Domestic violence, no matter the gender of the victim, is wrong
I remember being 12 years old when my stepfather scarred my face for the first time. He had graduated to his fists from his belt some time before, and while he usually confined himself to battering me between the waist and the shoulder blades, the non-visible portions of my anatomy, occasionally he lost control. This…
Victim stories negatively affect us and our attitude towards others and life, yet we all carry them around
As much as we hate to admit it, we've probably all told victim stories. We've certainly had them told to us. It's time to banish them. The victim story is the one you auto-share that alerts everyone (including yourself) that you've been wronged by someone or some unfair situation. The telling (and retelling) confirms the need to feel…
We don't need to disparage masculinity in order to celebrate the qualities and contributions of women, or to encourage social equality of the genders
One of brightest students in my university department was seriously intellectual and widely read, always taking an active and constructive part in seminars. The student was approached by two others who complained that the student took up too much space and time, and should step back. No professor ever advised such a thing to this…
Banning the wearing of religious clothing robs public servants of the right to make their own choices
Legislative hearings on outlawing the wearing of religious clothing or symbols by specific Quebec public servants could easily be dismissed as proverbial lipstick on a pig. In fact, they’re worse, much worse, than a skin-deep brush with porcine cosmetology. They are part of a calculated exploitation of the deep human spiritual need to push other…
Canadians are concerned about jobs and the rising costs of combating climate change, not vague platitudes
“Hey buddy, your ‘sunny days’ Justin pal is looking pretty rough these days. I'm thinking we could see the Conservatives back in power come October.” My heart sank. I knew I was in for another heated dispute with my old friend Charlie, a diehard conservative if ever there was one. “First,” I replied, “Trudeau's not…
The former Liberal cabinet minister doesn't fit the Conservative mould, nor does she belong with the NDP. So how about the Green Party?
On April 2, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tossed former cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott from the Liberal caucus. Their cabinet resignations on principle and subsequent removal from caucus two months into the SNC-Lavalin controversy appear to be unprecedented in Canadian politics. Wilson-Raybould and Philpott haven’t determined what they’ll do next – or at…
Of all the alternatives that have been tried and rejected, nationalism seems like the best possibility
You don’t have to be an anthropologist to understand that multiculturalism as the cohabitation of multiple distinct cultures is a non-starter. If ‘culture’ is understood in its simplest meaning, as a distinct way of life, then the idea of many distinct and mutually contradictory ways of life sharing the same space is obviously nonsensical. One…
The president of Barry Commercial Real Estate has plenty of interests, including a new cannabis venture
Karen Barry is president of Barry Commercial Real Estate. What’s your sense of how the Calgary commercial real estate market is faring these days? Barry: After 28 years in the business of commercial real estate investment sales, I can say that there are a number of significant factors affecting the various markets these days. As an…
How are emotions mobilized in politics, for whom and by whom? And what normalizes the expression of these emotions?
The fallout from the confirmation of President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court pick, Brett Kavanaugh, riveted people on both sides of the border and provides ample evidence that feelings can become weaponized in politics to uphold white male privilege. In his blistering, scripted opening statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kavanaugh performed the role of…
They don’t fact check. They don’t edit for clarity. They care nothing about meaning. And a trio of writers have exposed them
To have somebody say you “write well in an academic context” is like being called the handsome one in an ugly contest. Academic writing has a bad reputation – a reputation it usually earns. Academic prose is dense, dry, formulaic, habitually bloated and often pretentious. By straining to look intelligent, the worst of it just…