July 30, 2004
Donkeys for everyone!
The influx of donkey and elephant images these days got me to thinking: how the hell did these random animals come to represent America’s two biggest political parties? And, why don’t Canadian parties have any funny animals? I’m sure I’m not alone in these musings, so I decided to not only find out where the donkey and elephant came from, but also to propose 5 animals to represent... [More >>]
July 28, 2004
Nunavut needs tourists, not visitors
Nunavut’s tourism industry is in decline, according to an article in today’s Nunatsiaq News. While most visitors to our newest territory were traditionally government workers, Nunavut had seen an increase in true tourist traffic in recent years. The decline is being attributed to some of the reasons tourism has waned in the south — SARS, 9/11 and the increasing value of the Canadian... [More >>]
July 22, 2004
Olympic Games
Although Canada is sending one of its smallest summer games teams in decades to Greece, COA officials had plenty of excellent citizen-athletes from which to choose a flagbearer. Triathlete Simon Whitfield, the amazing hurdler Perdita Felicien, or – my personal choice – wrestler Daniel Igali. Instead, they chose judoer Nicholas Gill. Sure, he’s going into his fourth Olympics. But what clinched... [More >>]
July 21, 2004
Something fishy in BC
British Columbia — and Vancouver in particular — has one of the most concentrated local media environments in the country: The Victoria Times-Colonist, the Vancouver Sun, the Province, and National Post are all owned by Canwest. Wherever is one to go for alternative local news? Behold The Tyee. Forget Rabble, the Tyee is the finest online alternative news source I’ve seen in Canada. Any... [More >>]
July 20, 2004
Cabinet Building
(Edited because I can’t spell) Some quick thoughts on Martin’s new Cabinet: 1. It’s nice to see my hero Stephane Dion back in Cabinet. Paul Martin seems to have had second thoughts about how he wants to treat the architect of the most important piece of legislation of the Chretien years. (That’s the Clarity Act, for all you separatist keeners out there.) But, 2. Dion’s... [More >>]
July 19, 2004
The Corporation 3: The Case of Michael Moore
Sorry for the long delay between postings, but I’ve been enjoying the fine weather, finer beaches, and terrible drinking establishments of British Columbia. I also managed to finally get to Fahrenheit 9-11, the Michael Moore doc that’s breaking attendance records everywhere. There’s something about the combination of me, Moore, and Vancouver that does not mix well. I saw Bowling for... [More >>]
July 19, 2004
Save the Coach House
I’ve never found the University of Toronto downtown campus particularly welcoming. As a shy undergraduate living off campus (and commuting more than three hours a day for much of my time there) its ivied and gargoyled buildings were beautiful but intimidating. I made very few friends there, and, like many alumni, have a somewhat sour memory of those days. However what has stuck with me is the... [More >>]
July 7, 2004
The Corporation Revisited 2: Heath responds to letters
Hope everyone has done his or her homework! To give you a bit more to chew on, what follows are Joe Heath’s brief responses to the letters to the editor in the current issue of This Magazine. On a related topic: I went to the Fifth Avenue cinemas on Burrard Street last night to catch one of the 16 daily showings of F*911, the new Michael Moore doc. As I was standing in line outside, a group of... [More >>]
July 2, 2004
The Corporation revisited
(Edited to add more homework assignments) The May/June issue of This Magazine contained two pieces about The Corporation. A review of the film, by Joseph Heath, and a very short review of the book by me, Andrew Potter. A longer version of my review had previously appeared in the National Post. I didn’t like the book, and Joe didn’t much like the film, though he did find it instructive.... [More >>]
July 1, 2004
Canada Day 3004
The Canadian Shield is a massive U-shaped chunk of central and eastern Canada that includes Labrador, most of Quebec, most of Ontario, half of Saskatchewan, and most of Nunavut—8 million square kilometers in all. Although a portion of it dips into the US Great Lakes states, it’s pretty much a Canadian thing, comprising rock that bubbled forth billions of years ago. It was the first part of... [More >>]
