The Longest Nights

Stella Stosik, 64, of Montreal passed away in peace on Thursday, January 20 from an aortic aneurysm.— Montreal Gazette notice, January 29, 2022

The word that best describes ­winter 2022 in Canada’s second-most populous city may well be “grim.” By conveying the twin qualities of darkness and otherworldliness, it is perfectly suited to summarizing a season of macabre and strange firsts — and lasts.

Horacio Arruda, the ever-affable and smiling face of Quebec’s response to the pandemic since its outset, resigned suddenly in January. The sixty-one-year-old physician explained that he believed the public had lost confidence in his neutrality and judgment. “I think it’s appropriate to offer you the possibility to replace...