While National Newswatch does not keep an archive of external articles for longer than 6 months, we do keep all articles written by contributors who post directly to our site. Here you will find all of the contributed and linked external articles from Janice Kennedy.
In an earlier life, before two decades in journalism, I spent weekdays teaching and the rest of my time prepping lessons and correcting papers. From the fall of 1967, I did this for 18 years at two large Montreal high schools, entering the lives of more than 2,000 human beings I wouldn’t have met otherwise. With a smile, I recall...
This mellow long weekend, many Canadians will give thanks for the vibrancy, freedom and beauty of our imperfectly magnificent country. But there’s another reason for gratitude: Canada will never try to annex the United States. The U.S. will never, ever be part of us. Why? Because who needs that kind of trouble? Life for Canadians would become nothing but one...
Book bans are nothing new. For centuries, they’ve been the go-to weapon for narrow minds determined to prevent new ideas from upsetting old applecarts. In today’s topsy-turvy world, where the concept of free expression is being co-opted by racists, misogynists and other hatemongers, book bans remain popular. Forbidden authors range from Margaret Atwood to Maya Angelou, from Salman Rushdie to...
Rue de la Montagne is just one of downtown Montreal’s many cool streets, a perfect urban brew of old, new, seedy and trendy. It tells a sociopolitical story, too: once called Mountain Street, it had its signs changed decades ago to reflect the city’s French character.
Women defiantly brandished their signs, totems of outraged identity: “Justice for survivors,” read one. “We believe E.M.” Outside the London courthouse after the Hockey Canada trial, which ended on July 24 with across-the-board acquittals for the five male defendants, all self-respecting feminists knew exactly what side they were supposed to support — even if some secretly harboured suspicions that not...
Planning a visit to Ottawa this summer? Don’t expect the full National Capital experience. Oh, you’ll have a good time. Ottawa is a picturesque city filled with historical charm, interesting shops, fine restaurants and great museums and galleries.
Nothing says “strong sovereign nation” like a foreign figurehead presiding over a government’s launch party. But there it is. Prime Minister Mark Carney has invited King Charles III to deliver the new Parliament’s throne speech. Apparently, the honour of the monarch’s attendance sends a message about Canadian sovereignty.
It was a more innocent time, kinder and gentler. Life in Canada last September was simple and the politics predictable. Jagmeet Singh was ripping up his deal with the Liberals, Pierre Poilievre was still axing the tax, and Justin Trudeau was pondering which pair of socks to wear. Just another day in Ottawa.
The Liberal party and I have always been close. Inseparable, really. At age 21 in 1968, and freshly eligible to vote, I cast my first ballot for one Pierre Elliott Trudeau, new Liberal leader and MP for Mount Royal. It was immensely satisfying. The night before, I’d been on Sherbrooke Street as the Jean-Baptiste parade grew violent and Trudeau, who...
Smart kids are like sponges. Even as teenagers in worlds both insular and impenetrable, smart kids soak up everything around them. So, when Kamala Harris, United States presidential candidate and historic smart kid, brushes off the five years she lived in Canada as little more than a time of lonely yearning for home, it’s difficult to believe.
On a sultry spring day in Key West some years ago, I interviewed an old fellow named Shine who had boxed in his youth with Ernest Hemingway. The writer, who lived in that seedy beach town and wore machismo like a badge, loved boasting about fighting real boxers. Shine, a lightweight half Hemingway’s size, laughed as he recalled what a...