I met Bill around 1990 when he contacted me for some information about induced abortions, for a book he was writing, The Trouble with Canada. He soon became a very good friend. We talked regularly about many, many things, and I was a member of his online discussion...
Big Topics & Big Ideas
Big Topics & Big Ideas
Democracy Project
The cost of actually building a house does not vary that much across Canada The Ford government’s plan to expand the land supply available for housing has evoked the usual dog whistles about “urban sprawl” by interests apparently unaware of the strong...
Reading is the most important skill taught in school. If students don’t learn how to read, not much else that happens there is going to matter. That’s because being able to read is important in virtually every job. Without the ability to read, life itself will be a...
On questions of government, politics and education, Canadians would be foolish to ignore Brian Peckford. The Newfoundland school teacher became a Progressive Conservative MLA in 1972. He was premier from 1979 to 1989 and a key part of the federal-provincial...
Big Topics & Big Ideas
A popular quote asserts, “The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” Schooling has never been a neutral enterprise. Disputes over the control of education and what children should learn have been with us for...
Sometimes political parties misinterpret an issue and end up making the wrong stand. Unfortunately for them, bad policy is usually bad politics, too. This is especially so when such waywardness offends the party’s support base. Enter the Progressive Conservative Party...
Could #Leave Our Kids Alone Mark the Beginning of a Broader Protest Movement?
September 30th will be National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. This year it should be a day of celebration. Parliament declared September 30 a holiday soon after the nation was convulsed by the shocking claim that 215 residential students had been somehow killed...
The Rochester, New York, appeals courtroom scene last week was absolutely riveting. The state was appealing the lower court’s decision against Governor Kathy Hochul’s quarantine camp law. The law granted power to the state to seal anyone in an apartment or take...
Big Topics & Big Ideas
“Lysenkoism” is a term that was coined after the Soviet geneticist Trofim Denisovich Lysenko, who rose to prominence in the Soviet Union during the 1930s and 1940s. He was known for his political influence over Soviet science, rejecting Mendelian genetics and...