Maclean's

Canada's national magazine covering current affairs, politics, culture trends, ideas and personalities.

Dear MACLEAN’S

Unforgettable stories by the country’s best writers

BEARINGS • ‘In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt’ —Margaret Atwood

A case for the Maud squad • Two paintings by a beloved Nova Scotia folk artist have vanished. Can they have gone far?

URBAN NATION

Gary Trent Jr. on the unexpected scoring streak that won him a place in Raptors history

It’s a wonderful meta-life • Silicon Valley aims to keep us just happy enough

Sugar rush • It’s syrup makers versus loggers in the battle over Canada’s maple forests

REAL ESTATE • Convenient location—and a national treasure

GOOD NEWS

INTERVIEW • ‘If we want a vibrant democracy, we have to fight for it’

HILLMAN’S LIBRARY • The ambassador’s book recommendations, from comedy to authoritarian history

BUILD BACK BLUNDER • How the misguided fuelling of an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ mentality gave us chaos and a hot tub on Parliament Hill

THE RINGLEADER • He’s smart, savvy and he’s steering a new brand of Canadian conservatism. How Pierre Poilievre became the champion of the anti-Trudeau mob.

Gambling with house MONEY • Buyers desperate to get in on the property boom are opting out of home inspections, opening the door to nasty surprises

WHAT SARAH POLLEY WANTS YOU TO KNOW • In her new essay collection, the acclaimed actor and director reveals what’s really been going on behind the scenes all these years we’ve been watching her

Me & Munsch • Children who inspired the beloved author’s books reflect on what it was like to know him—and how well he seemed to know them

ZARQA NAWAZ’S LEAP OF FAITH • She had a hit with Little Mosque on the Prairie. Then, after a decade-long dry spell, she landed a book deal and TV series on the same day.

RISING UP TO PAY THEIR DUES • The birth of Canada’s first Black labour union gets a deep dive in The Porter, an original drama co-produced by the CBC and BET+. Black railway porters worked long hours for little pay, catering to customers enjoying the luxuries of train travel. The series tells the story of two friends who take different paths to fight the injustices they face—one toward organized crime, the other toward the Order of Sleeping Car Porters. Alicia Cox Thomson spoke with showrunner, writer and executive producer Annmarie Morais about this slice of Canadian history.

FOLLOWING A HUTCH • A Nova Scotia man is on a mission to determine the origins of his antique cabinet

BIG DEALS • A small Ottawa gallery is helping move contemporary Indigenous art into major national institutions

THE CULTURAL SPURN • Workers have little reason to trust the people who claim to speak for them—and seem to despise them

THREE TO READ

THIS NEXT ONE GOES OUT TO…

IF I WERE A RICH KID • We think of generational wealth as stocks and bonds and trust funds. Can it also include pots and pans?

PROBLEM PUPPIES • All those dogs Canadians adopted during the pandemic? They’re a little undersocialized now.

ABANDONWARE

THE HAPPY BLUES • The colour blue is associated with nearly every human emotion. These days, it stands for a fresh start.

Maclean’s

ENDNOTES • Back stories, deleted scenes, alternate endings

DEAR BROTHER-IN-LAW • I have loved and loathed you, but I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for our family to lose you, writes Charlotte Beck

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