The story of the 2012 US presidential election we should pay attention to in Canada is not the performance of the candidates; it is a story of mathematics. The star in this regard is Nate Silver who predicted the outcome of the election with uncanny accuracy. Most pollsters held that the election was too close to call. Silver,...

It was the end of times. On moving to Trail from Castlegar we kept our rent down by agreeing to take down some of the trees that were rooting far too close to foundations and roof lines for either comfort or the good of the house. All told, I created stumps from an evergreen, two deciduous, and an ancient birch. The remains...

A few months into the new blended learning model at Rossland Secondary School and we are able to take some time to reflect on the successes, as well as discuss the adjustments we need to make. We know it takes time to implement change and for the students and teachers to adjust to the new system and realize that the program...

At least his father waited until he was in power before he gave the West the finger! But, just as I had suggested, Trudeau the Younger is so arrogant, so self-absorbed, and so dumb he has already insulted--and politically dismissed--an entire Western province, well before seeking the Liberal leadership, let alone becoming...

On Thursday last (November 22), we met with the Ktunaxa elders at the site of the former Residential School (St. Eugene Mission) near Cranbrook to offer our testimony in support of their expression of faith and spirituality. “We?”You ask? United Church ministers: Frank Lewis, of Cranbrook, Christine Dudley of Kimberley, and...

In Mark's gospel we hear the story of a rich man catching up with Jesus.  “I’ve lived faithfully and followed the commandments,” he says. “What more must I do to inherit eternal life?” On hearing Jesus' prescription (give away everything to the poor and follow me) he leaves in despair. He cannot untangle himself from the...

Early last November I had the privilege of attending a public forum in Ottawa organized by the Canadian Peace Initiative.  The forum took place on a Friday evening featuring Professor Ian McKay of Queens University as a keynote speaker.  Professor McKay, author of Warrior Nation: Rebuilding Canada in an Age of Anxiety, talked...

By: Mischa Popoff, Policy Advisor for The Heartland Institute, Research Associate for The Frontier Centre for Public Policy Getting kicked off a flight for being inebriated must’ve been troubling for New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash. But it was even more troubling for me. Put aside for the moment the fact that Saganash is a...

Americans are raised on a peculiar ideology about themselves, their country, and its history. It's called “exceptionalism.” It means they are exempt from learning from history, because nothing they do has ever been paralleled or precedented. They do everything for the first time ever in human history. No one and nothing, bears...

Not long after the Defend Our Coast rallies, a pollster phones, wanting to know who I plan to vote for in the provincial election.  The first party to unequivocally say NO to tar sands oil in pipelines and tankers through BC land and waters, I tell her. This causes a bit of confusion, as it clearly isn’t one of the options ...