Montreal & Quebec
Culture, politics and society in Montreal and modern Quebec.
Rocking the solitudes
Does it matter if we Canadians don’t know the ‘other’ culture’s stars? Boomers will be boomers. Give us a name-brand musician from the 1960s or 1970s, and we flock to the concert halls. Whether it’s vintage James Taylor or Pink Floyd or whoever (Who-ever?) at the Bell Centre, I’ve tried to see ’em all. Or…
Will Quebec Liberals bounce back?
Quebec polls have consistently shown the CAQ falling and the PQ rising, with the Liberals stagnant. Will that last? Credit, Journal de Montreal. Have we seen this movie before? A restless Quebec electorate tires of a government after a couple of terms. The beleaguered party leader struggles against the new tides of opinion. Then comes…
Is there a doctor in the house?
Doctors in Canada are moving away from family practice, provoking a crisis.
Population goes … boom!
Cities reach for the sky as our population has grown since the 1960s . New demographic tides mean change for Canada, Quebec and for anglos At elementary school in the mid-1960s, I used to love browsing through the Canadian Oxford School Atlas: its colour-coded maps highlighted details of our geography and economy, with lots of…
Student dreams and money woes
A three-month crisis ends after a failed attempt at wedge politics MONTREAL (Dec. 24) – In French, it’s called a “psychodrame” – an emotional crisis with a quick rise and fall. That was the university tuition-fees crisis in Quebec, fall of 2023. Launched in early October by a reckless Premier after a stunning defeat for…
Football scores big in Quebec
A traditionally anglo sport has exploded among francophone athletes There’s been a Quiet Revolution in Quebec team sports in recent decades – francophones have started playing football in large numbers. “Canada is hockey”, it is often said, but English Canada has long supported other team sports, too. Every high school across the rest of Canada…
Premiers face headaches in 2nd terms
Legault’s CAQ asked voters to look at its “record” in 2022. That may become more decisive in second term. Ford’s Conservatives face similar challenges. In autumn, there’s a back-to-school season and a new political year. Both are known in French as “la rentrée”. The Canadian politics rentrée in 2023-24 will feature several leaders whose report…
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,…
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…