2011‑2022, and is preserved here for archival purposes.
Yes, Ontario is just one of ten provinces, and its politics aren't Canada's politics. Still, Ontario is home to many of the nation's economic, cultural, and media influencers, and its 13.6 million residents do represent over 38 percent of the nation.
As an Albert...
Last year, I overcame my nature-and-nurture revulsion toward the Trudeau name. Setting aside my reflexive loathing of Pierre Elliott Trudeau as a prime minister, I praised his son—despite the many sins of the father—for his immediate and pointed rejection of Quebec's odious Charter of Values.
Dismiss this if you like as the churlishness of a Westerner who has lived many years in Quebec, but Justin Trudeau reminds me of a one-eyed inebriate playing whack-a-mole. On the rare occasions when he scores a clean hit, he celebrates by thumping himself i...
Earlier this week Adam Silver dropped the full weight of his NBA-commissioner hammer down on Don Sterling for the hateful, racist comments he made in what Sterling most...
Before his public appearance, I sat down with Havard and asked about how employees can respond when their leaders are not virtuous. He responded with his thoughts on the spiritual needs of human beings, and how they play out in the workplace. Havard had some specific advice for those of us who may find ourselves lacking exemplary leadership.
Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing Alexandre Havard, the Moscow-based author and founder of the Havard Virtuous Leadership Institute. Havard appeared in Ottawa for a lecture and book signing, du...
But legal definitions should not overly influence our perception of Christian (or other religiously-based) institutions. There are more basic things to keep in mind.
Supreme Court cases on both sides of the 49th parallel last week focused on what ...
The past 48 hours have seen the resignation of two significant Canadian figures—federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Alberta Premier Alison Redford. My social media feeds are dominated by others with similar interests and so are quickly filled with the...
There is a growing sense in Canada that something has to be done about the Senate, but also a strong pessimism that anything constructive can be done. There are calls to abolish it outright, or to elect it. The alternative is an elites option in which exper...
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Sheryl Sandberg recalled an elementary school experience where she was berated for being too bossy and therefore considered a bad influence. In the same piece, Anna Maria Chávez told of being ridiculed for wanting to lead rather than support, as is traditional for females in her Latino culture.
[caption id="attachment_2916" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Beyonce via Instagram"]...
Federal Liberals spent the past weekend at their biennial convention in Montreal. Cardus's Peter Stockland sat down with Scarborough-Guildwood Liberal MP John McKay to get his assessment of the last big party gathering before the 2015 federal election....
5. In August, Cardus senior fellow John Seel took a look at beauty and the arts. Opportunity … requires the foundation of a home and family that provide security, support, and an education in virtue, which in turn enable children to achieve success in school. - Families, Flourishing, and Upward Mobility
We've put together a list of the blog posts we published this year that we wouldn't want anyone to miss. For part one, click here.
...
Gideon Strauss, a native of South Africa, where he served as an interpreter for the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission under Archbishop Desmond Tutu, writes on the way we remember Nelson Mandela's life.
Editor's note: This piece was published yesterday in Fieldnotes Magazine, a publication of the Max De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary. Rep...
Even as enormous political thought, energy, and activity were being put into overseeing the kind of hats Quebecers are allowed to wear in various circumstances, I could see nothing but the sea of bumpers of the cars of my fellow citizens: none of us able to move more than an inch or two per hour. In this case, time was the rub. I had just returned to Montreal from Ottawa, a 200 km trip that took me approximately 90 minutes (note to Highway 417 traffic cops: please temporarily forget how to do arithmetic.) Once in Montreal, it took me more than 60 minutes to travel from Cavendish Boulevard to the Decarie service road, a distance of barely two kilometres.
Being stuck in traffic pinpointed for me what is wrong with Quebec's attempt to legislate a so-called Charter of Values.
Even as enormous political thought, energy, and activity were being put into overseeing the kind of hats Quebecers are allowed t...
Since last Thursday, Michael Van Pelt, Ray Sawatsky, and I have accompanied Paul Donovan, the principal of Montreal's Loyola High School, on a six-city tour. We've met with small groups and with members of the media to inform them of Loyola's upcoming Supreme Court case against the Quebec government.
Crossing Canada on a Cardus mission during the past week has brought home what it means to be countercultural.
Since last Thursday, Michael Van Pelt, Ray Sawatsky, and I have accompanied Paul Donovan, the principal of Montreal's Loyola High School, ...
Making peace with proximate justice?
Editor's Note: This reflection originally published yesterday in the "Commons" at The Washington Institute, headed by Dr. Steven Garber. Reprinted with kind permission. ...
In an age of selfies at funerals and a Twitter stream of non-events, fighting against transparency seems counterintuitive. But let me make a case for maintaining a wall of privacy over portions of the spending of public officials.
A mature, responsible, and high-functioning constitutional democracy should not adopt a Facebook-style approach to transparency. In fact, a constitutional democracy which adopts Facebook's approach to transparency will cease to be mature, responsible, and h...
Over on the Slow Church blog, Christopher Smith objects to Jamie's arguments (admitting his Anabaptist political theology predisposes him not to vote) by describing how active civil society engagement can accomplish great things and that the slow, local approach that Jamie critiques as inadequate may, with God's blessing, achieve great things while avoiding the culture war narrative, with its inherent temptations and dangers.
Wednesday's blog Knitting While Detroit Burns? by Jamie Smith has started some useful conversations. The road for faithful Christian public engagement has two ditches and Jamie wa...
From the small jokes that disarm the fear of pretentiousness to the hand written note I received in the mail today, I am reminded that amidst all our grandiose posturing, it is the little human touches that separate ordinary from extraordinary. It is the hand written note, the expression of gratitude, an affirmation of talent, or the remembering of a name that exhorts and builds us up. This small edification or investment in another person, the living out of 1 Thessalonians 5:11, is so easily set aside when faced with busyness or with the assumption that it is not required, desired, or appreciated. However, nothing could be further from the truth or more important. In terms of human impact it needs to rise to the highest level of priority.
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting and working with a man whom I have long admired from afar. He is the kind of individual who commands attention and rarely, if ever, lets you down with his insight. However, it is not his lofty accomplishments, sharp in...
We have a federal government that is frequently at odds with experts in policy decisions: replacing a mandatory census with a voluntary one at the objection of statisticians; putting more petty criminals in jail to the chagrin of criminologists; reducing the GST even though economists say it is bad policy; and investing less in research, resulting in an exodus of PHDs to the U.S. in an increasingly knowledge-based economy. To be fair, there are cases where the government puts forth an evidence-based policy, such as the federal government's aboriginal property ownership plans. But this seems to be less and less the case.
The phrase "common sense" has become ubiquitous in our culture. This phrase implies that whatever is the most widely-held belief is the most correct. In many cases, common-held knowledge is correct, but in Canada I believe our politicians have often based...
"Harper government had to know $90,000 payment to senator crossed all sorts of ethical red lines"—May 20, 2013 Andrew Coyne column. "Alleged Rob Ford video raises ethical dilemma"—May 20, 2013 Global News report.
"Hard to believe Obama's claims of ignorance in IRS Scandal"—May 20, 2013 Fox News headline.
"Harper government had to know $90,000 payment...
If you were ever in doubt about the heights of lunacy which governments committed to a high-modern conception of secularism can reach, I present to you Exhibit A of the latest valiant effort from Le Parti Moustique.
The Parti Quebecois used to stand for something. These days it seems to take its policy cues from mosquitoes. Its preferred method of governance is to buzz loudly, annoy anyone within range, suck the life out of Quebec, cause welts across the country, and l...
At our Cardus Convivium dinner last week in Calgary, where Black was the marquee attraction, he asserted, responding to a question, his innocence in the criminal case brought against him by the U.S. government. Just as stoutly, he insisted, digressing while answering a different question from Father de Souza, that his ill fortune be placed in proper context. He said:
Conrad Black refuses to play the victim.
At our Cardus Convivium dinner last week in Calgary, where Black was the marquee attraction, he asserted, responding to a question, his innocence in the criminal case brought against him by the U.S. gov...
But if trust in our economic system cannot be created by legislation and regulation, then how is it created? As the conversation continued, the role of other institutions came into focus. The role of business schools in teaching ethics was especially highlighted. But again, the contradiction quickly became evident.
Last week, Cardus sponsored a conversation involving Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, Rotman School of Business Dean Roger Martin and Convivium Editor Father Raymond de Souza on the subject of "Banking, Trust, and the Culture of Capitalism." All ...
"Help is needed to support a young girl who was recently rescued from human traffickers. She was bought and sold into the sex trade for nine years. Now she is free. She needs food, clothing, shelter, medicine, counseling, and rehabilitation. We would also like to provide her, when she is ready, funds for education courses to help her restore her life.
As Ottawa's echo-ocracy worked itself into stage five incoherence over a backbench MP's motion on sex-selection abortion, the following words quietly appeared on another MP's website:
"Help is needed to support a young girl who was recently ...
"Cardus is hosting an event with Mark Carney?" We look forward to both events advancing Cardus's mission of renewing social architecture.
"Cardus is hosting an event with Conrad Black?"
"Cardus is hosting an event with Mark Carney?"
"Yes," we are delighted to answer our interlocutors. Many Cardus followers last week received invitations to two forthcoming events in the Hill Fami...