kar0ling

OR I do not think [that word] means what you think it means It has become a weekly, almost daily occurrence. A how-to article or blog post will come across my path – usually in my facebook feed – touting the wonders of winter cycling. Not one to learn a lesson quickly, I keep clicking on them. Inevitably, I navigate away in frustration. It’s fun! It’s easy! Anyone can do it! You don’t need special gear; you can even look chic while you’re doing it. Oh, and get off your high horse – being a winter cyclist doesn’t make you special. This is the message of all these articles. Lies, I tell you. Now, far be it from me to dissuade people from cycling, but I think we may need different words for the varying circumstances that fall under the umbrella term “winter cycling.” Take Vancouver and Seattle, for example, where bicycle enthusiasts will talk about “winter” cycling. I’ll grant you that a bone-chilling, relentless, drenching rain is its own special brand of miserable to bi...

There’s a boil water advisory in Winnipeg tonight. I can’t help but feel like this is a test.  Given the news about Winnipeg lately, I see a certain poetic justice in this development, whether it’s some machinations of new mayor Brian Bowman to take a litmus of Winnipeggers’ true resolve to work toward mending relationships with First Nations people in our province, or whether it’s God giving us just the littlest taste of the hardship our fellow citizens face. Awareness has been growing for some time that we truly have a problem in this city. I think the human rights museum began to bring to some Winnipeggers’ attention the irony that such an edifice was to rise on land that is still contested to be stolen from First Nations people and sacrilegiously used by the oppressors. The Idle No More movement, the Eighth Fire tv series on CBC, Michael Champagne’s Meet Me at the Belltower initiative, and the election of MLA Kevin Chief have all been steps of Aboriginal people asse...