Why I was hated in Quebec and abandoned in Toronto

“In a way, the onslaught I experienced was reminiscent of China’s Cultural Revolution, whereby victims would stand, heads bowed, while others spewed invective, hate and spittle. But then, I thought: No, this was merely an Internet stoning. Of course I would be fine. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

 

Jan Wong – National Post – May 2012

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Reckless vigilante or heroic watchdog?

“To his supporters, Plecas’s relentless quest to expose wrongdoing — which last November led to the suspensions of Craig James, the clerk responsible for day-to-day running of the legislature, and Gary Lenz, the sergeant-at-arms in charge of security — has led to greater oversight of the public purse. (James subsequently resigned. Lenz was cleared of wrongdoing by McLachlin, but remains suspended with pay amid ongoing investigations.) But to critics, the former criminologist is a reckless vigilante who needs to be reined in. His crusading, they say, has led to instability and a toxic work environment. Rather than referee political fights, he’s the constant subject of them.”

Douglas Quan – National Post – September 2019

The cost of cringe

“If you’re like me, you’ve never actually intentionally watched Gags. It’s only ever appeared somewhere — late at night on your television or on a screen in a public place; its silent stock-footage style of cinematography radiating a kind of dreamlike, unfinished quality. And if you’re like me, you’ve always felt like there was something wrong with the show, but you have also never been able to put your finger on exactly what.”

Nick Zarzycki – National Post – May 2019

 

An oral history of the time Toronto called in the army to deal with the snow

“Twenty years ago this weekend, former mayor Mel Lastman enlisted the aid of the military as a series of blizzards battered his city. Scenes of soldiers shovelling sidewalks and steering armoured personnel carriers through downtown intersections drew scorn from hardier parts of the country, eager for any opportunity to shame Toronto.”

 

Tyler Dawson, Nick Faris – National Post – January 2019

Last Road to Mons

“Now the soldiers of the 28th Battalion treaded the muddy path their comrades had blazed into Belgium. Their destination that afternoon was Quievrain, 15 kilometres east down country roads ravaged by shelling and detonated mines. They were to sleep there on the condition they could be roused to move again at two hours’ notice, ever closer to the German stronghold the senior military officers of Canada and Britain envisioned as the endpoint of this great surge forward: Mons. Four years and tens of millions of people dead or maimed and the First World War was destined to end up back there, in precisely the place where British soldiers first battled Germany in August 1914. Heavily outnumbered then, the Brits had killed thousands of Germans but ceded control of the city. Retaking Mons was not an opportunity to be squandered — even if the enemy was slinking toward surrender at that very moment.”

Nick Faris – National Post – November 2018

My year on death row

“January 23, 2017. Abruptly, at a routine appointment, my GP of 25 years announces she’ll no longer prescribe me fentanyl. Yes, she’d done it for more than a decade on the advice of my pain specialists. But now it’s me or the College of Physicians and Surgeons Nova Scotia, which licenses her and has called out “weak” doctors for “over-prescribing” narcotics. ‘This is politics,’ I say, snatching up my parka to leave. ‘Only half politics,’ she replies. She dangles two Rxs in front of me to get me through the next couple of months — then says she’ll only give me the second one when I return to hear her out on the perils of opiates. I will have to sit through the sermon at the soup kitchen if I want my dinner. I don’t go.”

 

Dawn Rae Downton – National Post – August 2018

Failure to Launch

“Every new governor general brings a particular personality to Rideau Hall, which shapes how the office functions. The Canadian Space Agency’s former chief astronaut, an engineer by training and the former chief operating officer of the Montreal Science Centre, Julie Payette is by all accounts whip-smart, highly accomplished and fiercely independent. She has a dry sense of humour, but does not suffer fools gladly. She is focused on the minutiae of her job. Sources described her as someone who does not like being told what to do, an introvert who is deeply uncomfortable with anyone digging into her personal life. In other words, she is perfectly suited to be an astronaut and engineer, but much less so for a job defined by strict adherence to convention and which comes with constant public scrutiny.”

 

Marie-Danielle Smith, Brian Platt – National Post – September 2018

Canada’s First Face Transplant

“It was a beautiful face. The flesh smooth and plump, the mouth and lips generous and full. It was still attached by two arteries and three veins to the donor’s neck. His heart was still beating strong, his body warm to the touch. His skin flushed pink with blood. But when the surgeons cut and clamped the last five vessels, freeing the face entirely from the brain-dead organ donor’s body, it instantly began to turn white as his life drained from it.”

 

Sharon Kirkey – National Post – September 2018

How I fell out of love with the Canadian justice system (especially judges)

“My loss of faith was incremental, and came over years, so there’s no one case that turned the tide, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. If I search my memory now, the best I can do is pinpoint a few instances where a particular penny or two may have dropped. For instance, in 1993, when I was working for the Toronto Sun, I got a taste of how ferociously judges and lawyers can turn on one another, and over which subjects, and what astonishing creatures of convention many of them are and what prisoners — despite all the high-minded protestations to the contrary — of the dominant political orthodoxy.”

Christie Blatchford – National Post – September 2016

The Judge, The Sting, Black Cube and Me

“A former Ontario Superior Court judge was targeted in a sting designed to discredit him days before his decision in a controversial case with hundreds of millions of dollars at stake was scheduled to be heard at the Ontario Court of Appeal. The sting saw the 74-year-old former judge, Frank Newbould, audiotaped and photographed surreptitiously at a posh Toronto restaurant as an agent posing as a potential client apparently tried to induce him, in vain, to make anti-Semitic remarks.”

Christie Blatchford – National Post – November 2017