Qais Ghanem, MD, 2/1/12

Creator and Host, Dialogue with Diversity Radio Show

Muslims for Progressive Values have just published a new book tackling all the factors such as interfaith marriage and hijabs that seem to set Muslims apart from the rest of humanity, and cause 55 per cent of Canadians to claim that Muslims do not share their values. Reading it would be a step in the right direction.

Susan Eng, 2/3/12

VP Advocacy, CARP

Raising the OAS age will target those least capable of doing without it. Rest assured, no one is going to quit working just because they will now get about $600 a month. But this will be very meaningful for those now living on less since access to Guaranteed Income Supplement is tied to receiving Old Age Security.

Yoni Goldstein, 2/3/12

Writer

Reaction to Stephen Harper's Davos announcement of coming changes to Old Age Security was predictable. "Poor old people" was the general tenor -- one day they're heading jauntily toward retirement at 65, but now, because of our emotionless jerk of a prime minister, they'll have to work an extra two years.

Jim Harris, 2/2/12

Management consultant; Bestselling author

Yesterday I posted a sublime, cheeky photo on Facebook. The reaction from my friends was swift: everyone loved it! So you can imagine my surprise when I logged onto Facebook this morning and found the picture had been removed due to its violating community standards.

Maria Lianos-Carbone, 2/3/12

Publisher and editor, www.amotherworld.com

It's almost Valentine's Day! Who cares, right? It's yet another marketing ploy to make us buy more stuff that we don't really need. It's truly overrated. How can you enjoy some romance without playing into the marketing ploy? With some simple, savvy tips: 1. Stay home.

Irene Mathyssen, MP, 2/3/12

Member of Parliament, London-Fanshawe

Caterpillar's decision to close Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) in London, Ontario, will result in 450 jobs lost and an immeasurable ripple effect to the local economy. When Harper took office in the winter of 2006, there were 2,127,200 manufacturing jobs in Canada. Today there are 1,743,700 -- a total loss of nearly 400,000 manufacturing jobs under his watch. Over 40,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in the last 12 months alone.

Barbra Streisand, 2/3/12

Singer; Actress; Director; Composer; Activist

The electorate assumes that presidential candidates will embellish, evade, and even sidestep tough questions. But the media must draw the line when candidates rewrite history in order to protect or enhance their own self-image, not based on the truth.

Patrick Luciani, 2/3/12

I'll wager the captain of the sunken Italian cruise ship, Francesco Schettino, rose quickly through the ranks not because he was a fine captain, but was privileged with family connections in the naval business. When looking for work, family connections and status in Italy are more important than competence.

James Peron, 2/3/12

President, Moorfield Storey Institute

David felt damned. He wanted one thing more than anything else: he simply wanted someone to love him. He didn't want someone attracted to his looks. He didn't want someone merely drawn to his "it" factor. He wanted people to see him for who he was.

Shayna Zamkanei, 2/2/12

PhD Candidate, University of Chicago

Recently, European hackers leaked the names and personal information of scores of alleged white supremacists living in Canada, but they unearthed a more serious problem: The federal government is clearly not doing its job in fighting racism and discrimination.

Arianna Huffington, 2/2/12

As amazing as this last year has been for the AOL Huffington Post Media Group, we have even bigger plans moving ahead: more sections, more international editions, more original reporting, more ways of making the site -- and the stories we cover -- social.

Maude Barlow and Paul Moist, 2/2/12

At Davos last week, the EU stated it wants to protect its policy space when it comes to water, but Canada is seeking no such protection. It's a case of European private water giants having their cake and eating it too. In other words, they protect public services at home, but want their own firms to lay siege to public systems abroad.

J.J. McCullough, 2/2/12

Political cartoonist, pundit

Much as Canadians like to self-righteously assert that our politics are significantly more substantial and mature than those practiced down south, the Canadian left has a persistent inability to bash Harper for anything but the most specious and invented charges.

Hadani Ditmars, 1/31/12

Author, editor

Vancouver is the biggest city in a province with the lowest arts funding per capita in the country. Every time you complain about the lack of cultural critical mass in Canada's third largest city, people sigh, lift their eyes northwards with a quasi mystical gaze and say -- but look at those gorgeous mountains.

Antonio Banderas, 2/2/12

Actor

When it comes to the Golden Collar Awards race, how could not only Puss, but all felines, be shut out? Cats wear collars too.

John Brian Shannon, 2/1/12

Writer

The quiet revolution is already well begun in the biofuel industry as it enters it's high-growth stage -- and it is only going to get better from here. Some cities have done the calculations, and surprise! -- it's more cost effective to re-process that oil than to deal with the harm to the environment from toxic used oil. Quite unlike fossil-fuels, which cause a huge net gain to our atmosphere -- the CO2 equation couldn't be better for plant-based diesel.

Nora Loreto, 2/2/12

Why did so many Ontario students take to the streets to protest McGuinty's decision to replace tuition fee reductions with a grant? The former would help all students and make education cost less. A grant only helps a few while the rest are left to contend with another year's tuition fee hikes.