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$2.6 million invested in Tecumseh's water infrastructure

$2.6 million invested in Tecumseh's water infrastructure

CTV News21-05-2025
From left to right - Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara, MPP for Windsor–Tecumseh Andrew Dowie, Tecumseh Deputy Mayor Joe Bachetti. (Source: Office of Andrew Dowie)
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Sudbury mine story was ‘about a man using the men's showers,' says gender studies professor
Sudbury mine story was ‘about a man using the men's showers,' says gender studies professor

CTV News

time25 minutes ago

  • CTV News

Sudbury mine story was ‘about a man using the men's showers,' says gender studies professor

Lau O'Gorman, who is non-binary, has co-authored a comprehensive guide on the use of inclusive pronouns and language. They also used to teach in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Thorneloe University. A professor of women and gender studies in Greater Sudbury is taking CTV News Northern Ontario to task for a recent story about gender identification and shower policies at Vale Ltd. The story quoted a letter writer who works at Vale in Sudbury who said he was uncomfortable sharing the showers with someone with 'female body parts, both top and bottom,' adding that it was 'compromising our marriages.' But in an interview, Laur O'Gorman said we incorrectly identified the person as 'a woman who identifies as a man,' when really, it was about a trans man. Inflammatory language 'So if you're using the language the letter writer used, and you're saying a woman who identifies as a man is using men's changing rooms, well, that sounds like (it's) really a woman in the men's room,' they said in a Zoom interview. 'But if you use the accepted language and you say, 'trans man showers in men's changing room,' it's a man using a men's room, right? And it takes away a lot of the piece that seems inflammatory.' Under the law, O'Gorman said employers as big as Vale are required to allow workers to use facilities that match their gender identity. In this case, the person's gender identity is male and so uses the men's shower. 'If you use the accepted language and you say, 'trans man showers in men's changing room,' it's a man using a men's room, right? And it takes away a lot of the piece that seems inflammatory.' — Laur O'Gorman 'As a trans man, you are a man and not a woman who identifies as a man,' O'Gorman said. 'A trans man may choose to use the all-gender facilities or may feel safer using the men's room -- or more affirmed using the men's room.' It comes down to safety, they said, and which room this person feels most comfortable using. O'Gorman, who is non-binary, has co-authored a comprehensive guide on the use of inclusive pronouns and language. They also used to teach in the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Thorneloe University. The guide defines a trans man as 'men who were assigned female at birth (AFAB). They often have a masculine name and appearance.' O'Gorman said it's challenging for trans men to live in a body that people may see as another gender. 'You see yourself as a man,' they said. 'Other people may or may not.' O'Gorman said some trans men look very masculine and don't feel comfortable using non-gender facilities. And employers such as Vale are required to accommodate them. 'I've seen like a lot of trans men that have full beards and are like these big, buff, tall guys,' they said. Following the law 'The employer is just doing what the law says. The union is supporting the employer and doing what the law says. The trans person is using … the showers where they feel most comfortable.' Another part of the worker's letter said he not only felt uncomfortable, but that the trans man was threatening his marriage. O'Gorman said it's difficult to understand how showering with a trans man could threaten someone's marriage. 'The solution is close your eyes – (then) there's no problem,' they said. 'The whole situation can be fixed by just not looking at them, just the way you don't really look at any of the other men's bodies. Don't look, right? Like, it's a very simple thing in my opinion.' — Laur O'Gorman 'I would suggest talking to a therapist about it because, like, there's no physical threat. The person is not doing anything. They're minding their own business and taking a shower. 'The whole situation can be fixed by just not looking at them, just the way you don't really look at any of the other men's bodies. Don't look, right? Like, it's a very simple thing in my opinion.' O'Gorman said the issue is part of a larger narrative that portrays trans people as somehow a threat, when in reality, they are extremely vulnerable. Current political discourse is also demonizing immigrants, homeless people and even vaccine use, O'Gorman said, just as fear was spread during desegregation movements in the United States decades ago. Politicians play on the fear of the unknown for their own political purposes, not reality, they said. 'The political rhetoric is really dangerous, especially all of the discussion around bathrooms and what bathroom people should use,' O'Gorman said. While fear is being spread about bathroom use, O'Gorman said the reality is trans people are the ones at risk of being attacked in bathrooms, not the other way around. 'There is no case in North America … of violence in bathrooms involving trans people,' they said. 'There has never been a case of a trans person hurting somebody else in a washroom, in a shower, in these spaces. It has never happened.'

First Nations in coastal B.C. issue open letter calling on Carney to reject suggested pipeline
First Nations in coastal B.C. issue open letter calling on Carney to reject suggested pipeline

Globe and Mail

time25 minutes ago

  • Globe and Mail

First Nations in coastal B.C. issue open letter calling on Carney to reject suggested pipeline

Coastal First Nations in British Columbia have issued an open letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, asking him to reject any new proposal for a crude oil pipeline to the northwest coast. The move comes as Alberta Premier Danielle Smith pushes for a new private-sector pipeline that would send crude oil to the northern B.C. coast for export to Asia. Marilyn Slett, president of the Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, says in a news release that there is no pipeline or oil tanker project that would be acceptable to their group, and any proposal to send crude oil through their coastal waters is a 'non-starter.' The group is asking Carney to uphold the 2019 Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, which prohibits oil tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of crude from stopping, loading or unloading at ports or marine installations along the north coast. It says the act is Canada's recognition of more than 50 years of effort to protect the north Pacific coast, which includes the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, from the risks of an oil spill. Alberta Premier Smith says plan for new West Coast oil pipeline 'pretty close' Opinion: Should Canada build a pipeline to the West or the East? The nations say they have not changed their stance since oil tankers were banned from their territorial waters in 2010 based on ancestral laws, rights and responsibilities. The group says the north Pacific coast has one of the richest and most productive cold-water marine ecosystems on Earth, and it remains a source of sustenance, culture, and livelihood for coastal communities and all B.C. residents. The group has instead suggested the prime minister meet with them to 'better understand the credible ecological treasure that is the north Pacific coast.' The letter comes less than a week after Carney met hundreds of First Nations chiefs, where he faced resistance to the Building Canada Act, which allows the government to fast track major projects that it deems to be in the national interest, including by sidestepping existing laws.

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