36 articles · page 1 of 3
One permit, one boss, one fear
A UN rapporteur believes that permits tied to a single employer expose foreign workers to exploitation. Ottawa disagrees, but the debate remains open.
ReadRoxham Road: a border at human scale
From 2017 to 2023, tens of thousands of asylum seekers entered Quebec by a small country road, until it was closed.
ReadA resemblance is not proof
In Detroit, a Black father was wrongly arrested in front of his daughters because of software; his courage changed the police's rules.
ReadA tool too good to be honest
The RCMP used facial recognition software built on photos that the commissioners found had been collected illegally; even the police must know where their tools come from.
ReadDraw me a judge
In 2023, a Bloomberg analysis showed that an image generator amplified gender and skin-colour stereotypes. A tool that makes images also makes places for people.
ReadErrors that do not fall at random
When an algorithm gets certain faces wrong more often, it is not a neutral bug: it is an incomplete "us."
ReadRobodebt: when the machine accuses
In Australia, an automated calculation wrongly claimed hundreds of thousands of debts from welfare recipients. A royal commission found it cruel and unlawful.
ReadWhen the "nationality" box becomes a suspicion
In the Netherlands, a tax algorithm treated foreign nationality as a sign of fraud. Tens of thousands of parents were wrongly accused, and a government fell.
Read231 calls, and a candle for each name
In 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls issued 231 Calls for Justice. Years later, families are still counting what remains to be done.
ReadA mother who was not believed
On the night her son Colten Boushie died, police officers treated Debbie Baptiste as a suspect. An oversight body found discrimination.
ReadBeing looked at differently at school
In 2011, Quebec's human rights commission documented the racial profiling experienced by young people, even in schools. Much remains to be done.
ReadDriving without being a suspect
A young Black Montrealer, often pulled over for no reason, took his case all the way to the Supreme Court. The courts recognized racial profiling.
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