I am a Canadian writer and blogger, and a former Member of Parliament. I use this site to share my ideas about politics, social justice, rhetoric, books, and memoir. You will see on the sidebar that I write two Blogs which I invite you to follow. I have written or edited nine Books, and you will find Journalism by me and about me posted on the site as well. I hope that you will read some of my work, and let me know what you think. I would love to hear from you in the Comments section below.
I also post here about things that I have written recently, or that have caught my eye. I refresh this page regularly.
Happy Birthday Roy Romanow
Roy Romanow was born on August 12,1939 and turns 87 this year. He was a long time Saskatchewan MLA, then deputy premier and attorney general in three Allan Blakeney governments. He succeeded Blakeney as NDP leader in 1987 and later led the NDP to three consecutive election victories. Following his retirement in 2000, PM Jean Chretien appointed him to lead a Royal Commission on the future of health care. He reported in 2002, calling for support and increased funding for Canada’s public health care system. Post politics, Romanow was also a senior policy fellow at the Universities of Saskatchewan and Regina, as well as a visiting fellow at Queen’s University. In 2016, he was named Chancellor of the University of Saskatchewan, a role he filled until 2019. He is an Officer of the Order of Canada. The photo here was taken in 2005 when Roy received an honourary doctorate from Carleton University in Ottawa. We live nearby and we hosted a small reception in his honour.
Pope Leo XIV’s document on AI
Pope Leo XIV has published a document called Magnificent Humanity, which places the human person and the common good at the centre of the discussion about the increasingly pervasive technology of AI. I have posted about it to my Pulpit and Politics blog.
Literary Review of Canada article on Communist for the RCMP
The LRC has a review in their April 2025 edition of my book A Communist for the RCMP. The writer is David Shribman, a veteran U.S. journalist who was executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He teaches in the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University he contributes to The Globe and Mail. The review is titled, Serge Protector? The RCMP informant who saw red. It took me a few moments to get it, but eventually I did.
Quotable Quotes
“Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty.” – Hannah Arendt
“Indifference to the truth leads, slowly but surely, to a descent to totalitarianism.” – Pope Leo XIV
Dennis Gruending 