Always Brave, Sometimes Kind
Northern Alberta author Katie Bickell sets her debut novel, Always Brave, Sometimes Kind, mainly in Fort McMurray, Edmonton and Sherwood Park. Her characters travel the Yellowhead Highway, cross [...]
Barb Howard
Barb Howard
Truth Be Told: My journey through life and the law
Beverley McLachlin’s memoir Truth Be Told chronicles her rise from “just a small-town girl from Pincher Creek” through the male-dominated ranks of Canadian lawyers and judges to become the first [...]
Justice For None
Blair Jason Hinkley, accused of aggravated sexual assault, was released from an Alberta prison in 2016 because the Crown took too long to bring the case to trial. Hinkley was then arrested again, [...]
The Reservist
Once a year I attend a parade. The occasion is a combined celebration of St. George’s Day and the birthday of the King’s Own Calgary Regiment. The event consists of a parade to a church, a church [...]
Western Taxidermy
Deirdre’s mother opened the door when I arrived at the baby celebration. She reminded me of a monkey: short with stringy limbs, close-set eyes, a wide, smiling mouth. Although, unlike a [...]
My Brother’s Shitkickers
My big brother Tom wore snakeskin shitkickers. Not just the uppers, but the whole boot, except the sole and heel, was shimmering reptile. Whenever he bought a new pair he’d want me to run my [...]
MOST READ
MOST READ
The Lesson of Lougheed
For 100 years, between 1905 and 2005, Albertans changed their government only three times (1921, 1935, 1971). The last of these elections, the most portentous, happened 50 years ago this August. Alberta has now changed government twice in the past six years. The next election may see yet another new government—meaning ...
The Assault on Higher Education
The Kenney government proclaimed in fall 2019 that Alberta’s post-secondary institutions were “overly dependent” on government funding—which is an odd thing to say about a public good. Then it declared that the province’s grant to the schools should be reduced by 20 per cent by 2023. The rationale for this ...
Rediscovering a River
The Cree called it Kisiskâciwanisîpiy—the swiftly flowing river. For the Blackfoot, it was omaka-ty—the big river. It starts in the Columbia Icefield, at the toe of the Saskatchewan Glacier, and cuts the province in half as it flows through Banff and Jasper national parks, northeast to Edmonton, then east-by-southeast across the ...