In 2015, Artur’s* family was forced to leave their home in Aleppo, Syria when their home was destroyed. Artur, who requires expensive medications and is unemployed, lives with his elderly parents, wife and two children. The family has received various forms of assistance from Mennonite Central Committee through a partner organization. The war in Syria has shifted into a new phase, focused in Idlib province. As the war winds down in other parts of the country, some have begun to focus on the need for reconstruction. Long-term rebuilding will be necessary for Syria to recover. But for many Syrians, such […]

The 2018 Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF) was not as good as last year but still featured a number of excellent indie films, including two from Canada (which understandably has many films in the festival, but rarely does so well). The big surprise for me was the extraordinary coincidence of having three of my favourite five films of the 2018 EIFF concerned with senior high school classes (I’m generally not a big fan of high school films), though they could hardly be more different. Here is a brief look, in the order in which I liked them.   The Silent […]

Making peace by advocating for education around the world Alliana Rempel has raised thousands of dollars to support inner-city shelters in Winnipeg, the Children’s Hospital, and the Malala fund. Most recently, she published her first book, the proceeds of which will support education around the world. Alliana, of Arborg, Manitoba, is also just 11 years old. Her book, One, which she illustrated and wrote, is about a young girl in a war-torn country and her magic school supplies that come to the rescue when her school is shut down by terrorists. She was inspired to write it after she read I Am […]

Other stories have long since overshadowed the groundbreaking summit between President Trump and Chairman Kim Jung Un of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). Sadly, it seems the United States government is dragging its heels in this critical process that could bring reconciliation to the Korean Peninsula and between decades-long adversaries. Despite the friendly handshake, photo op and effusive tweets, very little has changed in the frozen relations between the U.S. and North Korea. U.S.-imposed travel restrictions hinder most human interaction between the two nations. Financial sanctions and shipping constraints limit the import of almost every kind […]

Knowing what the truth is in a given situation seems to be particularly challenging, with news organizations being called false, and totally opposite narratives both being claimed as truth. I suggest a dosage of documentary films by Errol Morris for an antidote. He is fascinated by how we discover the truth. He believes there is an historical truth, even when it is hard to find. He suggests, “It is often said that seeing is believing. But we do not form our beliefs on the basis of what we see; rather, what we see is often determined by our beliefs. Believing is […]

Author Nick Hornby has made a nice living writing about male characters that seem to muddle through life with either a misguided purpose or little purpose at all. High Fidelity, About a Boy—and even Hornby’s memoir Fever Pitch—move along those thematic lines. All of those books became the basis of movies (Fever Pitch twice, in fact—one British and one American adaptation) where the protagonists fail to live up to others’ expectations of them. Juliet, Naked is Hornby’s latest story to hit the big screen. While it follows similar patterns of the other Hornby-based movies, Juliet differs in that the characters […]

Mass shootings are regularly highlighted in the media, and they prompt important conversations regarding U.S. gun policy and public safety. However, The American public  fails to acknowledge that the majority of gun deaths and injuries do not stem from mass shootings but are a result of homicides, suicides and accidents. It is crucial to pursue policies that prevent those daily occurrences as well as mass shootings. Furthermore, the controversy and over-generalizations surrounding gun violence have prevented us from exploring the issue in depth. One narrative suggests that strengthening gun policies will take away the freedom to carry a weapon that […]

  I was a huge fan of Alias, a television series that ran in the early 2000s starring Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, an international spy recruited out of college who is highly skilled in spy craft and self-defense. The series was well crafted with complex characters, moral dilemmas and twisting plots, receiving numerous awards and nominations. And, personally, I enjoyed seeing a strong female character as the lead in the action genre. So I was thrilled when I heard that Garner, now 46 and a mother of three, was returning to what looked like a similar role in Peppermint, […]

In last week’s film review, Jerry Holsopple praises and highly recommends Spike Lee’s new film, BlacKkKlansman. I agree completely, but this summer saw the release of what I think is an even better independent film featuring an African-American writer and protagonist: Blindspotting. Unlike BlacKkKlansman, Blindspotting has received very little attention and has not been widely distributed. In Winnipeg, Blindspotting played for one week in late August, in a cinema at the edge of town, and I was the only person in the theatre when I watched this profound and insightful film. The theatre next door, meanwhile, was full for what […]

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. –Matthew 6:21 Matthew 6:21 is often cited as a guide for individual spending habits, but it can also be an important principle to consider for federal budgets. The U.S. government spends roughly $18 billion per year on immigration enforcement—more than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. In July, the House Appropriations Committee passed a bill to increase this funding and add $5 billion for more walls on the U.S.-Mexico border. A similar bill in the Senate calls for $1.6 billion for border walls. To many members of Congress, […]