Culture

It’s an unseasonably warm December day here in Nelson, BC, and this is my last blog post of 2020. To celebrate, I thought I’d write about a couple of exceptional Quebec-made movies I enjoyed this year. I saw Kuessipan, a drama directed by Myriam Verreault and adapted from a novel by Naomi Fontaine, as part

This week is the 15th anniversary of the creation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. This legally-binding international agreement, adopted by the UNESCO General Conference on October 20th, 2005, reaffirms the right of states to adopt policies that nurture creativity and recognize the contributions of creators

One summer when I was about six years old, my parents bought me a small Kodak camera and some black & white film. I remember the fun I had, taking pictures of people and things that grabbed my interest and sending the film away to be developed. Now, most of us take pictures with our

This week you can celebrate Acadia’s unique history and culture with a virtual road trip through nine Acadian territories: Dieppe, Moncton, Edmundston, Caraquet, Kedgwick, Memramcook, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Louisiana. The Festival Acadie Rock, produced by the Aberdeen Cultural Centre and available to all through Facebook, Radio-Canada, Tou.tv, ICI Acadie, and ICI ARTV,

“Whether botanist, zoologist, entomologist or geologist we can, by working with sound methodology, make our modest contribution. And it is drops of water that make up the sea. The great works of natural history are built upon the patient analysis of the accumulated material of countless researchers.”   – Brother Marie-Victorin (translated) I’m a bit of

Starting a new business is challenging at the best of times, but it’s especially so when a pandemic comes along and changes your plans. Alèthe Kaboré is a Francophone Canadian originally from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. She moved to Alberta in 2006 to pursue a bachelor of science and a master’s degree in Public Health at

“Joe Fafard: Selfie“, a documentary about one of Canada’s best-loved visual artists, is  a finalist at this year’s Gemini Awards. These awards recognize the achievements of Canada’s television industry. A nationally and internationally acclaimed sculptor, Fafard, was born in a log house in the tiny French and Metis farming community of Ste. Marthe, Saskatchewan.  The

Michif is a contact language that was developed by Métis people through the mixing of Plains Cree and Canadian French vocabularies, mixed with words and phrases from English, Ojibwe, and other Indigenous languages. Different dialects of Michif are spoken throughout Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the states of North Dakota and Montana. The Michif from the

Tout pour la musique, a four-day celebration of some of our country’s most accomplished artists, is happening from June 24th to Jun 28th  on TFO (Télévision française de l’Ontario).  This week I will introduce you (if you don’t already know them) to some of the artists who will perform.   Isabelle Boulay I’ve always had a