THE OASIS CENTRE IS A LUXURIANT ABERRATION ON THE industrial edge of northwest Edmonton. Neighboured by windowless warehouses and car dealerships, the $7-million complex comprises a palatial banquet hall built of cream-coloured brick, a 200-car parking lot and a thicketed garden with a stone patio and lily-padded pond. When the property opened in 2007, it became a popular venue for conferences and weddings-newlyweds would pose for photos in front of its sleek wood-and-glass facade. But the Centre's core function was very different: to serve as the headquarters of a mysterious spiritual community called the College of Integrated Philosophy.
In the 2010s, at the peak of the College's popularity, as many as 400 members gathered at the Oasis Centre several times a week. They'd file through the marble-floored foyer, past the 1,300-gallon koi aquarium and into the two-floor auditorium. They'd jockey for front-row seats before John de Ruiter, a striking fiftysomething spiritual teacher, would step on stage and settle into a padded chair at the front of the room. On either side of him, massive projector screens would stream a close-cropped feed of his face: a shock of flowing white hair, a sculpted brow furrowed in thought, crystalline blue eyes gazing at the crowd. Then, one by one, his followers would approach a microphone to seek guidance.
Denne historien er fra December 2023-utgaven av Maclean's.
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Denne historien er fra December 2023-utgaven av Maclean's.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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"I escaped Gaza and sent my family to Egypt. Now, my goal is to reunite with them in Canada."
Bombs destroyed my neighbourhood and killed my loved ones. I hope my family and I can find refuge in Quebec.
TIDAL WAVE
Susan Lapides chronicles her family's summers in a tiny New Brunswick fishing town
THE NORTHERN FRONT
In Ontario's hinterlands, a battle is brewing between First Nations, prospectors and the provincial government over a multi-billion-dollar motherlode of metals. Inside the fight for the Ring of Fire.
THE CULTURE WAR IN THE CLASSROOM
Several provincial governments now mandate parental consent for kids to change pronouns in Schools. Who gets to decide a child's gender?
THE JACKPOT GENERATION
Canada is in the midst of the greatest wealth transfer of all time, as some $1 trillion passes from boomers to their millennial kids. How an inheritance-based economy will transform the country.
My Child-Free Choice
For a long time, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to become a parent. The climate crisis clinched my decision.
The Main Event
Calgary's massive, modern, newly expanded BMO Centre is open for business
Embrace the Four-Day Workweek
Canada is facing a national productivity crisis. One counterintuitive solution? Give workers more time off.
Richard Ireland, mayor of Jasper, is ready to rebuild
IT'S TEMPTING TO LEAN on numbers when conveying the scale of the damage wrought by July's fire in Jasper, Albertathe worst in the national park's 117-year history. Water bombers were grounded in the face of 400-foot-high flames. More than 25,000 visitors and residents were evacuated as hundreds of firefighters flew in to assist. Damages exceeded $700 million. A third of the town's structures were consumed-historical buildings, tourist haunts and family homes. One of them belonged to Richard Ireland.
"The Taliban tried to kill me at 16.Eight years later, I am free in Canada."
I ATTENDED A PRIVATE ENGLISH SCHOOL in the Jaghori District of Ghazni province, Afghanistan.
