Unless you are a magazine publisher, you’ve probably never heard of the Canada Magazine Fund. Administered by Heritage Canada, the CMF was established 24 years ago to “contribute towards the production of high-quality magazines showcasing the diverse work of a wide cross-section of Canadian creators” and to build “capacity to help ensure the continued growth and vitality of the Canadian magazine publishing industry”.

It’s been 50 years since Canada's former Minister of National Health and Welfare, Judy LaMarsh told the House of Commons that “smoking is a contributory cause of lung cancer.”

This statement marked the start of a decades-long anti-smoking campaign that continues across the country to this day.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Canadian Cancer Society health promotion team leader Patti King, noting that Canada made this declaration seven months ahead of the United States Surgeon General.

Summer is (almost) here, which means it’s time for our annual Summer Reading Club. It’s a free children’s program at the library (ages 6-12), and it runs from July 9 to August 23. This year’s theme is “Up, Up and Away!” – and will feature superheroes, space ships, birds, Star Wars, and more. We’ll have crafts, games, stories, and activities – as well as one-to-one buddy reading time for those who don’t want their reading skills to slow down over the summer break.

We are so accustomed to the connection between political parties and democracy that to question the relationship between the two might seem absurd. But for those who recognize the multiple crises faced by humanity — the destruction of our environment, climate change, the ravages of unfettered finance capital, the undeniable limits to growth — the failure of our liberal, multi-party democracies seems increasingly obvious.

To many people, the millions who can’t even be bothered to vote, they are simply irrelevant.