LATEST NEWS:

Advocate View

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

Act to save species at risk

We are ignoring scientists at our own peril. READ

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

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

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

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

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

No honour in violence

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

What’s middle class, anyway?

Ask around, the comments you get won’t likely differ much from those coming to the Advocate: either the economists are lying and we’re in a recession, or Canada is a beacon of economic hope for the world. READ

A haven for criminals?

Here’s an ethical dilemma for you: does a person who may face torture deserve more compassion than hundreds of thousands of innocent murder victims? READ

Make room for school

Red Deer city planners have taken great care over the last few decades to plot neighbourhoods with plenty of greenspace. READ

Evil selection targets girls

Family planning has taken a bizarre, disturbing and unethical twist among thousands of couples in Canada, who have opted to use abortions to avoid having children of a sex they deem undesirable. READ

More choices, more opportunities

Red Deer’s high school completion rate is 69 per cent, compared to Alberta’s 72 per cent. Our city graduates about 1,200 Grade 12 students a year, so the gap between here and elsewhere represents about 35 students — make that one classroom’s worth. READ

Balancing out payments

Back in the days when Ontario and Quebec owned Canada, the other provinces, the Western provinces — and Alberta in particular — were regarded as colonials at the federal table. We had a voice, but no say, on most federal matters. READ

It just feels like recession

The Prime Minister says it’s true. So does the Finance Minister. So do most — maybe even all — Canadian economists. So why does it feel wrong to so many of us when our political and economic leaders insist Canada is not in, or on the cusp of, a recession? READ

We get what we voted for

The average homeowners, carrying a mortgage and perhaps a car loan or some other debt, just received notice that their daughter’s dance lesson fees are going up and school fees are rising. And every hockey or soccer road trip costs more. Never mind that grocery prices are also up, month after month. READ

Setting an energy future

Alison Redford is driving the agenda for a national energy strategy with a sense of purpose that suggests she intends to succeed. READ

The Liberal wish list

Retire the Queen? Legalize marijuana? There’s a whiff of something special in the air as the Liberal Party of Canada tries to regain traction after its near-death experience in last year’s election. It may be desperation. READ