Opinion General

It’s been a few years since I bid my client and friend, Carmen, adieu for the last time. But as we approach the start of a new year, I find myself thinking a lot about old Carmen and what she was able to teach me.

In 1979, following the communist invasion of South Vietnam, the killing fields of Cambodia, and various regional wars, about two million South Asian refugees were driven out of their homes. Out of desperation and facing almost certain death behind them, many simply floated out to sea in leaky boats in hopes of finding safety somewhere,...

My brother stood positioned on one side of the tree while my mother fiddled anxiously on the other. “Watch her, please,” my dad cautioned them both. Again, louder, “watch her, please, you two.” There was a sense of urgency, a sense of distress in his voice. Those of us who weren’t the designated spotters sat...

As Christmas comes and goes, we will all think about the gifts we received and those we gave. And while most of us celebrate the holidays with loved ones, there are those who are working, often unnoticed. Their work on Christmas Day is a gift to all of us. If you need to buy gas,...

Screen-fatigue. Technological torpor. Compukrankheit. There’s a malignancy that’s unique to our present age; and even though you may be otherwise healthy, perhaps even superficially well turned out, chances are you are suffering the effects of the sinister canker that is techno-creep. Call it what you will, it’s gonna get you too, sooner or later. If...

"At the moment Donald Trump controls the daily agenda because reporters insist other candidates respond to whatever he says. That will lessen as the novelty diminishes."  So said the Wall Street Journal back in July of this year, echoing countless similar opinions, including mine. In fact, each week of last summer I waited for the...

Eleven days ago, our country began welcoming the flights of Syrian refugees into its National airports. Churches, non-profits, businesses, caring individuals and community organizations began to put together settling-in baskets filled with the necessities that would be getting these people through the first few weeks ahead. My family had been following the news closely; waiting...

The provincial government wants to untap the economic potential of the Sunshine Coast by building a fixed crossing to it. Transportation Minister Todd Stone is seeking input from the public on possible routes from the Lower Mainland to Sechelt, Gibsons and the other parts of the Sunshine Coast. I would agree that building a fixed...

I haven't carried cash for almost a year and it didn't poppy up as a problem until just last month when there was no script nor coin in my wallet for the Remembrance Day donation box. The march toward a cashless society is humbugging on-the-spot charitable causes to the point that some Salvation Army kettle...