We were scrambling over the rocky shoreline at Pemaquid Point, Maine; five buddies from Canada and their American host, also an old friend. The water glittered like thousands of diamonds as the shorebirds wheeled and dived and called out above […]

My wife didn’t quite know what she was getting into when she accepted a request a few years ago to join the board of directors at the public daycare centre our children attend. By law, the board must have a […]

The sight, during the Cree Fitness Challenge in Nemaska last month, was a jarring reminder of the flu pandemic that has swept Native communities across Canada’s north. A medical facemask worn by a young girl in order to ward off […]

I grew up living aside rivers, big and small. At the moment, I live a city block away from the St. Lawrence River, which less resembles the rivers I’ve known as it does an escape hatch for the continent that […]

It’s remarkable how fast a country’s status can change in a few short years. From a nation that was seen as a leader on the environmental file a few short years ago, Canada is now perceived around the world as […]

If you thought the debate over creationism versus natural selection was simply about the origin of the species, you’d be wrong. According to the plans being talked up by Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, the federal government is […]

The recent “Fête des Patriotes” in Quebec, known as Victoria Day in the rest of Canada, was a reminder that history is an evolving story, one that is continually invoked – and rewritten – to meet the needs of today. […]

Imagine a huge open-pit mine in the heart of Montreal. It’s not that far-fetched – Mount Royal, the ancient volcanic mountain that rises above the city’s downtown and the St. Lawrence River, is a storehouse of valuable minerals. Judging by […]

Since the Second World War, to be a unionized autoworker in Canada was to belong to the labouring elite. High wages, job security, great benefits and a generous pension were guaranteed those, mostly in Ontario, who were lucky enough to […]

Now that Canada is starting to focus on the end game in Afghanistan – i.e., how we get out in 2011 with our military and our dignity more or less intact – it’s useful to remember exactly how our soldiers […]