I'm on my way to Ontario for ten days or so. Jumping on a redeye, because I had a job to do today. Tomorrow morning early I will land in Toronto and my brother and neice will pick me up and we will travel to the Beaver Valley where we will interr my father's ashes and finally lay him to rest.

I have a lot I love for my local library here on Bowen Island. Today I'm deeply appreciating the rotating display of works from our local fabric arts guild. The Annex, my office away from home, is adorned with a selection of quilts that change every couple of months or so. Currently there is work from Karen Van Schie on the walls. The details and quality of these pieces is extraordinary.

For such an important measurement, not a single person I have ever met can explain how the GDP is calculated, and more importantly, why. I don’t know Anne Enright, but I am mighty glad to have met her writing this morning via a link in Metafilter that pointed to this essay on, ostensibly, travelling in Venice. …

If we want anything from our governments - roads, drinkable water, an education system, health care, a pipeline, postal service, safe working conditions, air traffic control, security - we have to pay for it. Governments fund these things through taxation, charging royalties on publicly-owned resources, borrowing, or, in the case of the federal government, creating money. This first of those three things seem to be things most political parties campaign against, meaning that they often add “tax cuts, royalty exemptions, and deficit reduction” to the list. . What about the fourth? Read Dougald Lamont and let’s talk about this. Because the problems we are having aren’t due to underfunding.

Detail of the Ocean & Way of Life map produced by the Council of the Haida Nation in 2011 We've had a fantastic week of work and visiting here on Haida Gwaii. We were working with our friends from the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, who came here to build relationships with each other, dive into some light conversations about the future and connect with local Haida Nation people, places and culture.

Last night. This morning.

Long days of retreat facilitation. They start early. 6:30 wake up, and a little focused think about how our day is going to go. Breakfast with the group and off to commemorate the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation at the incredible Haida Heritage Centre near Skidegate. We are working here with the Sahatu Renwable Resources Board, the wildlife co-management body that was formed under their Land Claim Agreement in 1993.

Crossing Skidegate Inlet, yesterday We are working in Haida Gwaii this week. At the Haida House Lodge at Tllaal on the east side of Graham Island, there is a dictionary of Haida words collected from Skidegate dialect speakers over the years. Last night I sat on the covered porch while the rain came down off the Hecate Strait and a southeasterly lashed the side of our cabin.

It's a grey muggy day here on the south coast of BC, and the photo above is from this morning's ferry ride into Vancouver to begin a trip to Haida Gwaii this week. Chris Mowles has a good post on the politics of uncertainty and writes about how that is unfolding in health care systems he is working with. I resonate with these words: …