First, a thank you to Stephen Mandel for his years of service to our city. Politics — particularly civic politics — is a tough way to make a living, and in my view Mandel has acquitted himself very well in his nine years as mayor. If you can be in
Continue readingAuthor: mauricetougas
In This Corner: Kerry Diotte the front-runner … for now.
For months now, the city has been watching a tedious production called Waiting for Stephen to come to its end — is Mayor Mandel in, or is he out? All other potential or rumoured candidates — Karen Leibovici, Don Iveson, Kerry Diotte and Amajreet Sohi — have kept their powder
Continue readingIn This Corner: If you eat food, you should read Salt Sugar Fat.
If you read just one book this year, it should be Salt Sugar Fat. And if you read only one book this year, you really should read a lot more. Part business book, part guide to healthy eating, Salt Sugar Fat (McClelland & Stewart) is an eye-opening, sometimes shocking, always
Continue readingIn This Corner: 12 thoughts about Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.
1. Americans are overwhelmingly the world’s most influential people. I count 63 of the 100 as American. This certainly reflects America’s dominant position in the world, and the fact Time is an American publication 2. No Canadians made the list of most influential people in the world, not even Justin
Continue readingIn This Corner: Saving Canadian English, one word at a time.
Is Canadian English dying? Or should I say, Canadian English is dying, eh? First, is there such a thing as Canadian English? The answer is — and this is classically Canadian — yes, kind of. Canadian English is a typically Canadian compromise between our British heritage and the inexorable pull
Continue readingIn This Corner: Potholes: the shame of the city.
Everybody in Edmonton, it seems, is complaining about potholes. This is a yearly phenomenon in Edmonton that arrives as surely as the first snows of October, and the last snows of April … or May. It’s all part of the rich fabric of life that is being an Edmontonian. Up
Continue readingIn This Corner: Thomas Mulcair’s Keystone tap dance.
I’m taking some perverse pleasure in watching NDP leader Thomas Mulcair try to finesse the Keystone XL pipeline issue. Not too long ago — in fact, anytime before the 2011 breakthrough election — the NDP would have had no problem staking out a position on the pipeline. Mulcair would have
Continue readingIn This Corner: Here comes the pain train: previewing Justin Trudeau negative ads.
The news that Marc Garneau is quitting the federal Liberal leadership race is bad news for the Grits, and good news for the Conservatives. How’s that, you say? Well, the bad news part is easy. Justin Trudeau’s way to an easy, resounding, first ballot coronation has been cleared with his
Continue readingIn This Corner: How one nice guy made a lousy day a little bit better.
This is the true story of how a bad day became a pretty good day thanks to one act of kindness. On Saturday morning, I thought I would join my sons in their weekly viewing of English Premier League soccer. They record a game or two and have breakfast together
Continue readingIn This Corner: Best picture nominees an unimpressive lot, but somebody’s gotta win, so …
As a longtime Oscar watcher (the awards show, not just some guy named Oscar, which would be creepy), let me just say this to start my annual (as in second) Oscar predictions blog: this is the least impressive selection of Oscar best picture nominees in years. Maybe ever. I’ve seen
Continue readingIn This Corner: Get ready for the return of sin taxes.
For weeks now, the provincial government has been warning us, in the most dire terms possible, that we’re in for a “tough budget” filled with “tough choices”, and a certain amount of “tough shit”. Maybe tough isn’t a strong enough word. How about ‘cruel, but fair’, to borrow a line
Continue readingIn This Corner: Dad: a eulogy for a life well lived.
(For anyone interested, here is the eulogy I gave at my dad’s funeral. Lots of inside stuff, but it give you an idea of what the man was all about.) What a life. That’s the best way I could think of to wrap up our dad’s 93 lived-to-its-fullest years on
Continue readingIn This Corner: Help! My DVR is broken! What’s on TV?
Funny, isn’t it, how you can become so dependent upon a technology that didn’t even exist just a few years ago. OK, maybe funny isn’t the right word. Perhaps a better word would be ‘sad’. Yesterday, my Digital Video Recorder — the DVR — sent me an ominous message when
Continue readingIn This Corner: What do you say when your dad asks: “Why won’t I die?”
Last Wednesday night, I went to see my dad for what I thought would be the last time. He fell and broke his leg — his femur, of all things — three weeks ago last Friday, and as things are wont to do with old people, the broken leg set
Continue readingIn This Corner: Queue jumping inquiry shocker: rich and famous have connections!
Your provincial government is spending the somewhat staggering sum of $10 million on a public inquiry into “queue jumping” in the health care system. In light of what we’ve heard so far, I would like to propose to the province that the inquiry is shut down immediately. For a mere
Continue readingIn This Corner: Spread the word: boycott the NHL for one game.
Our long, recurring nightmare is over … hockey is back! Yes, the National Hockey League and its skating concussion candidates reached a deal Saturday to end the lockout that threatened the season for the 27th time. If they can dot the i’s and cross the t’s (this would assume the
Continue readingIn This Corner: The year in political bloopers.
Ah, politics. It has the potential to inspire, and an even greater potential to inspire derisive laughter or fits of rage. Here, for your reading and enraging enjoyment, are my choices for the top 10 political blunders of 2012, local edition. 1. Allan Hunsperger and the ‘lake of fire’ In
Continue readingIn This Corner: My 8:30 a.m. call from ‘Disney’.
So, it’s Saturday morning. Eight-thirty to be precise. The phone rings. Who calls at 8:30 on a Saturday morning? Normally, nobody. But this Saturday, it could have been any number of people. My dad did one of those old person things yesterday — he fell, and broke his femur. So
Continue readingIn This Corner: Internal NRA memo on how to handle latest ‘situation’ is revealed.
INTERNAL MEMO TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION Urgent: Response to latest ‘incident’ Gentlemen: As you all know, the NRA is facing another situation due to the over enthusiastic application of the right to bear arms by a young man in the Connecticut area. In the
Continue readingIn This Corner: Alberta Liberals, as always, their own worst enemy.
There’s more a-feudin’ and a-fussin’ in the Alberta Liberal ranks. Here’s the background. Calgary MLA Kent Hehr posted a blog last week calling for the so-called ‘progressive’ parties (that would be the Liberals, the NDP, and I assume whatever is left of the Alberta Party) to unite as a single
Continue reading