Join a Great Team: Volunteer with CFIC
Have you ever thought about being a CFIC volunteer? We’ve certainly thought about having you as one. Whether you enjoy computer work, getting out and meeting people, writing and sharing your (evidence-based) thoughts, or leadership roles, we have a place for you.
Our volunteers get involved because they believe passionately that the best way to make their community, their province, their country, and the world better is by supporting CFIC and our mission to support people, organizations, and governments to make evidence-based decisions that improve lives in Canada and around the world.
With a small team of volunteers, CFIC punches above our weight in terms of impact. Adding your talent and time to this pool allows us to do even more.
If you are an independent, motivated individual who believes that critical thinking, science, and secularism are critical for a thriving society, please consider volunteering. To get started, just complete our online volunteer application or email volunteers@centreforinquiry.ca for more information.
Current volunteer roles:
Webmaster assistant: Use WordPress to share information. Check out our website here. Some training will be available for the right (committed) candidate.
Local organizers: Organize events, both informal (such as Skeptics in the Pub) and formal (such as our recent Seth Andrews talk). Meet local, like-minded people. Engage in interesting conversations.
Data Analysis: We are looking for CFIC members who are interested in helping to understand what is working well, and what is working less well with CFIC’s online presence, including social media, direct email campaigns, the website, and our advertising.
Writers: Submit regular contributions to Critical Links. We especially need people with science backgrounds who can write about environmental issues, health, and other breakthroughs.
Activists: Help CFIC change things. We are currently focused on the elimination of public funding for discriminatory religious school boards in Ontario (we would also like to be more active in Saskatchewan and Alberta with this issue) and changing the census question about religion. However, we will work with activists in any area that significantly advances science, secularism, and critical thinking.
Leadership: We look to our excellent volunteers to fill roles on our council and board. Please let us know if you are interested in getting to know us better in order to be involved in directing the future of CFIC.
Canada’s Measles Resurgence and the Public Health Risks of Online Medical Misinformation
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Measles is an airborne disease caused by a virus. It can lead to severe health complications and even death. According to the World Health Organization, the measles vaccination has averted about 59 million deaths worldwide between 2000 and 2024. The vaccine is safe and effective.
The “Statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada on Canada’s Measles Elimination Status” from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) reported on November 10, 2025, that Canada was experiencing a “large, multi-jurisdictional outbreak of measles” beginning in October, 2024.
Protection for oneself and one’s loved ones from measles is simple: The measles vaccine. It prevents outbreaks and helps prevent illness. This is a preventable disease. The cases have been found in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories.
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) reported that the PHAC confirmed: Canada no longer holds measles elimination status. The PAHO Measles and Rubella Elimination Regional Monitoring and Re-Verification Commission confirmed the sustained transmission of the measles virus in Canada for more than a year.
Health Ministers in October 2025 were briefed on the measles status of the country. They reportedly committed to working together and discussing coordinated actions, including community engagement.
The Canadian Medical Association reported that 9 in 10 Canadians search online for health advice based on the 2026 Health and Media Tracking Survey. If AI-generated health information enters into this, then real health risks can emerge from misinformation spread by current AI systems.
False health information can move faster and wider than credible medical advice. This creates confusion and undermines trust in experts. People who followed health advice from AI were five times more likely to experience harm than those who did not. Access to care is part of the problem, i.e., people go to AI-sourced medical information when proper care is inaccessible or harder to acquire.
85% of respondents found physicians to be the most trustworthy source of information. Therefore, better access to care would mean Canadians would lean on reliable health information, which they already find more reliable anyway, i.e., physicians. American misinformation and the rise of misinformation are major concerns for Canadians.
Health Minister Marjorie Michel warned against U.S. health and science institution-linked information now. Although, some positive skeptical signs include 69% of Canadians reporting skepticism toward online information, with growing awareness and caution.
87% want social media companies to stop spreading false information, and 90% believe the government should address this. The CMA has submitted recommendations of strengthening trust, protecting privacy, and improving health care, per the Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada October, 2025 submission.
New Brunswick Mystery Brain Illness Investigation Finds No Evidence of a New Disease
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen
How did the New Brunswick mystery brain illness investigation and the JAMA Neurology study conclude that no new disease was identified?
The reported mystery brain illness from New Brunswick has been investigated further since 2021’s initial epidemiological research.
In 2021, a group of 48 patients showed neurological symptoms, with the province’s initial investigation finding no common illness. The report was issued on February 24, 2022. A neurologist raised concerns in early 2023 about the possible exposure to herbicides and metals, while additional patients showed abnormal symptomatology.
A 2023-2026 investigation following the initial investigation tested the environmental-exposure hypothesis. They checked if patients received diagnoses since the original research.
The New Brunswick “mystery brain illness” investigation began in 2021 with a group of 48 patients showing neurological symptoms. The province’s first investigation found no evidence of a common illness, and that report was issued on February 24, 2022.
On January 23, 2026, New Brunswick released the report in conclusion of the investigation. By February 28, 2025, 222 complete and validated patient reports had been received. By November 1, 2025, the referring neurologist had notified the province of 399 patients.
Only the 222 validated reports were included in the analysis. No environmental substances explained all or even most patient conditions. Over 90% of patients were within expected ranges for herbicides. Some patients had elevated metal levels. Most were normal.
Provincial reportage, in other words, reports no widespread environmental exposure as contributive to illness. Autopsies revealed known conditions, rather than a “mystery illness” or a new unknown brain disease, including Alzheimer’s, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and Lewy body disease.
More distinctly in the academic domain from a highly reputable medical journal, JAMA Neurology, published a peer-reviewed study on May 7, 2025, with a re-examination of 25 patients from the broader 222-patient cohort. The study included 14 independent clinical evaluations and 11 neuropathological diagnoses.
The JAMA Neurology study found no evidence of a new disease and identified known conditions in the 25 cases, including common neurodegenerative diseases, functional neurological disorder, metastatic cancer, and traumatic brain injury.
11 autopsy cases were found to be extremely unlikely to have a new disease (probability of less than 0.001). The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) helped with two rounds of scientific review. New Brunswick requested a separate review of all data.
No common illness was identified in the first investigation; the second provincial investigation found no new or unknown brain diseases, and the JAMA Neurology study found no evidence of a new disease.
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a close up of a human brain on a white background, image by BUDDHI Kumar SHRESTHA, via Unsplash
Bill 21 and the Constitutional Boundaries of State Laicity in Québec
By Scott Douglas Jacobsen
How has Bill 21 reshaped the legal and public understanding of secularism, religious freedom, and state neutrality in Québec and Canada more broadly?
Québec’s Bill 21, also known as An Act respecting the laicity of the State, received assent and came into force on June 16, 2019. The key idea: the state of Québec is a lay state.
The principles of Bill 21 are equality for all, the separation of the state and religions, the state’s religious neutrality, and freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. In practice, certain public officials are prohibited from wearing religious symbols while performing their duties.
Religious symbols can include clothing, headwear, jewelry, or items reasonably understood as indicating a religious affiliation. These rules apply to judicial and quasi-judicial personnel, government lawyers and prosecutors, police, peace officers, principals of public schools, etc. Schedule II includes teachers. This was controversial.
People in covered positions on March 27, 2019, were exempt via a grandfather clause. Teachers could be exempt if they remain in the same function within the same school board.
Faces must be uncovered for covered personnel and, when necessary, for members of the public receiving services for identity verification or security. Exceptions exist for disability, health reasons, or job requirements.
No adaptation is permitted for workarounds except as stipulated in the Act itself. It uses the notwithstanding clause twice. The Act does not require Québec to remove existing religious heritage from buildings, place names, or institutional names.
The current challenge before the Supreme Court of Canada is English Montreal School Board et al. v. Attorney General of Québec et al. The docket shows filings in early March 2026, with the hearing scheduled for March 23–26, 2026.
Bill 21 is not symbolic secularism. It defines Québec as a lay state, as noted. The wearing of religious symbols is restricted for certain state employees while shielded by the notwithstanding clause. It is now awaiting final Supreme Court review.
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a flag on a pole, photo by Harry Spink, via Unsplash
A Discussion About Food Security, Food Waste and New Solutions in Manitoba with Ted Dzogan
May 3rd, 2026, at 08:00 PM EDT
At Food Rescue Grocery Store, we think good food should stay out of the landfill. So we’re bringing a new-to-Brandon approach to food security: providing rescued food at a low price for all.
The Food Rescue Grocery Store was established in Brandon, MB, in 2021 as a community response to food waste, community building, food accessibility, and equitable societal participation. We promote and advocate the human right to food, obtained with dignity, respect, and participation; promoting local solutions for food security; reducing food waste; and supporting community growth and integration.
