Police chief’s call to prayer in Winnipeg ‘inappropriate’
Winnipeg police chief Devon Clunis has been under fire from atheists and, perhaps, agnostics, over his call for the city to unite in prayer for a safer city. Oh yeah, and, according to CBC, at lest one ethicist is also finding Clunis’s request deplorable.
Himself a Christian, the newly-minted chief asked for people of all faiths to pray, saying that if everyone does it for his or her neighbour, there will hopefully be a decrease in crime.
“I think it’s entirely inappropriate for a chief of police, in his role as chief of police, to be advocating prayer either to his colleagues on the police force or to the general public,” an ethicist from the University of Manitoba told CBC News.
Meanwhile, it seems Winnipeg has crime rates high enough for the chief of police to request the city spend some time on its knees.
Tax credit cut puts Saskatoon animators in a tough spot
A group of stop-motion animators in Saskatoon may have the “coolest job in the world,” but their work on the futuristic series, Guardians: Evolution, is in jeapordy after the province axed its film tax credit last year.
Production companies typically require the credit in order for banks to approve business loans. Since the cut, some companies have shut down and left the province, raising concerns among some over the province’s creative future.
Stop-motion fact: A minute and a half of stop-motion can equal about 12,000 miniscule movements.
Edmonton moves towards a winter worth celebrating
Edmonton has shown precedent-setting foresight over the upcoming winter season. Councillors showed their support Tuesday for a committee’s plan for the city to adopt a winter strategy. Some of the specific reommendations included leaving snow on sidewalks for for cross-country skiers and various events, all in a bid to change the city’s attitude towards the long, dark season.
We don’t have to think of winter as a period of deep doom-and-gloom hibernation … Winter is an authentic aspect of Edmonton,” said a member of the winter strategy committee.
There are a few other Prairie cities that could learn from this initiative.
Calgary women earns fire-breathing world record
Calgary fire-eater Carisa Hendrix has put flames in her mouth for about nine years, and, according to the Calgary Herald, the 25-year-old set a world record this year in Rome after she managed to hold what looks like a burning marshmallow in her mouth for two minutes and one second. Hendrix flew to Rome to attempt the feat after hearing about an Italian TV show that taped people attempting to break records.
The previous record was 92.75 second.
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Toban Dyck is a writer/editor/farmer. Follow him @tobandyck.
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