Olivia Bowden

1 month ago | gijn.org | Olivia Bowden

The brutal legacy of the state’s treatment of Indigenous people in Canada is closer to the present day than many realize. Government policies and goals for eliminating Indigenous culture dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries — whether through violence, land seizures, legislation, or forced assimilation — continued by other means until the late 20th century and beyond.

1 month ago | thejuggernaut.com | Olivia Bowden

When Shaivya Vashishtha became pregnant, she knew she had to make a drastic change. Raised as a strict vegetarian, she developed anemia at 25, even after secretly adding eggs to her diet. So she added fish to fill the nutritional gap, which she also hid from her family. It took getting pregnant years later for her to realize something was still wrong. “We started reading more about what nutritionally would be important for the baby’s growth,” the U.K.-based product manager told The Juggernaut.

1 month ago | thejuggernaut.com | Olivia Bowden

Neeral Sheth and his partner never thought they would be welcoming their new baby into the world through a stranger they met on Zoom. For years, having children felt abstract, and even impossible. The Chicago-based couple married in 2016 after over a decade together. They had often discussed starting a family. But as two gay Indian American men, they weren’t sure how, or if, that dream would ever materialize. Then, they thought of surrogacy. The Sheths aren’t the only ones.

2 months ago | westendphoenix.com | Olivia Bowden

It used to be easier to negotiate with a Toronto landlord if a long-term, typically reliable tenant suddenly fell behind on rent. Lawyer Dania Majid used to see it all the time when a client lost their job or experienced a death or illness in their family. If rent payments were missed, several of her clients’ landlords were open to setting up a reasonable repayment plan so they could get back on their feet. In the landlord’s eyes, the tenant had value. But those days are gone.

2 months ago | thewalrus.ca | Olivia Bowden

Over the course of a 101-minute-long podcast interview released in January, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre and his host, Jordan Peterson, lamented the erosion of “traditional values” and the loss of “masculinity” in Canada. It’s possibly the most extensive interview Poilievre has given to date. And it’s revealing.