I’m with Kenney on this one
Our premier and I come at politics from such different angles, it always comes as a surprise to me when I find myself agreeing with him. But sometimes I do.…
Bill Longstaff
Most give their country a thumbs up on COVID
A recent Pew Research Center survey of 14 advanced countries indicated that most people (a median of 73 percent) believe their country has done a good job of dealing with…
Calling all democrats
Every Canadian concerned about the quality of democracy in this country frets about the inability of our electoral system to do the thing it exists for—create a government that represents…
Can Trump’s environmental mischief be undone?
Of all the damage that Donald Trump has managed to do in the last four years, the most serious is his assault on the environment. Aside from pulling his country…
Whoops! We overshot … again
According to the Global Footprint Network, August 22nd was Earth Overshoot Day. The day “marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds…
A hundred seconds to midnight
Seventy-five years ago yesterday, at 8:15 in the morning, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. The fireball charred every human being within two kilometre…
The sun sets on Hong Kong
Once an enterprise Canadians went to war for, the British Empire is now in disgrace. And no wonder. It owns many sins. The Atlantic slave trade, the Kenyan gulag, the…
The truth about history
What is historical truth? To get at the truth of history, we must know it and we must understand it, and these are two very different things. We can know…
Everything isn’t racism
When RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki was asked if her force was systemically racist, she replied that she believed unconscious bias existed in the force but struggled with systemic racism. How…
An Optimist No More
I am a very lucky human being. I was born into the greatest period for a member of Homo sapiens to be alive, the peak of human civilization—the period following…
Glen and the Greens
I first took note of Glen Murray when he was mayor of Winnipeg. I was active in my community in inner city Calgary and Murray seemed to share my sense…
An Honourable Executive
Amazon is a corporation famous for a number of things: revolutionizing retail, making its founder and CEO the world’s richest man, and creating workplaces that resemble 19th century sweatshops. All…
Glen and the Greens
I first took note of Glen Murray when he was mayor of Winnipeg. I was active in my community in inner city Calgary and Murray seemed to share my sense…
An Optimist No More
I am a very lucky human being. I was born into the greatest period for a member of Homo sapiens to be alive, the peak of human civilization—the period following…
Imagine a World Without Us
Since a large slice of humanity went into hibernation to dodge the coronavirus, the world outside our habitats has changed. There is much less noise. Birdsong can be heard. The…
Conservatives Struggle with Science
When conservatives talk about “the elites,” and they talk about them a lot, it isn’t always clear who they are talking about. They certainly aren’t referring to the rich, who…
Will the "Red Menace" Work in the 21st Century?
During the Cold War, conservative politicians could always be relied on to trot out the “red menace,” accusing opponents of being soft on communism. It was usually good for a…
Albertans Want off the Oil Train … Eventually
A common opinion about Albertans is that when it comes to energy they are about oil and nothing but oil. Like most generalizations this contains some truth, but also like…
Democracy Amid COVID
As COVID-19 advances around the world, political opportunism is not far behind. This is to be expected. The pandemic, like all crises, presents a combination of circumstances that is ripe…
Oil Industry Disses the Free Market
The free market, who needs it. Not the oil industry obviously. Not the industry nor the governments that depend on its largesse for royalties and taxes. We just had a…