Politics
It’s election season in Ottawa and I’ve decided to attend a few local events to try and get a sense of what people are saying. It’s hard to get to many of them, given the limitations of the day job, the columnizing, the side hustle, parenting and
Politics
Four years ago I wrote about the election that brought François Legault to power and commented that while separatism was no longer on the ballot anywhere (at least anywhere credible), it was nevertheless right there under the surface. “Yes,” I said back then, “the separatist parties tanked. But here’s
Politics
This story, in French, seems to be ruffling a few feathers and frankly I don’t understand why. The leader of the Parti Québécois, who is not at the moment a member of the National Assembly, expressed the thought that he could sit in that chamber without going through the
Travel
“How do you two know each other?” It was all we could do not to burst out laughing. Are you really that unobservant? We thought it very loudly but we didn’t let our mouths say it. There are jokes you don’t make at customs, ever. Like, anything remotely
Gender
The news out of Iran is terrifying. You can die, totally entirely by accident on purpose, for defying the authority of those whose entire raison d’être is to control what women, girls, and basically anyone who’s not a cis-het man, do, think and feel. You can also be
Culture
It was about a month ago that the publicist got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in reviewing this book by Dr. Jean Marmoreo (and co-author Johanna Schneller) on the lessons learned from years of providing medical assistance in dying to Canadian patients. Oh hell yes. I
Culture
In my line of work it is not rare to receive puzzling messages from a wide variety of people. But this one took the cake. “We’re very glad to have you come out to Tuesday Club!,” it said, adding that I should get in touch if I had any
Fiction
[Content warning: This piece of fiction contains sexual violence and self-harm.] She had a black eye and it hurt like hell. He told her he hadn’t meant it and besides it was her fault for not blocking him better. It was always her fault. Like she was stupid or
Politics
When you google Bob Chiarelli, predictive text fills in for you “former mayor of Ottawa.” Of course, he’s been more than that. He’s been MPP (twice), regional chair and mayor. Now he wants to be mayor again. And he’s polling alright, too. He’s solidly third but
Politics
Pierre Poilievre was elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and of Canada’s loyal opposition during an extraordinarily dull ceremony Saturday night. But to be fair, it was also very cringey, especially the part where the winner’s wife talked at length about her husband being married to
Politics
It’s election season in Ottawa — you may have noticed the signs going up recently — and I sat down with Mark Sutcliffe, Catherine McKenney and Bob Chiarelli to get a sense of their priorities, how they’re going about their campaign, how they perceive the other guys, etc. The goal
Politics
It should be possible to respect certain elements of a person’s life and not otherwise care very much about who they were. Queen Elizabeth never wanted that job. Which, by the way, is not easy. Just remember that time she had to smile and make small talk at dinner