Long Form

  • True Progress Moves Us To God

    True Progress Moves Us To God

    Peter Copeland and Andrew P.W. Bennett

    December 3, 2021

    As Advent foreshadows the Christmas narrative, Peter Copeland and Father Deacon Andrew Bennett write that our end is not in restless secularism but the peace of union with the Father.

    Returning to where we began, to find out what ends we seek, what is the story we claim to be a part of?

    The secular progressive story is one that is inherently ill-defined. The end, the telos, are goalposts that are constantly changing. Its gaze is s...

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  • The Secular Servants of Abstraction

    The Secular Servants of Abstraction

    Peter Copeland and Andrew P.W. Bennett

    December 2, 2021

    As Advent leads us to Christmas, Peter Copeland and Fr. Deacon Andrew Bennett map Christian clarity of the common good against secular confusions of equity and equality. Part two of three.

    When it comes to the social and political spheres, the dominant secular vision of the social good is a utilitarian or egalitarian one. In the case of the former, the collective good is an aggregate of individual pains and pleasures. We ask – what does the g...

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  • The Christian’s Progress

    The Christian’s Progress

    Peter Copeland and Andrew P.W. Bennett

    December 1, 2021

    As Advent moves us toward the promise of Christmas, Peter Copeland and Fr. Deacon Andrew Bennett chart the Christian progressive vision against its static secular form. Part one of three.

    In our heart of hearts, we know that we are not all that we can be, personally, or collectively. We cry out for more, not knowing where to go, or how to get there, but led forward by this flame that burns within.

    Christians have long thought that tho...

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  • Follow the Political Science

    Follow the Political Science

    Travis D. Smith

    November 22, 2021

    In the second of two parts, Travis Smith argues that our responses to the pandemic reveal a Canada progressively squeezing out its commitment to liberty.

    Part One: The COVID Golden Calf

    “The passion to be reckoned upon is fear.” 

    – Thomas Hobbes, Leviat...

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  • The COVID Golden Calf

    The COVID Golden Calf

    Travis D. Smith

    November 19, 2021

    In this first of a two-part essay, Travis Smith teases out the new ersatz religiosity of our political, clinical and social pandemic responses.

    Part Two: Follow The Political Science

    The ongoing campaign against COVID-19 has several religious attributes and analo...

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  • The Complex Web of Indigenous Diversity

    The Complex Web of Indigenous Diversity

    Peter Stockland

    July 2, 2021

    The Assembly of First Nations is a national voice on issues like reconciliation and residential schools, but its July 7 leadership vote tests the strands that link Indigenous people, Peter Stockland reports.

    Updated July 6th, 2021

    In its 40th year, the Assembly of First Nations is in the throes of a seven-candidate race to select its National Chief next Wednesday.

    But with skeletons of children being rediscovered by the hundred...

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  • Shadows and Light on Palliative Care

    Shadows and Light on Palliative Care

    Peter Stockland

    April 26, 2021

    Rapid expansion of Medical Aid in Dying and forced closure of a Vancouver-area hospice have raised alarm among palliative care providers. But Peter Stockland finds vital positive signs, too.

    At the beginning of April, the Supreme Court of Canada finally closed the outside door on the Delta Hospice Society’s ownership of a private 10-bed palliative care centre in suburban Vancouver.

    At one level, the SCOC’s refusal to grant the Society le...

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  • Belfast, Brexit and Boris Johnson

    Belfast, Brexit and Boris Johnson

    Peter Stockland

    August 2, 2019

    Critics argue British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is playing with fire by planning to “crash out” of the European Union if there’s no Brexit deal by Oct. 31. We should all pray he isn’t dicing with nail bombs as well.  The risk – the word needs a triple-underscore – of this decision to life and limb would be disturbing enough.

    This is the final piece of Convivium’s four-part series on Northern Ireland and its history as it exists today. Click here to read part two: "The Vocabulary of Who We Are....

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  • The Vocabulary of Who We Are

    The Vocabulary of Who We Are

    Peter Stockland

    July 16, 2019

    Watching the Château Laurier fiasco from a comfortable distance, Peter Stockland sees parallels between Ottawa’s architectural debacle and the history of Belfast’s city hall.

    This is part three of Convivium’s series on Northern Ireland and its history as it exists today. Click here to read part two: "Ireland's Accidental History."

    ...

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  • Ireland's Accidental History

    Ireland's Accidental History

    Peter Stockland

    July 8, 2019

    In this week's essay from Northern Ireland, Convivium's Peter Stockland encounters a young man whose grandfather was murdered on Bloody Sunday 1972 and waits to hear loyalist-unionist drums beat again in Belfast this Friday, July 12.

    This is part two of Convivium’s series on Northern Ireland and its history as it exists today. Click here to read part one: “A Beacon of Hope and Warning.”

    ...

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  • Hooded Loneliness, Solitary Fear

    Hooded Loneliness, Solitary Fear

    Peter Stockland

    April 15, 2019

    Isolation and emotional homelessness are rarely discussed, but they are the prevalent hurdle faced by those experiencing homelessness.

    This is the third part of Convivium's series on homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Click here to read part one: "Opening the Door on Homelessness." ...

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  • Starting to Stop Every Day

    Starting to Stop Every Day

    Peter Stockland

    March 20, 2019

    In part two of Convivium’s series on homelessness, addiction and mental illness, Peter Stockland speaks with a woman who was hours away from being out on the streets and homeless. Now, Christina is on her way to recovery from a lifetime of alcoholism.

    This is part two of Convivium's series on homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Click here to read part one: "Opening the Door on Homelessness."

    ...

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  • Opening the Door on Homelessness

    Opening the Door on Homelessness

    Peter Stockland

    March 11, 2019

    Since December, Convivium Publisher Peter Stockland has been exploring the ins and outs of homelessness which, with its related social ills, costs Canada at least $33.5 billion annually. Here is the first of a series of reports from the frontlines and the research centres grappling with one of the country’s most compelling issues.

    This is the first part of Convivium's series on homelessness, addiction, and mental illness. Click here to read part two: "Starting to Stop Every Day."

    On the wa...

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  • Flagging False Comparisons

    Flagging False Comparisons

    Peter Stockland

    November 16, 2018

    This past weekend, John Carpay made an unfortunate connection between the rainbow flag and Nazi and Communist symbols. This week, Peter Stockland explores the meaning of dialogue, and what we stand to lose when we don’t stop to listen.

    The skies are raining predictable spoiled fish on the head of Calgary lawyer John Carpay for committing the grievous 21st century political sin of making a maladroit analogy.

    In a weekend speech to a Rebel Media gathering, the founder of t...

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  • MAiD and Modern Medicine

    MAiD and Modern Medicine

    Peter Stockland

    June 18, 2018

    Two years ago, on June 1, 2016, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was escorted to her seat in front of Canada’s Senate to explain her government's rationale for Bill C-14, a legislative concoction with a name from a high school chemistry class and the full power to transform Canadian society forever.

    Two years ago, on June 1, 2016, federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould was escorted to her seat in front of Canada’s Senate to explain her government's rationale for Bill C-14, a legislative concoction with a name from a high school chemistry class a...

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  • Here Comes the 24/7 Classroom

    Here Comes the 24/7 Classroom

    Peter Stockland

    January 4, 2018

    Once primarily a tradition of older students helping young students having academic difficulties, tutoring has exploded into a billion dollar profession in Canada. Estimates show a third of Canadian parents will turn to tutoring for their children. In cross-country conversation with educational experts, Convivium's Peter Stockland explores how the change might alter our very concept of schooling.

    Three years ago, educational consultant Paul Bennett began investigating for a media outlet what academic researchers had been intrigued by for at least a decade: the growth in private tutoring of Canada’s school-age students.

    Bennett discovered in t...

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