Barbara Kay
Befriend the sinner, banish the sin
“Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,
Yet with my nobler reason, ‘gainst my fury
Do I take part: the rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance…”
(The Tempest, Prospero to Ariel)
-...
A Father’s Day I’d like to see
Father’s Day is meant to celebrate dads. This year, instead of buying them ties or barbecue tools, let’s pledge to roll back the ideological campaign aimed at belittling their virtues and achievements.
Ten-year-old Emilia...
Welcome home, Mrs. Mortimer
Summer reading lists are sprouting in the weekend newspapers. Everything sounds beguiling, so how does one choose? I’m sometimes lucky judging books by their cover. For example, my latest purchase, irresistibly entitled Vile...
Ten reasons not to fear separatism
MONTREAL - The French have just voted non to the EU constitution. Current EU president Jean-Claude Juncker says countries voting No need a second referendum to obtain “the right answer.” That ploy can...
Sexism, stood on its head
‘Blonde Bombshell”! “Whore”! “Dipstick”! “Barbie!” The media Belindatron has whirled for days with outrage over sexism against poor Ms. Stronach. Never mind Belinda’s opportunistic betrayal of her party (and her man) at a...
Don’t talk to him
Two years ago, David Ahenakew, former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, was charged with promoting hatred in a 2002 rant against Jews. His unprovoked denunciations, captured by a reporter during...
A land with no leaders
A federal election is imminent or in prospect. With two parties—the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP—mired in a state of permanent opposition, we are left to ponder a choice between Paul Martin and...
In praise of unilingualism
Is multilingualism always an unalloyed blessing? May not absolute command of a single language be preferable to mere competence in two or more?
Promotions for the new movie, The Interpreter, a thriller revolving around...
Cancer patients deserve better
At my age, nobody hasn’t had a personal brush with cancer. If not yourself, others in your extended family or circle of friends have it or did: Some are now dead, some have...
Romance, not rape
From the death-saturated month of March—Terry Schiavo and the pope 24/7—the media turned in April to the life cycle’s happier ritual of marriage. Two weeks ago it was the nuptials of Ken and...
Adoption is forever
When our children were toddlers, my husband and I planned a vacation by ourselves involving a transatlantic flight. Morbid images of downed planes and orphaned children assailed us. Since there were several worthy...
The human face of Bill 101
Last week, 28 years after the passage of Quebec’s draconian language law, Bill 101, the Supreme Court of Canada definitively ended the hopes of francophone Quebec families seeking to educate their children in...
In praise of the common parka
Every spring, a true Canadian’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of next year’s winter coat.
In Montreal, where I live, winter often starts in early November and sometimes ends only in mid-May. We like...