Canada

Heathen candidate runs for office in Saskatchewan

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[Note: Today, September 6 has been declared World Goddess Day. Pagans around the globe are participating in activities that celebrate the divine feminine. To see what is happening in your area, go to the official World Goddess Day site for a listing of the 2015 registered events. For more on the day’s history, check out our previous report.]

SASKATCHEWAN – Election mania is sweeping Canada. Canadians are preparing to go to the polls Oct. 19 to elect a new Prime Minister to lead the country.

Culture

Brendan Myers: fact & fiction

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Philosopher, musician, writer, game designer, professor and Pagan, Dr. Brendan Myers is a creative and prolific creator of words, thoughts and music. Deemed a “dangerous man” by the late, great Isaac Bonewits, Dr. Myers prolifically writes fiction and non-fiction with the passionate intensity of a true visionary. After growing up in the picturesque small town of Elora, Ontario, Myers went on to earn his PhD in philosophy from the National University of Ireland, Galway. This launched his professional career as a professor of philosophy, leading him to teach in six different institutions in both Canada and Europe. This summer, Dr. Myers accomplished a rare feat.

Canada

Canadian Truth and Reconciliation

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OTTAWA, Ontario – Last month, a landmark document was delivered to the people of Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its much anticipated report summary, detailing 94 recommendations to heal the generations of conflict, racism, mistrust and misunderstanding that were created by the Indian Residential School system in Canada. Indian Residential Schools were created by the Canadian government in the late 19th century as a way to assimilate aboriginal children into the developing white Canadian society. Aboriginal children were removed, typically by force, from their families and home communities.They were taken to residential schools and forbidden to speak their own languages and were denied access to their culture. Many survivors of the residential school system report extreme cases of physical and sexual abuse, starvation and neglect at these institutions, which were co-run by the church and the state.

Paganism

Column: Voices of Canadian Pagan Activists

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It is hard to ignore the current political climate in Canada. Never before have we been faced with a government that has tried to overhaul and carve up our country quite the way our current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and his Conservative government are doing right now. For a country renowned for it’s affable nature and politeness, things are changing. In numbers not seen for decades, people are becoming radicalized and discovering reasons to become activists – for the environment, for our social programs, and now for the basic safety, privacy and security we had come to take for granted. On January 30, 2015, Bill C-51, an “Anti-Terrorism Act” was unveiled in the House of Parliament.

Paganism

Column: Earth Warriors Vs. Kinder Morgan

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Welcome to Canada – a country rich in natural beauty and natural resources. From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, travelers may overdose on pristine wilderness and breathtaking landscapes. Each region of Canada has it’s own unique features and riches, but many of those riches are being extracted and exploited at an increasing, and for many, alarming rate. Western Canada is rich in oil. By now most North Americans have heard of the oil sands in the province of Alberta and the various schemes to extract the oil and move it out of Canada to the United States and beyond.