The news just came out yesterday in Ontario that, after March break ends next week, there will be two more weeks of school shutdown in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. This makes good sense. Schools are places where social distancing is just not possible – it’s a crowd situation every day. So…
Category: HotButtonitis
Giving Doug Ford the Anti-Bullying Treatment
Dear Doug Ford, As you know, today is Anti-Bullying Day, otherwise known as Pink Shirt Day. I saw your video on Twitter with you in your pink shirt, talking about how we need to stand up against bullies. (I apologize, your speech was so platitudinous that my mind wandered halfway through, both times I tried…
B.C. Pipeline Protests: What’s Your Reaction?
This week on Cross Country Checkup, host Duncan McCue was asking CBC listeners to weigh in on the B.C. Pipeline Protests, centring around the activism of the Wet’suwe’ten First Nation. I’ve decided to offer my reaction as a counterpoint to Andrew Scheer’s speech to the press on Friday. First off, I support the protests. (Shockingly,…
Tragedy and Evil / Hope and Resurrection
It’s been a week of religious tragedy. When news got out about Notre Dame burning last Monday, this ubiquitous, media-worthy word – “tragedy” – sprang immediately into the headlines and conversations of the day. It was unthinkable that such an iconic structure could be filled with flames, at that very moment. I have been to…
Captain Marvel Movie Review by an Average Feminist Mom
The new Captain Marvel movie, starring Brie Larson, was a rousing worldwide success when it opened this past weekend. Normally, I do not follow box office results – I don’t see lots of movies at the theatre and usually not even close to opening weekend. However, Sean and I made a point of seeing Captain Marvel…
Gratitude on International Women’s Day
Happy International Women’s Day, lovelies! I feel very thankful today (and in general), to live where and when I do, especially as a woman. I am acutely aware of the millions of women who are deprived of their human rights, both basic and intricate. I know that within some cultures, this deprivation is so embedded…
Why I’m Excited About Canada’s New Food Guide
Yesterday, Canada’s new official Food Guide was released, and I am stoked about it! For the first time EVER in this country, the Food Guide has not been influenced by agricultural promotion. Instead, it has been influenced by SCIENCE. As it should have been all along. Way to shake off the fetters of commercial enterprise,…
The Apocalypse is now… and the kids know it.
It’s Monday, and the 2018 Climate Conference in Poland (COP24) is in full swing. Seems as good a day as any to talk about the Apocalypse. I’ve been hesitating on this writing, because I understand that a blog post about the world as we know it going down in flames is… a bummer of sorts….
Raising a Daughter in Scary But Hopeful Times
Recently, I had the chance to catch up with an old friend whose family was expecting their third child: a daughter, after two sons. [Actually, I started this post more than a month ago, and as it happens, said daughter was born TODAY, early this morning! So read on, in honour of wee baby EC’s…
When the status of women gets you down… here’s proof of progress!
Hello, women and women-lovers! It’s been 2018 for two-and-a-half months now. Feminism in North America seems to be enjoying an all-time high (#metoo, #timesup) and an all-time low (#POTUSisamisogynistharrasshole) (yep, just coined the term “harrasshole” this moment, you’re welcome) simultaneously. How confusing and invigorating for us all! For those times when you feel like we…