Toula Drimonis
Quebec columnist | Montreal
About Toula Drimonis
Toula Drimonis is a Montreal-based writer, editor, and award-winning columnist. A former News Director with TC Media, her freelance work, which focuses mainly on Quebec politics and women's issues, has appeared in the National Post, the New York Times, Women in the World, Ricochet Media, Ms. Magazine, Buzzfeed Canada, and Mic, among others. She is a women's issues and political panel contributor for City Life, a local Montreal current affairs TV show and was on the advisory board for Use the Right Words, a national media guide on how to report on sexual violence.
Quebec election campaign is going to be short and ugly
An added element in the Oct. 1 election is that for the first time in a long time, the topic of Quebec sovereignty won't be a primary voting issue, writes Toula Drimonis. All parties have declared their intent not to make it a point of contention — even the PQ.
Mad Max loses his marbles over diversity
Maxime Bernier's immigrant bashing wouldn’t be so offensive and worrisome if it were coming from some marginal political figure, but this isn’t some random, fringe member of the Conservative Party. He has been a long-standing member of Parliament, representing the Quebec riding of Beauce, has served in Harper’s administration for years, and came in a close second in the party's leadership race.
Saudi Arabia goes back 23 years to troll about Canadian history and fails miserably
Probably the strangest attempt at retaliation came when Saudi bots started tweeting in support of Quebec independence, implying that Saudi Arabia could have meddled in Canada’s internal affairs during the 1995 referendum, but gracefully chose not to.
Like SLĀV, Kanata is a missed opportunity for Robert Lepage
"You cannot, no matter how educated you think you are, tell our stories without us. That is just not possible. You need us to provide the context, the pain, the suffering, the texture. Without that you’re left with a vapid production that continues to perpetuate stereotypes and ignores our very existence today.” - Steve Bonspiel
Comic Judah Friedlander slams Hollywood
When I reached the 30 Rock star on the phone, we talked about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Hollywood and sexism.
SLĀV: Why was the response to critics so insulting and shaming?
“We’re being treated as if we’re a criminal organization or a terrorist group. I’m not speaking from a place of power, I’m speaking truth to power. And if people can’t connect the dots to understand that, it means that their level of denial is being enforced, protected and valued by a system that reproduces that." - Ricardo Lamour
Why these Montrealers are saying no to U.S. travel right now
"At this point, the only thing I can do to protest Trump is to not spend a penny in the U.S., so I won't be crossing the border until the immigration issue is resolved, and maybe even until he is out of office." - Virginia Champoux
Montreal Jazz Fest organizers face consequences, not censorship over controversial show
I’ve seen mainstream Quebec columnists who enjoy platforms and media exposure writers of colour can only dream of call the decision by the Montreal Jazz Festival to cancel the show “intellectual terrorism,” “an attack on freedom of speech,” "emotional tyranny," “cultural Apartheid,” “a blow to artistic freedom,” “fascism,” and “censorship." Are you listening to yourselves?
Women and human rights prevail as Quebec's face-covering law is suspended, again
This legislation is nothing more than body-policing; something women around the world and throughout history have been subjected to and continue to be penalized for on a routine basis, writes National Observer columnist Toula Drimonis.
Montreal aims to increase safety for women at festivals, but more can be done
“I think we need to go beyond just the festival scene if we want to be truly progressive - the nightlife scene also deals with those issues. We need to take responsibility as a community to change this culture of entitlement to women's bodies." - Melanie Doucet