Universal Care (Some Exceptions Apply)
My uncle, Harald Skjei, was born in 1899 and died from diabetes at the age of 14. A diagnosis of diabetes meant almost certain death before the historic work of Canadian doctors Frederick [...]
Supersized
Dave Eggen remembers going to the doctor as a teenager in the 1970s, and his shock at being presented with a bill for $20 at the end of the visit. “I didn’t pay,” Eggen says. “It’s funny how the [...]
The Bugs Stop Here
It’s a dark room about the size of a cargo van. The walls are made of enamel-coated steel. There’s a deep electronic purr, and a slightly acrid odour that quietly catches in the throat. The [...]
Ma Ville
“You don’t want to move to Calgary,” he said. “That city lacks a soul.” He was a very old man I met in Banff almost three years ago. He was polishing the sink in my studio at the Banff Centre for [...]
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The Nenshi Years
I find it easy to forget what Calgary was like when it all began—before what I’ll call the Nenshi Years. It feels like a lifetime ago, several political epochs back. Before the pandemic, before the Olympic bid, before the flood. Before the boom—and whole boom–bust cycle—ended. Before the PC collapse ...
Sidewalks to Nowhere
On a cool November evening in 2012, a crowd of more than 100 invited guests, primarily land developers, gathered at a private venue in downtown Calgary. The host was Cal Wenzel, head of Shane Homes. From a stage in front of a big screen he proceeded to review each Calgary ...
Amarjeet Sohi
On a Friday morning in spring 2016, Amarjeet Sohi sat barefoot in the den of his craftsman style home in south Edmonton. His first few months as Canada’s federal minister of infrastructure had been frantic, sending him across the country to listen to the wants and needs of every big-city ...