The venerable Hudson’s Bay Company has another American owner. Apparently they plan to bring the upscale Lord and Taylor line of shops into Canada.
I didn’t notice any mention in the news story about whether HBC will return to buying furs and seneca root.
At a press conference following his naming to the Order of Canada. Dr. Henry Morgentaler acknowledged there were those who questioned his suitability for the honour, but quickly dismissed them in a line:
“The negative opinions all come from the usual suspects: the Catholic Church, fundamentalists, women opposed to women’s rights.”I’ve been thinking about that statement for some time, trying to figure out what it is about it that’s so disquieting.
Maybe it’s because I’m none of those things. I’m just a middleclass Canadian who thinks it’s wrong to take life away from innocents who are incapable of speaking or acting for themselves.…
But that’s not what this is about. It’s about that staement Morgentaler made. It says so much about him, in such few words.
For one thing it’s not even remotely true. The opposition to Morgentaler’s being named to Canada’s highest award is wide and deep and intense. It’s pretty safe to say there are people who oppose abortion in every corner of Canadian society, whatever their religion, whatever their sex, no matter how fervent their values. It’s boggling that Morgentaler could blithely claim anyone who disagrees must be limited to so small and distinct a set of enemies. If he believes it, he’s a fool.
…
Opinion piece by Kelly McParland, National Post.
Yesterday I posted about Rev. Lucien Larré returning his Order of Canada to protest the choice of Dr. Henry Morgentaler as an Order of Canada recipient.
Although I remain as opposed to the idea of awarding Morgentaler with the Order of Canada as I was when posting last night, I regret that I didn’t check further into Father Larré’s story. It appears that he may not be a deserving recipient himself.
I have removed that post, and hereby offer my apologies to anyone offended by my “kudos”.
A few days ago I posted about the upcoming Walk for ALS. Picking up the pledge form just a few days before the event, I set myself a goal of raising $100.
In addition to my blog post, I emailed some family and friends who knew my brother Glen, and sent an email to my co-workers.
The response was overwhelming. I collected $171 and received pledges from out-of-towners totalling another $330, for a total of $501. (not counting another $40 pledge that I found out about after returning from the walk).
Here is what one shirt-tail relative stated in his email response:
I still think about Glen often. Until Glen was diagnosed with ALS I had no idea of the devastation it causes. I still can’t understand why someone as awesome as Glen would be inflicted with such an evil disease! It was torture to watch Glen go through all that suffering, I can’t imagine what he went through! I still miss him very much. So this is something I will always support!
The threatening rain never materialized, and it turned out to be a great day for a walk. Thanks all for making my fund-raising easy.
Mr. Case is obviously one tough guy to survive this bear mauling and drive himself 25 km to find help.
Nature isn’t all warm and cuddly.
They are “a bunch of money-sucking manipulators,” said Hearn, “and their sole aim is to try to suck as much money out of the pockets of people who really don’t know what’s going on.
- Federal Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, defending the armed seizure of the anti-sealing ship Farley Mowat.
Kudos to this plain-talking politician.
Story here.
I for one really wish the media would stop giving so much attention to the money-sucking manipulators like Paul Watson, and pay more attention to issues of sustainable resource management.
A few days ago the StarPhoenix had an opinion piece complaining about the deer carcasses littering the ditches along the highway south of Saskatoon …
… the carcasses likely are deer struck by vehicles this winter and then covered by snow. It’s the job of Highways crews to clear them away as soon as possible, he says, but along with the spring thaw that exposes the high-speed carnage comes higher priorities such as clearing culverts for the runoff and filling potholes to keep the roadways safe.
Although I certainly understand the department’s priorities, it’s the case in Saskatchewan that thousands of deer are struck and killed by vehicles every year, especially during the peak rut around snowy late November. That means there are thousands of rotting carcasses now coming to light across this province, with no one to remove them.
And with the government promising money to keep those Highways crews at their busiest ever, I wonder if the well-fed crows and piles of bones will become a permanent fixture in our newly “have” province. The “Old West” look of it holds no appeal to me. It’s a lousy visual and not much of a tourism draw. Surely we can afford to contract some people to remove these dead animals regularly instead of leaving it to pothole fillers and culvert cleaners to do when they have some down time.
…
What strikes me as odd is that there is no mention of the root of the problem, namely the fact that the number of hunters in Saskatchewan is at an all-time low, coinciding with an extremely high deer population after several mild winters.
If more people hunted, there wouldn’t be as many unsightly carcasses littering the ditches, there would be less damage to people’s cars, and people would be eating more lean venison and less fatty beef.
Of course suggesting that more tax dollars be spent contracting people to pick up the carcasses is a much easier sell.
I have been to funerals that were full of despair, and I have been to funerals that were full of hope and joyful celebration. Silas O’Brien, a young victim of road rage, had the latter type of funeral yesterday.
SURREY, B.C. — In a clear, strong voice, the mother of a young man mowed down in an apparent road rage incident sang a song she wrote in his memory at his packed funeral Thursday.
About 1,200 people gathered at the Cloverdale Bibleway Church in a remarkable outpouring of joy, song and celebration to mark the life of Silas O’Brien, who police say was killed when a truck charged at him and his two friends. His friends escaped.
The spacious church was filled almost an hour before the service and drew people from the Fraser Valley and Washington State.
The aura of strong faith in the face of terrible tragedy permeated the entire service that was marked not by uncontrollable weeping and crushing grief, but by soaring hymns, articulate speakers and an unshakable feeling that Silas O’Brien was in a better place.
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Full story here.
A video clip (approx 8 minutes long) of his mother singing is here.
I note that the news story doesn’t mention any calls for revenge against the driver who killed Silas. In a world where the news is dominated by stories of hatred and violence, it is good to see a family and community respond to a wrongful death with this kind of grace.
UPDATE: The Globe & Mail has an opinion piece about forgiveness that mentions both the parents of Silas O’Brien and the families of the Amish schoolchildren who were murdered in 2006. Read it here.
It must be March because the newspapers have started the annual rite of running pictures of celebrities cuddling up to newborn seal pups.
I don’t question actress Alison Steadman’s sincerity, but I do question the tactics of the animal-rights activists and media who knowingly mislead the public every year. Surely they must be aware of the fact that Canada has not allowed the harvest of white-coat seals in more than 20 years.
The fact is that by the time the seals have moulted, and can be legally harvested, they just don’t have the same media appeal. However the image of an attractive actress with a cute white-coated seal pup trumps scientific fact about this sustainable harvest.
I thought that Mac, the moose at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, was big. Mac stands 9.8 metres (32 feet) tall.
However Mac will seem puny compared to Stoorn, a wooden moose to be built in northern Sweden. Standing 45 metres tall, with his front legs in the county of Norrbotten and hind quarters in the county of Vasterbotten, Stoorn will also have a restaurant in his belly, a concert hall that can seat up to 350 people, conference rooms, and a spectacular view over the valleys below from Stoorn’s antlers.
via.
I may not make a special trip to Moose Jaw to see Mac, but I would definitely consider flying to Norrbotten and Vasterbotten to see Stoorn.