Jeff Burgar The lady in the old Ikea TV ad runs across the parking lot. She screams to her [presumably] husband, “Start the car! Start the car!” The idea for the characterization, now appearing in other similar ads, is “Ikea…

Richard Froese Small businesses are the economic backbone of a community of any size, rural and urban. Most small businesses have been hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic that was declared March 11. One good thing about COVID is that many…

Jeff Burgar Going to jail for drunk driving is too much of a hardship. But, you ask, isn’t that what jail is supposed to be all about? Punishment for one’s bad deeds? Apparently not. Sure, punishment, but these days, one…

Jeff Burgar A fellow once told me, “We’re sure missing out on all kinds of great news stories. Since I started working at the hospital, it’s just unbelievable I’m learning how much is happening.” Well, what newspaper doesn’t love some…

On Dec. 6, 2019 a hero came into our lives. On that night in a heavy snowstorm, my grandson, Ryley Bosch, was driving to Vancouver. Topping a hill near Valemont, B.C. he was hit by a semi-truck head on. Even…

Jeff Burgar “He is ugly,” the person said. “I never thought about how ugly he is. But he’s really ugly. I’m not going to vote for him.” This talk was over last week’s presidential debate – Donald Trump versus Joe…

Pearl Lorentzen “Showcasing Alberta’s AI advantage” was the headline of an Alberta government news release in September. It made me think about options for rural economic development. Artificial Intelligence sounds like science fiction: “An evil robot overlord dominates mankind. The…

Jeff Burgar They call it the Political Suicide Tax. As in PST, Provincial Sales Tax, the tax idea in Alberta that just won’t go away. Politicians keep saying they hate the idea. Rachel Notley, as premier, said such a tax…

Chris Clegg Last week in this space, Joe McWilliams wrote about Bigfoot. I share his fascination about the possibility of big hairy apes roaming the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Did you know bigfoot sightings have also occurred in Florida…

Any membership a person is registered to guarantees benefits the membership allows. But what if you’re born into membership? I am a Cree-Métis from East Prairie Métis Settlement. My family, or specifically my great-grandfather and great-grandmother on my grandfather’s side,…

Jeff Burgar Are you being taken for granted? Easy to answer. If you are a voting age rural citizen in Alberta, chances are, you are a true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool, mostly hard-core UPC voter provincially, and anti-Trudeau Conservative voter federally. So, of…

Joe McWilliams Let’s be trivial for a moment and spare a thought for bigfoot. If it exists, its habitat is on fire right now. If the mysterious sasquatch is ever going to be flushed out into the open, now would…

Jeff Burgar There are news reports that one-third of Canadian restaurants might close their doors permanently by the end of this year. In America, some observers say the situation is actually much worse. Specifically, they expect more than two-thirds of…

Students learn best when in classroom Richard Froese Students are back in classes as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Although not all students are at school as some families chose to keep their children at home and learn online connected to…

Jeff Burgar I have my own idea when “winter is over.” It’s a personal thing. I want a good “summer” to last as long as possible. So basically, I try to fool myself sub-zero temperatures at night mean nothing. It’s…