It is Indigenous History Month.
Throughout this month, I will be sharing the stories from Canada's Indigenous history.
Today it is Chief Dan George.
Learn more in my Deep Dive 👇
https://t.co/bhu9gA3iuY
On this day in 1908, Anne of Green Gables was published.
Written by Lucy Maud Montgomery, it became one of the most famous books of the 20th century.
The book has sold 50 million copies in 36 languages and been adapted into TV series, movies, plays and much more.
Happy birthday to Christine Sinclair, born on this day in 1983 in Burnaby, BC!
She spent 20 seasons with Canada's national team and is the all-time leader in international goals among men and women with 190.
She has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.
📸 Jennifer Gauthier
One of my college professors used to say "anything worth doing is worth doing poorly." I didn't understand that for years because I didn't do anything poorly, I couldn't do anything poorly, I had to Do Everything Perfectly.
But brushing your teeth for 30 seconds is better than not brushing them at all when that 2 minutes seems exhausting. Doing ten minutes of yoga is better than 10 minutes of sitting when 30 minutes of cardio sounds impossible.
Changing my clothes is good when a whole shower is impossible. Standing on the porch for a few minutes is worth it after being in the house for three straight days because I don't have the energy to go anywhere.
Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly... because doing it poorly is better than not doing it.
You’re standing on a planet with molten lava at its core. Trees are turning sunlight into air you can breathe. Your heart is beating without you asking it to. There’s a moon in the sky and bugs that glow. This whole thing is absurdly beautiful. Don’t forget to notice it.
Unemployment in today’s Canada.
My experience.
It’s a big read but please read it through.
For three years, I helped care for my father while continuing to work full-time.
I even moved next door to him so I could better support him as his health declined.
I cared for him until he died.
Later, while still employed, I went through six months of breast cancer treatment myself.
Pretending those experiences didn’t affect my career would be dishonest.
What nobody tells you about employment instability is how cumulative it becomes.
Caregiving impacts careers even when you stay employed.
Illness impacts careers even when you keep showing up.
You can still be working while slowly losing professional momentum underneath you.
During unemployment, I applied for 65 jobs.
Government. Communications. Non-profit. Administrative. Retail. Hospitality.
Not one offer.
At one point, after years in senior advisory and executive communications roles, I applied at Starbucks.
I didn’t get the job.
That experience stayed with me.
Not because service work is beneath me — some of the hardest jobs I ever had were in restaurants and hospitality when I was younger.
But because the economy had somehow decided I was simultaneously overqualified and unemployable.
At 44 years old, after years spent working in government and public affairs, there were moments I genuinely started wondering whether I had anything left to contribute professionally.
That’s what prolonged unemployment does to people psychologically.
The hardest part of unemployment wasn’t only financial.
It was psychological.
Watching previous accomplishments stop mattering.
Trying to explain résumé gaps without sounding damaged.
Feeling your professional identity slowly erode in real time.
In April 2026, Canada’s unemployment rate climbed to 6.9%.
Behind those numbers are people whose lives became complicated.
Caregivers.
People managing chronic illness.
Cancer survivors.
People navigating grief, burnout, disability, aging parents, or health crises while trying to maintain careers at the same time.
Governments still talk about unemployment mostly through statistics.
But people experience the economy emotionally.
Through rejection emails.
Through grocery bills.
Through rent increases.
Through the quiet panic of realizing there’s very little room left in modern life for interruption.
The labour market increasingly rewards uninterrupted stability.
Perfect timelines.
Continuous productivity.
No visible complications.
But real life does not work that way anymore.
Parents age.
People get sick.
Caregiving responsibilities consume years
.
Disabilities emerge.
Mental health deteriorates.
And increasingly Canadians are expected to absorb those pressures privately while continuing to perform professionally as though nothing has changed.
There’s a growing class of Canadians who did everything they were told to do. I certainly did.
Built careers
Paid taxes.
Earned degrees.
Contributed to institutions.
Then life interrupted the plan.
And the system suddenly became much less patient with them.
This is why affordability and unemployment cannot be separated politically.
When the cost of living keeps climbing, employment instability becomes terrifying.
One interruption can destabilize everything.
I have a job again now and I am grateful for that.
But the experience changed how I see work, government, and the economy.
A lot more Canadians are hanging on by a thread than our politics currently acknowledges.
Ignoring the Canadian Census isn’t harmless. It shortchanges your own community. When people don’t respond, Stats Can undercounts your area, and that translates into lost funding, fewer services, and weaker representation. You’re essentially kneecapping your own neighbourhood.
My wife and I were talking last night about how a 12 pack of drinks is $9 now and how in 2020 I used to buy them 4/$10.
I decided to go back into my Walmart app and see what I was paying for a random grocery order.
In January 2020 I paid $70.20 for 30 items, I added all of them to the cart again and repurchased them today.
Today those 30 items were $165.42.
That's a $95.22 price increase in six years time. That's a 135.6% inflation percentage.
We can't go on living like this. I can't be the only one who feels this way.
Announcing The Tragically Chip! Our new ice cream with @kawarthadairy.
It's maple whisky flavoured, with dark chocolatey chunks and a black cherry ripple, made right in Bobcaygeon, and a portion of proceeds supports @BreakfastCanada.
Available this summer for a limited time!
May 5 is Red Dress Day, the national day of awareness and remembrance for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people.
Today is about honouring those taken and recognizing the ongoing impact on families and communities.