In British Columbia last year, 2,272 people died from toxic drugs, according to information released last week. More than 11,000 people have died of drug toxicity in the province since a public health emergency was declared in April 2016. While…
Last Saturday, Israel’s ambassador to Canada announced he was resigning over differences with the new government back home. Ronen Hoffman has served only about a year in the role. He was appointed by the last government and, before that, had…
A pageant of pandemonium consumed the United States House of Representatives last week as it took 15 votes to confirm Kevin McCarthy as speaker. The chaos was caused by a group of far-right congresspeople representing less than five percent of…
Among other things, Hanukkah is about bringing light into the darkness. There is plenty of darkness in the world and a vast range of concerns calling for radiance. Mainstream media seem to have taken the cue that Hanukkah is the…
Coalition negotiations continue in Israel after the fifth election in less than four years. And the signs are ominous for the future of Israeli democracy, for women’s equality, for religious pluralism, for LGBTQ+ rights, for peace and for coexistence. Bezalel…
On Remembrance Day, we reflect on the sacrifices made by Canadians who fought to defend freedom. Many of us recall the solemnity of our childhoods standing in a school auditorium, first beginning to understand the meaning behind the poem “In…
In an email briefing this week, the English-language news platform Times of Israel declared: “UN releases 2nd damning report on Israel; real estate soars.” These were two unrelated stories. The United Nations had unveiled another in its persistent condemnations of…
Voters throughout British Columbia will elect new mayors, councilors, school trustees and (depending on the jurisdiction) other officials on Oct. 15. Over the past several decades, terms for municipal officials have gone from two years to three years to, now,…
Over the Labour Day weekend, while many Canadians were soaking up the declining rays of summer or doing last-minute back-to-school shopping, Middle East politics eclipsed everything else – well, for those of us who track these things closely, which, it…
Leslyn Lewis, a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada leadership that will be decided in the coming days, made a stir last week when she invoked the Nuremberg Code, apparently with regard to coronavirus vaccines. The Nuremberg Code is…
