TV WATCH REPORT It takes all kinds of programming to make a rich TV life, and this edition of the Watch Report delivers on that variety. But there is also sad news: Yay, that a new season of the epic makeover show Queer Eye is back for a new, 10th season on Netflix. Boo, that it will be the fabulous quartet’s final season. All good things must end,...
There is a neighbour I am becoming increasingly worried about. They live in the house on the street that makes you sigh a little harder when you drive past. The snow hasn’t been shovelled all winter. The recycling bins are always overflowing, sometimes with things that very clearly do not belong in there. There’s noise at odd hours. Shouting, even. You get a general sense that no one...
Editorial In school, the kid who stole other kids’ lunch money was a problem. This thuggish bully did not play by the rules. He just took what he wanted without anyone knowing or understanding what he was doing with the cash. Everyone knew the extortion being perpetrated was not right. There was no need for further analysis. It wasn’t necessary. What was happening was just wrong. The remedy...
After a successful Christmas holiday season that saw generous amounts of food products donated, the West Island Mission says its principal need is now finding volunteers to help sort through and date these items. The focus is now to “get through those donations swiftly and get them onto the shelves and into our inventory so we don’t lose items,” said Suzanne Scarrow, executive director of the West Island...
Among the 80 new appointees to the Order of Canada announced just ahead of the new year was James William Hewitt, a prominent business leader and philanthropist, as well as the only West Islander in the group. “I was very surprised and very honoured,” said Hewitt of this appointment in an interview Monday. A Dorval resident who has “lived in the West Island pretty much continuously since 1970,”...
Last June, a Quebec Superior Court judge put an end to the criminal case against Robert Miller, the disgraced billionaire and former owner of West Island-based Future Electronics, on sex charges dating back 30 years and dropped all charges, saying he was too sick to stand trial. Now, Miller wants the Quebec Court of Appeal to put a stop to a $250-million class-action suit by his alleged victims...
Letter to the editor The following is taken from the Task Force on Linguistic Policy’s brief submitted to the National Assembly’s committee studying Bill 1, the CAQ government’s Constitution for Quebec: We represent people who have just arrived in Quebec, and those who have been here since the first settlers and beyond to the beginning of time. We are the English-speaking community of Quebec, 1.25 million citizens. Contrary...
Editorial You do not have to have any medical training to recognize that when persistent minor aches and pains turn into a major situation, you need to seek a proper diagnosis to have a chance at healing the problem — or at least attempt to manage it. Persistent ills should not be ignored, because if they are allowed to progress and fester, they could reach a point where...
There is a particular moment every January in the West Island when reality sets in. The tree is back in the basement (or at the curb), the last square of holiday chocolate has mysteriously vanished and the neighbours have all agreed, silently, to stop making eye contact and to stop saying “happy new year.” January has arrived, grey boots and all. January is less like a calendar page...
TV WATCH REPORT Despite gains, women in film and television still get short shrift when it comes to roles and paycheques. But not in this edition of the Watch Report, which features an impressive array of female power, off-set by a very guy-guy thriller starring bros Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Let’s take the win. SMALL ACHIEVABLE GOALS (Season 2 now on CBC/Gem), THE PITT (Season 2 now...
GONE TO GROUND Before you put away your cookie cutters for another year, here’s an idea: make a batch of bird-seed ornaments for all those assistant gardeners out in your yard. All the birds that stay for the winter are hungry and super cold right now, and will certainly welcome your gift with bells on. I’ve never known whether it’s right to feed the birds all year round....
It has been a holiday of comings and goings, from Kamouraska to Montreal to Kamouraska to Ottawa. With time for Hanukkah, Christmas, a bout of the flu (which was not fun), freezing temperatures everywhere and some end-of-year winter biking and skating on the Rideau Canal. I think of how four seasons and 12 months passed in the blink of an eye. As did my new post as columnist...
