In this changing world, good journalism matters

Writing this column has been a privilege and an education

I began writing a weekly column for the Montreal Gazette back in December 2012.

Quebec’s 2012 printemps érable — the massive student demonstrations characterized by the banging of pots and pans and those iconic red squares — had contributed to the fall of then-premier Jean Charest’s Liberals and the election of Pauline Marois’s minority Parti Québécois government. Stephen Harper was prime minister of Canada, having been returned with a majority the previous year. Gérald Tremblay was mayor of Montreal.

A lot has changed since then.

My focus has always been to explore the intersection of politics and society in Quebec, and to look at its relationship to shifting Canadian and global contexts. Most of the time, this has meant pulling the frame back on policy-related conversations around language, education, immigration, identity and nationalism to consider how they’re changing, and to question why — or whether — these issues matter.

The public conversation has evolved over the last decade. For example, Quebec’s place within the Canadian federation, an issue that defined a generation of constitutional debate in this country, is no longer as urgent as it once was. This is not to say the issue of sovereignty couldn’t flare up again. It could. But Quebec has changed, and so has Canada. The world has, too.

Globally, we’re in a meaningful — and unsettling — political moment. The postSecond World War liberal democratic order is in the process of being dismantled. While a new geopolitical tableau is emerging, it’s not clear what that will look like, or how Quebec will fit into the whole thing. These are critical questions, and they need to be asked.

Despite a long-standing narrative that Quebec is innately distinct, we are not divorced from broader political currents that are reshaping the world.

Uncertain times bring both challenge and opportunity. On the one hand, the rise of new information technologies like artificial intelligence and social media, the globalized economy and unprecedented human migration flows have led to a flattening of international borders. On the other hand, the rise of the new conservative right in the United States, Europe and here in Canada — including in Quebec — has brought with it jarring nationalist and antimigrant rhetoric. Even as our political landscape appears to be increasingly polarized, we are living in a time of blurred boundaries, contradictions and social ambiguities. The forces of globalization are pulling us apart, but they’re also exposing the fact that issues of home, identity and belonging still matter.

No matter who you are, no matter where you live, the defining issues of our times are at once interconnected and increasingly complex. Think: Social inequality. Free speech. Fake news. Immigration. Automation and the disruption of traditional industries as well as of politics, media and education. Economic precarity and insecurity. Radicalization and religious extremism. Urbanization. Climate change. Gun violence. The list goes on.

Keeping up with the 24-hour news cycle can feel overwhelming. But it would be a mistake to tune out of these conversations. There is too much at stake, and the issues affect us all, whether we are paying attention or not.

Since launching this column, I’ve learned a few things. Here are three of them:

First, good journalism matters. Complex issues — particularly those with policy implications — call for careful analysis which, in turn, calls for facts and evidence.

Second, the Montreal Gazette remains one of the most important media institutions in Canada. I really believe that.

Third, editors are the unsung heroes of good journalism. I am grateful to my former editors Katherine Sedgwick and David Johnston, and my current editor, Edie Austin.

This is my last weekly opinion column for the Montreal Gazette. I will still be working on the issues I’ve laid out here, but in a different capacity. It’s been a privilege to write for this newspaper. Thank you for reading, and so long for now.