Rose's Cantina

If Katrina Blagdon inexplicably walked off to end her life, only she would know why. Friends and family might have mentioned to the police that she was depressed or in despair. But those haven't been the words that have been used to describe her. She was looking forward to returning home to Nova Scotia. She had just spent time with her boys. She had been chirpy and happy -- her usual demeanour -- on her posts on Facebook. Katrina was an open book, according to all who knew her. She wasn't a drug addict or mentally ill. She was a seasoned soldier who had seen it all on a tour of Afghanistan. She settled in St. Catharines to start her civilian life as a homeowner with savings and was the proud owner of a lime green Jeep. No. Katrina did not off herself. She did not accidentally fall into Martindale Pond during a brisk midnight walk around her neighbour. And it seems unlikely that if she were planning her own demise that she would be having a submarine sandwich with her boyfriend ...

Embed from Getty Images I wanted to share the observations of a Facebook friend who lives near the downtown core. It pretty accurately describes the scene, and offers some insight on what's to come.   As someone living near downtown, I’d like to share some firsthand observations about the “Freedom Convoy” that is occupying the city, as some people continue to believe it is a peaceful protest for truckers: • There are some semi trucks, but the vast majority are pickup trucks. 95% of them have Ontario or Quebec plates: they did not drive across the country, they largely came from nearby. • The occupiers are 99% white and 90% male. I’m told that 90% of Canada’s truckers are vaccinated. The occupiers don’t represent truckers or the broad population of Canada. • The signs and rhetoric do talk about “dropping the mandates”, but many of them also believe COVID or the vaccines to be some kind of conspiracy or hoax. These people do not seem to believe that the pandemic is real. • The h...

  I'm sure Ron James would cringe at being called A National Treasure.  He'd probably say his body has not yet been discovered in the Tundra or fossilized after his family jewels were eaten by bears. It's true, he hasn't had a cabin in the woods named after him like Pierre Berton where starving comics can go, suck on a pickled toe and try their material out on otters. He doesn't have an Order of Canada or a Governor's General Award, either.  But a National God Damned Treasure he certainly is.  He's had his own television show, and a comedy special that ran so many times on New Year's Eve that the CBC smoked the videotape. He failed as an actor in Hollywood so he came home to make the best of it in Canada -- and what's more Canadian than that! He does have some hardware including a Gemini and a Genie, and two Canadian Comedy Awards. But he'll even admit that he is a B List celebrity who gets airline upgrades not because he's famous but because...

  I received a request recently to raise awareness about the disappearance of a B.C. woman who vanished from her home in Costa Rica after a fight with her husband.  Jaclyn Smith Ferland, 40, was reported missing in August from her home near Playa Hermosa after returning home from a  physiotherapy session.  A Facebook page has been set up, and dedicated to the search for the Canadian forces veteran whose husband said that she left on foot in "mental distress" after becoming angry with him. She left, he said, after he went into the shower.  This is another disturbing missing person case with an all too familiar ring to it. She left. On foot. With only her passport and wallet, but no suitcase. There has been no trace of her, and no activity on her bank and credit cards.  Family and friends of Jackie say there was no reason for her to disappear into thin air, with no sightings, no cab rides, so security footage, or phone calls home.  A former acquaintance ...

A note to my readers on the occasion of my million view milestone.  People become bloggers for many different reasons. They want to express themselves creatively. They want to make money. They want to become influencers. I began blogging to save my mental health.  It all began back in 2009 when I published an essay in the Globe and Mail entitled: We're Living the $10 Life . In the essay, I wrote about the serious downturn my life had taken after a bitter divorce that left me reeling. Even though I had recoupled with the wonderful Scott, we were barely making ends meet. It was a terrible time for both of us even though we had enjoyed successful careers in the past. When we met, Scott was living in misery. He'd taken a buyout and left his career as a CBC cameraman to pay off an abusive ex-wife. I was a freelance speechwriter, and I had lost most of my income because I was a Liberal living in Stephen Harperland.  Together we were raising three teenagers, cannibalizing tropi...

  On Sunday, volunteers travelled to St. Catharines from across the province to help in the search for Katrina Blagdon, the 37-year-old Army veteran who went missing on New Year's Eve. They fanned out across the area surrounding Martindale Pond, and the Henley Course, in hopes of finding any evidence of what might have happened to the mother-of-two. Searchers included other military personnel, as well as friends and family of the well-liked woman who was reported missing on New Year's Day. The last sighting of Trina was on New Year's Eve around 6 p.m. at a local sub shop. She disappeared without her wallet or her lime green Jeep, and there has been no cell phone activity since that night. Her family, some of whom have come to St. Catharines from as far as Nova Scotia, are being supported by more than 3,000 members of a Facebook site which has been set up to organize searches and to provide accurate information about her case. She is also being supported by a well organized...

  Just be a good person, love who you can, help where you can, give what you can."                                                                                                         Trina Blagdon, December 14, 2021 Ask anyone who knows Trina Blagdon, and they will tell you that they have never known a more positive person. While others are trashing their exes, and complaining about the plague, Trina spends her time on Facebook posting positive messages. But she is so much more than platitudes. Trina is a woman of action.  She was a soldier for 14 years, and has been to Afghanistan. She saw firs...