Je Me Souviens

Despite now having an extremely busy jammed into the gap that separates my present self from my sabbatical self, France remains with me in powerful, often disconcerting ways. Some days, it washes over my mind in rich colours and textures, like a quilt that’s both exotic and familiar all at once. At other moments, it…

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Transforming Timmy’s

Edmonton recently had its hopes raised, then summarily dashed, by the Oilers’ adequate performance in the playoffs. For a brief moment, all Canadians threw in with the plucky underdogs. We were envisioning a uniting moment, not unlike the one we got in 2016, when the Hip played Kingston. In Canada, we are always a bit…

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Transforming Setbacks

At 22, I moved away from my hometown for the first time. I’d been accepted to the National Theatre School in Montreal; it was far from my first achievement, but it felt like a breakthrough, as if the “National” in the school’s name applied directly to me, now and forever. I envisioned career trajectories that…

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Transforming Healthcare

In Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary Sicko, he contrasts the United States pre-Obama healthcare system with the more government-regimented systems of four other countries. First, he goes to Canada, where he mugs surprise at the camera while hosers in Tim Hortons tell him they didn’t have to pay for medical treatment. That’s the government’s job, they…

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