Editor’s Note: I heard from my old friend Willy Howell out of the blue this week, and realized his message was actually pretty timely, given it’s almost American Thanksgiving and Willy, an enrolled member of the Olgala Sioux Tribe, has not always had reason to be thankful to the UnitedRead...

I want to escape from my own threshold. Where to? The street is dark And conscience shows up ahead of me, white, Like salt scattered for pavements. Osip Mandelshtam (1891-1938)   On 23 January 2015, 49-year-old Ruslan Kotsaba – journalist and blogger, president of the Ukrainian Pacifist Society and anRead More

I don’t know when I realized that former Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi was a very different kind of politician — not only the first Muslim mayor of a major North American city, but one with some very progressive views. In an interesting and also entertaining interview with the host ofRead More

Although the Residential Schools have come under attack over the years, the discovery of the graves of children in and around the former schools in May of 2021 resulted in a new and urgent call for apologies from the various churches involved in them. Almost immediately after the graves wereRead More

Many things about 2020 have been disconcerting, to say the least, but here in Nova Scotia we are faced with other issues of particular social significance – the racism revolving around the fishing industry. As per the Oxford Dictionary: Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person orRead More

On Thursday, September 25, in St. Peters on Cape Breton Island, Gilbert Boucher, president of the association that represents fishers in southern Cape Breton, commented on the Potlotek First Nations intention to begin a moderate livelihood fishery. The Chronicle Herald quoted him as saying “They are just exercising their right,”Read More

There has been almost too much to process from days of watching the Black Lives Matter marches spreading, not only across the United States, but to so many countries around the world, including Canada. But even as protesters call out police racism and brutality, like that displayed in the killingRead...

Hello friends of the Spectator! My neighborhood in Denver, Colorado, USA is called Capitol Hill, and the golden dome of its namesake sits imperiously three blocks from my lovely 1918 building, with three stories of balconies overlooking Pennsylvania Street, next to the home of Molly Brown, Denver’s notable from theRead More

Growing up, I had a good friend whose father, a barber, not only cut hair, but helped people who were having problems growing it. I don’t recall when I became aware of the business he ran out of his home because there were no signs posted on the house, andRead More

Daily briefing Today’s briefing began with both Premier Stephen McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang offering condolences to the family of the Northwood resident who died of COVID-19 over the weekend. The death brought the province’s total to 60 — 53 of which have been at Northwood. Strang announced no newRead More