Newsmakers: Sept. 22-29

By Colby Cosh, Jaime J. Weinman, and Richard Warnica - Monday, October 3, 2011 at 10:00 AM - 0 Comments

Jason DeCrow/AP

No, they didn’t walk home

Two American hikers convicted of espionage in Iran were released after the sultan of Oman posted US$930,000 bail for them. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, 29-year-old pro-Palestine activists and former Berkeley classmates, were seized along with a female friend while on holiday in 2009; Iran claims they illegally crossed their border on foot. The woman, Sarah Shourd, Bauer’s fiancée, was freed last fall on medical grounds. Bauer and Fattal’s release, with both in apparent good health, is seen as a political victory for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over hardline clerics in the Islamic republic.

Burqa fine

Only in France is having it and not flaunting it a crime. Last week, a court outside Paris fined two women for refusing to show their faces in public. Hind Ahmas and Najate Nait Ali were the first Frenchwomen charged under a law that bans full facial coverings outside the home. Passed last spring, the ban was aimed, rather transparently, at France’s substantial Muslim minority. It may also have been an attempt by President Nicolas Sarkozy to shore up his vulnerable right flank. But if anything, the law has galvanized supporters of the niqab. Ahmas told reporters she intends to challenge her fine in the European Court of Human Rights—while Kenza Drider, who also wears the niqab, now says she intends to run against Sarkozy in the presidential election. “When a woman wants to maintain her freedom she must be bold,” Drider told the Associated Press.

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Can the EU be saved?

By Jason Kirby and Michael Petrou - Friday, August 19, 2011 at 8:00 AM - 16 Comments

Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis

Until recently, the tiny German town of Guben was best known—to those who knew it at all—for two things. With only the narrow Neisse river separating it from the Polish town of Gubin, it is one of few place where Germans and Poles live so close together. That, and Guben is also where the controversial anatomist Gunther von Hagens, famous for his museum displays of skinless human cadavers seated at poker tables, set up a factory six years ago to treat and preserve corpses.

Now Guben’s mayor, Klaus-Dieter Hübner, has set off alarm bells in Europe by calling for border controls to be put in place to stop Polish “criminals” from looting German businesses. Since 2007, when Poland joined the Schengen zone, a border-free travel area consisting of 25 European countries, Germans and Poles have freely criss-crossed into each other’s countries to shop, dine and work. With his call for security checks at the border, Hübner has challenged one of the pillars of modern Europe: the free movement of people and goods between nations.

Taken on its own, the border squabble in Guben is a seemingly minor concern, but it comes as the twin forces of economic stagnation and surging nationalism threaten to tear Europe apart. Even as European leaders struggle to halt the spread of the debt crisis—a task that they increasingly appear unable to handle—a wider backlash against European integration poses an existential crisis for the continent. Europe is failing, both economically and politically, leading to the question: can it be saved, or is Europe destined for the embalming slab in Guben?

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Irish studies flourish in Quebec

By Josh Dehaas - Tuesday, August 16, 2011 at 12:20 PM - 3 Comments

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Only a tenth of Canada’s 4.4 million Canadians of Irish ancestry call Quebec home. And yet, it’s the epicentre of research on the Emerald Isle.

Concordia University’s School of Canadian Irish Studies—the only one of its kind in Canada—will have more than 700 students enrolled this fall, studying everything from the Great Famine to James Joyce. The first ever bachelor of arts in Canadian Irish studies will begin in January. “The success of Irish studies at Concordia is quite striking,” says Will Straw, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, “particularly since these kinds of ‘area’ studies programs are having difficulty in other universities.”

Interest in Ireland is especially high in Quebec, says Michael Kenneally, principal of the Concordia school. “Here in Quebec, if you’re interested in cultural nationalism, colonialism, post-imperial identities, partition and decolonization, rebellion and independence, Ireland is a case study for all of that.” And, he adds, “preserving the Irish language has a lot of resonance in Quebec.”

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Are they white—or brown?

By Cigdem Iltan - Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 9:30 AM - 0 Comments

Martin Meissner/AP

It doesn’t take a scientist to tell a polar bear and a brown bear apart. Or does it? Genetic studies have revealed that all living polar bears have Irish brown bear genetic markings in their DNA. An international team of scientists has traced the species’ collision back to a night of romance between a male polar bear and a female brown bear from Ireland between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago. Researchers believe that, today, climate change has forced grizzlies and polar bears, for example, to move into each others’ habitat, giving them several chances to engage in “opportunistic mating.” In the past, scientists say because the glacial ice sheet extended south into Ireland during colder times, polar bears could also meander into brown bear territory. These shared quarters resulted in hybrid offspring, according to the findings, which were published in the journal Current Biology. “When they come into contact, there seems to be little barrier to them mating,” said Pennsylvania State University’s Beth Shapiro, who led the study.

Photo gallery: Obama goes to Europe

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, May 24, 2011 at 5:27 PM - 0 Comments

Bomb scare precedes royal visit to Ireland

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:53 AM - 0 Comments

The Irish Army has confirmed that an improvised explosive device was found on a bus outside Dublin the night before Queen Elizabeth II’s historic visit. The bomb was discovered late Monday night at a bus stop on the outskirts of Maynooth, about 30 kilometres west of Dublin. According to an Irish military spokesman, a controlled detonation was carried out early Tuesday morning and the area was declared safe by 1:55 a.m. GMT. While Irish president Mary McAleese calls the Queen’s visit “a phenomenal sign of the peace process” with neighbouring Great Britain, there is also strong anti-monarchist opposition. Earlier on Monday, Irish republican dissidents reportedly made a bomb threat, disrupting traffic in the capital city. The visit to Ireland carries a security price tag of over $40 million, with land, air and sea patrols in place to protect the Queen and her husband, Prince Phillip. This is the first time a British monarch has visited the independent Republic of Ireland, a milestone many see as a positive step forward in the relationship of the two countries.

The Guardian

This week: Good news, bad news

By macleans.ca - Friday, April 1, 2011 at 9:28 AM - 0 Comments

Good News

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

The maple tiger

There’s no lack of optimism over the state of the Canadian economy lately. In a speech this week, Royal Bank chief executive Gordon Nixon said Canada has the potential to have a “breakaway decade” of growth. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney, meanwhile, said that the commodity boom, which has been fuelling Canada’s resource-heavy economy, isn’t going anywhere, thanks to rising demand from India and China. It’s a bold prediction. For 200 years, commodity booms have always gone bust. Let’s hope Carney is right, and that this time really is different.

Smarty pants

The world’s most populous nation will soon officially become its brainiest. China’s scientific output will overtake America’s as soon as 2013, according to a new British study. Published research by Chinese scientists has long been on the rise, fuelled by R & D spending that has increased 20 per cent a year since 1999. And the country’s universities churn out more than 1.5 million science and engineering graduates annually. While the entire world benefits from this Chinese renaissance, the challenge is clear: countries that wish to compete economically, like Canada, need to step up their science spending too.

The girl who made money

A friend of the late writer Stieg Larsson has spilled details about a “lost” fourth volume of the best-selling Millennium series. Kurdo Baksi told a Swedish newspaper that work, completed just before the author’s 2004 death, is set on remote Banks Island in B.C. and features Lisbeth Salander’s estranged twin, Camilla, as a major character. Larsson’s three previous mysteries became global juggarnauts. All that’s keeping this one from store shelves is a fight over money between his common-law wife and his siblings.

Me, myself and I phone

A group of U.S scientists has developed a tiny computer chip that can be powered entirely by small movements of a person’s body, like the snap of a finger or even a heartbeat. The technology could one day be incorporated into portable electronics like tablets and smartphones, allowing us to say goodbye to chargers and batteries. The only time your phone will die is when you do.

Bad News

Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Sacrifice and scandal

In a week where Cpl. Yannick Scherrer of Victoriaville, Que., became the 155th Canadian to die in action in Afghanistan, there was still more dispiriting news about its government. A leaked internal report by the country’s central bank accused political elites of using financial institutions like piggy banks, saddling them with almost $900 million in bad loans. And the former head of the central bank, now an adviser to President Hamid Karzai, was himself revealed to be under investigation for corruption. The Afghan people, and their partners, deserve better.

Euro-trash

Europe’s debt crisis is back. Economists are warning that both Greece and Ireland could default on their debts, despite the massive EU bailouts they received last year. Portugal may not be far behind. Its prime minister resigned last week over a failed austerity budget. And the country may have to seek an aid package worth as much as $100 billion. A recent emergency EU summit accomplished little. But it did rekindle the debate over whether the EU will pull through this crisis or crumble.

Animal wrongs

The U.S. Navy has been forced to acknowledge that it blew up three dolphins off the coast of San Diego, and perhaps contributed to the deaths of two others, during amphibious warfare training in early March. The undersea explosions are under investigation and the U.S. Fisheries Service may pull the navy’s permits. But the gold standard for negligence may have been set by the Bronx Zoo, where a deadly snake has gone missing. The 50-cm-long Egyptian cobra was believed to be hiding in a non-public area of the reptile house. Let’s visit the museum instead.

Power splurge

This year, it seems many Canadians tuned out Earth Hour rather than turn off the lights. In Edmonton, power usage surged on Saturday night. The Winnipeg Free Press reported its city was “abominably ablaze” during the eco-protest. Toronto recorded just a five per cent drop, down from 10 per cent last year and 15 per cent the year before. At least Calgary’s usage didn’t go up, but that may have had more to do with a power failure at the airport that left planes circling in the dark overhead. Far too illuminating.

It’s time to make St. Patrick’s Day a national holiday

By macleans.ca - Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 11:00 AM - 0 Comments

Graham Hughes/CP

Holidays in Canada fall into three general categories. There are holidays that involve presents, holidays that involve candy and holidays that involve alcohol.

And judging from the evidence last week, St. Patrick’s Day has become this country’s most popular and widely celebrated day for raising a toast, far surpassing New Year’s Eve or Canada Day. In the minds of many Canadians, March 17 even appears to have replaced Easter as the true herald of a coming spring—and in ways that have little to do with the self-restraint of Lent. What should we make of this annual outbreak of Irishness?

Bar owners across the country report St. Patrick’s Day is now the most popular event on their calendar. “It’s the biggest one-day sales for us every year,” says Tania Richards, director of sales and marketing for Granville Entertainment, which runs three bars in Vancouver. Pub owner Grant Sanderson of Edmonton notes that “in the last five years it has gone from being a good day to being the best day in the pub business—it’s two or three times as big as New Year’s.” The reason is to be found in the length of time people spend celebrating. Richards observes that New Year’s events typically don’t begin until dinner time, while “St. Paddy’s is a flow of people all day long. It lasts 16 hours.” It’s become common to quit work at lunch to perfect one’s brogue on St. Patrick’s Day.

The same holds for students. Many university professors now debate the wisdom of holding classes on March 17, as attendance drops precipitously. This year herds of well-refreshed students were spotted wandering about in plastic green bowlers and green facepaint (and leaving behind bright-green messes) in many Ontario cities such as London, Waterloo and Peterborough. St. Patrick’s Day parties have become as reliable an indicator of spring on campus as short skirts and final exams.

Of course all this excitement has properly caught the attention of police as well. St. Patrick’s Day is now one of the most important days of the year for scheduled drunk-driving patrols.

How did all this happen?

History tells us the real Saint Patrick was likely born somewhere in Britain around 385. He was kidnapped by Irish pirates as a young man and brought to Ireland. He escaped, studied for the priesthood and eventually returned to organize the Church in Ireland. He died around 461, after a life of poverty and religious dedication. It hardly seems the raw material for a day of good cheer and green beer.

Nonetheless, several centuries of Irish immigration, and those immigrants’ well-earned reputation for conviviality, have turned St. Patrick into the patron saint of all. It probably doesn’t hurt that the middle of March also marks the coming end to a long winter for residents in most parts of Canada. The combination of melting snow and the opportunity to spend a day celebrating this fact has turned a once-obscure ethnic celebration into a rare unifying secular event that all Canadians seem to agree on—like Olympic hockey, only less stressful.

Montreal’s long-standing St. Patrick’s Day festivities nicely illustrate its broad crossover appeal. The annual parade, which dates back to 1824, appears as popular with French-speaking Montrealers and recent immigrants as with Anglos. It is a moment for all to enjoy, regardless of the shamrocks in their background.
Given that Canadians across the country have already voted with their feet, and mugs, to make St. Patrick’s Day more important than other existing public holidays, perhaps we should be making it official.

Many provinces have arbitrarily declared the third Monday in February to be a public holiday. It’s called Family Day in Ontario, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Manitobans call it Louis Riel Day. Prince Edward Island has Islander Day. While these provinces seem eager to give their citizens a day to relax, February has little to recommend it by way of weather or relevance. So why not simply shift the date to March 17?

Official recognition of everyone’s inherent right to be Irish for one day a year would sanctify the fact many people already take the day off. Combining St. Patrick’s Day with March break would broaden its appeal away from drinking and encourage more family-friendly celebrations. It would also serve as recognition of Canada’s proud reputation as a nation of immigrants. And allow Canadians a glimmer of hope that spring is just around the corner.
They say that if you’re lucky enough to be Irish, you’re lucky enough. On St. Patrick’s Day, that ought to apply to everyone.

Goodbye, Ireland

By Patricia Treble - Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at 8:00 AM - 8 Comments

With their economy in a tailspin and bad financial news piling up, the Irish people are voting with their feet—they’re leaving the Emerald Isle at the rate of 1,000 a week. Last Thursday, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) published a grim forecast: net outward migration will reach 100,000 in the two years ending in April 2012.

Packing up and leaving in dire times is nothing new for Ireland. In the 1800s, millions fled the island’s famines and disease for the chance of a better life in countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia. Even recently, there have been waves of emigration. The last time the emigration numbers were as high as they are now was in 1989, when 44,000 fled the economically depressed nation. Soon after, Ireland cut taxes, attracted massive foreign investment and transformed itself into a Celtic Tiger. Property prices soared along with personal wealth.

Unfortunately, that super-quick growth was unsustainable, and with the worldwide economic downturn, Ireland’s financial and property sectors imploded, dragging down the entire economy. After promising to bail out the banks, the government saw its deficit reach a dizzying 31.5 per cent of GDP in 2010. Ireland needed a $110-billion bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in November, and it outlined $20 billion of draconian budget cuts over the next four years.

While the economy will grow this year by an anemic 1.5 per cent, the export-led expansion won’t generate enough jobs. For that, the economy needs consumer consumption to improve. And the ESRI is gloomily forecasting the Irish will keep their wallets firmly shut: “Ongoing uncertainty with respect to job stability, wages and taxation are likely to act against any rebound in consumption spending.”

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Contraception champions

By Erica Alini - Thursday, December 9, 2010 at 1:00 PM - 0 Comments

Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland

When Pope Benedict XVI departed from previous Church doctrine two weeks ago by saying condoms are acceptable in certain cases, Catholic-dominated Ireland was so distracted by news it might need an economic bailout that it barely noticed. There was a time, though, when a Vatican softening on the contraception veto would have made the top headline in Irish newspapers. A time when, in Ireland, things like condoms, pills and diaphragms were not just taboo, but outright illegal, according to a 1935 law forbidding the import and sale of contraceptives. In the 1970s, Irish feminists would challenge their government’s anti-birth control policies by staging protests like massive condom-buying expeditions to Northern Ireland, where contraception devices were legal. But this was still an Ireland where taking on the Catholic Church was socially daring and politically suicidal.

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Irish legacy

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 11:09 AM - 34 Comments

Brian Topp draws lessons from Ireland’s meltdown.

The state is awash in debt (thanks in part to excessive tax cuts); the deregulated private sector has gorged itself in an orgy of speculative greed, and finally expired in a property and banking bubble; and now the working and middle class – and their children, and their grandchildren – get to pick up the tab while the winners enjoy their properties in the Grand Caymans. Nobody in Ireland stood up to the special interests. They “ran like a business.” Now the bill has come due.

These are the real stakes between those who work for moderate, prudent, incremental progressive government, moving forward within its means in the public interest, and the other side – the mouthpieces for greed and reckless irresponsibility. The shills and charlatans of the populist right, and those who fund them.

Financial woes give way to political ones in Ireland

By macleans.ca - Monday, November 22, 2010 at 2:01 PM - 1 Comment

The coalition government in Ireland is facing pressure to step-down on Monday after it agreed to negotiate an EU-led bailout package to rescue the country’s ravaged economy and indebted banking system. On Monday, two independent MPs helping to prop up the coalition said they could not commit to supporting the budget unless the opposition had a hand in drafting it. Now, the two main opposition parties—Labour Party and Fine Gael—have called for an immediate general election. Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said it was “essential that we have a new government elected as soon as possible.” Michael Lowry, one of two independents who currently prop up the government, said it was “highly unlikely” he would “support [that] budget,” indicating there should be an election before a budget was agreed. Jackie Healy Rae, independent for Kerry South, said he would “no longer support this government”, and that it was “very very unlikely” he would support the budget. Once known for its strong economic growth, the country has experienced a property bubble burst, leaving its banks with huge liabilities and pushing up the cost of borrowing for them and the government. These calls for a snap elections are adding to the instability in the country.

Financial Times

BBC

Ireland’s central bank governor “absolutely” expects bailout

By macleans.ca - Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 1:54 PM - 4 Comments

A bailout of debt-ridden Ireland appears almost certain after the governor of the country’s central bank told state broadcaster RTE that he “absolutely” expects one will happen. Both EU and International Monetary Fund bankers have arrived in Dublin where they are poring over the books to see just how much they’ll have to loan the country in order to calm investors. “It will be a large loan,” said central bank governor Patrick Honohan, “because the purpose of the amount to be made available or to be advanced is to show Ireland has sufficient firepower to deal with any concerns of the market.” Many have suggested the loan will be worth around $110 billion. Ireland ran into trouble after the housing bubble popped during last year’s recession. The tiny country of four million had to bail out its banks to prevent them from collapsing under the weight of bad debt. But the government is now struggling to pay its own debt and the deficit has passed 12 per cent of GDP. The country has already slashed spending and cut public wages by 13 per cent, sending unemployment to painful levels, but satisfying EU austerity demands. Many believe a bailout from the EU will stop the debt crisis from spreading to Spain and Portugal, much larger members of the Eurozone that are both struggling with debt.

The Telegraph

The crushing recession that’s brought Ireland to its knees

By Nancy Macdonald - Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 10:00 AM - 1 Comment

One in three Irish under 30 are out of work | Cathal McNaughton/Reuters

Two years ago, Mick Doherty was tooling around Dublin in a brand new, cherry-red Audi A4. “A six-speed,” the young Irishman adds, with a rueful smile. Today, Doherty drives around his adopted Vancouver in a 1990 Chrysler Daytona—automatic transmission. “And I’m grateful for it,” declares the 32-year-old construction worker who, last year, emigrated to Canada to escape a crushing recession that’s brought his native Ireland to its knees. It’s shrunk the economy by a tenth—the textbook definition of a depression.

What a difference a few years can make. As recently as 2006, the roaring Celtic Tiger was held up as a model economy. Doherty was making money hand over fist, holidaying three times a year, in Bulgaria, Las Vegas, Spain. Ireland famously boasted more BMWs per capita than Germany, and its lawyers and managers were earning bigger bucks than their counterparts in the U.S. But in late September 2008, Irish banks, overexposed to the property market, came under severe pressure as the credit crunch bit in. “More or less overnight,” says Doherty, “everything came crashing to a halt.” Ireland led Europe into recession.

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Top Ten Friendly People

By Chris Robinson, Takeoffeh.com - Monday, May 10, 2010 at 2:00 PM - 10 Comments

Having met so many wonderful, giving people during my travels (I’ve even been offered a bride) I take the liberty of sharing my favoritism towards the friendliest cultures. Here is my top ten list of friendliest destinations.

1.Irish
Emerald Isle, diamond people – without question, it’s the warmth of the Irish people that stays with you long after you return. Total strangers treat you as close friends and the ‘craic’ – party spirit – of the Irish pubs is legendary. Maybe it’s the magical properties of a pint of Guinness?

2. Thai
The most gentle people on the planet. The Thai Buddhist culture underpins their genuine desire to please travellers. They naturally offer up their cultural heritage and make it easy for visitors to experience. I was once picked up on the streets of Bangkok by a local who took me to his family temple and then to his home to meet his family – all without a word in common.

3. Newfoundlanders
What makes people who live on a rock so friendly? Could be their Celtic heritage, their self-reliance or their remoteness from stressful big cities. Whatever the cause, their spirit is irresistible. If you survive being ‘screeched-in’ and kissing the cod, you are ready for anything.

4. New Zealanders
I probably relate so easily to The Kiwis (or they to me?) because they are the closest people in spirit to Canadians: they, too, have a beautiful homeland, a big brother neighbour, and they take great delight in showing off their home to travellers…but always, as befits a kindred Canadian attitude, in an understated way.

5. Tahitians
The best way to describe the overwhelming friendliness of Tahitians is with this example: my wife and I were travelling with our ten week old baby and treated ourselves to an upscale dinner in Papeete,Tahiti’s capital. Just as our meal arrived, baby Pip started to cry. Without hesitation, our Tahitian server scooped Pip up in one arm and served meals with the other until we had finished our dinner…much to Pip’s delight.

6. Bajans
Nature has provided Barbados with many attractions, and the people of this Caribbean island complete the package. I have run the Barbados Marathon twice, and the enthusiastic support of the Bajans lining the route is what carried me both times. The amazing part is that they clearly thought we runners were crazy, but they cheered nonetheless.

7. Greeks
Have you ever tried to visit a Greek home and not end up eating with your host? It’s impossible! They are possibly the most hospitable people in the world – in Greece or wherever in the world they have settled. And, yes, I have actively participated in a crazy, plate-smashing dinner party at a Taverna on the island of Kos that I will never forget.

8. Bolivian Aymara and Quechua Indians
I once spent many weeks trekking around Lake Titicaca high on the Bolivian and Peruvian altiplano. I had no tent, nor were there any hotels to speak of. I simply staggered into a village at the end of each day and the wonderful locals shared their homes and their food with me.

9. Kurds
Years ago, a small group of us were camped out near the Turkish/Iranian border. A band of armed Kurds surrounded us and invited us to join them at their camp, where we were feted until dawn. Their spirited hospitality was overwhelming.

10. Sherpas
In the Himalayan valleys of Nepal live a self-reliant people unlike any others I have encountered. They help Westerners who come in search of high altitude adventure to feel welcome. They seem to rise above hardship. Their quiet nobility literally embraces travellers who journey there. When I trekked in the Helambu region north of Kathmandu, their hospitality was simple, gracious and oh so appreciated.

By Chris Robinson
Chris hosts Canada’s top rated radio travel show – the Chris Robinson Travel Shows on Newstalk 1010 CFRB in Ontario and CJAD 8000 Montreal in Quebec. www.chrisrobinsontravelshow.ca

Photo Credits: Chris Robinson

How much did the Pope know?

By Michael Friscolanti - Tuesday, April 6, 2010 at 9:25 AM - 41 Comments

Photograph by Remo Casilli/Reuters

Two Sundays before Easter, Pope Benedict XVI sent a 4,700-word “pastoral letter” to the Roman Catholic faithful of Ireland. Read in full from the pulpits of every church in the country, the note was the Vatican’s official response to two Irish investigations, which revealed—yet again—that pedophile priests had preyed on helpless children, and that certain self-serving bishops had moved heaven and earth to cover up the truth.

The Pope apologized directly to victims and their families, saying he is “truly sorry” for “these sinful and criminal acts.” He admitted that “grave errors of judgment were made and failures of leadership occurred,” but assured his flock that “the Church has done an immense amount of work in many parts of the world in order to address and remedy” past mistakes. Benedict’s letter also spoke directly to the guilty priests, known and unknown. “I urge you to examine your conscience, take responsibility for the sins you have committed, and humbly express your sorrow,” he wrote. “God’s justice summons us to give an account of our actions and to conceal nothing.”

The question now is whether the Pope is prepared to do the same: give an account of his actions—and conceal nothing.

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Newsmakers

By macleans.ca - Friday, November 27, 2009 at 9:30 AM - 1 Comment

So a blond walks into a courtroom

Mississauga, Ont., native Jordan Wimmer cleared more than $1 million last year working for Nomos Capital, a London-based hedge fund. But all was not a bed of roses for the attractive, 29-year-old blond financier. Indeed, her blondness is at the heart of her $7-million wrongful dismissal suit against her multi-millionaire boss Mark Lowe. Sexist jokes, piggish behaviour and even an attempt to run her down on the street were part of a campaign of harassment, Wimmer testified last week. She told a London employment tribunal that Lowe made cutting personal remarks, emailed sexist “dumb blond” jokes throughout the office and cavorted in front of her with a stripper, causing her to suffer depression and an eating disorder. Lowe accused Wimmer of “gross distortions,” though he admits “entirely as a joke” to calling her “decorative” and a “dumb blond.” As for his emailed gag about a blond confusing a Corn Flakes box with a jigsaw puzzle, he says that “feeble joke” wasn’t told at her expense. Depending on the tribunal’s sense of humour, the joke may be on Lowe. Continue…

Q & A: Will Ferguson

By Philippe Gohier - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at 9:21 AM - 11 Comments

The Ulster Way is advertised by tourism officials in Northern Ireland as “the longest waymarked trail in the British Isles.” But as Will Ferguson discovered when he attempted to walk all 900 km of it, “waymarked” and “trail” can be relative terms. Ferguson’s new book, Beyond Belfast, is a thoughtful travelogue chronicling his arduous journey across Northern Ireland (or Ulster) in a bid to uncover his grandfather’s long-buried Northern Irish roots. The Calgary-based author recently sat down with Macleans.ca at an Irish pub in Toronto to discuss his trek, the religious violence that has pockmarked Ulster’s history and its people, and why it’s easier to make fun of Canadians than anyone else.

Q: It’s a tremendously lonely book.

A: Which I didn’t expect. For days on end, I’d be up in the hills. Because it’s Ireland, I thought it was going to be hill-valley-pub, hill-valley-pub, but it wasn’t. It was hill-bog-bog-bog-valley-pub. I was a cheap drunk, though. I’d have a pint and it would just hit me.

Q: You mention falling asleep at a table.

A: It happened more than once. They’d think I was some drunk, some lush.

Q: For a good portion of the book, the politics of Northern Ireland take a backseat to the landscape—especially in the Glens.

A: That’s a very peaceful area, even at the height of the Troubles. The choice was to go south or north from Belfast and I wanted to start, not easy, but you know, coast-walking. The Glens were quite steep, but coast-walking is almost like strolling.

Q: It seems like it gave you time to soak in the mythology of Ireland—the banshees, the mist, the ghosts.

A: I don’t believe in banshees, but I got scared. There’s something that happens in the bog. The wind whistles low along the ground and I’m sure that’s where the myths come from. You hear these moans. You hear it all the time and it starts to get in your brain. You’re hiking and the mist comes in, and you’re like, “Oh, God.”

Q: There’s a recurring tension throughout the book whenever you get into the cities and are trying to sort out people’s political affiliations.

A: The scariest was in Portadown. There were Union Jacks flying all down the street. And it’s a street that’s maybe the width of these two booths—barely a street. So there’s a little stream and a little bridge, and on the other side there’s tri-colours [Irish flags] and IRA signs. I remember thinking, “Oh, shit. This can’t be good.” And this is Portadown, which is a really violent city anyway. An old pensioner came and said, “You shouldn’t be down here.”

Q: Was it sometimes a challenge to figure out whose turf you were on?

A: It was easier than I thought. They let you know. They want you to know. If there are fewer flags, it’s usually Catholic. It’s the Protestants who go whole-hog with Union Jacks everywhere. They say the River Bann divides it, but it doesn’t really. It’s like saying the Quebec border is the division between French and English Canada.

Q: But if you go to Ottawa, you know that’s not true.

A: Or if you go to the West Island of Montreal, or the Eastern Townships. That’s what the River Bann is like—it’s kind of the border.

Q: Was there an element of bravado in choosing Ulster? Were you looking for trouble?

A: No, I was very worried. The bravado was that I was just going to be able to stride across the landscape. I had all this gear. I thought it was going to go oh-so-smoothly. By the end, I was dragging my packs into pubs, covered in rain, and muttering to myself. But I never really felt in danger because I knew instinctively that they really don’t care if you’re Catholic or Protestant—they care if their neighbour is Catholic or Protestant. They almost go to the other extreme to prove that they’re tolerant. If I was in a Catholic B & B in a Catholic town and they of course realized I was Protestant, instead of shunning me, it was the opposite.

Q: You say, “of course they realized.” Why “of course”?

A: Well, the name, the surname. And they would ask questions, they would fish. I’d always assumed Ferguson is a Protestant name, but there are areas in Fermanagh and Countydown where there is a small Catholic community. And if you look at the deaths in the Troubles, there are Protestant Fergusons who got killed and Catholic Fergusons who got killed. If I know my family, they killed each other. [Laughs]

Q: You seem to have gotten exasperated rather quickly with the sectarian politics.

A: I didn’t want to romanticize it. Whenever somebody romanticizes the IRA, I say go to Enniskillen, where they blew up pensioners. Or when Protestants tell me about their battles—look at the Shankhill Butchers. The two things that stand out to me, looking back, is how kind the people were in an understated way and how beautiful the landscape was. Why they can’t show that same kindness to each other is something I don’t understand.

Q: At the same time, there’s a real sadness that comes through in parts of the book. For instance, you write that, “the alienation of Irish Protestants from Gaelic culture is one of the most unfortunate aspects of the current approach to Irish identity.”

A: The sad thing is that it’s seeped into Protestant thinking that “we’re just visiting,” that “we’re born into exile.” They’ve been there longer than the French have been in Quebec. I don’t think anybody in Quebec says, “We’re not really from here, we’re really from Europe.” And you don’t hear English Canadians saying “England is our home, not this place.”

Q: You make the claim that the Protestants are staking a claim to the past, but leaving the future to the Catholics.

A: That’s exactly what happens. I find the Republican stance completely delusional. I think it’s delusion to think that if you keep bombing someone enough, they’ll become Irish. But it’s optimistic. It’s all about the future glory. The Protestants are all about holding the line and that’s exhausting.

Q: You’ve mentioned the Quebec-Canada relationship a lot. Do you get a sense there’s a parallel there?

A: Roughly, yes. The Québécois are more rational, they’re more reasonable. Imagine if the FLQ was still bombing things for 30 years. The rough parallel is that the FLQ is like the IRA and Sinn Fein is like the Parti Québécois. Bloody Sunday and the October Crisis were roughly around the same time—when the late sixties civil rights movement turned into this 1970s violence. But it never caught fire in Quebec. I think it’s the nature of the culture.

Q: Prince Charles and Camilla can still set foot in Quebec.

A: My gut feeling is their visit doesn’t resonate because the institution of monarchy is really hollow. It’s just a pair of tourists who are here on a junket.

Q: You seem to take Irish/Ulster nationalism a lot more seriously than you take Canadian nationalism, which you’ve lampooned.

A: Well, our nationalism doesn’t blow stuff up.

Q: Did you feel like you had a bit more license when you were lampooning Canadians?

A: Oh God, yes. And Canadians understand that. I would never title a book “Why I Hate Protestants in Ulster.” I would be killed. Canada is one of the only countries where you can write a book titled Why I Hate Canadians and people assume it’s a joke. Civic nationalism in Canada can be more inclusive and it can also be very, very silly, because inclusiveness can rapidly become funny. We were talking the other day about people getting offended on someone else’s behalf. That’s very much a Canadian thing. And, to be honest, Beyond Belfast is a travel book, it’s not a political polemic. I don’t think I’d be comfortable making fun unless I lived there. There are books by the Northern Irish that are very hard on the Northern Irish. They’re very capable of self-critique.

Q: Now that you’ve solved the mystery of your grandfather’s roots, is it over for you? Is that chapter closed?

A: My main thing was to do justice and to introduce him as a person, as a real person, not just as a symbol of something. I always tell people I don’t want to spoil the ending, but the fact we’re sitting here today having an interview and I’m not at my castle drinking Champagne is a clue. If I had found my castle, the book would’ve just stopped. You would’ve turned the page and it would’ve been blank.

Old wounds, new violence in Belfast

By Julien Russell Brunet - Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 4:40 PM - 0 Comments

Once again violence has flared across Northern Ireland. In Ardoyne, a Catholic district in north Belfast, republicans threw petrol bombs, stones and bottles, injuring 23 police officers. The friction between nationalists and loyalists arose following the Twelfth, an annual—and contentious—celebration of Protestant King William III’s victory over Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The riots seem to have been orchestrated by a small number of dissident republicans from outside Ardoyne with the hope of stoking sectarian tensions. “When conflicts end,” says Dawn Brancati, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Washington University in St. Louis, “there are frequently splinter groups that do not support the larger peace process and may remain active for many years after a peace agreement has been signed.” Continue…

How to win a Euro-referendum in Ireland

By Paul Wells - Sunday, June 15, 2008 at 9:38 AM - 0 Comments

Choose your enemies well.

EU: Nothing to see, move along

By Paul Wells - Friday, June 13, 2008 at 11:24 AM - 0 Comments

Well, this was almost certain to happen. After almost every national citizenry in Europe was denied a chance to vote on the new Lisbon treaty — a kind of stripped-down version of the European “Constitution” that was rejected a few years ago in referendums by the French, Dutch and others — the one electorate that did get a clear shot at the Lisbon treaty has rejected it. Continue…

Megapundit: Wilma Flintstone on modern parenting

By selley - Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 2:23 PM - 0 Comments

Must-reads: Andrew Cohen on Judaism in Poland; Jonathan Kay on the decline of jihadism; Barbara Yaffe on the gender equality commissioner.

Apologies, accusations and advice
The pundits weigh in on parliamentary contrition, Oily the Splot and a gender-balance promise too far.

The Calgary Herald‘s Don Martin believes tomorrow’s apology to the victims of Canada’s residential school system is “doomed to disappoint in some quarters,” which in turn creates a risk that Canadians will become “flippant or fed up with the government response to the … tragedy.” (It’s already beginning—on National Post property, anyway.) And on both sides of the aisle in the House of Commons, Martin says there’s a growing sense of weariness over the number and frequency of the apologies Ottawa is handing out. “Sincerity can’t be bought,” he warns, “but cynicism can.”

You can’t blame the Tories for “framing [Stéphane Dion's] foolishly free-form carbon tax musings to their advantage,” says the Toronto Star‘s James Travers. “Blame them instead for being parsimonious with their own truths and, most of all, for slamming shut the government doors they promised, hand solemnly over heart, to throw open”—that is, for those who don’t speak the Traversian dialect, blame them for making government less open and accountable having promised to do the exact opposite. In fact, he argues, juvenile ad campaign creations like Oily the Splot are a necessary “diversion” for a government perpetually using “minority guerrilla tactics” to keep Parliament’s various committees out of its Cadscam, in-and-out and NAFTA-disasta business.

Continue…