Author: Mary Soderstrom

If I seem to be spending too much time on this Canadian and Quebec blog talking about the US, it’s because I’m afraid that Stephen Harper and his friends slowly pushing us in the direction of the US right wing vision of what a country should be to its citizens.

Come and discuss the economy and jobs at an informal end-of the-day reception, organized by the NPD Associaion of Ouotremont. Thursday, The topic of conversation will be “Working in Canada Today: A Real Challenge.” Richard De Stephano of the machinists union at Air Canada ((l’Association Internationale des Machinistes et des

This is something for all those North Americans who find it strange to see “pain” rhyme with “again” in some English poetry. Language is a living thing, and, strangely, I find this explanation of what Shakespeare’s actors might have sounded like during his lifetime frequently easier to understand than British

Have I mentioned recently how I hate to shop? Probably not, because I avoid thinking about it as much as I can. (Food, garden and book shopping, being the exceptions.) Shopping is sometimes unavoidable, and it seems I’ve come to one of those moments. The perfectly good, if a little

It’s always a bit indelicate for somebody of my age to start complaining about changes in the old age security system since I’m hardly a disinterested party. But Stephen Harper’s little speech in Davos last week when he mentioned raising the age of eligibility to 67 from 65 has prompted

The picture was actually taken toward the end of last winter, when a sunny Saturday attracted many to the slopes of Mount Royal, just up from Park Avenue. This year there has been considerably less snow, and yesterday a mixture of snow, then rain, then snow again has left a

If discussed Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes with six book clubs now, and one thing that cmes up every time is the astonishment tht marriage between people of African and European descent were forbidden in several US states until the 1960s. The archaic rules have little to do with

Artist Isabelle Hayeur says: “I’ve been exploring landscape issues ever since I started working with video. Through the moving image I am investigating environmental, urban planning and social concerns that I’m working on at the same time in photography. I mainly engage with altered landscapes, suburban areas and tourist sites.

Thomas Friedman in today‘s New York Times points out that the unemployment rates in the US correlated inversely with education: Americans with “less than a high school degree, 13.8 percent; those with a high school degree and no college, 8.7 percent; those with some college or associate degree, 7.7 percent;

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs: them’s radical words, of course. But I always thought they were just, right, and what we need to build a society on. The current discussion about taxes in the US and in Canada goes completely counter to this.

Le Devoir has an interesting story this morning about the way that the methane escaping from those big dams behind hydroelectric plants in Quebec have not been figured into the greenhouse gases produced in the province. On paper, Quebec is doing not badly at all, largely because nearly all electricity

We’re eating Portoguese this evening, and my thoughts are wandering back to Lisbon. It’s been three years since I visited that lovely city, but the images remain fresh. Here are two pictures that show different aspects of the city.The first is of two buildings from different eras on the Rossio,

Just before we were all interrupted in our getting and spending by the financial crisis of 2008, plans were rolling ahead to redevelop one of the oldest neighborhoods in Montreal, Griffintown. Supposedly the neighborhood–probably the first in North America to be set out on a classic urban street grid–would be

As I burrow deeper in River Music, I begin to wonder if it’s worth anything at all. That’s why coming across Garth Risk Hallberg’s essay/review in the Sunday New York Times has provoked a lot of reflection. “To be less alone” sums up what he reports a handful of rising

There are no library book discussions in January–it is January, after all, and there is no telling what weather will befall us in this climate–so in addition to reading Christmas gift books, I’m getting a jump on the books for February. Last night I finished Umberto Eco’s latest novel. Called

What is appropriate dress is as much a matter of fashion and wanting to please as it is of following strictures laid down by authority. Interesting question for my female friends: what would you wear if you didn’t give a thought to what others thought?

As someone who has gone through a breast cancer scare (excision of suspect tissue and radiotherapy, and, thank you for your concern, five years later all seems well) I have been annoyed by the hullaballoo about “surviving breast cancer.” My concern has been that women may be scared off by

It’s January 14 and the end of year holidays are over for everyone (although Russian Orthodox Epiphany will be next week and the Asiatic New Year is just around the coner.) We’ve just had our first big snow fall, and it’s bitterly cold, if sunny, today. That means that my

An interesting explanation of public debt from Le Monde with English subtitles. The context is European but the principles apply on this side of the Atlantic too And here’s the link to another aspect of public sector cuts: if you don’t have employees at IRS (or in in Canada the