It’s like a long race on turf.
The next Ontario general election is scheduled to be held June 7, 2018. This race will be like a mile and a half on the turf track and requires horses…
2017
Site C – building a cesspool, not a reservoir
There are reasons why proponents of Site C, including utility executives and members of the former BC Liberal Government, continue to promote the project despite much evidence that it was…
Canada’s ongoing complicity with exploitive extraction schemes
Photo from report, The ‘Canada Brand’: Violence and Canadian Mining Companies in Latin America On June 15, 1841, the newly established Legislative Council of the Province of Canada — a…
Boys are not allowed to hit girls
Don’t do much anymore except make breakfast for one of my grandkids, a seven year old boy, walking him to school, picking him up and then having philosophical conversations about…
The Vietnam War, Episodes 9 and 10
As we cross the finish line of The Vietnam War marathon, I want to offer some thoughts about the documentary as a whole. First, despite all the Vietnamese voices it…
What A Great Legacy
Jimmy Carter will not be remembered as one of the great U.S. presidents, but when his long life ends, he will be remembered for something much more meaningful: great humanitarian…
Did Donald Trump obstruct justice?
The Brookings Institute has just released a 108-page, single-spaced, fully-footnoted, tightly-reasoned indictment of Donald Trump. The whole document is here. At the risk of spoiling it for you, here is…
The Return of Stuff Happens, week 39: The world of perpetual crisis
I’m too young to remember the Cuban Missile Crisis (what a pleasure, for once, to be ‘too young’ to remember something). From what I know of it, it sounds like…
what i’m reading: turtles all the way down, the new book by john green
I don’t usually write about a book while I’m still under its spell, but there are always exceptions. John Green’s Turtles All the Way Down is an exceptional book. One…
Who is it going to be: Nenshi or Smith?
This Monday Calgary voters will elect their mayor. The winner will be expected to lead Calgary out of one of the worst economic downturns it has experienced in decades. So,…
Reconciliation Is Not a Gift. It’s a New Beginning
This piece originally appeared on the Toronto Star. “What does reconciliation mean to you?” I asked that question of Miles Richardson, a Haida leader, former chief commissioner of the B.C.…
On relentless positivity
Following up on my candidate profiles for the Saskatchewan NDP’s leadership campaign, I’ll point out one obvious change in dynamics since 2013 – starting with this observation from the previous…
On Human Resilience
In a world growing increasingly grim, it is easy to succumb to cynicism and defeatism. That is why stories like the following need to be told, to remind us that…
Leadership 2017 Links
One final roundup post from the NDP’s federal leadership campaign – with a focus on Jagmeet Singh’s first steps as the party’s new leader. – The Ribbon offers a roundtable…
Eminently Sensible
There has been a lot of fury about Bill Morneau’s tax changes. His failure to disclose the full story behind his French villa hasn’t helped his cause. But the main…
Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Ian Welsh neatly summarizes the rules needed to ensure that capitalism doesn’t drown out social good: Capitalism, as it works, destroys itself…
Donald Trump and the Night of the Nazis
At a time when Donald Trump is threatening to lead his nation to war, and making ugly noises about the freedom of the press. At a time when neo-Nazis are…
Cole considers claiming the mayor’s chair.
The Toronto Star’s columnist on city issues, Edward Keenan, thinks black activist Desmond Cole would bring some excitement to the race for mayor next year. He thinks that the race…
Islamophobe Infighting: Part "I’ve Lost Track"
Alternative title: "Please, Won't Someone Think of the Children!?" When this writer learns of far-right nationalists and fascists who are at each others throats (such as this recent article detailing…
Cathy Heron is the candidate for mayor of St. Albert with a compelling and positive vision for the future
PHOTOS: St. Albert mayoral candidate Cathy Heron at her official campaign launch. Below: Candidates Cam MacKay and Malcolm Parker, and outgoing Mayor Nolan Crouse; St. Albert Place architect Douglas Cardinal,…