news & ideas

What is it about rank-ordered lists that capture our attention? We appear helpless before the Siren call of any list promising the “greatest”, the “biggest” or “the best.” Given Canada’s urban nature, it is unsurprising that Maclean’s magazine – famous for its ranking of Canada’s universities – just days ago released its list of the “Best Communities in Canada 2019”. It’s good fun ridiculing this list’s absurdity for, as everyone knows, Toronto is hands-down the “best community.” In this interview/essay, David Seymour looks at two prominent urbanists – Richard Florida and Joel Kotkin – and examines their competing visions for what, ideally, makes for a prosperous and flourishing city.

The 43rd General Election is scheduled for October 21, a week after Thanksgiving. Polling data suggests Canadians are expecting a more negative tone to this campaign than previous ones, which is saying something. Yet despite it all, good men and women continue to stand for Parliament. Melissa Mathieson recounts her attempt as a 25-year old to win the Conservative Party nomination in the riding of Macleod (now Foothills), Alberta. She lost, but came away with a new-found respect for politicians who dedicate themselves to the betterment of their communities, as well as the many volunteers and staffers who make our democracy work.

Jessica Yaniv, the self-described B.C. transgender activist, was in the news again recently, the RCMP searching her Langley, B.C. apartment after she brandished a prohibited weapon during an online debate. Yaniv, you may recall, is seeking redress from the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal after more than a dozen female aestheticians refused to perform a Brazilian Wax on her (his?] male genitalia. Yaniv’s claim appears preposterous. Yet as Patrick Keeney explains in this thoughtful essay, framing public morality exclusively in terms of human rights ushers in a certain logic, one which suppresses personal responsibility and allows any human desire to be transformed into a moral claim.