Submitted by Robyn Burns

About/Bio: I work for the afternoon Radio One program at CBC Ottawa.

My take: It was nearing 8 p.m. ET when the lights shut off and the air conditioning stopped. The train lurched to a standstill. I leaned over to pick up my phone to call my mom, back in Victoria. I had just said hello when a Via Rail employee burst into our car, panic-stricken. He asked a man in front of me whether he remembered the procedure he'd shown him for opening the doors manually. He said yes and they both ran off. I told my mom something was wrong and had to call her back.

Submitted by Doug Ramage

About/Bio: I am a University of Saskatchewan engineering student working in Nunavut as an environmental health and safety summer student for AREVA Resources Canada Inc., a mining exploration company.

After completing a year of geophysics/geology, I accepted this position because I see mining as an important industry and I believe it should be done in a sustainable, responsible manner. Outside of university, I am a father to a five-and-a-half-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter and I am getting married in September 2009.

My take: Now is the time to visit Nunavut, Canada's newest territory. What appears to be a barren territory is actually a land teeming with life. Much mining exploration is currently being done and there is no time like the present to have a close look for yourself. It is a great place to take photographs.

Submitted by Andrew Unger

About/Bio: I'm a resident of Steinbach, Man. and I went to Europe this summer. While abroad I discovered that it's best to leave the Maple Leaf at home.

My take: Before venturing off to Europe this summer, my wife and I laboriously stitched red Maple Leaves onto our backpacks, having fallen under the spell of a Tim Horton's commercial we had just seen. Back home in Canada, flag touting is rather rare, but Canadian travellers, however, are somehow transformed into consummate patriots, plastering our belongings with our iconic Canuck plant. It is Canada's unalterable law of international travel — thou shalt adorn thy luggage with the red leaf of the Maple tree. But I think it's time we expose this commandment for the delusion that it is.

Submitted by Miriam Kosa

About/Bio: I am a social sciences high school teacher who survived the Canadian visa challenge for Mexicans and spent all of my year's savings in Canada. I am a hard working person and I felt absolutely impotent, furious and diminished by the new visa regulation that came into effect in July.

My take: We just came back from a two-week trip to Canada. Everything was great except for the fact that out of the blue the Canadian government required Mexicans to have a visa starting July the15th at 11:50 pm and we were leaving to Montreal on July 16th at 7:15 a.m.

Submitted by Fazeela Jiwa

About/Bio: I am a rape crisis line and transition house worker at Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter.

My take: Honour Killings? Domestic Violence? Let's call it what it really is: violence against women.

The debate rages: how do we classify the alleged murders of four female family members by Mohammad Shafia, his wife Tooba Mohammad Yahya, and their son Hamed? Is this crime a tragic case of domestic violence, or can we attribute it to a cultural practice of honour killing? I contend it is neither.

Submitted by Tracey Madigan

About/Bio: Tracey Madigan is a journalist from Montreal. She relocated to Washington D.C. in 2006 with her family when her husband was transferred there.

My take: It's a bright May morning, and dozens of people are fumbling with their cell phones, squeezing out the latest news to their friends: FLOTUS is here. First. Lady. Of. The. United. States.

Another Saturday in my quiet corner of Washington DC, about five kilometres from the White House, at a neighbourhood park that could be in any suburb in America. But on this Saturday, at this park, there is a hushed buzz of excitement. Michelle Obama comes to this park virtually every Saturday to watch her daughters play soccer.