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Plus, the referendum that nearly broke Canada
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This Week's Round-Up: November 5, 2025

The Wild Early Days of Blue Jays Baseball

Before the SkyDome, there was Exhibition Stadium. It was an abomination, but it was our abomination

BY KEEGAN MATHESON

A photo of the first Blue Jays game played at Skydome. In the foreground, a man dressed as a gorilla is holding a sign that reads SkyDome.

Exhibition Stadium was home to anything and everything. Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, the Police, U2, and every other headliner you can name played there. When a stadium is built to host everything, it’s ideal for nothing, but that didn’t matter. It was all the Blue Jays had, and even as the years stretched on, there was this strange sense of pride that grew around the misfit stadium.

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Illustration of the scales of justice with a person caught in red string.

What Happens after Young Victims Testify? For Most Kids, Not Enough

They face the trauma of abuse, then the trauma of the courtroom. A new program wants to fix that

BY NOEL RANSOME

Illustration of a laptop with a red background. A blue robot arm reaches to the laptop screen that shows a combination lock.

Quantum Computing Is Coming for Your Digital Secrets

When Q-Day arrives, anything encrypted—emails, banking info, classified materials—will be up for grabs

BY ANDREW SEALE

An image of an oil tanker ship at sea.

A Ghost Fleet of Tankers Is Keeping Russia’s War Machine Afloat. The West Can’t Stop It

How Putin outsmarted the oil sanctions

BY WESLEY WARK

Black and white photo of a politician. Behind him is a monochrome blue photo of a crowd holding signs that read Oui.

“If It Stays like This, They’re Going to Win!”: The 1995 Referendum That Nearly Ended Canada

Inside the moment a Montreal journalist realized Quebec might actually leave the country and tried to warn everyone

BY PAUL WELLS

Photo of the Chateau Frontenac with waving Canadian and Quebec provincial flags

Quebec Is a Lot More Canadian Than Sovereigntists Want to Admit

Polls show a growing affection for the country, even as the Parti Québécois leads the province

BY PHILLIPE J. FOURNIER

New Game: Jigsaw

Try our new puzzle, featuring covers from The Walrus.

Drag, drop, and assemble the pieces to complete the image.

Solve Now
Image of an open book on a blue background. The left side of the image is dissolving into white pixels.

My Book Was Stolen by an AI Company. Why Does Suing Them Feel Wrong?

The courtroom isn’t where this fight belongs—each lawsuit legitimizes the very system artists oppose

BY THEA LIM

Illustration of a man surrounded by Halloween masks floating on strings

Halloween Is Scary. And Not Always in a Fun Way

It’s a time that drives people to a certain kind of madness

BY ALEX MANLEY

Photo of an Asian mother hugging her daughter.

The Dramatic Story of My Parents’ Escape from War-Torn Vietnam

Mum and Dad spent their early years in refugee camps and fleeing on boats—before finding each other and coming to Canada

BY RACHEL PHAN

Illustration of a hand forming a shadow puppet of a dog.

Gods, Dogs, and the Dark Magic of Toronto Novelist André Alexis

He’s written some of the most astonishing fiction of the past thirty years—works that defy explanation and linger like spells

BY ANDRÉ FORGET

Black and white headshot of poet George Murray on a blue background

Grawlix

Sharp cornered, nonsensical, / yet fully understood

BY GEORGE MURRAY

Canada is at a critical turning point in how it responds to gender-based violence. The Walrus Talks Ending Gender-Based Violence brings together activists, advocates, and experts to examine pressing policy gaps and cultural shifts that can reduce and prevent gender-based violence. This timely event will highlight lived experience, evidence-based solutions, and the need for coordinated, cross-sector action.

Join us in Ottawa for this urgent discussion.

Join Us

A MESSAGE FROM THE WALRUS LAB IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

The Woman Who Paved the Way in Canadian Medicine

This episode of Canadian Time Machine marks 150 years since Jennie Trout became the first woman licensed to practise medicine in Canada. Historian Heather Stanley and Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh explore her fight for equality and how her determination helped transform opportunities for women in medicine.

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Check out the latest episode of What Happened Next

In this episode of What Happened Next, host Nathan Whitlock is joined by author Su Chang. Su’s debut novel is The Immortal Woman, published by House of Anansi Press earlier this year. She and Nathan talk about cultural and political realities that cause her to be very deliberate in her writing; about why her father, who was himself a writer, urged her not to follow in his footsteps; and about how new rules put in place by the Chinese government have kept her from doing any public appearances to promote her book.

Listen Now

From Our Readers

Get Musked

I was incensed by Paul Adams’s article “I Regret My Tesla” (thewalrus.ca), wherein he tries, unsuccessfully, to absolve himself of his poor decision to buy a Tesla Model Y in September of 2023. By this time, the unreliability of the Tesla was widely known and reported; websites like TopSpeed identified the Model Y as having “build quality issues,” like “unintended braking,” that are inherent to all of the company’s cars. And the Tesla Model Y was hardly the only EV SUV/crossover on the market by then. Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Kia, and others offered higher-end EV crossovers. Not to mention that Elon Musk’s reputation as a bigot was also well known by then. Adams should admit that he was duped by Musk and is now suffering a huge amount of buyer’s remorse because his resale value has plummeted. Spare us the whining.


Vickie Morris
Sechelt, BC


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Loneliness Epidemic

In the May issue, authors Josh Greenblatt (“Sobbing at the Spa”) and Jadine Ngan and Tahmeed Shafiq (“What Happens after a Death on Campus”) make numerous thoughtful, wise, and well-researched comments and observations. Both articles direct our attention to one very prevalent ailment or complaint in our modern-day society: the scourge of loneliness. Despite all of our attempts to deal with loneliness by way of fitness centres, social media sites, university counselling services, singles bars, dating apps—the list goes on and on, with at least some of them being very worthwhile—we fail to see that loneliness can be resolved only by being in meaningful community with others. Spas are great; counselling services are vital; social media can at times help us stay connected with friends—but are they actually capable of keeping loneliness at bay?


Pete van Geest
London, ON


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You can take your time with The Walrus

The news cycle can sometimes feel noisy and hurried. When you read The Walrus, we want you to be able to go at your pace, taking in longer reads and reporting, and words that are pored over—not by a program but a person.

Good journalism needs a careful eye. It also needs sustained support.

If you believe in a Canadian outlet bringing you quality news, consider donating today.

— Siddhesh Inamdar

Features Editor

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