Duty of care
Last week, a 15-year-old girl in Winnipeg was removed from life support after being sexually assaulted and severely beaten. A boy the same age is in custody. Both are wards of Manitoba’s Child and Family Services, a similar agency to Ontario’s Children’s Aid Society. The children were living in a hotel in Winnipeg when the […]
Virtuous vino
Last week, I made some observations on the pros and cons of tippling wine. Suffice to say, the benefits are slim, at best, if one consumes buckets of wine. Overindulgence is severely detrimental to one’s physical well-being. A glass or two of wine on a daily basis, however, can help you enjoy the full embrace […]
Spring run off
Suddenly it’s a personal space. The view from here more open than the sky itself; a bench at the crest of a dune in Sandbanks park: sweeping land forms; placid waters. And now a row of man-made structures, strung along the faraway horizon like a necklace of stranded shells. Up from the robust, day-parking lot […]
A thankless job
How many of you would like to be Chief Administrative Officer of the Corporation of the County of Prince Edward at a very attractive salary level? You are mandated to break some eggs in order to achieve efficiencies. But if you break the wrong eggs, or break the right eggs the wrong way, you’re a […]
The bucket list
A friend recently said she had a bucket list. I don’t have a bucket list. At least not one that I’ve written in my little black book or saved to a file on my computer. Furthermore, my friend said she’d ticked several things off of her list. I can’t say I’ve done that either, but […]
One Boston day
On Monday, the city of Boston celebrated its great spring tradition—the Boston Marathon. For years, the city has hosted the event, and thousands of runners from around the world qualify to compete. This year, the city decided to name the day of the marathon One Boston Day. It was the day when the community showed […]
Bob Probert’s tragic story
Occasionally, I come across a book that I would heartily recommend to a select audience. The book in this case is, Tough Guy. It is the story of Bob Probert, as told by Kirstie McLellan Day. I would place this book in the hands of every athlete who intends to move from junior ranks to […]
Looking Bacchus
Delve deeper into the wonderful world of wine, and you open up an entire spectrum of facts, eccentricities and funny quirks. Until local authorities began to ensure water supply was safe from disease, wine and ale were the chosen beverage for urban populations. Roman legions learned to ensure their camps were constructed downstream of their […]
Where do you get your ideas?
I am often asked, at diplomatic receptions, mortgage foreclosure parties and the like, where I get the ideas for my columns. If pushed, I will shrug and confess that it’s mostly the reallife news. Matter of fact, I like nothing better than hunkering down on a Sunday with the New York Times International Weekly—a supplement […]
Home planet
What the H E double hockey sticks is going on here? No, I’m not going to talk about the CAO’s departure from our municipal administration, or the so-called municipal old boys club, or who has the right to privacy and who doesn’t. For those of you who know me—and some of you think you do—I […]