Columns

Looking for answers, Help is on the way, A great harvest for all

This past Thanksgiving weekend, our teenaged grandsons challenged the older males in the family to a few games of Trevett.

Apologies in advance, as this column is going to equate politics with the word "thrill" and we all know that isn't the case. Not. One. Bit. The title references a B.B. King song. I suppose that's kind of cool.

Being an old farm kid, and having spent all my life (aside from three years in university) in one of the most productive farming areas of the world, I have always held Thanksgiving Day up as one of the most important holidays of the year.

Pumpkins and salutations one and all. Welcome back to another edition of The Pumpkin, your number one, very good source for all the pumpk-INs and pumpk-OUTs of the gorgeous gourd that's got it all

A logical next step, Game-changing science, Back from the dead?

It is difficult to think how much my life has changed in just a short time. Thank you so much for being the maid of honour at our wedding in July (between haying and harvest, you know).

Remember the concept of the bustling city, full of activity, excitement and noise? Of course you do. I certainly do. Growing up in two Toronto suburbs (Pickering and Scarborough)...

Everybody shut up! There's definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, for sure, totally no time for pleasantries this week at The Chaff because "Chaff-ston, we have a problem."

In a week when Ontario Premier Doug Ford decided he was risking his government's electability in pushing the sale of portions of the Greenbelt around Toronto for new housing, there was an even bigger scandal continuing in Alberta...

The man who sold the world, Rebel, Rebel, The Spiders from Mars

You can't just go around annexing parts of other countries - well, unless you're a ruthless dictator - nor do I think Justin Trudeau would consider such a move, neither practically nor politically, but, hear me out: Minnesota for Alberta - straight up.

In the grand tradition of fighting for what truly matters, The Chaff would like to draw your attention to a crisis of monumental proportions that has befallen us.

The season changes from summer to autumn, and yet, the wildfires continue to burn in northern Canada and the lower mainland of British Columbia in the worst fire season we have ever experienced.

Use it or lose it, The neverending pandemic, The time to act is now

If a person were to take the time to peruse the listing of landowners in local history books, they might find the repetition of one name in particular.

One of the particularly fulfilling aspects of being the parent of a three-year-old is that she's now become old enough to appreciate things on a new level.

Welcome back to The Chaff, your weekly wander through the weird, wild and wonderful world of whimsy, wantonness, and "We want our money back because The Chaff makes us upset in ways we don't understand."

As I contemplated, on the weekend, what to write this column about, outside on our country acreage the sound of steam whistles at the annual Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion leaked across the fields.

Disagreeing on disagreement, Make it worthwhile, Ain't no party like a Conservative Party

Lately, there has been a trend on social media, specifically with right-wing conspiracy theorists, of posting mashed-up clips, put together like a news story, in an effort to make an argument.

Despite the best efforts of The Chaff's crack team of chemically unbalanced agents at the Department of Month Prevention, September slipped in sideways and surreptitiously snuck in through August's unsecured backdoor.

Universities and colleges across Canada came back to life last week as thousands of students enrolled for the coming year. Down the road at the University of Western Ontario, 40,000 students moved in.

A thankless job, Off the market, Another day in the sun