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Discusses the use of computers in education in Canada as of October, 1997. Why educational philosophy is more important than technology; The Computers for Schools initiative and its goal of placing 100,000 computers in schools by 2000; Companies offering education materials online or in software format; What computers are used for in schools; Concerns about the effectiveness of computers as teachers. INSETS: Net-filters don't work.;Interactive but anti-social..

Focuses on the debate in Alberta over provincial funding of inappropriate material that was fostered by the publication of the book `Neurotica Erotica,' by Timothy J. Anderson, which was partially funded with provincial money. Examples of the poetry found in the book; Possible violations of the Criminal Code in several of the poems; How Anderson describes himself; Anderson's response to the printing of excerpts from the book. INSETS: An excerpt from Neurotica Erotica.;It's also illegal---not that anyone cares..

Reports on the decision of Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to allow social workers to place children in foster homes made up off homosexuals if they deemed it necessary. How conservatives in the government reacted; The informal policy prior to Klein's decision, which did not allow homosexuals to be foster parents; Comments from Lyle Oberg, Social Services minister; Possible reasons that social workers would place children with homosexual foster parents. INSET: New pressure to spend money, by Brian Mulawka..

Describes the controversies in Calgary and Edmonton over whether or not to allow rock musician Marilyn Manson to perform. Decisions by the Economic Development Edmonton committee of the Edmonton City Council to allow Manson to perform; Manson's history and background; Manson's religious beliefs as a Satanist.

Examines the problem of wild boar, escaped from surrounding farms, that have made their home in Edmonton's river valley, the longest stretch of urban parkland in North America. Dangers for city dwellers; Confrontation accounts; Response of police; Comments from Alberta swine expert George Foxcroft; Progenitors of the wild boar; Its features, including intelligence, tusk and nose; Alberta swine expert Geroge Foxcroft; Issues for their feral survival; Procreation in the wild. INSET: A tasty solution to the wild boar..

Reports on the escape of two prisoners from Elbow Lake Correctional Institute near Harrison Mills, British Columbia who are suspected of killing two people. The debate that has ensued over what the men were doing in minimum security institution; What the suspects, Darby Cairns and John Wonnacott, were serving time for; How a prisoner's level of security is determined there.

Focuses on a demonstration against Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault, who was meeting with Musqueam leaseholders in Vanouver, British Columbia in Sepember 1999. The issue of annual rent for leaseholders and taxes owed on homes; Claims that the Supreme Court of Canada's 1997 Delgamuukw decision established native title in BC; Lack of federal government defense of provincial property rights.

Focuses on the appeal by retired North Shore News columnist Doug Collins for a judicial review of the Human Rights Code(HRC) of British Columbia after his censure by the Human Rights Tribunal. Findings of the Tribunal against Collins; Comments by Collins' lawyer Douglas Christie; Comments by the David Radler, chief operating officer of Hollinger International Incorporated, parent company of the North Shore News.

Reports on accusations made against Peggy Claude-Pierre, founder of Montreux Clinic in Victoria, British Columbia. Charges of coercing and abusing her critically ill clients; When Claude-Pierre opened her practice specializing in treating people with eating disorders; Investigations of Claude-Pierre after complaints from current and former employees.

Reports on a child pornography ruling by Canadian Justice Minister Anne McLellan that suggests that Canada should not worry about foreign children being exploited sexually. The case surrounding Vancouver pedophile John Sharpe; Arguments made by Sharpe's lawyer, Richard Peck who believes the Criminal Code prohibiting child pornography borders on thought control; Why British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Duncan Shaw ruled in favor of Sharpe in a January 13, 1999 decision.

Reports on a decision by a British Columbia Court of Appeals that ruled a chronically-ill woman is entitled to support from her ex-husband even though she has no children and she did not sacrifice her career for him. Background of the case regarding Marie Bracklow and her husband Frank; How the ruling is seen as part of a gradual change in Canadian legal philosophy.

Reports on a lawsuit filed by Kari Johnson of Aldergrove, British Columbia against Shirley Irwin, the Nisha Family and Children's Services Society, and the provincial government over a sexual relationship Irwin had with the father of Johnson's son. Claims made by Johnson; Testimony from the father, Mark Tisdall that Irwin sought sex in exchange for unauthorized access to his son; The prevalence of improper behavior among child welfare workers.

Comments on toilet training children. How attitudes have changed so that training is a developmental event; Pediatricians such as T. Berry Brazelton and his philosophy; Permissiveness in toilet training; The book `Toilet Training in Less than a Day,' by Nathan H. Azrin et al.

Focuses on legislation in Canada which allows Statistics Canada to require citizens to participate in various surveys. The refusal of Scott Cornell of Lions Bay, British Columbia to participate in the Survey of Family Expenditures; Punishments which Statistics Canada can levy for noncompliance; Comments from Jim Selley, a Statistics Canada regional director, about why the agency does not exercise its right to prosecute; Privacy and confidentiality issues.

Reports on the decision to remove the name of the scholar John MacEachran from the Universities of Alberta's records because of his involvement with the Alberta Eugenics Board. MacEachran's contributions to the University; Embarrassment of the university by the association with eugenics programs. INSET: A lesson unlearned..

Discusses a report released by Alberta Health which suggests that Albertans may soon have to pay for some services currently covered by medicare. Coming shift to more private health care; Details of report; Debate about extent to which government can cover health insurance; Role of regional health authorities; Objections to report; Increasing role of private companies; Why provinces follow the Canada Health Act.

Discusses the unique public consultation that the government of Alberta is seeking from citizens in October of 1997 about the Calgary Declaration. Opposition to the program from Social Crediter Randy Thorsteinson; How the consultation will be handled; What it aims to discover; Thorsteinson's claims that the questions in the survey are ambiguous; Outlook for passage of the Calgary Declaration.

Discusses education in Edmonton, Alberta in 1997. The Edmonton Public Schools and the choices they offer for education; A comparison of the James Gibbons Elementary School and the McArthur Elementary School; The type of public school that garners the most support from parents; How parental involvement affects the schools.

States that a report from the Alberta Science and Research Authority (ASRA) in 1997 has called for increased investment in research and development. The Science, Research and Information Technology ministry and its head Lorne Taylor; How Alberta ranks with the other provinces for research and development investment; What the new goals for investment are; Making knowledge the fourth pillar of the economy; Comments from Taylor.

Discusses the problems that the towns of Fort McMurray and Sylvan, Alberta are having in getting video lottery machines removed from their communities, as of September 8, 1997. Why, despite votes for the removal of the VLT machines, the provincial government has not removed them; Premier Ralph Klein's views on the subject; The efforts of Rocky Mountain House Christian Reformed Church minister Philip Stel in the anti-VLT movement.

Reports on controversy in the the Northwest Territories regarding government policy based on so-called traditional knowledge. The claims that traditional knowledge eschews Western logic in favor of non-scientific methods; The possible dangers to using traditional knowledge in forming environmental and economic policies; Focus on the actions against traditional knowledge made by Frances Widdowson.

Focuses on controversy in Alberta over a gay history project conducted by the Red Deer and District Museum. The opposition to the project voiced by legislative assembly members Victor Doerksen and Stockwell Day; The reaction of the community; Comment from Wendy Martindale, museum director.

Reports the decision of a female judge in Alberta to permit a sperm-donor to see his son. The appeal of a court decision by the mother, Caroline Johnson, that gave father King Tak Lee, whom she calls a sperm donor, access to their four-year-old son, Nigel; The argument of the mother that allowing Dr. Lee access would disrupt Nigel's life; The belief of the judge that the son has the right of access to his father.

Reports on the expanded use of video lottery terminals (VLTs) in Alberta, Canada. Hope of anti-VLT campaigners for public backlash against gambling; Court case regarding VLTs in Wood Buffalo, Alberta; Response of Wood Buffalo community leaders; Possibility that VLTs will be removed from Wood Buffalo; Expansion of government's gambling involvement and possibility of public revolt.

Reports on privatized liquor sales in Alberta. Impact on the industry, after four years; Alberta as the only Canadian province to have privatized; Comments from Roy Bricker, acting chief executive officer for the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission (AGLC), on the low failure rate of the new liquor retail business; Government requirement that liquor be sold in stand-alone establishments with a 90% liquor business.

Reports that local authorities in Alberta will remain in control of child welfare services. The claims that Alberta children have died needlessly because of disorganization in the department; Liberals claiming that Social Service is being underfunded; Comments from Liberal Sloan and Spokesman Bob Scott.

Provides accounts and advice concerning wild boar hunting at Hog Wild Specialties, a bowhunting park northwest of Edmonton, Alberta, run by Deb and Earl Hagman. Costs to the hunter; Difficulties of tracking the wild boar; Dangers; The history of boar hunting; Pigsticking in William the Conqueror's England; Account of the hunt experience at Hog Wild by Graham Dalziel, of the `Edmonton Sun.'

Examines the battle over video lottery terminals (VLT) in Alberta. Coalitions which have formed to accentuate the positive aspects of VLTs; Hospitality Alberta, a coalition between the Alberta Restaurant and Food Services Association and the Alberta Hotel Association; The money generated by VLTs; The difficulty in getting pro-VLT voters for plebiscite elections; Outlook.

Examines the assault of a female student by her male classmate in Edmonton, Alberta at the Harry Ainlay High School. The lack of sympathy for the victim as one effect of gender equality; The lack of intervention by onlookers; Comments from school principal Michael Demaine.

Reports that Fort McMurray, one of the largest cities in Alberta, voted with the majority of the Wood Buffalo municipality for the removal of video lottery terminals (VLTs). Feelings that VLTs were damaging family finances; Interest in a province-wide vote to remove VLTs from all of Alberta.

Discusses the Tak vs. Johnson Steeves case from the Calgary Court of Queen's Bench, in which Caroline Johnson Steeves attempted to redefine the concept of family in an attempt to keep King Tak Lee, the father of her son Nigel, out of Nigel's life. The agreement between Steeves and Lee about Nigel, prior to conception; Steeves' use of the television character Barney as evidence that a father was not necessarily in the best interests of Nigel; What the court decided.

Looks at a bill in the Alberta legislature which would enable grandparents to seek visitation rights of their grandchildren should the parents try to limit visitation access. The efforts of Heather Forsyth in passing the legislation; Comments from Forsyth; Children that would be impacted by the legislation; Fears from parental advocates that the bill will take away parent's rights; The question of parents deliberately choosing to restrict access for grandparents.

Reports on attempts by Alberta farmers to leave the Alberta Fresh Vegetable Marketing Board (AFVMB). History of the AFVMB; Percentage of vegetables consumed in Alberta which are grown in Alberta; Revenue collected by the AFVMB in 1996; What the AFVMB does; Why the farmers wish to leave.

Examines the strike of workers of the Safeway grocery store chain in Alberta. Number of workers on strike since March 26, 1997; Safeway's complaints against the workers' union, United Food & Commercial Workers; Safeway's advertisements; Who the public supports. INSET: Crossing the line for love..

Probes the outrage of homosexuals to a Valentine's Day poster displayed at Langara College in Vancouver, British Columbia. The consensus view of the poster's advocacy of heterosexuality; The abundance of posters that depict same-sex couples; Reactions of students and faculty; Concerns about freedom of speech.

Evaluates the CBC television program `Emily of New Moon.' Show based on a trilogy of books by Lucy Montgomery; Details about episodes; The 1990s attitude introduced into the plot by writer Marlene Matthews; Comments from Irene Gammel, University of Prince Edward Island's L.M. Montgomery Institute; Show's supernatural element not found in trilogy; Reasons for changes in the books' plots.

Looks at a study from Statistics Canada, by demographers Pierre Turcotte and Alain Belanger, that reveals an increase in common-law relationships. How young Canadian women, especially working women, are increasingly choosing common-law relationships over legal marriage for their first conjugal unions; The warning from social conservatives that the triumph of equality in the workplace will further lower the status of marriage, which would further diminish the status of children.

Discusses how senior citizens from British Columbia are flocking to Alberta in search of tangible financial benefits. Comparison of the number of seniors that relocated to Alberta and British Columbia between 1994-1995; The lower taxes and property costs in Alberta; The direct cash benefits.

Focuses on reactions to a speech given by feminist icon Gloria Steinem in Edmonton, Alberta, in November of 1997. Reaction of the audience; Subjects addressed by Steinem; Comments of `Chronicles' magazine editor Thomas Fleming.

Focuses on the impact of research on early childhood development on social workers and other child-care interventionists in Alberta. The Invest in Kids Foundation; Efforts to publicize research; Comments of physicians and psychologists; The National Foundation for Family Research and Education in Calgary; Claims that children are not the exclusive responsibility of parents.

Looks at attempts to change Remembrance Day in Canada, but reports that Canadian survivors of the war are not ready to give up their legacy. Comments about other holidays that have been secularised or commercialized; Discussion about complaints over Christian symbols at the Remembrance Day ceremony at the University of Alberta's Butterdome.

Focuses on Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy. His efforts to garner support for a global ban on firearms; Suggestion that he is trying to apply Canadian Liberal standards of political morality worldwide; Agreement signed by the Organization of American States to combat the illegal sale of firearms; Axworthy's efforts to ban land mines.

Focuses on opthamologist Howard Gimbel's provision of services. His plan to offer speedy cataract surgery to patients who would pay a set fee per eye while those who could not provide the fee would have a waiting period; Alberta Health determination that a doctor cannot be in both public and private systems; Provision for Gimbel to perform surgery for patients from outside the province but not within it.

Focuses on female politicians interested in running as a leadership candidate for the Alberta, Canada, Liberal Party. Mention of Linda Sloan, Nancy (Betkowski) Macbeth, and Karen Leibovici; Career highlights.

Focuses on the case Vriend v. Alberta heard before the Supreme Court of Canada which would make sexual orientation a protection under Alberta's Individual's Rights Protection Act. Delwin Vriend being fired from his job for allegedly flaunting his homosexuality; Details of the case.

Relates that Canadians seem largely disinterested in the personal scandals surrounding their leaders. Question of whether a politician's personal problems may skew the social policy agenda; Report that New Democrat leader Pam Barret's former live-in partner Stephen Edwards has been accused of assaulting her; Liberal MLA Pamela Paul pleading guilty to uttering threats to commit bodily harm, careless storage of a firearm and mischief.

Looks at the removal of video lottery terminals (VLT) from municipalities in Canada. The difficulty that towns have encountered in removing VLTs; Why provincial governments are delaying the removal of VLT machines despite municipal votes for removal; The contest with big business and big government; The incident in Lacombe and the VLT operators' fight for their gambling income.

Considers some of the debate at the Alberta Conservative convention on the issue of funding for independent schools. The bitter disagreement and polarization caused; The resolutions proposed; Those who spoke against independent schools from the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA); The comments of ATA executive Terry Riley.

Considers the direction of the Alberta Progressive Conservative convention that was taken by the delegates meeting in October, 1997. The speech of Premier Ralph Klein and the general tone of the meeting held in Edmonton, Canada; The shift of the party to the left and the issues of money and fiscal responsibility. INSET: Sclerotic erotica..

Reports on the Obesity Canada pressure group that aims to be both a forum for research in obesity and a public educator in Canada. It inaugural meeting on April 9 and 10, 1999; Percentage of Canada's population that is overweight; The call for the provincial Medical Services Plans to pay for the treatment of simple obesity.