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The not-quite-lost art of memorization (with video)
There’s a moment early in the novel Anne of Green Gables when Marilla decides the 11-year-old Anne should learn The Lord’s Prayer. “Take that card and come right to the kitchen. Now, sit down in the...
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Heartfield: No, the language police are not out to get us
The fashionable thing to be outraged about is outrage itself, or what some commentators call the “new political correctness.” There isn’t much new, really; the term “political correctness” is still...
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Heartfield: The Liberals offer a fourth way on climate change
There aren’t many pleasant surprises in politics, but here’s one: It looks like we’ll go into the 2015 federal election with a choice of four distinct climate-change platforms. The Conservatives would...
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Heartfield: The Senate fails to think soberly about transgender rights
Last week, the Senate amended the transgender rights bill to allow for discrimination based on gender identity in places like washrooms, change-rooms and prisons. Senator Don Plett said in committee,...
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Heartfield: Nostalgia is a poor guide to parenting
A 1979 questionnaire for parents has been making the rounds on the Internet recently. The checklist was meant to help parents decide whether their children were ready for kindergarten. There’s one...
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Heartfield: Launch the Emergency Female President Plans
Americans, some of you have been wondering whether your country is “ready for a female president,” now that Hillary Rodham Clinton has entered the race. In fact, Republican Michele Bachmann recently...
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Heartfield: The dubious merits of a mostly male cabinet
In response to the Liberal proposal of gender parity in cabinet, several of my friends and colleagues have expressed a concern about what this would mean for “merit” in cabinet appointments. Let’s...
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Heartfield: Why Canada hasn't had its same-sex marriage party
Ten years after the Civil Marriage Act received Royal Assent on July 20, 2005, there is no debate over same-sex marriage in Canada any more. But there are stubborn, conspicuous silences – including...
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Heartfield: How to talk to girls in the daytime
Poor Luke Howard. The fellow who secretly recorded his encounters with random women on Ottawa streets and posted them to YouTube was only trying, by his own admission, to help men do something that is...
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Cap and Trade: A how-to guide for Ontario
Ontario has pledged to fight climate change with a ‘cap and trade’ system to limit emissions. Success will lie in the execution, explains Kate Heartfield, and the province can learn from the mistakes...
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Heartfield: For Ottawans, this election in personal
Every election matters to the capital. In this city, politics leaves its marks on the very stones. This election, though, will matter in a personal way to many Ottawans. This is, in part, about how we...
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Jenkins: Ambling through Ottawa's panoramas
The different words we have for the act of walking are related to the landscape through which we are passing. They also each have a relative implied speed. The two boundaries, I suppose, are trudging...
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The Green party's not dead yet
A few weeks ago, I would have said this election could only hurt the federal Green party’s fortunes, such as they were. A tight three-way race to form government doesn’t give voters much incentive to...
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Heartfield: And just like that, the NCC's a problem again
The Conservatives nearly saved the National Capital Commission from being this city’s bogeyman. It took years of hard work. And then they messed it up. The next federal government, of whichever party,...
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Columnist roundtable: Do we need a debate on women's issues?
An alliance of organizations called Up for Debate tried to organize a federal leaders’ debate on women’s issues, but neither Stephen Harper nor Tom Mulcair will participate. Up for Debate is trying to...
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Heartfield: Ottawa lags the country in percentage of female candidates
Gender balance in this federal election is not great across the country, and in the National Capital Region, it’s even worse. It’s a good bet, though, that the region will elect a slightly bigger...
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Heartfield: Why that politician is knocking on your door
The continued emphasis on canvassing door-to-door is one of the strangest things about politics in 2015. There are so many ways to communicate with voters now, most of them less time-consuming, less...
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Video: This week's election round-up with Kate Heartfield and David Reevely
The Citizen’s Kate Heartfield and David Reevely will be delving into the local campaign, bringing their insight on capital region election races, policies and personalities to Ottawa readers through...
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Heartfield: What to ask your federal candidate about refugee policy
Don Smith, chair of the refugee working group of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa, says emails have been coming in steadily, day by day, from Ottawans who want to help sponsor Syrian refugees. “There’s...
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Heartfield: National issues go local as the campaign heats up
The capital region’s first all-candidates’ debates this week have proved that all politics is local, but not in the way people sometimes think. The crowds in Pontiac and Nepean ridings weren’t there,...
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