Chris Wattie / Reuters

Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan announced a more than 70 per cent increase in military spending over the next decade. Canada's new defence policy includes a significant increase in lethal fighter jets and secretive special forces, as well as enhancing offensive cyber-attack capabilities and purchasing armed drones.

Wikimedia Commons

Canada's marine territorial waters measure 5.75 million square kilometres, equivalent to the combined area of India and Greenland. Collectively, Canada's coasts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans are more than 243,000 kilometres in length -- the longest of any country in the world.

Saadetalkan via Getty Images

You have done your work. Loved them, nurtured them and allowed them the space to find their own path and guess what? Many of our most inspirational leaders were exactly these kinds of people: Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein and many more. I wonder how their parents felt in the rocky school years.

Rawpixel Ltd via Getty Images

It's that time of year again when our hardworking students get ready to graduate. While graduation lasts only a day the memories last forever, so give them a celebration they'll never forget with these eats and tips for a perfect Grad party.

Mike Dembeck

June 7 was Clean Air Day. Part of Canadian Environment Week, this special day aims to drive awareness about air quality. The negative impacts of air pollution on our health are now well-known. In fact, tens of thousands of Canadians suffer from respiratory problems related to and worsened by air pollution.

Hoberman Collection via Getty Images

In truth, too much of contemporary development work relies on stereotypes. And while overly simplistic and ingrained ideas about men, women and the poor may be useful for fundraising purposes, when put into practice by organizations they contribute to ineffective development planning.

pixelheadphoto via Getty Images

Most fathers I know encourage their daughters by telling them, "You can be anything you want in life." But is that the complete truth? As long as women are considered sexual objects they'll always be rated as 'less than' in common society. Unfortunately, the diminished position of women reinforces the gender pay gap and makes them more vulnerable to sexual harassment and in some cases, victims of sexual and physical violence.

Barcroft Media via Getty Images

For the first time ever, the ocean protection community is commemorating World Oceans Day without one of its biggest champions, Canadian conservationist and filmmaker Rob Stewart. More than ever though, we are reminded of the movement he inspired with his 2006 film "Sharkwater," to stop the extinction-level crisis facing many shark species.

JGI/Tom Grill via Getty Images

I'm willing to bet that the person involved in the email confrontation was not aware that she was being unfair, humiliating, potentially malicious or vindictive. I'm willing to bet that these people thought they were handing the situation clearly and in a businesslike manner. That was not the case.

STEEX via Getty Images

We can laugh and joke about pre-wedding jitters, but what about pre-baby jitters? While some anxiety over the anticipated life changes are normal, some individuals have bigger concerns and fears around the process of birth and becoming a parent.

Westend61 via Getty Images

Solar thermal advocates are fond of reminding us that homes, especially those in Canada use about 70 per cent of their energy for heating. As solar photovoltaic prices continue to plummet, some net-zero home builders have started pairing solar PV with air-source heat pumps for space heating and electric resistance water heaters to produce hot water.

Dishka via Getty Images

What about the wonderful women who are discouraged by hatred, by naysaying, by the abusive and unkind people who stand in their way, or by the institutions? They are exceptional, valued, underestimated and maybe "too much" in the best way. I believe they should be told.

The Canadian Press

Nova Scotia took a big step toward reclaiming their province. The much-preferred option would have been to see the government of Stephen McNeil defeated or reduced to a minority, but cutting his Liberal Party to a razor-thin, one-seat majority will force it to listen more closely to the needs and wants of the people.

Digital Vision. via Getty Images

Researchers are just starting to learn about the two-metre, scale-free ragfish with cartilage skeleton and flabby flesh found in Alaskan waters, and the faceless fish found in Australian waters, whose eyes, gills and mouth are hidden. That we're still discovering new wonders in the oceans is even more reason to protect them. We have a long way to go, though.

Ho New / Reuters

Despite their best charitable impulses, citizens watch as poverty grows, mental-health cases mushroom and jobs vanish. In such a setting it remains hard to believe that individuals can make a difference. Except they can, of course.

asiseeit via Getty Images

A parenting book club would bring together people involved in a shared experience. It might be combined with a play date with a child carer to oversee the children while the parents talk. There are any number of ways such a group might manifest itself.

Hinterhaus Productions via Getty Images

Natural, nutrient-dense foods are known to help protect against, mitigate and even cure many chronic diseases, slow the effects of aging and promote longevity. They are able to do so by decreasing and controlling inflammation in the body, which is at the root of many ailments and a major contributor to premature aging.

Ben Nelms / Reuters

It was a pretty safe bet going into election night that regardless of how the vote broke that there were four words from Premier Christy Clark's 2013 victory speech which would be left unsaid this year: "Well, that was easy."

Bloomberg via Getty Images

They want him gone: impeached, indicted, imprisoned. Whatever it takes. But for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with Trump, and he with us. It may therefore seem like a rhetorical (or wholly unwanted) question, but it needs to be asked: can Trump be saved? Can he be rehabilitated?

filadendron via Getty Images

Thanks to the unprecedented pace of change in the market, we are now at a moment where anything is possible. To seize this opportunity, it's important to recognize that the power base is shifting. The new technology buyers of today have extremely high expectations, and increasingly, only want to do business with companies that mirror their own diversity.

Jason Reed / Reuters

Nationally, electric vehicles still make up only one per cent of new vehicle sales. So how do we get to that electric mobility future? The biggest missing piece is strong government policy at the national and provincial level.