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How to rent an apartment with no credit history or job letter in Canada
For the first few months or even a couple of years, most newcomers moving to Canada consider renting accommodation versus buying property. As an essential and high priority task, this often turns out to be challenging as in addition to the rent deposit, landlords usually ask for an employment letter, a credit report, and references. And with just having moved to Canada, newcomers often aren’t able to meet these additional requirements. So, as a newcomer, how can you find permanent accommodation in Canada with no credit history and no job offer letter? In this article, we will share a few tips and workarounds on how to position yourself as a reliable tenant so you can find a suitable place for you and your family. Moving to Canada soon and looking for more tips on renting a place? See How to rent your first home as a newcomer in Canada. To build a stronger case as a reliable tenant, you can try combining as many tips as you can from the ones outlined below 8 tips to find a rental unit without credit history and job letter in Canada 1. Provide proof of savings from a bank account You can demonstrate your reliability as a tenant by showing proof of savings to cover a few months of rent. To do this, you don’t need to provide a detailed bank statement. Speak with your banking advisor to know your options; it may be possible to obtain a letter indicating that you are in possession of the funds to pay the rent. Moving to a new country comes with many challenges. Book an appointment with an RBC Advisor or call 1-800-769-2511 to find answers to any financial questions you may have. RBC’s phone services are available in up to 200 languages. Once you have your appointment booked, an advisor will reach out to check whether you’d like to meet via phone, video or in-branch. 2. Provide a local guarantor or co-signer A guarantor or a co-signer is someone who agrees to pay rent on your behalf if you are not able to. Being a guarantor or co-signer is legally-binding, and usually, only close friends or relatives will agree to act as a guarantor for you. You should also consider the impact on your relationship with them should you fail to hold up your end of the bargain. 3. Look for house-share or apartment-share arrangements You can try to find a shared accommodation by – Subleasing from an existing tenant; or Co-signing the lease agreement with a roommate who has a good credit history; or Leasing from a landlord who lives in the same apartment or house. What is a sublease? A sublease allows you to rent a room from the original tenant of an apartment. Rent payments are made to the existing tenant who, in turn, pays the landlord. Generally, rooms that are subleased by tenants don’t require you to provide a credit report or employment letter. This may differ from place to place and depends on the urgency of the tenant who is subletting. In Canada, many people seek out roommates for their living arrangements. Instead of signing a sublease with the existing tenant, you could explore the option of co-signing the lease with a roommate who has a good credit history, to meet the credit history requirement. Landlords renting out a room in their own house or apartment may be willing to overlook the requirement for credit history and/or employment letter. You can start your search by looking for shared accommodation listings on sites like Kijiji, Craigslist, and some provincially popular options like Home Zone on Facebook (for Toronto and GTA listings). Tip: Sites like Kijiji and Craigslist tend to have many scammers. If a listing seems too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. Do not make any payments until you verify the place in-person and sign the appropriate paperwork. 4. If you can, offer more than expected deposit Each province in Canada has legal guidelines on rent deposit payments to be made by tenants before moving in. For example, in Ontario, renters are required to pay first and last month rent; there’s no security deposit. But in British Columbia, you will be required to pay a security deposit equivalent to half the monthly rent. In the absence of a credit report and employment letter, you can offer the landlord a few more months of rent upfront – this can be a huge incentive for the landlord to accept your application over another. Remember, the landlord cannot legally ask you for any additional amount beyond the specified norms. So be sure to check the guidelines for the province you are moving to and accordingly present your offer to the landlord. 5. Explore condos rented out by individual owners It can be relatively easier to find a condo or apartment that’s owned by individual landlords versus those that are owned by property management firms or large institutional investors. The application process for apartments located in rental buildings is usually very strict and offers little to no flexibility in terms of credit and employment verification. However, in a condo setting, most landlords are individuals and might be open to accepting you as a tenant, subject to your reliability. 6. Consider neighborhoods that are away from prime locations Finding a place in the heart of the city or the city centre is usually challenging even for those who have credit history and employment records to show. Broadening your search and considering the suburbs or neighbourhoods that are on the radius of the city may prove helpful in finding a suitable place. While you do this, if you don’t have a car, keep a close eye on public transportation and commute time to the city centre. 7. Book temporary accommodation for the first couple of months If you have friends or family already residing in Canada and they’re open to hosting you, it may be a good idea to plan your stay with them for the first few months. For those who cannot leverage this option, you can try booking long-term stays at an Airbnb, a hotel, or a hostel. Hostels in Canada are clean, secure, and extremely budget-friendly; some even provide free breakfast. Often, you’ll be able to choose between staying in a mixed dorm or a male or female-only dorm. Some hostels also provide private rooms at a higher cost. Try exploring sites like HostelWorld, HI Hostels, Booking.com, or Kayak to find good deals. If you are moving to Toronto as a single young professional, you can now skip the temporary accommodation part entirely and book a SoulRoom. Get a fully furnished room in one of the great locations in the city, at an affordable price. All rooms at SoulRooms come at a minimum six-month lease and are ready to live, equipped with high-speed internet, cable and utilities with shared living spaces. Just unpack your bags and be at home! Some landlords are willing to rent to tenants with a two or three-month credit history. Booking or arranging temporary accommodation for the first few months will give you a couple of months of time to build your credit. For a deeper understanding of how to build your credit, download Arrive’s guide onCredit and credit scores in Canada. How to obtain a credit report It takes at least a few weeks to a month for newcomers to receive their first Canadian credit card and a few additional months of credit transactions to generate a credit history. EQUIFAX and TransUnion are the two major credit rating organizations in Canada, and you can choose either one to get your credit report. Detailed instructions to obtain the report are available on the respective websites. 8. Take up a survival job and/or volunteer Survival jobs are lower-skilled jobs where significant education or extensive professional experience is usually not required. For example, working as a driver with a ride-sharing service, warehouse or factory worker, cashier at a grocery store, barista at a coffee shop, food delivery person, sales associate, telemarketing associate, cleaner, or a server at a restaurant. Volunteering is an integral part of Canadian culture, and giving back to the community is usually well-regarded and valued in Canadian society. It involves giving personal time freely for the benefit of another person, group, or cause. Both survival jobs and volunteering are good ways to earn Canadian experience, practice your language skills, build your network locally, and gather references for your rental application. Survival jobs will also provide you with an employment letter and cover basic living expenses while still allowing you to continue looking for your desired role. Helpful articles: Taking up survival jobs as a newcomer in Canada: All you need to know The benefits of volunteering as a newcomer in Canada Finding your first long-term permanent accommodation in Canada can be stressful and challenging. Following the tips outlined in this article will ensure you have a place to stay while you build your credit history and find employment. And over time, you will be well-positioned to find a place you can call home! Original article located here, published by Arrive.
Canadian finances 101: What you should know as a newcomer
Canada’s financial ecosystem is made up of banks, credit unions, trusts, and other financial and insurance companies and it is considered to be one of the most sound and safest in the world. According to the Global Competitiveness Report 2019, published by the World Economic Forum, Canada ranked 9th globally for its financial system, showcasing stability and reliability. As you plan your move, familiarizing yourself with the Canadian banking and financial landscape can help provide context to key tasks like opening bank accounts, building credit history, borrowing money, and filing taxes. In this article: Types of financial institutions in Canada Getting started with taxes: The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Canada: A credit-based economy Banking, investments, and money transfers What are the types of financial institutions in Canada? Financial institutions in Canada can be classified into three main categories: 1. Banking institutions These are places where you can deposit, withdraw and borrow money. Examples of such institutions include banks, online-only banks, credit unions, trust companies, mortgage companies, etc. Banks A bank is licensed to receive deposits and make loans. Most banks are managed by the national government. The five largest banks in Canada are often referred to as the “big five” in banking. They are: Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), Bank of Montreal (BMO), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). Sometimes, you may hear the term “big six,” including the National Bank of Canada – although, note that its operations are primarily focused in the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick. Digital-only banks In addition to these banks, there are a few digital-only banks, such as Tangerine (a subsidiary of Scotiabank), Simplii Financial (a subsidiary of CIBC), and EQ Bank. They provide all services online only and do not have any physical branches. Credit unions A credit union is a smaller financial institution that is owned by its members, who are also typically account holders. They operate under provincial legislation and regulations and provide similar services as banks. The main difference between a credit union and a bank is their structure; credit unions are owned by anyone with money in the credit union. The operations are supervised by a democratically elected board of directors made up of local community members. Due to their scale of operations, note that credit unions may have fewer branches and ATMs than a big bank would. Tip: As a newcomer to Canada, you can choose any financial institution of your choice. However, it is helpful to know that the big five banks (like RBC) have newcomer banking packages that specifically cater to permanent residents and international students and are thus better positioned to assist you in your unique situation. Trust companies Trust companies are legal entities similar to banks that act as an agent (on behalf of a person or business) for the purpose of administration, management and the eventual transfer of assets to a party. Mortgage companies Money lending entities such as mortgage finance companies (MFCs) and mortgage investment corporations (MICs) provide real estate financing. MFCs are non-depository financial institutions that underwrite and administer mortgages sourced through brokers. Their lending is funded mainly through securitization or direct sales to third parties, primarily the big six banks. MICs and other private investors typically deal in uninsured, customized mortgage products that are not available through traditional channels. These products include non-prime loans, second mortgages and very short-term mortgages. Key financial authority: The Bank of Canada The Bank of Canada is the nation’s central bank. Its principal role is to promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada. The Bank influences the supply of money circulating in the economy, using its monetary policy framework to keep inflation low and stable. It promotes safe, sound and efficient financial systems, within Canada and internationally, and conducts transactions in financial markets in support of these objectives. Additionally, the Bank of Canada also designs, issues and distributes Canada’s bank notes and acts as the “fiscal agent” for the government of Canada, managing its public debt programs and foreign exchange reserves. It also sets the interest rates in Canada. 2. Insurance companies These are entities that sell insurance to cover the risk of loss in various situations, caused due to a variety of factors. They include homeowner or renter’s insurance, health insurance, car insurance, life insurance, and more. They compensate you for any loss that’s covered by your insurance policy. Once you purchase a specific type of insurance, you are required to make periodic payments, called premiums, to the insurance company to avail of the agreed-upon coverage. 3. Investment companies These are organizations that focus on investing, administering or managing funds or money on behalf of other persons. Examples of such companies are investment banks, hedge funds, underwriters, and brokerage firms. Note: There might be an overlap in the services provided by financial institutions. For instance, a leading bank like RBC offers banking services, mortgages, a wide variety of insurance options, investment solutions, and more. Tip: Beware of predatory lenders offering payday, instalment, and other types of loans with very high interest rates. These lenders often prey upon people who need cash quickly and who have run out of all other options. They usually have exorbitant interest rates, confusing and misleading representations, and a lack of transparency and documentation. Therefore, always double-check money lending claims that seem too good to be true. Note that payday loans are provincially regulated while instalment loans are unregulated. What this means is – while interest rates cannot exceed 60 per cent, lenders are effectively free to change terms and add fees and other charges almost at will. Getting started with taxes: The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) The CRA administers tax laws for the Government of Canada and for most provinces and territories. It administers various social and economic benefit and incentive programs delivered through the tax system. The CRA website is the go-to place for everything related to your taxes: filing annual tax returns, checking receipt of Government benefits and subsidies, viewing tax documents, etc. Important: To register for CRA’s “My Account,” you must have filed a tax return for the current or a previous year. Download Arrive’s free tax guide for newcomers for insights on how to file your taxes and to make sure you’re prepared to manage the expectations that come with paying taxes in Canada. Note: Beware of a long-running CRA scam with callers posing as representatives of the CRA. The CRA will never use threatening language nor ask for information about your passport, health card, driver’s license, or demand immediate payment by Interac e-transfer, bitcoin, prepaid credit cards or gift cards from retailers such as iTunes, Amazon. Canada: A credit-based economy North American countries such as the U.S. and Canada are known to be credit-based economies. This essentially means that most people use their credit cards (instead of debit cards or using cash) to make purchases and then repay the entire amount owed either at the end of their credit card billing cycle or in installments. You will need to build your own credit history, since this is essential to many aspects of life in Canada. Once you receive your first credit card, start by making payments for small expenses such as phone bills or groceries, and be sure you pay the balance in full by the end of the billing cycle. Tip: Keep in mind that credit cards have limits and do not offer free money. They can carry very high-interest rates, so your balance should be managed and paid down promptly – this will help you maintain a good credit rating. A credit score is a way for financial institutions to measure your ability to repay loans. Some scenarios where you may be asked for a credit report are while renting accommodation, applying to certain jobs, and obtaining mortgages or other loans from the bank. Additional resources Download Arrive’s free Credit guide to learn more about credit cards, credit scores, and credit ratings in Canada. For tips on staying debt-free and building your credit history in Canada, read How to build a good credit score from scratch as a newcomer. Banking, investments, and money transfers in Canada Banking Like many other countries, in Canada, you can conduct all your banking and money transfer transactions by walking into a branch or online, through internet banking. See How to open a bank account in Canada as a newcomer to know the process of opening a newcomer account. The article will also provide tips and resources to help you learn more about credit and direct deposits. Investments There are many financial products available to save and invest your money in Canada. They can be broadly classified into savings accounts, registered savings plans and investment products. Depending on your goals and your appetite for risk, you can choose one or a combination of several of these. Read Savings and investments for newcomers in Canada for deeper insights into all available investment products. Money transfers For domestic peer-to-peer payments (think: sending money to a friend, relative, co-worker, or acquaintance in Canada), there are a couple of ways to send and receive money online: Interac and Paypal. Interac is a bank-based tool, while Paypal is a non-bank, third party service. Among these, Interac e-transfers are the most popular and widely used form of peer-to-peer payments in Canada. You can send money overseas through online or mobile banking, by telephone, by email, or in-person. Banks like RBC have a simplified, affordable, and convenient process for international money transfer through online banking. If you have the recipient’s banking information handy, all it takes is a few clicks! Some popular options for international remittances are: Banks Credit unions Money transfer operators like Western Union, MoneyGram, WorldRemit, etc. Peer-to-peer transfer providers such as Transferwise (now, Wise), CurrencyFair, Paypal, etc. Currency exchange businesses When sending money overseas, the Canadian federal government tracks large sums (over $10,000 CAD) through Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) to prevent money-laundering, terrorism funding, and related crimes. Understanding financial products and regulatory agencies in Canada can make you feel overwhelmed. Start with the basics so you can build awareness and a strong foundation to manage your finances in Canada. Original article located here, published by Arrive.
Is a four-day workweek on the horizon?
Is Thursday about to become the new Friday? UConn’s Robert Bird spoke with the Washington Post about the possibility of a four-day workweek and what might be the driving force behind it: New Zealand's and Finland's prime ministers have floated the idea of a four-day workweek. The U.K. Labour Party in 2019 campaigned on the idea that workweeks would be shortened in the next decade. A number of employers have also begun to move in that direction. On Tuesday, Kickstarter announced it would reduce employees' hours without reducing pay next year, reported the Atlantic. Microsoft in Japan instituted a temporary three-day weekend in August 2019 - which resulted in a reported 40% increase in productivity, according to the company, and reduced electricity consumption and paper printing. "A five-day workweek was never a given," Robert Bird, a professor of business law at the University of Connecticut, told The Washington Post, adding that unions fought hard to scrap the six-day workweek norm in the early 1900s. "A five-day workweek was never something that was unchangeable or immutable." "Younger people are demanding more out of their work environment than just a paycheck," he said. "They want to work with someone who believes in their values - and the expression of a four-day workweek sends a signal that the company cares about work-life balance in a significant and meaningful way." June 25 – Washington Post It’s an interesting concept, and one that will be getting a lot of attention. If you are a journalist looking to cover this topic, let our experts help with your stories. Robert Bird is an expert in the areas of corporate compliance, employment law, legal strategy, business ethics, and corporate governance. Professor Bird is available to speak with media – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
The Facebook Oversight Board’s ruling temporarily upholding the social media giant’s ban on former President Donald J. Trump, which they instructed the company to reassess within six months, noted that the parameters for an indefinite suspension are not defined in Facebook's policies. The non-decision in this high-profile case illustrates the difficulties stemming from the lack of clear frameworks for regulating social media. For starters, says web science pioneer James Hendler, social media companies need a better definition of the misinformation they seek curb. Absent a set of societally agreed upon rules, like those that define slander and libel, companies currently create and enforce their own policies — and the results have been mixed at best. “If Trump wants to sue to get his Facebook or Twitter account back, there’s no obvious legal framework. There’s nothing to say of the platform, ‘If it does X, Y, or Z, then it is violating the law,’” said Hendler, director of the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “If there were, Trump would have to prove in court that it doesn’t do X, Y, or Z, or Twitter would have to prove that it does, and we would have a way to adjudicate it.” As exemplified in disputes over the 2020 presidential election results, political polarization is inflamed by a proliferation of online misinformation. A co-author of the seminal 2006 Science article that established the concept of web science, Hendler said that “as society wrestles with the social, ethical, and legal questions surrounding misinformation and social media regulation, it needs technologist to help inform this debate.” “People are claiming artificial intelligence will handle this, but computers and AI are very bad at ‘I’ll know it when I see it,’” said Hendler, who’s most recent book is titled Social Machines: The Coming Collision of Artificial Intelligence, Social Networking, and Humanity. “What we need is a framework that makes it much clearer: What are we looking for? What happens when we find it? And who’s responsible?” The legal restrictions on social media companies are largely dictated by a single sentence in the Communications Decency Act of 1996, known as Section 230, which establishes that internet providers and services will not be treated as traditional publishers, and thus are not legally responsible for much of the content they link to. According to Hendler, this clause no longer adequately addresses the scale and scope of power these companies currently wield. “Social media companies provide a podium with an international reach of hundreds of millions of people. Just because social media companies are legally considered content providers rather than publishers, it doesn’t mean they’re not responsible for anything on their site,” Hendler said. “What counts as damaging misinformation? With individuals and publishers, we answer that question all the time with libel and slander laws. But what we don’t have is a corresponding set of principles to adjudicate harm through social media.” Hendler has extensive experience in policy and advisory positions that consider aspects of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and internet and web technologies as they impact issues such as regulation of social media, and powerful technologies including facial recognition and artificial intelligence. Hendler is available to speak to diverse aspects of policies related to social media, information technologies, and AI.
Is It Time to End Qualified Immunity?
Following the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests of police brutality, many began to wonder if this should be the end of qualified immunity, the legal protection that police officers and other government officials have from civil rights lawsuits unless the victim is able to show their constitutional rights had been violated by that official. At the time, there seemed to be a lot of momentum. "Based on the events of last summer, we were all poised for the United States Supreme Court to take action on qualified immunity," says Teri Ravenell, a law professor at Villanova who specializes in police accountability and municipal liability. "There were almost a dozen cases pending before them. With the egregious facts in these cases, it was ripe for them to act, but they refused to take cert." It was around the same time that the House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. And while there had been no action at the federal level, we began to see more states and local municipalities decide to move forward on their own. New Mexico and Colorado put laws in place to end qualified immunity, including for police officers, and New York City recently ended it as well. "Qualified immunity still exists at the federal level, but you now have local options that don't have the same obstacles because it has been eliminated in these state and local statutes," Prof. Ravenell says. While there has been progress, Prof. Ravenell cautions to look beyond the present moment. "We say we want to end qualified immunity, but we're not thinking five steps ahead about what this actually does. We can say we want to make police more accountable, but how are we doing that? If it's that we want them to pay damages, if they take on more liability, municipalities will stop indemnifying and plaintiffs will go uncompensated. We have to think about how different rights and issues intersect with each other."
Criminal law expert on Derek Chauvin trial
Chris Slobogin, Milton R. Underwood Chair in Law and Director of Vanderbilt's Criminal Justice Program, is available for commentary and analysis on the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Chris is an expert in criminal law and procedure, mental health law and evidence. He is the author of more than 100 articles, books and chapters and 200 judicial opinions, including three U.S. Supreme Court decisions. He has also served on the American Law Institute's Principles of Police Investigation Project, which focuses on the legal issues related to police procedures.
Comfort Women – UConn expert weighs in as a dark piece of history returns to light
A recent article in an academic journal claiming that Korean comfort women -- imprisoned, raped, and subjected to brutal atrocities during World War II -- were "prostitutes" who had willingly entered indentured contracts set off a firestorm of controversy and a chorus from historians and academics calling for the paper's retraction. It's a topic garnering international attention as survivors continue to seek resolution, compensation, and acknowledgement of the past. UConn's Alexis Dudden is a professor of history specializing in Japan and Korea who has heard stories from survivors first-hand and is among those scholars calling out the erroneous claims: A recent academic journal article by the professor — in which he described as “prostitutes” the Korean and other women forced to serve Japan’s troops — prompted an outcry in South Korea and among scholars in the United States. It also offered a chance, on the Zoom call last week, for the aging survivor of the Japanese Imperial Army’s brothels to tell her story to a group of Harvard students, including her case for why Japan should issue a full apology and face international prosecution. “The recent remarks by the professor at Harvard are something that you should all ignore,” Lee Yong-soo, a 92-year-old in South Korea and one of just a handful of so-called comfort women still living, told the students. But the remarks were a “blessing in disguise” because they created a huge controversy, added Ms. Lee, who was kidnapped by Japanese soldiers during World War II and raped repeatedly. “So this is kind of a wake up call.” The dispute over the academic paper has echoes of the early 1990s, a time when the world was first beginning to hear the voices of survivors of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery in Asia — traumas that the region’s conservative patriarchal cultures had long downplayed. Now, survivors’ testimony drives much of the academic narrative on the topic. Yet many scholars say that conservative forces are once again trying to marginalize the survivors. “This is so startling, 30 years later, to be dragged back, because in the meantime survivors from a wide range of countries found a voice,” Alexis Dudden, a historian of Japan and Korea at the University of Connecticut who has interviewed the women. In dual articles from The New Yorker and The New York Times, Dr. Dudden weighed in on the controversial journal article and offered her findings on the atrocities committed against the women: Alexis Dudden, the historian of Japan and Korea, was one of the scholars invited to publish a reply to Ramseyer in the journal. In her comment, she observes that a reason for studying past atrocities is to try to prevent similar occurrences in the future, “not to abuse history by weaponizing it for present purposes.” She told me of meeting Korean comfort women in Tokyo, in 2000, at the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery. “One of them had her tongue cut out,” she said. “Another woman literally lifted up her hanbok to show me where one of her breasts had been lopped off.” Dudden said that the tribunal was “a big watershed in terms of understanding how oral testimony really was necessary, to shift the legal approach but also in terms of doing historical evidence gathering” in the study of crimes against humanity. In some sense, such testimony of atrocities is seemingly irrefutable. But historians such as Dudden continually seek to verify it, producing knowledge of unspeakable horrors, through cycles of historical denial, political conflict, and diplomatic irresolution. If you are a journalist covering this topic, Dr. Dudden is available to speak with media about how history is playing a role in the current controversy. Click on her icon to arrange an interview today.
With the topic of reparations under discussion and debate, Thomas Craemer -- an expert from the University of Connecticut -- had this to offer in a new essay for The Conversation: The cost of slavery and its legacy of systemic racism to generations of Black Americans has been clear over the past year – seen in both the racial disparities of the pandemic and widespread protests over police brutality. Yet whenever calls for reparations are made – as they are again now – opponents counter that it would be unfair to saddle a debt on those not personally responsible. In the words of then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking on Juneteenth – the day Black Americans celebrate as marking emancipation – in 2019, “I don’t think reparations for something that happened 150 years ago for whom none of us currently living are responsible is a good idea.” As a professor of public policy who has studied reparations, I acknowledge that the figures involved are large – I conservatively estimate the losses from unpaid wages and lost inheritances to Black descendants of the enslaved at around US$20 trillion in 2021 dollars. But what often gets forgotten by those who oppose reparations is that payouts for slavery have been made before – numerous times, in fact. And few at the time complained that it was unfair to saddle generations of people with a debt for which they were not personally responsible. There is an important caveat in these cases of reparations though: The payments went to former slave owners and their descendants, not the enslaved or their legal heirs. Dr. Craemer discusses such aspects as the “Haitian Independence Debt,” British ‘reparations,’ and paying for freedom. Dr. Craemer is an expert on slavery reparations, racial bias, and the psychology of racism, and he is available to speak with media – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
The events that led to the storming of the Capitol buildings last week have garnered attention from just about every news organization across the planet. Pundits and politicians have weighed in on both sides regarding whether President Trump’s words and actions need to be held accountable for the damage to America’s democratic institutions as well as the five people who have since died as a result of the events that occurred on January 6, 2021. Recently, University of Connecticut’s Richard Ashby Wilson, the Gladstein Chair and Professor of Anthropology and Law and an expert on hate speech and incitement on social media shared his perspective in an Op-Ed published in the Los Angeles Times. It’s a thoughtful, methodical, and excellent piece outlining why he believes, in his expert legal opinion, that President Trump crossed the line and now deserves to be held accountable for his crimes. This is a burning topic, and if you are a journalist looking for objective and expert opinion on this topic – then let us help. Richard Ashby Wilson is available to speak with media about this issue – simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Are vaccine passports legal in a post-COVID-19 era? Let our experts explain
As America and the world look to slowly round the corner of the safety measures enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the new coronavirus vaccines are giving hope of an eventual return to normal. However, with an active anti-vaccination movement afoot and many still skeptical of getting that essential poke in the arm, the World Health Organization said some government officials are suggesting the idea of vaccine passports. A simple piece of identification would end the uncertainty that comes with travel, work and the much sought-after leisure that often means crowded places and smaller spaces. The idea has already caught on in countries in Europe and South America. It may be the safety blanket many seek, but are vaccine passports actually legal? It is a question that’s beginning to get serious coverage. “Having proof of vaccination can be essential for a number of sectors other than health, but we cannot overlook the potential discriminatory consequences that may arise,” said Dr. William Hatcher, an expert in public policy and interim chair of the Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University. Another idea being floated is immunity passports, but Hatcher suggests¬ allowing only people with immunity to work might disadvantage those who haven’t gotten sick or those without the antibodies to prove it. It’s as if, in the eyes of their employer, their lack of infection constitutes a disability. The inequality that immunity passports could foster in these situations may be illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act. There are also other ethical, practical, and cultural aspects to consider as well. If you are covering this emerging topic and are looking to know more, our experts can help. Dr. Hatcher is a professor of political science and interim chair of Augusta University’s Department of Social Sciences. He is an expert in the areas of public administration and social, economic, and political institutions in local communities. Hatcher is available to speak with media regarding the concept of vaccination and immunity passports. To arrange an interview, simply click on his name.
