"The winter months are even more brutal for children inside Syria. I saw children who fled their homes with nothing but the clothes on their back. After the horrors they have lived through, now they have to cope with the piercing cold."

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Since the Task Force announced their recommendations for the legalization and regulation of cannabis in Canada last week, the focus has predominantly been on age restrictions, suggested in the report at 18 years old with provincial autonomy to mirror drinking ages.

Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters

Fears that the divisive politics which characterized Brexit and the U.S. presidential election will undermine liberal democracies across the globe, and put the world's most vulnerable people in harm's way, have never been greater.

They are not misplaced -- right now real lives and a meaningful Canadian identity are at stake.

BiteMeMore.com

The countdown is on -- Christmas is just around the corner. And we all know the key to stress-free entertaining is being prepared. There's nothing like leaving things to the last minute to throw you into a festive frenzy! So if you haven't decided what you are serving up for you holiday dinner, we can help.

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Two months short of two years after her initial cancer diagnosis I watched my wife Linnea, my love, take her last breath. I held her in my arms and I wept, and I told her that it was OK to let go. To please let go. The room filled with unimaginable wails and I was only scarcely aware that they were coming from me.

The Canadian Press

For Christmas, all Ontario doctors asked for was a brief respite from the toxic relationship between them and the Ontario Government of Premier Kathleen Wynne. They realized it would be too much to ask for an acceptable Physician Services Agreement after three years without one, but a couple of weeks without internecine politicking would have been welcome this holiday season.

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Your parents might have taught you not to curse, but did the lesson really stick? New research seems to suggest that it hasn't: two-thirds of all millennial employees swear at work, while 58 per cent of Gen Xers and Baby Boomers are said to swear while on the clock.

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The overriding idea behind dressing up as Santa Claus is not to provide children with hopes for gifts; it is to provide them with a vehicle to escape into an imaginative state, where wishes and secrets are tangled together, and a man in a red suit is the only arbitrator qualified to pull the right strings.

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I say "Bah Humbug" to The Fraser Institute for saying an average Canadian is less generous than their American neighbour. Their 2016 Generosity Index makes Canadians look bad because Canadian give much less to charity. Cash gifts are only one part of the generosity story.

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Nothing can cause an argument faster in a group of parents than when someone brings up sleep training. Opinions range from "do it as early as possible" to "only terrible parents sleep train." With so many myths about sleep training out there, who do you believe? Let's examine the eight most common myths about sleep training and see what holds up.

Lucasfilm

The so-called alt-right may soon have their Emperor in the White House, but before they got political to help force Donald Trump into the presidency, the movement was largely focused on fomenting culture wars. So it's hardly a "Luke, I am your father" surprise twist that the alt-right is now targeting "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" (which, by the way, is really, really good.)

Omar Sanadiki / Reuters

If there is anyone to blame, it is -- and can only be -- the governments implicated in this internationalized conflict. Those who support the armed groups, both militarily and logistically, and those who oppose the international justice system investigating the atrocities and crimes perpetrated in this conflict are all to blame.

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Democracy is underpinned by governing through informed consent of the masses. A strong and independent media is a nation's window into the affairs of the nation. Currently too many westerners cannot tell an opinion piece (like this one) from true investigative journalism. Attention spans are too short for long investigative pieces, and forget taking 2 minutes to check a source!

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It was 1991 and my first Christmas in my new home after my emotionally draining divorce. We lived in a depressed area. My family was 400 km away. I was struggling financially with a small business, helping in the community where I could, while nurturing my four-year-old who had some health challenges.

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The RCMP feels that its voice and the voices of other law enforcement agencies aren't being heard in the government's public consultation on national security, which runs online until midnight PST December 15. As soon as the online consultation was published, human rights and privacy organizations cried foul.

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Imagine being persecuted by law for practicing your faith in schools, offices and public spaces. My former student told me that his office colleagues had stopped having lunch with him when they found out about his Ahmadi beliefs. Such social ostracism only throws a minority community into the closet.

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Vancouver needs to be able to attract large job creators. With their proposed new rezoning, the City estimates a maximum potential of 500,000 SF of new digital and tech office space will become available and they are worried that any more would create a supply glut. That is unlikely to happen. It's not even enough to create the supply needed now.

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I guess one could say that my professional background makes me well qualified for this parenting job, but I must admit that I have had my fair share of humbling moments when it comes to parenting. Sometimes I have moments when I feel I rock it as a parent, and then other moments when I hang my head and know I could have handled something much better. Yes, there is certainly room for improvement.

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In the U.S. and Canada, thousands of mom and pop vape shops are popping up around urban centers, and there's reason to think these devices could be more successful than legislation in getting smokers to quit.

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I stay on my fitness horse by reminding myself that movement is a privilege and that the future Me will ALWAYS be happier if I move. The understanding that exercise positively affects my mood has informed my entire fitness philosophy. In fact, improving my mood is typically the primary reason I train.

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When I see patients, I try to understand what underlies their concerns, and how I can provide reassurance. And reassurance doesn't always come from ordering a test or treatment. In fact, sometimes a test or treatment may not be needed and can lead to harm.