I wonder how Philippe Couillard, the relatively new prime minister of my adopted home province of Quebec, feels about gender roles. Let me elaborate. Mr Couillard, prior to taking up his post, promised that a maximum of 60% of his…
During a recent lunch with my colleagues from the university, the talk turned to food and restaurants in Nice. I could chip in, as I had been doing my homework. Since moving to Nice last fall I have sampled restaurants…
Arnaud Montebourg, the minister in charge of all things corporate in France (officially, le ministère du redressement productif), seems much in favour of … all things French. Companies are encouraged to stay in France, to produce locally, to hire locally.…
In 1977 the United Nations decided to dedicate March 8 to women’s rights. Here in France, as in many other places, women’s rights still have some way to go. French women earn on average 25% less than men. Women are…
Since I moved to France, I have heard much about la crise. Newspapers abound with articles and editorials on the topic, people mention it during lunch break and discuss its more or less nefarious impact on their lives. When I was in a…
In 2013, I intervened in Montreal’s political process and submitted a petition to my neighbourhood council. The video, in French, shows me explaining the petition to the mayor and his staff.
Much proverbial ink has been spent on Mr Hollande and the affaire. This weekend, Le Monde had a big debate in its culture pages on how much should be publicly known about the private lives of les politiciens. It made an argument that I…
The market runs daily in Nice, at the Cours Saleya, a large square in the old town that is across the street from the sea. Pastel coloured houses encircle Cours Saleya, chairs and tables spill out from ground floors where…
It has been a month that I moved to Nice for my sabbatical leave. I had barely set foot on the tarmac at the airport that the honeymoon phase set in. How could it not? There is the obvious, especially…
In 2009, I wrote an article about Chrysler called “Tout un défi!” (i.e., “What a challenge!”) for La Presse, a Montreal daily newspaper. The article discusses the future of Chrysler, which was then in the midst of a massive reorganization.
