Senator Mike Duffy has been in the middle of spending scandals over in-eligible housing expenses and former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt was charged with two counts of gangsterism along with 10 other offences. What is Canadian politics coming to? Next thing we know, politicians will be smoking crack. Oh wait. Toronto mayor Rob Ford is already accused of doing so. 


The University of Calgary women’s hockey team was defeated at the hands of the Université de Montreal Carabins in the Dinos’s attempt to defend their national championship title on March 2 in Toronto by a score of 3–2. It was the first Canadian Interuniversity Sport title in program history for the Carabins. Despite the remarkable efforts the defending champions made in the final game, the Dinos’s labours ultimately fell short and they failed to capitalize on several opportunities to pull away from their opponents. 


The University of Calgary Dinos swim team broke records and put on a show for the hometown crowd, but couldn’t win a banner at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships this weekend.


The men were engaged in a three-way dogfight for first throughout the three-day competition but ultimately placed third, 25 points behind the University of Toronto Varsity Blue and 10 points short of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. Meanwhile, the women finished comfortably in second place behind UBC. 


The best kept cultural secret in Calgary may not be an art gallery, microbrewery or theatre company. It may be a place where you can take a punch from Lennox Lewis. 


Wherever there is an economic boom, the echo is generally a cultural one. This cultural echo has happened in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and is currently happening in Calgary. To fully appreciate cultural changes in our booming and blooming city, we have to look for culture beyond the museum and the theatre.

Calgarians are being treated to the best and brightest aboriginal short films this week as part of a collaborative project to bring indigenous arts out west. On October 19 at the Old Y Centre, the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers will present the top shorts from the 2011 imagineNATIVE Festival. CSIF is working with 
imagineNATIVE and the Stolen Sisters Digital Initiative to make this event possible.


There are many places other than Toronto and Hollywood for a newly graduated Canadian film student to succeed. Many countries around the world have booming film industries, including China, Egypt and India, which is the world’s largest producer of films. However, making a film in another country can seem like an impossible task for rookie filmmakers, especially if they have had no prior experience filming overseas.