Category: Political

  • Learning About Vision from A Blueprint for Dramatic Change

    Learning About Vision from A Blueprint for Dramatic Change

    Riche’s article reminds me of the importance of visioning, a practice known elsewhere and otherwise as imagining or dreaming. Riche does these things in this article and I’m going to bet that he can do it, in part, because he practices storytelling and creating.

  • More Than a Court

    Eyes catch leather as the ball floats through the air. Sidelines melt under crowded feet, headlights break the darkness, and blacktop scratches the silence. The ball hits the floor, the beat takes over, and the game begins. If you spend enough time around the last generation of White Oaks Park basketball players you’ll hear them…

  • Mismanaging Alleged Mismanagement: Big Island Lake Cree Nation

    Mismanaging Alleged Mismanagement: Big Island Lake Cree Nation

    http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/17/first-nation-chief-council-accused-of-spending-bands-social-assistance-money-on-personal-items-face-audit/ This article is a little bit old, but I wanted to take a moment to draw attention to something that has bothered me since I read it for the first time. The issue outlined in the article is framed as one of political corruption, financial mismanagement and loss of public trust. If you haven’t…

  • What the Candidates Can’t Say

    I remember what this time of year was like for me. A year ago my team was starting its journey through a hacker-extended month of USC election campaigning.The experience is somewhat surreal in the first couple of days because you can’t quite believe that the campaign is finally happening or that you’re a candidate. Running…

  • #idlenomore

    What is the #idlenomore movement? Better still, have you even heard of #idlenomore? I’m hoping that by now news of this movement has made its way into the consciousness of at least a quiet majority of people, but I know that like many other grassroots movements, the Canadian mainstream will be hesitant to recognize its…

  • A Strong Voice

    Western has another President of the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA). On Wednesday the USC’s VP UA Alysha Li was elected to be the President of OUSA for the 2012/13 year. Alysha’s Presidency will provide OUSA with a passionate leader with a vision for stable, consistent and effective advocacy efforts. Alysha’s belief in the importance…

  • A Campus that Cares

    There is something decidedly different about Western this year. I say this with some degree of caution because it is impossible for me to know whether this sense of difference is related to a change in Western or merely the result of a change in who I am. I think there is something universal about…

  • A Few Thoughts on Jack

    I don’t profess to be an expert on the topic of Jack Layton and would never attempt to provide definitive commentary on his passing. However, I do want to share a few things that Mr. Layton (Jack) made me think about. It strikes me that Jack Layton would have appreciated knowing that he made us…

  • The Politics of Division

    As of today there are 14 days left until Canadians take to the polls on May 2nd to elect its next federal parliament. The campaign has had its share of excitement by political standards. From Michael Ignatieff’s “Rise Up” speech to Jack Layton’s ‘hashtag fail’ and the Vote Mobs making waves across University campuses the…

  • Engagement: More Than a Buzz Word

    Okay, so last issue I got the formal welcome thing out of the way. From now on I’m not going to give you some sort of generic Students’ Council missive. In fact, what I want to do is give you a window into some of the things that I’m passionate about. Ultimately, you probably don’t…