LAST WEEK I WAS interviewed for a CBC program on the topic of Bill C-33, the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act. The name of the program is immaterial. If you look it up, you won’t find me. That interview was tossed, and another guest was found.
What Did the Prime Minister Really Know About Bruce Carson’s Past?
MEET BRUCE CARSON, as early as the 1970s a compulsive thief and fraudster and, in more recent decades, a fixture of Parliament Hill. He is the man who today begs the necessary question, Who exactly has failed to do their job?
There’s No Hope of Renewal for Rob Ford, or for Toronto, Until Rob Ford is No Longer the Mayor
THE LATE COMEDIAN Mitch Hedberg had a line that he “used to do drugs.” A moment for the applause, and then this: “I still do drugs, but I used to, too.”
The Roundtable Podcast 67
• Week of 04.05.2014
Rob Ford continued | News Clip: Nikki Ashton Calls on Federal Government to Hold Missing, Murdered Women Inquiry | Al Feldstein, longtime Mad magazine editor, dies at 88 | Doing Comedy | Bob Dylan’s original manuscript for Like a Rolling Stone’s lyrics goes on sale | Music: Awon & Phoniks, “Forever Ill” | Burritos | Nigeria’s Stolen Girls | Shawn Atleo Resigns
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Can the World Do Anything for the Girls of Nigeria?
AS I WRITE THIS, the swell of a Western grassroots outcry against the Nigerian outfit, Boko Haram, appears to be forming across social media.
Shawn Atleo’s Political Education
The former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Shawn Atleo, may now be realizing that the inspirational and aspirational modes are insufficent.
I‘VE MET EVERY Assembly of First Nations National Chief going back to the late 1980s, when Georges Erasmus was the leader. Taken as a group, they cover a broad range of personality and disposition. I’ve gotten to know Georges the best, having written for him across a decade and more, but Shawn A-in-chut Atleo is probably the AFN chief who put me most at comfort, right from our first conversation, in a North Bay restaurant.
It’s Not About Ford: It’s About How A Hateful Ford Nation Poisons Toronto
THERE’S A DISTINCT ethical calculus that applies to addiction. Here’s an example: mayor Ford’s indiscretions over the years – the bad choices of personal friends and associates, the bursts of erratic behaviour, the denials that there’s a problem – are “the drugs talking.” He’s not completely in control of himself. The drugs and alcohol are, and his actions should therefore be seen as at least in part the symptoms of an illness, or a compulsion, that keeps him in its grip. He’s an addict, and he needs help, and it’s a good thing he’s now seeking it.
FNCFNEA: An Interview with Grand Chief Gordon Peters
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Grand Chief Gordon Peters is a citizen of the Delaware First Nation, near Chatham, Ontario, and the Chair of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians Chiefs Council. The Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians (AIAI) is a non-profit organization which advocates for the political interests of its member Nations in Ontario – the Oneida, the Mohawk, the Delaware, the Potawatomi and the Ojibway.
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Racism? How About Donald Sterling’s Moneyism
I‘M GOING TO begin by admitting my heart’s not in this post. That’s because it’s about two squalid, ridiculous human beings who deserve obscurity: V Stiviano and Donald Sterling.
Why This Writer Sucks at Marketing
HERE AT waynekspear.com, I lift the curtain from time to time to disclose my thoughts on the writing life as they apply to this website. As with any public undertaking, there’s much going on behind the scenes at this word factory of mine. Today I’m considering the marketing of a writer, and how poor I am at – and why I think I continue, as a matter of principle, to be poor at it.
Help! I Need a Name
“WRITING A BOOK,” according to George Orwell, “is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness.” The good news is that the illness ends after two or three years, or five at the most. When you start to feel better, it’s time to start a new book.
More Thoughts on Unpaid Internships and Writing for Exposure
THE ONTARIO MINISTRY of Labour recently announced an enforcement “blitz” of provincial regulations governing unpaid internships, an action which led to the termination of internship programs at Toronto Life, Canadian Geographic, Rogers Publishing and The Walrus.
The Worst Thing About Religion is All the Best Things
I DON’T KNOW how it happened, or why it happened when it did, but in the last few years debating religion has become a thing. The trend may have begun (or have been reinvigorated, since debating religion is not new) with Christopher Hitchens’s God is Not Great. He took to the road as part of the book promotion, debating Catholics and evangelicals and Jews and Muslims along the way, and became semi-famous not for his books but rather for the many YouTube videos of these debates. (Side note to writers: books are a lousy way to get rich and famous!)
A Decent Life (a short story)
HAROLD HAD KEPT in his mind the image of the newspaper’s doubled face, the luxurious automobile below the fold, and the latest disaster from across the world above. From the livingroom he regarded the quiet dignity of his neighbourhood and congratulated himself for his accomplishments. He felt he lived in one of Amigary’s finest neighbourhoods, in a very respectable Tudor home. He thought of the things he would like to do over the summer, perhaps install a swimming pool or a deck. The neighbour’s dog barked. Harold reorganized his mental list, adding Fence at the top and moving Pool below Deck. His wife would want to know how he proposed to pay for these: but never mind that, he thought to himself. She was always worrying over nothing. They would do fine, he’d say. Harold could smell the dog shit in the air and wondered, Would the others smell it too? The thought that they would embarrassed him and made him only more determined to build the fence. Never mind that a fence would never stop a smell. It was something, a start. In the meantime, they would be polite and pretend not to notice.
The Roundtable Podcast 66
• Week of 20.04.2014
Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Jim Flaherty | Rob Ford’s Campaign Party | Laureen Harper | Music: Willie Nelson, “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die” | Record Store Day / 4-20 | Justin Trudeau Selfie | Hipster Craft Beer Snobs Are Nerdgasming Over New Star Trek Brew | New Beer Store Ads | The Four Basic Ways to Tuck in a Shirt
Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.
Journalism, Essays, Broadcasting, Books 