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Josh Freed

Josh Freed

Sarnia Observer

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Freed: Here’s to the beautiful chaos of Montreal summers

I was driving home two weeks ago, working my way though a bewildering maze of street festivals separating me from my home. St-Laurent Blvd. was closed...

yesterday 10

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: Customer loyalty has lost any meaning these days

I had a fatal encounter with my phone company recently. It involved a $140 “long distance” bill for some calls I’d made to France, to sort out...

22.06.2025 40

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: How to convert visiting Americans into Canadian allies

It’s tourist season again and Americans will soon be flooding our city, starting with this weekend’s F1 Grand Prix race. As we fight our “soft...

16.06.2025 10

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: Everything is designed by technology nerds so the rest of us can’t use it

Nowadays, every modern device is designed so smartly or stylishly that it makes us users feel stupid. So, travelling is the best way to find out what...

09.06.2025 10

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: The King, the Donald and the future of Quebec

The big surprise about our visit from the “King of Canada” was that Quebecers didn’t care. Sure, the usual nationalist suspects went on about...

01.06.2025 30

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: I’m an officer of the Order of Montreal, but I still can’t get a free parking spot 

I spent last Saturday at city hall being inducted into the Order of Montreal, and the ceremony was revealing. Partly because I was the only anglophone...

25.05.2025 4

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: A visit to France is a cure for tipaphobia

Quebec has just passed a major tipping point in tax policy: no more tipping allowed on restaurant meal taxes. From now on, when you see a 15, 20 or 50...

18.05.2025 20

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: Canada’s federal election is a classic western movie showdown

Welcome to Carneymania, the biggest political rage since the (Pierre) Trudeaumania of my youth. Only months ago the Liberal party was so far behind...

20.04.2025 10

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: 15,000 people cheered at a Hands Off rally in Vermont when I dumped on Trump

It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. I’d sworn not to visit the U.S. until President Donald Trump’s threats and tariffs ended. But then I...

14.04.2025 10

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed

Freed: Why are Quebecers so happy?

Congratulations, Quebecers! We are among the happiest people in the world, at least according to ourselves. In the recent UN World Report on...

12.04.2025 5

Montreal Gazette

Josh Freed