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.…
Bill Longstaff
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…
The Alberta NDP and proportional representation
I never thought I’d live long enough to see the day, but here it is. The NDP have been elected to the government of Alberta. I am ecstatic. Nonetheless, while…
Why the U.S. can’t solve its race problem
Is the Unites States a racist society? This is a question the nation wrestles with as one young black man after another is killed by the police. But the question…
Calgary Chamber of Commerce not afraid of the socialist hordes
Chambers of Commerce are not the greatest fans of social democratic political parties. And the Calgary chamber is not the greatest fan of the Alberta NDP. But neither is it…
Finally, a political party with the guts to talk tax hikes
The right-wing mantras of no new taxes and tax cuts have become so embedded in political discourse that suggesting a tax increase, regardless of the social good it may do,…
Iran is standing down—will the U.S. and Russia?
Iran has recently agreed, after intense negotiations, to take steps to ensure it cannot produce a nuclear weapon. It claimed it had no intention of doing so anyway, but has…
Chrétien, Putin and Harper—opportunity lost?
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s recent chat with Vladimir Putin in Moscow presents an opportunity to our government. Since Mr. Harper has, unlike all the other G7 leaders, refused to…
The Arctic—the U.S. conserves, Canada exploits
Federal cabinet minister Leona Aglukkaq wears a number of hats. She is Minister of the Environment as well as Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency. Being a member…
Two Americas—one admired, one feared
A global survey conducted by the Worldwide Independent Network and Gallup in 2013 asked the following question: “If there were no barriers to living in any country of the world,…
Worlds apart—women in Iran and Saudi Arabia
On receiving her Master of Architecture degree from the University of British Columbia, Leila Araghian won the UBC Architecture Alumni Henry Elder Prize. Ms. Araghian has since continued in her…
Echoes of the Monroe Doctrine in the Middle Est
Pondering American mischief in the Middle East the other day I had a strange feeling this pattern of behaviour had appeared before. And then I realized where … in Latin…
Iran holds the nuclear powers to account
So the United States finally bullied the Iranians into a nuclear deal. Iran has always said it had no intention of building a weapon, but that wasn’t good enough for…
Our wise men have spoken—will the politicians listen?
Last week a report produced by 60 Canadian scholars stated that we can create a clean, sustainable future for our country with only a minimal effect on the economy. The…
Prentice makes nice to labour
When governments find themselves in a financial bind they tend to make the civil service their first budget target. Overpaid public servants is a popular cliche. Alberta Premier Jim Prentice,…