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January-February 2012

Book review: Come From the Shadows

Grant Shilling

Terry Glavin, Canada’s answer to Christopher Hitchens, is a passionate provocateur and talented storyteller who for the past few years has turned his attention to Afghanistan. Glavin gathered stories in Afghanistan from a diverse group of people: teachers, shopkeepers, women soccer players and others we don’t usually hear from whenever the role of Canada and […]

How the West uses women’s rights as an excuse for military intervention

Ava Emaz

There’s no denying that, in many parts of the world, women’s rights are in a bad state. There are hundreds of organizations and thousands of activists working to change that fact. But the persecution of women throughout certain parts of the world has, in the last decade, been co-opted as a pretext for military occupation, […]

Whatever happened to…the melting North?

Micah Luxen

When climate change first started showing up in the news, people feared Canada’s North would literally melt away. As scientists debate and differing opinions—and confusion—abound, that initial panic seems to have ebbed. Amongst nearly everybody, of course, but the Inuit. After a lifetime of observation and generations of knowledge, Inuit elders say the melt is […]

Online freedom will depend on deeper forms of web literacy

Navneet Alang

Recently, Google ruined my life. I may be exaggerating slightly, given that all they did was redesign and tweak Google Reader, one of their many services that I use daily and for which I pay nothing. But Reader, an admittedly niche product that lets you read articles from many websites in one place, has become […]

Is there a way to stop animal suffering—and still enjoy that burger?

Marisa Baratta

Yes, we must stop killing and eating animals. Vegetarians give up meat for various reasons—out of compassion for animals, to be healthy or to be more environmentally friendly. And now vegetarianism is more accessible than ever, says David Alexander, Executive Director of the Toronto Vegetarian Association. “There’s simply no compelling reason,” he believes, “for vegetarians […]

For decades, the Haudenosaunee have protested a border they didn’t draw

Mary Dirmeitis

On the second Saturday of every July, the Haudenosaunee people march across the border at Niagara Falls to remind North America of a message: “We are not American. We are not Canadian. We are Haudenosaunee.” Harry Doxtator can remember attending the ceremony as a toddler, and now sits on the Border Crossing Committee as the […]

Rahul Singh says he can make humanitarian disaster relief faster, better, and cheaper

Liane Beam Wansbrough

It’s two and a half days since the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The Adventist Hospital, an enormous white building in a formerly leafy suburb of Port-au-Prince, now looks more like a war zone. Thousands of people are camped around the hospital in need of urgent medical care—mangled limbs, bleeding head […]

When Canada’s biggest businesses need access in Washington, they call lobbyist Paul Frazer

Lyndsie Bourgon

Paul Frazer is an invisible Canadian. He doesn’t live in Canada, and hasn’t for more than two decades. But he works for us, and he represents us abroad, and he holds sway over the leaders and big businesses that affect our lives. In many ways, he has power over the powerful. But here at home, […]