Babies in the House of Commons: Why Not?
There has been much chat this morning about a young MP from the South Shore of Montreal who brought her three month old baby into the House yesterday. She says…
Mary Soderstrom
Final Steps toward an Electronic Rights Defence Committiee Settlement
I should have posted this link last week: ERDC notices to members of its class action. After nearly 16 years, the Electronic Rights Defence Committee case against The Gazette is…
Update on "Working in Canada: A Real Challenge"–More Input from Embattled Workers
Last week I posted about the the informal end-of the-day reception coming up on Thursday and organized by the NPD Association of Outremont. on “Working in Canada Today: A Real…
Cyberflanage, Or the Delights and Dangers of Lateral Thinking
The New York Times had an interesting article yesterday by Evgeny Morozov about what he thinks is a missed opportunity in the Internet Age: the way it allowed us to…
Saturday Photo: Snowy Day in a Canadian Suburb
There is something to be said for the trees and gardens of post-World War II suburbs. On a winter afternoon the setting is peaceful. This was taken in Don Mills,…
As Harper Picks Away at Canadian Values, Krugman Suggests What May Be Ahead
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…
Working in Canada Today: A Real Challenge: Air Canada Machinists and Tom Mulcair to Talk about Work and Jobs Thursday, Feb. 9
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…
Talking the Talk: Shakespeare Didn’t Say It the Way We Do
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…
Buying Winter Boots Today: The Drama of Someone Who Hates to Shop
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.)…
Harper and Old Age Security: Lessons from Mulroney and Chrétien Majorities When Public Opinion Was Heard
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…
Saturday Photo: Sledding in a Winter When the Snow Doesn’t Cooperate
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…
Love Prevails: Photographs of a Heroic Couple Who Fought Anti-Miscegenation Laws in the US
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…
When Documentary Becomes Art: Uprooted, a Video about Suburbs
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…
Average is Officially Over, Says Friedman, But How Can We Get People to Think
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;…
Mitt Romney Pays $6.2 Million on $45 Million: This is Obscene
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…
The Downside of Hydroelectricity: Methane from All Those Rotting Trees
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…
Saturday Photo: A Couple of Pictures from the Portuguese
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…
Griffintown Redevelopment Back on the Agenda: Public Consultation Tonight
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,…
Why Write Novels at All: A Very Good Question
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…