Cam Harder

IF YOU ARE on a farm between Kindersley, Sask., and Camrose, Alta., you may not realize that you are living in the “promised land.” You may have been fooled by the driest June on record, a drought that in spite of recent showers has turned pastures white and shrivelled crops as they germinated. Some places, […] Read more

CORNER GAS had a great episode in which the grandmother of Dog River’s mayor suggests they build a giant hoe to put the town on the map. Unfortunately, the “e” in hoe isn’t audible and much innuendo ensues. “They do attract people,” Lacey notes pragmatically about the ho(e) “and they certainly generate revenue.” Hearing Montmartre’s […] Read more

“EAT, DRINK and be merry.” It may seem like our only comfort in this never-ending winter. Problem is, the drink is causing serious issues in Western Canada. Many are familiar with the recent trial of Christopher Pauchay, the young father who drank heavily while looking after his toddlers and took them outside into 40 below […] Read more

U.S. president Barack Obama’s inauguration speech was a faith exercise. He said America’s turnaround is not going to happen just because Obama willed it. Change, he insisted, will have to begin in every American. What impressed me was his conviction that it would. I think I know where that faith in his people comes from. […] Read more

I’M TURNING into one of those “tough on crime” guys. It happened during our recent federal election. I was visiting a young inmate waiting for trial in a provincial jail. He said that he’d just voted for the first time. “What was that like?” I asked. “I sure didn’t vote for the guys who think […] Read more

WELL, what a week! A global financial crisis and a federal election, with Thanksgiving in between. There have been lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth (literally and figuratively) with a bit of celebration thrown in. This odd conjunction has me thinking about what makes people happy. Our well-being, after all, is what governments are […] Read more

WATCHING the Olympics took me back to my childhood. I loved Hercules and Superman. The back cover of my first Superman comic showed a “97 pound weakling,” (20 lb. heavier than me) being bullied at the beach. Then a couple of weeks working out with Weider weights and he’s kicking sand back in the bully’s […] Read more

IN THE last months I’ve taken two trips that made me think about extinction: one to Dogpound Creek, Alta., and the other to Chennai, India. The Dogpound trip was a family reunion held near the site of the original Harder homestead. Like most reunions, it was sobering and exciting. Sobering, because my parents’ generation is […] Read more

I HAVE a beef with people like me. That is, people who write for the media. We are often not aware of the impact of our words. Recently, I’ve heard several news stories about people dismissed from their jobs over allegations of financial or sexual offences. As a pastor I’ve seen the shame such stories […] Read more

I WAS AT an interagency forum on street kids a few weeks ago. Young people and professionals told how hard it is to get off the street. It’s not just the addictions, the unhealthy families and friendships, as powerful as those are. It’s also the red tape. It’s tough for street people to break into […] Read more