Some insiders want Alberta’s premier to avoid her own impulses and tendencies There’s a heady moment from the first season of The West Wing — the Aaron Sorkin drama series that launched a thousand political clichés — where fictional president Jed Bartlet gets confronted by his chief of staff about struggles in his re-election campaign. It turns out they’re both weary of adviser over-management and Bartlet’s cautious, middle-of-the-road positions. The prez wants to speak out. Leo, his aide, sketches out the beginnings of the new strategy for a less restrained candidate. In big markerRead more

USPS says Vancouver Island marmot is a ‘symbol of conservation’ The endangered Vancouver Island marmot is having a moment. The chubby little rodent was featured on the Netflix docuseries Island of the Sea Wolves earlier this year. Now, it’s on a U.S. postal stamp — one of a new collection featuring 20 endangered species. As its name would suggest, the marmot is found solely on Vancouver Island. It’s puzzling, perhaps, that a U.S. institution would include it in an American collection. The U.S. postal stamp featuring the Vancouver Island marmot, an animalRead more

Hockey Canada scandal and its fall-out a sensitive topic for junior players Speaking to junior hockey teams across Manitoba, Brock McGillis, one of the first professional hockey players to come out as gay, challenges players to share interests outside of the “safe four topics” of conversation — hockey, women, sports and music. At the beginning of this year’s hockey season, the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) arranged for every one of its teams to hear a presentation from the LGBTQ advocate. It’s part of the league’s commitment to addressing criticisms thatRead more

‘How many other women are they not looking for?’ Cambria Harris asks from Brady Road landfill blockade WARNING: This story contains distressing details. People visiting the Brady Road landfill south of Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon were turned away as protesters blocked access to the waste management facility to call on all levels of government to search for the remains of missing people. Cambria Harris, the eldest daughter of Morgan Harris — one of four victims of alleged serial killer Jeremy Skibicki — wants the federal government to pick up the tab forRead more

Indigenous lands contain about 80% of Earth’s remaining biodiversity Behind the rainbow-tinted windows of Montreal’s Palais des congrès, the hallways of the sprawling downtown convention centre hum with activity as international delegates hurry from one meeting to the next during the United Nations biodiversity summit, COP15. A total of 195 nations plus the European Union have a seat at the negotiating table as world governments meet on the traditional land of Kanien’kehá:ka Nation to hash out a global biodiversity framework. The framework aims to save nature from the brink by cutting pollution, ensuringRead more