Good morning, and welcome to the weekend.
Grab your cup of coffee or tea and sit down with a selection of this week’s great reads from The Globe.
In this issue, Tony Keller dives deep into Canada’s historical past to present us with an alternative future in Argentina’s present. “People underestimate how much the past can be used to understand the present and anticipate the future,” said Keller, who prides himself on being a history buff. In the late 20th century, Canada, along with Australia and Argentina, were in nearly identical economic positions – each had large land masses with massive natural resources that were opening up vast new agricultural land, immigrants flowing in and investors pouring in money from around the world. While Keller is confident of Canada’s continued success, he says we can learn a lot from this period. “Looking at an example like Argentina or looking at the reverse, which is South Korea, is just there to make you think about how small decisions and small mistakes can compound and get you into a bad place – or how right decisions and things done well can compound and get you into a much better place.”
Colin Freeze went on a week-long trip to Saskatchewan to deepen his understanding of how some First Nations communities are trying to navigate the policing conundrum they face: “Ottawa has agreed to provide services to them, but provinces are responsible for local law enforcement. One of the key questions we ask is, ‘Whose job is it to provide policing on First Nations communities?’ It’s everyone’s and no one’s at the same time,” Freeze said. During his trip, he spent time in James Smith Cree Nation, a community grappling with how to reinvent policing in the aftermath of one of Canada’s deadliest mass killings.
And Gayle Macdonald profiles stylist Colin King, who is bringing his minimalist aesthetic to living rooms across North America.
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Opinion: Canada isn’t ‘broken,’ but it will be if we don’t make the right decisions
Illustration by francescoch
At the start of the 20th century, Argentina and Canada were in the same place. Then, bad decision by bad decision, Argentina declined, while Canada moved forward. By the last third of the 20th century, Argentina had gone from one of the most developed countries to what the International Monetary Fund now classifies as a developing country. Is “everything broken” in Canada, as Pierre Poilievre says? His specialty is exaggeration, but it starts from something real. It’s not quite right, but it isn’t entirely wrong. Is Canada still on the right course? And if not, what to do about it? Tony Keller examines the future that could have been – and might still be.
Nathan Roberts is a constable at the File Hills First Nations Police Service, the only group of its kind in Saskatchewan to use a program known as FNIPP to finance an Indigenous-administered police force.Heywood Yu/The Globe and Mail
Last year’s stabbings at James Smith Cree Nation were a wake-up call for much of the country as First Nations west of Ontario grappled with the failings that resulted in one of Canada’s deadliest mass killings. In Canada, any search for money for policing in Indigenous communities has led directly into a thicket of complications. Now, reserves are rethinking how to keep themselves safe and how to navigate a maze of jurisdictions that Ottawa plans to redesign.
In uncertain times, more parents are choosing to have only one child
Chris and Jen Dalton with their daughter Nora at their home in Sudbury, Ont.The Globe and Mail
There is a growing tide of ever more vocal “one and done” parents, with only-child families found to be the single most common type of family in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. The reasons for this vary: climate change, high costs of living, and the pandemic. Privately, many simply don’t want another child. Publicly, “one and doners” experience much of the same pressure facing people who choose not to have kids at all. Zosia Bielski speaks to parents who have opted for one child, along with filmmakers, authors and other experts on the issue.
Why Canada is among the prime targets for Chinese interference
The West Block of Parliament Hill is pictured through the window of the Sir John A. Macdonald building in Ottawa.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
For decades, Beijing has sought to shape politics and society across the Pacific, with Canada as a critical platform. Secret intelligence documents viewed by The Globe and Mail have brought new light to how those efforts are taking place on Canadian soil, with efforts by Chinese diplomats to influence elections and shape policy. That includes directing money toward the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, working to defeat certain candidates for the federal Conservative Party and influencing the outcome of the Vancouver city election. But for China, Nathan VanderKlippe reports, Canada has been a place of intense interest since the days of Chairman Mao’s rule.
How the once-splurgy tasting menu became a more affordable night out
Chef Andrea Carlson’s Burdock & Co in Vancouver has taken on an all-tasting menu model.JANIS NICOLAY/Burdock and Co
As pandemic restrictions were loosened, there’s been a relaxation, too, of the fussy, over-the-top restaurant culture. Sure, there are many celebrated Canadian tasting-menu restaurants with the trappings of fine dining, but, a growing number of others, such as Burdock & Co, shed light on a more relaxed and convivial approach. Rather than treat guests like spectators watching an orchestrated piece of culinary theatre – ala The Menu – the new world tasting menu embraces and invites guests to interact with a chef’s vision and values.
ILLUSTRATION BY TOM IURCHENKO/GETTY IMAGES
As a culture, our shared fears – and even shame – around clutter aren’t necessarily misplaced. The stress that comes with chaos can manifest as poor sleep and poor diet, as studies have backed up. If chaos is as bad for us as the thinking goes, Mark Pupo writes, then we need neatness, perfection and bare counters. But what if our fear of clutter has gone too far – to the point that it’s limited our creativity?
How Colin King is quietly making over every living room in North America
A living room designed by Colin King.Rich Stapleton/Supplied
If you’ve flipped through the pages of Architectural Digest, Elle Décor or The New York Times’ T Magazine recently, you’ve most likely been admiring interiors created by stylist Colin King. Despite having just five years of interior design experience, his warm, minimalist aesthetic is everywhere, quietly shaping people’s appreciation for beautiful, everyday things. And yet most consumers don’t even know his name, let alone his influence over their homes. Gayle MacDonald speaks to the fitness trainer turned interior creative director defining the look for retail design heavyweights such as Zara Home and West Elm.
Drawn from the headlines
How will a major oil project change East Africa? Al-Jazeera, MAR. 21, as drawn by Connor Willemsen for The Globe and Mail
How will a major oil project change East Africa?Illustration by CONNOR WILLUMSEN FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL