Parenting

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  Loyola's Freedom of Religion

  Ray Pennings

  August 2, 2013

  Canada's Supreme Court will hear a case next spring that will greatly impact the future choices available to parents in the education of their children. Things got a bit complicated in Quebec in 2008, however, when the government passed a requirement that all schools (including private schools and home schools) teach a new program called "Ethics and Religious Culture." The ERC purpose is straightforward: "The new program, which reflects the preference of the majority of Quebeckers, will make it possible to offer the same education to all Québec students while respecting the freedom of conscience and religion of parents, students and teachers." .

  Update: The Supreme Court ruled in favour of Loyola on March 19, 2015. For an analysis on the ruling, click here.

  Canada's Supreme Court will hear a case next spring that...

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  Holding Onto Memory

  Peter Stockland

  July 30, 2013

  Now, you might think mice have precious little to remember beyond how to spell C-A-T and whether Gouda or Emmenthal makes the best croque monsieur once the C-A-T has toddled off to bed. You would be mistaken. By rejigging the cellular structure of lab mice, researchers erased the rodents' rote learning about how to run in circles, all day, every day, on the little wheels in their cages. The purpose of the experiment, of course, was to deepen knowledge of the role cells play in sustaining or eroding memory.

  Scientists, my morning Daily Death Rattle tells me, have succeeded in making mice forget.

  Now, you might think mice have precious little to remember beyond how to spell C-A-T and whether Gouda or Emmenthal makes the best croque monsieur...

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  Oldest Human Institutions

  Ray Pennings

  July 24, 2013

  That said, it must be acknowledged that the news coverage of the Royal Baby has seemed absurd. Writing this, I am sitting in a hotel lounge in St. Paul's, Minnesota and the lobby television has for the last hour had its cameras focused on a closed hospital door. Isn't this the USA? Aren't these the folks who threw their tea in the ocean to rebel against the taxes demanded by the British throne? Don't they still celebrate their Independence each year? There's no one around so I take the remote and skim through the channels—there are no less than three American networks providing live coverage.

  I suppose that if the birth of the Duke of Cambridge warrants messages of congratulations from Presidents and Prime Ministers, clergy and celebrities, and millions of social media followers around the world, adding Cardus's voice seems socially polite. We c...

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  Setting Down Roots...or Not

  Peter Stockland

  July 9, 2013

  Reader's heart-strings were plucked by the trio's plight as they agonize over their inability to purchase real estate on the upscale West side, where even modest bungalows sell for $1 million-plus. "The challenge is to set down roots in the city you grew up in," The Globe quoted Vancouver urban planner Andrew Yan.

  The Globe and Mail's Report on Business carried a sob story this week about three 20-something Vancouverites who can't a...

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  A Goose on a Roof

  Peter Stockland

  May 9, 2013

  Not that she was fetishistically attentive to physical safety. On the contrary. Her nickname was Mimi Dreamie, earned from her habit of inhabiting imaginary spaces while running full tilt into very real trees and other large, hard, plainly visible objects. On a particular occasion in Calgary, we were running through the neighborhood of Elbow Park and I was cajoling her to try to keep an even pace when I realized she had stopped in her tracks at a street corner half a block behind me.

  My daughter was not quite yet an adolescent when she taught me the importance of running with eyes wide open.

  Not that she was fetishistically attentive to physical safety. On the contrary. Her nickname was Mimi Dreamie, earned from her habit of inha...

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  Here Come the Wonksters

  Robert Joustra

  April 5, 2013

  "The harsh events of the past decade may have produced not a youth revolt but a reversion to an empiricist mind-set," says David Brooks. He calls it a tendency to think in demoralized economic phrases like "data analysis," "opportunity costs" and "replicability," and a tendency to dismiss other more ethical and idealistic vocabularies that seem fuzzy and, therefore, unreliable.

  After the hippie, the yuppie, and the hipster, the cool people are now . . . wonksters?

  "The harsh events of the past decade may have produced not a youth revolt but a reversion to an empiricist mind-set," ...

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  Small Things Done With Great Love

  John Seel

  March 21, 2013

  What if Jesus wasn't kidding when he asked, "When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith upon the earth?" Too often we've taken this statement as a kind of hyperbolic warning. What if it is a serious possibility? A movement dies when it is no longer able to pass its beliefs from one generation to the next.

  "Where are my children?" is a question every parent has asked. "Not in church," is a likely answer.

  What if Jesus wasn't kidding when he asked, "When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith upon the earth?" Too often we've taken this statement as ...

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  This is Ultra-Tolerance

  Peter Stockland

  February 5, 2013

  Puff-chested pontificators could empty their bloated egos into front-page stories about what a deputy minister said to a sub-committee. But the real temper of the times was in the two paragraphs of advice Ann and Abby gave their millions of readers. Newspapers are a shredded simulacrum of what they once were, of course, yet their readers still—you may insert the word 'inexplicably' here if you wish—look to them for advice on matters great and small.

  In the gilded age of newspapers, the best understanding of the politics of the day came from reading Ann Landers or Dear Abby.

  Puff-chested pontificators could empty their bloated egos into front-page stories about what a deputy minister said to a su...

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  Fight Some of Your Own Fights

  Peter Menzies

  February 4, 2013

  When I was a little boy, for instance, other kids would from time to time say mean things to me or make fun of me. This would make me feel bad. One time, the notorious Robbie Campbell, who lived a couple of houses to the east of 7224 96B Avenue (see, I still remember the address like it was my own name) which in 1962 was on the outskirts of Edmonton, even conked me on the head with a chunk of 2 x 4.

  It's funny how shifts in the tiniest little slivers of culture can change the world.

  When I was a little boy, for instance, other kids would from time to time say mean things to me or make fun of me. This would make me feel bad. One time, the notorio...

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  Broken Hearts Mend

  Peter Menzies

  January 28, 2013

  It was in the spring of 1999 when a reporter from the Calgary Herald, of which I was editor at the time, knocked on my door to inquire about my neighbours—the family that lived behind us across the green belt. It was then that I learned that the two young children who lived there, Brittany, 5, and Joshua, 3, had been killed at the family's condo in B.C.

  Almost 14 years have now passed since tragedy struck very close to my home.

  It was in the spring of 1999 when a reporter from the Calgary Herald, of which I was editor at the time, knocked on my door to inquire about my neighbours—the family t...

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  Blinded by the Light

  Brian Dijkema

  December 21, 2012

  The hope of Christmas is this: The Lord himself invades the grave, and like a candle in a dark room, casts light all around. 

  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. This verse is often read at Christmas, and it means a great deal to those of us who live in the North where the December months are dark and cold.

  The passage says...

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  The Ordeal of Civility

  Diane Weber Bederman

  November 30, 2012

  Last week a late night radio show host in Quebec informed a caller that it was fortunate she could remain anonymous, else she wouldn't have been able to call the Holocaust "the most beautiful thing that could happen in history." The host, Jacques Fabi, lamented that it was a pain not being able to say what one really believes, except of course in media that allow for anonymity. The caller's anonymity on the telephone seems to have taken a lesson from social media. There is no accountability when one can espouse beliefs behind screen names and telephone lines. It is now de rigueur to speak rudely, disrespectfully, thoughtlessly throughout the public square.

  Social media gave us anonymity, and it has opened the door to incivility throughout the public square.

  Last week a late night radio show host in Quebec ...

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  Families and their Worldviews

  Ray Pennings

  November 22, 2012

  U.S. families can be divided into four approximately equal-sized groups. On one end of the spectrum are a group the UVA researchers labelled "the faithful" (20% of the sample); "engaged progressives" (21%) occupy the other extreme. The two groups in the middle of the spectrum were labelled as "the detached" (19%) and "American dreamers" (27%.) Huffington Post columnist Lisa Belkin provides a thorough summary of each of these groups and their particular characteristics.

  Last week, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia released a report based on survey data showing the diversity of American familie...

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  Battlefield: University

  Brian Dijkema

  November 15, 2012

  This rankles the student government of Queen's, and is currently the subject of a student grievance. Argues a spokeswoman, "The inclusion of a civility clause, especially when it threatens a student's academic standing, would actively discourage the exchange of critical inquiry and free speech which are foundational to a quality undergraduate education."

  There's a big fuss this week about a Queen's university professor inserting a "civility clause" into her course syllabus. The clau...

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  Judging From a Distance

  Peter Stockland

  November 13, 2012

  The newspaper's tall foreheads have taken a licking after their weekend editorial spanked the Supreme Court (calmly and just once on the tuckus, of course) for "overstepping its authority" in a recent decision. The Globe perspicaciously saw the danger of a distant court dictating to a very local level of government how it should spend scarce tax dollars.

  I normally reserve frosty Fridays for rushing to support the Globe and Mail's editorial writers, but sometimes a chilly November Tuesday must do.

  The newspaper's tall foreheads have taken a licking after ...

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  Anti-Bullying and Over-Correcting

  Ray Pennings

  October 17, 2012

  But bullying is a subject on which platitudes come too easily. Anti-bullying, motherhood, apple pie . . . the right and wrong of the matter seems so obvious. But the road to overcoming bullying must be navigated with care if the ditches on both sides are to be avoided.

  The death of B.C. teen Amanda Todd has sparked a raft of publicity and public action against bullying. Extensive news coverage and ...

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  Our Religious "Nones" Wait For Us

  Judith Valente

  October 11, 2012

  The finding that grabbed many of the headlines and has produced a fair amount of handwringing is the statistic showing that Protestants are no longer a majority in the U.S. In fact, there are now more "nones" than there are people who identify themselves with any Protestant religion—whether Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, Church of Christ, or non-denominational Christian.

  Like any person of faith, I read with great interest the recent Pew Forum study showing that a rising number of Americans say they have no religious affiliation. In fa...

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  Under 30

  Peter Menzies

  October 9, 2012

  The evening before the killer frost and knowing it was imminent I spent some quiet moments with my garden. The vines in particular seemed anxious. I reassured the garden that everything would be OK: it would, come the spring, live again. More recycling took place on the weekend. As recently as two years ago Thanksgiving dinner was restricted to my mother, my wife, and I. Everyone else was gone. But this year, there we were—the three incumbents—with my son and his wife, my daughter and a young man who wished to make our acquaintance, another young man whom we had housed during his transition to Calgary and his girlfriend—nine of us, in all. But it wasn't the numbers I noticed so much as it was the composition of the table—two-thirds of which was under 30 and in the majority, I think, for the first time.

  The temperature a week ago Monday was 26C. The next day, it was 6C and the day after, the overnight temperature plunged to -5C.

  The evening before the killer frost and knowing it was imminent I spent some quiet moments with my garden. The vines in pa...

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  The Pathetic Family

  Peter Menzies

  September 25, 2012

  The most recent example comes in the approach to last week's release by Statistics Canada on the shape of modern living arrangements. In summary, the 2011 Census report showed that the modern Canadian family structure is as follows: This "diversity" was the focus of much of the media coverage, along with the facts that for the first time, there are now more one-person households in Canada than there are couples with kids and the gap between couples with and without children continues to grow.

  One of the great capacities of the modern age is its ability to deny and, more alarming, refuse to address the negative outcomes of its progress.

  The most recent example comes in the approach to last week's release by Statistics Canada on the shape o...

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  Cities and Commitment

  Dani Shaw

  September 11, 2012

  Toronto's Deputy Mayor, Doug Holyday, evoked political controversy this summer when he objected to the requirement that 10% of the units in a new condo development be 3-bedroom, family-friendly units. Mr. Holyday referred to the requirement as "social engineering." He expressed reluctance to dictate that the developer build 3-bedroom units when there "may or may not be a market for it," and alienated his urban colleagues and parents when he said the downtown core was "not an ideal place to raise children." But while the commoditization of housing is itself deeply worrisome and a worthy blog topic for another day, the Deputy Mayor's reluctance to support the creation of spaces for families is disappointing.

  ...

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  The Culture of Death and the Beauty of Life

  Dani Shaw

  August 10, 2012

  What stands out about these crimes is their very brazen nature. An online video of the death and dismemberment of a Chinese student who had come to Canada in search of a better life. Gunfire in a crowded shopping mall food court that claimed 2 lives and sent 6 others to hospital. An execution-style hit in broad daylight at an outdoor café. A gunfight reportedly resulting from a dispute over a parking spot, which killed 2 people and injured more than 20 others.

  The summer of 2012 has been unlike any other in recent history. News reports have been dominated by stories of violent crimes, many of which have led to the death of innocent and unsuspecting bystanders.

  What stands out about these crimes is their v...

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  From Sea to Sea

  Raymond J. de Souza

  July 1, 2012

  Father Raymond J. de Souza finds Quebec students going forward to the past.

  Marching Backwards

  Given sufficient patience, it would be possible to float down the St. Lawrence River from my home on Wolfe Island to the Island of Montreal. This spring, though, the short trip by train in early May seemed like a passage to ...

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  An Offense Against Charity

  Peter Stockland

  May 10, 2012

  Within a month, we've had two cringe-inducing high-profile examples of the syndrome. The first was during the recent Alberta election campaign. It involved a candidate for the Wildrose Party, a Christian pastor who infamously felt the need to tell the world via his blog that gays would spend eternity in a lake of fire.

  It always amazes me how Christians clamouring to be heard in the public square are so often convinced they are best understood with both feet in their mouth.

  Within a month, we've had two cringe-inducing high-profile examples of the syndrome. The fir...

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  I Heard Some Horrible Things Today

  Dan Postma

  April 16, 2012

  The terrified "I think I may have just lost our baby," and the clinical "This is Mother Nature's way of making sure only healthy babies are born." Bookends of breathless agony on a day of dull waiting, dull memories.

  I heard some horrible things today. "Mothers have a sense for these things, you know. They just know." And she was right, the sonographer. As I asked, "What? What does that mean?", my wife already had her hands over her face.

  The terrified "I think I...

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