L’Art de la greffe est le titre d’un livre écrit par Jacques Dufresne à l’époque où les greffes médicales faisaient autant parler que le clonage. Il venait alors de s’installer à la campagne avec son épouse Hélène pour se rapprocher de la nature. Ils étaient convaincus que leur vie quotidienne les coupait de plus en plus du monde sensible et les privait ainsi d’une nourriture élémentaire et symbolique essentielle. L’Art de la greffe n’a jamais été publié mais Jacques Dufresne nous en livre ici l’essentiel. C’est chez lui à North Hatley que je l’ai rencontré le 12 février dernier. Jean-Louis Munn, éd.

For this interview Jean-Louis Munn of L’Arche Canada travelled to the beautiful little farm of Jacques Dufresne and his wife, Hélène Laberge. Jacques offers a sensitive reflection on that which makes us human – “la richesse vitale,” the precious aliveness within each person. It is something much deeper than our rationality, and something often found strikingly in people who have severe developmental disabilities. When we lose it, we enter a kind of wasteland. A whole society can experience this loss. Jacques’ exploration of how we can recover and nurture our souls is an important contribution. Beth Porter, ed.

For some 40 years Jacques Dufresne has been an important leader and contributor to intellectual life in Quebec. In this issue, he broadens our understanding and deepens the conversation about a movement that some Canadians outside Quebec have dismissed, and that among others has aroused ire, bewilderment, and sometimes, support. He points to the implicit call to address 21st century inadequacies in traditional representative democracy, and he suggests possibilities for a hopeful outcome after the protests. Beth Porter - ed.