September 28, 2009

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MAIL BAG

ANDREW COYNE got it wrong when he wrote of Ted Kennedy that “the true measure of a life is how many people show up at your funeral” (“Genuinely loved, for his many faults,” World, Sept. 14). Some people plan not to have a funeral, some funerals are small by design.

HEALTH

FLUORIDE IS ONE OF OUR GREAT PUBLIC HEALTH VICTORIES FLUORIDE IS TOXIC WASTE THAT DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Health Canada wants the levels in our tap water cut. Now the fight to ban it outright is back on. By CATHY GULLI11 min

INTERVIEW

Q Your new book is subtitled The Evidence for Evolution. Why do you think society needs a primer 150 years after Charles Darwin first laid it out in The Origin of Species? A: It is a very, very important idea. It is the explanation for all of life—a stunningly simple, yet powerful explanation. By JONATHON GATEHOUSE8 min

FROM THE EDITORS

Harper must act now to protect free speech

Stephen Harper used to have very clear—and colourful— ideas on human rights commissions and what should be done about them. “Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society,” he said in a 1999 interview with Terry O’Neill of BC Report newsmagazine.

THIS WEEK

NEWSMAKERS

Wheelchair basketball lifted Terry Fox out of the funk of losing a leg to cancer. So it’s fitting that Fox’s Marathon of Hope inspired fellow British Columbian Steve Nash, Canada’s greatest basketball player. Nash interviewed Fox’s family, visited his grave in Port Coquitlam and has produced a heartfelt documentary on his childhood hero, to be aired on ESPN next spring.

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