Coal Front
For centuries, coal miners toiled in dim, claustrophobic tunnels in the grip of a constant fear. Coal dust mingled on their bodies with the cold sweat brought on by an invisible enemy. They [...]
Westbound Train
In the summer of 1970, a 12-coach train painted with day-glo hippie flowers carried Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead, The Band, Ian and Sylvia Tyson, Buddy Guy and other folk-rock and blues icons [...]
Puppet State
There was a time in this country, and not so long ago either, when “puppet” was a dirty word. Sure, there was the kiddie entertainment ghetto, where slack-mouthed, rubber-headed Muppet [...]
Holistic Cow!
A walk across the historic A7 Ranche, west of Nanton in southern Alberta’s foothills, reveals a land rich in native grasses and wildlife. Cattle and deer graze the hills, keeping the land [...]
Strange Bedfellows
When the federal Liberals are in power—and except for the Diefenbaker and Mulroney years (and the Clark and Campbell months), that’s been the case since 1935—it’s a given that Ottawa and Edmonton [...]
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Should Post-Secondary Education be Free?
Hugh Mackenzie
The economist and research associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says yes.
Free tuition would redress a massive intergenerational inequity created over the past 30 years. In 1990–91, average university tuition in Canada was $1,464; adjusted for inflation, that would be $2,541 in 2019–20. Today the actual average ...
Out with the Old
On a sunny autumn afternoon, pedestrians walk up to the edge of Edmonton’s 115th St, where steel girders separate the road from the edge of the hill. The view is tremendous: overlooking the lush Victoria Park golf course and the gorgeous panorama of the North Saskatchewan River valley. Most people ...
Pension Folly
In 1965, Quebec, eager to be master in its own house, decided it wanted to have its own pension plan and not be part of the new Canada Pension Plan. Quebec’s population was younger than the Canadian average, and the province had a high birth rate. The province believed its ...