Imagine what the Nazis would have done if they had access to today’s social media platforms
I recently showed Steven Spielberg’s classic film about the Holocaust, Schindler’s List, to a group of students. Watching Nazi soldiers terrorizing and murdering Jewish people, I thought to myself that on some level they had to have known that what they were doing was wrong. Yet they seemed to be unaffected. Were they impacted at…
Our First World sensitivities were not prepared for the consequences
Last year was one of shaken realities. The news from Wuhan, China was of an unknown virus claiming lives in unprecedented numbers. But China is across the world so the West continued the reality of our usual daily tasks of work, school, activities. Meanwhile, a virus was infiltrating the globe, silently leaping from one person…
“Where are you from?” I was asked. “Canada,” I replied. “No! I mean where are you really from?” I never understand that question and why my answer isn’t sufficient. I have to explain my heritage and the reasons why I don’t fit the prototype of what a Canadian person must look like. Somehow, I can’t…
By Thomas York Research Associate Frontier Centre for Public Policy In light of the mainstream media coverage of riots and protests in the U.S. in recent months and the questionable claim by some in the media that the riots were “mostly peaceful protests,” the distinction between violent and peaceful protest is worthy of examination. In…
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…
There’s a correlation between social activism and happiness. But which comes first?
American educator and philosopher Cornel West said, “If you are always trying to do something for a cause bigger than you – connected with serving others – then it’s hard to be guilty.” I can’t listen to West without feeling inspired and joyful, yet he’s not a man who compromises the truth when he speaks.…
Albertans have every right to hate the hypocrisy coming from United Conservatives who locked the province down and decided to vacation abroad. The government just plunged Alberta into its second lockdown. Families spent the holidays apart. Businesses shut down and some may never again open their doors. Many workers are taking pay cuts to help…
There's that little matter of actually rolling out the vaccines on a much wider scale in Canada
Sad to see 2020 go? You’re in the minority … of one. Everyone else was quite ecstatic to roll out the welcome mat for 2021. The biggest issue we faced in 2020 was obviously the coronavirus pandemic. More than 85 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 worldwide, leading to nearly 1.85 million deaths as…
There has been a tremendous scrutiny and criticism of policing in recent months. Policing has been the lightning rod for widespread protests. The scrutiny has provided a window into the failings of policing, specifically the systemic processes and structures that have sustained marginalization. It has also highlighted the incompetence and misconduct of a few, which…
Life doesn't always go well for those who challenge the powerful
American intellectual and longtime social activist Noam Chomsky has been described by a term that’s deeply offensive: a self-hating Jew. There’s nothing hateful about Chomsky. He’s a sojourner of truth and a voice of reason. In a recent interview, Chomsky talked about the roots of his activism. He was brought up in an educated Jewish…