Français
In my Ottawa Citizen column this week I tried to shed light, instead of just blasting heat, on the tuition hike that you may have heard about. The short version: It’s perfectly defensible for Quebec to have a policy that favours Quebec students in post-secondary education. Provided it works.
Gender
I had a couple of columns in the Ottawa Citizen this week. The first one was about the definition of mass shooting and whether we should have one. There was a Q&A with the extraordinary Sgt Maria Keen, and another column on the fact that schools have become
Gender
In my column this week I amplify Fae Johnstone’s invitation to straight and cis-gender Ottawans to march in Sunday’s parade. I add a few choice words about the “parents’ rights” crowd, including this important bit: If your child is out and you’re the only one who doesn’
Fiction
This dialogue is a piece of fiction. A conversation I imagined between two communications professionals within the Quebec government, attempting to write a memo to the state of New York about the refugees streaming into Canada via Roxham Road without sounding like racist assholes. In the end it doesn’t
Français
J’ai vu le headline and thought, shit, people vont pogner les nerfs et grimper dans les rideaux. StatsCan says French-English bilingualism is increasing in Canada. Including in Quebec. Which will not doubt make the ghost of Jacques Parizeau et celui de Bernard Landry get hives or something. Both men,
Français
(Le français, comme d’habitude, voyage en seconde classe et suit l’anglais.) Wednesday night was the first, last and (I hope) only French debate between politicians in the running for the leadership of the federal Conservative party. And thank goodness for that. I was outside in a field watching
Fiction
(Artist/artiste: R. Robson) You’re not supposed to look at your phone when you cross a big downtown street, but you know how it is and please don’t judge me. L’urgence présumée de la situation et le petit bing annoncant l’arrivée d’un message sans doute
Français
The poetry gets lost in the translation from qui se ressemble, s’assemble to two peas in a pod and if there is a better way to say this in English do let me know, my bilingual brain has trouble getting into its cruising gear this morning. But this is
Fiction
(Artist/artiste: Catherine Robson) Once the skin on your chest stretches away from your body like mozzarella on a grotesque version of human pizza, it’s too late. Trop tard pour avertir les parents que la petite est en danger. Trop tard pour leur faire réaliser que ce qu’ils
Fiction
(Artist/artiste: Jen Robson) C'est toujours dans le coin du kilomètre zéro qui, en fait, n’est pas vraiment un coin, plutôt un cul-de-sac, that I really get my groove on and my balls up. Avant, c’est du réchauffement. Après? Ça dépend. (C’est pour la rime.
Français
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Dans le film Shawshank Redemption, Andy Dufresne explique au personnage joué par Morgan Freeman qu’au bout du compte, il faut se décider à vivre et non dépérir. C’est dans cet esprit que je voudrais profiter des “bonnes nouvelles” annoncées par le premier ministre de l’Ontario
Français
You never know what’s going to set people off, except of course if you’re talking about language in Canada. Perhaps I should have known better. During the Speech from the Throne on Tuesday, I tweeted that the governor general’s French had gone from basically non-existent a few