Issues, ethics, memory
At this time of year people who I know often share their reading list for the 12 months just past. I always find that interesting and have decided to mention some of the books that I read in 2020. I would appreciate your comments on any of them, or on your favourites. Here goes: January... Continue Reading →
St Peter's Basilica, Rome Christmas in our culture has both a religious and a secular appeal, and many of us have stories about Christmases past. Here is one. Gap Year When I was 20 years old, a friend Gary and I took a year out from university and travelled in Europe. A lot of students... Continue Reading →
Anti-discrimination rally, Ottawa, 2017. The federal government plans to resettle 30,000 refugees in Canada in 2020-21, which is laudable but modest at a time when the United Nations estimates that 79.5 million people were forced to flee their homes in 2019. Canada is a wealthy country with the capacity to help out but there are... Continue Reading →
Michael Lynk is the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, but the Israeli government denies him access. In fact, one of Lynk’s predecessors was detained upon arrival in Israel and was put on a departing plane on the following day. Lynk, who is also a law professor... Continue Reading →
This is a narrow entry into a much wider story. At work some years ago, I developed tightness in my neck, shoulders, and upper back. I went for massage therapy but that helped only for a brief time. I began to develop headaches as well. Then I remembered that the collective agreement negotiated by my... Continue Reading →
In 2018 the Prairie Messenger, a Catholic journal out of Muenster, Saskatchewan closed down after being published for more than a century by the Benedictine monks. I was a long-time contributor the the paper and was among those invited to write a guest column near the end. Here is my contribution: Childhood companion My relationship... Continue Reading →
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been so omnipresent during the COVID-19 pandemic that it is easy to forget we have a minority government in Canada. The Liberals must rely upon some combination of support from the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green parties. The NDP and its leader Jagmeet Singh have, in particular, used their leverage... Continue Reading →
Stacked chairs at En Route centre, March 20, 2020 There is talk among many Canadians, as well there should be, about a just recovery arising from COVID-19. The pandemic has shone a harsh light upon injustices that have been hiding in plain sight and there is no excuse now for looking the other way. Here... Continue Reading →
Coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic has all but eliminated other stories from the news. In Ottawa, the prime minister sprints down a few steps from his cottage to deliver an ever-lengthening list of financial supports to beleaguered organizations and individuals. In Washington, the president offers home cures for the virus such as ingesting Lysol while... Continue Reading →
COVID-19 crept up on us late in 2019 like fog on little cat feet but then it grew into a perfect storm. I was largely oblivious to its danger until almost mid-March. I have gone back through my calendar and compared personal events to a pandemic timeline to better understand how and when the coronavirus... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 