Opinion

Death. It’s not the hottest topic on the cocktail party circuit, or the returned-to-refrain at one’s coffee-shop meet-ups. It’s not. We’re transfixed by Death, of course. But it’s something to observe, for the most part. It spills into one’s purview through the endless screens that mediate our lived lives. And if the bloodbaths reported on...

This is turning into my favourite political summer in a long while. I was a small-c conservative on the heady evening of a late spring election in 1993 when a Reform wave swept across western Canada, painting the west in Reform green and driving a deep wedge into the heart of Canadian conservatism. I remember...

On Monday morning my Instagram feed exploded with the face (and breasts) of a woman I had never seen before. “Oh,” I thought to myself, “maybe Fifty Shades of Grey has a new lead actress.” Only seconds later did I realize that the woman gracing the cover of Vanity Fair and the feeds of tech-obsessed...

Have you ever answered a scam email? Of course not. You’re not stupid. I, on the other hand . . . Here is my conversation with Najibah Khazal. I warn you that it’s kind of long, but justice needs to be done to Najibah’s imaginative prose and heartfelt sincerity. Najibah to me: Greetings my beloved...

Callous indifference to, willful ignorance of Canadian history’s catalogue of insult towards, and impatience with Indigenous peoples’ aspirations have pretty much defined Canada’s regard for First Nations people. And in the words of Stephen Stills’ classic, “For What It’s Worth”: ‘Think it's time we stop Hey, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down...' June...

Well, here we are in the early days of Bill C-51, the "controversial" bill that's supposed to mean, according to a very noisy contingent on social media, the end of freedom and human rights in Canada. The most bloodcurdling memes show up in hysterical progression on Facebook..."Bill C-51, why all the Fuhrer?" and "Canada is...

As I type this, my hair is filled with salt and sand and I refuse to wash it. This isn’t entirely abnormal for me, seeing as I firmly believe in a don’t-wash-don’t-tell hair policy, but the fact that it tastes like the ocean and partially like blood is an indication I should veto that policy...

I’m keeping a close eye on a group of uppity seniors in Kamloops who seem to have escaped the seniors home. You should keep an eye on them too. They’re possessed with a crazy idea that they needn't be behind walled cities or huddled together at the pudding station of the modern old folks home....

LANGUAGE ADVISORY Politicians in Vernon have ended fireworks on Canada Day this year. It’s because of “liability” concerns, say local leaders. Mayor and council: My little pansies, don’t you understand what your timidity and fearfulness is teaching our kids? What can be said about a society where “risk assessment” is treated as a legitimate profession,...

Rude people will now & then ask me why I think I know so much about Politics. I tell them it's because I'm Smart... But that is a lie: The real reason is because I'm an incurable Gambling addict. ~ Hunter S. Thompson The recent NDP victory in Alberta isn't likely the dawn of a...