Toula Drimonis

Toula Drimonis (born 1966), is a Canadian journalist, columnist, and author known for writing on immigration, Quebec politics, and women’s issues.

Early life Drimonis was born and raised in Montreal to Greek immigrant parents. She is trilingual, fluent in: English, French, and Greek. She writes primarily in English but works across English and French language media in Quebec.

Career In 2014, Drimonis, who identifies as a feminist, wrote in the Huffington Post about why she does not support the group FEMEN, arguing that their topless protests are ineffective, divisive, and dismissive of other women’s experiences.

In 2015, Drimonis was profiled in Le Devoir as part of a feature on anglophones and allophones in Quebec after the death of former premier Jacques Parizeau. She defended Parizeau against harsh criticism online and emphasized his role in building modern Quebec. She described the harassment she regularly receives as a columnist and recalled incidents dating back to her childhood, saying her story was “not extraordinary” because so many women have had similar experiences. In 2017, she moderated an event at Concordia University entitled "Bill 101 at 40: panel discussion. Les 40 ans de la loi 101 : table ronde 1".

Drimonis is the author of We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada which was described in The Halifax Examiner as "part memoir, part history, part manifesto". She said the project was inspired in part by the death of her father, Panayote Drimonis, as a tribute to the sacrifices made by immigrants of his generation. The book also responds to political discourse in Quebec, particularly comments on immigration by Premier François Legault, which Drimonis argued contributed to stigmatization of immigrant communities.

Drimonis has been a weekly opinion columnist at The Montreal Gazette since 2023.

Published works

We, the Others: Allophones, Immigrants, and Belonging in Canada, 30 September 2022, Linda Leith Publishing. Nous, les autres (French translation of We, the Others), 29 January 2024, Somme toute. Seeking Asylum: Building a Shareable World, 16 March 2024, Linda Leith Publishing.