Legendary Maritime folksinger and feminist Rita MacNeil has died, at the age of 68
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on April 17, 2013
The Cape Breton singer died on Tuesday as a result of complications from surgery. She recorded 24 albums over her career, and her song “Working Man” will live on as an evocative and emotional tale of mining-culture in the mid-Twentieth century. I would describe her sound as Celtic showtunes, or 80s adult contemporary imbued with local flair. MacNeil’s Christmas TV specials were a delight. At the core of each song—the …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
At least 3000 children died in Canadian church-run residential schools: new report
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on February 18, 2013
An estimated 150,000 First Nations children were abducted from their homes between 1870 and 1990– shorn, stripped, and shipped across the country. It has long been anecdotally acknowledged that many of these displaced children perished far from their loved ones, but for the first time a number has emerged.
[A People's History (Terre Sauvage) - Diana Thorneycroft]
New research authored by the Missing Children Project is shedding light on the …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
Celebrating the Morgentaler decision: 25 years since Supreme Court struck down abortion law
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on January 28, 2013
On Monday, January 28, 1988 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R. v. Morgentaler that the federal government’s criminal law governing abortions was unconstitutional. It ruled that women should have control of their bodies. It was, and remains, a landmark victory for Canadian women.
The core of the case, which is often obscured by the hyperbole and essentialisms of moral and religious debates in pop culture, relates …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
The land before Eden: Herzog narrates “Dinotasia”
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on November 18, 2012
Reuniting with the team that produced Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Grizzly Man, Bavarian bravura Werner Herzog turns out film project number EIGHT since 2010′s Cave doc: Dinotasia!
Imagine for a moment that Malick left all of Sean Penn’s scenes in The Tree if Life on the cutting room floor, and instead fleshed-out the primordial drama of pre-biblical Paradise. From Dios to dinos!
“Their bones gave rise to …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
Lana Wachowski enters the public sphere as a filmmaker
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on October 30, 2012
Lana Wachowski–one half of the sibling team responsible for directing The Matrix and Cloud Atlas (with Tom Tykwer)–has emerged from nearly 12 years of media avoidance to speak about her experiences as a transgendered woman, and as a filmmaker interested in preserving a “private civic life”.
In an acceptance speech delivered at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala dinner in San Francisco, Wachowski explains that being able to circulate …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
Anti-Abortion laws & involuntary childbirth: the questions we should be asking
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on October 29, 2012
If you’re serious about reducing abortion, the most important issue is not which abortions to ban. The most important issue is how will you support women to have the babies they want.
CNN contributor David Frum has penned an exceptionally well-argued and accessible article that makes clear two of the leading reasons women seek abortions: poverty and “maternal distress.” (These are not the only reasons, but I’ll take what I …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
60 second briefing on Canada-China Investment Treaty: is that it?
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on October 26, 2012
On Wednesday, MP Elizabeth May delivered a very short summary of the impacts of the Canada-China Investment Treaty, currently under review being pushed through Parliament.
According to a press release from May’s office earlier this month, “On September 9th, Prime Minister Stephen Harper signed an agreement with China, the Canada-China Investment Treaty. The agreement was kept from the Canadian public and Parliament until September 26th, 2012, when it was quietly …
Read the rest
2 comments
Honey Badger creator makes Save the Arctic video
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on October 15, 2012
Lending his particular brand of snark to the good cause of saving the “precious, furry, polies” of the Arctic:
Leave a comment
Men who rock: Seattle Satire edition
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on October 5, 2012
Worth sharing: The Stranger has compiled a studiously satirical series of interviews with Seattle-based “Men who Rock” in the tradition of Rolling Stone’s annual feature (I’m linking to a profile on Rye Rye here, because DANCE).
Columnists interview six leading men from indie and hip hop groups, asking probing questions such as, “What’s the hardest thing about being a man who rocks?”, “What is your stage preparation …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
Canadians: “Get that Asian-looking woman off our $100 bill, and replace with a non-ethnic Caucasian.”
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on August 17, 2012
The Toronto Star has published a cringe-inducing article outlining the recall and redesign of newly minted Canadian $100 bills. The reason? Focus groups determined that the woman looking into a microscope on the bill appeared Asian. This a problem. Because people are racist blowholes.
When we got into focus groups…some thought the image appeared to represent a particular ethnic group, so modifications were made. ~Bank of Canada spokesman Jeremy Harrison
4 comments
Enbridge oil erases 1000km of island landmass to demonstrate safety route!
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on August 16, 2012
Enbridge has unveiled a PR video in a bid to sway public opinion on their possibly disastrous plan to stretch the Northern Gateway Pipeline across land we’d rather not bathe in heavy crude. Apparently the only way they could make it look like a safe and viable plan is to erase islands from the Douglas channel.
According to an recent article on the David Suzuki Foundation website by Lori Waters, a specialist …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
The Dick Flash Imperative
by Michelle Lovegrove Thomson on July 25, 2012
A high volume of incidents of sexual violence, assault, harrassment, and “rape humour” have recently been making headlines.
This month in Toronto there were at least four different arrests made relating to sexual assaults on the street, at York University, and in women’s homes. As we all know, these four arrests represent only a tiny fraction of the violent activity being enacted on our streets and …
Read the rest
Leave a comment
