The business of anti-racism…
July 15, 2018
Alberta’s NDP government has launched an anti-racism campaign. Did they miss an extraordinary opportunity to take a negative and turn it into a positive? … More The business of anti-racism…
Category: Uncategorized
Circle the Wagons
July 8, 2018
She lives in Calgary and he lives in a bubble.
I’m ticked that national media still hasn’t listened to what Rose Knight is drawing our attention to about our prime minister.
… More Circle the Wagons
Buckin’ the sales tax bronco!
July 1, 2018
A Calgary Stampede dare for all you partisan politicians in Alberta! How bout you rustle up a sales tax for this province? Pronto! … More Buckin’ the sales tax bronco!
Education! (part 2)
June 27, 2018
A sequel, as promised. We’re posing 2 tough questions:
What should we do with cellphones in the classroom? What should we do with religion in the classroom? … More Education! (part 2)
Smelling Carbon
June 24, 2018
How can we move forward on the climate change debate? Apocalypse now vs. climate change denial? Here are some practical ideas. … More Smelling Carbon
Playing Hooky with the Education Act
June 20, 2018
School Act vs Education Act in Alberta. Are you ready to rumble? … More Playing Hooky with the Education Act
Manipulating the Odds on the Baby Lottery
June 17, 2018
The Trump administration is slapping down hard on immigration. Zero tolerance. Even separating children from their parents. Meanwhile, in Canada, we’re turning a blind eye to ‘birth houses’ in British Columbia. Pregnant women coming to Canada to deliver their Maple-Leaf branded babies, then heading back home, most to China. This isn’t a partisan political issue. All we need is a simple modernization. … More Manipulating the Odds on the Baby Lottery
Capital D: Dad, Duty, Dignity
June 16, 2018
It’s Father’s Day tomorrow. My father passed away on February 4th. I posted this blog 5 months ago, but it feels like yesterday. It feels like a right time to share again. Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, and all the cherished memories of fathers. Could God have created a better way of living than as families?
… More Capital D: Dad, Duty, Dignity
Family feuds & tidewater–a cautionary tale.
June 13, 2018
What does a shooting war in Yemen have to do with inter-provincial sniping between Alberta & British Columbia? With Canada’s response to American protectionism? … More Family feuds & tidewater–a cautionary tale.
Repost from CBC: Albertans Don’t Play the Victim Card Lightly
April 20, 2018
The structure that has held us together is in Canada coming apart. We’re at a defining moment for our energy — the energy economy, and our energy as a people.
What do you think we can do?
… More Repost from CBC: Albertans Don’t Play the Victim Card Lightly
Play Ping-Pong & Build Legacy
March 31, 2018
Nobody thinks ‘medium-term’.
Generally, we think short-term. Occasionally, long-term.
When you have short term in one hand, and long term in the other, there are trade-offs. But it’s not like you think ‘short-term’ Monday to Friday, and longer-term on the weekend.
So, how do people do this? How do you hold short-term & long-term in both hands, at the same time?
Repost from CBC: My father’s death, and why we all need to think about what we cost the health-care system
March 27, 2018
In the midst of my personal grieving, I’m grateful to a health-care system that made my father comfortable in his dying days. He didn’t feel vulnerable. He wasn’t a specimen on a table. He died with dignity.
I am thankful for a system where other people helped pay the price to make that happen. At yet, at the same time, I recognize we can and must create a better system. We need to face reality, but face it together — let’s open up a real conversation.
When it comes to our health-care system here in Alberta, we have choices. We are confronted with hard choices. Collectively, and individually. We can keep pussy-footing around and hope things just get better.
Or we can recognize our blind spots, and take steps in the direction of improving how we actually deliver health care in our province.
But to do so, we must, must, move beyond the way we currently frame the discussion. We need new ideas in the marketplace of ideas. We Albertans need to think about our personal, individual costs to the system. And we also need the marketplace. … More Repost from CBC: My father’s death, and why we all need to think about what we cost the health-care system
Skin in the game
March 21, 2018
I admire people who put their necks on the line, and share risks. I don’t admire people who try to push off risks, unfairly, to other people. Or people who fake having real skin in the game. And, I get downright formidable when someone with legitimate skin in the game is exploited by someone with no skin in the game, at all.
What skin do you have in the game? Who else has genuine skin in the game, and who doesn’t? And, if someone with no skin in the game is trying to exploit you, here are some ideas! … More Skin in the game
Steeling Up for Slippery Slopes
March 6, 2018
If you are a Canadian right now (and maybe an American too), you may want to gag. 25% tariffs on steel unless you renegotiate NAFTA the way I want, says Trump.
What can we do? Well, I’m going to suggest something a little old-fashioned. Let’s be prudent. That doesn’t mean we’re uncertain about what’s right. It means being scrupulous about finding the best means to get where we want to go. … More Steeling Up for Slippery Slopes
Un-Canadian #Un🍁
March 4, 2018
Canada celebrated its 150th birthday last year. Compare what we have to other places, and you’d be hard-pressed not to be grateful. Yet there is a risk that our country will become un-Canadian. Maybe not intentionally. But out of neglect. Out of indifference. Or our habit of identifying ourselves in contrast to the Americans.
Lately, I’ve found myself frustrated by happenings in Canada, to Canada, and by Canadians. I’m seeing self-inflicted wounds. Increasingly, I’ve been pointing it out, tagging acts as #Un-Canadian in my Twitter feed and Facebook posts.
To illustrate, let me share some of what’s, in my humble opinion, un-Canadian. And, I’d like to hear from fellow-Canadians. What are you seeing? Heck, I’d like to hear from anyone with an opinion on what’s happening to Canada & Canadians.
Are we suffering some sort of identity-crisis? Is this something to worry about, or to embrace as growth? … More Un-Canadian #Un🍁
Re-calibrating the power of guns
February 26, 2018
All those “if you aren’t with us, you’re against us” people in the world want you to pick a side in this battle over guns. Their side. Ban all guns vs. Arm everyone.
I’m suggesting something a little more creative. Give it a shot! … More Re-calibrating the power of guns
Female, feminist & formidable
February 1, 2018
We’re in the middle of gender chaos right now, hell for some. There are so many facts flying, it’s hard to make sense of it all. I’m a feminist and a female. I should feel formidable. Some moments I do. But my feelings are mixed. … More Female, feminist & formidable
Fantasy League: Drafting the “Eh” Team
January 11, 2018
No slight intended to the REAL Canadian trade negotiators…but here’s a fantasy league that may be fun. If you were the general manager of Canada’s trade team, who would you draft? … More Fantasy League: Drafting the “Eh” Team
Cradling Joy & Sadness in both hands
December 28, 2017
My 30-year-old son is to be married on New Year’s Eve, to a woman we all adore.
And my 82-year-old father has just been told there’s a 99% likelihood he has lung cancer. The growth in his left lung so vast, the upper part of his lung has collapsed.
How do I hold such intense joy and such intense sadness? Together. In both hands. At the same time. … More Cradling Joy & Sadness in both hands
Darwin’s Curse: evolve or perish
December 14, 2017
In Calgary, we’ve laid out the red carpet for Amazon. We’re hoping to lure Silicon Valley types to our cooler stretch of the Rockies. I’m encouraged by this. Not just because we need their tax dollars and jobs, we recognize that we need a strong infusion of risk-taking DNA. Sometimes we get bound up in our peace, order & good government roots.
In my crystal ball, I see Albertans remembering how to strive together, take risks, compete. … More Darwin’s Curse: evolve or perish
Repost from CBC News: The sexist language of politics: Both men and women need to change
December 7, 2017
“We can’t call men out, and then use sex or sexist language back at them,” writes former MLA Donna Kennedy Glans. “I don’t encourage women to grow a thicker skin. To lighten up. But I do encourage them to observe their reactions to both sexist criticism and fawning adoration. To be wary of both. To … More Repost from CBC News: The sexist language of politics: Both men and women need to change
Black Friday: I’m not buying it!
November 23, 2017
I’m not buying it!
Companies tout themselves as ‘sustainable’. Then dare to sell me consumer goods designed to be obsolete in an all-too-short while.
I’m fighting back! … More Black Friday: I’m not buying it!
Brain Health: Of course we can do better
November 16, 2017
My great-grandfather Maurice Elliott died in 1944 after the uninsured barn on their farm burned to the ground. He left behind his widow and nine children.
Only as an adult did I come to know his death was a suicide. It wasn’t my grandmother or father who told me. For them, it was a deeply buried secret.
We now have the science available to look at someone’s brain in an MRI and diagnose whether or not that person is depressed.
With other health challenges—cancer, heart disease, kidney stones–we rely on diagnostic tools and trust the science.
How do we get to that same level of certainty and acceptance with brain health? … More Brain Health: Of course we can do better
Who is making your decisions?
November 9, 2017
Making or influencing or blocking a decision that affects others is a big deal. It’s a choice, a skill and a responsibility. Marrying dignity to decision-making is an investment not only in the humanity of our choices, but also in the potential of actually getting something done, of actually moving forward. … More Who is making your decisions?
CBC Repost: Conservative, Liberal, Progressive? How to define yourself without labels
November 4, 2017
Originally published November 4th 2017 Conservative, Liberal, Progressive? How to define yourself without labels CBC Report: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/donna-kennedy-glans-calgary-future-road-ahead-political-identity-1.4387347
Let’s make #MeToo a hashtag for ordinary women
October 28, 2017
Let’s make this moment about ordinary people.
Let’s make #MeToo more than a Hollywood moment.
No, I’m not stepping forward to dredge up the sordid details of my stories of sexual harassment and intimidation for inspection. Is there a female alive who hasn’t experienced a creepy power play by a male, one with sexual overtones? This blog is about 1) what’s triggering the opening of #MeToo floodgates; 2) how this phenomenal level of damned up exploitation happened in plain sight without bystander knowledge and intervention; and 3) what can all of us, females and males, do to prevent #MeToo turning into a manhunt that wipes out the potential for constructive, trusting relationships between ordinary women and men. There is so much at stake here. … More Let’s make #MeToo a hashtag for ordinary women
Dignity and the Sicilian Mafia
October 26, 2017
The Mafia is still alive in Sicily, Italy. And people are fighting back. This blog takes a look at modern-day Sicily, and their transition from an honour culture to a dignity culture.
… More Dignity and the Sicilian Mafia
Angry White Men as the Victims
October 12, 2017
Remember Archie Bunker? The lovable bigot in All in the Family TV series who was suspicious of blacks, Hispanics, “commies”, gays, hippies, Jews, Catholics, “women’s libbers” and Polish-Americans? Imagine his response if someone told Bunker to “check his privilege”. Even more amusing, imagine if someone tried to cast Bunker as a victim!
Trump promised the forgotten he would restore lost honour. Turning angry white men into victims isn’t restoring their honour or their dignity. Trump has replaced pride with self-pity. He’s turning these Americans upside-down!
Compassion unfolds when your resonance with someone’s distress leads you to actually do something to help. Right now, our capacity for compassion seems blunted by the shrill cries of “victimhood”. … More Angry White Men as the Victims
Nuclear War: Do we have wiggle room?
September 28, 2017
Anxiety has a biological purpose. It awakens our senses and makes us alive to imminent threats. In anxious times, people seem to fall victim to either utopias or catastrophe. Jurgen Moltmann, author of Ethics of Hope explains: “In the exuberance of hope, the temptation is utopianism; in fear, the temptation is alarmism.” Neither of these polarized responses work.
Moltmann suggests we figure out how to recognize and advance peace even while conflict exists. He defines reconciliation as “the peace which makes it possible for us, in the midst of strife, to bring the conflict to a just end.”
I’ve been thinking about reconciliation a lot lately, in the context of First Nations in Canada and communities in Yemen. Reconciliation is challenging to define, and even harder to achieve. I’m intrigued by Moltmann’s description. … More Nuclear War: Do we have wiggle room?
Pride & Uncle Arnold
September 14, 2017
Not everyone may be qualified to walk in a politically-torqued pride parade.
Getting behind friends and family —and even strangers—facing cultural, faith and community barriers in their sexual choices, that’s an everyday action. No need for external accreditation to do this work. No need for a parade. You just do it. … More Pride & Uncle Arnold