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

• Wondering where the borders are
  There's nothing that says "democracy" like conducting public business behind closed doors - just as there's nothing that says "conservation" like ...
• Just like old times
  Once upon a time there was no road connecting central Labrador with the rest of the world. It was possible to get vehicles in and out, but not ...
• Film industry about to get the blues?
  The Ottawa Valley man - he works in the Parliament buildings and often sees different newsmakers come and go, such as the Canadian movie stars ...
• Studying at Oil Patch University
  At least one aspect of the sight outside the window could have been seen anywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador: one minute there was brilliantly ...
• Some advice for misunderstood leaders
  Dear Advice Columnist Guy:What is wrong with people these days? How come nobody listens to me anymore? Used to be everybody saw America was the ...
• Fighting out of homelessness
  The man was sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk, hunched over a pad of paper, busy sketching lines around an abstract form emerging from his ...
• Another consideration on green
  The phrase was only used once in the story, but it stuck out like the proverbially sore thumb. The story appeared in the province's daily ...
• Lessons from Kosovo
  At first, it looked like a sports victory. Dozens of cars paraded through city streets, horns blaring, passengers hanging out windows to yell, ...
• High price for good weather
  If the participants learn anything from Memorial University's three-day conference on climate change - held recently in North West River - ...
• Old decisions still rankle
  There's a doctor in Germany who envies Lab-rador very much. He's not a fan of the weather or the bugs. He envies the place for something it might ...
• Up in smoke
  The restaurant off Dessau's old market was a potato house under the socialists and it is a potato house still. The dishes served - a few of which ...
• Dark vision of a future Germany
  Their numbers were startling and their silence unnerving. Figuring out just how many sombre, quiet marchers were winding their way through the ...
• The three lives of Herr Hartmann
  Hans Hartmann comes to his front door wearing a blue track suit. He's turning 70 this year and his hair is thinner and greyer than it was the ...
• Letting them eat cake
  Susann, an 18-year-old student in the advanced English course of a high school called the Liborius Gymnasium, wanted to know how Canada and ...
• Cold shoulders and killer snails
  In the Black Hole of Gadevang the talk is often about cars, sports, politics and jobs, but today the big topic is killer snails. These snails ...
• Jacques Heberts legacy lives on
  The kids who spilled out of an airplane to the frigid shock of Labrador at the start of a long winter came from all over Canada. The youths (aged ...
• Fun projects necessary to lift community spirit...
  The provincial government has a problem and, like any good democratic government, it is consulting the citizenry. The government has too much ...
• Harper, be warned
  Suddenly global warming, bad enough as it is, has become horribly anti-Canadian. While most intelligent people in this country came to accept ...
• A good use for granite
  When rifles are about to be shot off it's wise to have a solid piece of granite at your back. Fortunately, there's a good one on the North West ...
• Just plain silly
  Since the coming of a new year is the time for reflection and since Section 47, Subsection 6, paragraphs 14 to 17 of the new federal Regulations ...
• Tis the season to be censored
  Christmas came early for Morgan Pumphrey this year. The St. John's writer had just published a children's book called "Littleseal" in time for ...
• Eating all year round
  The wish list is short and clear: juice, tea bags, meatballs and gravy, Kraft Dinner, canned fruit, canned sandwich meat, canned mixed vegetables ...
• Sound and fury signifying nothing
  Embarrassment. Is that what Canadians should be feeling when the prime minister travels abroad to meet with foreign leaders? If it weren't so ...
• Grabbing cheap airfare anywhere tantalizing
  Air Canada still has a ticket counter at the Goose Bay airport (as of the last time I was in the terminal, that is) and Air Canada planes still ...
• Maverick becomes leader of the pack
  She's charming, courageous, well-spoken, intelligent, energetic, dedicated, charismatic and decidedly attractive, and she's from Mary's Harbour. ...
• Nice things to say about school
  It's an unusual thing to hear students in Sheshatshiu say anything nice about their school. Not only unusual, perhaps, but completely unknown. ...
• Grandnephew traces steps of great-uncle
  It takes a little more than an hour to go by speedboat from the banks below the old Hudson's Bay Company store in North West River to where the ...
• Under the tyranny of windows
  Living in an old house has a few drawbacks - drawbacks that teach you who the real masters are. Historic homes like mine - built with scavenged ...
• A park for the killing
  Many people all around Lake Melville want to see the Mealy Mountain National Park up and running as soon as possible, but their wishes are not ...
• Predictions, right ones and wrong ones
  Last week's provincial election proved (as elections so often do) that the best time to make predictions is after all the votes are cast and ...