This is a list of my favourite books from 2021, broken down by month.
Best Books 2021
Climate change, hope and discipline
Ottawa's Rob Samulack attended the COP 26 UN Climate conference held in Glasgow in late 2021 as an official observer with the Christian Climate Observers Program. The experience changed him.
NDP’s sixtieth anniversary, 2021
In 2021, the New Democratic Party celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of its founding. This is my retrospective view of Canada's social democratic party.
David Frum defends John A Macdonald
Canadian expatriate David Frum defends John A Macdonald against his detractors. I analyze Frum's case.
Settler Solidarity on Bill C-15
Former Truth and Reconciliation commissioners addressed a webinar attended by 1,000 settler allies on Bill C-15 and residential schools. I was a participant.
Doug Ford’s COVID-19 bluster
It is difficult to be in leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some politicians, including B.C.’s John Horgan, have high approval ratings. Others, notably, Alberta premier Jason Kenney and Saskatchewan’s Scott Moe have failed dismally in their tasks, and Kenney especially is paying for it in sinking popularity. Which brings us to Ontario’s premier Doug Ford.... Continue Reading →
My reading list from 2020
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 →
Christmas in Rome, 1968
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 →
Scrap the Safe Third Country Agreement
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 →
UN rapporteur for Palestine denied access
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 →
Pulpit and Politics 