Mandatory Church Attendance?
I’m sorry. As Johnny Carson used to say, “I do not make these things up, folks, I merely report them.” Perhaps Americans have far more in common with that theocracy…
March 2015
Top 10 Alberta Constituencies according to Statistics Canada
In advance of the upcoming provincial election in Alberta, I have been reading through data collected through the 2011 Census of Canada and National Household Survey. Available on the Alberta…
Authors: A simple and effective marketing plan for your books
Welcome to my latest book, written for authors who wish to better market their books, and for all those who use social media in some form or another. Based on…
The moderating effect of moderation
RossK writes about the Pro-Media Club and its implicit rulebook, which includes a requirement that no one reprove a colleague, even if overstatements and misrepresentations morph into purposeful lies. The…
Family, a Century Ago
The gentleman in the uniform on the right is William Gordon Pudney, Chief Petty Officer and engineer on the cruiser, Niobe, one of the earliest ship’s in Canada’s fledgling navy.…
What Is It With Barrick Gold?
When Bryan Mulroney left politics he took a spot on the board of Barrick Gold. So, too, did George H.W. Bush after he failed to win a second term as…
Why Rafe Mair is begrudgingly voting “Yes” in Transit Plebiscite
Rafe Mair trusts Mayor Gregor Robertson (pictured) with our transportation future a tad more than the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation – despite big misgivings about transit management to date (Vision Vancouver/Twitter)…
Saturday Photo: It’s the End of March, for Goodness Sake!
Got up this morning to a light dusting of snow, again! But even though the temperature is well below freezing, the sun has been out most of the day, makin…
March 28: What a boring paper!
It’s not just that so much of it is either trivial or lying. It actually makes even highly emotional events cold and lifeless. The Irving press, for example, was able…
Little lost cat
Passed a 2 or 3 year old black Tom on the walk home. He seemed quite uncertain about where he was, but responded to a quick sit down talk about…
On Free Speech and Safe Spaces
Pathologizing disagreement is an intellectually dishonest way to cope with challenging arguments. It certainly doesn’t support critical thinking. It also creates a culture wherein people are afraid to express dissenting…
Stephen Harper is a deeply immoral and dangerous man
After watching this sobering, fascinating interview with famed political philosopher Charles Taylor on yesterday’s Power & Politics, I’m more convinced than ever that my headline is true. Taylor was commenting…
What Has Jason Kenney Been Smoking?
Seriously. I’m wondering if our fledgling defence minister was high, high, high, when he proclaimed that, after we defeat ISIS, Iraq and Syria better not look to Canada to create…
On value assessments
The Great Budget Debate at the Progress Summit of course reflected a thorough clash in values. But there was one note of obvious agreement which makes the conservative position untenable…
New South Wales – Results
The election is wrapping up and the last ballots are being counted. The biggest ‘surprise’ of the night was the Greens did very well. The party now holds two additional…
About that "Of the People, By the People, For the People" Business? Forget About It.
Proof positive that America is a corporatist state saddled with a “bought and paid for” Congress. The big US banks have given the Democrats an ultimatum – silence progressives like…
From Bad to Worse to Absolutely Nuts. How Yemen Complicates and Confounds Everything in Our War on ISIS.
MSM reporters are finally beginning to figure out that all’s not what it seems with our air war against ISIS. There are wheels spinning within wheels on this one. There’s…
How Harper Turned Canada into a Rogue State
Richard Hughes-Political Blogger How Harper Turned Canada into a Rogue State It was not easy for those who went before us to build Canada into the remarkable and much respected…
On structures of convenience
The Progress Summit panel on accountability and transparency has covered the issued of power being consolidated in the hands of the executive, as well as the fact that Stephen Harper’s…
Ability of students to sue University because on strike limited
Turner v. York University, 2011 ONSC 6151: In Gauthier, the court held that there is no broad rule against jurisdiction. The compensation claimed defines the jurisdiction. A party seeking to…