Welcome to Need to Know, The Hub’s twice-weekly roundup of expert insights into the biggest economic stories, political news, and policy developments that Hub readers need to be keeping their eyes on.
Canada’s women’s rugby team did us proud—it’s time we gave them the support they need
By Howard Anglin, former deputy chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and principal secretary to Premier Jason Kenney
The surprise isn’t that Canada’s national women’s rugby team lost to England in the Women’s World Cup final on Saturday; it’s that they were there in the first place. The week before, they clearly outclassed New Zealand’s Black Ferns in the semifinals. Don’t take my word for it, listen to the respect with which New Zealand star Ruby Tui described Canada’s victory.
To put that achievement in perspective, you may be familiar with the ferocious reputation of New Zealand’s men’s team, the All Blacks, but their women have been even more dominant. The Black Ferns were the two-time defending World Cup champions and, before losing to Canada, hadn’t lost a non-finals World Cup match in 35 years. Yet Canada handled them easily.
After that historic victory, the final, alas, felt like a foregone conclusion. While England’s team is a fully-funded professional outfit, Canada’s women have to beg for funds just to play. Literally. Despite being ranked second in the world going into the World Cup, our mendicant national team had to crowdfund to cover the cost of competing. And it turns out that, without money, skill and heart can only get you so far—even if that is pretty darn far under the circumstances.
As it happened, Mark Carney was back in England in time to take in the finals (did he ever leave?). As he watched England’s victory over our overmatched team, I hope he paused to ask himself why a country that can find $8.2 million for woke rice in Vietnam and $15 million for feminist beans in South-Kivu can’t find the money to support a national team that is capable of making a World Cup finals on a pauper’s budget.
Our government’s lack of support is a disgrace, but our women did us proud nonetheless.
Don’t overlook the impact of functional illiteracy
By Amal Attar-Guzman, The Hub’s content editor, content manager, and podcast producer
Fall is here. The air is cooler, and the school year is fully back into the swing of things, with kids embarking on another year of adventures, academic challenges, and opportunities.
But are they receiving the quality education their parents are hoping for as they send them off, especially when it comes to literacy skills? Elementary school teacher Kelden Formosa recently rang the alarm in The Hub’s pages about the impact that abandoning systematic phonics is having on literacy skills.
Relatedly, there is another rising problem that tends not to get much attention: functional illiteracy.
