The Comedian
The Romans get bad press when it comes to literature. When (or if) we think of the culture of pre-Christian Western antiquity, we tend to think of the clever, original Greeks and the imitative [...]
Insomnia Bird
Mordecai Richler once joyfully pricked Edmonton’s civic pride, in 1985 in the New York Times, when he called Edmonton the “boiler room” of Canada. In Kelly Shepherd’s latest poetry collection, [...]
Costly Fix
Over a decade in the writing, U of A political science professor Ian Urquhart’s new book is worth the wait. Costly Fix is a critical, comprehensive assessment of how Alberta and Canada got mired [...]
Better Contagion
Earth is a mess. It’s been 400,000 years since the planet’s atmosphere last held this much carbon dioxide. And we keep pumping out more. The consequences—melting permafrost, increasingly frequent [...]
Imposing Decorum
You may have missed this promise from Jason Kenney in the lead-up to April’s election: “I and our caucus will raise the bar of civility and decorum in the legislature.” It probably didn’t grab [...]
Should government apologize for past sins?
David Bercuson The University of Calgary history professor is supportive Nations, religious groups and political parties sometimes commit great harms in the course of their development. In the [...]
The Big Man in Cargo Shorts
Leonard was the first to find him. The man was face down in the school’s outdoor learning space, next to a planter of basil. He was fat, his calves the size of a turkey dinner, his hair a gnarled [...]
All The Rage
The tipping point came a week from the end of the campaign, and by April 16 in the Big Four Roadhouse on the Calgary Stampede grounds, United Conservative Party supporters felt scant need for [...]
Misplaced Anger
Should Alberta ditch Canada? This simple yet ominous question—blazoned on two Alberta billboards earlier this year, and asked by many in the recent provincial election campaign—reflects a deep [...]
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Why She Runs
It's a half hour before dawn when Rachel Notley emerges from her hotel elevator, and I barely recognize her. She’s wearing her running clothes and a battered pair of Asics Gel running shoes. Despite having arrived in Calgary late the night before, she has a schedule to keep and she’s eager ...
Individualism Run Amok
Betsy DeVos would be thrilled to have a [school] system like yours,” says Diane Ravitch, research professor of education at New York University, about Alberta. Donald Trump’s secretary of education along with evangelicals and religious extremists in the US look to our province as the shining example of what a school ...
UCP Report Card
In 2017 I issued a mid-term report card on the environmental record of Rachel Notley’s government. Their performance on land use planning, parks establishment and climate change was exemplary. On other matters, such as carnivore conservation and land reclamation, they ducked and dodged. Overall, they earned a B+. Such a ...