Profile of Michael Johansen

Biography

MIchael Johansen is a resident of North West River, Labrador. His column "North of Here" appears every Monday.

All articles of Michael Johansen

• Save those gas receipts
  The drive south from Cartwright down the relatively new Labrador Coastal Highway is usually either dusty or muddy, and has often been blocked by ...
• Harper versus the Constitution of Canada
  While there is only one way to change the Senate of Canada, there are many things we might change it into. Of course abolishing it altogether, as ...
• Bringing down the pressure
  A recent visit to the local health clinic - which involved two tries with an inflatable rubber armband - left me with some unpleasant news to ...
• Turning Labrador blue
  Several times a day - in fact, often 20 times or more - I used to enjoy the wonderful pleasure of smoking a cigarette. Although I started the ...
• New policies for a new Canada
  Sources within the so-called Conservative government have confirmed that the draft Throne speech recently leaked to reporters is, in fact, the ...
• How not to accept defeat gracefully
  Once again, what this country needs right now is a good dictionary. Canada's prime minister - Stephen Harper, that is - has been claiming that ...
• A few lessons for Labradorians
  Almost three-quarters of Greenland's more than 39,000 eligible voters turned out last week for a referendum about independence from Denmark. More ...
• Business as usual, unfortunately
  Some people in Sheshatshiu are not pleased with what has happened to the rent money they've been paying to the Innu band council. Most in this ...
• Soldiers in all but name
  Not all soldiers fight in uniform. Not all soldiers march to a beat. Nor are all battles fought with guns. Many soldiers fight hidden from view. ...
• Never go swimming without a buddy
  "Happy Obama Day!" I called to a local church leader in passing at the post office, the day after the U.S. presidential election. He looked ...
• All eyes on the U.S.A.
  Telling the Americans who they should vote for is a mistake. It looks so tempting because, from the outside, the choice seems so obvious, but ...
• All the signs of winter
  Ask almost anyone who lives in Labrador what his or her favourite season is and he or she will likely name the next one coming. When snow has ...
• Immodest proposal
  As the last few minutes ticked away before the polls closed in last Tuesday's federal election, the Liberal candidate for Labrador - one of the ...
• As far as elections go
  A couple of Halifax writers are looking for help to compile "The 100 Greatest Atlantic Canadian Books Ever Written," to quote the title of their ...
• How to discard unnecessary voters
  Clearly, Stephen Harper doesn't want my vote. In fact, he doesn't seem to want the vote of any Canadian writer or artist - or, at least, of ...
• Goodbye to an old friend
  This could be the most difficult column I will ever compose. Over the past few weeks I have written of my dog Ben's illness. Now, with my heart a ...
• New vet, new hope
  Although my old dog Ben (who's been sick for some time) is doing better than he was a couple weeks ago, he has become an unco-operative patient. ...
• Magic in a new theatre
  The floor is still made of sand, but a new auditorium is finally taking shape in central Labrador. It has been a long time coming and for most ...
• One steamboat, two steamboat, three steamboat
  There's nothing that pisses some tailgaters off more than coming up behind someone who insists on driving the speed limit. But that's not why I ...
• Send in your suggestions now
  The Telegram - The province's minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation - who happens to be Clyde Jackman for the moment - told the local ...
• Better to laugh than to cry
  "He makes you laugh." That's what my friend Mary said almost 13 years ago as she watched me get acquainted with my new puppy. Mary was right. It ...
• Three out of five stars
  The ocean cruise was simply delightful. Everybody said so. True, heavy rain fell on the boat the second night out, but clear skies ruled most of ...
• One little corner of foreign soil
  "The blue line? I got to take the blue line? I got the blue!" The man who spoke was clearly QuÉbecois, and by his strong accent he was someone ...
• Dealing with the pain through words
  Little new can be said about the tragedy that struck Labrador this past week, but at the same time it is difficult to write about anything else. ...
• Crying over spilt milk
  The word has come down from the provincial government (by way of hired consultants): milk cows have no future in Labrador. A Gander-based ...
• On missing glass and a community's rebirth
  A friend and colleague of mine named Wilson - one of the first who welcomed me to Nain when I took a year-long position with the OKalaKatiget ...
• Lost opportunities on both sides
  Thirty-five people were recently invited to a workshop on "energy alternatives" hosted by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro in Happy Valley-Goose ...
• The stars my destination
  "When you go, don't let me know." Mothers are usually pleased when one of their sons - especially one with a poor record of holding down or even ...
• A little cheese with my whine
  If life imitated blog, my columns would fill this newspaper page, disappearing below the bottom edge in a near-endless scroll of sarcasm, snide ...
• Opening an old can of worms
  There are few things that raise the ire of patriotic Newfoundlanders like mention of the deal their government cut with Quebec over the Churchill ...