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by Tod Maffin
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It’s been a heavy week — in the U.S. and here in Canada. It’s hard sometimes to find something to hang onto that explains why everything feels so out of control, and to find hope.
One of my favourite TV shows was the Twilight Zone. In the reboot in the 80s, there’s this episode where time isn’t continuous.
A couple wakes up, and a crew of workers are in their house, placing things, moving things around, creating chaos. They find the foreman who explains they somehow slipped into the parallel world where workers build each minute of every day before we step into it.
That’s how the world comes together. This crew is always building it.
Ever lose your keys, check the coffee table and they’re not there, then like 10 minutes later check the table again and the keys are suddenly there? Continuity error. The crew screwed up.
At one point the couple stumbles into a completely empty void. Of course it’s empty, the foreman explains. Nobody will come down that alley in that minute so we don’t bother building it.
I’ve been thinking about that episode since the school shooting here in Canada.
Because when something like this happens, at least to me, it feels like the set collapsed. The minute we thought we were walking into, a normal Canadian morning in a small northern town, gets ripped apart. The props are scattered. Everything is off-script.
I think about that episode whenever I feel unmoored by events I can’t control and maybe why it offers a strange comfort is that I can imagine that somewhere, a crew is rebuilding the next minute. They’re careful. They make sure the world holds long enough for you to step into it. And they keep building our world, even when the previous minute was chaos.
In a place like Tumbler Ridge, people know each other. They share rinks and grocery aisles.
So the next minute gets built by neighbours. Someone brings food. Someone drives a kid home. Someone just sits with a parent and says nothing at all, which is sometimes the kindest sentence there is.
We are living through a tonne of bad news. Your phone delivers it in neat little rectangles. If you’re like me, after a while, you might feel like the set crew has gone on strike and left us to wander through half-finished rooms.
But they haven’t.
Teachers still show up. Nurses still take shifts. Politicians, this time at least, speak with restraint. Ordinary people still choose to steady the minute in front of them.
We don’t control the chaos.
But we can build what the next minute looks like.
— 30 —
Correction: Last week, a link implied that the Air Farce radio show used “Mike from Camrose” as a comedy bit. In fact, that bit was “Mike from Canmore.”
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The Good News ♥️
From Page to Screen- Move over Heated Rivalry a new steamy book adaptation is taking over Canada. Netflix will begin filming The Granville Girls this May in Alberta.
Starting February 16, Canadians will be able to qualify for rebates of up to $5000 upon purchasing or leasing an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle.
Students in Red Deer Alberta can now take part in a program that will allow them to graduate high school as certified firefighters.
An Owl-some Rescue- Police in Abbotsford B.C. rescued an injured owl and handed it over to the Elizabeth’s Wildlife Center. The owl is expected to recover.
A group of blind and partially sighted children in British Columbia got to try skating and play hockey for the first time.
From Big Wins to the Small Screen- Award-winning Canadian indie feature film Anacoreta is making its international small screen debut across multiple VOD platforms on February 24.
The Olympics 🏅
Student Skater- Figure Skater Madeline Schizas went viral after emailing a professor asking for an extension for a pretty solid reason: she was competing in the Olympics.
New Brunswick’s Courtney Sarault won bronze in women’s 500m in short track speed skating.
Mikaël Kingsbury has won silver in men’s moguls at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Medal Count- Team Canada has won 7 medals so far this Olympics taking home 3 silver and 4 bronze.
SCIENCE!!!!!! 🔭
Researchers at Acadia University have teamed up with an entrepreneur to turn mycelium- the roots of a mushroom- into a high-protein powder for the commercial food market.
An Ontario woman has decided to spend her savings, $700,000, on a 3D Printer with plans to use it to print a home.
The Kids are Alright- Two Grade 12 students in British Columbia,won $5000 from the Youth Innovation Showcase for Airlume, for inventing a device that could prevent floods.
After decades of restoration work Toronto’s Don River, once so polluted it caught fire, is showing signs of ecological recovery.
The UAMH Centre for Global Microfungal Biodiversity, has received a $1-million donation allowing it to remain in Canada
The First Peoples 🪶
Vancouver-based Cree poet and author Wanda John-Kehewin is releasing the second book in a three part series on February 24.
Cheryl Lambert,Kailey LeDrew, and Kari Gray shared their business experiences and entrepreneurial expertise at the First Nations Agriculture & Finance Ontario conference.
Connecting Through Art- A show featuring 11 Interior and Coast Salish artists.opens at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver on Feb. 14.
Two Indigenous land defenders received support from their community with a fundraising event to cover the cost of appealing their 2023 convictions.
Valentine’s Day ♥️
Local Love- A poll by CIBC shows that 80% of Canadians intend to support local businesses with their Valentine's Day purchases this year.
Canada’s language watchdog has apologized for and removed a seemingly raunchy Valentine’s post in French that raised eyebrows across the country.
Crappy Valentine’s Day- An animal shelter in Dartmouth Nova Scotia, is raising funds by writing the names of people’s exes on the bottoms of litter pans.
Across Canada 📍
A newly opened warming shelter near Caraquet, New Brunswick helped 3 people escape the cold on its inaugural night.
Creating Comfort- The Toba Centre in Winnipeg MB, a place that provides care to children who have been impacted by violence, held a successful “Comfort Kit” drive.
B.C. has revamped its funding system for children and youth with disabilities, in order to make services "fairer, easier to access and better co-ordinated."
Canada’s Market This Week
Royal Bank | |
TD Bank | |
Enbridge | |
ScotiaBank | |
Bank of Montreal | |
CP Rail | |
Shopify | |
Canadian Tire | |
Loblaws | |
Tim Hortons (RBI) | |
Dollarama | |
Rogers |