Articles from:April 2021

• Brock expert available to weigh in on Canada-wide child-care system described in federal budget

  Monday, April 19, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 19 April 2021 – R0047

  When the federal budget is released later today, it’s expected to include something Kate Bezanson has spent the past year — and much of her career — championing: more support for childcare and women who have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

  The first federal budget in two years will be delivered by Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland later this afternoon and reports in the media say it will include a $2-billion national child-care program.

  Bezanson, Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies in Brock University’s Faculty of Social Sciences is an expert in gender, social policy and political economy.

  Almost exactly a year ago, in the early days of the pandemic, Bezanson said that social infrastructure — and centrally, supporting and building a child-care system — would be key to the country’s economic recovery from COVID-19.

  She, along with Andrew Bevan, a former Chief of Staff to a Premier of Ontario and a federal Leader of the Opposition, as well as Sheridan College Early Childhood Education Professor Monica Lysack authored a policy report titled “From stabilization to stimulus and beyond: A roadmap to social and economic recovery,” released in April 2020. Other significant briefs have followed.

  The three have become some of the country’s foremost experts on the topic, appearing before numerous government committees and doing media interviews and writing opinion columns encouraging the type of support expected to be announced today.

  Bezanson said she’s hoping today’s budget is a “once-in-a-generation turning point in support of families, children and Canada’s long-term economic resilience.”

  “The COVID-19 crisis made visible both the vulnerability of the care sector and its centrality to averting gender-regressive economic outcomes,” she said. “A broad, multi-sectoral consensus has emerged that building a Canada-wide affordable, accessible and quality child-care system is key to a robust, sustainable and inclusive recovery.”

  Bezanson will be available to speak to the media after the budget is released Monday and will also be available Tuesday, April 20.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected]or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases

• Brock brings Icewine education to France’s wine country with new collaboration

  Friday, April 16, 2021 | By Brock University

  MEDIA RELEASE: 16 April 2021 – R0046 

  Wine and gastronomy graduate students in France’s Champagne region recently gained an in-depth understanding of one of Canada’s top wine exports thanks to a new partnership with Brock University.

  The course titled “A Canadian Icewine story: From production to consumption and beyond” was organized in a collaboration between Brock’s Goodman School of Business and NEOMA Business School’s Master of Science in Wine and Gastronomy program.

  “This was an exciting opportunity to share our expertise in both Icewine marketing and production with one of the world’s most recognizable wine regions,” said Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes.

  Nathalie Spielmann, Director of the MSc program in Reims France, worked with Goodman to create an online experience that immersed students in a new-world wine region.

  “It was great for students to learn about a product not made in France, to learn from other teachers and to have a virtual tasting,” Spielmann said.

  The course, which ran for the first time in March, included technical information on production of this signature style from leading Icewine researcher Debbie Inglis, Director of Brock’s Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute.

  Students then heard from Goodman’s Assistant Dean of Graduate Studies and Marketing Professor Narongsak (Tek) Thongpapanl about the unique marketing considerations of the product. For consumers, Icewine has an experience curve different than other wine styles that can be steeper to climb in the beginning.

  “It was great to use this educational session to present the history and life of Canadian Icewine that might be the fundamental reason of why we are the No. 1 producer of Icewine in the world in quantity and arguably quality too, and to share our in-house expertise on Icewine production and consumption,” Thongpapanl said.

  NEOMA student Danika Leminski found the session informative, and said it helped broaden her perspective of marketing the luxury good.

  “It really opened my eyes to marketing and distribution channels that I never thought of wine companies using before,” Leminski said. “This premium wine was able to reach tough, competitive markets by thinking outside the box.”

  Students were able to apply their new knowledge in group presentations pitching potential new markets based on the information they learned. Tastings and pairings of wine with traditional and outside-the-box food options showcased the versatility of Icewine and articulated the experiential nature of the product.

  For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:

  * Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University [email protected] or 905-347-1970

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  Categories: Media releases