On the verge of an election, here is what citizens should watch for to protect our democracy.
“America First” is not simply shopping advice. It began as an isolationist slogan during the First World War but was soon adopted by pro-fascists, American Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. These entities questioned who is really American and wanted not only isolationism, but racist policies, immigration restrictions and eugenics.
Trump did not revive the phrase accidentally. It’s a call to America’s fringes. Alienating domestic groups is a sure sign of democratic decline.
“Canada First” mimics that century-long dark theme in America. In combination with contempt for the opposition, it questions the right of other parties to legitimately hold power if used as a message by one party.
Also, asserting that “Canada is broken” — as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre often does — mimics Trump’s talk of American carnage, language and imagery he uses to justify extraordinary presidential authority.
Such language erodes citizens’ trust in democratic institutions and primes voters to support undemocratic practices in the name of patriotism. Canadian parties and politicians should exit that road.
Public health officials’ COVID complacency has opened the door to new illnesses and devastating long-term damage.
“If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.” — C.S. Lewis
While Omicron’s sub-variants find new ways to evade vaccines and destabilize immune systems, another pandemic has overwhelmed officials who are supposed to be in charge of public health.
Let’s call it a plague of willful incompetence or an outbreak of epidemiological stupidity. Or maybe José Saramago’s novel has come to life and targeted public officials with a scourge of blindness.
In any case, COVID, a novel virus that can wreak havoc with vital organs in the body, continues to evolve at a furious pace.
He crushed a fellowship in our newsroom. Now, he’s receiving national recognition for his Tyee work.
The Canadian Association of Journalists has nominated Jamin Mike for a national award.
Mike has been selected as a finalist for the JHR/CAJ Emerging Indigenous Journalist Award, for outstanding reporting done during his three-month reporting fellowship at The Tyee last year.
Our newsroom has hosted two other such reporters through a partnership with Journalists for Human Rights that includes additional funding support provided by an anonymous donor from a first-generation Chinese-Canadian family in Vancouver.
Mike said he is shocked by the nomination, considering how new he is to journalism writing.
“Being nominated for an emerging Indigenous reporter award is something that I will carry for the rest of my life,” he said. “I definitely feel inspired to continue writing and honing the best of my storytelling abilities. I sometimes feel undeserving of such a nomination, but I do feel that my years studying and practicing to do this are beginning to work out for the better.”
Why have our leaders surrendered us to rising deaths and widespread deteriorating health?
meanwhile is so called 'canada': The federal government has stopped Health Orders and all Reporting.
"For the record an Omicron infection lasts on average seven days and viral shedding may continue more than 10 days even among mild cases."
"....COVID has killed more than 14,317 Canadians since December 2021, a month dominated by the first Omicron wave. Or 24,230 if you include estimates of underreporting of COVID deaths — a chronic problem."
"...one in every 402 people living in Canada has been hospitalized with a variant of Omicron since December 2021."
More than 60 other news orgs sign onto Covering Climate Now.
The Tyee has signed on with more than 60 media outlets to be part of Covering Climate Now, an international journalism initiative co-founded by The Nation and Columbia Journalism Review.
The project aims to show what’s possible when the threat posed by greenhouse gas emissions is covered with the urgency and context it deserves. After all, just the fate of human civilization may be stake.
That’s a call Sean Holman made here in May, with his open letter to Canada’s big media organizations laying out a “five-point plan for mainstream media to cover fewer royal babies and more of our unfolding catastrophe.”
Holman’s piece garnered wide attention.
It also was applauded by two of the journalists driving the Covering Climate Now initiative, Mark Hertsgaard, The Nation’s environmental correspondent, and Columbia Journalism Review editor and publisher Kyle Pope.
Hertsgaard and Pope have written “We see Covering Climate Now as a fulfilment of journalism’s most sacred responsibilities, which are to inform people and foster constructive debate about common challenges and opportunities.”
As a member of Covering Climate Now, The Tyee joins TV networks including CBS News and major newspapers ranging from the Seattle Times and Philadelphia Inquirer to the biggest in Japan and Italy, Asahi Shimbun and La Repubblica. Other members include Nature, Scientific American, InsideClimate News, Harvard Business Review, HuffPost, Vox, the Intercept, Slate and the Texas Observer. In Canada, The Tyee is joined by Maclean’s magazine.
We’re seeking our next writer for this great (and paid) opportunity.
The Tyee is now accepting applications for a two-month paid fellowship in our Vancouver newsroom for an emerging Indigenous reporter. Please help us spread the word!
We’re seeking our next writer for this great (and paid) opportunity.
This is the third such fellowship hosted at The Tyee in partnership with Journalists for Human Rights. We’ve been thrilled by the success of the partnership so far.
Our first fellow, Emilee Gilpin, went on to work as a full-time reporter for National Observer. And our most recent fellow, Andrea Smith, was nominated for a national Canadian Association of Journalists award for her Tyee work.
The successful candidate will join our team and work with Tyee editors to develop an in-depth reporting project on a public interest issue, while also having the opportunity to work on breaking stories. We’re looking for someone with big ideas and a commitment to creative journalism.
The position is made possible through JHR’s Indigenous Reporters Program, which began in 2014. The program aims to increase the quality and quantity of Indigenous stories and voices in Canadian media, as well as offer Indigenous youth a pathway toward a journalism career.
The deadline to apply is June 23, 2019. We are aiming for a starting time of August or September 2019. Applicants will identify as Indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit).
For more information on how to apply and details on the position, go here.
We’re offering a three-month paid position in our Vancouver newsroom. Apply now.
The Tyee is pleased to once again partner with Journalists for Human Rights to offer a three-month paid fellowship for an emerging Indigenous reporter.
The successful candidate will join our Vancouver newsroom and work with Tyee editors to develop an in-depth reporting project on a public interest issue, while also having the opportunity to work on breaking stories. We’re looking for someone with big ideas and a commitment to creative journalism.
Our first intern through the program, Emilee Gilpin, is now a full-time reporter with the National Observer. She was noticed for her work at The Tyee.
Please Advise! Do We Say Sorry for Sending Smoke to the US?
Yes. When Republicans stop polluting everyone’s air with their climate lies.
Yes. When Republicans stop polluting everyone’s air with their climate lies.
Dear Dr. Steve,
Six Republican legislators from Wisconsin and Minnesota have filed a complaint with the Canadian ambassador to the United States about wildfire smoke coming over the border from the north. Their letter reads in part: “As we are entering the height of the fire season, we would like to know how your government plans on mitigating wildfires and the smoke that makes its way south.”
My neighbors and I — yes, that's the proper spelling — heartily endorse this protest. As Americans, we do not appreciate these unauthorized imports. We thought you Canadians were more considerate than this.
Signed,
Miffed in Madison
Cartoon by Greg Perry.
Dear MM,
Oh dear. All that new money budgeted for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and they still can't keep the nasty foreign element out of the country. At least now we understand why ICE goons are always wearing those masks.
Let us just say: Sorry. True, Canadians say “Sorry” like Australians say “G'day,” or Americans say “That was a warning shot — you have five seconds to get off my lawn,” but anyway: Sorry. Wildfire smoke is indeed a terrible annoyance. And since it is Canadian smoke it probably smells like a burning warehouse of Export A's. Again, sorry.
On the other hand, perhaps you should be pleased. With all the cancelled tourist flights, it must be nice to know at least there's something in the air and heading south.
Politeness notwithstanding, we Canadians have some gripes of our own. Your beloved president loves the word “reciprocal,” and it certainly applies. If there is an obnoxious airborne element drifting south, well, that is most definitely a two-way street. Over the years Canadians have endured a great deal of cross-border effluvia from the United States. Remember Here Comes Honey Boo Boo? The Brady Bunch Variety Hour? And let's not even mention the Fox Sports glowing puck. When it comes to nasty atmospheric content, Canada has a massive trade deficit.
These cultural pollutants are avoidable, at least. Other clouds of miasma are harder to avoid. Even if you try to change the channel, Donald Trump is still there, and a great deal of his idiocy has been leaking over the 49th parallel. His fumes circle the Earth. Like flatulence in an elevator, Trump is inescapable. And as smelly and unhealthy as wildfire smoke can be, breathing it in will not transform you into a hateful ignoramus incapable of empathy or basic human decency. Toxic Trump vapour, by contrast, seems to corrode the soul. No special weather statements warn of its effects. But they are real, and scientifically measurable on comment threads and bumper stickers.
Finally, it should be noted that any complaints from Americans about wildfire smoke should perhaps be directed at a mirror. Climate change is a global issue, and Canadians, alas, contribute more than our share of emissions per capita. But in this, as in so many economic categories, our output is dwarfed by that of our powerhouse neighbour.
The amount of greenhouse gas emissions the United States produces, combined with the amount of denial and misinformation produced by Republicans and their media lackeys, means that any climate-related finger pointing by Americans requires a Texas-sized load of chutzpah. For U.S. lawmakers to complain to their northern neighbours — yes, that's the spelling — about wildfire smoke is a bit like shooting someone and complaining because they got blood on your shirt.
Regardless, we in Canada are doing our very best to control the wildfires responsible for the smoke you Americans dislike so much. We hate it too. Our two nations should really work together on this. What's that George R.R. Martin book series called — A Song of Ice and Fire? Perfect. Send us some of those ICE dudes. Maybe they can do something useful for change.
