Separating one racial group of people from the rest of the nation and expecting a good result was madness then and is madness now
Canadians are watching protests on American streets that stem in part from their history of slavery. That original sin dogs America and tears at its soul. But Canada, too, has an original sin. And that’s our history with Indigenous people. It’s not that Canada treated Indigenous people poorly. (It did treat them poorly but that’s…
It didn’t spend billions to pay people to stay home – as we have done – while compromising our children’s futures for generations
Most countries that adopted the lockdown model are still in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic. Typically, there’s an easing of rules when infection rates decrease. But when rules are relaxed and infection rates naturally rise, authorities clamp down again. Masks go off – then on again. Meanwhile, the horrendous cost of paying furloughed workers…
People want to live here because Canada is a welcoming country where all races and creeds live together without persecution
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently publicly contradicted RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki for saying there’s no systemic racism within the RCMP. Actually, Lucki said she didn’t know what “systemic racism” is. In her words, “I have to admit, I really struggle with the term ‘systemic racism.’ I have heard about five or 10 definitions on TV.…
We should all take valuable lessons from the way Sweden has handled the COVID-19 crisis
The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes that we have to learn to live with COVID-19. Notwithstanding hope of a vaccine, there is no guarantee. The virus awaits as we step out our door. And it could get worse. In Canada, the virus has been suppressed by a lockdown and strict social distancing, leaving residents at…
Our children and their children will be paying for the bad decisions made by our senior medical science and political leaders for decades to come
As this wave of the COVID-19 pandemic winds down, we should ask honest questions about our response to it. Although an accurate assessment of the lockdowns – closing schools and businesses – is months away, we need a plan to respond to a likely second fall wave. The Economist published an essay detailing how closing…
If historical figures with 2020 attitudes could be found, renaming familiar streets and place names wouldn’t be so daunting
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman is determined to pursue his name game – renaming, removing and rewriting history. Among his targets is Bishop Grandin Boulevard – the mayor doesn’t like the late Bishop Vital-Justin Grandin’s attitudes. If Bowman succeeds, the next logical renaming would be St. Vital – also named after Grandin, who was an important…
There’s no evidence that draconian anti-COVID-19 measures were necessary. In the meantime, our economy is wilting
The lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 will saddle the next generation with a crushing debt and enormous social costs. The rationale of emptying schools and shuttering businesses deemed non-essential is to flatten the curve of the spread of the virus. Social distancing measures and closures in general are meant to prevent hospitals from…
While the project is a win for the province, the country, the environment and B.C.’s First Nations, these hereditary chiefs don’t see it that way
Support continues for the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation blocking authorized construction of a natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia. In spite of court injunctions and government pronouncements telling them to desist, they seem prepared for a long and protracted struggle, “having no intention of allowing Wet’suwet’en sovereignty to be violated.” This…
There are good reasons why other countries and previous Canadian governments have consistently refused to fully implement the UN declaration on Indigenous rights
British Columbia has become the first province to adopt the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). And except for the opposition of a determined group of Conservative senators, the federal government would have adopted UNDRIP as actionable law before last fall’s federal election. Re-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has already announced…
As Trump upsets the world order, many countries may feel they have no choice but to develop nuclear weapons
What will the world look like in 50 years – or even 10? One of the rather unsettling possibilities is that the future will have to accommodate a Germany with nuclear arms. For the short period after the Second World War that the United States was the only nuclear power, the world was stable. But…
Canadians are watching protests on American streets that stem in part from their history of slavery. That original sin dogs America and tears at its soul. But Canada, too, has an original sin. And that’s our history with Indigenous people. It’s not that Canada treated Indigenous people poorly. (It did treat them poorly but that’s…
