Only in Ontario.
Looking ahead in Ontario for 2023 is not a pretty prospect. We are faced with three more years of the ineptness of premier Doug Ford and his conservatives. He does…
December 2022
The Alberta political story of 2022 was the decline, fall, irrelevance and virtual disappearance of Jason Kenney
Looking back over the Alberta political stories of 2022, one theme dominates all others: the fall of Jason Kenney. What may have been Mr. Kenney’s worst moment of 2022, the…
It’s another edition of "Christ, What An Asshole!"
So one the dude-bros that Musk let back onto Twitter in November was the “social media personality” and wealthy kickboxer Andrew Tate – and it didn’t take long before Tate…
Best records of 2022
I don’t do the top ten albums anymore, much to the chagrin of Scott Sellers and Lee Hill, but I do feel an obligation to let y’all know which albums…
22 Problems Solved in 2022
2022 ends in two days, and the team at Wendover Productions put together a list of 22 problems that have been “solved” during the year. It’s a nice video recap…
Tougher Laws = More Justice … Or Do They?
So, yesterday, a police officer in Ontario was killed. Inevitably, we get cries of “this could have been prevented”, largely on the basis that one of the accused in the…
Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Tom Frieden offers a primer on what we know about long COVID – and what we should be doing to avoid it.…
It’s Time to Clear the Air
A recent New Yorker article warns about a “ragtag coalition of public-health activists” who want us to wear masks forever! And then the New York Times published an article about…
What Have We Learned?
What has the pandemic taught us? Andre Picard writes: For the longest time, we didn’t take viruses (and other pathogens that cause infectious disease outbreaks) all that seriously. Indeed, one…
Police dogs pose a serious risk to schoolchildren
Photo courtesy the Winnipeg Police Service K9 Unit/Facebook On December 14, a five-year-old elementary student at Samuel Burland School was bitten in the face by a Winnipeg Police Service dog…
Trained for the Job.
It was difficult watching our new king the other day. With lots of references to his late mommy, he spoke some carefully crafted words to the Commonwealth. His tone was…
Never mind what Danielle Smith promises, here are the Top Ten Things that WON’T happen in Alberta politics in 2023
It is traditional at this time for year for prophets, prognosticators and political pundits to make predictions about what dramatic events the coming year will hold. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith…
Wednesday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Zaina Hamza discusses new research showing how COVID-19 fatalities hit younger people and caused more loss of expected years of life in the…
A Moral Failing
It has been said that a society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable members. By that metric, we are all coming up far short. Although I have…
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
It has been quite a year. Queen Elizabeth II oversaw a historic platinum jubilee. Her death, while saddening, resulted in no mad rush for the door at the prospect of…
Liberal hubris keeps Bob Rae blind to Haitian history
Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bob Rae. Photo by Lars Hagberg/Queen’s University/Flickr. Bob Rae wants Canada to help re-establish a Haitian military with a brutal history. In making his…
One Nation Under Danielle Smith
Danielle Smith is arguing that Alberta is a nation. That’s an argument Quebec has been making for a long time. But there are differences between the two provinces. Max Fawcett…
Taxing the Ultra Wealthy Can Save the Planet
A wealth tax could be a way to not only address inequality, it’s also a way to reduce the damage done to the planet by greedy billionaires. Oxfam looked into…
Hope for Alberta in 2023.
Alberta will always have a special place for me. It is standing on the high prairie watching the beauty and contortions of the Northern Lights. It is making love in…
Keeping up with the Ukraine War
The resilience and courage of the Ukraine people is one of the most inspirational events our society has ever seen. This New York Times photo essay Ukraine Under Attack: Images…