FEATURED POST

Nothing Will Change Unless We Change It

It’s been about a month since I wrote about the Trees Please “Save the Shade” Election Pledge and, by now, I had hoped a few things might have changed. What I hoped for most was that the three candidates being touted as the frontrunners in our mayoral race would have signed the pledge. Instead it has been crickets from Misters Gillingham, Klein and Vogiatzakis. So why haven’t the frontrunners signed a pledge that would commit them to something as economically sound and enviro

56 minutes ago4 min read

TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Nothing Will Change Unless We Change It

56 minutes ago4 min read

Voters Deserve To Know More Than Who’s Dissing Who

Oh Winnipeg – there are days when I truly do despair. Bad enough that a week of local news was dominated by two whiny, right wing mayoral candidates - Kevin Klein and Mike Vogiatzakis - accusing each other of being mean, two- faced and disingenuous. When you add in the media’s feeding frenzy on the duelling politicos, versus what they didn’t cover, you might begin to understand why the cloud of gloom began to descend on me like a bad migraine. In fact, while the “Bickersons”

7 days ago4 min read

A NEW BATCH OF COUNCILLORS COULD TRANSFORM CITY HALL

Well, here we are folks, just a few weeks away from the civic election and the political landscape at City Hall is about to change. And, with any luck, it could change for the better. We already know that 5 council seats are open races, due to the withdrawal of longtime councillors like Janice Lukes, Sherri Rollins John Orlikow, Markus Chambers and Brian Mayes. But what’s equally interesting are the campaigns being launched against city council incumbents like Jeff Browaty, R

Oct 164 min read

The Week That Was In Transit

Did any of you happen to notice that the week of September 14th marked an interesting confluence of events in Winnipeg? First up was the mayoral debate on public transit. Second was an announcement that the city would be undertaking a survey to determine whether their citizens’ “transportation needs” are being met. The debate on our public bus system, from which our current Mayor Scott Gillingham was tellingly absent, focused primarily on safety rather than the efficiency of

Oct 64 min read

Who Will Vote For Trees?

In July 2026, Terrasse-Vaudreuil, a small Quebec town, made international headlines. And no, it wasn’t the result of murder and mayhem or a catastrophic flood. The headlines were about a remarkable resolution passed by its town council, making Terrasse-Vaudreuil the first city in the world to recognize the rights of trees. The town’s resolution, based on the Universal Declaration of Tree Rights crafted in France by La Compagnie des Papillons Bleus and author Ricardo Rey, reco

Sep 283 min read

Democracy Depends On Your Vote

Some years ago, I did some pretty in-depth research on ancient Athens and its democratic system of government as part of a documentary film I was pitching. It was actually a lot of fun because I was looking at ways their democratic beliefs and practices were both similar and different from ours. And some of the differences were quite striking, like the fact that only Athenian-born males 18 years-of-age and over could participate. Or the fact that their executive branch was se

Sep 104 min read

Democracy Just Became A Civic Election Issue In Winnipeg

Scott Gillingham should be worried – very, very worried. Not just because he’ll likely win the upcoming mayoral race for no better reason than the lack of a tenable, progressive alternative, but because longtime, and in some cases, progressive councillors are currently quitting his administration. And they’re not going quietly. Just take Sherri Rollins’ recent announcement that she would not be seeking re-election. When she cited the reasons why she won’t be running again, sh

Aug 143 min read

Welcome to My Blog! It’s time to talk about nature, climate, and a whole host of other things!

They call me “the tree lady” - I’ve been called worse! - because I’m passionate about protecting and expanding Winnipeg’s urban forest. But first and foremost, I’m writer, filmmaker and environmental activist with a wide range of interests. In addition to publishing a novel and short stories, I’ve written and directed more than a dozen award-winning science and nature documentaries for CBC’s The Nature of Things With David Suzuki.

Recently, I’ve written a series of opinion editorials for The Winnipeg Free Press on urban issues, from climate change and trees to downtown renewal.

Contact

FEATURED POST

Nothing Will Change Unless We Change It

TRAIN OF THOUGHT

Nothing Will Change Unless We Change It

Voters Deserve To Know More Than Who’s Dissing Who

A NEW BATCH OF COUNCILLORS COULD TRANSFORM CITY HALL

The Week That Was In Transit

Who Will Vote For Trees?

Democracy Depends On Your Vote

Democracy Just Became A Civic Election Issue In Winnipeg

ABOUT ME

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