Opinion General

In the pedagogical moshpit that is Academia these days, it is not uncommon for universities to bestow honourary doctorates upon well-known movers-and-shakers. You will see these august figures addressing graduates at convocations the world over, conferring upon those matriculating a variety of bon mots and occasionally suitable words of inspiration to carry the kids into...

“You should read this,” my mother said as she thrust a copy of this month’s Chatelaine at me. “It talks about why you should take a break from booze for a month.” She said this in the tone that is so nonchalantly over enthusiastic I knew she was actually just telling me what to do....

As I was sitting at a traffic light yesterday being gassed by the foul exhaust fumes from an enormous pick-up truck, it occurred to me what a ridiculous waste of space these things really are. There is no sane reason why men drive pick-up trucks (and they are almost always owned by men - if...

As I write today’s column, I am grateful that the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation and the Province have come to a tentative agreement that may result in our kids returning to their respective schools fairly soon now. It would seem that the good ship Christy Clark and Co. has averted the proverbial iceberg and will...

There is a great scene in one of the Sex and the City episodes in which Carrie Bradshaw thinks driving standard for the first time in twenty years is like remembering how to ride a bike. She makes this mistake on a hill. I’ve been driving an old 5-speed through the city for the past...

If it appeared something was amiss with the column found in this place on Monday Sept. 15, you were right. An early draft was published in place of the finished work and not discovered until Monday evening and by then, dozens of comments were already published. The unfinished piece appeared antagonistic, cynical and insincere. That...

I’m not given to bleating on about “the good old days” but you have to admit, there are some things that were good before, and now they’re terrible. Here are a few that slapped me in the face recently: Power Outlets. You used to be able to put a plug in the socket either way...

British Columbians have front-row seats for one of the bloodiest political contests to ever unfold in our province. It’s a shame that it’s over one of the few values that our nation and province holds sacrosanct: the necessity for provincial governments to provide a high-quality of public education. Children require schooling. It’s their constitutionally-enshrined right....

On any given Sunday morning you will find me chatting up beautiful aging ladies in a church hall over mediocre mugs of creamy coffee. On any given Sunday night you will find me chatting up leathered aging bachelors in a dimly-lit bar over mediocre cocktails. Just to clarify — in case either of my bosses...