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Opinion

Today’s editorial cartoon

To contribute last-minute or not?

It’s RRSP season again — is it worth additions amid other ways to save?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Preview

It’s RRSP season again — is it worth additions amid other ways to save?

Joel Schlesinger 6 minute read Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

Canadians have great tools to save tax-deferred or tax-free for the future — and the granddaddy of them all is the registered retirement savings plan.

The calendar now turned to February, RRSPs are on the minds of many, with the March 2 deadline looming for the last contributions for 2025.

Yet in the context of the other ways to save — the tax-free savings account (TFSA) and the newer, first home savings account (FHSA) — the RRSP is not always the most attractive place to park, invest and grow money.

The ideal is to fund all of these savings vehicles, based on need, to their annual maximums.

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Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026

Warner Bros. Pictures

Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi, left) and Cathy (Margot Robbie) could have been hornier.
Warner Bros. Pictures Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi, left) and Cathy (Margot Robbie) could have been hornier.

Brontë film sumptuous fanfic… and that’s just fine

Jen Zoratti 6 minute read Preview

Brontë film sumptuous fanfic… and that’s just fine

Jen Zoratti 6 minute read Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

I saw Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” — quotation marks intentional and, it turns out, crucial — and therefore my Instagram algorithm is now filled with many, many takes because I posted a single story saying I liked this zany fanfic based (very, very loosely) on Emily Brontë’s 1847 classic.

Right from the trailer, the Charli XCX soundtrack and the casting — Margot Robbie as Cathy and Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff — it was clear this movie was going to be a problem. And I absolutely agree with some of the criticism: I do not defend the casting choices, for example. While I’m cool with Cathy being played by a grown woman, I am in full agreement that Heathcliff should have been played by an actor of colour.

What I don’t quite understand are the people who were expecting, like, a six-part BBC miniseries from the lady who made Saltburn. This is “Wuthering Heights” by the lady who made Saltburn. It’s precisely what I expected. Actually, I think she pulled her punches a bit. It could have been weirder and hornier.

It is a sumptuous, visual spectacle laced with much viscous — and, frankly, vaginal — imagery. It is not subtle. It is not period. It is absolutely not faithful. It’s like if a teenage girl’s bedroom collage were a movie (complimentary). It’s pure fanfic. It’s Brat Summer: The Moors edition. It’s the pure id of desire. It’s also very, very sad.

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Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

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Mark Schiefelbein / The Associated Press

U.S. President Donald Trump
Mark Schiefelbein / The Associated Press U.S. President Donald Trump

After a court decision on tariffs, what’s next?

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

After a court decision on tariffs, what’s next?

Editorial 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

U.S. President Donald Trump loves the word tariffs — he’s said so many times.

In fact, he’s said “I love the word tariffs — it’s the most beautiful word in the dictionary.”

The U.S. Supreme Court? Not so much. At least, not when the president claims he can unilaterally impose them.

Friday, a majority of the court struck down Trump’s use of the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, saying, bluntly, “IEEPA does not authorize the president to impose tariffs.”

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Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

Alberta premier asks voters to bypass Indigenous rights

Niigaan Sinclair 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

There is a standard playbook that politicians use when they have mismanaged an economy, want to divert attention from a scandal, or violate citizen rights and the law.

Blame the brown people.

No, this isn’t about U.S. President Donald Trump — but note how easy it was to assume that.

This is about Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.

The Canadian Press

Canadian democracy has to move beyond being a spectator sport, watched from the visitors’ gallery.
The Canadian Press Canadian democracy has to move beyond being a spectator sport, watched from the visitors’ gallery.

Putting democracy in the hands of the people

David McLaughlin 5 minute read Preview

Putting democracy in the hands of the people

David McLaughlin 5 minute read Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

Floor-crossings are raising questions about the democratic hygiene of Canada’s governing institutions.

When an MP elected under one political banner crosses the floor of the House of Commons or legislature to sit under another political banner, this is called a betrayal of democracy.

It isn’t. It is an inevitable bug of our system of representative democracy. A system that permits voters to choose a local candidate as their representative in Parliament or a legislative assembly. That representative is bound only by convention and conscience to remain bound to the party and constituents that elected them. Voters have a say only when that representative is forced to reapply for their role in a subsequent election.

If we, as citizens, truly want more of a say between elections, we need another set of democratic opportunities. A second democratic act, you might call it.

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Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

Letters, Feb. 21

7 minute read Yesterday at 2:02 AM CST

Public inquiry gailing

Re: Developer ‘aggressively’ pursued HQ contract (Feb. 20)

As I read the coverage on the public inquiry regarding the police headquarters project, I am increasingly concerned that the inquiry will not achieve its stated objective. The goal is to determine what went wrong, which processes failed, why the project went so far over budget and what should be done to prevent this from happening again.

We have heard a lot over the years, and again so far during this inquiry, about former Winnipeg CAO Phil Sheegl’s and former mayor Sam Katz’s potential misconduct. While that may explain why Caspian Construction was able to get on to the bidders list, it does not explain how they became the successful bidder. The mayor and CAO do not make the final decision on who wins the contract.

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SERGEI GRITS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES

Kyiv residents receive free hot food during an early February blackout caused by a Russian air attack on Ukraine’s energy system.
SERGEI GRITS / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES Kyiv residents receive free hot food during an early February blackout caused by a Russian air attack on Ukraine’s energy system.

Keeping hope aflame amid darkness and terror

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Preview

Keeping hope aflame amid darkness and terror

Melissa Martin 6 minute read Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

The old trains of Ukraine have a particular aroma. It’s strongest near the ends of each wagon, where you can slip away from the cramped cabin you share with three strangers and stare out the window, watching forests and farm fields slide by. Once you’ve smelled it enough, that aroma nestles in a crack of your mind; you’ll never forget it.

Grease and coal. A tickle of stale cigarette smoke, from when someone sucked back a butt in the gap between the cars. A tart antiseptic scent emanating from the toilet, which flushes by dumping whatever’s inside onto the tracks below. The old trains aren’t luxurious, but they are folksy and dependable, and once you’ve been away long enough, you start to miss them.

Yes, even the smell.

The last time I caught that scent was in the dying days of August. It was still warm then, and I wept as I watched the green waves of rural Ukraine speed by. I was leaving after living there for almost two-and-a-half war-ravaged years; the old train ferried me towards Poland, where I would catch the first of four flights to take me back home.

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Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES

Prime Minister Mark Carney and MP Matt Jeneroux meet in Edmonton after Jeneroux crossed the floor to the Liberals on Wednesday.
JASON FRANSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES Prime Minister Mark Carney and MP Matt Jeneroux meet in Edmonton after Jeneroux crossed the floor to the Liberals on Wednesday.

Poilievre grasping at populist straws after losing another MP to legitimate parliamentary tradition

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Preview

Poilievre grasping at populist straws after losing another MP to legitimate parliamentary tradition

Tom Brodbeck 5 minute read Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

Pierre Poilievre’s latest eruption over a Conservative MP crossing the floor says far more about his own political anxieties than it does about any supposed breach of democratic norms.

When Edmonton Riverbend MP Matt Jeneroux joined the Liberal caucus this week, Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney of trying to “seize a costly Liberal majority government” through “dirty backroom deals” and claimed Jeneroux had betrayed voters in his riding.

It was a familiar script for the Conservative leader: when events don’t break his way, he alleges impropriety, questions motives and implies that the system itself is being gamed.

The problem is that none of it stands up to even the most basic scrutiny.

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Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

File

Google’s data centres consume billions of litres of water each year.
File Google’s data centres consume billions of litres of water each year.

Data centres and infrastructure: an expensive pairing

Editorial 4 minute read Preview

Data centres and infrastructure: an expensive pairing

Editorial 4 minute read Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

If you build it, they will compute.

But at what cost?

Governments around the world — India being the latest — have been falling over themselves trying to lure power-hungry, water-thirsty data centre operations to build in their backyards.

In a world where artificial intelligence is the current biggest and brightest thing, the centres offer good initial construction jobs and, post-construction, smaller levels of operational positions, and different administrations have offered everything from financial incentives to tax breaks.

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Friday, Feb. 20, 2026

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