Two Cents Blog

Hill Times November 8, 2021 Pretendian: Canadian of settler descent and values who claims to be Indigenous in order to gain monetary benefit. And so deeply ironic. Indigenous peoples have a lower life expectancy, higher risks of disease and mental illness, higher risks of intergenerational trauma, much higher risks of experiencing racism. Our existence is […]

Hill Times October 25, 2021 When Germany was defeated in World War II, infrastructure was ruined, the economy destroyed, separated east from west, and some wondered if the country could ever return to its former influence. Look at Germany now. It’s one of the most influential countries in Europe and the world. To get there,

Hill Times October 11, 2021 On Sept. 29, the prime minister gave a particularly good speech on Parliament Hill in a special ceremony to honour the children lost at residential schools and survivors. And I still admit to feeling some cynicism. Would the words be linked to action? How long until that lack of action makes

Hill Times, September 29 2021 Six years after the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and here we are—struggling to get consensus in Canada to even recognize the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Some might say it will take time, but unfortunately that defence has been used for decades now.

Hill Times September 20, 2021 It’s been four months since the news broke of 215 unmarked graves from Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc at the former site of the Kamloops residential school in British Columbia. At least 751 unmarked graves were found by Cowessness in the Qu’Appelle Valley the following month in Saskatchewan, and 160 more on

Hill Times, September 6, 2021 Let’s have an election! Why, asked the people? No good reason, he said, just because I want a majority! The void of reason to blow hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ money in an election appears to have created some anger in the people. If we really had to debate some

Hill Times, August 23 2021 If we have to do an election, then let’s talk about things that matter. What is the role of governments in the new world of pandemics and crisis: passive or active? What are we going to do now about the climate emergency, as we have obviously turned a huge corner?

Hill Times August 9, 2021 I had the misfortune of touring a long-term care facility in Ottawa this past month, and I was and continue to be horrified. Experts have said this specific facility is not one of the worst. It wasn’t dirty, it wasn’t unstaffed. But it also wasn’t inviting, and there was barely

Hill Times July 26, 2021 What does accountability look like in the face of mass graves of Indigenous children? A mass grave was just found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of more than 500 mass graves from the war in 1992-1995. The largest mass grave had 629 Bosnian victims. Serb President Radovan Karadzic was found

Hill Times July 12, 2021 Mary Simon’s appointment represents the type of change required for reconciliation. Known as simply Mary to many Inuit, the position of governor general is in a long list of firsts for her life’s achievements. There are two special accomplishments built in the appointment of governor general. Obviously, it is a