Kai Yang Shiao
Saudi Arabia Revolution
January 27, 2014Starting in 2010, a wave of political protests swept across Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa, in what is now referred to as the Arab Spring. Saudi Arabia was able to avoid regime change and ultimate turmoil; some believe that sizeable wage increases and promises of more public goods and services were largely responsible for keeping the royal family in power. However, this strategy of appeasing politically conscious citizens with increased public goods and services may not work so well in the near future. One prevalent practice within this regime has been subsidizing a variety of daily…
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The Charter of Values is an omnibus bill
September 23, 2013Religious and ethnic diversity is something to be cherished in Canada. Unfortunately, there have been attempts lately to undermine this principle. In Québec, the Parti Québécois (PQ) under the leadership of Pauline Marois have recently unveiled a “Charter of Values”…
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Egypt: from Arab Spring to Arab Winter
July 15, 2013The pro-democracy protests of the Arab Spring initially brought a huge wave of optimism to Egypt by bringing down the three-decade old regime of Hosni Mubarak. However, in the period of a little over two years, such hard-fought gains are…
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Recent conflict in Syria: a revival of the Cold War
July 8, 2013Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the world has been referred to as unipolar. However, recent events in Syria undermine this view. At the onset of the Syrian Civil War, the main belligerents were the Sunni Muslim rebels and…
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School rankings paint an incomplete picture of education
June 24, 2013By Kai Yang Shiao Photos by Vaikunthe Banerjee The Fraser Institute recently published a ranking of every private, public, charter, and separate school in Alberta. This assessment purports to provide a snapshot of the quality of education through eight quantitative…
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Genetically modified foods unquestionably dangerous
November 26, 2012Fatal exposure tests of rats to GMO foods don’t bode well for us By Kai Yang Shiao Photos by Ben Buckley Time and time again, the ongoing debate regarding the application of genetic engineering of food supplies has largely failed…
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Sanctions on Iran are indefensible
October 29, 2012Reaping the benefits of embargoes in the name of nuclear terror By Kai Yang Shiao Graphic by Malky Currie Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program has been a lingering issue. While the full truth is uncertain, many western countries have long…
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The double edged sword of the Arab Spring
September 24, 2012Counter-point: foreign aid has some unfortunate repercussions To see point, click here! By Kai Yang Shiao Graphic by Ben Buckley During the Arab Spring, the ousting of dictators like Mubarak of Egypt and Ben Ali of Tunisia was heralded around…
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Intolerance and division: the agenda of the P.Q. minority government?
September 17, 2012Canadian politics taking a turn for the undemocratic By Kai Yang Shiao Photos by Ben Buckley Although it failed to win a majority of the seats in the National Assembly (provincial legislature of Quebec) the pro-independence Parti Quebecois (P.Q.) managed…
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Myanmar, the U.N.’s new democratic darling
September 3, 2012By Kai Yang Shiao Photos by Mark Burnham Where vote or die isn’t a glamorous campaign slogan As Canadians, we take it for granted on a daily basis that we live in a liberal democracy. Unfortunately this luxury continues to…
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