Letter from Montreal

Spring comes late to the city where winter began with a vengeance in November and traces remain evident into the third week of April. As soon as the temperature begins to rise above the freezing point and the rays of the sun emit some palpable warmth, the citizens of Montreal flock to the streets, emerge from their heated dwellings pushing strollers, riding bicycles and taking their preferred positions on ‘les terrasses’, the sidewalk areas that instantly transform into cafes, bistros and ice cream parlours where ‘les Montréalais’ loosen their scarves, open their down-filled coats and break free of the long-suffered confines of a harsh urban winter. Walk down almost any street and one hears the barking of dogs, the chirping of birds, the lilting tones of French, English and a multitude of the world's languages as people gather and greet each other rather than rushing past to get out of the cold.

On 29 May 2014, Montreal, the second largest French-speaking city in the world outside Paris, will host the 2014 Congrès des psychanalystes de langue française (CPLF). While it has been customary to hold the congress in international locations every second year, this will be the first time in its 74-year history that the two keynote reports have been translated into English and made available prior to the event. As well, simultaneous translation in English will be provided during each of the plenary sessions affording the full participation of non-Francophone participants from Montreal, other cities in Canada and the United States. This unprecedented initiative was spearheaded by the local Organizing Committee composed of three dedicated members of the Société psychanalytique de Montréal, Jacqueline Labrèche, Allannah Furlong and Marie-Claire Lanctǒt Bélanger, and has been endorsed by the Société psychanalytique de Paris and the Canadian Psychoanalytic Society in the spirit of forging relationships across linguistic, cultural and theoretical divides with colleagues in North A