Société
Société
Un silence rempli d’éloquence
Par Louise V. Labrecque le 7 mai 2013
Le silence des musulmans dit modérés a de quoi laisser pantois. Il vient un temps où il faut cesser de s’accouder à la fenêtre, pour enfin prouver au monde notre « extraordinaire vision ». En effet, aucun vœu pieu ne fera l’affaire : ce qu’exige maintenant tous les états éclairés de la communauté internationale, ce sont des preuves, des données tangibles, empiriques, irréfutables, exprimant hors de tout doute que l’Islam est bel et bien une religion de paix. Et si nous sommes un tantinet pressés, voire clairement agacés, c’est que la farce a assez durée : nous sommes las de ce scandale fondamental laissant croire en une paix puisant hypocritement son eau à la source des pires barbaries, du terrorisme, de la haine perverse et mortifère.
Why do meds cost so much?
Par Dr. Mitch Shulman le 17 mars 2013
Drug companies can’t charge whatever they want. The highest price they can charge is actually set by a federal institution. Before we begin though, there’s something you should know about me. For 16 years I held medical positions of increasing responsibility in 2 international research- based pharmaceutical companies. I bring you an insider’s perspective very few people have.
Tom Flanagan and Death by Political Correctness
Par David T. Jones le 16 mars 2013
Thus Tom Flanagan’s musing, off topic response to a Q&A, regarding whether viewing (not creating, circulating, let alone participating/implementing) child pornography/pedophilia justified a prison sentence has destroyed his career. Virtually instantly CBC dropped him as a commentator and the University of Alberta announced his retirement. So toxic is his name that reportedly an article he coauthored on a totally different political topic was withdrawn from publication--even when Flanagan offered to remove his name from the article.
The Papacy Part III: The Church in Quebec
Par Father John Walsh le 11 mars 2013
Attention has been riveted on Rome since the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. The possible election of Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a native of Quebec, may even distract Quebecers from the reality of the Church of Quebec which was recently addressed by the Assembly of the Bishops of Quebec. The title of their letter to Catholics in Quebec is entitled, Catholics in a Pluralist Quebec (January 2013). It serves as a reminder that the Catholic Church is essentially a grass-roots church. The Church is built upon the lived experience of faith expressed in local ecclesial communities, commonly known as parishes.
The Papacy – Part II: Who Is Knocking On The Pope's Door?
Par Father John Walsh le 3 mars 2013
Will the next Pope be from the Americas, Europe, or Africa? Speculation is growing exponentially about who the future occupant of the papal residence will be. More so for us in Quebec with the mention that a Canadian Cardinal, a Quebecker, Marc Ouellet, is in the running! The other names on the list are several in number and not known by many outside of Italy or South America or Ghana. The choice will be made shortly but while waiting I recall a priest I knew as a teen-ager, Father Wally Sutton.
The Papacy: A Time Of Decision
Par Father John Walsh le 12 février 2013
Momentous occasions and defining moments are not everyday occurrences. The sudden stepping down from the Chair of Saint Peter by Pope Benedict XVI was a worldwide surprise. It was unexpected and unsettling. The Papacy is in a time of transition and of decision.
No one can predict the future and Benedict himself disclaimed limbo, so we are confronted with the challenge to discover new images and new metaphors to describe our present experience. I happily recall the words of Pope John XXIII who, in his opening address at the Second Vatican Council, situated the Church at a new dawn, in need of an “aggiornamento,” an updating and a renewal of the Church.
On Grief
Par Kristy-Lyn Kemp le 9 février 2013
It has been said that the grieving process is one of several steps, such as denial, anger, and acceptance. Although there is no prescribed time frame for each given step, this has always seemed far too neat and tidy. One can experience many of these emotions at once, and just because a person is considered to be over a given stage does not mean that feelings of anger or denial cannot come creeping back long after it was thought that such emotions had been conquered. Similarly, to accept the death of someone is not to be healed; it does not mean that the grieving process can be done away with.
Blood Is Being Shed Everywhere
Par Father John Walsh le 2 février 2013
The Vietnam War, in the late 1960’s, was the first time that war was transmitted via television into our living rooms. We had to judge whether or not the shedding of the blood of another human being was acceptable. Had we forgotten fratricide in the biblical story of Cain and Abel?
What about the jealousy of blessing in the intrigue of Jacob and Esau? In the end, the American people confronted their beliefs and values and eventually judged that the war had to be terminated.
A Question of Time
Par Father John Walsh le 2 décembre 2012
Many years ago I entered a dialogue with the children during a Sunday morning Eucharist. I asked the children if they could make a sentence with the word time in it. One little girl blurted out, “time flies.” I thanked her. Then another girl, with her hand waving in the air, and somehow to her mother’s premonition and chagrin, said, “My mother kept saying, hurry up or we won’t get to church on time.”
The congregation chuckled. Then, at the very back of the Church, a young man of about eight put up his hand. I walked down the length of main aisle and escorted him to the center of the aisle. I asked him to cup his hands around his mouth so everybody could hear his sentence. In a booming voice, he said, “We’re wasting time.”
Paramours in Power
Par Robert Presser le 16 novembre 2012
You would have to live in monkish isolation to have missed the most recent Washington sex scandal involving the ex-CIA director David Petraeus and his biographer, PaulaBroadwell. This is far from Washington’s greatest infidelity scandal, nor is it it’s most consequential. What makes it exceptional is that the main actor, General Petraeus, resigned from his CIA directorship right at the outbreak of its becoming public, rather than waiting for the situation to evolve, the contours of the crisis to develop and at least make an attempt to ride the waves of public opinion to potential salvation.
The Books
Par Chloe Landry le 28 octobre 2012
Written for
Quebec Library Week
To the people of the world,
For thousands of years, we have existed. For thousands of years, we have lived in harmony. For thousands of years, we have stayed silent. Progress, though, has put pressure on our existence. The doubts of our value in this world have forced us to take a stand.
Tony Loffreda - The Rainmaker
Par Beryl Wajsman le 19 octobre 2012
In business and the law a rainmaker is someone who brings in important clients. Keeps the money flow coming, and in a big way. But there are two aspects to rainmaking. And it is not everyone who can pull it off with grace and effectiveness. RBC’s Tony Loffreda may be first among equals.
Leaders come in two categories. Insiders and outsiders. A few, a very few, manage to be both. We have all met rainmakers whose sole concern is money. Whether it be a businessman, banker, lawyer, they are people who focus all their energy on a constant round of power breakfasts, meetings and presentation. They may be charitable with their money, but frankly have little time left to give of their talent. These are the insiders.
Vivre en plein milieu du peuple
Par Father John Walsh le 19 octobre 2012
Un jour j’ai rencontré Sœur Hélène Préjean, l’auteur du livre Dead Man Walking et consultante majeure du film du même nom, dont Susan Sarandon à obtenu un « Oscar » pour le rôle de la religieuse. J’ai pu l’interviewer à la radio et j’étais surpris quand elle me disait que la vie à Nouvelle Orléans cote « suburbia » était une vie tranquille. Mais, un jour elle a déménagée l’autre cote de la ville, quartier pauvre, et le premier soir quelqu’un cognait à la porte. Elle ouvre la porte et une femme me poussait de cote et entrait brusquement, un homme la suivait avec un couteau à la main. La surprise qu’elle me révèle : ce soir-là mon Dieu a changé complètement.
Dieppe : un épisode terrible, mais pour le Canada, une force unificatrice
Par Bernard Amyot le 19 octobre 2012
Le 19 août dernier, les Dieppois et de nombreux Français ont commémoré le 70ème anniversaire du raid de Dieppe.
Le 19 août 1942, des milliers de soldats canadiens ont combattu avec grand courage dans le cadre de ce débarquement mémorable, mettant ainsi la table pour les opérations du Jour J et l’Invasion alliée de Normandie plus de deux ans plus tard (Opération Overlord). Les Français se souviennent encore vivementde ce raid et continuent de le célébrer, bon an mal an. Les Canadiens devraient, a fortiori, se souvenir avec autant de ferveur des énormes sacrifices de leurs compatriotes.
The sexiest shade of grey
Par Margaux Chetrit le 19 octobre 2012
I was brought into this world by tremendously attractive parents. Each, on their own, stood to be the object of admiring glances and at times, even quite forward propositions.
Together, however, they made an awkward pair. Their relationship was overly ambiguous for the comfort of bystanders.
Separated by nearly two decades, two languages, two cultures, two almost anything imaginable- my parents still managed to make it work for nearly twenty five years… Until two too many turned into three- which was plenty and each went their own way.
Yoga gets off the mat and tries to help part of the world
Par Beryl Wajsman le 19 octobre 2012
Many people think yoga is a discipline practiced by those privileged with the time and means for proper instruction and a certain degree of self-absorption. Somewhat removed from the harsh realities of life that beset most people. It is of course not that at all. And for for the past several years, adherents to a certain school of Yoga have set out to demonstrate just that.
The Global Seva Challenge, a program of "Off the Mat into the World", adopts a cause every year and hundreds of yoga instructors around the world adopt personal projects to raise money for the goal. This year the Seva Challenge is to help victims of sex trafficking.
The Not So Perfect Martini in New York City
Par Robert K. Stephen le 19 octobre 2012
Martinis and Kraft Dinner have much in common. One can spend hours comparing techniques, add-ons, personal preferences and anecdotes and reach no conclusions as to the ultimate Martini or bowl of Kraft Dinner. Do you like your Kraft Dinner, milky, cheesy, al dente and with chopped up hot dogs in it? Do you like a gin vs. vodka Martini, dirty Martini, with lime twists or with or without vermouth? Do you like to eat your Kraft Dinner right out of the pot with a soup spoon or in a bowl? Would you like your Martini shaken in front of you or be content to hear it be shaken twenty feet behind you? Do you want it stirred or shaken? All these questions are deep and serious worthy of contemplation by both philosophers andprobably not wine writers who should keep their snouts out of Martini stemware.
Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini: Candidate for Papacy forged new alliances between Catholics and Jews
Par Father John Walsh le 30 septembre 2012
The death of a retired Cardinal has made headlines throughout the world. The headline of the New York Times was "Cardinal Carlo Martini says Church 200 years behind."However, the headline didn't capture his prophetic voice as a reflection Jeremiah knew when he wrote: “When I found your words, I devoured them, they became my joy and the happiness of my heart."
Twas The Time Before Idiocy
Par Peter Anthony Holder le 21 septembre 2012
Many years ago, during the Nixon administration in the U.S., Vice-President Spiro Agnew once called the press “the nattering nabobs of negativity.”
Perhaps that chestnut of a phrase, which was actually penned in a speech for the Veep by William Safire, could be applied today to the folks who wish to reign over language and culture with the sanitization that is political correctness.
How else could you explain the idea of taking a poem that is a Christmas classic, written by Clement Clarke Moore back in 1822, and changing it for the sake of appeasing today’s sensibilities of removing anything a child might see or hear that has a negative connotation?
John Lynch-Staunton
Par Alan Hustak le 23 août 2012
John Lynch-Staunton was the amicable Canadian senator who played a crucial role in the merger of the Canadian Alliance and Progressive-Conservative Parties and served as the Conservative Party’s first interim leader for four months until Stephen Harper won the leadership in 2004. Before Lynch-Staunton was named to The Senate by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1990 he had been a Montreal city councillor and vice-chairman of the City of Montreal’s Executive committee when Jean Drapeau was Mayor.
Lynch-Staunton was 82 when he died August 17 of a heart attack while on vacation in the Alberta foothills.
105: The New 85 Westmounter Lucille Pacaud
Par Alan Hustak le 19 août 2012
Lucille Pacaud joins an exclusive club next Monday (Aug 27) when she celebrates her 105th birthday. Only about 100 women in Quebec have reached that age. Not many of them who have are as alert as the woman affectionately known to her friends as “Auntie Lou. “It’s a hell of a nuisance,” she said about her birthday as she thumbed through some letters that she wrote in 1926 which she hadn’t seen in years. “I am a little bit frightened and amazed that have outlived all the friends of my generation. There is so much to remember and so much to forget.” The secret to living so long she says, is to “walk, to keep walking everyday.” Pacaud retired from her job as a volunteer at the Montreal General Hospital six years ago shortly after she moved into Fulford House.
Perfidy! The United Church betrays "Bearing Faithful Witness"
Par Beryl Wajsman le 17 août 2012
So, in the face of a world of horrors, the General Council of the United Church of Canada chose to vote a boycott of products produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank because the Council claims that the settlements are the primary impediment to a two-state solution. Reasonable people can debate the settlements. But where is the Council's concern over Hamas' thousands of murders of their own people as well as Israelis? Where is the Council's concern over the utter failure of the Palestinian Authority to stop suicide bombers operating from its territory against Israel? Where is the Council's concern over Palestinian children being taught anti-Jewish, yes anti-Jewish not anti-Israeli, hate in PA schools from textbooks paid for in part by Western foreign aid dollars? Whether or not one supports the settlements, to announce that they are the major impediment to peace is a travesty of truth.
Reverend Msgr. Barry Egan-Jones 1932-2012. “God’s publicist,” priest promoted Jewish Christian dialogue.
Par Alan Hustak le 30 juillet 2012
Barry Egan-Jones was English-language director of public relations for the Roman Catholic diocese of Montreal for 25 years before he was named administrator of St. Patrick’s basilica in 1996 where he was given the daunting task of completing the $2.5-million restoration of the historic downtown church. He started the Catholic Times diocesan newspaper, was on the CBC’s regional advisory council and was the commentator for the national broadcaster during Pope John Paul’s 1984 visit to Canada. Urbane and socially well-connected, Rev. Egan Jones also conducted part of his ministry writing pointed letters to the editor. He was 80 when he died of a heart attack on July 25.
Leo Leonard, a.k.a Clawhammer Jack : last of the urban horsemen.
Par Alan Hustak le 18 juillet 2012
Leo Leonard, affectionately known as Clawhammer Jack, was an authentic urban horseman who maintained a horse palace in the heart of Montreal’s Griffintown neighbourhood for almost five decades. A third generation Irishman, Leonard was a horse whisperer and a former caléche driver who lived in the same neighbourhood just below the Bell Centre for almost all of his 86 years. He held out almost to the end against developers who wanted his property for office and commercial space and for affordable and subsidized housing. He died on July 5 several months after finally moving out of Griffintown.
Notes from the Sinkhole of our discontent
Par Joel Ceausu le 18 juillet 2012
I held my son’s chocolate peanut-butter ice cream slathered hand and looked at that nice strip of fresh black bitumen over the former sinkhole that opened up on Ste. Catherine St. last week and wondered like many others in our city, what if?
What if it happened in front of my house? What if it swallowed a car? What if some protesting window-smashing “anarchist” had taken a journey down that rabbit hole?
"We're just friends" doesn't apply to men and women. An appreciation of Nora Ephron
Par Margaux Chetrit le 18 juillet 2012
Nora Ephron, the journalist, playwright, director, producer and actress passed away last week after a years-long battle with leukemia. She was 71. The disease never got the better ofmher until almost the very end. She leaves behind a legacy of best-selling books, sparkling films and priceless advice.
Nora, through her ongoing artistic commentary on the romantic zeitgeist, succeeded in imparting lessons and igniting debates on the state of love and relationships.
She shook our conceptions to the core and left us uncomfortably aware of how truly clueless we were about the opposite sex.
Hot town: putting the new prohibitionists on the run
Par Beryl Wajsman le 2 juillet 2012
It begins as the velvet draping that envelops the downtown core of this pearl of the St. Lawrence as night turns pitch black. As the deep evening turns early morning, the moveable feasts make their pilgrimages to their own holy stations. These hours are ours and there are no rules. The stars sparkle and wink guiding you from one holy grail to another. The playrooms of the inner city, with their terraces and open doors, that beckon all who are willing to live life to the fullest into their open arms.
Maria Marrelli, Italian Community Activist, and former Citizenship Court Judge
Par Alan Hustak le 24 juin 2012
Maria Marrelli was the community activist and local columnist before she was named a Citizenship Court Judge in 1977. Mrs. Marrelli, who was 97 when she died on June 21 was well known in Notre Dame de Grace, where she was heavily involved as a Liberal party organizer and as a warden of St. Raymond’s parish, and as an interpreter at the local caisse populaire.
”She was a leader. A force to be reckoned with. Not only was she able to express her views, she was able to rally people behind her so when she spoke, she spoke with a unified voice,” said Montreal’s Executive Committee Chairman, Michael Applebaum. Applebaum said the borough will see how best to honour her achievements in a permanent manner
Madeleine Parent
Par Alan Hustak le 18 mai 2012
Madeleine Parent was a diminutive but fearless union organizer, labour leader and community activist who devoted her life to improving the cause of working women and to the creation of uniquely Canadian labour unions. Parent, who was 93 when she died March 12 helped to create the Candian Textile and Chemical Workers Union, organized women in Ontario, was active in the Féderation des femmes du Québec, fought for abortion on demand in the 1950s, and championed the rights of aboriginal women.
Bring back garbage!
Par Mischa Popoff le 18 mai 2012
Until someone proves that sorting trash into recyclables and compostables actually helps my family, my community, or society at large, I am no longer doing it. You heard right. I’m bringing back garbage!
Remember when it wasn’t an indictable offence to throw things away? Trash all went into a bin and the garbage man took it all away to the landfill. Why did this stop? Has anyone done a cost/benefit analysis on the various forms of recycling and composting we’re forced to adhere to?
Honest talk and mutual respect can make our health services tolerable
Par Rouba al-Fattal le 18 mai 2012
Having spent the last five years in Belgium doing doctoral research before returning to Quebec, I did not realize that going to the doctor nowadays is as challenging as going camping. As I was waiting in my silence for three hours, looking around me at the grim faces of the other tired expectant mothers, I could not help but think about how the natives of this country must have waited for hours to see the only doctor in the village.
Neil McKenty 1924-2012: broadcaster, author, and former Jesuit.
Par Alan Hustak le 18 mai 2012
The irreverent Jesuit who left the priesthood and went on to become the cornerstone of Montreal talk radio died Saturday morning at the age of 87. During his 14 years as a CJAD telephone talk show host in the 70’s and 80’s he brought a degree of civility to the charged political atmosphere in province after the election of the Parti Quebecois in 1976, and in the referendum that followed. In its heyday, his program, Exchange, attracted as many as 85,000 listeners or more than a quarter of the city’s English-speaking audience.
Marc Gervais: Jesuit champion of cinema. 1929-2012
Par Alan Hustak le 28 mars 2012
Rev. Marc Gervais was a charismatic Jesuit priest, teacher and movie critic who rattled Vatican authorities in the late 1960s by championing Teorma, a homoerotic film by a Communist film maker Pierre Pasolini which celebrated the healing power of human sexuality. Rev. Gervais taught cinema and communication arts at Concordia University in Montreal for 25 years where he influenced the careers of students such as Clark Johnson, who plays in the HBO television series, The Wire, Oscar winning Quebec film maker, Denys Arcand , producer Kevin Tierney (Good Cop, Bad Cop) and the CBC television journalist Hannah Gartner. Admired as a leading authority on the films of Ingmar Bergman, whom he knew, Gervais died Sunday (march 25) at a retirement home in Pickering, Ont. He was 82 .
Heard the one about the priest, the Rabbi and the Imam?
Par Alan Hustak le 12 mars 2012
It’s no joke, but there is a punch line: faithblender.com. The new inter-faith blog which went on line three weeks ago (Feb 14) features postings by Montreal broadcaster and Roman Catholic priest John Walsh, Orthodox Jewish Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, and Imam Ziyad Delic of Ottawa, who is considered to be among the world’s 500 most influential Muslims.
There is no such thing as an “honour killing”
Par Dan Delmar le 12 mars 2012
It has become part of the Canadian lexicon thanks to the furor surrounding the Shafia quadruple murder trial. This concept of an “honour killing” has been widely condemned and strikes most people as shocking and revolting. But the condemnations are in vain and may even be counter-productive. In reality, these types of murders are no more or no less heinous than any other; let us dismantle the Muslim straw man and stop pretending that honour killings really exist.
