(image courtesy Citizens Bank of Canada) At my office today, I stumbled upon the press conference launching Citizens Bank of Canada’s new Green Mortgage product. They have partnered with the Conservation Council of Ontario (who are co-tenants of mine at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto) and Green$aver to create a mortgage that combines […] More »

(image courtesy Cape Cod Today) We all know what happens when good and evil collide over issues that affect us all. When developers look to gentrify a run-down community with no plan in place for the displaced former residents, it’s not hard for a committed lefty to pick out the good guys and the bad […] More »

Best-selling author Yann Martel was so unimpressed with the reception he and other artists received in the House of Commons recently that he’s come up with a web-based response: For as long as Stephen Harper is Prime Minister of Canada, I vow to send him every two weeks, mailed on a Monday, a book that […] More »

I’ve been thinking a lot about the changing nature of the word “friend” in the MySpace/Facebook era. For those of you who haven’t become addicted yet, Facebook is a piece of highly sophisticated social networking software that instantly connects you with everyone you already know, and people that you had long forgotten. The way to […] More »

It seems that everyone these days is carbon offsetting; paying a third party to neutralize the carbon emissions that a certain activity would create (ie. by planting trees). The Cincinnati Reds just recently announced that they went carbon-neutral for their opening day game against the Chicago Cubs. On the flip side are the Toronto Blue […] More »

We’ve mentioned Save the Internet before, and no doubt our blogging was a big factor (yeah, right) in getting the video about the importance of Net Neutrality nominated for a Webby award. Why am I highlighting this nominee over the others? Because a friend of the magazine, Matt Thompson, is the creator of the video. […] More »

Some things have been bugging me a lot lately. I worked a sorority ball the other night and it was by far the most embarassing thing I’ve ever witnessed. My university didn’t allow greek associations and so until now I never quite understood what my friends meant when they admitted to hating these people. I’m […] More »

(image courtesy Urban Counterfeiters blog) Okay, let’s see if I can follow the thread here: Boing Boing, famous for championing the copyleft reaction to corporate cultural lockdowns such as the well-documented Disney protectionism over the Mickey Mouse image (draw Mickey without pants; enjoy expensive philosophical discussions with Disney lawyers), has recently taken up the cause […] More »

If you believe Internet lore, this clip is the result of a voice-over outtake done when the original commercial was shot, produced and aired more than 25 years ago. Today, it’s receiving all kinds of online plaudits from younger labour-conscious folks who say it embodies the kind of approach the labour movement should be taking […] More »

(image, courtesy Toronto FC) This is the third in what I hope will become a long-running series of lame attempts to turn my latest sporting obsession into something resembling a Canadian political discussion. So, with that it mind, please choose the angle you wish to use to discuss Toronto FC’s historic first game ever played […] More »

A feature in the current issue of the magazine, entitled “Staying the course: Why Canada shouldn’t pull its troops out of Afghanistan,” has generated its fair share of discussion, as our next issue’s Letters pages will attest. The discussion continues to evolve as Canada’s involvement in the NATO mission in Afghanistan carries on — and […] More »