Urbanism
In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I discuss wildlife management and how – in this and in many other aspects of life in society – smart design can make such a big difference. Speaking of which, sort of. We’re starting the new e-scooter season and that’s the perfect time
Français
There are costs and benefits to living in a country with two official languages. Perhaps, if the British parliament had opted to implement Radical Jack's ideas, we'd have saved a ton of cash. But it didn't and here we are. A country with two
Politics
It was with shock and sadness that I learned of the sudden death of Benoît Pelletier. He was way too young and had so much more to contribute. The family did not reveal the cause of death but we know he nearly died of COVID in 2021. For those who
Urbanism
My Citizen column this week asks the sempiternal Ottawa question: Why can't we be chill about shit? Toronto, of all places, now allows adults to drink in public parks. And here in Ottawa we're like, oh, look. A new, fresh, fun idea to allow people to
Urbanism
My eldest had her favourite cousin spend March break with us and, seeing as the cousin had never been to Quebec City I decided to take both of them last weekend to end their week off on a high, French note. I took them on a quick walking tour of
Politics
For the Ottawa Citizen this week I wrote about making commencement ceremonies more inclusive and you can read that column here. Mais là j'ai besoin de péter une coche. Jeudi la ministre québécoise de l'Habitation, l'inénarrable France-Élaine Duranceau, s'est plainte de ce
Politics
The other day, whilst criticizing Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre used the term "Jewish ridings" in a sentence without, apparently, pausing to worry about it one bit. Trudeau “paused” UNRWA funding because of ties to terrorists and revelations that their employees took part in the October 7th attacks. A
Gender
Special days have a special way of being irritating. I never liked International Women's Day, in particular, because since women represent roughly half the species they shouldn't need special recognition. Yet there's no denying they do. Hence my frustration. In recent months there have
Urbanism
Place Fleur-de-Lys (which I prefer spelling with hyphens even though it’s changed; we all get to be sticks in the mud some of the time), used to be a very nifty mall. When I was a kid, up until the mid- or late 1980s, it was cool. At least
Culture
(Une espèce de suite à cet article.) English follows and summarizes the French, in a sort of sequel to this piece. Ceci n'est pas une bibliothèque ordinaire mais j'espère qu'un jour elle le sera. Je souhaite que les réseaux de bibliothèques publiques de partout
Urbanism
You may think you know everything (or is that just me) and there, out of the blue, you realize nope, you're just arrogant in your crass ignorance. When the National Capital Commission tweeted about the Holt-Bennett Plan of 1915 that would have made Ottawa something prettier than it
Gender
There are half-baked ideas, and then there are ideas that are so stupid they deserve to go back to the oven to die of 16th degree burns. Somehow today Pierre Poilievre managed to produce not one but two such clunkers. The first one concerns a private member's bill,