Untapped, Overqualified, and Underemployed: Quebec Immigrants and the Fight to Recognize Foreign Credentials
Unemployment in Quebec is the lowest it’s been in forty years. Despite this, Quebec has a massive labour shortage and it’s only getting worse. The baby boomers are retiring in ever increasing numbers and they and the generations that followed didn’t have enough children to fill the vacancies they leave behind. The newly elected Coalition […]
Jagmeet Singh Redefining Quebec’s Religious Symbol Ban May Be What the NDP Needs
Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh just put a new face on the opposition to Quebec’s religious symbol ban: his own. In an interview with CBC Radio Montreal’s Daybreak, host Mike Finnerty asked him about the new CAQ government’s promise vigorously enforce a religious symbol ban and fire civil servants (police, teachers, etc.) who wear religious […]
Shining Like the Brightest Star: Producer Noelle Hannibal talks Gender, Theater, and In the Wings Promotions’ Show Hedwig and the Angry Inch
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is one of those shows with a cult following. Devotees of Rocky Horror and other Angry Inch fans (called “HedHeads”) love Hedwig for its nods to drag, gender bent characters, humor, queerness and glam rock. The story is at once heart wrenching and inspirational, with catchy tunes that make you […]
Catchy and Uplifting with a Hint of Sex: In the Wings Promotions Presents Hedwig and the Angry Inch
On a chilly night in November at Cabaret Mado in Montreal’s Gay Village, a band takes the stage. At a microphone on one side is a drag king, looking somber and sad as a solitary figure in a cloak covered in stars and stripes walks on stage to the tune of America The Beautiful. Suddenly […]
Montreal Book Lovers Rejoice! Westcott Books is Back!
After being infamously evicted from his St. Laurent Boulevard location by his landlord last October, Terry Westcott has re-opened his jewel of a bookstore, the Librairie T. Westcott. The revived store is in the St. Hubert Plaza, a bustling shopping area that promises to provide a new community of devotees for the beloved old landmark. […]
A Guide for Backpacking in Australia on a Budget
Considering the dreamy climate and the friendly culture in the Land of Down Under, there’s no better way to explore this incredible continent than to backpack across its rural and urban hotspots. What makes this way of traveling even more appealing is that you’ll make unplanned stops, meet numerous people from all over the globe, […]
Bell Media Finally Gets Streaming: You Can Get All of HBO in Canada Without a Cable Subscription
Yes, winter is coming, but this spring, Canadians will be able to legally stream Game of Thrones without a cable subscription. Crave (formerly Crave TV), Bell Media’s Netflix competitor, just added an extended package that includes all HBO and Showtime content, including new episodes and a feature called On Air that allows you to watch […]
Help Wanted: Education, Immigration, and the Labour Shortage in Quebec
When I was growing up in the eighties and nineties, I was taught that I had to get an education and that it didn’t matter what I studied so long as I got a DEC and a Bachelor’s degree. This seems to be the narrative Gen Xers and Yers were fed, and many of us […]
Only in Quebec: The SQDC is Considering Closing Legal Weed Stores Because of Too Much Demand
Only in Quebec could we bungle legal weed this badly. The Société québécoise du cannabis (SQDC) is now considering closing stores because they can’t seem to keep their shelves stocked (UPDATE: The SQDC announced that they will be closing all stores on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays until further notice). You read that right, their solution […]
A Mindf*ck Can Be Nice: MainLine Theatre Presents Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show
Halloween is upon us and in Montreal that means just one thing: fastening your garter belts and doing the Time Warp at the city’s Rocky Horror festivities! As always there are two events in Montreal to partake in: the Halloween Ball at Cinema Imperial and the live musical play put on at the MainLine Theatre. […]
Montreal Versus Quebec: The Next Great Political Battle
Quebec City versus Ottawa. Quebec’s provincial government versus Canada’s federal one. It’s the sometimes amicable rivalry, sometimes bitter fight that has dominated our politics for the past fifty years or so. Now, with the election of a Coalition Avenir du Québec (CAQ) government for the first time ever, it looks like things are going to […]
It Starts Today: A Crash Course on Cannabis Legalization in Quebec
Recreational cannabis is now officially legal across Canada. We are the second North American country to do this, with Mexico having decriminalized marijuana for personal use in small amounts in an attempt cut back on drug violence. It must be said that legalization should not be taken as an invitation to smoke weed more often, […]