Op-eds

Canadian government curbs voting

Rose Henry is a champion for the underprivileged. She is the founder of the Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness and has sat on boards for the Together Against Poverty Society…

UVSS must respect the right to free speech

In his essay “A Plea for Free Speech,” abolitionist Frederick Douglass argued that, “[. . .] to suppress free speech is a double wrong. It violates the rights of the hearer as…

Ukraine’s future must be decided by Ukrainians

Don’t blame the common Westerner for misunderstanding Ukraine; blame world leaders, and media outlets that churn out ignorant views about Ukraine and its people. Ukraine is not merely some card…

Breaking down sex work stereotypes

Sex work has been popping up in various media outlets recently: in the discussions of national media pundits concerning the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Canada’s prostitution laws; in…

Careless desert reclamation in Egypt is unsustainable

What kind of community would you build with 700,000 square kilometers of open space? Most likely you would want to build something that would last; something that would be sustainable,…

Bring nurture back to nature

Getting outside in the great outdoors is generally seen as a good thing for children, however recent studies have shown that it is not just a breath of fresh air…

Eat local for personal benefit, not economics

Eating local exists for a few reasons—in part, as a reaction to social disconnection from food supply. Just look at magazines such as Concrete Garden, or the 100-Mile Diet (which…

Mark Lynas on GMOs, science denialism, evidence-based policy, and saving the planet

January 2013, amid a chorus of controversy, Mark Lynas—high profile environmental writer, activist, and researcher—publicly renounced and apologized for his anti-GMO (genetically modified organism) position, at the Oxford Farming Conference.…

Geopolitical conflict in Ukraine escalating

After three months of mostly peaceful protesting and several days of violent repression, the one-time president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukoych, has abruptly abandoned his post in favour of safer havens.…