Divorcing a spiritual practice from its religious meaning is problematic and a forcible whitewashing of something deeply and fundamentally complex
By David Hunt and Brian Dijkema Cardus Most court decisions are a zero-sum game. One side’s win is the other’s loss. But this was not the result recently at the B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo. Both sides, and the public, lost in Servatius versus Alberni School District No. 70. One side wanted smudging ceremonies and…
Your brain has a funny way of making dreams come true. Be careful what you wish for
I frequently ask my clients: What would happen if you got hit by a bus? I mean it hypothetically. I want to know if they have plans for their business, how they would take care of their family, what would be the result if they couldn’t work for a while? Often when I ask this,…
BMW 3 Series, Kia Optima Hybrid, Scion xB, Toyota Prius V all offer good value and quality
Looking for a used car around five years old? Here are some models from 2015 that I happen to like, from four manufacturers. BMW 3 Series BMW makes some outstanding automobiles, no question. But for driving pleasure, value, and accessibility, the 3 Series takes some beating. The base version was actually less expensive than the…
Baseball suspensions and fines should reverberate through all sports, down to children's athletics. Cheating is a social ill that needs to be addressed
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred handed the Houston Astros severe penalties for cheating this week. Manfred suspended Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch for a year each for their role in using electronic equipment to steal the signs of opponents. He also fined the organization $5 million and stripped the Astros…
A poorly-chosen menu and questionable marketing led to a leadership shakeup. Innovation through trial speeds up change. But successive failures cast doubt
Tim Hortons has had what is likely one of the strangest years in its history. Most of the iconic chain’s decisions in recent months have been inexplicable. Canadians have been left scratching their heads. Take the Beyond Meat burger as an example. Tim Hortons took this well-promoted plant-based item off its menu in September 2019,…
Mental health professionals offer a public service to help us recognize the danger signs and risks of having a tyrant in office and how to disarm them
Tyrannical leaders share certain qualities. In essence, they live under a tremendous fear of being overthrown. Through their actions, almost without exception, they inadvertently make this fear a reality. I know how fortunate I am to live in a free country. I will never forget my first experience of no longer having the freedom to…
Be smart, shop around and make sure you’re aware of the total fees you pay and what you're getting for them
Some fees for investments are hidden, some are visible. But there’s always some type of fee or cost involved in investing. Some people will disagree with my broad use of the word fee, but I believe that any money paid out, regardless of how it’s paid, is a fee. Every business sets out to make…
Snow throws a lot at us. Our response to it can be seen in how we navigate the challenges of building a business, writing a book or tackling a project
The sun is shining, even if the air is still frigid, so I’ll take it. After several days of digging out my huge driveway – 100 metres, to be exact – and coping with drifting snow, even my most optimistic “Shovelling is a great full-body workout strategy” is feeling less than enthusiastic. I love the…
Influenza is one of Canada’s top 10 infectious diseases and has a catastrophic impact on society's most vulnerable
Did you get your flu shot this year? Many Canadians did not, even though safe and effective flu vaccines have been available for more than 60 years. And while the consequences of not having a flu vaccine are inconvenient for some – a few days of feeling unwell – they can be devastating for others.…
Back in September 2012, I wrote a column suggesting that Jean Charest’s recent political retirement wasn’t the end of the story. A man in his mid-50s who’d spent almost his entire adult life in politics would find it difficult to irrevocably wash his hands of the whole business. Now, on the brink of his apparently…
How future changes in the structure of business and the nature of work could impact the environment
Replacing humans with robots clearly has a dystopian flavour. But could the successive waves of artificial intelligence (AI) and other exponentially developing technologies displacing jobs, ranging from banker to construction worker, have potential positives for the environment? According to a 2016 McKinsey automation study, about a third of most job activities, affecting 49 per cent…
Somehow, the organizers of the Motorcycle Show in Calgary manage to pick one of the most bitterly cold weeks of January to hold their annual event. That's all right because it gives riders a little light at the end of the long, white winter tunnel. This year's show was the first of six to be…
Chinese President Xi Jinping has concocted a devious plan to revise the Bible to make it more in line with his country’s totalitarian ideology
Imagine this hypothetical scenario: A world leader decides they’re going to arbitrarily change the text of an historically important religious document to suit their needs. Some people might complain about this decision in private, but the world leader is far too powerful to either publicly criticize or condemn. So these changes are made in short order…
Households with an average income of $50,000 worry twice as much (2.25 hours) a day than households with an average income of more than $100,000
There’s no question that Canadians these days are worrying a lot more about their personal finances, according to new surveys from Scotiabank. The surveys indicate 65 per cent of Canadians with debt struggle to save or invest money while paying down debt and 67 per cent said they find the amount of information about investing overwhelming.…
Fans are staying away from stadiums in great part because the games take too long to play. The new XFL is trying a number of modifications to cut the length of games
Football fans have spoken: the games last too damn long. Delays, reviews, timeouts and injuries turn 18 minutes of action into three-plus hours. At least that’s the results of research done for the new XFL, a football league that starts play on Feb. 8, right after the National Football League’s Super Bowl. The startup league…
By David Hunt and Brian Dijkema Cardus Most court decisions are a zero-sum game. One side’s win is the other’s loss. But this was not the result recently at the B.C. Supreme Court in Nanaimo. Both sides, and the public, lost in Servatius versus Alberni School District No. 70. One side wanted smudging ceremonies and…
