Martin Patriquin

There are several types of political biographies. One serves to shower praise and burnish legacies once the politician in question has been put to pasture. Jean Chrétien has been the subject of more than one of these tomes, Bob Plamondon’s The Shawinigan Fox being only the most recent. As Lawrence Martin did in his mostly flattering take of Jean Chrétien’s…

Spite is a beautiful thing. Channelled correctly, it is the ultimate motivator—less blinding than revenge, more enduring than anger, as fulfilling as happiness without any of the delirium. The men and women in Legacy: How French Canadians Shaped North America are a testament to the power and necessity of this maligned sentiment. The…

The Muslim teacher, she worried, would drive her child to extremism. A man was convinced the Muslim faith was ruining Christmas in Quebec. A fellow from Quebec City said he was sick of being forced to purchase kosher food at the supermarket. In Gatineau, a man stood up and stabbed the air with his finger. “Why do the Jews have their own hospital?” he…