Poet W.N. Branson writes: "The warmth of the summer sun fades as it sets below the mountain, alongside the lake, in the Okanagan. Sitting on the bench, ice cream melts before you can eat it, in the perfect summers eve..." READ MORE
Review: How It Went In Sweden
In 1968 the government passed a Narcotic Drugs Act to pursue a “vision of a drug-free society.” Thousands of people were jailed. Even simple possession of marijuana was punishable by up to six months’ in custody. Drug testing was punitive and commonplace and treatment was “based on obtaining complete abstinence,” noted a federal report. The country was not the U.S. but Sweden. The scheme worked. Marijuana use by young Swedes fell to 9 percent, less than half Canada’s comparable rate. Few analysts ever mentioned Sweden in our national debate over marijuana policy. Discussion was coloured instead by the politics, religion and demography of the U.S. Even the title of Paula Mallea’s pre-legalization book The War On Drugs, is an American invention. READ MORE
Consumer Debt “Staggering”
Debt levels for the working poor are now “staggering,” says one of the country’s largest credit monitors. Equifax Canada yesterday in a report to the Commons industry committee said financial circumstances for millions are much worse than headlines indicate: "This gap has widened drastically." READ MORE
Fateful Decision Was Cursory
Newly-declassified records show cabinet's 2005 decision to send Canadian troops into combat in Afghanistan followed cursory discussion. Casualties would number 2,229 including 158 killed in action: "The Canadians would be the best equipped task force in Afghanistan." READ MORE
MPs Question NATO Arrest
Opposition members yesterday compelled the Commons public safety committee to address the detention of an accused Chinese-Canadian spy at NATO. “Canadians need answers,” said Conservative MP Frank Caputo (Kamloops-Thompson, B.C.): "What happened?" READ MORE
Embassy Happy For Trudeau
The Canadian Embassy in Washington yesterday had no comment after it interrupted trade negotiations to celebrate Justin Trudeau’s dating habits. “Kinda chic to date Katy Perry,” staff posted on the Embassy’s official Instagram account: "I get the PR value but it just doesn’t seem very prime ministerial." READ MORE
German FM Expansion Is OK
Operators of a radio service for German-speaking Alberta farm families yesterday won federal approval to expand programming to “satisfy demand for local content,” said the CRTC. It follows Census data showing French outside Québec has been eclipsed as a second, third and fourth language in many provinces: 'One in four Canadians had a mother tongue other than English or French.' READ MORE
Guest Commentary
I walk through our warehouse and study the artifacts the same way others people-watch on the subway. There is character in things. They tell a rich story. My favourite is the Theratron Junior built in 1956. Canada made 140 of these radiation therapy devices and sold them all over the world for $25,000 apiece. We were so proud of them we put the Theratron in the Canadian exhibit at the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle. The German exhibit had strudel. The French exhibit had art from the Louvre. Canada had the Theratron and a Black Brant rocket and an Alouette satellite. We were fresh and modern and confident, and a scientific powerhouse. This is how we showed ourselves to the postwar world.
