruses spread easily, and even the most conscientious kids can get sick. No matter what they’re sick with, however, encouraging your child to rest is one of the best things you can do to promote recovery. You can also make them more comfortable by:
Prioritizing hydration. Give your child frequent small sips of water to keep the mucus flowing and help reduce congestion.
Running a cool mist humidifier to ease nasal congestion and breathing. Don’t forget to use purified water and disinfect regularly to avoid dispersing bacteria or mold into the air.
Investing in a good quality nasal aspirator for babies and children who can’t blow their own nose.
Using a purified saline solution to clear nasal passages. You can combine this with a nasal aspirator tool.
What medications should I give my child for cold or flu?
Provided they don’t have any allergies to the medicines and you dose by weight, you can safely give your child fever-reducers like acetaminophen (Tylenol or Tempra) or ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin). These also address other symptoms like sore throat and headache.
However, giving children under 18 Aspirin for headaches or other symptoms is a definite no as it can cause Reye’s Syndrome, a serious illness. And, since antibiotics only treat bacterial infections, they won’t work against the viruses that cause colds and flu.
If giving your child medication is feeling tricky, talking to a doctor online can help to answer any questions you have. They may also be able to provide prescription medication like antiviral drugs to shorten the severity and length of your child’s flu. This is especially helpful for children at higher risk of flu complications, like the immunocompromised or kids under five.
If you go this route, timing is everything since antivirals are most effective within 48 hours of symptom onset. With Maple, you can connect to a doctor within minutes. And, if they do prescribe an antiviral, it can be faxed to the pharmacy of your choice, or delivered free to your door.
Without antivirals, how long does the flu last in kids? Recovery should take about a week although coughing and low energy can linger for a week or two after. In contrast, colds take about 7-10 days to run their course.
Should I let my child’s fever run its course?
Fever isn’t just distressing, it can also be confusing — is 37.5°C a fever in a child? Is 38°C? And how do you know when a fever is too high for a child?
While it can be upsetting to watch your child wrestle with a fever, there are clear guidelines for treating them.
For starters, an underarm or oral measurement above 37.5°C is considered a fever. For ear and rectal temperature, 37.9°C is top of the normal range. But, while you can treat a temperature above these, you don’t have to. If your child’s comfortable, focus on keeping them hydrated and well rested.
When to have your child see a doctor for a cold or the flu
You know your child best. If you think something’s wrong, it’s never a bad idea to speak to a doctor. Beyond that, you should also reach out to a healthcare provider if:
Your child goes from getting better to suddenly getting worse.
Your child has a barking cough and raspy-sounding breathing — this may indicate croup.
A persistently high fever in a child with no other symptoms lingers beyond 48 hours. It may indicate an underlying medical issue or infection.
It’s time to take your toddler or child to the hospital when they:
Have a fever and are experiencing confusion, lethargy, severe drowsiness, or a stiff neck
Are having difficulty breathing — this can look like working hard to breathe or having difficulty catching their breath just sitting or talking
No matter how old they are, seeing your child sick can be stressful. With Maple, get the convenience of 24/7 virtual care anytime, anywhere and connect with a Canadian-licensed healthcare provider to help ease your concerns and get the treatment you need. If you’re looking to get an online prescription or see a healthcare provider quickly, Maple has you covered whether it’s the middle of the day or the middle of the night. Sign up today to help your child feel better, faster.
This allowed for extras such as director’s commentary tracks and other features to be added onto a film, creating “Special Edition” releases that would not have been possible with VHS. Disc access was random and chapter based, like the DVD format, meaning that one could jump to any point on a given disc very quickly. By comparison, VHS would require tedious rewinding and fast-forwarding to get to specific points.
Another important innovation for Laserdisc was the fact that it was the very first home video format to offer Dolby Digital Surround Sound- often referred to as AC-3 on Laserdisc jackets and hardware. Many fans of Laserdisc are still enjoying this feature because some movies such as the Alien AC-3 LD were released with their original cinema surround mix on the AC-3 Laserdisc and those mixes are unavailable on today’s modern formats such as Blu-ray or UHD Blu-ray. Many early LD players can even be modified to turn them into AC-3 LD players.
Nanni Balestrini, Cronogramma, 1960s. Collage on paper. Private collection.
The true “spirit” of the holiday season (oops, I meant to say Christmas) is for people to pause and give thanks. According to the man-made calendar of months and years, we are getting ready to start a New Year.
