Archive

There's nothing that makes the critics line up -- nothing that makes them side and spit -- like the publication of a new book of non-fiction by John Metcalf. In the Calgary weekly FFWD, Lee Shedden writes: 'The release ... should be a Canadian national holiday; there should be drunkenness, jubilation, public nudity, mariachi bands, streamers, confetti.' Meanwhile, in The Danforth Review, Gordon Phinn calls Metcalf a 'rabid bulldog', and threatens to do unsavoury things to his 'balls'. - by Amanda Jernigan -

Culture Shock, by Heather Meek

A small NGO in Halifax is taking the Canadian government to court. The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) is accusing the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) of violating its own legislation to protect fish habitat. DFO's decision to reopen George's Bank, an important fishing ground in Atlantic Canada, to dragger boats, without first conducting an environmental assessment, spurred the EAC to take legal action in 2001. The case is expected to come before a judge this summer. - by Hillary Lindsay -

Dan Snaith is a stinking thief, of that I'm sure. His 'Manitoba' alias might throw a few off his track, since he actually hails from Ontario, though I'm sure none of his cronies in London, UK, will ever notice. He lives there nowadays, and claims to be working on a PhD in pure mathematics. But don't let that fool you.

The unseasonably warm afternoon of April 26 of this year was the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Wayzgoose festival of the printing arts in Grimsby, Ontario. The Wayzgoose festival is a gathering for practitioners of all arts relating to the production of fine, small-editioned, usually hand-made books. - by John Haney -

In the months of March and April, it seemed that everywhere you turned there was a pop artist or activist complaining that dissenting voices were getting crushed by the powers above. Surely, you'd think, all the belly-aching was exaggerated -- but then again, you'd also think that if the Beastie Boys released much-anticipated new material, you might have had a chance of hearing it on the radio. - by Matt Brennan -

How banks get away with making you pay for your savings account

Most Canadians don't need to be told that bank fees are rising, while interest rates paid on deposits--even in long term savings accounts--have diminished to the point of being inconsequential. Since the early nineties, the "big five" banks in Canada (Toronto Dominion, Royal Bank, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Montreal) have been accelerating a collective move away from traditional retail banking, which is based on the premise that depositors lend their money to a bank and receive interest and certain services in return.Instead, the trend has been to charge increasing service fees while moving customers into areas more lucrative for banks such as credit cards, mutual funds, money market accounts, and stock market investments. Simply storing money in chequing and savings accounts is no longer a considered as a mutually beneficial arrangement; it is now a service to be paid for. - by Dru Oja Jay -

"There's plenty wrong, but, as compared with 40 years ago, the improvement is enormous."

In a letter to the Irish critic and writer James Stern dated February 22, 1970, Australian novelist Patrick White (1912-1990) wrote the following astonishing pair of sentences: "How lucky the Irish are, and the American Jews, in having those rich tormented backgrounds to draw on; here we are, the bloody Australians, with nothing, having to conjure rabbits out of the air... - by J.P. Loosemore -

Did a Russian sub captain save the world from nuclear holocaust? A short excerpt from "Confronting the Empire".

Devotees of Barry's work marvel at her remarkable ability to recall and create authentic details of modern North American childhood. Sometimes funny, sometimes hauntingly sad, sometimes frightening and often full of heartfelt joy, Barry's comics are masterful. - by Heather Meek -

The transformation of public forests into clear-cuts and tree farms is nothing new in Canada. A government guarantee to corporations that this will continue to be the case is new. Provincial governments in both New Brunswick and British Columbia are considering policies that would effectively eliminate the public's control of public lands and place it in the hands of the forest industry. The stage is set for corporations to make a grab for control of Crown forests. According to the Supreme Court of Canada, Crown lands are held in trust by the federal and provincial governments for the benefit of all people, including those not yet born. - by Hillary Lindsay -

Critics of US foreign policy no longer need to make the argument that the US is trying to undermine the UN and international law, while making active use of global military dominance; the Project for the New American Century is doing it for them. Founded in 1997 on the premise that "too few political leaders today are making the case for [American] global leadership", the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) is a right wing, Washington-based think tank committed to "promoting the idea that American leadership is good both for America and for the world." - by Dru Oja Jay -