Pierre Poilievre’s biggest selling point is who he isn’t
‘Look at me! I’m a cowboy!” So, Pierre Poilievre has been anointed as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and by an overwhelming majority. Canadians will now have to…
Maurice Tougas
Canada-Russia ’72: When Canada stopped
Today, September 2nd, marks the 50th anniversary of Game 1 of the Canada-Russia Summit Series, the single greatest sporting event of all time. An exaggeration? I don’t think so. Just…
Three more skills we have lost to the internet
I recently read a book called 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet, by Pamela Paul. I highly recommend it. It’s a funny and thoughtful read, full of sharp observations…
Lessons learned from a wedding
My youngest son got married last weekend. The outdoor venue was beautiful, the weather warm but not hot. The bride looked wonderful, the kind of bride you would see in…
Alberta ‘children assigned female at birth’ names 2021: From Aabha to Zyrie
Last week, we looked at Alberta baby boy names for 2021. This week, let’s look at baby girl names, or, as the Postmedia story stated with an apparently straight face,…
Alberta boy names 2021. From A to Zyril.
Every year around this time, the Alberta government releases lists of every name given to babies born in the previous year. The media tends to concentrate on the top 10…
A Canadian quiz for our delicate times
Happy 115th birthday, Canada! To quote from the great Russian philosopher, Yakov Smirnoff, what a country! In honour of the birthday of this semi-great dominion (I’m sorry, is the term…
How Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy
First things first, let me be perfectly clear: I am a devout anti-monarchist. Everything about it is impossibly stupid, and diametrically opposite of everything democracy is supposed to be. Even…
Dear U.S.A. Can we talk about guns? Nicely?
Dear America: Hello, neighbour. Canada here. You can tell it’s us by the fact that I added that superfluous ‘u’ in neighbour. Sorry for the levity. But in such grim…
Time to get rid of Victoria Day (the name, not the holiday)
Happy Victoria Day weekend, dear readers. In honour of this great public holiday, I propose that we make it the last Victoria Day ever. Now, don’t panic. I am not…
Hey, photogs. Pick your best pix and print them, pronto
Before the advent of cellphones and their cameras, taking pictures was an entirely different experience. Today, everyone over the age of eight has a professional quality camera (disguised as a…
Read ‘Ten Lost Years’ (if you can find it) and stop your belly-aching
It’s safe to say that these are not the best of times. For two years, we have been stalked by an invisible, shape-shifting enemy who has sickened and killed millions,…
Wanna bet? It’s gone from underground to mainstream
When I was just a wee lad, I remember my dad occasionally buying a ticket for something called the Irish Sweepstakes. The ‘Sweeps’, as it was popularly called, was a…
How many shirts do you really need?
While leafing through a Costco flyer recently, I spotted a great deal on t-shirts: four Bench men’s v-necks for $15.99. Such a deal! Can’t have too many shirts, right? Not…
Maybe Kenney should let the lunatics take over the asylum
If I may borrow from an oft-repeated phrase from TV news, I’m going to begin this column with this: WARNING: some content may be disturbing. OK, here goes … I’m…
The Slap II: Attack of the Opinions
So, did you hear about the Oscars this year? Yep, absolutely unbelievable … Mac Ruth won the Oscar for best sound! About time, right? But Mac Ruth’s golden moment has…
And the winners won’t be … the audience
Not too many years ago, a great swath of North America would have been tuned in to the Academy Awards. But not last year. And certainly not this year. The…
Lessons from two years of COVID-19
We – and by we, I mean the entire world – have just marked two full years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Time flies when you’re living in fear…
Why are the oil companies raising the price of gas? Because. They. Can.
Despite many half-hearted attempts to diversify the economy, we in Alberta just keep falling back into the brawny, oily arms of Big Oil. We owe much of our wealth to…
Can some good come from a very bad situation? Let’s hope so.
The world’s most popular flag So, all you Freedom Convoy supporters, how do you feel now? Seeing an independent, democratic country under savage attack by a monstrous enemy intent on…