Issues, ethics, memory
Allan Blakeney, Saskatchewan premier 1971-82 My friend Allan Blakeney, the former premier of Saskatchewan, died in April 2011 at age 85. I describe him as a friend and he was, although I am aware that he had many friends of longer duration and also many admirers. As a CBC Radio host, I interviewed him on... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Note: This writing is drawn from a chapter that I contributed to a recently-published book called Bush Dweller: essays in memory of Father James Gray, OSB. Long after I had finished with my years at university, I made a list of the five teachers and professors who had been my best. Two... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending I have spent much of my time in the past months working on a book with an old friend, and I have been less active in the blogosphere as a result. The book will be called Truth to Power, and it presents the best from 21 years of journalism by Father Andrew... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Although I have attended Remembrance Day ceremonies at the National War Memorial in Ottawa in the past, I decided this year to support a smaller event whose theme was peace and reconciliation rather than war. On November 10th, I was one of about 300 people who heard an agonizingly sad but ultimately... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Bob Carty is an Ottawa-based journalist best known for his consummate radio documentaries for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation but he has another skill as well. He is a fine musician and singer and has released an album called Desert Eyes: Songs of Justice and Spirit. They are songs about justice with a... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending Will Kymlicka says multiculturalism works and some prominent Canadian commentators have it wrong when they warn that it is failing. Dr. Kymlicka is the Canada research chair in political philosophy at Queen's University in Kingston and a visiting professor at the Central European University in Budapest. Since he received his doctorate in... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending My wife Martha and I spent two weeks recently in Italy, where we paid several visits to St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. There were crowds throughout the day but I read in a guidebook that if one arrived at 9:45 a.m. at the visitor centre found... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending The relationship between Preston Manning and Stephen Harper goes back a long way and has had its share of turbulence. Harper turned up on March 12 to give a speech at an Ottawa conference of Manning’s Centre for Building Democracy. Manning and his wife Sandra created the organization in 2006 to act... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending You cannot be a person of faith without being political, says Paul Dewar, the New Democratic Party MP for Ottawa Centre. Dewar spoke to the Faith and Public Life class at the Ottawa Lay School of Theology on February 9th. “Faith and politics are congruent and we have no option but to... Continue Reading →
By Dennis Gruending  Peter Harder was at the centre of government decision-making in Canada for more than 30 years prior to leaving the civil service in March 2007 to become the senior policy advisor in an Ottawa-based law firm. He served as a deputy minister in various government departments and worked for five prime ministers.... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 