Issues, ethics, memory
As COVID-19 spreads around the world, its trajectory is being accompanied by a stream of fake news. The two most prominent conspiracy theories are almost mirror-like in their presentation. One has it that the virus was created in an American military laboratory and spread to the Chinese city of Wuhan by visiting Americans. I received... Continue Reading →
I read recently in The Guardian that trolls on social media are spreading fake news that the raging bush fires in Australia had been set by arsonists and are not linked to climate change. This is a claim that has been picked up and repeated by shifty ministers in the British government of Boris Johnson.... Continue Reading →
In 2013, I was interviewed by Victor Enns of Rhubarb magazine about what lay behind my decision in the 1990s to run for political office. I posted the first part of that interview on this site recently. In the interview Victor also asked me about what it was like to serve as an NDP MP... Continue Reading →
In 2013, I was approached for an interview by Victor Enns, the founder of a (now defunct) Winnipeg-based magazine called Rhubarb. Victor and others involved with the quarterly publication described it as featuring work by writers and artists of Mennonite heritage for a general reading public. I am not a Mennonite but my wife is... Continue Reading →
Justin Trudeau’s re-election has unleashed political outrage in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney is talking about Alberta’s being “betrayed.” Saskatchewan’s Premier Scott Moe sent a letter to Trudeau demanding that he cancel the federal carbon tax, build various pipelines and renegotiate the formula for equalization payments. I’ll withhold detailed comment on equalization payments,... Continue Reading →
On September 27, a day millions when of people around the world marched to demand action on climate change, I joined the climate strike in Ottawa with about twenty thousand others. It was a heartening exercise, made even more special by the presence of so many young people. Facebook posts That evening I placed a... Continue Reading →
Young Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who will speak to the UN Climate Summit in New York this week, has said: “I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.” One thinks of the carnage at Fort McMurray in 2016 where the houses were on fire after a massive blaze... Continue Reading →
Newspapers have recently carried lengthy obituaries on the death of David Koch, the US billionaire. Through Koch Industries, David and his equally wealthy brother Charles controlled the second largest private corporation in the US, with ownership in chemicals, pipelines and fossil fuel extraction. The company was also, until recently, a major investor in Alberta’s oil... Continue Reading →
My Facebook site has been inundated recently by people sickened by the latest mass shootings in the US and outraged that an American president is acting as an enabler to fellow white supremacists. When we Canadians look at the racism and misogyny being perpetrated by people like Donald Trump, Juan Bolsinaro in Brazil, Rodrigo Dueterte... Continue Reading →
I was invited in 2019 to speak in Ottawa to the Annual General Meeting of the ecumenical social justice group Citizens for Public Justice. They asked me to talk about populism. It's a topic that has gained new urgency following the so-called Freedom Convoy in 2022. Here is the speech: Introductory comments I am so... Continue Reading →
Pulpit and Politics 