By Jason Menard
Their hearts are in the right place, but their heads? The on-line petition requesting that Victoria Day — a 168-year tradition — be changed to include Canada’s native population is well-intentioned, but misguided.
After all, our First Peoples deserve better than second billing. Continue reading
By Jay Menard
Sometimes a tree branch starts growing in a direction that you don’t want. There are a number of ways to control this growth, ranging from pruning to capping, but in the end all you’re doing is preventing the tree’s natural growth.
It makes sense if the tree is infringing on your home or at risk of causing damage, but to cap a tree simply because you don’t like the way it looks — or, worse, the colour of its foliage — is ludicrous.
Yet that’s exactly what some are suggesting we should do in London, Ontario. Essentially, there are those who are content to cap the Forest City’s growth until Oct. 27, 2014. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
Like so many times before, the death of mainstream media has been greatly exaggerated. But if anything has died as a result of the questionable coverage of the Boston terrorist bombings and subsequent manhunt, hopefully it’s the prevalence of jumping the gun when reporting potential smoking guns.
And that’s something for which both traditional and social media are guilty. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
In the interest of informing its citizens, It may not only be time for London’s municipal government to join the party — but it may also be time for potential ‘guests’ to send in their 2014 RSVPs early.
Though I’m generally opposed to party politics, I’m not so naive to think that there aren’t like-minded councillors representing wards in municipalities across the country. So maybe it’s time to ‘out’ the factions at the beginning of the process and afford London’s citizens the respect they deserve by giving them the information they need.
It can be argued that the municipal level has the most day-to-day impact on our lives; yet it’s also the level of government that many know least about. Being up front and honest about pre-existing affiliations at the municipal level would help citizens make a more informed decision. It would behoove citizens to know not only who’s drinking which flavour of Kool-Aid, but — more importantly — who may be spiking the punch bowl with potentially biased information. Continue reading
By Jason Menard
The band War may have asked “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” And while psychology and biology may have some answers, for our personal and societal growth, I’d rather take my inspiration from another group of musical philosophers: Paula Abdul and M.C. Skat Kat who once famously expounded all the wonderful reasons why “opposites attract.” Continue reading
