Poet Shai Ben-Shalom writes: "In Washington D.C. the Redskins football team is asked to change its name. Strong arguments are called up. The term is offensive, hurtful..." READ MORE
Book Review: What Is In It For Me — ?
A friend of mine, a federal contractor, recalls visiting his MP for help on a local issue. The MP grew increasingly irritable and finally threw up his hands, exclaiming: “What’s in this for me?” The meeting ended badly. This collision of two worlds – the aggrieved petitioner and harassed legislator – is the core of The Effective Citizen. Author Graham Steele, a former Nova Scotia finance minister, acknowledges both petitioner and legislator have legitimate points, albeit on different frequencies, and explains how to tune dialogue to problem-solving. “The best meetings were the ones where my visitors understood the environment I was working in, and helped me understand the environment they were working in, and together we had a constructive discussion about what was possible or not possible, and why,” writes Steele. “Those meetings were too rare.” READ MORE
PM’s Story Prompts Hearing
Prime Minister Mark Carney faces a parliamentary hearing regarding his misrepresentations over toll-sharing concessions on the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The chair of the Commons government operations committee yesterday summoned MPs to a special hearing to “get to the bottom of the matter.” READ MORE
Cite Macklem As Lawbreaker
The nation’s largest labour federation yesterday shamed Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem for unlawful practices. Macklem was censured for hiring replacement workers in a five-week dispute with striking security guards: "It is especially troubling that this conduct is coming from the Bank of Canada." READ MORE
Waive Accounting On Graves
The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations waived a requirement that a Kamloops First Nation account for what became of $12.1 million in funding for “exhumation of remains” at an Indian Residential School, according to records disclosed yesterday. The Tk’emlups te Secwepemc First Nation made no attempt to exhume any graves despite funding: "Officials were asked about what appears to be missing reports." READ MORE
Install Radar On Great Lakes
The Department of National Defence in a report to MPs confirms it is installing new marine radar sites along shipping lanes in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Valley. No reason was given, though the department conducted earlier research that found Canadians feared a Great Lakes flashpoint should the United States "turn on Canada." READ MORE
No Time For Postal Hearings
There is no time for any “fulsome review of the future of Canada Post,” cabinet has told MPs in reply to a request for public hearings on the impact of service cuts. More immediate austerity measures are a priority, it said: 'The government will take into account the issues raised by Canadians as it determines whether additional reforms are needed.' READ MORE
Guest Commentary
My mother and my grandmother made most of our clothes when we were growing up. It was a normal day to get up and go out and get your water and cut your wood and go hunting or fishing. People might consider it to be a hard life, but for us it was not a hard life, it was a normal life. And the contentment to be able to go out and get what you need from the land, there’s a certain tranquility about that. As soon as I started going to school, I realized there were a lot of changes happening in our community.
