Ottawa
What’s actually standing in the way of right-wing populism in Canada?
John Geddes: The convoy chaos suggests Canadians are just as susceptible to Trump-like forces as Americans. Our real advantages lie in our political system.
John Geddes
John Geddes is Ottawa bureau chief at Maclean's and has covered federal politics and policy for more than two decades. He also writes regularly about art.
Health
When the plague won: a history of vaccine hesitancy
In Montreal in 1885, disease and vaccine resistance mixed with devastating results, not unfamiliar to today
Arts
The long, dark past behind the National Gallery’s latest acquisition
John Geddes: The painting shows ’a peaceful, rich life’. In reality, the Nazis murdered the painting’s Jewish owner and the artist was on the Nazi side.
Society
An outbreak warning from a decade ago
John Geddes: The 2010 film ’Outbreak’—featuring Theresa Tam—focused on epidemics in Montreal, showing that little of what’s happening now is novel
Books
When Canada finally started to remember World War II
A new book by historian Tim Cook looks at how World War II fits in Canada’s historical imagination, and why it was vulnerable to neglect for so long
Arts
Rediscovering the Group of Seven
This year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Group of Seven’s first exhibition. John Geddes revisits the group’s work in a bid to see their art as art, rather than ’the over-familiar illustrations of a nation-building saga.’
Books
Walking and reading alone through pandemic days
John Geddes: Reading lists for outlasting COVID-19 have leaned on plague stories. But what about the personal, interior aspects of this coronavirus year?
Books
Solving the climate crisis isn’t on consumers. It’s on the people in power.
Mark Jaccard’s latest book on the climate emergency argues consumers should stop feeling guilty about their habits. But as citizens, they need to elect better leaders.
Arts
The person with the most pressure-packed job in Canadian art
Alexandra Suda wants to bring the crowds to a livelier National Gallery of Canada. Think ‘Voice of Fire’.
Economic analysis
Deficits are here to stay. But how sustainable is that?
The days of endless deficits are back, and with minority government pressures and economic trouble ahead, that’s a problem