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Just recently a former student of mine posted on her FB page that she had checked something off her bucket list – she had sung at a wedding (and done a fantastic job, I might add).

Prime Minister Stephen Harper dissolved Parliament Sunday, plunging this country into a federal election. We all knew an election was imminent this fall, but to make the call at this time is, to put it bluntly, ridiculous.

So much for those days of Reformer Stephen Harper supporting a triple-E Senate. Those days - and such visions of Preston Manning - have long been stamped out by the need to cling to power at any costs.

Welcome to Week CLXVIII of ‘Fishing Parkland Shorelines’. Like most of us I am a novice fisherman, loving to fish, but far from an expert.

As a crime reporter, I have had a lot of dealings with RCMP communications officers. It is sometimes a little frustrating. I am certain I frustrate them, as well.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has called an October election and it will be interesting to see if he can lead his party to another majority government.

So, it is to be the longest and most expensive election in Canadian history.

View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate.

In fall 2011, politicians, farmers, environmentalists and local advocates met in Toronto to get the ball rolling for Canada’s first urban national park, in the Rouge watershed on the city’s east side. It was a remarkably diverse gathering.