When we finally get the pandemic under control — after we get used to respecting the rules of lockdown, I mean — we’ll have to turn our attention to new routines that don’t involve treating the environment like a trash can. And for that, we’ll need…

Pellerin: In future, let's treat trees, mountains and rivers like people

Live for the wider world

The last time I was at the U.S. Capitol building was in April 2019, which now feels like six million years ago. The time before that was in 2015, when my then-husband and eldest child were allowed in the Crypt to film the gold replica of the Magna…

Pellerin: The good at the heart of America has to return

One of the great questions of 2020 is whether profits belong in long-term care. It’s easy to say no, but it’s a lot more complicated than that.
The problem is not profits per se, but how those profits are distributed. Even not-for-profits look to…

Pellerin: It's not profit per se that is the problem in long-term care

Do you remember what you were looking forward to for 2020? Me neither. I just remember feeling happy and relaxed. As we get reacquainted with lockdowns and school closures, the mood is decidedly less upbeat.
The first time we isolated at home, back…

Pellerin: 2020 – We learned we can no longer ignore the marginalized

Also make sure your light points in the right direction

All I want for Christmas is to protect children from porn and sexual exploitation. Surely Santa can manage that?
If you’ve read Nicholas Kristof’s exposé of Pornhub in the New York Times, you understand the extent of the problem with porn when it…

Pellerin: Let's not 'normalize' access to online porn for teens

A report by a private, for-profit operator brings a different perspective

An alternative to finger-pointing on COVID-1…

In honour of exam season, please answer this question. Given that assessing learning is an art and not a science, would you prefer certainty that’s inaccurate or uncertainty that isn’t? For an extra 10 points: Who should pay the price of our…

Pellerin: Let's replace stressful school exams with a simple pass/fail

Cherish those who understand you

As we mark another year since the deliberate attack on women that killed 14 and injured 10 women (plus four men) at Polytechnique in 1989, we find ourselves having made no progress in the fight against gender-based violence. Specifically, in…

Pellerin: École Polytechnique anniversary – Pandemic can't be an excuse to ignore violence against women

Ideas are like wild animals. They will take their time. They will also refuse to come out if they don’t feel safe.

Comment apprivoiser vos idées

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I don’t know who else is excited by Ottawa’s newest sewer but man, am I happy. Not just because heavy rains will no longer mean raw sewage in the Ottawa River, but because for once three levels of government collaborated to fund and…

Pellerin: In Ottawa, suddenly sewers are sexy – and rightly so

When you motor down a newly widened stretch of The Queensway by yourself, you tend to think of marketing guru Seth Godin. At least I do. “The hard part isn’t coming up with a new idea,” he’s famous for saying. “The hard part is falling out of love…

Pellerin: We can't fight climate change in Canada with old ideas

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When you motor down a newly widened stretch of The Queensway by yourself, you tend to think of marketing guru Seth Godin. At least I do. “The hard part isn’t coming up with a new idea,” he’s famous for saying. “The hard part is…

Who is responsible for progress?

Egad. My beloved Ottawa Public Library has been under attack. It feels like someone just punched a nun in broad daylight. This will not do.
Threats and other violent disruptions have no place in society. We denounce them when they target business…

Pellerin: Ottawa's libraries are life-savers. Let's make sure we protect them

I recently watched the Netflix docudrama The Social Dilemma, a sort of Reefer Madness for the 21st century. The film depicts how social media is detrimental to society and individuals through its manipulation of our emotions. Actually, I’m…

Opinion: Limiting kids' screen time is even harder during a pandemic

This column contains zero U.S. politics, but it’s controversial and guilt-inducing anyway. It’s about kids and what screens are doing to their brain.
I recently watched the Netflix docudrama The Social Dilemma, a sort of Reefer Madness for the 21st…