Problem Gambling in Canada by Lorne Tepperman and Kristy Wanner (Oxford, $21.95, 240 pages) The Ontario government recently announced its plans to overhaul the provincial gambling system. According to Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, this would increase revenue and job opportunities. The overhaul would include a new casino in the Greater Toronto Area, an expansion in lottery ticket sales and slot machines, and [...]
I’ve argued many times that the pro-life position is not essentially Christian, but an argument based on indisputable scientific truths and universal logic. The reason Christians are so enraged by the slaughter of the innocents, and so active in the campaign to end it, is that Christianity is God-given, that God created us, and thus as Christians we are especially and particularly [...]
Elusive Destiny: The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner by Paul Litt (UBC Press, $39.95, 494 pages) When I first heard that there was a biography of John Turner being published, my reaction was simple: why? Turner was prime minister for the summer of 1984 (Parliament never sat while he was in office) and he did not seem to leave much of [...]
Grassroots Liberals: Organizing for Local and National Politics by Royce Koop (UBC Press, 212 pages, $29.95 paperback) There has been much talk in the past few years about renewing the Liberal Party by focusing on its structure, from the federal executive and the provincial wings of the federal party down to the constituency associations at the riding level. Indeed, reform of their [...]
Inspirational Tales: A Little Golden Book Collection by various authors (Golden Books, 212 pages, $15.95). Review Michael Taube Editor’s Note: Part I, “Little Golden Books provide a big amount of inspiration,” Michael Taube’s review of six short books for children appeared in November. A popular trend in children’s literature has been the release of inexpensive collections of classic stories, fairy tales, poems, [...]
All Aboard Noah’s Ark! by Mary Josephs (Golden Books, 20 pages, $4.99) The Animals’ Christmas Eve by Gayle Wiersum (Little Golden Books, 24 pages, $4.99) The Golden Children’s Bible by Rev. Joseph A. Grispino, Dr. Samuel Terrien and Rabbi David H. Wice (Golden Books, 510 pages, $23.99) Inspirational Tales: A Little Golden Book Collection by Various Authors Golden Books, 212 pages, $15.95) [...]
Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think by Bryan Caplan (Basic Books, $29, 228 pages) Bryan Caplan is a libertarian thinker and economics professor at George Mason University. He is always provocative and is one of my favourite writers. I was without a doubt going to enjoy his latest [...]
Television is the most modern, the most omnipresent, and the most pervasive of all the media arts, which is the reason I devote so much time in this column to analyzing its effect on our culture. It’s not hard to understand why; unless parents have made the conscious decision to take TV out of their home, it’s likely that the average child [...]
Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls, and the Consequences of a World Full of Men by Mara Hvistendahl (Public Affairs, $31.50, 313 pages) A book authored by Science’s Beijing correspondent has garnered a lot of attention for pointing out that a combination of depopulation ideology, ultrasound technology, and late-term abortion has led to what Mara Hvistendahl has called “163 million missing women,” [...]
The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture by David Mamet (Sentinel, $32.50, 256 pages) Even during an apparent renaissance of conservative book publishing, one book has been anticipated more than almost any other this season. Anyone who considers themselves religious will recognize The Secret Knowledge by David Mamet as a conversion story, albeit one told in brief, scattershot chapters, written [...]
My new book, Why Catholics Are Right (McClelland & Stewart) has just been published. For those readers who are not Catholic, please know that this is in no way an attack on you. Some of the finest defenders of life I know are, for example, evangelical Protestants, who could also teach me a great deal about being a Christian. What [...]
The Trouble With Canada … Still by William Gairdner (Key Porter, $24.95, 534 p) In print less than two years after his splendid Book of Absolutes, William Gairdner’s The Trouble with Canada…Still, his twelfth major work to date, promises to be yet another bestseller. In a country whose inhabitants are so contentedly in thrall to the “Swedish model” that they suffer both [...]
We have a review of A Matter of Conscience by John Haas, Douglas Farrow, Francois Pouliot, and Maria Kraw. The book is a collection of presentations from the first annual meeting of the Canadian Federation of Catholic Doctor's Guild in 2009. The review is good, the book is excellent and the points both make about how conscience is formed is important. The bottom line on the [...]
Ask parents to come up with things that make their children cringe, and you will have enough material to fill an entire 32-volume Encyclopædia Britannica set. Such a list would likely include the ever unpopular liver and onions, green vegetables, romantic movies and, without question, big, thick, heavy hardcover books. It doesn’t matter if your child likes to read, or would rather [...]
Justin Press, a Catholic publishing house, was founded in 2009. It is dedicated to the publication of works of Catholic culture and apologetics that reflect the teaching of the Magisterium. Justin Press will provide the Canadian public with access to the best thought and writing in the Canadian Catholic world. Among the outstanding initial group of contributors are Michael O'Brien, Douglas Farrow, [...]