Maclean's June 2023

Like many Canadians, my dining habits changed during the pandemic. For the first 20 years of my marriage, I did most of the cooking. I was never a great home chef but I could follow a recipe. Then came COVID, and my husband coped with lockdowns by teaching himself to cook, working through giant recipe books by Jacques Pépin, building up an impressive repertoire of dishes. Now our roles have reversed: my husband does the cooking and I clean up. Turns out we’re both happier this way. Our restaurant-going habits have changed too. We don’t eat out as much as we used to, in part because he’s become an enthusiastic amateur chef, but also because restaurant dining is much more expensive now. Inflation has sent restaurant prices soaring, making a…

THE NEXT GENERATION Stephanie Bai’s March 2023 cover story, “In Defence of Gen Z,” struck a chord with readers of all ages who admired her cohort’s focus on work-life balance: Stephanie Bai’s fresh perspective sounds reasonable and brilliant. She shifted my boomer view: I went from seeing Gen Z folks as being a little on the lazy side to being savvy in the light of their current employment-landscape challenges. Their inclination toward self-care makes perfect sense, and the approach Bai describes sounds like a recipe for satisfied living. I have a feeling Gen Zs will do well with their own set of life trials that every generation faces. I enjoyed Bai’s work and will look forward to reading more from her. Thelma Fayle, Victoria “Stephanie Bai’s story shifted my boomer…

“CLIMATE CHANGE SCARES ME because I’m worried the world is going to end,” says Maya, 14, a Grade 9 student west of Toronto. Across the country, outside of Calgary, nine-year-old Levi says, “Climate change makes me feel bad because it's making animals go extinct.” They’re not alone in their anxieties. A UNICEF-supported study of 46,000 children found that nine in 10 kids are worried about climate change, and 89 per cent feel that there isn’t enough being done about it. “Climate change feels like a train speeding off the tracks and kids feel helpless with no tools to stop it,” says Megan Walter, Education Specialist at Let’s Talk Science, a national charitable organization committed to inspiring and empowering children and youth of all ages in Canada to develop the skills…

1. Do your research There is considerable misinformation out there about climate change. Doing your own review of reputable sources will help you answer kids’ questions accurately. 2. Embrace their feelings Talking about climate change can be really scary for some kids so be prepared for difficult and potentially emotional conversations. 3. Break information—and actions—into manageable chunks Climate change can feel like a problem that is too big to solve, but chunking information makes it easier for kids to process and retain what they’re learning. It can be helpful to provide kids with small, tangible actions they can take to help. For example, if kids are learning about greenhouse gas emissions from clothing production, consider taking them thrift shopping. For free programs, resources and hands-on activities, visit www.letstalkscience.ca.…

SARAH-ÈVE PELLETIER has no bad memories. The pool-deck hijinks, the contagious pre-performance euphoria, the sequins—that’s what she recalls about her decorated five-year artistic swimming stint with Canada’s national team. That golden time left such a mark, in fact, that every one of Pelletier’s career moves since has allowed her to keep a toe in the world of sports. After retiring in 2007, Pelletier, a Quebec City native, earned back-to-back law degrees, eventually working as in-house counsel for the Canadian and international Olympic committees. Now, Pelletier is nearly a year into a role that’s forced her to confront the ugly underbelly of Canadian athletics. Last June, she was appointed the country’s first sport integrity commissioner, leading a new federally funded office meant to manage complaints about alleged abuses and institutional rot…

I DON’T DO HEELS VERY WELL. I never have. I came out when I was a teenager, and my introduction to the world of drag largely happened in nightclubs and at parties in downtown Toronto. There I was, an awkward kid with limited life experience, watching queens like Michelle Ross entertain their admirers at Komrads dance club, strutting like Amazons across a shining floor to the tunes of Donna Summer. One of my most powerful drag memories is of watching RuPaul perform at the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993. I was in a 10-person lineup for the porta-potty when the early beats of “Supermodel (You Better Work)” came on; everyone deserted the queue to watch Ru own the stage in her…