This morning several news sources reported that Prime Minister Stephen Harper planned to prorogue parliament until March 3. This story is a bit of a moving target today, so this is just a quick post to collect some of the thought we’ve seen bubbling around the web today: The PMO’s official announcement/non-announcement is now out. […] More »

A few years ago I was assigned a story about circumcision for a national women’s magazine. My research into the topic took me far beyond medical technicalities—circumcision in Canada is a controversial topic, surrounded by heated debate across provinces, religious lines and parental preference. I conducted interviews across the board—from a doctor in Nova Scotia, […] More »

Unrepentant on the eve of his extradition, B.C.’s Prince of Pot has one message: he’ll be back Marc Emery, Vancouver’s famous marijuana activist, has been sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in the United States in a negotiated deal relating to his mail-order business that sold marijuana seeds throughout North America. We caught up with him […] More »

The charter school movement is enjoying something of a renaissance in the United States. Charter schools—which receive public funding but are privately run, thus removing some features of normal public schools, notably established teachers’ unions—are one of President Obama’s priorities.  They are also the cause du jour for New York City’s hedge fund managers. Education […] More »

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — It is our lives being decided here in Copenhagen, and we are being shut out or brutally silenced from the negotiations. This is not an international negotiation, but a climate dictatorship in the making. Wednesday, thousands of activists who attempted to hold a “people’s assembly” in front of the conference centre were […] More »

Things are not going well in Copenhagen. I find nothing positive to report from any of my contacts at the conference. It seems that delegates are fighting on the behalf of unnamed interests—those who want to maintain their greed and the status quo. There is a great rift between the wishes of the people of […] More »

Uganda may soon follow Nigeria in making homosexuality an offense punishable by death. The proposed legislation was apparently sparked by a visit from American members of the ex-gay movement, who believe homosexuality can be cured through therapy. Most of these groups though have since denounced the bill, which is perhaps a mark of how extreme […] More »

A lot of stock has been put into the current International Climate Change Conference. Not only a stake in our future, and the world as we know it continuing to exist, but our national identity—how we deal with international conflict, how we assist other countries needing a hand, and when we choose to exert a […] More »

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The thread is being pulled on the climate talks here in Copenhagen, and the whole show is beginning to unravel. There are really several different conferences happening, and the cracks are showing. The developing world has been so outraged by the proceedings in Copenhagen that the G77 leader, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, walked […] More »

Fucked Up, winners of the 2009 Polaris Prize, this week released their cover of the seminal 1984 Bob Geldof/Midge Ure song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?,” and it’s pretty great. The band used part of their $20,000 Polaris cheque to bankroll the recording, and are donating the proceeds to three important Canadian charities: Justice for Missing […] More »

Emily Hunter, This Magazine‘s resident environmental blogger, took an MTV Canada documentary crew to Alberta’s Tar Sands over the summer to see the devastation that’s unfolding there for herself. She’s currently working on a feature story for the magazine, but the documentary she made is airing tonight on MTV Canada, at 8:30 PM EST. The […] More »