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This article features David Keith, who was recognized as Canadian Geographic magazine's Environmental Scientist of the Year for 2006. Keith's current assignment is to build a research unit on energy and environment systems at the University of Calgary in Alberta. But his true gift lies in challenging others to think in unconventional ways about planetary issues while encouraging industry, government and environmental advocacy groups to work together toward practical solutions.

This article focuses on the 10 best high schools in Canada. It's perhaps no coincidence that two of the 10 schools featured in our second annual Canada's Best Schools survey are from Edmonton. Both Old Scona and Jasper Place are examples of how public high schools, under the right leadership, can tailor academic programs to meet the very particular needs -- and challenges -- of their students. In fact, all 10 high schools featured in these pages show how principals and teachers, given the freedom to innovate, can promote academic excellence. At Stelly's Secondary on Vancouver Island, Peter Mason, a math and outdoor education teacher as well as a veteran climber, raised thousands of dollars to erect elaborate outdoor and indoor climbing facilities that have become an integral part of school life. However they do it, the staff at Canada's best schools put the lie to the stereotype that high school is something to be endured, not embraced. These kids are actually clamouring to spend more time with teachers and peers. At John Rennie High School in Montreal, students seem to want to get involved. Kipling Collegiate Institute, among Toronto's most economically disadvantaged schools, has long had a rough reputation -- it was the place where kids who weren't likely to succeed bided their time. The turnaround, however, hasn't been through an emphasis on academics, but rather through fostering hope and mutual respect. Unlike most arts schools, Rosedale Heights School of the Arts doesn't admit students based on auditions.

This article focuses on the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005. The Holy Father died this evening at 21:37 in his private apartment. In the final days, the man who was never afraid to speak was reduced to silence, the papacy that reached out across the globe confined to a bedroom overlooking St. Peter's Square. After years of slow decline, the first indication that 84-year-old Karol Wojtyla's death was rapidly approaching came from the windows where he had so often addressed his flock during his 26 years as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Shortly after 11 p.m. came the confirmation, a terse statement from the Vatican press office saying the Pope was receiving treatment for a high fever caused by a urinary tract infection. On Thursday afternoon, as doctors battled to control the infection, the Pope's blood pressure plummeted and he went into septic shock, ultimately suffering heart failure. John Paul had clearly been suffering since a bout of the flu led to a 10-day stay in hospital at the beginning of February. A little-known cleric who had spent much of his career behind the Iron Curtain, Wojtyla emerged as the compromise pick of his fellow cardinals back in October 1978, following the abrupt death of John Paul I just 33 days into his reign. Vigils and special masses were held all over the world, even before the Pope's passing. Speculation has already begun about who will be charged with carrying on the global legacy of John Paul.

This article focuses on the murder of four police officers in Alberta, Canada. Just think how many people would be better off had James Roszko not been born 46 years ago in the central Alberta town of Mayerthorpe. Chief among them are the four young RCMP constables the hate-filled Roszko shot and killed at his farm on March 3, before turning his high-powered, rapid-fire rifle on himself. Last week, family and friends laid the four slain officers to rest in their home communities, and thousands of others gathered in Edmonton for an emotional national memorial service -- the largest such ceremony in RCMP history. Beyond the pain Roszko inflicted on individuals, one of the most remarkable things about his final crime -- on its surface, the random act of a deranged killer -- is how it managed to strike at the heart of so many hot-button issues in Canadian public life. We now know the RCMP had been summoned to Roszko's farm on March 2 to assist with the repossession of a 2005 Ford pickup Roszko had leased from an Edmonton company. It was only then officers discovered stolen auto parts and 20 mature pot plants and initiated their fateful overnight stakeout.To the degree marijuana played a role in the RCMP's decision to guard Roszko's farm, it arguably bolsters the case for legalizing (as opposed to "decriminalizing") this relatively soft drug and then regulating and taxing it, much as alcohol is now. A more pertinent issue is what the tragedy says about Ottawa's controversial national gun registry. Trying to make sense of Roszko's destructive life, and especially his last horrific deed, raises questions that range far beyond the law and public policy. It goes to what theologians call "the problem of evil." How can an all-powerful, all-loving God allow such a thing to happen?

Profiles several young Canadians who are already becoming successes in various fields. Runner Nicolas Macrozanris; Golfer Eom-Ji Park; Youth activists Crystal Procyshen and Kevin King; Farmer Greg Dietrich; Kayak guide Mikael Rioux; Scholars Laura Lucier and Jonathan Sick.

Shortly after bidding opened, word began to spread in the cattle auction house in Olds, Alta. that a single cow in northern Alberta, already dead for nearly four months, had been identified as suffering from bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as mad cow disease. By week's end, the search for clues into how a black Angus breeder cow became infected with the dreaded brain-wasting disease had forced 13 Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. farms into quarantine, with more expected to follow. All 150 head of cattle at the cow's last home, a farm in northwestern Alberta, were sent for slaughter so the animals' brains could be tested for BSE. Politicians and federal health officials were quick to insist that no such risk to humans existed in Canada as a result of last week's developments. The breeder cow, they noted, was effectively removed from the food chain on Jan. 31, after a provincial inspector at an Alberta abattoir noticed it looked underweight and deemed it to be suffering from pneumonia. While the breeder cow had been removed from the food chain, officials could not say, with equal certainty, that the same was true for its offspring, some of which remained unaccounted for at week's end. Nor could they rule out the possibility that other animals had been infected with BSE. A prolonged mad cow scare could also spook Alberta's $5-billion-a year tourist industry, perhaps doing for the mountain resort towns of Banff and Jasper what SARS has done to Toronto.

On one of the final legs of his 3,400-kilometer trek between Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park and Watson Lake, Yukon, Karsten Heuer watched helplessly as his travelling companion and future wife, Leanne Allison, struggled to follow him. For Heuer, the drama provoked some soul-searching about the expedition he undertook in support of an ambitious proposal to carve out a conservation corridor from Yellowstone to the Yukon. A wildlife biologist who works as a seasonal park warden in Banff National Park and Ivvavik National Park in the northwest corner of the Yukon, Heuer was inspired to do his trek after learning about the Y2Y initiative, which was first proposed in the early 1990s. It has since evolved into a binational campaign involving over 160 conservation organizations.

By his own account, the most powerful man in Canada's oil patch is, at heart, a simple country boy. Gwyn Morgan, president and chief executive officer of EnCana Corp., the world's largest independent oil and gas producer, traces his core values and philosophy of life and business to his modest upbringing on a hardscrabble grain and livestock farm near Carstairs, Alta. Morgan has certainly moved on. By engineering the April 2002 merger of two oil and gas behemoths, Alberta Energy Co. Ltd. (which Morgan helped establish in the 1970s and had headed since 1994) and PanCanadian Energy Corp., the farmer's son vaulted from a position of relative obscurity to someone who readily commands attention on the national stage. Morgan's nose for the main chance surfaced again in October 2001 when he heard about the abrupt departure of David Tuer as chief executive of PanCanadian, the recently spun-off energy unit of Canadian Pacific Ltd. Morgan initiated backroom negotiations with David O'Brien, the former chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Canadian Pacific who had replaced Tuer on an interim basis at PanCanadian.

Focuses on farm operations which have been successful in Canada. Mention of Sunterra Enterprises, a farming, food processing, and retail conglomerate; Topic of agricultural trends and farm consolidation; Problem of drought in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Focuses on pollution problems caused by sewage, garbage, traffic, and smog in cities in Canada. Belief that pollution in cities is worsening; Percentage of Canadians who live in urban areas; Air and water quality in cities.

Previews an art exhibition entitled 'The Group of Seven In Western Canada,' at the Calgary, Alberta Glenbow Museum, that encompasses nearly 200 works spanning from 1914 to the mid-1960s. Work of the Group of Seven, painters all based in Toronto, Ontario, who found inspiration from nature to paint; Mention of an exhibition by Tom Thomson at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; How both exhibitions reinforce that land was a key inspiration for all the artists.

Focuses on the Revolutionary Knitting Circle in Calgary, Alberta and how they will protest the G8 summit of leaders from eight major industrialized nations, which is to be held in Kananaskis in June 2002. Plans of the Jean Chrétien government to provide the world leaders with security from protestors and terrorists; Response of Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier to a request by activists to pitch tents in one of the city's urban parks; Preparations of the Calgary police to handle emergencies; Views of activist Sarah Kerr. INSET: IS IT REALLY WORTH IT?.

Focuses on the celebrations of Canadian fans following wins by the men's and women's hockey teams in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Patriotic reactions of some Canadians after the victories; Importance of the sport of hockey to Canada.

Discusses the synchrotron project under construction at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon as of winter 2002. Background on the technology of the giant particle accelerator and how it will be used in fields such as medicine; Details of the financing and design of the Canadian Light Source project; Cost of the facility, which will be a third-generation synchrotron that provides light a thousand times more intense than earlier models; How the province won the project.

Focuses on the Northern Advancement Program of the University of Northern British Columbia in Prince George that helps aboriginal students make the transition to higher education. Cases of Warner and Patricia Naziel who endured racism but found success after enrolling in the program; History of the program, which was founded in 1990; Efforts of other Canadian colleges and universities to recruit aboriginal students; Demographics of Canadian aboriginal peoples.

Reports on the Banff Mountain Book Festival and the Banff Mountain Film Festival in the Canadian Rockies. Background on Bernadette McDonald, vice-president of Mountain Culture at the Banff Centre and her role in promoting the festivals; Financing of the festivals and the world tour; Participants in the festivals, including documentary filmmaker Rick Ridgeway, Mexican alpinist Carlos Carsolio, and American conservationist Mike Fay.

Reports on efforts to revitalize the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba as of August, 2001. Mention of plans to renovate abandoned buildings and create new jobs; Comments of Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray; Public and private sector projects; Hope that the city's downtown area will become more hip and attractive.

Focuses on Edmonton, Alberta, the sight of the 2001 World Championships in Athletics, an international track and field event. Publicity which the event will bring to the city; Importance of the event being the only world championship held in North America; Impact of the event on Canadian athletes.

Reports on the festivities of the 2001 Calgary Stampede in Alberta. Reaction from local businessmen about the events; Impact of Stampede visitors on businesses; Authenticity of the rodeo event.

Offers observations on the potential economic effects for Canadian oil companies conducting business with the United States. Canadian government response to the US energy plan; Increase in energy needs in the United States; The efforts of US President George W. Bush to promote oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska; The growth of the oil industry in Canada.

Focuses on Canadian teenagers. Study of teenagers which was conducted by Canadian sociologist Reginald Bibby; Views of Canadian teenagers concerning their parents and family; Sexual activity among Canadian teenagers; Accessibility to drugs and alcohol; Religious interests of Canadian teenagers; Others. INSETS: Papa and 'pop sociologist';Why is 'teen' a bad word?, by Reginald Bibby;The babe-or-bust syndrome.

Focuses on the Canadian province of Alberta. Economic growth in the area caused by industrial development; Influx of people from other areas of Canada; Views of Albertans regarding the rest of Canada.

Reports on the efforts of Canadian premier Ralph Klein to sell his Health Care Protection Act to the public. Provisions of the bill which would allow some private clinics in Alberta to perform surgical procedures requiring overnight stays; Reasons why Klein is pushing the bill, including its ability to effectively reduce surgical waiting lists; Protest against the legislation from organizations such as the Canadian and Alberta medical associations and from Liberal leader Nancy Macbeth.

Offers information on the status of the Canadian farming industry. How increases in production costs and decreasing commodity prices are impacting the farmers; Hopes of the farmers that a demonstration at the Saskatchewan legislature will pressure the government to provide $300 million in farm aid; Details on the status of farmers and the industry in Milden, Saskatchewan. INSETS: This year is the worst that we can remember;The farm crisis is real, despite Mr. Chretien's suave...;This is what the government does not see.

Focuses on Manitoba's premier-designate, Gary Doer. His political desires; Election of Doer over his long-term Conservative adversary Gary Filmon for the premiership; Why Doer believes he was a better politician than Filmon; The challenges facing him when he is sworn in as premier on October 5, 1999. INSET: 'A co-operative environment'.

Focuses on the Pan-American Games of 1999, taking place in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The image of Winnipeg that civic boosters hope to display; Negative national profile; Numbers of visitors expected to attend; The new facilities built to accommodate the Games; Lack of popularity of the Games; History of Winnipeg as an economic power; The changes in the population of the city; Comments from Winnipeg business leader Izzy Asper; Ticket sales for the event.

Focuses on the April 28, 1999 shooting at W.R. Myers High School in Taber, Alberta. Details of the attack in which a 14-year-old student opened fire, fatally shooting one student and injuring another; Description of the shooter; Unexpected nature of the attack in the small, religious town; The attack as part of actual and threatened schoolyard violence in the wake of the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado; Comments from students; Outlook. INSET: The copycat syndrome, by Patricia Chisholm.

Focuses on the acts of terrorism, which occurred in the Peace River region of northwestern Alberta, that have been directed at the oil and gas industry since 1996. Charges against Wiebo Ludwig and Richard Boonstra on conspiracy and mischief; Claims by environmentalists against the oil and gas companies; Biographical background of Ludwig; Bombings that have occurred in the area.

Comments on the airline crash of Swissair Flight 111. Number of people killed; Flight from New York to Geneva crashing into the Atlantic Ocean near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia; Transcripts of the conversation between pilots before the crash; Possibility that the aircraft suffered an electrical shutdown; View that the wiring led to the electrical shutdown; Use of Kapton insulation in the wiring of the plane; Why Kapton was banned from use by the United States military. INSET: A rekindled debate over wiring, by Tom Fennell et al..

Examines how the weakening Canadian dollar has impacted vacation plans of Canadians. Decision of many to stay close to home; Worries of Royal Bank of Canada chief economist John McCallum; Mounting anxiety over the exchange rate gap against the United States dollar; American destinations that are attempting to lure Canadian customers; Canadian attitudes toward the dollar's woes. INSET: Free advice.

Focuses on sexual predation and discrimination against women in Canada's military. Detailed allegations of sexual assault in response to a May 25, 1998 cover story, `Rape in the military,' in `Macleans'; The revelations of Maj. Dee Brasseur; The reporting women's consistent fear of retaliation if they are identified; Response of military officials. INSETS: In defence of the military, by Brian Bergman;When the victims are men.

Focuses on the sport of curling in Canada. Comments of Sean O'Hare, president of the Fort Simpson Curling Club; Development of the sport; Dates of international curling competitions; Efforts to expand curling into new areas; Popularity of curling in Canada; Details of how to curl. INSETS: The iceman cometh;Hacks and hog lines.

Focuses on Canadian respirologist Nancy Morrison. Judicial decision that she did not have to stand trial for the first-degree murder of Paul Mills, a terminally ill cancer patient; How she has become the unwilling focus of a national debate over euthanasia; Background on Morrison's medical treatment of Mills; Specifics on the inquiry; Questions as to the morality of mercy killing.

Discusses circumstances surrounding the ice storm that struck Canada on January 5, 1998. How the cities of Montreal, Ottawa and communities from Kingston, Ontario to Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley resembled battle zones; The power failures at the hospitals, the failure of traffic lights, the closing of the subway system, and the radio and television station's loss of their broadcast signals; One of the greatest ironies of the storm. INSET: Blame it on El Nino, by Mark Nichols.

Discusses the activities planned to celebrate the 500th anniversary of John Cabot's landing in Newfoundland. His status as the first European to set foot in the region that became Canada; The construction of a replica of his ship Matthew; Comment from Newfoundland Tourism Minister Sandra Kelly; The history of Cabot's voyages. INSET: Cabot's landing place remains a mystery..

Discusses the outcome of the June 1997 elections in Canada. Evidence that the election has left Canada splintered as never before; The hollow victory for the Liberal party and Prime Minister Jean Chretien; How Reform party Leader Preston Manning's role as official Opposition leader highlights tensions between the regions; Quebec sovereignty worries; Outcome of election for Alexa McDonough and her New Democratic Party; The Tories and Jean Charest; Bloc Quebecois and Gilles Duceppe. INSETS: What comes next?, by Mary Janigan.;Victors and vanquished..

Considers the controversy in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island over the construction of the Confederation Bridge. The bridge as a fixed link between Canada's smallest province and the mainland at Jourimain Island, New Brunswick; The feared social impact of the bridge; Economic impact; Comments from opponents and proponents of the bridge; Background on the project and the debate over it; The planned Bridgefest celebration.

Looks at the prospects for Newfoundland as of March 1997, in light of the flurry of activity centered around offshore oil in the region. Details on the Hibernia offshore oil platform; Plans to develop two other major oil discoveries in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin; Comments from Newfoundland Premier Brian Tobin and talk-show host Bill Rowe; The possibility that the region will undergo a revival; Public sentiment; Other details. INSET: Voisey's Bay showdown, by Tom Fennell..

Focuses on the issue of censorship in Canada. Specifics on two landmark cases, one involving the Little Sister's Book and Art Emporium in Vancouver, and the other, the paintings of Toronto artist Eli Langer; How debate arouses deep and divisive passions on both sides; Ironies that exist in the battle. INSETS: Exit to erotica (the film `Exit to Eden'), by Dale Eisler;Speaking out (prominent Canadians on censorship and pornography).

Examines how the brutal slayings of three young Canadians have touched off outpourings of grief, fear and rage. Georgina Leimonis, 23, killed during an armed robbery at a Toronto cafe; Joan Heimbecker, 25, slain by her former boyfriend; Nicholas Battersby, 27, shot to death by strangers in Ottawa. INSET: Life, liberty--and lots of guns, by Bob Levin..

Focuses on Ralph Klein, the premier of Alberta, Canada. His single-minded crusade to eliminate Alberta's $2.5-billion provincial deficit by 1997; Albert's approach to cost-cutting, which stands in stark contrast to the budget unveiled by the federal Liberal government; Volume and ferocity of the opposition to Klein's cost-cutting measures; Summary of Alberta's budget plans. INSET: Cutting class (education cuts), by Donna Korchinski..

Profiles Reform Leader Preston Manning of Canada and the platform he is running on for the upcoming October 25, 1993 federal elections. Platform of drastic government cuts; Wants provinces to run medicare as they see fit; Cut in Old Age Security; The party is a predominantly white middle-class protest movement; Manning is main defence against charges that the party is intolerant; Background; Career highlights; Party's proposal to reduce immigrants. INSET: A gallery of Reform candidates..

This article focuses on Casey Peterson, a farmer from Saskatchewan, who will travel to China to take part in an experimental cell-transplant procedure aimed at helping spinal cord victims recover at least some mobility. Casey is booked for surgery in Beijing in October 2006--the waiting list for foreigners is long--and his neighbours have begun raising money to help out. Casey wheels around in his motorized chair, pointing out the exercise and rehab equipment that fills two rooms of his farmhouse. He's dressed in the ranch garb he's always worn: blue jeans, jean jacket and a black cowboy hat. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, he looks healthy and surprisingly strong. On his farm, Casey oversees the feeding and care of 100 chuckwagon and saddle horses. He also helps out at his parents' cattle auction business down the road. After his accident, Casey didn't have the lung capacity to do much auctioneering. But he worked with a breathing machine and now he's able to call out the bidding for a few hours at a time, more if he pushes it. None of this is enough for Casey. That's why Casey was excited when his mother, Della, read on the Internet about the procedure being offered by Chinese surgeon Hongyun Huang, which has reportedly helped hundreds of spinal cord victims. Canadian doctors won't endorse the operation, saying its efficacy has yet to be proven through the normal course of animal and clinical trials. As a result, Saskatchewan Health will not pay Huang's $20,000 fee (travel costs are extra). The operation is, in its own way, a bit of cowboy medicine, on the edge of what most neurosurgeons deem acceptable practice. It involves taking olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) from the nasal area of aborted fetuses, cultivating them and then injecting them into sections of the spinal cord near the site of the injury.

This article focuses on the town of Mayerthorpe, Alberta and the efforts of residents to return to normalcy after the murder of four police officers by James Roszko, who also killed himself. It's been three months since Jim Sangster's four friends and colleagues—Peter Schiemann, 25, Anthony Gordon, 28, Brock Myrol, 29, and Leo Johnston, 32—were brutally murdered by local misfit James Roszko before the gunman killed himself. Life has slowly returned to normal in the small central Alberta town, says Sangster, or at least as close to normal as it possibly can. But a sense of loss is never far from mind. In an 11-member detachment, in a farming community of just 1,600 people, officers are even more tightly knit than on an urban force. When they aren't patrolling, they golf or curl together, or hang out at each other's homes. So whether at work or at play, they now get constant reminders of what once was. Residents reached out to each other in quiet conversations, away from the prying eyes and ears of reporters. Almost from the moment the shocking news sunk in, there was a desperate desire among many Mayerthorpe residents to do something, anything, to respond. Within days of the murders, there was much talk around town about the need to create a permanent memorial to the slain officers. Mayerthorpe's young people also stepped up to the plate. Hayley Martin, 10, and Megan Sangster, also 10, daughters of Jim Martin and Joe Sangster, came up with the idea of asking every student across Canada to donate a loonie towards the RCMP memorial. Even as they seek to honour the slain officers, Mayerthorpe residents make a point of distinguishing between the man who committed the murders and members of his large extended family.

This article discusses the use of stem cells in treatments for Parkinson's disease in Canada. Peter Sauer felt his life slipping away. In 1994, doctors diagnosed Sauer, then 59, with Parkinson's disease, a cruel brain disorder that progressively robs sufferers of the ability to move or function normally. Salvation came in the form of a pioneering cell transplant program overseen by Ivar Mendez, head of neurosurgery at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. Starting in 2001, Mendez began transplanting brain cells from fetal tissue into the brains of 10 Parkinson's patients who hadn't responded to other therapies. Mendez is now leading a nationwide research project aimed at developing stem cells from adult skin, bone marrow and brain, and training them to do on a mass scale what the fetal brain cells did for a lucky few. A handful of similar high-end research is underway in the United States and Britain. But Canada's efforts may be more focused in that Ottawa is using its funding clout to help link the work of 80 leading scientists in information-sharing, multi-city teams, something it calls the Stem Cell Network. Among other things, scientists are exploring the seemingly limitless potential of stem cells to repair damaged brains, spinal cords and hearts, as well as to treat a host of debilitating conditions such as diabetes, blood disorders and Alzheimer's. None of this research is without controversy, of course. In the U.S. in particular, stem cell research is a hot-button issue that has reached right to the heart of presidential campaigns. Critics argue that because any human embryo has the potential to be a living being, destroying one in the name of science is morally wrong.

The article mentions the suspicious deaths of 13 Edmonton prostitutes since 1988, and efforts to help prostitutes get out of the trade. The latest victim, Ellie May Meyer, 33, was the second Edmonton prostitute to turn up dead in less than three weeks. On April 16, an oil field worker stumbled upon the burned body of Charlene Gauld, 20. Both women were well-known to police and had, in fact, registered with Project Kare, an Alberta-wide, RCMP-led task force which is currently investigating 41 deaths and 31 disappearances of people engaged in "high risk" lifestyles such as prostitution and drug use. In the wake of the latest grisly discoveries, Alberta Solicitor General Harvey Cenaiko said, "I'm not going to speculate on whether it's a serial killer, but I would think there's one individual responsible for a number of the murders." Dawn Hodgins, 35, is a special projects coordinator and research assistant for the Prostitution Awareness and Action Foundation of Edmonton (PAAFE), a financially challenged non-profit organization, which runs programs aimed at dealing with the root causes of the sex trade and getting women off the street. JoAnn McCartney looks very much the tough vice-cop she once was. But for the past three years, the retired 27-year veteran of the Edmonton police force has been more of a social worker, running a court diversion program for PAAFE, which tries to help women charged with solicitation to change their lives. McCartney is a one-person referral service, steering her clients toward drug treatment facilities, housing options and employment opportunities.

This is an article about the debt-free status of Alberta, Canada, and what will be done with the freed-up money. Thanks to soaring oil and natural gas prices, the provincial treasury is bursting with surplus dollars. Alberta recently revised its projected royalty revenues for the current fiscal year to over $8 billion--nearly double the figure forecast in last spring's budget--and announced that the bulk of the resource windfall will go to retire the province's outstanding$ 3.7-billion debt. That will make Alberta the first debt-free province in more than three decades, a goal Klein has doggedly pursued since becoming premier in 1992. For an encore of sorts, Klein is urging Albertans to engage in a public debate over what exactly should be done with the freed-up money. Among the options the premier has already floated: lowering taxes, issuing annual dividends to every Alberta resident, socking more away in the provincial piggy bank (otherwise known as the Heritage Savings Trust Fund, now standing at $12.4 billion), or spending more on a variety of services and infrastructure needs.

This article looks at Margaret Waterchief, a Blackfoot native and Anglican priest. Although her parents lived a couple of kilometres away, the Anglican school authorities allowed Waterchief to visit her family for just a few hours each Saturday. Many Aboriginals faced with similar experiences or worse--witness the thousands of sexual and physical abuse lawsuits by former residential school students--turned away from Christianity. After 13 months of convalescence, Waterchief returned home determined to live a Christian life. But she had to cope with a rapidly growing family and an alcoholic husband, who died of the disease in 1976 at the age of 42. Until she left CUPS this past Christmas, Waterchief was known as an angel of mercy who was always there with a cup of coffee, a sandwich and, most important, an open ear.

This article reports on the popularity of Alberta premier Ralph Klein. How to explain the Klein phenomenon? Part of it -- a big part -- comes down to personality. Klein is someone a lot of Albertans have trouble disliking, even when they disagree with his policies. True to his roots, Klein cares more about how he comes across in the blue-collar Sun newspapers than in the pages of, say, the Globe and Mail -- which may help explain some of the curious crusades he takes on. Where Klein really shines, though, is in the media scrum, which he does more frequently and at greater length than any other major politician in Canada. Klein has other obvious skills as a politician. He is neither an ideologue nor a revolutionary; he governs as a pragmatist from the centre.