Political experts and scholars, including Ontario Tech's Dr. Tanner Mirrlees, will come together in Third Age Learning Lakehead’s fall lecture series to explore the struggles and threats that are transforming our democracies and the solutions we can employ to make democracy more meaningful.

Published September 11, 2019

NDP Announces Plan To Fight Rising Racism And Islamophobia In Canada

Dr. Barbara Perry, Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, praised NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for the NDP’s New Deal for People, which proposes several measures to take meaningful action on racism and Islamophobia.

Published September 10, 2019

He used to work for a site that promoted racists — now he edits a Canadian news outlet

Before Cosmin Dzsurdza worked for The Post Millennial, he worked for a pro-Kremlin site called Russia Insider and a blog that promoted racists (interview with Dr. Barbara Perry).

Published August 22, 2019

Quebec City police said hate crime was down in 2018, but StatsCan numbers tell a very different story

Federal data suggests hate incidents were three times higher than what police were reporting (interview with Dr. Barbara Perry).

Published August 22, 2019

Transgender hate crimes are on the rise in Canada

Dr. Barbara Perry mentioned in article.

Published August 21, 2019

Wildlife trafficking and more hinder nations’ sustainable development

Interview with Dr. Peter Stoett.

Published August 17, 2019

Study: Organized crime profits from illegal wildlife trafficking

Interview with Dr. Peter Stoett.

Published August 16, 2019

The alt-right’s YouTube entrepreneurs

Ontario Tech University’s Dr. Tanner Mirrlees says money’s to be made on the popular site.

Published August 1, 2019

People's Party of Canada calls anti-racist a 'terrorist' after gallery cancels political rally

Interview with Dr. Barbara Perry.

Published July 24, 2019

From Reddit to 4Chan, misinformation and online hate is being amplified by manhunt case, experts say

Interview with Dr. Barbara Perry.

Published July 24, 2019

BC highway murders: how a murderer identifies his victims

Interview with Dr. Hannah Scott, victimology researcher and Professor at Ontario Tech University, specializing in victimology, vulnerable populations, gender, and homicide studies.

Published July 23, 2019

How is Canada doing when it comes to racism?

Interview with Dr. Barbara Perry.

Finding common ground this fall on 'The Secret Path'

Columnist Dr. Pariss Garramone says providing students with opportunities to read and share their understanding develops values, and a respect for multiple points of view.

Published July 11, 2019

ANALYSIS: How criminal courts accommodate child witnesses

Interview with Dr. Lindsay Malloy.

Published June 25, 2019

Is the Earth doomed? This Durham expert says there is still hope

Dr. Peter Stoett was one of 250 experts around the world who worked on the sixth Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6), a study about the state of Earth's environment.

Published June 19, 2019

The time to combine science and policy is now

Columnist Dr. Peter Stoett completes a three-year study assessing state of our planet.

Published June 5, 2019

BC’s increasingly bizarre anti-SOGI bandwagon

Foes of teaching inclusive sexual identity now include a transgender man guarded by Soldiers of Odin, and other alt-righters.

Published May 28, 2019

A new breed of white nationalism: The Agenda with Steve Paikin

Hate crimes in Ontario have risen by 65 per cent from 2016 to 2017, according to Statistics Canada. One of the largest-growing groups are those that define themselves by extreme-right ideology: white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, or alt-right. Dr. Barbara Perry, the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, talks to Steve Paikin about the compelling forces attracting people to these movements.

Aired May 23, 2019

Man accused of vandalizing Edson courthouse with anti-Semitic slurs is an extremist rapper

Kelvin Zawadiuk, 35, charged with public incitement of hatred (CBC News interviews Dr. Barbara Perry).

Published May 14, 2019

'Avengers: Endgame's nod to LGBTQ wasn't enough but there's still hope and here's why

Joe Russo's anonymous 'gay man' cameo didn't get the best response but there's still time for Marvel to make amends (MEA World Wide interviews Dr. Sharon Lauricella).

Published May 8, 2019

Expect ‘ugly’ and ‘intense’ election campaign in the fall, fuelled by anger, say Liberal and NDP MPs

Liberal and NDP MPs predict the next election campaign to be particularly nasty, but Conservative MP Peter Kent says every election campaign is nasty.

Published May 6, 2019

How black feminist writers contributed to Beyonce's 'Homecoming' celebration of African culture

Netflix documentary 'Homecoming' offers an in-depth look into the performance that made history, as QueenBey became the first ever Black woman to headline Coachella (joint statement from Ontario Tech University student Elizabeth Ogundare, in conjunction with Dr. Sharon Lauricella).

Published April 30, 2019

Canada’s new far right: A trove of private chat room messages reveals an extremist subculture

An analysis of 150,000 chat room messages paints a picture of a group that is actively recruiting new members, buying weapons and trying to influence political parties (The Globe and Mail interviews Dr. Barbara Perry).

Published April 27, 2019

Young adult shows like 'Riverdale', '13 Reasons Why', and 'Pretty Little Liars' fail to accurately portray the lives of young adults

Be it 'Riverdale', '13 Reasons Why' or 'Pretty Little Liars', young adult shows are increasingly becoming unrealistic and absurd. MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) tries to uncover the reason behind this phenomenon (MEA World Wide interviews Dr. Andrea Braithwaite).

Published April 29, 2019

Port Perry Star | Spending the most on an election campaign doesn't always guarantee a Scugog council seat

In essence, campaigning is about name recognition—building a brand and promoting yourself to the public, says Dr. Shanti Fernando, an associate professor and political science program director at Ontario Tech University.

Published April 11, 2019

Montreal Gazette | What happens when the caregivers are youth? 'We just did our best'

Factors in the increase include such demographic trends as smaller families, women’s widespread presence in the labour force, a burgeoning elderly population and the shift of more health and social services to the private sector, where they are unaffordable to a growing proportion of families, according to symposium speaker Dr. Vivian Stamatopoulos, a professor at Ontario Tech University.

Published April 10, 2019

High Country News | Native American athletes and fans face ongoing racism

“In places we think of as ‘Indian Country,’ and especially adjacent border towns, Indigenous athletes do experience escalated rates of
harassment,” said Dr. Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, who spent years studying hate crimes against Indigenous people in the U.S. and Canada.

Published April 10, 2019

CBC | Facebook bans Faith Goldy and 'dangerous' alt-right groups

Last month, the Liberal government announced a special fund for research into right-wing extremism. Through it, Ontario Tech University got a three-year grant of $366,985 to conduct interviews with law enforcement, community anti-hate activists and former and current extremists to gain a better understanding of the beliefs, motivations and activities of extremists.

Published April 8, 2019

Victoria Times Colonist | Global Voices: Hate groups becoming Canada's national crisis (op-ed)

“If this was any other type of crime, we’d be calling it a national crisis,” said Dr. Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University. While Canadian media covered the attack in New Zealand, few outlets brought the story home and asked: What is being done to stop the rise of white supremacy and hate crimes in our own cities?

Published April 7, 2019

HuffPost | How Far-Right Extremists In Canada and Abroad Have Adopted Trump's Symbols As Their Own

"The hat and the MAGA acronym have really become shorthand for this white nationalist movement," said Dr. Barbara Perry, a professor at Ontario Tech University and an expert on the far right.

Published April 6, 2019

Global News | A look at identitarianism, a movement the New Zealand shooter allegedly supported

The American version of the group has been classified as a hate group. Dr. Barbara Perry, Ontario Tech University and the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism, says the group targets young men. “It attracts a largely young demographic — in their 20s — who are concerned that they are the last generation that will enjoy the full fruits of white European privilege in Canada and globally,” she explained.

Published March 29, 2019

Norther Sentinel | The politics of nationalism is gaining force and it is us who must stop it (op-ed)

Dr. Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, estimates that there are nearly 300 far-right groups in Canada, up from around 100 in 2015.

Published March 29, 2019

The Concordian | Editorial: Hideous figures in history must be taken down

For those who think this is an old conversation, it’s too close to home for us to turn a blind eye—our current CAQ government is playing a role in upholding racist ideologies, by establishing values tests and French-language tests for immigrants. Canada’s complicit too—Dr. Barbara Perry, a professor at Ontario Tech University and an expert on hate groups in Canada, believes between 120-130 hate groups exist in Canada today, according to Al Jazeera.

Published March 26, 2019

CBC's The Current | Far-right's online responses to New Zealand massacre have been 'sickening,' says Barbara Perry

Following the attack on two mosques in New Zealand that left 50 dead, one of Canada's leading researchers on far-right extremism says it's time to have a conversation about "how we define terrorist entities." Many far-right groups have "this combination of ideological motivation, and arms and ... the intent to defend through force, if necessary, their nation," said Barbara Perry, the director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University.

Published March 20, 2019

The Globe and Mail | Removing hate and horror from internet like playing an unwinnable game of Whac-A-Mole

So the accused in New Zealand knew full well that the web would take care of marketing the message. Dr. Barbara Perry, the Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, followed the reaction of alt-right sites such as 4Chan after the attack. She says members were passing around the video and manifesto, “expressing praise" and lauding the gunman’s courage. “It is so chilling," she said. “It has energized the movement.”

Published March 15, 2019

Victoria News | Canadian Government announces more than $300,000 to research right-wing extremism

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Karen McCrimmon, made the announcement on March 6 for an ‘updated, comprehensive overview of the right-wing extremism movement in Canada,’ states a news release issued from Public Safety Canada. Ontario Tech University will receive $366,985 over the course of three years from the Canadian Government.

Published March 13, 2019

Other related articles from Vice News, Toronto Star, CityNews Vancouver, Durham Radio News, The Chronicle and Ottawa Matters.

CBC News | The writing of this AI is so human that its creators are scared to release it

CBC news interviews Isabel Pedersen, PhD, Canada Research Chair in Digital Life, Media and Culture, about OpenAI’s new system, called GPT-2.

Published February 25, 2019

CBC Radio | How Alexandre Bissonette's sentence could fuel Canada's far-right

In the wake of Quebec mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette's sentencing to life in prison with no chance of parole for 40 years on Friday, one extremism expert says that the decision could further fuel far-right groups. Dr. Barbara Perry, director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism at Ontario Tech University, follows the activity of extremist groups in Canada. Following Bissonnette's attack that killed six men on January 29, 2017, there was an uptick in anti-Muslim violence, according to Perry.

Published February 9, 2019

Earther | A crowdfunded idea to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now a $35-million nonprofit. Scientists still don’t think it’ll work

For years, researchers and ocean plastic activists had been warning that The Ocean Cleanup Project’s fundamental assumptions were misguided. Instead of testing those assumptions in smaller, more controlled experiments, oceanographers and marine engineers claim that The Ocean Cleanup Project rushed to launch build and launch prototypes. Their concerns, however, have gone largely unheeded by award committees, The Ocean Cleanup Project, and the mainstream press. “There wasn’t much consultation with marine engineers,” Dr. Peter Stoett, Dean and Professor of Social Science and Humanities at Ontario Tech University and marine policy researcher told Earther. “But it looked cool.”

Published February 8, 2019

Keene Sentinel Source | Native American women: abused, missing and murdered

Continuing racism and sexism contribute to the impression that indigenous women are assailable, says Dr. Barbara Perry, a professor at Ontario Tech University. “It’s not unusual for women of color generally to be perceived as inferior to white people as a class and inferior white women as a subclass.”

Published February 2, 2019

The Gazette | Defense in Iowa toddler's death trial tries to discredit Cody Stevenson's confession

A professor of psychology and social behavior testified Thursday that false confessions sometimes happen when a person wants to avoid worse consequences or to protect someone else, as a Williamsburg man, charged in the death of toddler, is claiming. Dr. Lindsay Malloy, an associate professor with Ontario Tech University in Ontario, Canada, said suspects with a lower IQ or intellectual disability are more vulnerable to providing false confessions because they can be easily manipulated by police tactics, such as suggesting a theory for a crime.

Published January 31, 2019

CBC TV Fifth Estate | Why incels are a 'real and present threat' for Canadians

"It's about their proprietary violence, that they think they have some sort of inborn inherent right and privilege to access women and women's bodies and so that is the bit that animates them," Dr. Barbara Perry, a criminologist specializing in hate crime at the Ontario Tech University, told The Fifth Estate.

Published January 27, 2019

Saskatoon Star-Phoenix | Saskatchewan NDP 'concerned' about government ministers attending yellow vest protests

At the same time, Canadian yellow vest forums have seen an open airing of more fringe and extreme views, including fantasies about the assassination of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, conspiracy theories and undisguised racism. “The addition of these other extremists is risking the credibility of what’s at the core of the movement,” Dr. Barbara Perry, a professor at Ontario Tech University who researches extremism, told the National Post.

Published January 25, 2019

CBC Radio | The balance between national security and individual freedoms in federal government's cyber security policy

Audio link to interview with Dr. Steven Downing.

Published January 16, 2019

TVO.org | Why hate crimes are on the rise across Ontario

TVO.org interviews Dr. Barbara Perry.

Published January 3, 2019