Rick McGinnis: Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements Two years ago at a Munk Debate about public trust in mainstream media, journalist Matt Taibbi was repeatedly smeared by his opponent, essayist Malcolm Gladwell, with a charge that he harboured an “affection” for (as Taibbi recalled) “Jim Crow, the ‘50s, and the ‘golden moment’ when media was ‘dominated by white men’.” It [...]
All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism by Kevin Vallier (Oxford, $36, 305 pages) Version 1.0.0 Kevin Vallier has set out to reply to the integralist challenge to liberalism in his important 2023 volume, All the Kingdoms of the World. Vallier takes a dozen pages to define integralism but if it can be summarized in [...]
Donald DeMarco: It is a relatively simple thing to make something. All we need to do is put together parts that are readily available. Man is a maker. Homo faber is his classical name. On the other hand, man himself is made. The process of making a man is unimaginably complex and extends over centuries. We could not come into existence save [...]
Josie Luetke: Interim writer, Josie Luetke, Talk Turkey Canada’s fertility rate is now 1.3 children per woman, its lowest in recorded history. Replacement level fertility, by comparison, is 2.1 children per woman. Several years ago, Statistics Canada cautioned, “If the country’s fertility continues to decline further in the coming years, Canada could join the countries with the ‘lowest-low’ fertility rates [...]
Rory Leishman: On Feb. 16, the Supreme Court of Alabama touched off an international uproar, by holding that the state’s 1872 Wrongful Death of a Minor Act applies no less to frozen embryos than to all other children. Abortion zealots were outraged: They contended that a frozen embryo is not a child and has no right to life. This dispute came before [...]
John Carpay: In his masterful work The Anatomy of Fascism, Robert Paxton surveys fascist movements and parties in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, looking at their differences and similarities and then arriving at a workable definition. Fascist movements were hostile to democracy and to individual rights and freedoms. Despising the idea of individual citizens, each choosing their own individual priorities, fascists [...]
Rick McGinnis: Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements The idea of a “God-shaped hole” that came into existence roughly during the Enlightenment and grew with the retreat of religion is mistakenly attributed to the French philosopher Blaise Pascal. The truth is that nobody really knows where the phrase came from, but it has taken on a life of its own, becoming [...]
Rick McGinnis: Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements Having worked as a movie critic on and off for over three decades, it’s around this time of year when I get asked who I think will win the Oscars. What are my picks – which is to say who do I think should win? And what do I think about the show, [...]
John Carpay: Jasmin Grandel and Darrell Mills have asked the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal to rule against the Saskatchewan government’s ban on outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people. Grandel and Mills attended various peaceful outdoor protests in 2020 and 2021, resulting in hefty fines for violating Public Health Orders. In 2020 and 2021, Saskatchewan enforced its restrictions on outdoor gatherings against [...]
Rory Leishman: Toronto’s world-famous psychologist, Jordan Peterson, has warned Canadians: “Your much-vaunted Charter of Rights isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.” He has good reason to think so. Notwithstanding the ostensible guarantee of “freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression” in section 2 of the Charter, the Ontario Court of Appeal has refused to hear his appeal of an unanimous ruling [...]
Josie Leutke: Interim writer, Josie Luetke, Talk Turkey The end of January brought a disorienting amount of good news for the pro-life and pro-family movement. The expansion of euthanasia to those suffering solely from mental illness would be pushed back until at least 2027. Clinic 554, the private abortion facility in Fredericton, New Brunswick, finally closed its doors. Alberta’s Premier [...]
John Carpay: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires governments to justify any law that violates one or more of our Charter freedoms of conscience, religions, expressional, association, mobility, and peaceful assembly. Unless the government can provide persuasive evidence in court to show that its law or policy is doing more good than harm, Canadian judges are morally and legally obligated [...]
Rory Leishman: Rampant, out-of-control, drug abuse is a serious problem all across Canada, but nowhere more so than in British Columbia. According to the B.C. Coroners Service, “Unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death in British Columbia for people aged 10 to 59, accounting for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents, and natural disease combined.” What is the cause of [...]
Josie Luetke: Interim writer, Josie Luetke, Talk Turkey I remember finding it so ironic seeing a Planned Parenthood poster in Rory Gilmore’s dorm room, given that there would be no Rory Gilmore—and no Gilmore Girls television show for me to watch—had Rory’s mom gone to Planned Parenthood when she got pregnant at 15. There is no story to tell when you’re dead. [...]
Rick McGinnis: Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements Last fall, film critic Christian Toto wrote a column asking why conservative creators – authors, filmmakers, musicians and comedians – have a hard time getting their work promoted to the audiences they’re trying to reach because conservative news media is so unenthusiastic about covering and promoting their work. “The Left maintains a strong, [...]