“Henderson has scored for Canada!”

Is there a more famous phrase in Canadian history, coined on this day 50 years ago? To be honest, I’m at a loss to come up with another famous Canadian phrase. The only one I can come up with is “He shoots! He scores!” coined by the same man, Foster Hewitt, the father of Canadian…

It looks like we’re stuck with Chuck III

And so we say goodbye – a very, very long goodbye – to Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Canada and her other realms, Defender of the Faith, etc. Or just Liz to her friends. By any measure, the 70-year reign of Queen Elizabeth II has been extraordinary. Seven decades on…

Pierre Poilievre’s biggest selling point is who he isn’t

So, Pierre Poilievre has been anointed as the new leader of the Conservative Party, and by an overwhelming majority. Canadians will now have to learn how to pronounce and even spell this guy’s name (go ahead, try to spell it without looking at this paragraph). Unlike the two previous Conservative leaders, Poilievre has a real…

Canada-Russia ’72: When Canada stopped

Today, September 2nd, marks the 50th anniversary of Game 1 of the Canada-Russia Summit Series, the single greatest sporting event of all time. An exaggeration? I don’t think so. Just ask any old-timer who remembers the Summit Series.  It’s now five decades since Canada and Russia faced off in the most gut-wrenching, confidence-shattering, and ultimately…

Three more skills we have lost to the internet

I recently read a book called 100 Things We’ve Lost to the Internet, by Pamela Paul. I highly recommend it. It’s a funny and thoughtful read, full of sharp observations about how the age of instant access to everything has changed the way we live. And the chapters are short enough to make them perfect…

Lessons learned from a wedding

My youngest son got married last weekend.  The outdoor venue was beautiful, the weather warm but not hot.* The bride looked wonderful, the kind of bride you would see in a bridal magazine (I assume). The groom and his party – two of them my other sons – never looked more handsome. The reception was…

Alberta ‘children assigned female at birth’ names 2021: From Aabha to Zyrie

Last week, we looked at Alberta baby boy names for 2021. This week, let’s look at baby girl names, or, as the Postmedia story stated with an apparently straight face, “children assigned female at birth”. Seriously. We can’t even use the term ‘baby girl’ anymore?  The top girl names were as predictable as mosquitoes in…

Alberta boy names 2021. From A to Zyril.

Every year around this time, the Alberta government releases lists of every name given to babies born in the previous year. The media tends to concentrate on the top 10 names (Noah, Jack, Oliver, Liam, Theodore, William, Ethan, Levi, Benjamin, Henry for boys; Olivia, Charlotte, Ava, Emma, Amelia, Sophia, Isla, Abigail, Chloe, Evelyn for girls).…

A Canadian quiz for our delicate times

Happy 155th birthday, Canada! To quote from the great Russian philosopher, Yakov Smirnoff, what a country! In honour of the birthday of this semi-great dominion (I’m sorry, is the term ‘dominion’ considered offensive today?), I present for your edification and enlightenment the utter unofficial All-Canadian Quiz. Please note that the quiz has been updated to…

How Queen Elizabeth saved the monarchy

First things first, let me be perfectly clear: I am a devout anti-monarchist. Everything about it is impossibly stupid, and diametrically opposite of everything democracy is supposed to be. Even when I was a kid, on the rare occasions when we had to sing “God Save the Queen” (that actually happened sometimes), I would stand…