Word Prisms

As I get older, I naturally fall into a contemplation of what was and what could have been. This is particularly the case with Christmas. For one reason or another, in Canada, Christmas has become the ultimate family event. As families age and children move to homes of their own, obligations require that they celebrate this annual event in places other than what their parents have traditionally called home. My wife and I spent the first decade alternating Christmases between her folks and mine. Her parents would delay Christmas on the years spent at mine. Now, my wife and I find ourselves in the same situation as our parents, only our children are not separated by a few hundred kilometres, they’re separated by thousands. So, for us to get together at least once over the Christmas holidays isn’t always possible. The year my daughters were two and four, we spent Christmas at my parents. Nicola had made dresses for both and they kind of looked like dolls. My parents m

Jason Kenney recently launched the Canadian Energy Centre meant to respond rapidly to perceived "misinformation," gather and analyze data, and produce original content, like promotional videos.” Excellent! So, I watched the promotional video you can find on this link . To say it’s boring is an understatement. It reminds me of the filmstrips we were forced to watch as in high school. The filmstrip would thread through a projector and the teacher or lucky student would advance the roll one slide with each beep of the cassette recording that explained each of the images. After classroom lights were switched off, our heads  would nod and eyes would close.   The video/slide show begins with the “Canadian Energy Centre” logo and I’m wondering how many potential viewers know what the “Canadian Energy Centre” is. So, for those who don’t know or need a reminder, myself included, the “ Calgary Herald ” tells me that it’s the new name for the energy war room that

I can't believe how grateful I am that Jason Kenney is taking a delegation of 8 cabinet ministers and civil servants to Ottawa to demand a fair deal for Alberta. I say that because Alberta has been given such a raw deal all these years. Sure, we’ve been the richest province in the country and we still have the highest per capita income but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get what Quebec has, our own pension plan and police force but we also want our own healthcare system without interference from the federal government. That way it could be public or private or whatever. Some may argue that Quebec has a distinct language and culture but we have oil. Oil’s made us rich and therefore distinct. Sure, the demand for our oil is diminishing and may never get back to where we were in 2014, but if we have faith and we stop all” Negative Nancys” and “Debbie Downers” making their horrible comments on social media and in public, maybe we can turn this province around. And