100 years of Hockey-but First a Little History

Saint Michael’s College High School, my alma mater, celebrated 100 years of hockey last Saturday at one of Toronto’s premier venues, the Liberty Grand on the grounds of the Exhibition. As usual for the new SMC (It went private 20 years ago and costs an arm and a leg to go there now) it was [...]

Harperites,Muslims and Security Certificates

“It is an ancient and venerable principle that no person shall lose his or her liberty without due process according to the law, which must involve a meaningful judicial process.” Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin The highest court in our country gave the back of its hand to the panic-driven decision to toss out all civil [...]

Anglicans and Catholics Unite?

A Reuters News report: Anglicans and Catholics Uniting. Wow. This is big news which I had not heard. Could I come to the TV station and comment on it? I knew this had to be hype because of who sits on the Barque of Peter but I went anyway, Growing Together In Unity and Mission. [...]

Priorities

It was a semi-final game, sudden death. The regular season was over and now the loser goes home for good.The place was packed-with 200 spectators.We are talking about a basketball game between two Ontario universities.The winner of this conference will proceed to a Dominion of Canada championship. 200 spectators watching a beautifully coached University of [...]

Davey Keon and Britney Spears

It must have been big news if the Globe editorialized on-Dave Keon’s return to Toronto. It says much about hockey’s role and the role of sports in a national psyche.For many, professional sport has an alienating function, distracting citizens from the necessary task at hand of constructing the decent society. Karl Marx made some remark [...]

Hedges TKOs McVety in First Round

I knew it would be a slaughter but I had to be there to see it. Chris Hedges, one of the most talented war correspondents. New York Times man in Latin America, the Middle East, the Balkans. Divinity degree from Harvard, Pulitzer prize winner vs. blowhard Charles McVety “ quoted over 4,000 times in the [...]

Frankie Laine RIP

Franki Laine in 1949 photo. Frankie Laine died last week at 93, a good long life by anyone’s standard. Forgotten today, almost a trivia question, many will remember him for the Blues Brothers’ rendition of Rawhide which was also featured in Mel Brook’s Blazing Saddles.But make no mistake about it Laine was one of the [...]

Black History Month: Mississippi Goddam

The CBC documentary Mississippi Cold Case aired on Sunday Feb. 11. Thomas Moore had to wait 42 years to see justice done in his brother’s murder in that hell hole of racism Mississippi. The only way an indictment came about was by the indefatigable work of Canadian documentarian David Ridgen who essentially cracked the case.Charles [...]

Bishop Bourget is back!

Ignace Bourget was a dynamic French Canadian bishop who was archbishop of Montreal in the 1850’s. After attending Vatican l, he came back a little too ultramontane. This quote of his I always loved. “ He who hears the cure, hears the bishop, who hears the pope” who of course, hears Christ. While not wishing [...]

The priest

Pope John Paul ll’s insistence that the priest was “ontologically” different than the people he was serving was decidedly unhelpful. This way of seeing the priest as repraesentatio Christi is also unhelpful. The sign on my local United Church is closer to the mark : Minister: all who worship here. In this way of looking [...]