Last night we had a fantastic evening listening to Karen Ridd’s lecture on Nonviolence titled “Swimming Upstream: Being Nonviolent in a Violent World.” Unfortunately we were unable to record it (though we have plans to record future lectures), but given…
The Green Party 2015 Platform
The Green Party of Canada has posted their official platform for the 2015 election along with a fully costed and audited budget. The platform is derived from the official Green Party policy which is documented in Vision Green. Our policy…
On Refugees
For the last few days, all I can think about is Alan Kurdi. The first picture I saw of him was an artist’s rendition of Alan laying facedown in a bed, and I liked it because it reminded me of…
On Representing You
I haven’t responded to Ted Falk’s column in a while; the election call has led to more canned messages than ever appearing there. Even so, I went to www.tedfalk.ca today to see what he’s been up to, and was redirected…
On the State of Politics in Canada
Canadians have a reputation for kindness and diplomacy…and then an election happens. If someone were to judge Canadians by their political advertisements, we’d have a reputation for being passive-aggressive (“he’s just not ready“) and corrupt (“enough“). This election isn’t the…
Campaign 2015
An hour after Stephen Harper announced that parliament had been dissolved for the longest election of its kind in Canadian history, I was preaching at my church in Kleefeld. The next morning, bright and early, my small family headed out…
The Senate, Party Cooperation, and Importing American Politics
Two things have me scratching my head this week: the general excitement around killing the Senate, and some communications I’ve received from organizations that want all of the “progressive” parties to work together. I’ll start there. Progressive Cooperation First of…
Ted Talks: Fiscal Responsibility
In the past two weeks, Provencher MP Ted Falk has used his weekly newspaper column to talk about economic stability. In both columns, he points to the economic crisis in Greece as an example of unfettered spending leading to economic…
On the Cusp of Greatness
Yesterday was Canada Day, and a very busy day across the country. I attended community events, talked with strangers, collected some signatures, and most of all, reflected on what I was seeing. I deeply and dearly love Canada, but on…
Ted Talks: Supporting Families
Ted Falk recently stood up in the House of Commons to speak about the ways that the Conservative Government are supporting families. It’s a noble goal, and one that every party strives for. But one of the reasons that I’m…