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
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
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
Politics
UPDATE, a day later: It turns out most people have mixed feelings on this issue. It’s good to direct attention to legislated poverty but nobody likes performative activism, poverty porn or political showboats. Also? A parent writes to remind me that benefit clawing should very much be part of
Politics
Well, actually, I also sat down with Catherine McKenney and will run a piece about them next week. I’ve reached out twice to Bob Chiarelli’s team but so far nothing. I would love to speak with him, too. Here’s the piece I wrote about Mark Sutcliffe. I
Gender
I haven’t said a whole lot about the sudden and frankly puzzling (to say nothing of stupid) firing of Lisa LaFlamme. Mostly because enough people are rising to defend her and I don’t like pile-ons or crowds. For the record, I’m against her firing. It’s obviously
Politics
I don’t care how much you love children or driving or both. The job of school bus driver is a difficult one for most people, not paid very much, and it’s also crazy demanding. And we wonder why we’re short of drivers? According to the job search
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,