I am a business economist with interests in international trade worldwide through politics, money, banking and VOIP Communications. The author of RG Richardson City Guides has over 300 guides, including restaurants and finance.
During the 30 years it took to research and write this book, several people were a continuing source of inspiration and encouragement, for which I am very grateful. They are men I went to school with as boys and who are now older men in their 60s, like me. People like Patrick Doheny, Jay Lumière, Gordon Glass, and Allan MacDougall. Equally, I am indebted to former teachers at Bishop’s College School like John Cowans and John Pratt.
My two editors, Bryan Demchinsky and Correy Baldwin, were sources of encouragement and criticism when needed, for which I thank them. Correy is a relative newcomer to the editing trade whereas Bryan is a veteran journalist who speaks like crusty lifers are supposed to speak. He says things like: “I turned up a few more fly specks amid the sugar.”
Dana Edmonds took charge of the images that appear in the book and the website created to promote the book. Their quality reflects her skills and patience.
My good friend, Barbara Sears, helped me with the research for the book but more importantly she encouraged me from the very beginning, telling me I could and should write this book.
My brothers, David and Julian, both former BCS students themselves (although they escaped Forster), have been loyal and insightful supporters over these many years.
Charlotte Breese provided me with encouragement and, often, accommodation on my various trips to England to research this book.
Graham Patriquin’s two-volume history of BCS, From Little Forks to Moulton Hill, was an indispensible reference and source of information.
Many other people helped me along the way. There are too many to name in full but I must mention Suzanne DePoe, Peter Hutchins, Tam Davis, Tony Suche, John Dean, Paul Cowan, Peter Norris, Michel Choquette, Ron Owen, Alexis Troubetzkoy, Stephen Fox, John and Jill Stephenson, Dendle French, Mark Abley, David Evans, David Muschett, William Walker, Jill McGreal, Dr. Peter Collins, Dr. Michael Seto, Judy Steed, Merrily Weisbord, Simon Dardick, Marion Hebb, and a very special thanks to Dr. Gizelle Popradi.
My wife, Hannele Halm, has always been the most reliable judge of my work, whether in filmmaking or writing. I dare not take a step without her support, for which I will never be able to express enough thanks. My children, Anna-Kaisa and Sam, have been patient readers and supporters when called upon.
It’s been a very long and winding road. This book began life some 30 years ago as a research project for a feature film entitled Retribution. Jefferson Lewis has worked tirelessly to write and shape the screenplay. We fervently believe the film will get made one of these days.
Harold Forster was a man whose very existence defied belief. Stories about him never failed to intrigue or astound, and their number grew and grew as the years went by and the research continued. Eventually, the collective revulsion against his sins coalesced into a class-action lawsuit brought against BCS by his former students.
That lawsuit has now been settled and the Harold Forster story has been told.
The distinction given to the virtuoso — an artist recognized for exceptional skill and talent — is generated by their prominence and unique creative fortitude.
Oscar Peterson’s artistic identity as a conveyor of compelling passion, expressive freedom and technical command of the piano through jazz improvisation became a beacon of inspiration among his contemporaries, across the spectrum of music.
Here, as a professor of vocal jazz studies at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and as a performing vocal artist, pianist, choral conductor, jazz and gospel artist, I reflect on elements that contributed to Peterson’s identity, distinctive sound and mission as a Black artist.
Peterson’s legacy stands as a bright beacon among the trailblazers in technical virtuosity and soulful expression.
Peterson, who was born in 1925 and passed away in 2007, was a foundational catalyst for new generational keepers of artistic excellence due to his tremendous range, from rhapsodic spontaneity to vulnerable tenderness.
This contributed to his iconic stature, globally evidenced in sold-out concert halls, filled jazz clubs and many commissioned works. His media personality and his television appearances, including performing his acclaimed composition “Canadiana Suite” in 1964, contributed to the pop culture of his generation.
At Union’s observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, individuals spoke to the congregation and with me privately of their lifetime multi-generational sacrifices, accomplishments and efforts to combat racial injustice and employment inequities. These endeavours they undertook from their origin as a community of immigrants and parishioners of colour.
One meeting of great significance took place with Annie “Mildred” Rockhead, the sister-in-law of Rufus Nathaniel Rockhead (1896-1981), Jamaican-born entrepreneur and founder of the famed Rockhead’s Paradise Jazz Club in Little Burgundy.
Another was with Oliver Theophilus Jones, critically acclaimed African Canadian jazz pianist, composer and educator.
An amalgamation of concepts and cultural exposures established the platform for Peterson’s musical explorations. His training in western music theory and his immersion in Black vernacular traditions — comprising linguistic, oral and improvisational elements from Black cultural, popular and religious spaces, and music genres such as spirituals, gospel, blues and jazz — provided him with an expansive repertoire on which to build.
Peterson absorbed a wide range of stylistic influences in tempos and dynamics into his prevailing spiritual core of swing and blues.
‘Soulful swing’
Peterson’s tutelage and cultural absorption contributed to an identifiable expressive voice of stylistic grace, impeccable command of his instrument and execution of spiritual freedom.
I refer to this freedom as the identity of Peterson’s interminable musical statement of “soulful swing.” It draws on blues from its historical roots of cries, moans, and smiles through tears, of the hope and joyful praise of gospel and the pride and grace of jazz. These may all be woven into a charismatic tapestry of rhapsodic virtuosity or solemn stillness.
In exploring Oscar Peterson’s encompassing discography, I reference two mesmerizing excerpts from the Solo recording, featuring solo piano renditions performed for live audience in 1972, released 2002.
Peterson’s performance of the classic Edward Heyman jazz ballad, “Body and Soul,” contains innovative depth, improvisatory brilliance and transportive eloquence. Through these elements, and its structural pace-setting, the performance may be aligned to some of great virtuosi of music history, including such masters of the piano as Franz Liszt, Vladimir Horowitz and another Canadian, Glenn Gould.
Oscar Peterson’s ‘Body and Soul.’
Each statement of the song is presented in incremental segments. We hear the mastery of harmonic inflection, dramatic flare — and elements of surprise. Peterson escorts the listener through multiple doors of rapture, humour, joy and personal tenderness.
“Hogtown Blues” presents Oscar’s rhythmically precise, memorable melody punctuated by harmonic “call and response” phrases raised out of the African American diaspora from secular work songs to sacred songs of faith, hope and praise.
Throughout each consecutive chorus, Peterson extends this lyrical simplicity into euphoric release by the application of virtuosic complexity in keyboard techniques. Yet, during this journey, the constant dance groove remains at the forefront of Oscar’s signature expressive voice — swing!
Dignity, elegance, empowerment
As Canada celebrates Black History Month and the centennial commemoration of Peterson, I am most inspired by Peterson’s own words about his “Hymn to Freedom,” originally featured on the Night Train album with the Oscar Peterson Trio.
Of the song, inspired by the words and life of Martin Luther King Jr., Peterson said:
“I wrote the song with hope because the lyrics personified exactly what I was thinking): ‘When every man joins hands and forever sings in harmony, that’s when we’ll be free.‘”
As one of our most prolific representatives of dignity, elegance and empowerment over adversity, Peterson’s artistic profile and lifetime achievement remain a legacy to cherish.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Given the scope of the MAGA assault on the foundations of our democracy, many Democrats, responsible media outlets, and concerned Americans have (understandably) been focused on its attempt to obliterate the rule of law, the separation of powers, and the First Amendment. But we should never lose track of the abject immorality that is part and parcel of an ideology based on vengeful victimhood, conspiracy-mongering, and repudiation of science.
From the outbreak of measles to stalling grants to the pursuit of cures for “diseases ranging from heart disease and cancer to Alzheimer's and allergies” to renewing the starvation crisis in Sudan to devasting cuts at the Veterans Administration to dismissal of patriotic, highly-trained trans members of the armed services…we cannot miss this administration’s abject cruelty; its almost-boisterous disregard for human life and dignity.
House and Senate Republicans bear just as much responsibility as President in Name Only (PINO) Donald Trump and acting president Elon Musk for mutely going along with these actions. Moreover, we must view the House budget as yet another exercise in cruelty and reckless endangerment of human life.
“Trump and Musk have slashed roughly 2,400 VA jobs…A decision that won’t make things more efficient, like they claimed, but will actually lead to longer wait times, more backlog and more chaos for Veterans,” Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Minn.) recently said at a virtual townhall. “They’ve also launched a wider purge of federal workers—firing, in total, an estimated 6,000 Veterans, includingthe folks behind the Veterans Crisis Line.” She emphasized, “The only reason they are doing this is to try to find enough loose change behind the couch cushions so that they can give even bigger tax breaks to the rich guys they pal around with on the golf course.”
Breaking the sacred obligation to care for our veterans is only one aspect of the onslaught. Perhaps the most egregious is the plan to slash $880B from Medicaid. The argument that cuts of that magnitude can be achieved by “reform” or by cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse,” frankly, insults our intelligence.
The impact of such cuts is immense given the reach of Medicaid. The Kaiser Family Foundation notes, “Medicaid is the primary program providing comprehensive health and long-term care to one in five people living in the U.S. and accounts for nearly $1 out of every $5 spent on health care.” Medicaid covers not only the poorest Americans, but seniors’ long-term health care, drug addicts, and the disabled. More than 72 million Americans are enrolled in some aspect of the program.
The results of capping the cost per beneficiary could be devastating. By 2034, 15 million fewer people would be receiving benefits including:
5.3 million children
4.8 million adults eligible through the ACA expansion
2.9 million parents and other adults under age 65
1.3 million people with disabilities
0.6 million people ages 65 and older.
KFF points out that an “additional 15 million expansion enrollees could lose Medicaid coverage (totaling about 20 million expansion enrollees by FY 2034) if the ACA expansion match rate is also eliminated.”
Especially hard-hit would be hospitals, in particular rural hospitals already facing economic distress. “Rural Americans would also be at risk of losing services,” ABC News reported. “Penn State professor Dennis Shea said many rural hospitals and community health centers have already closed and the ones that remain open already face funding challenges.” If they lose funding, hospitals will close and deprive rural residents of critical medical services. Moreover, since rural hospitals often are the major employer in their localities, a closure can have devastating ripple effects on the entire community.
In short, Republicans pushing these cuts are depriving their constituents of healthcare, consigning rural hospitals to closure, and potentially wrecking the economic lifeline for their communities.
Understand, they are doing this so that Trump, Musk, and the oligarch class can get more tax breaks.
As if that were not bad enough, House Republicans want to cut $230B from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) over ten years. “[L]awmakers cannot cut $230 billion—or anything close to that amount — from SNAP without slashing benefits, restricting eligibility, or some combination of both,” the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds. “Republican lawmakers could make these benefit or eligibility cuts directly through changes to federal SNAP policy. But they could also enact them indirectly by shifting costs to states, forcing state officials to decide whose benefits will be cut and by how much.” Those changes amount to slashing “more than 20 percent from a program that helps more than 40 million people, including 1 in 5 children, afford groceries.” (About 90 percent of the households receiving SNAP benefits have “children, older adults, or people with disabilities.”)
Contrary to what you hear from Republicans, SNAP already imposes strict work requirements on most adults who are over the age of eighteen without children in the home. They can remain on benefits for only 3 months “unless they can demonstrate they are working at least 20 hours per week or prove they qualify for an exemption, such as having a disability.” These are not flimsy, free-loader-friendly programs. (Most SNAP beneficiaries already work; the notoriously cumbersome red tape will wind up depriving eligible people of benefits to which they are entitled.) Making such requirements even more exacting undoubtedly yields hardship for the most vulnerable Americans.
This might sound like a bone-chilling Dickens novel. (“Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?”) Sadly, this very real scheme is MAGA nirvana: Take away healthcare benefits from grandma in a nursing home. Snatch food stamps away from a hungry, disabled child or elderly person. And boot out drug addicts from lifesaving treatment programs. (Not to mention massive cuts to Pell Grants, school lunches, and Head Start.) All of this is designed to give the richest people even more tax cuts.
“By voting for this cruel bill, you are betraying hardworking Americans by raising costs for all those already struggling to make ends meet,” former Speaker of the House Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) told MAGA Republicans on the House floor. “Indeed, a vote for this budget is a vote against Medicaid, ripping away health care from children, people with disabilities, and seniors. And it is a vote against SNAP…taking food out of the mouths of babies. And you do that with glee.”
This GOP’s agenda is a moral abomination that no American, regardless of party, should support. If there is anything worth taking to the streets for peaceful protest, it is this sort of massive, regressive redistribution from the already-struggling to the no-amount-is-ever-enough billionaire class.
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USAID—an independent government organization that provides life-saving foreign aid to other countries—is holding on by a thread after Elon Musk and President Donald Trump agreed to shut it down. However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who stepped in as the agency’s acting administrator yesterday, suggested he’d work with Congress to overhaul USAID instead of shuttering it completely.
USAID, in a nutshell, managed roughly $40 billion in fiscal year 2023, less than 1% of the federal budget. It’s been around since 1961, and a large portion of its funding goes to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and health initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa, including programs that distribute life-saving HIV treatments.
But now that aid’s future, and that of USAID’s 10,000 employees and numerous international contractors are in doubt.
Through the Department of Government Efficiency, Musk forced a leadership change and shut staffers out of the agency’s office while railing against USAID on social media.
Yesterday afternoon, over 100 USAID employees protested outside of its headquarters in Washington and were joined by Democratic lawmakers.
Zoom out: Musk’s aggressive moves to shutter the agency—something experts say requires an act of Congress—have raised questions about the power the world’s richest man has been handed by Trump to overhaul the federal workforce.—CC
President Donald Trump today signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and other digital currencies, an account whose value is currently worth billions of dollars. It’s estimated that there is close to 200,000 bitcoin held by the U.S. government, although that hasn’t yet ever been a comprehensive audit. The order also asks for […]
FYI: Meta is probably in the process of moving to Texas; I have deleted Facebook, Instagram and Threads. Musk is out of control and profiling everybody now and he also has moved to Texas so I have deleted my X.com account. My server with HostGator in Texas has been cancelled too and moved back to Canada. I was checking the policy for WordPress and it says, "if you don't like it don't use it" so I cancelled a dozen sites along with my wordpress.com after being a twenty-year member.
If I have to say why you are not paying attention!!!!
Rachel Maddow points out a suggestion made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Fox News that he could change the way economic data is calculated in order to make the shortcomings of the economy under Donald Trump look better. Jared Bernstein former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, joins to discuss the vital necessity of accurate economic data, and his concerns about Trump disbanding the Federal Economic Statistics Advisory Committee and the Bureau of Economic Analysis Advisory Committee, two agencies devoted to assuring the accuracy of economic data.
It’s a three-peat for the Doug Ford government, meaning discussion of more highways — maybe even a tunnel — and natural gas will continue. Here’s what four more years of the Progressive Conservatives means for Ontario’s environment
Local artist Marc Samson has turned his passion for painting into a force for environmental good, donating $4,000 to Bleu Massawippi following an art auction in December. Samson, known for his vibrant and geometric artistic style, directed 10 per cent of his proceeds to the environmental organization, aiming to help protect Lake Massawippi from ecological threats like zebra mussels.
“Why Bleu Massawippi? Because I am from Sherbrooke, and ever since I was a kid, we used to come here,” said Samson, who now resides in North Hatley. “I have a real sense of belonging to the region, to the lake. If we couldn’t swim in this lake because it’s too polluted, that would be a real sadness.”
Bleu Massawippi, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the lake and its surrounding ecosystem, welcomed Samson’s contribution. Executive Director Laurence Renaud-Langevin emphasized that while the donation is not earmarked for a specific project, the funds will support ongoing efforts to combat zebra mussels and improve water quality.
“We already have plans for the money,” said Renaud-Langevin. “It will go towards acquiring new technology and tools to help us navigate the zebra mussel problem we encountered a few years ago.”
One initiative the organization is investing in involves a partnership with Robonotic, a technology company developing a robotic system to detect, and potentially remove, zebra mussels. Some of Samson’s donation will support this research and implementation.
Additionally, Bleu Massawippi plans to use the funds to build water gardens in municipalities around the lake. These gardens function as natural filtration systems, helping to improve water quality and sustain local biodiversity.
Though winter slows some of the organization’s regular activities, Renaud-Langevin noted that work continues year-round. In the coming weeks, divers will enter the lake to collect winter data, filling a gap in existing research on zebra mussel activity in colder months. The organization is also preparing for the next season by bringing in interns and seeking new partners to support its conservation efforts.
Today, Google received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for our Loss of Pulse Detection feature starting with Pixel Watch 3. This first-of-its-kind feature can detect when you’ve experienced a loss of pulse (your heart stops beating from an event like primary cardiac arrest, respiratory or circulatory failure, overdose or poisoning) and automatically prompt a call to emergency services for potentially life-saving care if you’re unresponsive.Loss of Pulse Detection has received U.S. FDA clearance, and is now available on Pixel Watch 3.
Climate activists project flames and a sign on the side of the Trump International Hotel in protest of President Donald Trump's response to science and climate change while devastating wildfires burned throughout the U.S., in Washington, DC on Oct. 21, 2020. Jemal Countess / Getty Images for Climate Power 2020
According to internal guidelines obtained and reviewed by various sources including Politico, The Hill and The Guardian, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has begun removing references to climate change on its webpages and sites, including the U.S. Forest Service website.
As The Guardian reported, the internal memo stated that the department must “identify and archive or unpublish any landing pages focused on climate change” and record all instances of references in a spreadsheet by Friday for further review.
The first time Robb Stuart heard about the billboard in his town calling for Alberta to join the United States was when he received an angry email about it last week.
"It just said that they were disgusted, that they thought they'd never have to email anybody about having a sign that promotes joining the United States," Stuart, mayor of Bowden, Alta., told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
"And a few other odds and ends in there. Most of it's not for public hearing."
A second email followed 20 minutes later, he says — and they haven't stopped coming since.
But while Stuart is fielding calls and messages from residents upset about the sign, he says the town of Bowden didn't approve it, and doesn't have the authority to take it down.
"The billboard has absolutely nothing to do with the town of Bowden. We weren't even aware of it until after the fact, " Stuart said. "The town of Bowden does not deserve the negative feedback that we've been subject to."
Spot Ads, the company that owns the billboard space overlooking the highway that connects Edmonton and Calgary, says the advertisement does not violate its standards.
The company behind the ad, a Western Canadian separatist organization called America Fund, says it plans to run more billboards across the province in the coming weeks.
Ties to Wexit, soliciting donations
The billboard at the centre of the firestorm features a picture of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith posingwith U.S. President Donald Trump, along with the words: "Tell Danielle! Let's join the USA!"
It directs to a website for America Fund, which asks for donations and bills itself as "Canadians for a 51st state."
Trump has repeatedly said he wants Canada to become the 51st state and has threatened to use "economic force" to achieve his vision. He is expected to enact 25 per cent tariffs on most Canadian imports next week, and Canada has promised countermeasures.
America Fund is run, in part, by Paul McGregor of the Alberta 51 Project, which promotes Alberta becoming a U.S. state; and Peter Downing, founder of Wexit, a political party that advocated for Western Canada to split off from the rest of the country. Wexit has since rebranded as the Maverick Party.
