Most people think that the ‘para’ in Paralympics means paraplegic, but it actually means parallel. Ironic, since for much of its history, its treatment has been anything but. In fact, the Paralympics has always been that thing that you’re vaguely aware is supposed to come after the regular Olympics, but is never seen, nor heard from […] More »

Progressive media, it seems, is one of the very few bright spots in today’s bleak world of journalism. Despite the cash-strapped economy, rather than succumbing to the heavy hand of advertisers or clinging to sensationalized coverage—as their corporate counterparts have been obliged to do—independent progressive media has managed to survive and flourish by simply sticking […] More »

Well played, Mr. Harper, well played. While you’re probably sitting comfortably at 24 Sussex, sipping Chianti and learning how to play “Hey Jude” for Laureen’s next fundraiser, I’m sitting in bed at 11pm Monday night trying to rack my brain for what to say this week about the state of climate change in Canada. How […] More »

Michael Schmidt, the dairy farmer whose David-and-Goliath battle with the Ontario government has turned him into somewhat of an emerging folk hero, wants to restore liberty to the dairy aisle of your local supermarket. There is, he says, no place for the state in the kitchens of the nation. Schmidt successfully defended himself last month […] More »

We’re not getting the job done with the Harper government, so where do we go next? Rebecca’s option of industry leadership in last week’s column may have raised some eyebrows for those of us working on policy like pricing carbon or regulation to get industries to do the right thing. And also for those who […] More »

With Valentine’s Day around the corner and ladies coast to coast anticipating some special show of affection, there are alternative efforts toward female appreciation also being made. The Native Youth Sexual Health Network has just released a collection of writing by Aboriginal men about how they can help put a stop to violence against women […] More »

Welcome to the new age of the environmental movement. We don’t chain ourselves to trees and sing protest songs—we use blackberries to notify the press about the latest report findings. With the exception of a few spirited protestors who scaled the parliament building or occupied a minister’s office, most of the effort from organizations in […] More »

We’ve marched, oh how we have marched. The “get back to work” signs now find their place in the closet where dust has begun to flirt with the climate-themed “350” signs of October and December. The proroguing of Parliament has left the country with no ability to act on any sort of climate legislation (though […] More »

Last Saturday saw thousands of people rally in cities across Canada (and around the world) to protest the proroguing of parliament. On Monday we brought you a gallery of signs we saw in Toronto, but that was just what we managed to snap first hand. Ever-resourceful, not to mention generous, This readers across the country […] More »

We took our cameras to Saturday’s anti-prorogue rally in Toronto and snapped pictures of some of our favourite signs (or, in some cases, the zaniest ones). Click through the gallery to see what the people were proudly waving in the air last weekend. These are just the signs we snapped personally — a bunch of […] More »

View Anti-Prorogue Rallies in a larger map Tomorrow is the big day all across Canada, as thousands of Canadians will be gathering to protest Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament until March 3. There are going to be many ways to participate in this peaceful, non-partisan event, both on the street and online. […] More »