Let’s imagine that the peculiar universe that is Canadian politics has a referee hulking in the shadows. Careful not to infringe on the Game of the Great North, she—Canada’s ref would naturally reflect anti-gender discrimination policies, and will preferably belong to visible minority—hasn’t called a time-out in decades. But, given[Read More…]
Search Results for author "Johanu Botha"
What the devil is Canada’s status quo?
Let’s imagine that the peculiar universe that is Canadian politics has a referee hulking in the shadows. Careful not to infringe on the Game of the Great North, she-Canada’s ref would naturally reflect anti-gender discrimination policies, and will preferably belong to visible minority-hasn’t called a time-out in decades. But, given[Read More…]
The return of the Jets
Any self-respecting columnist writing on Canada cannot let this year saunter by without spending at least one—I pitched ten, but my editor emphasized one—column on the Winnipeg Jets. This story of prairie power should be trumpeted from the rooftops, but given the country’s current milieu of potential election fraud and[Read More…]
We don’t need to fight a 200-year-old battle to know who we are
It is the year 1812. Yankee soldiers, some waving gigantic versions of the Red, White, and Blue, storm northwards under the auspices of a Greater Power. As a blazing sun sets on Upper and Lower Canada, budding Canadians everywhere yield to the call to keep their True North strong and[Read More…]
Gimme some nuance!
McGill Tribune Despite three years of writing opinion columns on this campus, I have a dismal track record of actually voicing any opinions about this campus. This is because it is remarkably difficult to inject a sense of nuance into discussions that take McGill by storm, and throwing[Read More…]
Are the USA and Canada tangoing to different music in the 21st century?
Canada-U.S. relations have enjoyed an eclectic array of descriptions since the International Boundary that separates the two countries was set up in 1783. Pierre Trudeau famously said that living next to the U.S. was like sleeping with an elephant: “No matter how friendly or temperate the beast, one is affected[Read More…]
McGill’s Shortest Course: Premiers 101
Canadian premiers are like janitors: you’re not always sure how they got into the building, or how long exactly they will stay. Yet unlike janitors, our provincial leaders get six-figure salaries and don’t always leave the place clean. In Canada’s federal system they wield a fair amount of power, and[Read More…]
Tough yet inconsistent on human rights
For anybody who has been paying attention, it’s clear that the current government is injecting a new kind of fuel into Canada’s foreign policy. Prime Minister Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney form a trifecta of tone transformation: they give bang for their rhetoric’s buck,[Read More…]
Occupy where, and for what?
After leaving its humble beginnings in Vancouver to make a splash in the Big Apple, the Occupy movement returned to its birth country last week, hitting large Canadian cities with full force. Crowds defying any demographic classification filled streets and parks across the country to join what has become a[Read More…]
Sounds of the prairies
As September began saying its goodbyes, Montreal indie-rock sensation Arcade Fire took the city for a free ride that is still the subject of many a Facebook status. The downtown streets swelled with a larger crowd than usual that Thursday, and so I paused in my weekly grocery run to[Read More…]
