When Lanark, a county on the outskirts of Ottawa, terminated its contract with one child care licensing agency at the end of August, it was a surprise to the agency and families. Parent fees doubled and 12 child care spaces were lost as two daycares closed.

I hated her the first time I saw her. That was in 1989. Definitely not a case of “love at first sight.

Fifty-eight years ago, the Second Vatican Council gave birth to the Decree on Ecumenism, in November 1965. Most have forgotten that the decree was passed by a vote of 2,137 to 11 of the bishops assembled at the Council.

Every year over a million children experience a tragic milestone: seeing their parents divorce. In fact, when combined with unmarried parents who split up, it’s now estimated that fewer than half of all children today will spend their childhood together with their parents in a unified home.

In October 1996 I found myself in a seminar group with Sinéad O’Connor. My name then was O’Neill and the alphabet had lumped us together long before any other identity group had a chance to.