Opinion
Refusing temptation
Parenting requires a basketful of tools and the savvy to know when, and how, to use them all.
Among the many tools a good parent will use is the leverage offered by “Just say no.” It’s a simple message: clear, concise and pointed. READ
Is this the best use of car sales levy?
We are a highly regulated world and things are not getting any better. I recently had a conversation with a sales manager in a local automotive dealership about an organization known as AMVIC (Alberta Motor Vehicle Industry Council). READ
Act to save species at risk
We are ignoring scientists at our own peril. READ
Severe fines and penalties are more of a 'big city' thing
In many small Alberta towns, there is virtually no serious effort put into bylaw enforcement. READ
A load of bureaucrap
The federal immigration ministry’s decision to fake a citizenship oath ceremony at the Sun TV studios using bureaucrats as stand-ins is either awful judgment or outright sacrilege, depending on your point of view. READ
Voters have veto on pension policy
Stephen Harper has either become an exceptionally fearless politician or else he has already put an expiry date on his leadership that does not extend beyond the current mandate. READ
Compassion for victims
Kidnapped, raped and murdered. Those were the brutal circumstances in 2002 that tragically ended the life of 27-year-old Julie Boisvenu, daughter of Quebec Conservative Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu. READ
We should be proud of Ronald McDonald House
Once again Central Alberta, you’ve set the bar high. You’ve dazzled, amazed, astonished, scintillated. READ
Parole rules punish victim
Family members mourning the loss of a Red Deer couple killed by a drunk driver on Feb. 7, 2010, are being short-changed by Canada’s parole process — as are other victims of crime. READ
Why are we afraid of science?
Kids ask questions. Sometimes adults feel inadequate if they don’t have ready answers. But when I became a teacher, I learned quickly that there’s nothing wrong with saying, “I don’t know.” Teaching children how to learn is more useful than feeding them facts. READ
Skating on thin injury ice
The ongoing campaign to engage our children in healthier lifestyles has failed to provide some obvious safety nets for those same children. READ
Scale back taxes, pay bureaucrats, politicians far less
As Vesna Higham so elegantly pointed out last week, we should be deeply concerned with the fact that Premier Alison Redford has surrounded herself with a coterie of “advisors” who earn roughly triple the average Alberta family income. READ
No honour in violence
The outcome of the Shafia first-degree murder trial will put non-Muslim Canadians to the test of tolerance. But we must understand that one family’s sick beliefs in “honour killing” do not reflect the beliefs of the majority. READ
More ideological than actuarial
Not too long ago, a once-powerful Republican in the U.S. Congress summed up foreign aid spending this way: “Foreign aid means putting Ghana over grandma.’’ READ
No honour in violence
The outcome of the Shafia first-degree murder trial will put non-Muslim Canadians to the test of tolerance. But we must understand that one family’s sick beliefs in “honour killing” do not reflect the beliefs of the majority. READ
Pre-election roadshow
In politics, the disaffected are usually the most damning of critics, and the ones most likely to be heard. Take Lloyd Snelgrove for example. Last week, the MLA for Vermillion Lloydminster quit the Alberta Progressive Conservative caucus, leaving a trail of harsh words for Premier Alison Redford and her team. READ
Cutting back to prosperity
One of the most surefire ways to start a long argument is to put economists in a room, ask a question and tell them they can’t come out until they all agree on the answer. READ
Toxic ecstasy is killing street drug users
It’s like something out of a drug movie, only it’s not. It’s real life, dirty and ugly. READ
Economic model shows cracks
It was Quebec Premier Jean Charest who recently highlighted the big change taking place in our economy. “There are two realities in Canada,” he said. “There are the economies of oil, gas and potash — and others.” READ
Kodak Moments are fading fast
If it’s not a sign of the times, it certainly is a snapshot of it. As Bob Dylan prophetically proclaimed, “the times they are a changing’.” And he said that in 1964! READ
