As Canada approaches its 154th birthday, our country, as a sovereign state, is older than most countries in the world. But we have become like the young adult too comfortable living in the parent’s basement, full of promise, but never launching. Blessed by unfathomably rich resources, with one of the best-trained populations on the planet,…
Cancel culture is out of control, worsening the very problems it purports to denounce. Now, before you cancel me, or mail me an envelope full of ricin, hear me out. Given my generally centrist reputation, my statue should perhaps not be toppled quite yet. And just to be clear, there is a time and a…
Ernst Röhm was a true believer, right to the end. Joining the Nazi Party in 1919, he was one of the first members, even before Adolf Hitler, with whom Röhm was so close that he was one of only two or three allowed to address der Führer as “Adi”. Any fascist movement in its ascendancy…
We are at the early stages of discovering how many unmarked graves are associated with native residential schools in Canada, but there will be thousands. And while some may try to argue that those who ran the schools “meant well”, there is no possible excuse for the anonymous burial of thousands of children, or the…
“Sow the wind,” says the Good Book, “and reap the whirlwind.” For four years, Donald Trump lied, cheated, sucked up to tyrants, played golf, lied some more, cheated some more, deconstructed environmental and social protections, played more golf, watched TV, incited violence, sucked up to more tyrants, and just generally acted as one would expect…
Most of us are a little vain about our appearance– pretty rare the individual who, before an important meeting or zoom call, doesn’t spend at least a minute in front of the mirror. Yet few of us give much thought to our vocal presentation. The truth is that our voices say much more about us…
Canadian French is such a lovely, lively language, free from the stuffiness of Continental French, and attached at the hip with Canadian English, itself also a work in progress. And there is no better example of the creativity of the language than boss des bécosses. Bécosse in Canadian French is literally a backhouse, or outhouse,…
Afghanistan is descending all the way back into hell, somewhere between the Middle Ages and Jonestown, and we’re all quite rightly horrified. It’s heartwrenching to watch, and it will only get worse. Meanwhile, left wing and right wing journalists have finally agreed on one thing: Joe Biden blew it. Well, Joe didn’t blow it– he…
A goodly part of the northern boundary between New Brunswick and Maine, as established by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, follows the centre line of a river called Kelly Rapids. Or, at least it used to follow the centre line– time has not been kind to this boundary. You see, rivers, especially those in alluvial…
I knew that would get some attention. Political literature, particularly that emanating from the US, is currently in a white hot frenzy about the dastardly Socialist Democrats or the Evil Republican Capitalists, as the case may be. Well, a pox on both their houses. The frenzied arguments make no more sense than a battle to…