January 11, 2010
Olympic Countdown: Interview with 2010 Watch’s Christopher Shaw
Christopher Shaw. Photo by Flickr user The Blackbird. Used with permission. Christopher Shaw’s day job is professor of ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia, but since Vancouver launched its bid for the Olympics more and more of his time has been spent campaigning against the Games—first as the founder of No Games 2010 and now as lead spokesperson for 2010 Watch. Shaw’s book, Five... [More >>]
October 13, 2009
Hunting waves—and peace—with the Gaza Surf Club
Could surfing really help bring Israelis and Palestinians together? Grant Shilling meets the beach bums, peace activists, and ex-soldiers who believe it’s possible Surf’s up in Ashkelon. So I hop on the train in Tel Aviv bound for the southern Israeli city with my surfboard bag in tow. The bag, stencilled with Boards Not Bombs, attracts more than a few stares and the interest of Israeli state... [More >>]
September 29, 2009
Postcard from London: On climate change, new message is “Blame Canada”
Protesters demonstrating Canada's tar sands development outside the Canadian High Commission in London. Photo by Zoe Cormier. I was pretty sure I knew what the Canadian flag, held upside down, was supposed to represent. But I had to ask anyway. Last Monday afternoon, standing outside the Houses of Parliament in London in Parliament square, I held my cell phone aloft with a hundred other protesters,... [More >>]
September 14, 2009
Honeymoon’s over: what’s next for the gay rights movement
Marriage certificates in hand, middle-class gays and lesbians have drifted away from the fight for queer rights. Underfunded and burnt out, the activists left behind say there’s still plenty of work to do. Last January, Helen Kennedy sat behind the Hockey Night in Canada desk with CBC’s Ron MacLean, explaining why her organization, Egale Canada, had filed a complaint about sports commentator... [More >>]
July 8, 2009
The Case for All-Black Schools
Africentric education could be the key to success for a generation at risk. Some say it’s just segregation by another name. The city had been embroiled in a racially charged public debate for months leading up to that landmark night last winter. At 6 p.m. more than 200 people crowded into the Toronto District School Board’s headquarters to offer passionate pleas both for and against a controversial... [More >>]
June 16, 2009
Quebec duo ATSA turn terrorism into art
Québécois artists Pierre Allard and Annie Roy celebrate 10 years of artistic shock and awe "ATTACK #6" (2003). Photo by Martin Savoie. Socially Acceptable Acts of Terrorism: that last word seems to just hang in the air. These days, not many organizations would choose to use the “T” word. But when Montreal’s public art duo ATSA (the group’s French acronym) first hit the streets... [More >>]
