According to many who are involved in the “aboriginal problem” in Canada, the federal Indian Act is at the heart of the problem. Here is an interpretation of the place, importance and problems associated with and stemming from the Indian Act, and an analysis of moves by the current federal and provincial governments to make
Hallowe’en is all about kids. The special day seems to actually be growing in significance, at least in some cultures, Canada among them. It is not just the commercialization, although that is certainly a factor. For kids it is a night filled with excitement over getting dressed up and canvassing the neighbourhood for candy and
Photo: John Crux/Getty With the wildfire season upon them, Aussie Prime Minister Tony Abbott has called climate change science “crap” and has denied a link between man-made climate change and an unusually high number of Australian wildfires. Abbott had recently (September, 2013) been elected running a campaign against a previously imposed carbon tax. The irony
Many parents are up in arms after a Calgary school decided to drop all academic achievement award ceremonies. The school board wrote in a letter to parents that awards don’t mean much to their recipients and “often hurt the self-esteem and pride of those who do not receive a certificate.” Many parents think these awards
He may not have had the season he wanted, or the one Blue Jays fans were hoping for, but R. A. Dickie did manage to win 14 games. And now he is the first Blue Jay since 2006 to win a Gold Glove Award. The Gold Glove is awarded to the best defensive player in
In this article, Why Apple Will Buy BlackBerry the author puts forward some convincing reasons why we might expect Apple to end up buying Blackberry. First, the $5 billion or so it would cost is chicken feed for Apple. They currently have more than $150 billion in cash. Second, buying BB would give them a
Malcolm Gladwell, best-selling author of books like “The Tipping Point”, “Blink”, and his latest “David and Goliath” has been making making the rounds in Ontario, presumably promoting his new book and renewing old ties. He went to high school for a few years in Elmira, just down the road from Conestogo. One of those old
The home in Los Altos, California (Silicon Valley) where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built some of their first computers has been designated a historically significant location. It is currently owned by Patricia Jobs, the late Steve Jobs’ sister. Image credit – Getty Images
At last there is some good news out of Blackberry. After the Waterloo company finally got the cross-platform version of BBM pumping out to iPhone and Android users, they claim to have had upwards of 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours. Personally, being a BB10 guy, I hadn’t made much use of BBM
The Toronto Star reports today that the large collection agency iQor Canada Ltd. has been fined $500,000 for making unsolicited robo calls to people saying they owed money, without identifying themselves. Companies like this get away with unethical and illegal behaviour like this all the time, so it is good seeing the laws actually enforced.
Often Youtube interviews or debates with Richard Dawkins or Lawrence Krauss are long and (I suppose) tedious for most people. Dawkins is a world famous biologist and Krauss a well-known physicist. Both are outspoken non-believers in religion (they are not sure about the term “atheist”). And both are often accused of ridiculing believers. In this
With the current expenses scandal of Duffy, Wallin, Brazeau, and no doubt others, reform of the Canadian Senate is once again on the minds of many Canadians. This has been an on-again-off-again topic for decades. Back in the day. a younger Stephen Harper was committed to a “Triple-E” Senate – one of the Reform Party’s
I read an interview where Malcolm Gladwell talks about his new book “David and Goliath”. The interview suggests that he seems to have had a return to “faith”. I have not read his book yet, and may not after reading this interview, because it struck me that this talk about “faith” is pretty misleading. Gladwell
The current senate-expense “scandal” has the media all worked up. I don’t have much original or insightful to say about this matter. Like most Canadians I have no way of knowing where the truth lies. Nevertheless, here are some of my observations…
Yesterday Montreal Canadien’s tough guy, George Parros fell on the ice and was knocked out cold during a fight. As Kelly MacParland of the National Post said in commenting on the incident, “It’s a bit like a Canadian version of sumo wrestling, but with much more padding. Everything is staged and negotiated in advance; the
