The Quebec Battle That Opened the Door to America

By Beating Back the French in 1759, British Colonials Defeated a Big Obstacle to Their Own Independence

You can go to Quebec City, about 100 miles from the nearest U.S. border crossing, for the spectacular scenery, fine dining, great museums, and strolls through neighborhoods that date to the beginning of the 17th century.

Or you can go for the American history. Those who know of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham—fought September 13, 1759 on a plain named for the early French settler Abraham Martin—often remember it as a fight between a French army commanded by Lieutenant General Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and a British army commanded by …

Canada’s Fort McMurray Wildfire Highlights the Trouble with Fighting Fire with Fire

Call It the “Pyrocene,” an Unprecedented Collision of Free-Burning Flames with Our Fossil-Fuel Powered Society

“And where two raging fires meet together, they do consume the thing that feeds their fury.” —William Shakespeare

The images are gripping. Horizons glow with satanic reds squishing through black and …

How a Single Gunman Interrupted Ottawa’s Peace

Canada Is Small Enough That One Act of Violence Shook the Nation’s Culture of Openness

Two weeks ago, I was sitting in a Starbucks not far from work texting my boss back and fourth about the upcoming Christmas season. I work as the Music Director …

A Flight from Caracas to Exile

We Made It to Montreal, But Can We Leave Venezuela’s Turmoil Behind?

At the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Caracas on March 19, my wife, 8-month-old daughter, and I stopped to take photos of our feet. We were standing over a colorful, …

The Agony of Being Canadian

It’s Not Easy Being Misunderstood By You Americans Down South

My hometown of Vancouver is just 25 miles from the Peace Arch, the crisp white monument on the border that marks the strength and endurance of Canadian-American relations. One of …

Canada’s Fractured Mosaic

Up North, Indigenous People Are Steadily Challenging What Used To Be a Complacent Self-Image

Theresa Spence is a 49-year-old woman with short brown hair, square green glasses, and the soft, clipped cadence of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario, of which she is …