By Klaus Rohrich Friday, May 9, 2008
Systemic. It’s a word that’s often used in conjunction with other words to give those words more punch, as in “systemic racism” or “systemic sexism” or “systemic discrimination”.
PM Harper of Canada stands up for Israel, unequivocallyBy Ted Belman Friday, May 9, 2008
NOTE BY TED BELMAN
Under Harper, Canada was the first to pull out of Durban II proceedings. Israel and the US have yet to follow suit.
Under Harper, Canada began voting in support of Israel on UN unbalanced resolutions condemning Israel. Previous policy was the same as the Europeans.
Eco-anxiety – a condition whose time has comeBy Arthur Weinreb Wednesday, May 7, 2008
A recent Harris/Decima poll asked Canadians how they felt about the environment. The poll relied on respondents completing online questionnaires that may have resulted in responses different than if it was conducted by the usual telephone polling. The pollster received responses from 10,000 Canadians. Over three quarters (76 per cent) of those who filled in the questionnaire believe that the environment is not simply a fad and will be a dominant issue for years to come.
Treating symptoms—and feeding the diseaseBy Klaus Rohrich Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Anyone interested in a microcosmic view of the state of healthcare in Canada can get a fairly good perspective by visiting Brockville General Hospital (BGH) in eastern Ontario. It isn’t the kind of place that one would go to if one were seeking medical treatment, but it would make a great case study in the intricacies of bureaucracy for anyone working on an MBA.
According to local sources, BGH recently received some $68 million in capital funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and has begun an ambitious program of renovations designed to make the facility state-of-the-art. The first round of renovations started with the closing off of a number of the hospital’s patient wings and a complete renovation of the entrance and the business offices.
‘O Canada’—CensoredBy OnTheWeb Tuesday, May 6, 2008
By Joan Delaney, Epoch Times Staff
OTTAWA—When is it okay to ban someone from playing “O Canada” in our nation’s capital? When the clothing they wear might upset Chinese communists.
By Tim Murray Tuesday, May 6, 2008
I was heartened by a news item tonight that reported that a teenaged girl commuting on “Skytrain"---Greater Vancouver’s monorail system---was “swarmed” by a gang of six teenaged girls, beaten and robbed. (May 5/08)
Equalization Dilemma - An Ontario SolutionBy Myles Higgins Tuesday, May 6, 2008
The solution to Ontario’s fiscal and public image concern rests in doing what Ottawa, at the request of Ontario itself, refused to do more than a year ago.
The TTC is not an essential serviceBy Arthur Weinreb Monday, May 5, 2008
At some point, Toronto City Council will debate a motion to request that the provincial government declare Toronto’s transit system an essential service. The introduction of the motion follows the strike that didn’t materialize after a last minute tentative agreement that was reached and then the walkout with no notice when the employees failed to ratify it.
The Islamist activist in Associated Press’ Dhaka officeBy Judi McLeod Sunday, May 4, 2008
The unflagging courage of Bangladesh journalist Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury continues to inspire so many.
Tortured, jailed, cut off from those he loved including his dying mother for 17 long months in a Bangladeshi prison, Choudhury continues to be forced back into court on trumped up charges by the government of his own country.
The extreme adversity that comes from mental and financial constraint has lasted for the past five years.
Soft on Refugee Crime, Hard on Thought CrimeBy Tim Murray Sunday, May 4, 2008
Imagine a household that permitted a stranger to walk in without an invitation, assault its occupants, raid the refrigerator, steal the silverware, and then spent years deliberating whether to show him the door.
Fuelling the world food crisisBy OnTheWeb Thursday, May 1, 2008
Bogdan Kipling, Chronicle Herald
CANADA will donate an additional $45 million to the UN World Food Program, the Canadian Press reported early Wednesday. Prime Minister Stephen Harper had approved the sum, CP said, and an official announcement was to follow.
The “why bother” societyBy Arthur Weinreb Thursday, May 1, 2008
Earlier this month, a British think tank, Reform, released a report entitled, “Shifting the unequal state: From public apathy to personal capability”. Reform describes itself on its website as “…an independent, charitable, non-party think tank whose mission is to set out a better way to deliver public services and economic prosperity.”
Multicultural Rescue MissionBy Tim Murray Wednesday, April 30, 2008
It has long been the goal of succeeding Immigration and Multicultural Ministers to resuscitate those traditions in our wonderful global buffet of cultures that are on life support. Bring persecuted or beleaguered peoples to Canada and with taxpayer dollars prop up their medieval languages and customs. Make Canada a living ethnological archive for the world.
Sean Avery’s kid brother, ScottBy Judi McLeod Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Don’t know New York Rangers forward Sean Avery, never saw him say hi to a goalie.
But for sure Sean’s kid brother, Scott is a real winner.
All I know about the fabled New York Rangers is that long ago when I was growing up in Halifax, my favourite Uncle Eddy was a real Rangers fan in the gone forever days of forward Andy Bathgate.
When the Rangers’ so-called “bad boy” Sean Avery was rushed to a Manhattan hospital with a lacerated spleen, apparently suffered in an unscheduled collision with a Pittsburgh defenseman in Tuesday night’s playoff loss to Pittsburgh, the New York Daily News (to my pride and joy) called Canada Free Press (CFP).
By OnTheWeb Wednesday, April 30, 2008
There’s a little story about me in the latest issue of the Hill Times—the Parliament Hill newspaper.
Our historical figures are not treated with the respect they deserveBy Clare Westcott Wednesday, April 30, 2008
In 1952, my office was on Bay Street. There were three of us. Ralph was the boss and Mary acted as receptionist and secretary for both of us. Actually, Premier Leslie Frost was our boss, but we didn’t get to see him very often.
At Christmas, Mary gave Ralph a book. He gave one to me and I gave a book to Mary. The rule was that they had to be about Canadian politics and politicians. Federal, provincial or municipal and non-fiction. We often joked about the amount of fiction in non-fiction books about politicians.
At Christmas that year, Ralph gave me a book about the state of federal politics and government between the first and second war. I enjoyed it, for in it Mackenzie King was portrayed as a scheming and devious man...which was a view I strongly held.
By Edward Zawadzki Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Watched the good Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago unmercifully flapping his mouth and arms about like a frenzied stork at a NAACP banquet in Detroit the other night live on CNN.
Canada’s C-51 Law To Outlaw 60% of Natural Health ProductsBy OnTheWeb Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Don’t Let Big Pharma Do This To Canada
TTC union boss deserves a medalBy Arthur Weinreb Monday, April 28, 2008
And undoubtedly Bob Kinnear will get one!
The TTC strike: it’s all David Miller’s faultBy Klaus Rohrich Monday, April 28, 2008
The poet Robert Burns had a catchy saying: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley.” Toronto Mayor David Miller must be thinking about Robbie Burns right about now, as the scheme he so meticulously devised appears to have been derailed by the TTC’s union workers who rejected a sweetheart contract of a 9% increase over 3 years and promptly walked off the job.
First it was the runaway bestseller now it’s “Nahgua the made-for-television movieBy Judi McLeod Saturday, April 26, 2008
It was against all odds when horseman,writer/artist Ron Hevener saved a proud Arabian stallion from certain death at the slaughterhouse. Hevener is afterall an against-all-odds kind of guy. And that’s just the beginning of the adventure-steeped story of “Nahgua”, a horse that will gallop across the human heart forever.
Hevener tells Nahgua’s story in the novel Fate of the Stallion, which sold out in its first printing and at one point almost every school library had a copy.
It’s a story that reminds us never to give up and one that proves that a second chance in life is sometimes possible if only the dreamer will step forward in order to make it happen.
By Tim Murray Friday, April 25, 2008
The only way freedom is going to be restored, be it in the office, the warehouse or the college campus is for people to exercise it. Courageously and in defiance of speech codes and harassment guidelines.
Let’s face it, voters are cleverBy Gerry Nicholls Thursday, April 24, 2008
Thanks to all the media attention surrounding the legal tussle between the federal Conservative Party and Elections Canada, Canadians are getting a crash course in election law.
The wacky world of environmentalismBy Klaus Rohrich Thursday, April 24, 2008
It’s usually in the spring of the year that we take a good look at our lawns to see how they’ve weathered this past brutal winter.
Walking along the grassy tract outside of my home I noticed large areas of lawn that consisted only of weeds and bare earth.
Immigration as a quick fixBy Tim Murray Thursday, April 24, 2008
Is Canada’s perpetual shortage of skilled labour real, perceived or conjured up for the purposes of creating a glut?
The Liberals – caught between a rock and a hard placeBy Arthur Weinreb Wednesday, April 23, 2008
British peer Lord Desai was recently quoted as saying of his prime minister, “Gordon Brown was put on earth to remind people how good Tony Blair was”. The time will shortly come, if it is not already here that the same thing will be said of Liberal leader Stéphane Dion. He is well on the way to making Paul Martin, known not only in Canada but on the world stage as “Prime Minister Dithers”, look decisive.
Revenge of the bean countersBy Klaus Rohrich Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Last week history was made when the RCMP executed a search warrant on the national offices of the Conservative Party of Canada. Acting on an affidavit sworn by Canada’s election commissioner, the Mounties removed a number of boxes of documents as well as computers from the Party’s headquarters.
From the start the fix was inBy Klaus Rohrich Monday, April 21, 2008
Anyone who believes that there was ever a chance of the Toronto Transit Commission’s employees going on strike is in serious need of therapy. From the day that contract negotiations began the outcome was never in doubt as the clever social engineers at Toronto City Hall had choreographed each and every step.
Toronto – was there ever a possibility of a transit strike?By Arthur Weinreb Monday, April 21, 2008
Probably not.
Last week, 640 am talk show host John Oakley opined in the National Post that there would not be a transit strike this week. According to Oakley, the union would threaten a strike until Sunday at which point a deal would be reached and Mayor David Miller would breeze in from China and play the role of the superhero.
Dalton: he truly is the education premierBy Arthur Weinreb Friday, April 18, 2008
As a result of a financial shortfall, the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has voted to close 39 school swimming pools by 2009.
