Patches
Tragic events overseas have suddenly and angrily shaken us from a pleasant summer torpor—reminding us that as much as we may yearn to shut ourselves off from the mayhem, cruelty and injustice endured elsewhere—we are, inescapably, molecules in this chaotic organism. Whether this week’s tragedies in the Ukraine and Gaza are echoes of 1914, 1938 […]
Creature of the province
The province doesn’t trust local government. According to those who wield power in the hallways of Queen’s Park,local goernment lacks the expertise, the resources or the discipline to make decisions beyond fixing potholes or clearing snow from sidewalks . Municipal governments are not really governments at all. They aren’t recognized by the constitution, but rather […]
A remarkable thing
Paul Catling is one of those folks with the rare ability to transform the ordinary, to reveal the extraordinary—to cast something we see every day into something startling, something profound. How, for example, does a caterpillar become a butterfly? These creatures appear, in almost every way, to be different beasts. And save for their DNA, […]
This lovely area
After the initial excitement of discovering the New World had faded, the West Indies was the place to explore, to gain fame and fortune. Warm blue seas, lush green islands and a bounty of resources spilling out onto golden beaches. It is where royals sponsored expedtions—where pirates and privateers toiled and plundered. The northern bit […]
Readers
I know the difference between its and it’s— the former is the possessive form of a thing, the latter is a contraction for it is. Yet knowing the difference doesn’t prevent me from using the words incorrectly. Frequently. A spellchecker doesn’t help. Not until I go wildly astray and overlook the use of a verb, […]
Cut adrift
It was the worst possible outcome. Save for perhaps the Vegan or the Pauper parties gaining the reins of power, a majority government for the Ontario Liberal party spells deep problems and worrying days ahead for politics, the economy and cohesion between rural and urban voters in this province. Firstly, I don’t believe the emerging […]
Endorsement
If elected on Thursday, Kathleen Wynne has promised to spend a billion dollars to build road and other transportation infrastructure into the Ring of Fire—a mineral rich region situated in the James Bay lowlands, 500 kilometres north of Thunder Bay. Wynne has also promised high-speed railways linking Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo and London. Windsor was feeling […]
Tethered
Luc Mayfield is a remarkable young man. His sister, Sophia is pretty special too. She has a form of cerebral palsy that that has severely limited her development. As Kathleen Sabyan reports on page 3, Luc is an active, competitive and ambitious 11-year-old. Sophia, 7, is restricted by her condition to cheering on her older […]
Hijacked
Jobs. The word didn’t come up. County council met for more than an hour and 40 minutes last week to discuss plans by a Hillier winery seeking permission to expand its commercial operations to enable it to host special events. (See story here). But at no time, in that 100 minutes, did the notion of jobs […]
Ears wide open
I hate my kids’ music. Or, more accurately, I hate what they listen to on the radio. Specifically I have a powerful loathing of a radio station that beams its signal across the lake from Rochester. Music, it seems, has always had a sexual component, but on 98PXY we are fed a perpetual loop of […]