This week was so full of disillusioning news that it was hard to keep an optimistic outlook. In Belize, thousands of years of history were razed when one of the country's largest Mayan pyramids was bulldozed in an effort to obtain crushed rock for a road-building project. In...

As the May long weekend approaches, I've been thinking about my family's cottage. Mundane, practical thoughts (Are we going? Did the Off expire? Has anyone fixed the toilet?), but also broader thoughts. Mostly, thoughts about how conflicted I feel about the place.

Some of the best times of my life...

This week brought freedom for three women who had been held captive in a Cleveland home for about a decade. The prosecutor in the case has revealed that he may seek aggravated murder charges against the alleged captor, Ariel Castro, because Castro is accused of repeatedly...

In the aftermath of the deadly Bangladesh factory collapse, Loblaw has been admirably vocal about its plans to compensate victims' families and to make checking the structural integrity of factory buildings part of its future audits of suppliers. (Loblaw owns Joe Fresh, which had clothing made for it...

So, I guess we're now all clear that CBC is looking for a male children's television host between the ages of 23 and 35. Someone who can carry a tune. Show a silly side. Oh, and also "reflect Canada's diversity."

You may find that last bit a tad unclear....

This week, the debate raged on over the "root causes" of terrorism -- and over how much we should care about said causes in the first place. On CBC's Power & Politics Thursday, Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre took a literalist approach, declaring the root causes of terrorism to...

According to the Boston Globe, Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's confessions to law enforcement officials came before he was read his constitutional rights. "Tsarnaev made his admissions to FBI agents who interviewed him at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds,"...

When I heard about the explosions at the Boston Marathon, and started reading the confused and nervous Tweets and reports that soon followed on Monday afternoon, my mind turned back to 9/11 and details I hadn't thought about since. Milling about with co-workers on Pennsylvania Avenue that hot...

So, full disclosure: Initially I was not at all shocked or outraged by the Tory ad showing new Liberal leader Justin Trudeau stripping down to his undershirt. Yes, it would have been more sporting had the ad pointed out that Mr. Trudeau was prancing around shirtless for a good reason...

Street art can be breathtaking and beautiful -- an excellent way to bring vitality to a corner or neighbourhood, not to mention a solid strategy for minimizing unwanted and potentially hateful graffiti. Recognizing these benefits, more and more governments and local business associations are turning over public spaces to artists...

This week, it seemed the entire country was focused on the suicide of Nova Scotia teen Rehtaeh Parsons. A heart-wrenching post from Rehtaeh's father, Glen Canning, captured the difficulty of knowing how best to move forward now -- after the profoundly sad end to a year-and-a-half...

This week, we learned that about one in 50 Canadian television subscribers has said goodbye to cable or satellite contracts and opted to get his TV fix from streaming and over-the-air sources instead. More customers are soon expected to follow -- and why not? Netflix, Apple TV, network...

How old is too old to be a new mother?

The Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine recently changed its policy to endorse providing donor eggs and embryos for transfer to women up to the age of 55. Is this a reasonable way of catching up...

So, before we get talking about the release of Ontario's latest "sunshine list" of public sector salaries, let's review a few statistics. In 2012, the average Canadian salary was $47,200. This number was a bit higher in Ontario, but not a lot higher: The average salary...

This week, plenty of critics took the Harper government to task over its decision to withdraw Canada from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was so frustrated, she tweeted that Harper is making Canada "a rogue nation. The North Korea...

My first up-close-and-personal experience with the justice system was the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial. I wasn't actually involved in the case, of course. I didn't sleep in O.J.'s guest house or know in advance that the glove wouldn't fit. But I watched enough of the trial on television to get...

This week, we welcomed in spring (in theory, anyway), which led to anticipation of sunny afternoons spent sipping smoothies in the park and warm evenings whiled away on a patio with friends and a Caesar or two; both great ideas, though as our HuffPost Living team reminded us, your smoothie...

Barely a day goes by in Toronto, or any other large city, without some reminder of the pain and damage caused by gun violence. While most agree it's a serious issue, the best way to address it remains a topic of considerable debate.

Do we need more police? Better grass-roots...

This week, Canada learned that it has dropped out of the top ten and into 11th place in the United Nations' annual Human Development Index (HDI). The change has raised calls for the government to focus less on deficit reduction and more on education and income...

Can we all agree that breastfeeding is not a cure-all?

Every time I write about breastfeeding, I feel like I have to start with a disclosure. I breastfed my first child exclusively for six weeks and I found the experience mentally and physically exhausting, depleting and dispiriting. There are...