Air quality advisories issued in 5 provinces, 1 territory
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
As the U.S. and Canada continues to reassess its relationship to racism, offensive sports team and school names have changed. Up next? Bird names.
Bird Names for Birds is a grassroots initiative aiming to change eponymous common names of birds, specifically in North America, arguing that many have been named after problematic people.
Take the Hammond's flycatcher, named for William Alexander Hammond, a former U.S. surgeon general, said Jordan Rutter, co-founder of the initiative. Hammond, Rutter said, attempted to collect brains of killed Indigenous people for study, and also wrote that Black people were "little elevated in mental or physical faculties above the monkey of an organ grinder," as noted on the initiative's website.
Rutter said the initiative identified a list of 150 birds in North America named after people and that it is attempting to get those names changed. The effort goes beyond "just the window dressing of bird names," said Rutter. "We're really calling for a change in the process."
Last year, supporters of bird name changes saw one victory when the American Ornithological Society renamed McCown's longspur -- after Confederate Gen. John Porter McCown -- as the thick-billed longspur.
On Tuesday, there was another step forward. The AOS announced a new ad hoc committee that would make recommendations for guidelines on how to identify and change "harmful English bird names," according to a statement by the organization. The committee is set to have specific recommendations by early 2022.
"We are excited to put this important task into the hands of our ad hoc committee, and look forward to receiving their recommendations on the process for reviewing and changing English bird names to ensure ornithology and birding are as inclusive as possible," the AOS said in the statement.
Ultimately, Bird Names for Birds wants to make the system across the board more inclusive. While changing the name of McCown's longspur to thick-billed longspur was great, it only represented the tip of the iceberg, Rutter said, noting that the AOS previously rejected the same proposal in 2018.
"Nothing about the process changed," she said, adding that more can be done to amplify non-White birders' perspectives.
In response, the AOS said it has been "discussing in earnest the issue of eponymous bird names" since the initial rejection in 2018.
"The American Ornithological Society (AOS) acknowledges the systemic barriers faced by scientists of color, who have been largely underrepresented in STEM disciplines and, specifically, in avian systematics. AOS unequivocally supports increasing diversity and inclusion in ornithology and is committed to anti-racism," the organization said in a statement to CNN.
The issue of renaming is not a new one. Symbols and names linked to the Confederacy are being removed across the country.
This month, a school board in Florida voted to rename six schools previously bearing the names of Confederate leaders. An Atlanta board of education made a similar decision in April.
And of course, one of the most high profile of these changes has been the Washington Football Team's renaming, which came after years of campaigning by Native Americans, who called out the team's formerly racist name.
Air quality advisories are in effect across Western Canada as smoky conditions plague some areas, according to the latest forecasts. Here's where.
After receiving a DNA kit one Christmas from his son-in-law, Hugh McCormick soon discovered that he had six unknown siblings, with whom he shared the same birth parents.
Four years on, the controversy over whether airlines owed refunds to passengers after cancelling hundreds of thousands of flights during the pandemic continues to simmer, aggravated by a sluggish, opaque complaints process.
Many foods fall under the category of ultraprocessed foods, depending on their exact ingredients. This type of food has been studied a lot lately, and the results aren’t great.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
A new study projecting declining rates of cancer cases and deaths in Canada demonstrates the success of prevention and early detection programs, but also highlights areas where more work is needed to save and prolong lives, researchers say.
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial is set to take the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Millions of Indians across 96 constituencies began casting their ballots on Monday as the country's gigantic, six-week-long election edges past its halfway mark. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a third straight term with an eye on winning a supermajority in Parliament.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.