This is an artsy, dare I say ambitious, documentary about the survivors of Canada’s residential school system which desperately needs a bigger budget and a surer hand to achieve its goals. And that’s unfortunate, because it’s a story that definitely needs to be heard. I hope that someone has made something more successful since. (If …
Tag: Canada
Anti-Social Limited (2014, Rosvita Dransfeld)
This is a fascinating, but brief documentary about an indigenous former drug dealer, trying to get his life on track that is alternatively funny and sad. It doesn’t sugar coat anything, which is greatly appreciated.
Canadian Whisky, Second Edition: The New Portable Expert (2017) by Davin de Kergommeaux
I’m Canadian but I know every little about Canadian whisky. For most of my adult life I’ve definitely conflated “rye” and “Canadian” and only knew that some whiskies were Canadian through osmosis. Aside from a period of drinking “CC & G” as my go-to cocktail and another period of always having Wiser’s at home (usually …
Vince
Vince Carter retired yesterday (June 25, 2020). Almost immediately a bunch of Raptors fans online were talking about how he might deserve a statue, maybe, but his jersey number can never be retired. So let me briefly yell at a cloud and say: only people who are so immature they cannot get over a trade …
COMMONS: Dynasties (2019)
This is an interesting but flawed podcast about major recent familial dynasties in Canada. I have a bunch of reservations about it but, given that I know of no other coverage of this subject in Canada, I still recommend it to you if you are at all interested on the impact of inter-generational wealth and …
The Great Canadian Bucket List (2013) by Robin Esrock
I’m of two minds about this book, which was a gift to me who knows when. (And, weirdly, many years after I drove across Canada.) On the one hand, it feels like a bit of a affiliate marketing gimmick, and some of the places and things on the list appear to be here to make …
UBI Now
COVID-19 is causing all sorts of economic problems. Rather, reactions to COVID-19 are causing all sorts of problems. Behaviour that is good for reducing the spread of this virus is bad for the economy. Nobody is quite sure what to do or how to moderate the inevitable recession. Our government has a plan, this plan …
Teardown: Rebuilding Democracy from the Ground Up (2019, Dave Meslin)
Full disclosure: I live in Toronto. I have met the author, Dave Meslin, at least once and possibly up to three times. Moreover, I used to volunteer for a group he founded (but no longer ran when I was a volunteer). So that both makes me likely biased in favour of his ideas and part …
The Great Adventure (1997) by David Cruise, Alison Griffiths
I normally read a book through and finish it before starting another. But, with this one, I kept finding books I wanted to read at the library and they would show up before I finished this. So my reading of it became extremely disjointed. Some of this, perhaps most of this, had to do with …
The Tragically Hip Live at the K-Rock Centre, August 20, 2016
I wasn’t going to watch this show. The cynic in me found the sudden outpouring of interest in The Hip weird. I felt like people I’d never heard mention this band previously were now obsessed with getting tickets to shows, all because someone (Canadian) famous is dying of cancer. Instead, I was going to watch …
Abolish the Canadian Senate?
A lot of people are calling for the abolition of the Canadian Senate lately (spring of 2015), and these calls will increase if the chamber dose what everyone expects, and passes C-51 this week; C-51 being the anti-terrorism legislation that basically every legal expert in the country is opposed to. At the same time, the …
Does Steve Nash belong in the Basketball Hall of Fame?
Obviously the title of this post is redundant, as they often are when discussing the legacy of star players. Anyway, what do you say about the greatest Canadian basketball player of all time?
Please, everyone, just calm down
Please, everyone, let’s just calm down a little. Let’s try to have a sense of perspective. Let’s try to think about the big picture. I know that’s very difficult when someone you never met dies, but let’s try to be bigger than knee-jerk reactions this one time.
2014 Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey Team
So obviously the biggest question on every Canadian’s mind right now is ‘did Steve Yzerman et al. pick the right players to give Canada its second men’s hockey Olympic gold medal in a row…on international ice.?’ (The international ice caveat is important because at the Olympic level Canada hasn’t won a men’s hockey gold medal …
The Bargain of a Lifetime
For only 39.6% of the popular vote, you get… Tax cuts and increased government spending on things you don’t need! Jet planes! Assault vehicles! Riot cops in the country’s most populous city! But wait! There’s more! For calling while the population believed that elections were expensive relative to the annual government budget and while politicians …