Lives & Legacy

Correspondences between former prime minister Lester Pearson and his son Geoffrey are the focus of a new book by a third Pearson, Geoffrey’s son Michael.

election day offered some surprises, notably the rise of the Conservatives to 19 seats under Éric Duhaime, and 40 seats for the Liberals. But a PQ minority had been predicted. The wipe-out of the CAQ was no surprise either. But good riddance nonetheless.

I am in Ottawa at the moment, far from my home in Kamouraska east of Quebec City, but aware of the events in the unpredictable Oct. 5th provincial election. But even from this distance, I can see the role the English-speaking community could play in this decision.

The trade war between Canada and the United State has been the focus of Canadian media and politicians over the last few months. We have been forced to react to the unpredictable and egregious actions of Donald Trump, who appears to want to turn our sovereign country into a vassal state. There is, however, a sub-plot in this disagreement: How it plays in Quebec.

Recently the City of Montreal celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Olympics. Even after all this time, believe those Olympics will forever be an embarrassment to the city, to the province and to the legacy of former Mayor Jean Drapeau

I recently spent two weeks wandering around Quebec and Ontario. It was hard to avoid thinking of water, whether swimming in lakes in the Laurentians or the Eastern Townships, summer thunderstorms or floods in the Montreal area and Ottawa.

In my last column,I focused on why I love Quebec, as well as assessing some of its flaws. This week, I thought I would articulate the strengths and weaknesses of our country.

On this past St. Jean Baptiste Day, I found myself saying “I love Quebec.” I was born here and will more than likely die here. Proof of my affection for my home province is I left to explore Canada and the world from 1980 to 2020, then came back to stay.

There are moments when we’re reminded we live in a civilized world, with genuinely thoughtful intellectuals, whose concern for the future of humanity is paramount. Those reminders are, sadly, infrequent these days as we navigate the chaos and dystopia of politics, economics and daily life.

Ah, it’s finally spring. As Tennyson wrote: “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”  Or in Canada, to thoughts of separatism this autumn.