Joltin’ Judge Brown lasts one round
There was a mystery haunting our Supreme Court throughout February. Justice Russell Brown wasn’t showing up for work. Last week the mystery was solved. The judge has been suspended with…
Justice
Challenge accepted: Premier throws down the gauntlet with defamation accusation; CBC picks it up
On Wednesday, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith threw down the gauntlet, accusing the CBC of defamation and demanding that the corporation retract and apologize for its Jan. 19 report someone on…
Danielle Smith’s Magical Email Investigation
So, last week very serious allegations of the Premier's office attempting to intervene in the prosecutions resulting from the Coutts blockade last year. By Saturday, the Premier's office was going…
Punishing personal distress
The unarmed victim was seeking help, apparently suffering a personal crisis. CBC News reported the Ojibway man “was in distress from a bear mace attack and was attempting to relieve…
Her Majesty’s Disloyal Opposition
It is sad that in 2022, Canada’s second largest political party has stopped believing in community responsibilities and cooperation, mutual respect between individuals, the rule of law, and democracy itself.
Pension pain pending
Many people think of Canada as one of the more socially advanced countries of the world. That is only partly true.
Bonhoeffer on Stupidity
In 2021, we see strange people in BC — humans I suspect Dietrich Bonhoeffer would categorize as stupid — mobbing to prey on politicians, healthcare workers, hospital patients and now…
Land Reform and The Birth of A Revolution
Half of the world’s people live in the countryside. Three quarters of the people living in poverty live in the countryside. Two-thirds of the income of the rural poor comes…
Corporate fines paid from petty cash
If we expect wealthy companies to alter their business practices on safety, the environment, and other matters of corporate responsibility and integrity, punishment should fit the crime, but more importantly,…
Obeisance to privilege
Instead of $60 million, Teck Resources should be paying a fine closer to $1 billion. What Teck has been penalized won’t make a dent in their cash resources. Nor does…
Ithaca New York Provides a Model to Defund the Police While Supporting the Police
I find it baffling that the same organization which investigates murders also spends their time directing traffic. Others find this problematic too. Thanks to the strong efforts of Black Lives…
A Biblical Story of the Concentration of Wealth During a Disaster
Today I find myself thinking about a story in Genesis 47:13 – 26. It is the story of a famine in Egypt. I’ll share the text from the Bible, and…
Covid-19 In Perspective: An Open Letter
The following letter I wrote and sent out in response to a virtual town hall meeting this evening with our local MP and a local environmental group. I am sharing…
Hippocratic oath for policing
Sgt. Jeremiah P. Johnson of the Darien Connecticut Police Department responded to a discussion about the policing industry having its own Hippocratic Oath. Given the extent of misconduct now revealed…
We tolerate our own racism too easily
Vancouver witnessed a large but peaceful protest against the Floyd killing. It is easier though to be critical of racist behaviour elsewhere than in our homeland…
Canada’s shame
Lost in the fuss as governments of British Columbia and Canada act to expropriate rights and lands of the Wet’suwet’en people is a sad situation that already gave proof to…
Wet’suwet’en Crisis: Whose Rule of Law?
Explained: The complex clash of legal authority, and histories, behind today’s standoffs. Katie Hyslop | TheTyee.caKatie Hyslop is a reporter for The Tyee. Reach her here. Christy Brown (Gitxsan-Tsimshian)…
Alberta’s foreign-funded-fossil-fuel defamation inquisition: Stand by for an expensive gong show
Here are three predictions about Jason Kenney’s inquiry into that “foreign-funded defamation campaign” against Alberta’s fossil fuel industry. It will be a gong show It will cost far more than…
The Annals of Justice: Vice-Admiral Mark Norman gets an apology and Conrad Black gets a pardon
Remember this important fact: None of us knows whether Vice-Admiral Mark Norman is guilty of the crime with which he was charged. Well, Vice-Admiral Norman knows, presumably, and his legal…
Reclaiming Democracy In Canada – And Around The World
In the 1960s, there was a cultural awakening which spread rapidly around the world, and Chomsky is right in calling it both a cultural awakening, and also, an outbreak of…