With the death early this week of Toronto cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard, tensions between cyclists and motorists, always common, seem to have reached a boiling point. A spontaneous demonstration and memorial last Tuesday on Toronto’s Bloor Street attracted thousands of cyclists who blocked traffic and held a moment of silence for Sheppard. The incident has […] More »
The Obunga Youth Group sits on the edge of the biggest slums in Kisumu, the main city in the Nyanza Province of Western Kenya, and the epicentre of post-election violence. This week they held a forum and how to move beyond that horrific episode. With 12,000 people living on less than $1 a day, the […] More »
A war broke out this month. A war not to the east but to the south, that has been little covered by the media. It comes complete with human rights violations, murder, and corruption caused by the exploitation of the Amazon. The blood of this war is on Canada’s hands. On Friday, June 5, an […] More »
Our friends at Maisonneuve, the Montreal quarterly of all things eclectic and curious, recently overhauled the design of their magazine. Here’s the contrast: Maisonneuve has always marched to the beat of a different drummer, which is why we, and thousands of other readers, like reading it. Personally, I always liked the simplicity of the old […] More »
It was a great moment for the Conservatives’ law and order agenda, and a terrible one for justice. Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan recently announced new anti-terrorism legislation that would allow Canadian victims of terrorist attacks on both domestic and foreign soil to sue individual terrorists, terrorist organizations, or even countries accused of supporting […] More »
It’s hard to know just what to say about the most recent installment of the Israeli-Gaza conflict. The 16 days of fighting have killed 900 Palestinians and left 1.5 million in urgent need of food and medical aid. Recent reports suggest humanitarian aid is currently denied access at Gaza checkpoints. Many international agencies have pulled […] More »
Lately, it seems everyone is talking about slumdog millionaire. I haven’t seen it, but I’ve been assured it is the thing to do. Having recently returned from a little overseas adventure of my own, I’ve been thinking a lot about slums. What does it mean to live in a slum? Or a compound, a favela, […] More »
[Editor’s Note: from time to time we feature guest bloggers on important issues. Email editor at thismagazine dot ca to enquire about contributing.] BY MITU SENGUPTA In India, the Mumbai attacks have been interpreted as a strike against the country — as “India’s 911.” The image is one of instant clarity. This was an external […] More »
Today in Nepal, voting began for a new constituent assembly that may well chart a radically different course for the Himalayan country. The election comes after more than 10 years of warfare waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). The main parties squaring off are the Maoists, the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist-Leninist […] More »
Two interesting, perhaps ominous developments on the “will they bomb Iran” front: On March 11, Admiral William Fallon resigned as head of the U.S. Central Command. Fallon opposed a military strike on Iran and the word in the halls of power is that his exit may indicate an intention on behalf of Bush and Co. […] More »
An article in the current issue of Mother Jones magazine, a stalwart of independent media in the United States, has created something of a stir in a rural part of Nova Scotia. The story is a Canadian military doctor’s diary of one month at Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan, and in it is a detailed and […] More »