Lately, it seems anytime feminism is mentioned there are many people ready to point out how unnecessary it is: You know, that if women wanted to work they would, but they choose to have families; that if women didn’t want predatory sexual advances they wouldn’t welcome them through their behaviour and clothing; that if a […] More »

This past Saturday was the funeral of murdered teen Tina Fontaine, held in her Winnipeg home community of Sagkeeng First Nation. The 15-year-old girl’s body was found wrapped in a plastic bag after being dumped in Red River. Let’s pause for a second here: Her body was dumped in a river. That’s horrifying. So too is […] More »

Our federal government is rushing this week to pass a new bill regarding adult sex work, five months ahead of deadline, leaving some sex workers rightfully afraid. The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (Bill C-36) is inspired by the Nordic Model of sex work laws; pimps and johns will be held criminally accountable […] More »

This week, hundreds of protesters in Toronto and Ottawa gathered to call for a peaceful solution in Ukraine, where tensions are only escalating—especially thanks to Russia’s presence in Crimea. In both cities, crowds of people wearing blue and yellow shouted, “Putin hands off Ukraine!” At night, Toronto Ukranians gathered outside the consulate, holding candles and […] More »

I really, really hope it is obvious to everyone that “the Holocaust was a bad thing” is a sentiment we can all agree on (if not, you might be reading the wrong magazine). It is certainly something that Prime Minister Stephen Harper believes in strongly. Strongly enough, apparently, to imply that the Holocaust is enough […] More »

I’m not a psychoanalyst, but I can say with some confidence that the recent spate of Conservative party attack ads, trying to position Justin Trudeau as some dandy whose wrists are too delicate to prop up the weight of Canada’s mighty economy (“…in over his head”, in their words), are part of a rich, dumb […] More »

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about Brian Mulroney taking the time to comment on various important matters recently. He was even interviewed by Conrad Black on the world premiere of the new octogenarian friendly television show The Zoomer (a talk show where, it seems, old people mostly discuss strategies for keeping children from […] More »

The image of Stephen Harper “muzzling” anybody frightens me. Hair slightly un-coifed, half a glass of Chablis to the wind, his dog-eared copy of Atlas Shrugged has been tucked away on the dresser where his tighty-whiteys are neatly folded in the drawers below. It’s Friday night god dammit and Stephen’s here to party. The safe […] More »

Stephen Harper began his eighth annual Northern Tour August 18, accompanied by his wife, Laureen, and a gaggle of ministers. The tour launched Sunday as the prime minister and his entourage landed in Whitehorse, where Harper spoke at a Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) BBQ and attended an afternoon picnic in Miles Canyon. In his […] More »

Recent changes to the policing of Canada’s controversial Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) have some Canadians questioning the safety of their civil liberties. The changes allow agents of  Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC), the branch of government in charge of the program, to enter the premises of any business employing TFWs and search […] More »

The separation of families and deportation make good television according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Minister Vic Toews. The “de facto executive producers” approved a series that follows the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) in action. A lot of what is caught on film shows people foreign to Canada being detained, confused and intimidated. […] More »