The Quebec provincial election campaign has officially kicked off and, as election day approaches on Oct. 3, voters have much to consider after a tumultuous four years. This fall, immigration is top of mind. Businesses want more immigrants to relieve the province’s major labour shortages, Bill 96 has stirred intense[Read More…]
Tag: montreal
Convenience and coffee at Café Humble Lion
Out of my way, out of my way. Trying to get through here, please. C’mon guys, can you not see I’m racing? It’s 9 a.m. and I haven’t had my morning fix. Not drugs, but coffee—my socially acceptable cocaine. Two black Americanos every day, religiously. Three cups if I’m lucky,[Read More…]
Word on the Y: Migrating to Montreal
With the end of August fast approaching, thousands of incoming first-year students are preparing to begin their studies at McGill and, for many, their new lives in Montreal. While this period of transition can be daunting, upper-year students have been through the same thing: Facing the struggles of missing home,[Read More…]
Bill 96 further ingrains systemic racism
In a devastating decision taken by the National Assembly of Quebec on May 24, Bill 96—the newest addition to the province’s array of restrictive language laws—was officially adopted. While the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) advertised the bill as another small step to protect the French language, the reality is that[Read More…]
It’s a lot, and it’s honest work
I don’t remember when I first learned about the existence of sex work. Certainly, I learned about sex at some point in a middle-school classroom, probably among a group of snickering teens. Yet the idea of sex as a job did not exist in my mind until cinematic depictions introduced[Read More…]
Visual artist Sampson McFerrin gives an intimate presentation of his favourite work yet
Sampson McFerrin, Montreal-based visual artist and Print Media student, opened his Checarré exhibition the first weekend of April, issuing a display of his artistic adroitness in all its blossoming splendour. Providing a candid presentation of his maturing technique, Checarré features a multiplicity of art forms, ranging from oil to acrylic,[Read More…]
A penny for your prose
Encapsulating one’s thoughts and emotions into words can be as rewarding as it is daunting. Such rewards are monetary in the case of the bi-annual Montreal International Poetry Prize, a competition for poems of 40 lines or less, where the winning poet receives $20,000 and, along with 54 finalists, gets[Read More…]
A ticking clock
Watching my parents get older is a sombre pastime. It’s hard getting acquainted with a greyer, achier, more weathered version of them each year. Both my parents and I have become unconsenting spectators, watching their list of health concerns grow longer and bodies get more tired. Time seems to move[Read More…]
‘When We Lost Our Heads’ explores feminine obsession in 19th-century Montreal
“For there is no friend like a sister In calm or stormy weather; To cheer one on the tedious way, To fetch one if one goes astray, To lift one if one totters down, To strengthen whilst one stands.” Two little girls are tempted by sinister goblins in Christina Rossetti’s[Read More…]
Decriminalization would place sex work in the foreground, not the underground
On International Sex Worker Rights Day, March 3, Montreal sex workers and advocates organized to call for the decriminalization of sex work in Canada. While the current law governing sex work—the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, implemented in 2014—has received praise, it ultimately fails to adequately protect sex[Read More…]
