DEI, wokeness, critical race theory, systemic racism, intersectionality and cultural appropriation. Ten or twenty years ago, most of these terms were unknown, and some only existed inside academia or very limited circles of left-wing intellectuals. Identity politics has since come to the fore. Before the millenium, just about the only term that was in common […]
Yascha Mounk’s Book On “Wokeness” Is Eye-Opening Read More »
Contemporary discourse is saturated with one word: “crisis”. It is applied to every problem we encounter. If you google the term, you will be informed that there is a mental health crisis, a climate crisis, an office vacancy crisis, a digital addiction crisis, a Canadian journalism crisis, an American border crisis, a social media crisis,
Stop Calling Everything A Crisis Read More »
I’m not a huge hockey fan. As a kid, I was a failure at both skating and skiing. I played some road hockey, then a little floor hockey in junior high. In the mid 70s, a friend took me to a couple of Leafs games since his father had seasons tickets, but the real problem
I just got a 3-month free subscription to Apple TV after a few years away from having it. After watching the last season of Ted Lasso, the next thing I watched was Masters of the Air. It is the follow up series to “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific”, and follows the actual experiences of
There Is No Generational War Read More »
Every year, the World Happiness Report tracks self-reported well-being around the world. The latest results are in, and I must report that all is not cheery in our northern half of North America. Canada is becoming a nation of truly morose citizens. And before you blame the weather, the four happiest countries are Finland, Denmark,
National Happiness Takes Political Will Read More »
Is it just me, dear reader, or is our Canada becoming an increasingly bizarre fever dream? Our Prime Minister believes that the country he governs is not a nation at all, but rather a “post-national state with no core identity”. Land acknowledgements are solemnly proclaimed by people who, astonishingly, continue living on the very land
Cancelling Powell River Read More »
Much has happened since I last visited a column of my unfiltered thoughts upon the good people of this town. A fierce snowstorm blanketed our unsuspecting Dominion, seeking and destroying house pipes with surgical precision. Our Prime Minister took a much-needed break from surfing in stormy Tofino, to luxuriate instead in the clear-blue waters of
If it Ain’t Woke, Don’t Fix it Read More »
It is endlessly ironic that George Orwell’s 1984 is still assigned reading in Canadian high schools. If students make it to Chapter Five of this classic dystopian novel, they read the following: “Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed,
The Bonfire of Canadian History Read More »
The debate which followed the accidental Parliamentary celebration of a 98-year-old veteran of the Nazi Waffen SS 14th Grenadier Division reveals a political class which is hopelessly immature. Conservative MPs, who happily applauded along with the rest, insinuated that the Liberal Party is sympathetic to the early 20th century German ideology of Nazism – a
“When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit walks in darkness” – Alexis de Tocqueville I recently joined the local library’s 10am crew, literary loyalists who form a small crowd around the entrance before the grand opening. Near the front desk, a substantial number of books were displayed, “weeded” from shelves and available for
Old Books Are Not Weeds Read More »
