In a world where everyone is rushing to judge others, it is harder and harder to show courage of conviction. But every so often, this courage is put forward.

Over the past 10 days or so, I’ve attended the funerals of the mothers of two of my oldest friends in the world. “Sadly” is the word that comes to mind, of course. Oddly enough, however, I came away from each experience feeling uplifted. Even joyful, which might sound like an unusual takeaway from a pair of funerals, but there you have it.

As the Oct. 5 provincial election draws nearer, the tone of Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has become more shrill and anti-Canada. He is preparing the way for a “Oui” in the referendum campaign he will, no doubt, promote ad infinitum over a four-year mandate if elected. I have been casting about for a group to deliver a counter message for the “Non.” The convention panel might...

As those recent photos of space from Artemis II so majestically show, the horizon is not fixed. It all depends on where you’re watching from. A hot new gardening trend is adopting this fresh point of view.

Bookended by soft-hearted stories from the lands of Jane Austen, Hollywood and sentient octopi, the rest of this edition of viewing suggestions has more adrenaline than any one episode of The Pitt, which we are all missing except for the gory bits. Well, there are occasional gory bits on tap here as well. Be prepared to look away or to wipe away a tear.

We have all heard the question: If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Here we are in mid-April in Montreal — that magical, confusing, slightly unhinged time of year that requires decisions. Or, more accurately, “leaps of faith.” Should I finally put the snow boots away? Swap the winter tires? Drag the rake out from wherever I defiantly tossed it back in November? Or, is this all an elaborate meteorological prank, with one last snowstorm lurking like a villain waiting for...

What a difference a year makes.

April is the cruelest month, say the poets. Gardeners think they may be right.

Normally, this would be when I would advise you to get outside and enjoy the spring, and save these recommended series for after sundown. But these will instead help pass the time until, say, summer? 

Recently, I had one of those moments that gave me a sudden, almost cinematic understanding of what my parents must have been thinking when they first heard the music of my youth.

The Bill 21 case is complicated, to say the least. It involves the question of “laicité,” or secularism, of the state in Quebec, and whether Quebec’s uniqueness gives it the right to ban religious clothing like hijabs or turbans for public employees, including judges, police officers and teachers.

Astronaut Jeremy Hansen is not the only Canadian travelling through space on Artemis II. The seeds from five different types of Canadian trees are travelling along with him.

Spring is never really going to take root, so dig in until summer. Fortunately, there are plenty of new viewing options to occupy our new permanent hermit existence.

Don’t you hate it when a death ruins a perfectly good friendship? Or, your son turns out to be a Nazi? These are troubled times in TV land, so grab the popcorn and the remote and possibly something to hold in front of your face when the blood starts flying onscreen. Happy streaming? Elisabeth Moss (from left), Kerry Washington and Kate Mara play best friends in Imperfect Women,...

Just when we thought we might be out of the winter woods, leave it to the Old Farmer’s Almanac to bring us back down to earth. “When March has April weather, April will have March weather,” their pundits cautioned recently. In other words, be careful what we wish for. It’s true that the month of March has been pretty agreeable so far, except for that pesky ice storm...

St. Patrick’s Day was yesterday. While being Canadian by birth, the Irish roots run deep in my family. So much so that traditions and ways of life have been passed from generation to generation — sometimes intentionally, sometimes just because nobody thought to question them. I grew up thinking that a roast beef wasn’t done until it was grey all the way through; that a little flat ginger...

I am a senior living at Manoir Cavagnal in Hudson, which faces the back of the Botté restaurant owned by ex-Hudson town councillor Peter Mate. I am and have always been a senior citizen advocate and, now at the age of 66, a senior. Never in my life did I think that I would be put in a situation where I am bullied on a daily basis, and...

Editorial This fall, this region needs
 to elect effective advocates
In less than seven months, Quebecers will be voting in a provincial election. And the movers and shakers in this region are asleep at the switch. Do you want to dispute that assessment?

 Go ahead. But answer this question: Who are the candidates who will be vying for your support? The only declared runners are the incumbents — Marilyne...

I am a big fan of “lunch-bucket” science fiction, with themes like time travel instead of bizarre worlds. I read The Time Machine by H.G. Wells when I was a teenager, and was hooked on the theme in television shows. I fervently watched each episode of the short-lived 1960s series Time Tunnel, even though it was cheaply made and used Hollywood backlots as the stage for historical events....