Briarpatch Articles

“Neither imperialism nor colonialism is a simple act of accumulation and acquisition. It�s not just a matter of going out there and getting a territory and sitting on it. Both of these practices are supported and perhaps even impelled by impressive cultural formations, that include ideas that certain people and certain territories require and beseech domination.” — Edward Said, Culture and Imperialism

Out of two hundred warplanes that took part in Exercise Maple Flag 2005 in Cold Lake, Alberta in May, only ten were Israeli F-16s. It would be easy to miss their significance. Yet, when Canadian forces extended an invitation to the Israeli Air Force for the first time in thirty-eight meetings of the Maple Flag war games, it signalled, according to military planners, a marked shift in Canadian military and political policy in the twenty-first century: good night Battle of Britain, good morning Gaza.

What does it mean to be transgendered? If you are born in a body that fits your internal idea of who you are and what your gender is, you have probably never thought about it. But more people than you might imagine face this issue. Someone you know and care about may be struggling with it today. Alternating between the journalistic and the personal, drawing on the experiences of a female to male transgendered person, we hope this article will facilitate greater understanding of the struggles that transgendered people face.

Treaties are foundational agreements that provide a common framework for peaceful co-existence between First Nations and settlers. Some “treaty abolitionists” argue that treaties grant particular individuals special rights and privileges, creating inequality in our community—and therefore that “treaty rights” should be taken away. But they forget that we are all, in fact, treaty people. Treaties are two-party agreements that bestow rights and obligations upon both parties. Settlers too were granted generous treaty rights that they would be foolish to abrogate.