Marie-Danielle Smith

Marie-Danielle Smith is an Ottawa-based writer for Maclean’s, hunting whimsy and wonkery on Parliament Hill. She has filed from faraway cities such as Tokyo, Beijing, Brussels and Winnipeg. She peddles pun-ditry.

Congress Holds Joint Session To Ratify 2020 Presidential Election

Politics

’This is a shot at our country and our democracy’

Bruce Heyman, former U.S. ambassador to Canada, on the storming of the Capitol, Trump’s incitement and where America goes from here

Washington

The posterboys of American authoritarianism

Marie-Danielle Smith: Look at the faces in the mob, those merch-wearing zealots, attacking the U.S. Capitol as if rushing the stage at a rock concert

The Child in The Mandalorian, Season 2 (Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd/Disney+)

Culture

Let’s not ’cancel’ Baby Yoda

Marie-Danielle Smith: ’You see, in the before times, we were able to extend the benefit of the doubt to a 16-inch-tall animatronic baby.’

Arts

How the Grinch stole a pandemic Christmas

He was sure every Who in the town was resistant / To keeping their gatherings socially distant. / “And they’re cooking their turkeys!” he yelped with anxiety. / “The year 2020 has crippled society!”

Culture

2021 is the year electric blankets are cool again

Today’s plug-in blankets are not the overheating, fire-starting throws that gave your grandmother anxiety back in the day

Minister of Foreign Affairs François-Philippe Champagne in his Shawinigan, QC, office. (Photograph by Sylvie Li)

Ottawa

Canada’s foreign policy agenda in 2021

There will be a new goal in the coming year: getting ahead (and getting heard) in an unfriendly, chaotic world

Canada

10 pivotal First Nations rights disputes to watch in 2021

First Nations are demanding recognition of rights in a chain of potential flashpoints across the country

Brandon Rhéal Amyot, director with the Lakehead University Student Union, works on their computer at the Lakehead Universities Thunder Bay campus. (Photograph by David Jackson)

Economy

The pandemic has ramped up students’ money woes

There are no jobs. But there are bills to pay. And there are online classes to attend. Luckily, there are some lifelines.

Economy

2020 proved that women’s hard-earned place in the workforce is shakier than we thought

The economic crisis spurred by the pandemic has unveiled inequalities and obstacles once thought a thing of the past for women, begging the question: Have women really secured their foothold in the job market?

Running errands during the pandemic might be an anxiety-inducing chore for some, but for the extroverts among us, it has been a saving grace (Photograph by Christie Vuong)

Life

Only in 2020 would running errands be the most exciting thing you do all week

Rushing out to get milk was once the height of tedium. Today, it’s an anxiety-inducing thrill ride.

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