I’ve always appreciated Mark Twain’s advice of not allowing school to get in the way of your education. This isn’t to knock the benefits of our school curriculum but rather to acknowledge that the courses offered by our fine institutions provide only part of the skills and knowledge our students need to succeed in this world. Not only to succeed, actually, but to make impacts and advance our society beyond where we are today.

Our government procedures have been structured around rules of order and procedure—all with the noblest of intentions. Through this order, we can achieve a consistency of process and ensure that people and policy receive consistency in expectations and deliberation. An inconsistent process could easily lead to inequality.

Food. It’s essential for human life. It provides us with the energy and nutrients we need to perform our normal daily functions.

The temperature is warming, and grass is peeking out from long-unseen lawns, bringing on grateful thoughts of spring as those of us in the True North bid au revoir to a long winter. 

The business of government is a ruthless taskmaster. Those who serve must face the daunting task of governing for the good of all people—the voices loud and quiet, those who lobby and those who don’t. They must consider the full scope of each decision, including all consequences, whether intended or otherwise. Economic decisions may have social consequences, and environmental decisions may have economic ones.

 There is no doubt that the bus crash that took the lives of the Humboldt Bronco junior hockey team was a tragedy. The 16 lives lost and the additional 13 lives forever altered by injury are a tragedy beyond words, and they elicit powerful emotional responses from anyone who hears about them.