University of Ottawa

Black Londoners of Canada: Digital mapping reveals Ontario’s Black history and challenges myths

Retrieved on: 
Sunday, February 11, 2024

The archival traces of her life tell the story of a migration from one Black community with British and American affiliations to another with strong Caribbean influences.

Key Points: 
  • The archival traces of her life tell the story of a migration from one Black community with British and American affiliations to another with strong Caribbean influences.
  • As research associates on the Black Londoners Project at Western University, we are finding historical clues about people like Aurelia Jones and exploring the Black history of London, Ont., by using a digital mapping approach.
  • The migrations of Black individuals often reflect the geographic and cultural connections of Black communities across borders and further into the African diaspora.

Black geographies, Canadian myths

  • Scholars such as Katherine McKittrick, professor and Canada research chair in Black Studies, have highlighted how understanding Black history means being attentive to how geography, culture and race intersect in the formation of Black communities.
  • Such considerations challenge persistent myths of Canada’s past.
  • Read more:
    Meet the Black snowshoers who walked 1,000 kilometres across Canada in 1813

    Shifting the focus from nationalist discourse to migrations among Black communities helps us better understand everyday Black life.

Digital Black history projects

  • The Black Londoners Project approaches Black history geographically by supplementing the narratives of 16 Black refugees from slavery and racial oppression in the U.S. with archival evidence (among others, personal narratives, census information and newspaper articles) of their lives in London, Ont.
  • The website will also connect with other digital Black Canadian History projects:


The Black Press in 19th-century Canada and Beyond explores the history of journalism as intellectual activism in Black Canadian and international history. It is led by Boulou Ebanda de B'béri, research director and professor in the department of communication at University of Ottawa, and Nina Reid-Maroney, history professor at Huron University College;
Mapping Ontario’s Black Archives presents a map of museums and archives that house records of Black-centred histories and is led by Cheryl Thompson, associate professor of performance studies and director for the Laboratory for Black Creativity at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Black oral history, digital mapping

  • Digital mapping of Black migrations allows us to centre Black historical presence in public memory and examine Black oral narratives outside of their abolitionist framing.
  • The teacher and white abolitionist, Benjamin Drew, published narratives of Black refugees in Ontario in his 1856 anti-slavery report, The Refugee; or, A North-Side View of Slavery.
  • However, the attitude of many Black Canadians toward the potential of equality in Canada would change after the 1850s as, for example, access to education became increasingly segregated.
  • Many would move within Canada, to the U.S. and other places in search of support from and community with the African diaspora.

Aurelia Jones

  • B. Jones’s account, we learned of his spouse, Aurelia Jones (née Bonsor), in the marriage register of Upper Canada/Canada West.
  • Following A. B.’s death around 1860, there are few records of Aurelia living in London.
  • However, Aurelia reappears in Hutchinson’s Nova Scotia Directory of 1867 and in the 1881 Canada census for Nova Scotia, living in Halifax.
  • There, Aurelia lived on Creighton Street with a Black couple from Antigua and Jamaica.


Nova Scotia’s Black communities emerged from layers of migration; for example, Black Loyalists arrived during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), and African Caribbean peoples came looking for work in the 19th and 20th centuries. Creighton Street was a centre of Black Haligonian life well into the 20th century.

Migrations, diasporic connections

  • We recognize the irony in writing this piece during Black History Month.
  • For Black communities as well as activists and scholars, remembering Black history happens every day of the year.
  • Visualizing Black geography asks us to think of more permanent, transnational ways of commemorating Black history and honouring lives like that of Aurelia Jones.
  • The Black Londoners Project receives funding from Western's Strategic Priorities Fund.
  • David Mitterauer works for Dr. Miranda Green-Barteet and Dr. Alyssa MacLean's Black Londoners Project at Western University.
  • Patrick Kinghan works for Dr. Miranda Green-Barteet and Dr. Alyssa MacLean's Black Londoners Project at Western University.

Black Londoners of Canada: Digital mapping reveals Ontario Black history and challenges myths

Retrieved on: 
Sunday, February 11, 2024

Aurelia Jones was a prominent member of the Black community in mid-19th century London, Ontario, Canada, and the spouse of Abel Bedford Jones, a Black entrepreneur and religious and political leader.

Key Points: 
  • Aurelia Jones was a prominent member of the Black community in mid-19th century London, Ontario, Canada, and the spouse of Abel Bedford Jones, a Black entrepreneur and religious and political leader.
  • As research associates on the Black Londoners Project at Western University, we are finding historical clues about people like Aurelia Jones and exploring the Black history of London, Ont., by using a digital mapping approach.
  • The migrations of Black individuals often reflect the geographic and cultural connections of Black communities across borders and further into the African diaspora.

Black geographies, Canadian myths

  • Scholars such as Katherine McKittrick, professor and Canada research chair in Black Studies, have highlighted how understanding Black history means being attentive to how geography, culture and race intersect in the formation of Black communities.
  • Such considerations challenge persistent myths of Canada’s past.
  • Read more:
    Meet the Black snowshoers who walked 1,000 kilometres across Canada in 1813

    Shifting the focus from nationalist discourse to migrations among Black communities helps us better understand everyday Black life.

Digital Black history projects

  • The Black Londoners Project approaches Black history geographically by supplementing the narratives of 16 Black refugees from slavery and racial oppression in the U.S. with archival evidence (among others, personal narratives, census information and newspaper articles) of their lives in London, Ont.
  • The website will also connect with other digital Black Canadian History projects:


The Black Press in 19th-century Canada and Beyond explores the history of journalism as intellectual activism in Black Canadian and international history. It is led by Boulou Ebanda de B'béri, research director and professor in the department of communication at University of Ottawa, and Nina Reid-Maroney, history professor at Huron University College;
Mapping Ontario’s Black Archives presents a map of museums and archives that house records of Black-centred histories and is led by Cheryl Thompson, associate professor of performance studies and director for the Laboratory for Black Creativity at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Black oral history, digital mapping

  • Digital mapping of Black migrations allows us to centre Black historical presence in public memory and examine Black oral narratives outside of their abolitionist framing.
  • The teacher and white abolitionist, Benjamin Drew, published narratives of Black refugees in Ontario in his 1856 anti-slavery report, The Refugee; or, A North-Side View of Slavery.
  • However, the attitude of many Black Canadians toward the potential of equality in Canada would change after the 1850s as, for example, access to education became increasingly segregated.
  • Many would move within Canada, to the U.S. and other places in search of support from and community with the African diaspora.

Aurelia Jones

  • B. Jones’s account, we learned of his spouse, Aurelia Jones (née Bonsor), in the marriage register of Upper Canada/Canada West.
  • Following A. B.’s death around 1860, there are few records of Aurelia living in London.
  • However, Aurelia reappears in Hutchinson’s Nova Scotia Directory of 1867 and in the 1881 Canada census for Nova Scotia, living in Halifax.
  • There, Aurelia lived on Creighton Street with a Black couple from Antigua and Jamaica.


Nova Scotia’s Black communities emerged from layers of migration; for example, Black Loyalists arrived during the American Revolutionary War (1775-83), and African Caribbean peoples came looking for work in the 19th and 20th centuries. Creighton Street was a centre of Black Haligonian life well into the 20th century.

Migrations, diasporic connections

  • We recognize the irony in writing this piece during Black History Month.
  • For Black communities as well as activists and scholars, remembering Black history happens every day of the year.
  • Visualizing Black geography asks us to think of more permanent, transnational ways of commemorating Black history and honouring lives like that of Aurelia Jones.
  • The Black Londoners Project receives funding from Western's Strategic Priorities Fund.
  • David Mitterauer works for Dr. Miranda Green-Barteet and Dr. Alyssa MacLean's Black Londoners Project at Western University.
  • Patrick Kinghan works for Dr. Miranda Green-Barteet and Dr. Alyssa MacLean's Black Londoners Project at Western University.

How entrepreneurship education can be more inclusive

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Globally, women are less likely to benefit from entrepreneurship education and training, particularly in programs supporting high-growth enterprises.

Key Points: 
  • Globally, women are less likely to benefit from entrepreneurship education and training, particularly in programs supporting high-growth enterprises.
  • When entrepreneurship programs do consider inclusion, most focus on gender without considering age, ethnicity, race or other identity factors.
  • From an economic development perspective, the effectiveness and inclusivity of entrepreneurship programs is important as new businesses account for most net job creation.

Framework to analyze barriers

  • Our team developed a framework to support a toolkit for inclusive entrepreneurship education and training called the Gender-Smart Entrepreneurship Education and Training Plus (GEET+) 2.0.
  • The toolkit also profiles lessons learned from a systematic review of literature about entrepreneurship education and highlights barriers that marginalized and underrepresented people encounter in entrepreneurship programs.

Biases in education

  • Scholars caution that there is a need to critically examine entrepreneurship education and training.
  • Research, including studies conducted at Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, document biases in entrepreneurship education programming.

19 countries and EDI entrepreneurship education

  • Our research found an absence of policies and criteria associated with equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in entrepreneurship education and training.
  • We asked a 19-country panel of entrepreneurship educators to reflect on
    entrepreneurship programming.
  • While some respondents said there were no problems, others identified multiple challenges seen in processes, program content and outcomes.
  • We learned that how educators perceive who is or is not under-represented in entrepreneurship programs is context-specific.
  • Overall, a key finding was that EDI initiatives have generally not reached entrepreneurship programs.

The framework

  • Each component of the framework was tested in settings in the United States and Canada.
  • All organizations used the toolkit to assess the status of programs and identify program service or inclusion gaps.

Developing common understanding, goals

  • They developed common understandings of equity and inclusion issues within entrepreneurship education and training.
  • To learn more, the toolkit including framework and assessment criteria can be downloaded at the University of Ottawa.


Barbara Jayne Orser receives funding from SSHRC. Catherine Elliott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Game Changing Gun Control Bill Expected to Receive Royal Assent

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 14, 2023

The game-changing Bill reflects more than thirty years of advocacy by the Coalition for Gun Control to make Canadians safer from gun violence.

Key Points: 
  • The game-changing Bill reflects more than thirty years of advocacy by the Coalition for Gun Control to make Canadians safer from gun violence.
  • Founded in the wake of the Montreal massacre, the Coalition has worked nationally on evidence-based strategies to reduce gun violence.
  • “The legislation passed today is a long time coming,” said Wendy Cukier, co-founder of the Coalition for Gun Control.
  • The second was criticized by some gun control advocates for not going far enough but the third version, arguably, went too far.

HYAS Infosec Groundbreaking Research on AI-Generated Malware Contributes to the AI Act, Other AI Policies and Regulations

Retrieved on: 
Monday, December 4, 2023

HYAS’ work on AI-generated malware -- specifically, BlackMamba, as well as its more sophisticated and fully autonomous cousin, EyeSpy – is helping advance the understanding of AI systems that are devoid of an intended purpose, including GPAIS and the unique challenges posed by GPAIS to cybersecurity.

Key Points: 
  • The AI Act is widely viewed as a cornerstone initiative that is helping shape the trajectory of AI governance, with the United States’ policies and considerations soon to follow.
  • AI Act researchers and framers assert that the Act reflects a specific conception of AI systems, viewing them as non-autonomous statistical software with potential harms primarily stemming from datasets.
  • However, these researchers also see a substantial gap in the AI Act concerning AI systems devoid of an intended purpose, a category that encompasses General-Purpose AI Systems (GPAIS) and foundation models.
  • Future of Life Institute “General Purpose - AI and the AI Act” What are general purpose AI systems?

"SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE™: The Missing Ingredient" A Cure for Loneliness; Student Emotional Well-Being and Academic Success in Higher Education - Porter Khouw Consulting, Inc. (PKC)

Retrieved on: 
Monday, November 27, 2023

PKC, a pioneer in College and University dining across North America; PKC announces the official release of " SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE™: The Missing Ingredient ".

Key Points: 
  • PKC, a pioneer in College and University dining across North America; PKC announces the official release of " SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE™: The Missing Ingredient ".
  • This ground breaking 9 minute documentary illustrates how dining programs designed using SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE™️ creates safe spaces, strengthens social capital, fosters new friendships, nourishes student emotional well-being, and increases student retention and academic success.
  • The friendship networks combined with the networks of new friends can result in a profound positive influence (personally and professionally) throughout the arc of a graduate’s life.
    "
  • For more information about " SOCIAL ARCHITECTURE™: The Missing Ingredient " or to schedule an interview, please contact Alexandra Porter at 443-848-8401- [email protected]

The Government of Canada Honours Commander (Ret'd) Rowland Marshall and Lieutenant-Commander (Ret'd) Sherry Richardson as Hometown Heroes

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 30, 2023

With an eye for adventure on sea and land, Sherry Richardson has contributed to her country and community for decades.

Key Points: 
  • With an eye for adventure on sea and land, Sherry Richardson has contributed to her country and community for decades.
  • To mark the 100th anniversary of the Naval Reserve in 2023, Parks Canada is honoured to add Commander (Ret'd) Rowland Marshall and Lieutenant-Commander (Ret'd) Sherry Richardson to the Hometown Heroes program.
  • "On behalf of the Government of Canada, I'm honoured to recognize Commander (Ret'd) Rowland Marshall and Lieutenant-Commander (Ret'd) Sherry Richardson as Parks Canada Hometown Heroes for their dedication to their community and their contributions to Canada.
  • Commander (Ret'd) Rowland Marshall and Lieutenant-Commander (Ret'd) Sherry Richardson had remarkable experiences throughout their careers and continue to inspire others.

Linearis Opened its New Laboratory Offering an AI Biomarkers Analytical Platform for Innovation Against Cancer, Diabetes, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Other Metabolic Diseases

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), Linearis provides a comprehensive health status based on the analysis of 1,400 metabolomic biomarkers through mass spectrometry.

Key Points: 
  • Leveraging artificial intelligence (AI), Linearis provides a comprehensive health status based on the analysis of 1,400 metabolomic biomarkers through mass spectrometry.
  • The platform will enable its clients to improve prevention, screening, treatment monitoring, and new drug discovery.
  • The combination of AI and high-throughput automated analysis of 1,400 metabolomic biomarkers enables Linearis to better identify numerous elements associated with metabolic diseases including cancer, diabetes, and antimicrobial resistance.
  • "We are grateful for the support from Medicago during this transaction enabling the creation of this innovative and collaborative laboratory.

Cytonus expands its Scientific Advisory Board with Oncolytic Virus expert John C. Bell, PhD

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, November 16, 2023

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Cytonus Therapeutics, Inc., announced today that the company has expanded its Scientific Board of Advisors with the appointment of University of Ottawa Professor and pioneering researcher in the field of oncolytic viruses John C. Bell, PhD.

Key Points: 
  • Board Expansion for Cytonus Therapeutics, Inc.
    SAN DIEGO, Nov. 16, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Cytonus Therapeutics, Inc., announced today that the company has expanded its Scientific Board of Advisors with the appointment of University of Ottawa Professor and pioneering researcher in the field of oncolytic viruses John C. Bell, PhD.
  • "It is a great privilege for Cytonus to be joined by Professor Bell, who is an international leader in the field of modern viral immunotherapeutics."
  • commented Cytonus' cofounder and Chief Scientific Innovator, Richard Klemke, PhD.
  • Cytonus' Scientific Advisory Board is comprised of accomplished business leaders, distinguished research scientists, and key opinion leaders from prestigious academic institutions, immune-oncology centers, cell therapy centers, and private industry.

Coding For Veterans Opens the Market

Retrieved on: 
Friday, November 10, 2023

TORONTO, Nov. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development David Piccini joined Jeff Musson, Executive Director of Coding for Veterans, and Dani Lipkin, Managing Director, Global Innovation Sector, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to open the market and honour military veterans and members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as to commemorate Remembrance Day.

Key Points: 
  • TORONTO, Nov. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development David Piccini joined Jeff Musson, Executive Director of Coding for Veterans, and Dani Lipkin, Managing Director, Global Innovation Sector, Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to open the market and honour military veterans and members of the Canadian Armed Forces, as well as to commemorate Remembrance Day.
  • Coding for Veterans retrains military veterans across North America in software development and cyber security.
  • The program is delivered 100% online through the University of Southern California and, in Canada, through the University of Ottawa.
  • From deployment to employment, Coding for Veterans has helped arm more than 500 servicemen and women with new skills to protect our digital borders in cyber security since 2019.