When Laurentian University was founded it was not to create a profit making enterprise but to create an educational institution to serve the north, one that went on to include an important partnership with the Franco-Ontarian and Indigenous communities. Using a mechanism (Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act) designed to ensure profit
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THE FIFTH COLUMN: Ontario’s COVID-19 Disaster in Five Words
The Ontario government would like to blame the behaviour of Ontario’s citizens for this disaster implying somehow we are so much worse than the citizens of other countries, and even other provinces, that are at the end of this crisis as we enter the worst of it. The fact is
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: So Why Would I Buy An E-bike
It’s not that I have anything against e-bikes. I think they are great for people who want to use them as basic transportation or for whom cycling would be difficult otherwise. But for me cycling has always been a recreational activity I do for exercise, so for myself, I have
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Unspoken Privilege – English Privilege
We all know what White Privilege is but no one seems to speak about English Privilege. English privilege is simply the ability of English language speakers to get by practically anywhere in the world without learning another language. It brings with it a sense of entitlement. English speakers get annoyed
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Build a Better City – The Ultimate Reality Show
The worlds biggest reality challenge – two groups of 10,000 workers in 100 groups of 100 each face of to see who can build the better city on two separate plots of virgin land. The first group has each team of 100 competing with the other teams each trying to
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Does Canada Need a Head of State
From Twitter Adrian Harewood @CBCAdrianH 23 Jan Why in 2021 is a Canadian Prime Minister, the leader of a #G7 nation, still reporting to a #Queen who doesn’t live in his country and has never lived in his country? #JuliePayette #JustinTrudeau
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Sharing My Desktop PC Wallpaper Collections
When I’m not mountain biking or cycling, mapping trails or ranting about political or social issues I may be taking photographs. The last few years I have been using the better ones as computer wallpaper, changing it every five days or so. These are slideshows of these collections. 2019 and
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Bikes from Eh to Zed
A bike What everyone needs. Everyone should have a bike. B bike Be at one with your bike. Be the bike. C bike A homophonic cross reference to bicycle. See bike. D bike To get off your bike. The rode is over and it is time to D bike. E
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Happy New Years
Community My New Years Resolution for our society is to no longer worship at the twin altars of individualism and technology but rather to embrace the saviour of community. From the industrial revolution to the high tech revolution we have deluded ourselves that technology would solve all our problems. While
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The Pensioner and the Pandemic
This is the post I was going to write before I was rudely interrupted and told to lock myself in my room. I may indeed be the least affected person on the planet by this pandemic, and the only one that it seems to be not such a big deal,
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Money Cannot Buy Happiness But …
They say money cannot buy happiness but it certainly can buy food and shelter and education that can make the difference between misery and happiness, not to mention that health is directly related to economic status. Yet people still claim people are poor because they are lazy and all we
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Can America Be Saved
I am writing this as a citizen of a world that no matter where we live are strongly impacted by whatever America does and whatever happens in America America is celebrating but it will take a lot more than the end of the Trump presidency to save America. Trump promoted
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: The MEC Mess an Intuitive Understanding
These comments are not based on any comprehensive analysis but rather my intuitive response to what has been filed in court and published online and the media coverage. It appears that both sides may be correct, sort of. From a business point of view the Board of Directors actions may
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Is Charity Evil
We supposedly live in a major developed industrialized country which is one of the seven most advanced economies in the world, yet: many people depend on charity to be fed and not starve, many people depend on charity for a place to sleep so they do not freeze to death
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Lessons We Must Learn From COVID-19 to Build a Better Society
Community is the key to the future. Those societies that are fairing best in responding to COVID 19 are those with a strong sense of community. America’s dismal response is not just because of Trump, but also due to the country’s overemphasis on individualism over community. Our public health care
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: On Television Part 2 – Cutting The Cord
Those of you who have read THE FIFTH COLUMN: On Television may wonder if the Fifth Columnist has finally decided to cut the cord as it made a pretty good argument for that. Well we have finally overcome over 40 years of inertia and made the decision and as of
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Thoughts on the police
This post does not claim to have all the answers, or any answers, nor to be a comprehensive, or any kind of analysis, but is simply some thoughts on a subject that our society has finally been forced to deal with. One’s attitude to the police is clearly shaped by
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Why #DeleteFacebook
Not because Mark Zuckerberg is a self-entitled white-privileged frat boy who based Facebook on an app he developed called Facemash to rate students “hotness”. Not because of Facebook’s Predatory Business Model that leverages users and their friends personal information to maximize profits. Not because Facebook wants to replace the open
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: Happy International Workers Day #MayDay
Billy Bragg We’ve been experiencing what we refer to as ‘Andy Warhol Weather’ here today: fifteen minutes of rain, fifteen minutes of sun, fifteen minutes of hail etc etc. As a result, I couldn’t take my guitar amp out onto the rubble mound this week for the #ClapForNHS #ClapForCarers #ClapForKeyWorkers
Continue readingTHE FIFTH COLUMN: COVID-19 and Education in Ontario – An Imaginative Approach
Let me start by saying that I understand that hindsight is a big advantage and some may ask why didn’t I think of this sooner and my response is that thinking about education in Ontario is not my full time job but it is for Ontario’s Ministry of Education. While
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