Things we found in the fire

And … that’s
a wrap

AND SO, we close the book on Volume VI of The Magpie. 

With our final edition, we look at a tragedy in Montreal that may be closer to home than we’d like to believe, search for the soul of queer Edmonton, spend an evening with a troubled singer-songwriter, take a tour of murals, speculate on disasters, and update the Boyle Street controversy.

Following up on the Airbnb tragedy in Old Montreal, Isaac Lamoureux talks to a local realtor and an Airbnb superhost to ask whether that kind of tragedy could happen here.

Gwyneth Bignell goes looking for queer Edmonton, and finds that – though there are still pockets of ignorance and intolerance – things are getting better for our LGBTQ+ neighbours.

Ryan Adams’s career and personal life have had had their ups and downs over the past few years. However, our reviewer Theodora MacLeod writes, the singer-songwriter still has the power to enthral an audience with his music, and his between-songs patter.

Photographer Kieran Fong breaks out of the downtown to spend a day touring the murals of Whyte Avenue – and takes us along with him.

Taylor Harrison gives us a brief guide to surviving disasters in the city.

And finally, Managing Editor Ethan LaPerle catches up on a story he has been following since January: Boyle Street Community Services’ move  north to 107th Avenue, over the protests of some local business owners.

That’s it for this year. We’ll see you again in the autumn.

Brian Gorman PhD
Publisher