After years of watching Ontario politics collapse into boring, consultant-driven cruelty, I’m shifting focus to Quebec—where at least the chaos still feels real.

After years of following Ontario politics closely, I’ve reached a breaking point. Not because the province’s political landscape is uniquely cruel—though it certainly has its moments—but because it’s uniquely dull in its cruelty. The governance here feels completely hollowed out, run by consultants and spreadsheets, with no real public agency or vision left. It’s like watching a corpse stumble through a never-ending routine, unaware it’s already dead. That’s why I left Ontario, both physically and mentally.

Where I live now, in Montreal, the language barrier has made it difficult to fully immerse myself in the local political scene. But that distance has also helped clarify something: Quebec, for all its contradictions, has one of the most fascinating political cultures in the country. So, I’ve decided to launch a podcast—QUEB 24/7—an English-language dive into Quebec politics that captures both its absurdity and its importance.

This isn’t because I think Quebec is “better.” It’s not. Quebec politics is flawed, often frustrating, and at times deeply problematic. But it’s never boring. It’s alive with tension—between nationalism and federalism, secularism and pluralism, French and English, past and future. These aren’t just abstract debates. They shape policy and directly impact people’s lives in ways that feel real, not like content strategies for social media engagement.

The appeal of Quebec politics lies in how human it is. The stakes are often high—existential even—yet the fights are frequently petty and bizarre. Who gets their name on a statue? What’s the politics of snow removal this year? It’s both ridiculous and deeply meaningful at once. That tension is what makes it worth paying attention to.

I want this podcast to speak directly to English-speaking Canadians, especially those who’ve only encountered Quebec politics through caricature. Too often, Quebec is painted in broad strokes: either as a progressive stronghold resisting Anglo hegemony, or as a regressive relic of the past. Both are wrong. The truth is more complicated, more contradictory, and far more interesting.

QUEB 24/7 is inspired by FLEP24, a great English-language France politics podcast that has made politics in France genuinely engaging. That’s the tone I’m aiming for. Not detached or ironic for irony’s sake, but aware of how absurd this all is, even as it shapes the daily lives of everyone around us.

Ultimately, this is also a personal escape from the despair of Ontario politics. Quebec isn’t a hopeful political utopia, but it’s a place where the drama of governance still feels real. It still believes in its own myths, even when they clash with reality. That messiness, that tension between the tragic and the absurd, is what makes it compelling.

So, if you’ve ever wanted to actually understand Quebec politics without the usual English-Canadian filter, stay tuned. QUEB 24/7 is coming soon, with the first episodes launching in early spring.