Law Matters John Carpay In April, Ontario Premier Doug Ford denounced people who were protesting against the lockdown as “absolutely irresponsible, selfish, reckless, law-breaking yahoos.” In Alberta, lone protester Cody Haller was arrested and dragged out of the Alberta legislature grounds by sheriffs on May 11 and slapped with a $1200 ticket. The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms is representing [...]
Light is Right Joe Campbell Of course I believe in ghosts. I’ve been one. So have most writers who detoured through public relations on the way to more honourable callings. Chances are they’ve ghostwritten letters, speeches, articles, even books, not to mention jokes, apologies, eulogies, and marriage proposals. In public relations, things are not as they seem. For some years, [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman Should morally enlightened judges strike down any statute that sanctions pornography, abortion, or euthanasia? The late, great Antonin Scalia did not think so. As a devout Catholic, he clearly understood that pornography, abortion, and euthanasia are unmitigated evils, yet as one of the most learned judges ever to serve on the Supreme Court of the United [...]
Like anyone given to binge-watching shows on streaming television, I recently tore through three seasons of Babylon Berlin, a Netflix series set in the ominous, waning years of Weimar Germany, just as the roaring, manic 1920s tumbled into the dismal 1930s. It’s the most expensive non-English TV drama ever filmed, with the first two seasons costing €40 million, most of it spent [...]
Amusements Rick McGinnis We have a curious relationship with the past. It’s often presumed that things were better then, despite abundant evidence to the contrary. And while no one but a tiny minority advocates a return to any pre-industrial point in human history, there has been a palpable longing for one recent period in history that’s lingered since before that [...]
I have been a lifelong fan of the Beach Boys, but I’ve never been able to understand their 1963 hit single, “Be True To Your School.” That probably says more about me than the Beach Boys, but I think it has a lot to do with my high school, which has been in the news quite a bit lately as I write [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Last month, the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) became an intervener in UAlberta Pro-Life v. University of Alberta.This court case arose in 2015, when a small group of students received approval from the University of Alberta to set up a stationary display on campus. The display juxtaposed photos of the developing unborn child with photos of abortions performed [...]
Andrew Lawton There is a big difference between what is legal and what is right. With the legalization of recreational pot in Canada (however mired in bureaucracy and regulation), it’s high time for people to realize that the government is not a moral standard-bearer. Nor should it be. This becomes ever more difficult to understand in a society that increasingly [...]
Law Matters John Carpay On March 19, the University of Alberta held a public event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Vriend v. Alberta. In 1998, the court ordered Alberta to add “sexual orientation” to its human rights legislation. When pondering the Vriend ruling, it is important to remember that, during the 1990s, activists across Canada were [...]
Six years after I was laid off from my job at a national daily newspaper and sent back out to the uncertainties of freelancing as a writer and photographer, I’ve found myself with a steady gig again. Of those six years I can’t say much except that it’s no way to earn a living. The new job is more interesting – editing [...]
In the spring, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 34, a law that mandated minimum safety and sanitation requirements for private health care facilities that perform surgeries. It mandated, for example, sterile operating rooms and separate ventilating systems, as well as outlined procedures to protect patients who use non-hospital facilities for medical care. In August, three Montreal abortuaries said they would [...]
Charles Gonthier, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, passed away recently at the age of 80. Appointed by Brian Mulroney in 1989, he developed a reputation as a conservative during his 14 years on the country’s top court. The Canadian Press reported in its obituary that Gonthier offered “a more conservative interpretation of the individual rights guaranteed [...]
It’s helpful to learn, in these difficult financial times, the problems we share with the very wealthy, who have to experience getting along on considerably less income. Ruth Madoff is one of those persons, the celebrity wife of an epic swindler, Bernard Madoff, a financial adviser who was found guilty of purloining $170 billion in a gigantic Ponzi scheme. Her husband’s estimated [...]
Jonathon Porritt, a so-called "green" adviser to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, argues that it is "irresponsible" for families to have more than two children. How can anyone take this man seriously? Britain has a total fertility rate of just 1.66. That's far below the rate of 2.1 children per woman that is necessary just to sustain the existing population. [...]
If you believe the critics, the most watched shows in America today are Mad Men, Damages, Rescue Me, Breaking Bad and Weeds, and not American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, NCIS, Grey's Anatomy and CSI: Miami. While average ratings for the big networks are falling, it's a testament to the profound gravity and cultural triumph of "quality cable" - the roster of [...]