A new generation of preachers is following in William Penn's footsteps by defending our constitutional freedoms
For the defiant act of holding church services despite public health orders, Alberta pastors James Coates, Tim Stephens and Art Pawlowski were arrested and jailed. Some, including those within the faith, think the pastors should acquiesce to the government edicts. These people forget that it was similar defiance by devout Quaker William Penn that established…
Denigrating those who question the need for Covid vaccinations as “conspiracy theorists” is an attack on our liberties
In a recently re-opened Ottawa restaurant this week, a member of our party of five was forbidden from using a chair. He wasn’t sitting on it, standing on his head showing off some exotic yoga pose or, more pedestrianly, engaged in man-spreading to a degree that discomfited other diners. In fact, he was told he…
Vaccination passports will restrict the rights of a minority of people to access services
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed in May that he would establish an agreement on creating a universal vaccine passport system with the G7 countries – including Canada. He told CBC News that nations require “agreements” on “COVID status certification and the rest.” Johnson was referring to how travel and passports will work as the…
Nova Scotia’s authoritarian response to the pandemic
Born and raised in Halifax, I currently live in Munich, Germany. I have been monitoring the Nova Scotian response to the pandemic from abroad by reading the news and keeping in touch with family and friends. I write this article to lend some perspective on the pandemic through the lens of a Bluenoser living much…
Vaccine passports violate freedom-of-movement rights. And it would let authorities know people’s habits, a violation of privacy
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, many countries have imposed restrictions. Vaccine passports are the latest and perhaps most dangerous of these restrictions. The rest of the world imported the lockdown strategy first used in China, restricting businesses classified as non-essential. Vaccination has been presented as a way to return to pre-COVID-19 times, but it has…
It is in emergencies that we see whether our deepest societal values mean anything
By Nnaemeka Ezeani and Dwight Newman Macdonald-Laurier Institute Government restrictions on various forms of gathering have bothered many Canadians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. While freedoms are subject to limits for appropriate policies to protect life and health, there is a lingering sense that some of these policies have gone astray. But many find it hard…
This athlete-led movement needs a face – or two. Ideally, we have one Black sports figure and one white sports figure taking the lead
I was driving home recently and listening to a talk show about the social unrest in my country, the United States. The host was white and the guest was Black. After a couple minutes of discussion, the guest asked the host a powerful question. “Have you ever woken in the morning and started to worry…
The Specials helped calm racial tensions and drew broad attention to the unjust imprisonment of Nelson Mandela
It has long been debated whether you can change the world with a song. If it’s not possible, one band came incredibly close. The Specials (or The Special AKA) rose to prominence in England in the late 1970s and achieved international fame in the early 1980s. Their sound fused the music of Jamaican immigrants with…
Governments are run by politicians and bureaucrats who think they can manage our affairs better than we can alone. Sometimes they’re right, if you think about something like pooling our tax dollars to build roads we can all use or building a health-care system accessible to all. But sometimes they’re wrong. They’re particularly wrong when…
For the defiant act of holding church services despite public health orders, Alberta pastors James Coates, Tim Stephens and Art Pawlowski were arrested and jailed. Some, including those within the faith, think the pastors should acquiesce to the government edicts. These people forget that it was similar defiance by devout Quaker William Penn that established…
