Articles by Author

Paddling down the Peace River in northern Alberta, Max Finkelstein is on the last stretch of an overland journey from the British Columbia coastal fishing village of Bella Coola to Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca. It’s July and Finkelstein is paddling on behalf of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System on a route taken by Alexander Mackenzie in 1793. The CHRS marketing and publicity officer sees the trip as a voluntary pilgrimage of being Canadian and as a journey to boost publicity for Canadian rivers, in particular a heritage river system that so far includes 24 designated rivers and seven nominated rivers. [...]

My only run-in with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police came on the ice at Williams Lake, B.C. It was 30 years ago and my first winter in Canada. I was news editor for the Williams Lake Tribune and the media and police were hockey rivals in a community fund-raising event. I had no option but to play the game. And so there I was, puttering around, trying to touch the puck as players skated circles around me. Suddenly a deafening howl erupted and I was plucked from [...]

Pierre Camu, 73, of Ottawa, had no problem deciding what to buy his two youngest grandchildren last Christmas. The gifts were personal and affordable; for each he donated $36 towards building a new national dream known as the Trans Canada Trail. In return, both grandchildren will have their names permanently inscribed in a pavilion located somewhere along the trail because each $36 donation builds one metre of trail. Earlier, Camu donated a total of $252 for his other seven grandchildren. And so together, Camu’s nine grandchildren, who live in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, will have their names attached to nine metres [...]