For most of 2012, Mary MacDougall was acting community leader at l'Arche Cape Breton. That year, her birthday fell on a Tuesday, the night the whole community gathers to share supper, news, and conversation. That's when Mary received an unexpected birthday gift from a man who has never spoken a word in his life. [Video link] Then there was the time L'Arche Core Member David Gunn decided to ham it up at a gathering where EMT's were present, inspiring a bigger reaction than he bargained for. [Video link] You can subscribe to l'Arche Cape Breton's YouTube channel, and follow l'Arche Cape Breton on Facebook, Twitter, and...

Huffington Post's Canadian edition yesterday published an investigative report by a team of student journalists from the University of King's College detailing the housing crisis facing Nova Scotians with intelectual disabilities. There is not enough room in the system for all of the people who need a place to live. They languish on waiting lists that are hundreds of names long. Their families, in turn, must support them with scant financial, caregiving or community programming resources. Eventually the families get too old or sick to do it, making the situation for their relatives in rehab even worse. With so little room, placements...

Consider taking in the annual l'Arche Cape Breton Springfest at the World Trade and Convention Center, Membertou. It's an evening of stories and songs  by the l'Arche troupe, together with delicious desserts and an auction featuring arts and crafts by l'Arche folks, and goods donated by l'Arche supporters. L’Arche Cape Breton will share their gift of music and storytelling, while illustrating their incredible zest for life. An evening to remember for just $15. Tickets at Wentworth Perk and the Cape Breton Curiosity Shop. If you aren't familiar with l'Arche, here's a wee introduction: Director and videographer: Naomi Cousins; Producer: Mary MacDougall; Artist: Anil Kumar;...

The late Janet Moore, the founder of l'Arche Cape Breton who was profiled here on her death in 2010, was a huge fan of Rita MacNeil. Janet's friend Mary MacDougall arranged for the two to meet at Rita's Tea Room on her 60th birthday, in 2007. Jenn Power, Atlantic Regional Co-ordinator for l'Arche (and my daughter-in-law) described the event on her blog. Those of us who love Janet were more than a little apprehensive as we prepared for the celebration. Janet is getting old, and showing her age. As with so many people with Down Syndrome, dementia is slowly creeping in and stealing...

Shortly before Christmas, a company I work with sent out a message to its customers advising them of shorter holiday hours for telephone customer service and technical support. Imbued with the spirit of Jesus, a customer in Cumberland County saw fit to reply: I am sure that your boss has ordered compliance with the goddam politically correct and inoffensive crowd that is prevalent these days, but it is Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas in your correspondence with me, otherwise don’t bother. I once threatened that the next person that bowed and cowered to the middle East and Asian immigrants’ demands, and wished...

Joan MacDonald (in red pajamas at left) starred as an increasingly cranky Bethlehem innkeeper deprived of sleep by the continuous nocturnal arrival of pregnant guests, angels, shepherds, kings, and ultimately a baby in l'Arche Cape Breton's annual Christmas pageant, this year titled, "One Night at the Inn." The musical troop played to an appreciative crowd at the Strait Area Education and Recreation Centre in Port Hawkesbury Sunday afternoon. Coralee MacDougall (seated, centre) played Mary....

I am increasingly uneasy about the way the Talbot House crisis is playing out. In the space of three weeks this winter, a respected community leader's life was shattered, and an admired institution that had ministered to troubled individuals for 53 years was abruptly closed—all on the basis of an unspecified third-party complaint of unknown veracity that remains shrouded in secrecy two months later. [UPDATE: Fr. Paul Abbass has been exonerated. Please see Community Services Dept. vs. Talbot House] I don't know Fr. Paul Abbass personally, but I admire the grace and candor he displayed when speaking for the Antigonish Diocese during...

Cape Bretoner Gordie Sampson now lives in Nashville, where he produces about 75 song demos a year, mostly in the country-pop vein. In a CBC Radio interview this morning, he reflected on what makes country music different: I write country song for the most part… The lyric is more important in this genre than really any genre I think. The lyric and the melody together really has to move the listener. In R&B or other types of modern music, the idea is to make people dance. In country music it’s, often times, its to hurt people’s feelings. To make them re-think that...

When people learn that my son Silas and his wife Jenn Power adopted a pair of identical twins with Down Syndrome, they often say one of two things: "I could never do that," or "You must be saints." I love Silas and Jenn beyond measure, and admire them hugely, but I can attest they are not saints. The explanation for their decision to adopt Josh and Jacob lies elsewhere. As members of the L'Arche Community in Iron Mines, Orangedale, and Mabou, Cape Breton, Silas and Jenn have lots of experience working and living with developmentally disabled people. It's what they like doing,...

Mary Cecilia "Bomber" LeBlanc, shown above with L'Arche assistant Mavis at the 2007 Cape Breton Island Film Series party for l'Arche Cape Breton, died peacefully Thursday morning in her home at The Vineyard, a L'Arche residence in Orangedale, surrounded by friends and caregivers. Death came six days before her 60th birthday, and, incredibly, hours before a provincial health bureaucrats were to meet to begin planning her involuntary removal from l'Arche, over protests of family, friends, and caregivers. Mary was a small woman with a steely will and an outsized capacity for getting her own way—and then leading a chorus of laughter about...