Michelle Cyca’s article in The Walrus about residential school denialism of May 4, 2023, gets one thing right. She mentions tuberculosis. Once. Like many who write about those who suffered at residential schools, Cyca seems oblivious to the context of the times – in...
Peter Holle
‘A Children’s Way’ – Cancelling Bishop Grandin
Winnipeg City Hall recently proclaimed that Bishop Grandin Boulevard, Bishop Grandin Trail, and Grandin Street will be renamed, respectively, Abinojii Mikanah (Ojibway for 'A Children's Way'), Awisasak Meskanow (Cree for 'A Children's Way'), and Taapeewin Way (Michif...
Western Standard: Candid Conrad Black Charms Winnipeg
Three hundred people filled the RBC Convention Centre in Winnipeg to hear Lord Conrad Black speak his mind. Black told the Winnipeg crowd his parents lived in Winnipeg until the second World War and he still has first cousins living there. “I know it’s not my city,...
Bud Light – An Alphabet Too Far?
Beer is big business. Canadians quaffed 2.1 billion litres of the sudsy beverage last year. The American market for the stuff is worth over $120 billion annually. People care about which beer they drink; they wear hats and t-shirts proclaiming their allegiance to a...
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...
Canadians on the Move, to Smaller Communities
The Canadian Dream is increasingly being realized in smaller areas For decades, Canadians moved to the larger cities (census metropolitan areas, or CMAs) with their economic opportunities. The latest estimates indicate that CMAs have 72 per cent of the nation’s...
The Strange Conclusions of Justice Paul Rouleau
Justice Paul Rouleau released his Report on February 17, and “concluded that the very high level threshold required for the invocation of the (Emergencies) Act was met.” He insists “cabinet had reasonable grounds to believe there existed a national emergency arising...
Bringing Back Grade 12 Exams Makes Sense
The Grade 12 provincial math and English exams are coming back to Manitoba. While they were suspended for several years during the COVID-19 pandemic, the province recently announced plans to reinstate them next year. Not everyone is happy to see these exams returning....
The Ardern Legacy
Appointed as New Zealand’s Prime Minister in 2017, Jacinda Ardern has been described as an iron fist in a velvet glove. She wooed the world with talk of kindness and compassion, while at home ruling like a dictator. No friend of free speech, she had little regard for...
Ontario College of Teachers Undermines Its Own Credibility
The good news is that inflation appears to be slowing down. The bad news is that no one seems to have told the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) since they plan to impose a 17.64 percent fee hike on all Ontario teachers this year. Unsurprisingly, teachers are not...
Evidence Mounts on Governmental Pandemic Failures
The late U.S. president Ronald Reagan liked to say the nine scariest words were, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Governments did a lot of “helping” during the pandemic, and some statistical analysis suggests results more frightening than any virus. In...
Peckford: Canada-No Bargain at All-Canada’s Health Deal
Canada-No Bargain at All-Canada’s Health Deal —The Federal Government Out Manoeuvred the Provinces — What Happened to Provincial Rights —That’s When the Rubber Hits the Road! Walk in the park —the Feds never worked up a sweat! Forgone conclusion! As I keep saying—-how...
How the Fight for ‘Social Justice’ Leads to Premodern Hell
Prioritizing the fight for “social justice” or any other version of “justice” is a guarantee of unending warfare. Obsession with “justice” focuses on the past, on allegedly unjust deeds suffered by the party deeming itself a victim. That the past is long, and includes...
School Boards That Tout ‘Inclusion’ Must Practise What They Preach
If there was a prize for the most dysfunctional school board in the country, the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) would be a serious contender. Not content with the chaos and divisiveness that took place last year, WRDSB trustees appear determined to...