The Trans-Pacific Partnership—never heard of it ???!!!
The above headline is plagiarized directly from a CBC article. I added the punctuation gratuitously to convey my horror that a proposed “trade” agreement that could have major effects on…
Bill Longstaff
Pope Francis and the moral imperative of dealing with global warming
It’s no surprise that Pope Francis only gave PM Stephen Harper 10 minutes for his interview earlier this month. And no surprise he looked constipated in his photo op with…
Read my lips—it doesn’t trickle down
It has been the heart and soul of capitalist market economics since day one—the ultimate justification for an unfair society. If we ensure that the rich get richer, the benefits…
Democracy wins one in Alberta
The new Alberta government has announced it will, as promised in its election platform, ban political funding by unions and corporations. Alberta will join the provinces of Manitoba, Quebec and…
Will Republicans keep invoking God if the Pope keeps pissing on their philosophy?
American politicians are particularly prone to invoking their Christian faith as a guide to their political beliefs. Although members of both major parties freely trot out scripture at the drop…
The TRC report and the Langevin Bridge—what’s in a name?
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report has issued a damning condemnation of the Indian residential schools, referring to their history as “cultural genocide.” Reverberations are being felt across the country,…
Double victory for democracy in Turkey
Turkish President Recep Erdogan has just learned a lesson in democracy. And humility. Erdogan, a popular prime minister and the country’s dominant politician since his party swept to power in…
Vancouver Humane Society gives CBC Stampede coverage a thumbs down
Only 26 days to the Calgary Stampede. Yee-haw! This is our premier event of the year—the greatest outdoor show on Earth. Mostly it’s great fun for Calgarians and visitors alike:…
Bill C-51—a chance for the Senate to redeem itself
In the words of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, the Senate was created as a place of “sober second thought.” In the eyes of most Canadians today,…
The anti-communist memorial—an outrage to Canadian heritage
I recently wrote the following letter to The Honourable Shelly Glover, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages: Dear Minister: I am writing in regard to the Memorial to the…
Need a job? Saudi Arabia is hiring executioners
The beheading business is brisk in Saudi Arabia. The desert kingdom has decapitated more people so far in 2015 than in all of 2014. As a result there is a…
Finally, a voice Harper may listen to
A carbon tax is an eminently fair and sensible approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And big oil agrees. At least Steve Williams, CEO of Canada’s largest oil and gas…
The Boston bombers and the cycle of vengeancce
The bombing of the Boston Marathon in April 2013 was a heinous crime. Three people died, hundreds were injured, and a policeman was killed in a shootout with the perpetrators.…
Elizabeth Warren takes on Obama and the TPP
If it were up to me, Elizabeth Warren would be the next president of the United States. She is a remarkable woman—United States senator, former Harvard law professor and an…
The failure of the Information Age
It seems only a short while ago, as the Internet and the World Wide Web made their appearance, that prophets talked of a new enlightened age. All the world’s knowledge…
The U.S. military’s war on the environment
One of the American institutions most alert to the threat of global warming is the military. The Pentagon has issued several reports stating that the greatest threat to U.S. national…
Do conservatives believe in democracy?
Watching the Alberta election results on TV, the comments of a pundit representing the Conservative view caught my attention. The lady insisted that if the NDP won, oil companies would…
Can academics serve two masters?
The steady encroaching of the corporate sector into the decision-making processes of our societies is the greatest threat to twenty-first century democracy. This includes encroachment into academia. This troubling development…