Angel >> Tree sap Spring has sprung and the sap is running through the trees, down through the taps and into the buckets of syrup-makers provincewide. For many Quebecers, especially those only one generation off the farm, this time of year issues a call of the wild: they flock back to the countryside in droves just so they can sit in a ramshackle cabin and pour maple syrup on everything from egg souffles to ham to pork rinds to baked beans. They even pour it in their pea soup. Three cheers for this most hillbillyesque of Quebecois customs.

Insect >> Refugee claim holdups Lengthy, unjustified delays are endemic to the immigration system. This week the refugee-rights organization RADAR brought one such problem to light: refugees from Congo (both countries, Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville) simply can't get their requests processed, even though it's common knowledge that both regimes, recent victors in drawn-out civil wars, are highly oppressive. What more proof does Immigration Canada need? Paul Martin's budget promised millions of additional funds to deal with these kinds of delays, and the money can't come too soon.