activism

Comment February 1, 2016

‘One man’s vulgarity is another man’s lyric’

If I told you there was a Twitter feud in November 2012, I doubt you would be surprised; Twitter has enough feuds to go around. However, the one I’m going to tell you about resulted in something unusual. This feud did not simply end with frustration, angry words, or hashtags. It ended in a courtroom.

The Twitter exchange between Toronto artist Gregory Alan Elliott and a group of feminist activists led by Stephanie Guthrie resulted in the arrest and charge of Elliott on two counts of criminal harassment. It wasn’t until three years later on Jan. 22, 2016 that a Toronto judge found Elliott not guilty. The judge’s decision is a resounding defense of freedom of speech.

Comment January 5, 2016

More on the STEM gender gap

In early November, I wrote an editorial about the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields. The article was met with polarizing opinions concerning what I had written: some people really agreed with me and some people did not.

I think the only thing I really regret about that editorial is the last statement I made, which comes off as flippant and shouldn’t have been included. However, I do not back away from my initial statement about gender-focused initiatives.

Arts & Culture December 1, 2015

Ask Her Talks

On Nov. 25, the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre hosted the second national stop for the Stephen Lewis Foundation-sponsored Ask Her Talks in conjunction with World AIDS…

Arts & Culture November 24, 2015

Felines need financing

As of Nov. 9, local animal shelter Craig Street Cats (CSC) has paid its outstanding bills. Lynne Scott, executive director and founder of the organization,…

Editorial November 24, 2015

Darkness in the City of Light

Paris has loomed large in my mind the past few months. In Paris, on Nov. 30, the COP21 climate talks will convene. These talks must succeed. If they do not then we do not have a snowball’s hope in hell of avoiding the worst, most catastrophic effects of climate change.

News November 18, 2015

Womyn helping women

The University of Manitoba Womyn’s Centre has partnered with the Fort Garry Women’s Resource Centre to offer free self-defence classes for women on campus.

News November 3, 2015

New scholarship bolsters human rights research

The University of Manitoba has established a new Mahatma Gandhi scholarship for graduate students studying human rights. The scholarship, along with the forthcoming development of a master of human rights program at the university, helps to solidify Winnipeg as one of the leaders of human rights study in the country.

No Picture

Comment October 20, 2015

The reactionary Pope

The papacy has never enjoyed as glowing a reception as today, and notably among progressives. Pope Francis has been met with praise for his strong condemnations of “unbridled capitalism” and the visible inequities and environmental degradation it has produced. This focus on social justice, the pontiff’s seemingly humble, compassionate persona, has convinced many on the left that he is to be considered a “radical pope” and a force for institutional change. I think caution needs to be urged in applying this label, largely because many of the moral positions of the Catholic Church are fundamentally conservative in nature.