Michael’s problems started, according to his mother, around age 3, shortly after his brother Allan was born. At the time, she said, Michael was mostly just acting “like a brat,” but his behavior soon escalated to throwing tantrums during which he would scream and shriek inconsolably. These weren’t ordinary toddler’s fits. “It wasn’t, ‘I’m tired’ or ‘I’m frustrated’ — the normal things kids do,” Anne remembered. “His behavior was really out there. And it would happen for hours and hours each day, no matter what we did.” For several years, Michael screamed every time his parents told him to put on his shoes or perform other ordinary tasks, like retrieving one of his toys from the living room. “Going somewhere, staying somewhere — anything would ... Continue reading →

Stefania Capovilla’s hair salon is squished between a pair of two-storey brick buildings just outside Ottawa’s political core on Somerset Street West — it is so tiny, the address is 494½. There is no sign out front, and no receptionist or staff; just electric-blue walls and a chandelier for some boutique charm. And yet: Her single styling chair is busy with some of the capital’s most prominent politicians, most notably Prime Minister Stephen Harper, ranked No. 1 this year by the New York Times’ Sunday Magazine on its Well-Coiffed World Leaders list. “Possibly the best-defined side part in the Western Hemisphere,” the magazine proclaimed. Ms. Capovilla, 38, guards her rapport with the prime minister so tightly that after Mr. Harper sported what appeared to be ... Continue reading →

Niels Veldhuis insists he is not concerned with labels: “conservative,” “right-wing,” “libertarian” or even “free-market” — they are all nonsense descriptors, he says, lobbed at his Vancouver-based think-tank by those too afraid to challenge conventional wisdom. He prefers words like “independent” or “educational,” because the Fraser Institute is rooted not in ideological philosophy but rather in data-driven evidence, he said. The new president, an economist, said he will very much abide by the mantra emblazoned in the office he heads as of three weeks ago, which reads “If it matters, measure it.” The institute has been in the business of measuring ever since it was born in 1974 under founder and economist Michael Walker, whose presidency lasted more than 30 years. From hospital wait-lists to ... Continue reading →

The David Suzuki Foundation on Tuesday became the target of a complaint to the Canada Revenue Agency, just days after its namesake co-founder stepped down amid heightened tensions between environmental charities and the Conservative government. EthicalOil.org, a non-profit organization that promotes oil from Canada and other democracies, sent a letter to the agency asking it to investigate whether the David Suzuki Foundation is breaking rules that pertain to political activity. Registered charities are allowed to devote only a small fraction of their resources to political activity, although they can never be partisan. “If you find the Suzuki Foundation is in contravention of the CRA rules, then we request that you consider whether the Suzuki Foundation should have its charitable status revoked or otherwise be sanctioned,” ... Continue reading →

The 4,500-square-foot vault is a temperature-controlled former television studio, maintained at a precise 18 C with a relative humidity of 30%. The shelved boxes — all 23,000 of them — are made of acid-free cardboard and contain information that dates at least as early as 1792. These glassed-in premises on the main floor of a Toronto office tower are ground zero for what is believed to be Canada’s first major probe into allegations that women were coerced or forced into surrendering their children for adoption decades ago because they were not married. Four archivists and one researcher, the latter hired especially to help with the massive undertaking, will spend the next several months systematically parsing the archives at the United Church of Canada — one ... Continue reading →

The Presbyterian Church in Canada has launched an internal review of its historic maternity home practices, becoming the third church to do so since the National Post last month began an investigation into coerced and forced adoptions targeting unmarried mothers between the 1940s and 1980s. Stephen Kendall, the clerk of the Presbyterian assembly, said the review was sparked by a “concern” for mothers who have recently alleged they were coerced or forced by social workers, medical professionals, and maternity-home staff into surrendering their children because they were not married. “[We’re concerned] about any mothers whose children went for adoption that might have concerns today,” he said. “Our archivist is compiling a list of documents and doing a review of them.” Karen Lynn, the head of ... Continue reading →