Middle-aged lady relaxing on a deck by a swimming poolSteven Heap / iStockphoto
Age before beauty
Baby boomers are a gilded generation whose welfare-state entitlements are still secure under the federal budget's cost-cutting, Margaret Wente argues. Dakshana Bascaramurty's reply: Just because the Millennial generation is being made to pay for the boomers' retirement doesn't mean they have to like it.
A progressive's progress
Alison Redford was mentored by icons of provincial and federal conservatism, from Jean Charest to Peter Lougheed. Now she must convince Albertans that she can bring change both to the province and to its conversation with Ottawa, Sandra Martin writes.
The American progressives
Outsiders focus on the darker, conservative side of the United States, not noticing that American public attitudes are getting more progressive when it comes to equal roles for women and social liberalism, Doug Saunders argues. If only their electoral system would reflect the changing views of the population.
The most dangerous game
This could be the worst season in almost four decades for Canadian-based NHL teams, Sean Gordon and Allan Maki write – and some suggest inconsistent ownership of the franchises is part of the problem.
End of the Copper Age
When the federal budget signalled the beginning of the end for pennies, currency analysts and coin makers weren't surprised, Anna Mehler Paperny discovers. After all, the penny is the most expensive coin to produce, relative to its value.
No curse for Canada
Jeffrey Immelt has heard a lot of complaining about the "resource curse," the fear that resource industries undermine competitiveness in manufacturing. But the General Electric CEO says Canada has nothing to worry about, as long as it keeps a focus on productivity, training and R&D and keeps wages competitive. Shawn McCarthy has more.
The ladies vanish
At a time when Toronto's city council has more female councillors than ever, women are avoiding Rob Ford's executive committee like the plague– and the mayor's problems go beyond the bad optics of a male-only inner circle, Kelly Grant writes.
Glittering prizes and no more compromises
The legacy of Pierre Juneau, the bureaucrat who dreamed up the idea of CanCon in 1971, is being challenged by a music industry challenging the bland cultural nationalism of yesteryear, writes John Allemang. This year's Juno Awards, named in Juneau's honour, are putting Canada's new, global outlook on music to the test.
Watching the Throne
For Elizabeth Renzetti, Game of Thrones is a compelling TV drama whose quasi-medieval political intrigue brings out the wonk and the nerd in all of us. John Doyle, on the other hand, feels it's an adolescent male power fantasy full of pomposity and near-pornography.