Modest proposals for our defence policy
The federal government has promised to develop a new defence strategy for the country and Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has confirmed the public will be asked to participate. I thought,…
Bill Longstaff
Technology bargain betrayed—where have all the rewards gone?
Early in the Industrial Revolution, many workers were concerned about being replaced by machines. The most well known group were the Luddites, British weavers who smashed mechanical looms that threatened…
Oceans of plastic
What comes to mind when you think of oceans? Fish, of course. But what about plastic? Most people know we are dumping a lot of plastic into the world's oceans,…
On Putin the poisoner
According to a report by former British High Court judge Robert Owen, the 2006 murder of ex-KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London was carried out by Russia's Federal Security Service…
Bishop Henry pontificates on LGBTQ rights
The Alberta government has established LGBTQ guidelines for the province's schools. This story would not be complete without comments from Calgary's Bishop Fred Henry. The good bishop has excoriated the…
Time to reverse Canada’s peacekeeping decline
At one time, back in the early 90's, Canada contributed more troops to UN peacekeeping missions than anyone else. We were number one. Today, with only 26 military personnel involved,…
2015—a very good year
2015 is nearly done, a year of significant change for me: a new home after 25 years of living by Calgary's Elbow River, by far the longest I've ever lived…
Why a referendum on electoral reform would be a very bad idea
The need for electoral reform in Canada has never been more stark. We have just endured nine years of government by a political party that over sixty per cent of…
Is Christ Christian? Reflections on the niqab debate.
Pondering the late unlamented election debate about the niqab, I took to wondering just what a religion is. Not the dictionary definition or what theologians say it is, but how…
Dandelions may save your life
I love dandelions. In early spring, when the landscape is still grey-brown, and the streets are filthy from the accumulated sand and salt laid down over the winter, that sunny…
Americans—a dangerously fearful people
For nine years we were led by a fearful prime minister, and during the last election he gave us broad hints about who we should fear the most. Not that…
Putin’s Christian crusader
After 9/11, the Americans declared war on terrorism. Now Russia has gone them one better. According to the Very Reverend Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, prominent spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church,…
Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their progeny
Neil Macdonald had an interesting article on the CBC website Monday morning about the options for dealing with ISIS. One of the comments—by “western island”—had a suggestion that in my…
Lest we forget—enough already
Lest we forget? How could we possibly? At this time of year we are overwhelmed with noise about not forgetting. Now the warrior worshipers are demanding that stores not put…
Would you pay the cost of a cup of coffee for democracy?
Canadian taxpayers are reasonably generous funders of democracy. Federally, we support political parties in two ways through our tax system. We subsidize political contributions up to $1,275 with an income…
Making Canada a leader in the world again
Canada has a distinguished record of contributing to the use of hard power in the world, as our performance in two world wars and Korea attests. As a third-rate power…
Religion is bad for kids
It might strike some as surprising, but it shouldn’t. A study by academics from seven countries suggests that children from religious families are less kind and more punitive than those…
A fine, feminine cabinet
Good to see that Prime Minister Trudeau (haven’t said that for a while) has kept an important promise and formed a gender-balanced cabinet. He said his cabinet would reflect Canada…
PR—an essential first step
Our brand spanking new Liberal government has promised us electoral reform. Specifically, it is “committed to ensuring that 2015 will be the last federal election conducted under the first-past-the-post voting…