Plague Update: Moe Says We Can Do This
Scott Moe says he thinks Saskatchewan can do this. What is this? It’s BS. He thinks we’ll buy his BS. And he’s probably right that at lesst half of the…
February 2021
Nord Stream 2 pipeline—a saga of intrusion
An inspector visits the Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant in Chelyabinsk, Moscow where components of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline are being made. Photo courtesy the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of…
Alberta’s Administrative Penalties Act: Justice More Expedient, or Justice Denied?
In July 2020, Alberta passed a bill which makes sweeping changes to what it euphemistically calls "Administrative Penalties" (basically anything you might get a ticket for) and the way that…
We’ve Got’em On the Run Now, Boys.
We, humankind, are putting nature to rout and that’s not good for any species including our own. A new study in Nature, Ecology and Evolution of 160 species on six…
At Last, Canada Enters the Vaccine Business
A National Research Council facility in Montreal will be repurposed to produce the Novovax Covid vaccine. About time.
Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Gabrielle Drolet discusses how essential workers have been left to bear the physical and emotional burdens of workplaces designed to prioritize the…
Talking the Delivery of COVID Vaccines with Graham Richardson
Yesterday I joined Graham Richardson on CFRA’s “Ottawa Now” along with Kate Harrison & Lindsay Maskell for the “Political Heat” panel. We talked about how the delays in COVID vaccine…
Happy 20th Birthday to VLC
One of the best open source projects is undoubtedly VLC, that little app with the pylon icon that plays any video file you throw at it. VLC embodies the spirit…
Long COVID And Chronic Fatigue
We are now dealing with the effects of what George Monbiot calls Long COVID. He writes: Long Covid is no respecter of youth, health or fitness. It afflicts more women…
A Municipal Challenge to Democracy?
Collingwood has joined other local municipalities asking the province to revamp its Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA; a guide from the Information and Privacy Commissioner…
The Constitution Conundrum.
It takes two things to fix Canada’s constitution. It takes ideas and leadership. Without suggestions as to how we will fix it or people to lead the parade, it is…
Understanding Alexei Navalny
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny marches on Tverskaya Street, Moscow, March 26, 2017. Photo by Evgeny Feldman/Wikimedia Commons. To understand Aleksei Naval’nyi’s significance for Russia, one needs some idea of…
Sam Gindin on Leo Panitch
Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin, lifelong friends, comrades, and collaborators. In this wide-ranging interview, members of the Canadian Dimension editorial committee spoke with Sam Gindin, a lifelong friend, comrade, and…
To Build a Green Future We Need Green Buildings
Buildings suck up a lot of energy and thus are massive contributors to our collective carbon footprint. After they are built ongoing operational costs are incurred, and the costs are…
Trump Emulates Lazarus, Returns to the White House March 4th.
When Joe Biden was inaugurated president it was said to have sent shockwaves through the QAnon loons who had convinced each other that Trump, not Biden, would be sworn in.…
An Alternative To Impeachment
The chance of Donald Trump being convicted in his upcoming Senate trial is remote. There are far too many Republicans happy to forgive and forget (read that as fear of…
Places of freedom: Reimagining the future of Standing Rock
Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance Nick Estes Verso, 2019 In the fall of 2016, in a…
Did Canada’s former governor general have closer ties to apartheid South Africa than previously reported?
Jeanne Sauvé and Brian Mulroney, November 6, 1984. Photo by Paul Latour/Ottawa Citizen. More than 30 years ago, a minor Canadian political scandal erupted involving then-Governor General Jeanne Sauvé and…
Why there’s still nothin’ on
Back in the long ago year of 1997, Bruce Springsteen released a song called “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)”. I always thought this was an odd song choice for Springsteen;…