Our dear friend Nancy Hall died peacefully on Thursday March 24th. She was an effective and tireless advocate for people with mental illness. If we had our cultural priorities straight we would be giving her the honour of a state … Read More
Author Archives: aletmanski
Jean Vanier – The Power of Gentleness
Throughout history exceptional humans have given up wealth, power and privilege to teach us about a great but obscure form of power. These include Catherine of Siena, Donna Gracia Mendes of Spain, Frances of Assisi, and Prince Ashoka of India. … Read More
The Next European Renaissance – Social Innovation Europe
The European Union has just raised the social innovation bar for governments. On March 17th in Brussels, President Barossa of the European Commission officially launched Social Innovation Europe. The EU's goal: by 2014, Social Innovation Europe will be the … Read More
Herb Barbolet – Eating for a Living, 9th, on Poverty
"Something happens to people who plant seeds- it is impossible to watch a plant grow and flourish without getting a sense of the miracle of all life." -Herb Barbolet Herb Barbolet is the Wayne Gretzky of healthy local food. Decades … Read More
Thomas Homer-Dixon – Steering Through Turbulent Times
In the News today: Earthquake, tsunami, meltdown, economic crisis …. Peak oil, political unrest in oil producing countries, verging civil war in Libya, economic crisis…. These events have led me to revisit two of Thomas Homer-Dixon's books:The Ingenuity Gap – … Read More
Spirit of the West – Putting Up With The Jones
Spirit of the West composed one of the most popular college drinking songs of all time, particularly on St. Patrick's Day – Home for a Rest. On the sober side their songs reflect a critical eye on the decline of … Read More
Brad Johnston – A Social Innovation Gardener
Brad is an Ontario public servant who decided to step outside his comfort zone. Without authority, mandate or stategic plan he is successfully gathering fellow social innovators within the Ontario Public Service. Brad is keen to connect with public servants … Read More
Hey There L’ll Red Riding Hood – Think Like a Mountain
Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf. So writes Aldo Leopold, an environmentalist, forester and ecologist who died in 1948. Yet his famous essay, Thinking Like a Mountain, still offers insight. … Read More
Patsy George – A Happy Social Worker Has No Analysis. 8th, On Poverty
Patsy George is the social worker we all wish we could be. She has spent more than four decades pursuing social and economic justice in Canada and globally. She worked for the provincial government in British Columbia for most of … Read More
Tags: poverty
Support Independent Bookstores
A happy convergence in my life was subscribing to the Literary Review of Canada, Geist and the New York Review of Books, at the same time as learning to order books on line. The prospect was too tempting and the … Read More