No prime minister in Canadian history has used identity politics more than Justin Trudeau
In a famous 60 Minutes interview in 2012, Mike Wallace asked actor Morgan Freeman how to get rid of racism. Freeman instantly responds by saying it’s easy: stop referring to him as a Black man and he will stop referring to Wallace as a white man. Freeman says only by removing racist labels will we…
If China wants to keep trading with the West, it needs to do something about the living standards of its working people
The idea that our entire civilization could depend on millions of foreign slaves that we pretend don’t exist is like something out of a dystopian novel. But it’s the world in which we’ve lived for decades. COVID-19 is proving to be the wake-up call we needed. With cheap goods comes cheap labour, and with cheap…
She played two off-screen roles that took courage and independence. She was, to put it simply, a woman of genuine substance.
Olivia de Havilland died last weekend at the age of 104. She was often described as the last survivor of Hollywood’s golden age. Making theatrical movies from the mid-1930s to the late-1970s and continuing in television until 1988, de Havilland earned five Academy Award nominations and won Best Actress twice. Not bad going by anyone’s…
Seven simple words help to understand the strength of a great man: humility, honesty, respect, courage, truth, wisdom, love
The world recently said goodbye to lifetime civil rights activist and long-serving member of the United States House of Representatives, John Lewis. In one of his most famous quotes, Lewis stated, “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to do something.” Lewis lived…
We can’t simply watch global events unfold. We have a valuable contribution to make and we’re up to the challenge
Canada’s foreign policy has strayed from its traditional path, losing the traction it once had on the world stage. Canada’s last two attempts to secure a seat as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council failed. Our international standing as a neutral middle power and an honest broker has lost its shine. Our…
First in a series on the crisis in policing. Routine traffic law offenders like myself are often struck with the arrival of each new ticket about how a lot of police enforcement is built around the model of ‘force.’ The point of issuing a ticket doesn’t really seem to be about changing behaviour but rather…
There are people behind the scenes working hard to provide answers to hard questions, even if they’re hard to unravel
There’s been a lot of chatter over what was behind Justin Trudeau’s pregnant pause during a news briefing on June 2. Now, stopping to think before answering is not something politicians are known for. But in this case, it wasn’t a bad idea. After all, the prime minister had just been asked a very tricky…
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…
Doing good is not only vital to humanity and to the planet, it’s one of the key ingredients to living a happy and fulfilling life
Because there are no sports on television right now, my favourite movie, Field of Dreams, has been getting a lot of airtime. Near the end of the film, the main character meets his father as a young man and comments on his appearance, saying, “My God, I only saw him years later when he was…
Understanding and safeguarding personal freedom and civil rights is more critical than ever. So who is policing the police?
Policing is the only authority sanctioned to use force against its citizens. So democratic systems institute safeguards to ensure police impartiality and accountability, often with multiple and overlapping oversight. But who’s keeping an eye on the growing use of technology in policing? The police services board is one prevalent form of oversight responsible for ensuring…