Ian Van Haren

Quebec City might be Canada’s most successful city The Globe and Mail offers the most authoritative news in Canada, featuring national and international news

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...

Reporting this story in Cameroon, I met people who were blind because larval worms died in their eyeballs: NTDs cause immense suffering and disability.
But they're preventable! And treatable! And eliminatable!

Three things witchcraft taught me about God - Anglican Journal People find Jesus in a lot of places, but I found Him in a spellbook.

Here is an example from Canada: anglicanjournal.com/three-things...
This article caused some controversy for the @anglicanjournal.bsky.social, they received some letters to the editor and posted a follow-up in subsequent issues.

Canada’s passenger rail lines are getting revived after decades of vanishing service Across North America, there is a grassroots clamouring for the return of railway lines that once provided a reliable and affordable alternative to cars and planes

Time to bring back the trains in Canada! 👏 🚆
Great article by @taras-grescoe.com

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/909ce72...

I like this platform and the direction it is heading.

Sounds interesting, but the link doesn't work.

Irene Parlby Mary Irene Parlby (née Marryat), Alberta MLA (1921–35), women’s rights advocate, activist (born 9 January 1868 in London, UK; died 12 July 1965 in Red Deer...

thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/m...

I noticed the error because the 2nd woman in Canada to be appointed a provincial cabinet minister, Irene Parlby, was the MLA for my hometown of Lacombe, AB. She was a cabinet minister from 1921-1935 (long before I was born!) and advocated for women's rights in Canadian politics.

I was reading the Montreal Gazette (@mtlgazette.bsky.social) on the weekend and noticed an error in a column. So, I wrote them a little note and my letter is in the paper today!
montrealgazette.com/opinion/lett...

Changement des règles en immigration | Les élus montréalais réclament à l’unisson une « clause grand-père » L’abolition du Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ), qui obligera plusieurs travailleurs étrangers à quitter la province, nuit à la « crédibilité du Québec et celle de Montréal », affirme la mai...

Une belle initiative: Les élus montréalais réclament à l’unisson une « clause grand-père » www.lapresse.ca/actualites/g...

Meet my 96-year-old roommate Tom, who never charged me rent Tom lives independently and had hosted commuters in the past. I was to have a coffee with him every morning and read the paper

A nice reflection about an unexpected intergenerational friendship.
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/909ce72...

To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers

To Their Shock, Cubans in Florida Are Being Deported in Record Numbers, via @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/u...

AI and Hollywood and entertainment: an interesting episode of The Daily @nytimes.com

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/18/p...

I enjoyed your talk today, including this political cartoon! :)

Dossier | Abolition du PEQ | Des immigrants plongés dans l’incertitude (2 articles) De nombreux immigrants qui souhaitaient s’établir au Québec et à qui on avait promis une voie claire vers la résidence permanente se retrouvent aujourd’hui dans l’incertitude quant à leur avenir. Un d...

Des infirmières plongées dans l’incertitude, dans @lapresse.ca www.lapresse.ca/actualites/a...

Opinion | I’ve Been the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for a Decade. This Is the Crisis I See.

From late last year, some thoughtful reflections from Filippo Grandi as he completed ten years as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/25/o...

Why Vance Committed So Hard to the Minneapolis Shooter The vice president knows what ICE means to MAGA.

"ICE is violence-prone because its main purpose has become theatrical. Under present leadership, ICE is less a law-enforcement agency than it is a content creator.

from David Frum:

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Bob Rae: We’re living through a time of crushing tariffs and uncertainty. There’s one thing Canada can do to prepare Ontario's challenge is that we are trying to compete globally while failing to create a dynamic partnership here between students, researchers, industry and governments.

Nice op-ed by Bob Rae from last month on the importance of investing in post-secondary education and research. It is true across Canada!

www.thestar.com/opinion/cont...

This is an option, though a bit dated now: www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~pchsiung/LAL/

‘Not a simple journey’: a rare Inuvialuit kayak has come home from the Vatican Museums After a 20-year effort, the kayak, along with 61 other artifacts made by Indigenous communities across Canada, arrived Saturday in Montreal

A step in the right direction. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/909ce72...

Quebec universities weather an unprecedented storm - University Affairs The province’s institutes of higher learning are navigating immigration restrictions, language policies, budget cuts and challenges to academic freedom.

"Quebec universities weather an unprecedented storm" in @universityaffairs.bsky.social.

universityaffairs.ca/features/que...

Indigenous fertility rates drop below replacement level New data show Indigenous fertility rates have fallen below replacement level, reshaping communities and national demographics.

Indigenous fertility rates in Canada have begun to decline over the past decade. Only the Inuit have replacement level fertility among Indigenous peoples in the country.
policyoptions.irpp.org/2025/10/indi...

My parents relished their English-French relationship. Things got tricky when they died When the issue of who was going to be buried where popped up in their last years, the thought of them apart felt wrong but while love may break down barriers, certain things run deep

After a long life together, an underlying tension remained. Interesting article.

www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/909ce72...

Ottawa narrows the private path for settling refugees Canada’s renowned privately sponsored refugee program is worth keeping

Nice @theglobeandmail.com op-ed: "let’s not lose track of our rich tradition of helping refugees".
www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/909ce72...

Marriage and Sex in the Age of Ozempic

An interesting episode of the Daily on weight loss drugs and marital relationships: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/p...

Bixi bike-sharing program among the top 25 inventions in 25 years, TIME Magazine declares The list also includes the iPhone and the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest particle accelerator.

🚲🚲

Five years after vowing to hire more Black employees, Bay Street’s enthusiasm for DEI is waning In The Globe and Mail’s latest survey of BlackNorth signatories, far fewer companies responded to questions about their diversity progress than in prior years

Unfortunately, fewer Canadian companies are willing to respond to a survey about commitments they made to to have a more diverse workforce and leadership. www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/909ce72...

Opinion | The Chaos of Driving in Lebanon Tells a Story of a Country Unraveled

On driving in Beirut.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/o...

Young adults in the United States are reaching key life milestones later than they did 40 years ago, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. Adults who are 21 are less likely than their predecessors four decades ago to have reached five frequently cited milestones of adulthood: having a full-time job, being financially independent, living on their own, getting married and having a child. By the time they are 25, however, today’s young adults are somewhat closer to their predecessors in 1980 on two of these milestones: having a full-time job and financial independence. In 2021, the most recent year with available data, 39% of 21-year-olds were working full time, compared with 64% in 1980. And only a quarter of people this age in 2021 were financially independent of their parents – meaning that their income was at least 150% of the poverty line – compared with 42% in 1980.

US 25 year-olds who were married

In 1980: 63%
In 2021: 22%
https://pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/05/23/young-adults-in-the-u-s-are-reaching-key-life-milestones-later-than-in-the-past/

Newfoundland’s last roadless villages offer lessons in survival Residents in these small roadless outports work together for the community’s greater good

Lovely photos. I was fortunate to visit Burgeo last year but didn't get the chance to go to Francois or Grey River (or Ramea, though they have roads).

www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic...