Category Archives: Canada

Canada Reads 2013 Releases Top 10 Books By Region

Lots of interesting looking books on this list.

Will Ferguson Wins #Giller Prize, Is All Around Good Guy #canlit

When I worked for the Writers Guild of Alberta, the biggest part of my job was probably working with beginning and emerging writers.  So you can imagine my surprise when the phone rang one day and I heard a voice on the other end of the line say: “Jason, it’s Will, Will Ferguson calling.” He […]

First Snow of the Year

The only version of Hawksley Workman’s “First Snow of the Year” I could find on YouTube right now is copyright controlled so instead, you get a kids’ choir version (which actually adds to the winter/Christmas feel!) One question I haven’t resolved – when I do my annual “first snow of the year” post, what defines […]

Why You Can Still Celebrate Thanksgiving (Even If You Hate Colonialism)

I’m not sure if the person who wrote this article about feeling conflicted at Thanksgiving is First Nations (or Aboriginal/Indian/Native depending on who you’re talking to and/or what country – or part of the country – you’re in) but the person who posted it to Facebook definitely is which is part of the reason I […]

Justin Trudeau on Quora

You probably missed it because it didn’t get much media attention but apparently Justin Trudeau recently announced he’s running for Liberal Leader. I’ll likely write more about that as it develops but for now, just want to highlight that Trudeau has an account on the popular Q&A site, Quora and some of his answers are particularly […]

“Punching Above Your Weight” For The Next #skndpldr

“Punching above your weight” is a common phrase for when a person performs above what might naturally be expected of their position. In Saskatchewan, you might expect our political leaders to be limited because of a variety of factors – our huge geography, our small population and our naturally humble nature. 😉 But instead, our […]

NHL Lockout: A Message to Fans from the #theplayers

Here we go again…

Roger Marin Played Regina Tonight, The Crowd Was Small But Mighty!

Tuesday night after a long weekend in a sleepy government town isn’t the easiest sell so it was a small crowd.  (“How small was it, Jason?”  Well, there was a bigger crowd when I saw Roger play in a friend’s garage in Calgary ten years ago.) But I still enjoyed the show – after a […]

Southern Storm Chasers Find “Last Frontier” On Canadian Prairies

It’s been a pretty wild year for storms on the Prairies with lots of attention from so-called “storm chasers” who, ironically, make the storms even more prevalent by giving them a lot of attention, spotting storms that otherwise would go unreported and even using technology to provide live video streams/tweets/photo and blog updates.

Au revoir, la france

Edmonton writer and columnist, Todd Babiak, has just posted the last in a year-long series of columns about his family's sabbatical in France.  Having gone with his wife and two young girls, some of his thoughts on the experiences we (try to) give our children were particularly resonate for me (though I have no one […]