I’ve been fortunately recently to have two opinion pieces published by my local newspaper. I’m a bit old-fashioned perhaps when I submitted these to a print newspaper instead of something online, but it was enjoyable to see them in print.

Can a camera be racist?

Thursday, June 11, 2020

Racism is a human trait, but cameras are presumably impartial. They capture reality as it is, not as we believe it to be. But what if our cameras had been unintentionally programmed with algorithms that treat white people differently than black people?

Here are the two photos that inspired this article:

Photo of white man with clearly visible face The face of this man from a photo on the cover of the Hamilton Spectator June 2, 2020 edition is easy to read.

Photo of NDP Leader with hard to distinguish face The face of Canadian national NDP leader Jagmeet Singh from the Hamilton Spectator June 2, 2020 edition is difficult to read.

Roll back Phase 3 to reopen schools more safely

Monday, August 17, 2020

If you could personally do something to make back-to-school safer from the pandemic, what would you do? Would you be willing to give up going to bars and restaurants, 50- or 100-person gatherings, movie theatres, or even worship? Many, especially teachers, schoolchildren, and parents, would probably be happy to do this and more — effectively to roll back Ontario’s Stage 3 reopening.

The first article was lightly edited by the opinion editor, and the second one was printed as written.