Social movements are the hardest thing for the humanist to understand; why, how and what motivates huge numbers of people to do, think, and act collectively? These questions fascinate and frustrate us. In an attempt to help us understand the how and why of the Arab Spring, Western media has done what it often does and has simplified the complexities of the event; the challenge, then, should be to confront the simplicity of received narratives and push harder at what we are told about the Arab Spring, and how it has been presented.

Separatism is dead in Canada, and the divide between French and English Canada – that great, apprehended threat so clearly realized by reformers in the 1960s – has been bridged. The future of Canada will depend on the nation’s continued ability to peacefully co-exist culturally, politically, and socially.

During the late stages of my research for my Masters degree, I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with T.H.B (Tom) Symons, the founding President of Trent University and a central member of the Ontario Advisory Committee on Confederation.

For all the great advances we’ve seen in the last 100-or-so years, we now risk simply resting on our laurels. Women can vote, African Americans aren’t segregated, we have fairly effective social welfare structures, environmentalism is on the march, and we as a society are being pulled increasingly towards equality.