Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi found himself being bashed, nationally, a few days ago, for his effort to reduce conflict among members of his city council. At the root of the bashing was a somewhat contentious decision the mayor had taken, to have a psychologist/facilitator meet with council members. Nenshi was a surprise winner in the […]

Lee Strobel is an apologist. No, he has nothing for which to apologize. The “apologist” moniker relates to the increasingly professional practice of providing friendly and informed venues for defending and/or explaining the Christian faith. Apologists are not evangelists or pastors, exactly, but they can, at their best, provide considerable support for both of those […]

“The difficulty with the ‘big society’ concept, as it is being worked out in Great Britain, is that, as it stands, we have an emerging ‘small state and small society.’” I will not name the originator of that quote. It came earlier this month from a visitor from Great Britain who was commenting on my […]

He drew a circle that shut me out – Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win: We drew a circle that took him in!   — An epigram entitled “Outwitted” by Edwin Markham, 1852-1940, sometime Poet Laureate of the state of Oregon. *  *  * The above […]

Now that winter is properly launched in the nation’s capital, it is time to wish OttawaWatch readers a Happy New Year. And, as well, to talk about some interesting adjustments which I trust will make these weekly pieces more relevant and interactive. While it would be nice to spend the first week of 2012 on […]

It was an electrifying two minutes on CTV’s Question Period this past Sunday, December 18. After the usual attacks and counter-attacks by the talking heads, QP’s co-anchor, Kevin Newman invited – yea, required – his three MP guests to say something good about their political opponents. The three, Megan Leslie of the NDP, the Liberals’ […]

Following the May 2 election, the friends of several re-elected Liberal MPs, mostly in their 60s, began to try to find ways of helping them to “finish well”. Most of the MPs, as it happened, were people of faith. I will try to describe, in a semi-educated fashion, what was happening and why. The MPs […]

Senator Don Meredith, a Toronto pastor, business person and dampener-down of youth violence, is urging the private business sector to support efforts to resolve long-standing problems at the Attawapiskat First Nation. In the interests of full disclosure: Senator Meredith took me on as his communications advisor for a few months, after my main source of […]

Imagine Canada is the rather imaginative – and innovative – name of an organization that pulled together this week’s National Summit for the Charitable and Nonprofit Sector. The Summit drew together around 700 people involved in and around organizations that will undoubtedly become increasingly significant. They are part of a world where “big society” and […]