The “secret graves” and “missing children” narrative had our national flag flying at half-mast for over five months after an obscure indigenous politician made the startling claim that she “knew” that 215 indigenous children had been secretly buried in the “apple...
Year: 2021
Trust is the Foundation of Authority
The heartbreaking death of Nathanael Spitzer, the cancer-stricken boy from Ponoka, exposed a most callous streak in Alberta’s medical bureaucracy. There is no forgiving how Alberta Health Services appallingly used a child’s death to promote yet more COVID-19 fear. ...
Apple’s “Security” Pitch Conveniently Protects the iOS-Android Duopoly
In October, Apple Inc. warned that draft rules from the European Union that would require the technology company to open up its mobile operating system to third-party apps would pose a security risk to its users. Expanding on comments already made by CEO Tim Cook, a...
‘Side Issues’ Result in Much Higher Costs to Our Health and Social Systems
As we enter the year 2022, most Canadians will have lived their entire lives under the shibboleth that says we have the best health-care system in the world. Our beloved medicare is universal in scope, free of charge and offers equal access to all. What country could...
Featured News
Our Health Ministers Need to Take a Lesson from Hockey Coaches
Those of you who are tired of my rants about the demise of our once great health system will be pleased to know that this is my last editorial. I am retiring from the BCMJ Editorial Board; currently, I am the longest-serving member (more than 20 years). I have been a...
Zinchuk: Oilpatch Only Spending Half What It Spent in 2014
Back in the lofty, pre-Justin Trudeau government days of 2014, back when oil was booming, pipelines were planned to east and west coasts, and Alberta and Saskatchewan were swimming in money, around $81 billion was spent in capital expenditures (CAPEX) in the Canadian...
Toxic Masculinity—A Public Health Crisis
Students at Western University walked out of class on September 17 to protest a "culture of misogyny". This following a series of sexual assault allegations made on social media of mass drugging and sexual assaults at the Medway-Sydenham Hall residence on campus...
First Nations Need Property Rights to Succeed in Real Economy
An Indigenous band bylaw dispute in nearby Saskatchewan highlights the problems of First Nations lack of property rights under the Indian Act. The dispute arose when a group of protesters occupied the band office at Carry the Kettle First Nation, south of Indian Head,...
Backgrounder – A Crown Corporation’s Failure to Safeguard Assets: National Capital Commission
The National Capital Commission (NCC) is a Crown corporation owned by the Canadian government. The NCC owns and manages over 10 percent of the lands in the National Capital Region. Moreover, the corporation owns and manages several properties, including Canada’s six...
O Canada, Remember Me?
We Canadians are always learning to respond to our own failings, and to the misguided policies and injustices perpetrated by previous generations and governments, and the many institutions that remain unchanged today. Sometimes, clearing the fog of bias, hate and...
Canada and African Free Trade: The Market of the Future
When most Western and Asian countries were in lockdown with the pandemic, the African continent remained largely without restrictions. This shows that Africa is not afraid of the future and has a lot of opportunities opening up. China’s strong influence here is one...
UK-Canada Nuclear Fusion Project Could Generate Jobs, Unite Climate Alarmists and Skeptics
For a long time, nuclear fusion has been a sci-fi fantasy; the holy grail of energy production that involves the combination of multiple atomic nuclei to generate energy. It’s the same process used by the sun to create energy, and the opposite of nuclear fission,...
Sustaining a Pariah State: Pakistan’s Ignominious Alliance in Afghanistan
The United Nations (UN) was born out of an idea for creating a society of nations, a global community, a brotherhood of nations built on a set of higher ideals. These ideals would give rise to a global village with accountability to each other, including social...
How Bernays Changed the World Through PR
Edward Bernays (1891-1995) changed the world in ways that are still felt today. The nephew of Sigmund Freud was dubbed the Father of Spin and the Father of Public Relations for pioneering breakthroughs in his craft. A close examination of his accomplishments could...
Resetting Gender Etiquette: Unwanted Sexualized Behaviour and Sexual Assault at Postsecondary Schools
We are a uniquely privileged society. We place the highest premium on our justice system, press, judiciary, and protections of human rights. And yet even we continue to see troubling trends with regard to unwanted sexualized behaviour and sexual assault across the...