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Musette may seem a curious name for a bike café unless you are into following bike races. In this case, a musette is a small lightweight cotton shoulder bag filled with food and drink for racing cyclists. It’s grabbed by a moving rider, contents removed and then discarded. In late 19th century France, a musette…
After dropping my bags in a land unknown to me, the aspect of my culture that I miss the most remains French cuisine. Suddenly I find myself dreaming of grandmother’s recipes, of St-Marcellin cheese from my cousin’s farm, the market stalls of my neighbourhood or of lemon tarts from my favourite bakery… A host of…
Sometimes it feels like British Columbia doesn’t really have a premier. Whenever there’s big news in this province, Christy Clark can’t seem to be found. Think back to the Mount Polley mining disaster last summer, or to the Vancouver oil spill this spring. On both occasions Premier Clark was AWOL, nowhere to be seen or…
Meet Tim Doyle, the owner/operator of Greylag Boat Tours running out of Cowichan Bay, B.C.. Tim had had a wonderful career as a shipwright, building and repairing boats for 40 years, mostly in the Lower Mainland. His passion was to build wooden boats but unfortunately the practice was fading just as he was starting his…
I was born in Vancouver, and both sides of my family date back four generations from Great Britain. Being born in Vancouver, I was fortunate to have experienced multiculturalism from birth. I grew up next to South Asian neighbours who taught my mother how to make Indian food and gave us customary gifts for my…
It’s been a whirlwind of a journey so far! When I signed up to participate in L’École d’été de français, a five week intensive French immersion program at the University of Sherbrooke, my greatest ambition was to improve my French language skills, but I quickly realized that this was only one part of a greater…
These days, Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals are acting like a government with a lot to hide. Let’s pick up where we left off last time. Following revelations that the B.C. government misled the public about the supposed RCMP investigation into the health researchers who were fired back in 2012, pressure on the government…
Perseverance, the painting featured in the photo, was one of many artworks at the June 13 festival: Toast the Coast Before the Coast is Toast. It was held at Jericho Beach to celebrate our beautiful coastline beaches and keep them free of oil spills. The event was sponsored by Greenpeace along with about 24 partner…
Vancouver is often considered cosmopolitan and multicultural. However, one attribute does not necessarily imply the second. Cosmopolitan comes from the ancient Greek kosmopolitês, which means “citizen of the world,” whereas “multi” is a Latin prefix denoting many and therefore implying multiplicity. A cosmopolitan city is a city where everyone picks some parts of the different…
A man is dead and now it turns out the government misled the public for years It’s a scandal so big it could take down a government. That is, if anyone were paying attention. Last week, documents revealed shocking new dimensions to the B.C. government’s scandalous handling of the firing of seven health researchers back…
Parcours Lumière sur l’art: Art Light Path is an outdoor installation on Avenue Cartier in the heart of Quebec City which opened in December 2014. It consists of 34 giant cylindrical lampshades backlit with LED strips. Each shade is five feet high and eight feet in diameter displaying the artworks of Québecois artists Fernand Leduc…
Vancouver is often labeled one of the most diverse cities in Canada. Are we ever lucky! Our multicultural coexistence provides us with exposure to a plethora of different cultures, cuisines, lifestyles and languages that ultimately enrich our daily lives. Our city allows us to feel like global citizens in our local environment and provides us…
Christy Clark’s come-from-behind election win in 2013 was based on false economic projections. Just three months before that provincial vote, in February 2013, her government made a promise of windfall revenues from the rapid development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports. In a press release at the time, the BC Liberals assured British Columbians, “Our…
