Opinion

Not sure about you, but my arms are showing a nice degree of toning since falling into the routine of keeping my elbows up all the time — except when relaxing among friends, of course. The new routine is tough, but there is no arguing with the results. It’s a sharper, healthier look. And it bodes well for long-term stamina, a quality, at this stage, that no longer...

There are certain rules in life that deserve to be questioned. Take the one about wearing white after Labour Day. Who decided this?

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.

It’s always the way. When the pots of colourful autumn asters come in, it’s literally time to take stock. Whether you prefer the yellow ones or the burgundy ones (or the beautiful blue ones with the yellow eyes), you have officially crossed the seasonal border of the year. September is here and you must now switch over from your inner-nurturer-gardener to your outer-cleaner-upper.

Is it just me or is there an increase in the pressure to just calm down and carry on? Like getting worked up is a bad thing? Especially with the recent passing of feminist stalwart Gloria Steinem (check out Famous Last Words on Netflix and the Finding Your Roots episode The Pioneers on the PBS Passport app), maybe it’s time to lean in to the antsy discomfort that...

It appears Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamandon thought using the old enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend approach to wooing English-speaking voters would somehow be successful. Well, it was not.

Part of the charm of living in a small community is that, after a while, you discover there are rules. Not the kind posted on a sign or buried in a municipal bylaw. These are the unwritten rules. Nobody explains them to you. You just pick them up along the way.

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 came late in life to pesto. Having grown up with only salt, pepper and occasional cinnamon in the spice rack, fresh pesto made with aromatic basil was a remote exotic world onto itself. But when I started gardening and planted out my first batch of herbs, a little pot of basil ignited a bit of a taste revolution. Now, I make fresh pesto every summer.

Looking back is often productive, although occasionally the victory exacts its own price, as evidenced by this selection of new viewing recommendations: another look back at an epic poem, a group vacation, an anniversary reflection on The Tragically Hip (sob), a missing-child crime thriller and the return of a fictional talk-show host.

In a world that is being engulfed in wildfires, where a war in the Middle East has no conclusion in sight, where artificial intelligence is set to revolutionize economies, where middle-power allies are learning to flex their economic clout, where tariffs have become the economic baseball bat carried by a bully looking to extort lunch money from everyone in the schoolyard, where grift and gangsterism in the White...

We are a few days into August. The annual construction holiday is over and, if you are like me, you are wondering how you’re going to pack in all the things you had  planned to do this summer — and haven’t yet — into the next few weeks.

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.

Rewilding is an interesting word. But it’s an even more interesting concept, and truly satisfying to see in action.

Crazy weather got you hunkering down? A richly varied assortment of recommendations will help you pass the time until we get back to climatic normal. Or, as close as possible.

We have always known that politics are politics. But when you see the slithery cold quality that frequently shades the practice of public service up close, it strikes a blow, and raises the question: Would it be so hard to do better?

There are few things more uniquely Quebec than the annual construction holiday – not poutine, not arguing over whether the Canadiens should be more active in the off-season, not even debating the proper pronunciation of “Vaudreuil.”

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.

Let no one believe that the heart of any gardener isn’t ridden with dark envy and the capacity to act on it. Inside every gardener is a scavenger and thief, and it’s just a truth universally acknowledged that sometimes another garden has what you want.

Now that all good (and SO intense!) soccer/football people have had a nap or two to recover from the 2026 World Cup final, but before they turn to their screens for the return of Ted Lasso (coaching a women’s soccer/football team in Season 4, starting Aug. 5 on Apple TV), here are a few suggestions for some brand new non-soccer programming.

Eighty-nine days. That is the amount of time between now and the provincial election, currently scheduled for Oct. 5. But who is kidding who? The campaign is already in full swing. Premier Christine Fréchette last week announced she would be switching seats, opting to seek support in the riding of Trois-Rivières this fall instead of her current district, the South Shore constituency of Sanguinet. The CAQ leader grew...

This, in my not-always-so-humble opinion, is the absolute best time of the year.

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.

And just like that, the first herbs of the garden are ready to be harvested.

From back in the black-and-white days to today’s kaleidoscope of small-screen streaming options, television has offered many pleasures. This new handful of viewing recommendations dances nicely along that spectrum, from a period drama with a much needed modern perspective, a weekend of she-raging, a couple of spy thrillers and golf as a path to true grace (and a few gut-laughs). Onward!

Ignoring the risk of sounding like that old person who wags a finger in the air as they predict that someone is about to lose an eye, can we take a moment and talk about kids whizzing around on e-scooters?

Here is a take that will probably be wildly unpopular. At the very least, though, it should get a few people fired up. We are only about a week into the World Cup soccer tournament and I have already had more than my fill of the whole spectacle.

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.

The summer solstice is almost here. And if it were a thousand years ago or so, every farmer and gardener would be busy right now, preparing to observe the most important moment of their year.

Weird, stupid, funny, intense and historically inaccurate are not the words they recommend using in TV reviewer school, and yet these are all good reasons to check out the latest batch of viewing highlights. Settle in. Probably get a drink. Maybe call your therapist. And then definitely press ‘Play.’

Taxes keep climbing upward — at about the rate of inflation. Well, that is about to come to a screeching halt.

There are certain milestones in life that society collectively agrees are important. Then there are the quieter milestones. Those are the ones I have been thinking about lately.

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. 

It’s been the kind of spring that makes gardeners jittery — and prone to take chances.

If you are stacking up your beach reads for the summer, here is a list of lightweight TV viewing for when you’re too tired to hold up a book or e-reader. Pour yourself a drink and press play.

How does a society lose sight of the big picture?

It is springtime in our little corner of the world. All the unmistakable signs are there. The leaves are out, the temperatures are pleasant, and the black flies and mosquitos are coordinating their assaults. This year there is an added bonus — the Habs are in the playoffs. And, they’re winning.

Government is often seen as something amorphous or complex to many Canadians. The census has a real impact on our daily lives, so it’s vital we ensure this “snapshot” of who we are is accurate.

I clearly remember that first garden. Everyone remembers their first garden.

Television is working hard to keep you occupied with escapism, supernatural twists and turns, and a good old-fashioned tear-jerker. Get comfortable. Here’s your new batch of small-screen premieres. 

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,...