Tag Archives: Canada

Current Events, First Nations

The Long Tsilhqot’in Journey to Aboriginal Title

Leave a comment

DSC_0112

THE WEBSITE of the Xeni Gwet’in (pronounced Honey Gwi-deen) reads like a manifesto:

In a world full of travel promises, some kept others not, the Xeni Gwet’in people offer none. The Xeni prefer to simply share their home with respectful travelers—those who follow their hearts, live their passion and still have the capacity to be awestruck by mountain peaks reflecting on sparkling alpine lakes and by magnificent creatures at home in a pristine wilderness. This is a place of freedom and of contentment—a place to be shared with friends, new and old.

Continue …

Ontario, Politics

The Ontario Liberals Did Not Win: The Other Parties Lost

Leave a comment

GNM
EARLIER THIS WEEK, on CTV news, I predicted that two political parties would be looking for new leaders if the Ontario Liberals prevailed. Election day had yet to expire when Tim Hudak announced he would be stepping down, fulfilling a half of my proposition.

Continue …

Canada, Politics

Romeo Dallaire and the 80/20 Rule

1 Comment

3815300

THE DATE WAS Thursday February 15, 2007, and I was on my way to a parliamentary Senate breakfast on Ottawa’s Wellington Street. With me was the former long-time CBC national reporter, Whit Fraser, a man who is never lacking for a quip of the moment. As I opened the door to the Senate building, keen to escape Ottawa’s notorious winds, he remarked: “eighty percent of these people are useless. But the other twenty make up for it.”

Continue …

Books, Writers and Writing

Dear Readers: Which New Book Would YOU Most Like to Read?

5 Comments

read-books

GREETINGS, Friends and Comrades.

The last two weeks have been on the quiet side, here at this little website of mine. This is not due to any lack of activity, industry or interest. I am busily at work on finishing up books, and I’ve got some other projects on the go as well. Also, I’ve been doing more radio and TV work than usual. But the really engrossing news, for me at least, is that I’m developing my next book. Here are the outlines of several new works, one of which will be the focus of my year. I’d love to know what you think about each, and especially which you’d most like to read. Your comments and ideas are much appreciated ….

Continue …

Ontario, Politics

Ontario Politics’ Franchise Problem

Leave a comment

Bob Rae and David Peterson

I CAN SUMMON with clarity the celebration of Fall 1990 that inducted the provincial NDP government of Bob Rae. I’d moved to Kingston a month earlier, at the end of August, and like everyone else was shocked to see that the NDP would not only form a government, but a majority government at that.

Continue …

Canada, Politics

What Did the Prime Minister Really Know About Bruce Carson’s Past?

2 Comments

4492478

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?

Continue

Politics, Toronto

It’s Not About Ford: It’s About How A Hateful Ford Nation Poisons Toronto

5 Comments

WavinPFLAG_large

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.

Continue …

First Nations, Interviews

FNCFNEA: An Interview with Grand Chief Gordon Peters

Leave a comment

Grand Chief Gordon Peters

Download entire interview (320 kbps mp3) | Visit The Roundtable on Facebook.

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.

Follow me on Twitter
Podcasts

The Roundtable Podcast 66

Leave a comment

• Week of 20.04.2014
Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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.

Follow me on Twitter
First Nations, Interviews

FNCFNEA: An Interview with Chelsea Vowel

Leave a comment

fncnea

In this interview with Chelsea Vowel, we discuss the recent Bill C-33 – the First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act. Download Bill C-33 here. Visit the AFN’s website here.

Download entire podcast (320 kbps mp3)

Follow me on Twitter

Subscribe

Canada, Obituary, Politics

Another Way of Looking at Minister Flaherty

1 Comment

flahertyharris

THE CURRENCY of the word outpouring was notable this week: over at the National Post, Michael Den Tandt has not only described the phenomenon, but indulged it himself. His essay “Former finance minister Jim Flaherty’s death leaves a void in the Conservative party” issues high praise, pressing Kipling and Aristotle into the service of a lush panegyric. Again, nothing unusual here – it’s what everyone is doing these days, not only at the National Post, but elsewhere.

Continue …

First Nations, Guest Posts

I Went to an Indian Residential School, and My Father was the Principal

15 Comments

Guest post by Mark DeWolf

Indian residential schools

Part of my Truth is my memory of how it was at the residential school during the years my Dad was the Principal

IT’S A COLD BUT sunny day in Edmonton as I cross Jasper Avenue and approach the front doors of the Shaw Centre, the venue for the final national event of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Streaming out one door is a large group of non-aboriginal teens, chatting, laughing, doing a bit of good-natured jostling. It’s Education Day at the TRC event, and a good number of local schools have arranged for their students to attend, no doubt hoping that the kids will not only learn about the work of the TRC and the reason for its establishment, but also gain something from the experience of sharing the event with thousands of their First Nations neighbours. Have they? I wonder.

Continue …

First Nations, Interviews, Writers and Writing

“Residential School: A Children’s History” | CBC Interview

Leave a comment

Larry Loyie and Constance Brissenden

My friends and co-authors, Larry Loyie and Constance Brissenden, discuss residential schools and the forthcoming book Residential School: A Children’s History on CBC Radio.

Follow me on Twitter