A remarkable book about MAiD is a must-read for those who want to learn more about the topic. It was about a month ago that the publicist got in touch to ask if I’d be interested in reviewing this book by Dr. Jean Marmoreo (and co-author Johanna Schneller) on the lessons learned from years of providing medical assistance in dying to Canadian patients. Oh hell yes. I have…

A club to support local small businesses. In my line of work it is not rare to receive puzzling messages from a wide variety of people. But this one took the cake. “We’re very glad to have you come out to Tuesday Club!,” it said, adding that I should get in touch if I had any questions. …

She wanted a tattoo but couldn’t find a spot big enough on her body that wasn’t covered in bruises. [Content warning: This piece of fiction contains sexual violence and self-harm.] She had a black eye and it hurt like hell. He told her he hadn’t meant it and besides it was her fault for not blocking him better. It was always her fault. Like she was stupid or something. …

Wherein I interview Bob Chiarelli at, where else, Pub Italia. When you google Bob Chiarelli, predictive text fills in for you “former mayor of Ottawa.” Of course, he’s been more than that. He’s been MPP (twice), regional chair and mayor. Now he wants to be mayor again. And he’s polling alright, too. He’s solidly third but with pretty decent numbers…

Why right-of-centre voters need to reclaim their ideology, and fast. Pierre Poilievre was elected leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and of Canada’s loyal opposition during an extraordinarily dull ceremony Saturday night. …

My interview with Catherine McKenney It’s election season in Ottawa — you may have noticed the signs going up recently — and I sat down with Mark Sutcliffe, Catherine McKenney and Bob Chiarelli to get a sense of their priorities, how they’re going about their campaign, how they perceive the other guys, etc. The goal was to highlight positive things, because face it, the negative stuff doesn’t really need a lot of work to figure out.

Very mixed thoughts on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II It should be possible to respect certain elements of a person’s life and not otherwise care very much about who they were. Queen Elizabeth never wanted that job. Which, by the way, is not easy. Just remember that time she had to smile and make small talk at dinner with…

What do you think of five MPPs going on an ODSP diet? I went grocery shopping today. I knew you’d find that exciting. I went to Farm Boy and bought a box of granola bars (marked down), a bag of avocados, three yams, two containers of blackberries (marked down), a…

I sit down with Mark Sutcliffe. Well, actually, I also sat down with Catherine McKenney and will run a piece about them next week. I’ve reached out twice to Bob Chiarelli’s team but so far nothing. I would love to speak with him, too. Here’s the piece I wrote about…