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Expos roll through the Townships
Fans cheer old faves in charity road trip Baseball was back – for one evening. The fans wanted to see their Montreal Expos stars again, and they loved it. At this seven-inning charity softball game in Sherbrooke on Wednesday evening, the crowd rang through “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the fifth-inning stretch,…
Last Call in Canada?
New limits for alcohol ignore benefits Journalists love “headline numbers”, big round figures, especially millions and billions. They catch readers’ attention and seem impressive. But in January 2023 the lowly figure two (2) caught everyone’s attention; as in, two drinks a week. A health advisory board proposed that as a national guideline. “Two? per week!?”…
The burning question
Photo credit: Landon Parenteau Are wildfires more frequent than in the past? An explosion of northern wildfires in June and July kindled great anxiety. Clouds of smoke blew over major U.S. cities in the Northeast and Midwest, and both Toronto and Montreal were smothered for several days. The sun sometimes appeared red when it wasn’t…
Animals: can they bounce back?
When the slaughter stops, they often thrive The hand-drawn map of Lake Massawippi shows all its fishing-spot locations and quirky place names. I bought a copy years ago in Ayer’s Cliff and, while it is colourful, it tells a sadly familiar story. Among the notations scrawled along the edges of this country fishing chart, one…
Tale of two Trudeaus
After 8 years in power, the exit looms for Justin In the late 1960s, Pierre Elliott Trudeau became my favourite political leader. Like a great athlete, he could bring a full house to its feet. He was charismatic, refreshingly brash, unconventional. A new star in the political sky. I still recall each successive ballot of…
Spanish surge in Townships?
Hispanic newcomers change Sherbrooke In recent years I have done business with a Peruvian-born pharmacist in Magog, a furnace repairman from Buenos Aires in North Hatley, an Ecuadorian veterinarian in Rock Forest, and a short-order cook from Mexico serving breakfast near Katevale. This sprinkling of Hispanic residents in the Townships has scarcely been noticed in…
Humpty Dumpty, Quebec-style
Opposition parties must piece together a winning alternative vs. a populist government. Defaced CAQ poster, above, reflects views of some in Montreal. Volatile. Yes, that’s politics in Quebec. Parties rise and fall, leaders come and go. Political movements look dynamic, even unbeatable, then get levelled. Remember the Union Nationale? The ADQ? The NDP’s run as…
Hatley High — Back to school with a bang
Quebec’s Eastern Townships have a nice little history of filmmaking. Today, with Amazon getting involved, maybe it will get a second wind. Amazon Prime will soon produce a new series based on Brome Lake author Louise Penny’s detective Gamache mysteries, set in fictional Three Pines. Maybe this will stimulate filmmaking in the Townships, which has…
Northrop Frye — critic and Townshipper
Painting of Frye at E.J. Pratt library at Victoria College: a college in-joke, repeated by Frye, was that he appeared to be living “without visible means of support”. The renowned U of T and world literary figure grew up a reader in a devout family rooted in the smaller cities of eastern Canada At a…