by Amanda Kwan

September 24, 2009

Hamid Hosseini is at the back of his store.  A row of intricately woven Persian carpets is hanging neatly on horizontal poles running the length of one wall, while stacks of smaller rugs are piled in the middle, forming a fabric maze leading to his desk. He leans back in his ergonomic office chair and glances at the front door.

A variety of street noises can be heard through the open door: the whizzing of a passing bus, the muffled chatter of patrons eating lunch on the outdoor patio at the French bistro next door, the light patter of feet as pedestrians walk along Yonge Street.

Some may assume that Hosseini’s business – Royalty Persian Rugs – is located on one of Toronto’s busy downtown streets. But his store is actually located in Richmond Hill, just north of Major Mackenzie Drive East.

According to the 2006 Census, the Greater Toronto Area is home to 57,000 Iranians – one of the largest expatriate-Iranian communities in the world.  An increasing number have chosen to make their home in Richmond Hill.  The town’s Iranian population has grown from 5,275 in 2001 to 11,830 in 2006, and data from the Richmond Hill website lists Farsi as the town’s third most spoken language behind English and Chinese.

Hosseini has operated his shop in Richmond Hill for 10 years. After the Iraq-Kuwait war broke out, and fearing for his family’s safety, he decided to relocate permanently to Canada.

“We never go back to our country [Iran] to live in. ….Because of this, I chose Canada,” he said.

Hosseini and his wife chose Richmond Hill because they felt the area was safe and conducive to raising a family – with schools, amenities, and their jobs located close to each other.

“I [didn’t] move to Richmond Hill for the Iranian community,” he said. “I moved here because I like the area…My idea is family. But it is good for us to have the Iranian community.”

Officials from the Richmond Hill Economic Development Program say the town does not keep statistics on businesses based on ethnicity. But the Iranian community’s presence in the downtown region of Richmond Hill is visible from the street.

A substantial number of Iranian businesses, stores, and restaurants, easily distinguishable by the Farsi signs posted on their windows, dot Yonge St. Just past the Presbyterian church is Borna’s Beauty Salon. Walk north about 10 metres and you’ll come across Banoo and Hatam, two fast-food restaurants selling Persian cuisine. Royalty Persian Rugs is just down the road, along with its competitor in the rug retail industry, Persian Prestige. Finally, at the end of the block is Pars Medical Pharmacy.

An April report by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities shows that recent immigrants to Toronto are bypassing the downtown core and choosing to settle in 905 suburban communities.

The suburbanization of immigration settlement is a trend that Ian Chodikoff, architect and editor of Canadian Architect Magazine, has kept a close eye on. In 2008, he curated an exhibition called “Fringe Benefits: the Cosmopolitan Dynamics of a Multicultural City”, which explored how immigrants in the suburbs were shaping the built environment of their communities.

The suburbs are more affordable than the downtown core, where space is at a premium, Chodikoff explained. “This allows different economic realities to exist,” he said, in which people with different income levels can live in the same neighbourhood. “This may not happen downtown.”

Towns like Markham, Brampton, and Mississauga with substantial ethnic communities are often labeled, sometimes pejoratively, as ethnic enclaves. But Chodikoff said these “enclaves” should be re-branded to focus less on ethnicity, and more as areas where global business is concentrated.

“Ethnic communities have fostered intellectual capital. They have as much of a global reach as the CEO of a bank does,” he said.

But resentment may arise when a new community begins to change the physical character of a neighourhood. Markham, for example, has seen several Asian-oriented malls created over the past decade, the most famous being Pacific Mall. While these commercial centres have been successful, they have also faced opposition from some residents who feel that Markham’s Chinese population has too much influence over the town’s development.

But Chodikoff sees Pacific Mall as a successful project, describing the place as a mini node for people in the area.

“It [Pacific Mall] continues to evolve. Urban space is a reiterative process. It’s not static. If you look at the built environment in the suburbs, the stores might look crude but they’re evolutionary.”

The influence of immigrant communities is visible beyond the changing physical environment of a town or city. The Richmond Hill Public Library has three shelves of books in Farsi. One aisle is devoted to Chinese materials, reflecting the larger Chinese population in Richmond Hill. Urdu, Punjabi, Russian, Hindi, and French are other language books available at the library.

Hosseini says he is happy living in Richmond Hill, but his strong ties to his native land prevent him from fully embracing Toronto as his home.

“Maybe for my children…is yes…But still for me, my home is my home: Iran. But I appreciate Canada, the government. They give it to us the chance to come here, to stay here.”

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by Agostino Di Maria

Sept. 24^th 2009

As Faisel Jaffer swipes his debit card for the third time to kick off a new school year at the University of Toronto Book Store, he admits he thinks about money on a daily basis.

“Every minute of everyday,” he says.  “Costs have been increasing each year; it’s tough to save any amount of money in the summer due to the rising costs of everyday items.”

Jaffer, who is enrolled in the neuroscience program at the University of Toronto, is one of many post-secondary students who have become frustrated with the financial burden for obtaining an education.

“The government should definitely offer more support,” he states. “OSAP is not enough, which is why we are seeing so many students drop out. They just cannot afford the continuing costs over a full school year.”

Recent data from Statistics Canada illustrates that Jaffer is one of the millions who are currently being affected by high inflation rates across Canada. The data showed a steady inflation of everyday necessity items between the years 1990 and 2008. Within these time periods, according to Statistics Canada, the cost of bread has increased 300 per cent, cars 200 per cent and gas 200 per cent. During that same time period, the average family income has only increased 11.8 per cent

“I believe it,” said Jaffer, after being presented with the data. “Gas is a great example, which is probably why so many students are relying on public transportation or car pooling. It’s just too much.”

The noticeable gap between wages and inflation has led many students to resort to government loans in order to continue their education.

Katrina Roberto, a journalism student at the University of Toronto, echoed the worries of Jaffer and the rising costs of post-secondary education.

“I am a 4^th year student, and yet I am taking out an OSAP loan for the first time. That should say enough right there,” she said.

A survey of 30 random students at the University of Toronto Scarborough campus further illustrated the fears of both Roberto and Jaffer. Of the 30 students, 25 carried some form of student debt, while 21 carried a student debt amounting to $15,000 or more.

Daniel Miched, of Primerica Financial Services, is not surprised about the debt load.

“Students require more education in finance,” he said. “Not only with the risk of increasing costs, but also the concept of the university as a business.”

According to Miched, there was never a course offered in high school called “Financial planning” so students do not know how to handle these types of situations.

Though a recent report by CBC News put inflation actually dropping slightly below zero throughout the month of August, other financial consultants are urging students and others not to get too complacent.

“It is likely headed for another increase for September and October,” says Danielle Dimtses, also with Primerica. “I wish that they did not air that report because now people are going in with a mentality that things will start to get better; this is definitely not the case.”

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by Kimberlee Nancekivell

September 24^th, 2009

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has begun dropping a new bait to curb rabies.

ONRAB, developed in Ontario in 2006, was dropped for the first time along the 1000 Islands corridor and Niagara Falls last week.

“We’re [dropping bait] proactively in case raccoon rabies tries to get across the St. Lawrence River,” said Rick Rosatte, a senior research scientist for the ministry.

Though raccoon rabies is no longer a problem in Ontario – it was eliminated in the province as of 2005 – the disease remains in New York State and Quebec.

The bait, which the ministry hopes to license through Artemis laboratory in Guelph, will also be dropped along ravines and in other wildlife locales in an effort to eliminate fox and skunk rabies, which are still present on a small scale in Ontario.

These bait drops have replaced previous methods such as the ministry’s trap-vaccinate-release programs, that deliver vaccinations orally when the animals eat them. The ministry’s vaccine-bait identification fact sheet describes the bait as a small packet containing what is essentially “watered down” rabies, and the vaccine, that is coated in fats, wax, icing sugar, and vegetable oil artificially flavoured to attract animals. The flavour of choice is marshmallow.

Though rabies is no longer a concern for Ontario, with fewer than 100 cases a year, compared to 2,000 cases in the 1980s, the situation is grave on a global scale. According to a fact sheet published by the World Health Organization in 2008, the incurable disease kills 55, 000 people a year. Rosatte suggested this figure could be applicable to India alone.

“Many people die of rabies in developing countries such as India and it’s just not reported,” he said. “They just die, and they don’t do post-mortems, and it’s probably rabies but they don’t determine that explicitly.”

Over the past 40 years the ministry has come to be known all over the world as the go-to authority for help in designing rabies control programs, said Rosatte, but they are not the only organization looking to eliminate rabies in the developing world.

Veterinarians without Borders has launched rabies control programs in countries such as Guatemala, Cambodia, Nepal, and Malawi that focus on  more interactive ways of solving the problem. The VWB’s approach is to “go in and…work closely with the community to figure out solutions that will be long term,” said Jessica Kennedy, the organization’s communications manager.

VWB also runs a month-long fundraiser that ends on Sept. 28, also known as World Rabies Day. They invite individual organizations to host their own World Rabies Day events, donating all proceeds to the VWB.

Bloorcourt Veterinary Clinic in Toronto is hosting its annual fundraiser throughout the month of September, donating all proceeds from pet vaccinations to VWB for use toward rabies prevention in developing countries.

For more information on World Rabies Day events in your area, visit http://www.worldrabiesday.org/.

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by Viet-Lien (Alice) Hoang

24/09/09

“Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine is like my Bible,” said Jennifer Cormier, as she purchased her usual apple cider vinegar; she takes a teaspoon of it every day to cleanse her body.

Cormier described herself as a big believer in healthy living; hemp seed oil is among her favourite items at Healthy Planet, an organic store located in Markham, as she “can’t go without her daily fix of hemp butter on flax seed bread.”

While medical doctors advise us to cough into our sleeves and use hand sanitizer as preventive measures for the H1N1 flu virus, many people like Jennifer Cormier are listening instead to traditional healers who encourage maintaining a balanced lifestyle, an important factor in achieving good health.

A recent article from CBC.ca says that according to 2005-2006 figures from The Fraser Institute “about two-thirds of Canadians have used alternative medicines or therapies at some point, and in total spent about $7.8 billion out of pocket on visits to alternative health care providers, herbs, books, vitamins and medical equipment.”

Cormier said that she hasn’t done anything differently to try to stay safe from the H1N1 flu virus above and beyond what she normally does to promote good health.

“I don’t wear a face mask, but I do sanitize my hands, which has always been a habit of mine anyway,” Cormier said.

She is interested in remedies that will not only heal her physical aspect, but also her mind and spirit.

“Instead of going to the doctor who will give you a prescription for an over-the-counter drug, I simply resort to my ‘Bible’ and make visits to places like The Big Carrot Natural Food Market and Essence of Life Organics to get natural and organic products to make my home-made remedies,” she said.

Anishnawbe Health Toronto is dedicated to healing Aboriginals’ physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional states through holistic practices.  The health organization’s website, aht.ca, says that traditional healers, elders, and medicine people teach the importance of living in balance and harmony with all of creation; their songs, dances, stories, prayers, and ceremonies introduce “many dimensions of healing, growth, and development.”

With mounting concerns about the H1N1 flu virus, particularly in remote and isolated regions, including First Nation communities in Northern Manitoba, traditional healers are looking to work with scientists and medical doctors on the idea of combining natural remedies and Western medicine. Dr. Chandrakant Shah told The Canadian Press that the combination could work to create a “synergy.”

“First Nation communities in Northern Manitoba are actively discussing what role traditional practices might play in pandemic planning,” said David Thomas, Health Canada’s media relations officer.  “We respect the value of traditional healing and continue to work towards comprehensive and holistic approaches to addressing H1N1 that draw from both clinical and traditional practices.”

Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients for keeping our immune systems strong and resistant to viruses and diseases, said Dr. Cindy Wan (she’s asked us not to publish her real name) , a family physician in Scarborough.

People living in the high Arctic are more susceptible to certain diseases, as they lack the nutrients which their traditional diets once had; they also suffer from Vitamin D deficiency due to low UV rays; but it would need to be confirmed scientifically whether or not Vitamin D is an issue, Wan said.

Foods such as flax seed and fish, particularly salmon and cod, are rich in Vitamin D; in addition to having two servings of fish a week, taking a tablespoon of fish oil daily is also beneficial, Wan said.

Wan said that while other foods, like yogurt and cheese, are also a source of Vitamin D, the amount of nutrients that are processed are not sufficient, and a greater quantity of the particular food would be needed to meet the daily recommended intake of the nutrient.

People tend to overlook simple preventative measures that should be taken to protect themselves from contracting the H1N1 flu virus, Wan said.  Mental health and physical health are interrelated; by reducing their stress levels, people are likely to improve their overall well being, while exercising can help relieve stress, and naturally make them more resilient to illnesses, Wan said.

Although Wan has never used traditional medicine herself, she knows of people who have used them with success.

“I do believe that natural remedies are beneficial.  I suppose it’s just that I’ve never been really ill to actually use it for myself,” Wan said.

For colds and sore throats, she recommended taking natural lemon and honey mixed in warm water, which is a simple enough remedy that can be made at home.

She suggested that the best we can do right now to protect ourselves from the flu, like trying to avoid any other illness, is to maintain good hygiene and a strong immune system through exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet.

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by Emily Hunter

09/25/09

The show must not go on.  That is what eco-activists are saying about the Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto festival ended on Saturday, but they want the curtains closed for good, claiming it is stained with dirty oil from the tar sands of Alberta.

Taking their message to the celebrities, protesters from EcoSanity and the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) staged a “die-in” at one of TIFF’s red carpet events. Outside the Roy Thompson Hall during the  gala to premier the film starring George Clooney, activists theatrically ‘died’ after sipping (fake) dirty oil from champagne glasses, performing their scene a stone’s throw away from celebrities like Clooney who was there signing autographs.

“Celebrities have power, and with power comes responsibility,” said Glenn MacIntosh, 42,  EcoSanity founder. “They need to know who they are ‘getting in bed with,’ when they attend festivals like TIFF. Right now, they are being irresponsible by being here.”

MacIntosh says that TIFF, and celebrities through association, help to further dirty oil’s cause. TIFF’s second-largest sponsor is the Royal Bank of Canada, a bank many environmentalists are calling the “ATM to the tar sands” making TIFF’s acceptance of RBC’s sponsorship, critics claim, an endorsement of the bank’s policy on furthering climate change for black gold.

TIFF officials declined to comment, saying they were too busy packing up and moving now that the festival ended.

However, a spokesperson for George Clooney said there is no association between the actor and his new film launched at TIFF “The Men Who Stare at Goats” with the tar sands.

“Appearing to have no knowledge is simply offensive,” replied MacIntosh. “It is the second-largest sponsor of an event that has dealings with the largest industrial project on the planet. If celebrities like George Clooney are not aware of this, they need to become aware and fast.”

The Rainforest Action Network claims that the RBC has financed $8.9 billion over the last four years to companies that operate in, or develop, the Canadian oil sands. They say that furthering the tar sands signals a fossil-fuel business-as-usual mandate instead of a switch to a renewable and sustainable path in the 21st century.

RBC official Stephanie Lu explained that the RBC is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and promoting environmentally responsible business activities.

Out of the bank’s $15 billion lending portfolio, “less than 10 per cent is deployed to companies active in the Canadian oil sands,” Lu said, adding that RBC is confident the companies they invest in are striving towards sustainability.

“RBC’s public image is very important to them,” said John Barber, 34, a RAN activist “They try to project themselves as a good global citizen, even an environmental steward. But good citizens don’t invest in the tar sands.”

The tar sands are a carbon-intensive project for unconventional oil extraction. Many call it a sign of “scraping the bottom of the barrel” with peak oil, as the oil extracted comes from a tar-like bitumen source, producing three-times more greenhouses gases (GHG) in the extraction process than conventional oil sources.

By 2020, the oil sands are expected to emit 16 per cent of Canada’s GHG, the same as some entire European countries. Many environmentalists call the project Canada’s greatest barrier in the fight against climate change.

The Harper government says it is important to Canada’s economic health, shielding us from the recession.

Greenpeace, a known critic of the tar sands, attended TIFF 2009 to showcase its new film, “Petropolis” directed by Peter Mettler, a film that gave an aerial view of the massive project in Alberta. Despite the organization campaigning to end the oil sands, they say they have no qualms with the Toronto film fest.  When asked about the conflict of interest showcasing their film at the festival, they said they were working towards the bigger picture, literally.

“The experience was positive at TIFF,” said Spencer Tripp, director of communications for Greenpeace Canada. “The film at TIFF gave us a platform to address the big issues of the oil sands to a much wider audience than otherwise.”

Shortly after TIFF ended “Petropolis” signed a UK distribution deal and Greenpeace is expecting a Canadian deal shortly.

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Ryan Jhagroo
Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A scalper outside of the Rogers Centre shouts, “Get your Blue Jays Tickets!”

Another scalper not too far away shouts the same slogan. They about to break the law, but the two uniformed police officers 10 feet away stand idle. Ticket peddlers, like the ones routinely seen and heard outside of the Rogers Centre, rarely have to worry about getting caught.

In Ontario, it is against the law to resell tickets at prices higher than what they were initially acquired for.  But police say the problem lies with catching them in the act.

When a scalper is attracting customers, they’ll say, “Get your Blue Jays tickets” or something similar, but according to Toronto police Detective Peter Harmsen of 52 Division they’re not incriminating themselves.

It’s complicated when no transaction involving tickets has been made yet, even though they are 10 feet away, because no crime has been committed yet, Detective Harmsen explains.

To get the evidence and charges laid, a plain-clothes undercover cop like Harmsen becomes involved.

But scalpers aren’t easy targets.

“The scalpers get to know us and we get to know them,” Harmsen said.  They become aware of the officers that are undercover, after they’ve been written up for scalping multiple times.

Then, the process towards getting a scalper off the streets is a slow one, Harmsen added.  While  “it’s not hard to build a case against [the scalper],” the detective said, to get time in jail, they would have to be registered and cited between two to four times for scalping.  After that, they would be put on probation.  And if they get caught scalping while on probation, a scalper then receives jail time.  If the probationary period expires without any incident, the process starts over.

In Ontario, not only is it illegal to sell tickets at a higher price than when they were first issued, but also it’s also illegal to purchase scalped tickets.  The maximum fine for individuals caught in such activities is $5,000 and the fine for companies found scalping or buying scalped tickets is $50,000.

Experts say scalpers can get the tickets they sell in a variety of ways: through corporate giveaways or resell tickets they receive for free. Scalpers also buy from people looking to recoup some of the money they spent on a ticket they cannot use.  Here, a scalper can buy tickets for less than face value and try to flip them at a higher cost.  Scalpers also do this when they buy tickets in bulk; a likely scenario is when a scalper takes advantage of group sale packages by purchasing 20 tickets at $50 each and the face value of each single ticket is $70.
Pre-sale passwords are crucial to the scalpers; it allows them first dibs on tickets and allows them to buy as many tickets as they want, usually the best ones available.  If pre-sale passwords are not an option, they’ll wait in line for box offices to open.

While the scalper draws in a customer with their slogan “Get your Blue Jays tickets” police say “getting their ticket” also means the customer is breaking the law.

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by Katrina Roberto

Sept 24, 2009

With little information on how to proceed some of an estimated 4,000 aspiring and current Ontario drivers are anxious as the DriveTest strike surpasses the one-month mark. They are upset about the lack of information provided during the labour disruption.

Katie Batrie, 21, a driver hoping to complete her final road test and now carrying an expired license, says the strike has really worried her.

“They [DriveTest] were completely vague about the way to move forward, which is particularly stressful when your license is about to expire!” Batrie said.  If she had not heard someone else talk about the strike, she probably would not have known about it until the day DriveTest cancelled her test.

Operating under Serco DES Inc., workers at 56 DriveTest facilities across the province have been on strike since August 21, resulting in the cancellation of all driver examination services. This includes all written, road and vision tests. Workers are striking in order to, “fight for fair jobs and job security year round,” according to the union’s website.

The United Steel Workers Local 9511, the union which represents DriveTest employees, does not frequently update its website. The only information being released for drivers is located on DriveTest’s homepage which advises them to continue booking and rescheduling tests during the strike.

A customer service representative of the DriveTest central booking centre has noticed an estimated 20-30 percent increase in calls concerning expiries. The DriveTest central booking centre remains open during the strike and continues to book future appointments despite the work disruption.  According to the rep, who didn’t want her name used, this procedure is in place so when services resume drivers whose tests were cancelled will already have new tests booked.

Although expired licenses are beyond a driver’s control at this time, it will still be up to him or her to obtain a temporary license, when services resume. A temporary license can be obtained from a DriveTest centre prior to a test in order to finally take it. For the time being the Ministry of Transportation has extended the expiry of licenses without penalty. The MTO website reassures drivers that: “Police agencies, border officials, and licensing administrators across North America have been notified of the current service disruption and are aware of the temporary measure in place to extend Ontario drivers’ licences.”

Expired licenses aside, another worry among drivers is test backlog. Laura Campbell of Etobicoke, whose license will expire next month, is concerned about tests piling up once services have resumed.

“What I’m worried about is when the strike is over, how long is it going to take to rebook?  she asked. “Will they have some sort of priority system for people whose appointments were cancelled? ”

At this time drivers must place their worries on the back burner because an end to the strike does not seem to be happening in the near future. According to Jim Young, USW Local 9511 president and grievance committee officer both sides have completely, “stopped talking.”

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by Megan Harris

Sept. 24, 2009

There is a rather unusual creature walking around the UTSC residence village. It is black and white, and can be found sleeping in someone’s front yard or meowing at a door of a house. This creature is a cat called Pooky – and he’s been at UTSC longer than many students.

Contrary to popular belief, Pooky is not a stray cat. In fact, he has owners; a father and daughter living in the surrounding neighbourhood, a place to sleep at night, and daily meals. Even so, residence students often offer the cat food and invite Pooky into their homes to sleep.

According to one of Pooky’s owners, Zipora Richman, Pooky has been visiting the university ever since he was a kitten. Richman still remembers the day 14 years ago when she found Pooky while she was driving home.  After hearing a cat meowing, they discovered Pooky up a tree. Eventually, they convinced a local kid to climb up and get him.

“He instantly became a family fixture,” Richman said, adding that Pooky also soon became “a neighbourhood icon.”

There is even a cheer about the cat which new students learn at the annual Residence Orientation each September:  “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Pooky!”

Pooky can often be found either walking around residence, or visiting students in their houses, although this is against the rules. According to the Student Housing & Residence Life handbook, “Pets are not allowed in residence other than fish in small fish bowls.”

Emily Fitzpatrick, a student residence advisor (R.A), said that despite the rules, most of Pooky’s visits to houses go unmentioned.

“The R.As can’t do anything about it because they don’t see it,” she explained.

“Pooky is exceptional,” said Jennifer Gordon, a 4^th year student. “He’s somehow accepted, even though no pets are allowed – but everyone can share Pooky.”

Roomates Doug Liu and Shaun McKinlay were new to residence last year, and not knowing all the rules, once brought Pooky inside with them. Liu said that he left Pooky sleeping in his room, and came back an hour later to find that Pooky had disappeared. The two housemates searched for the cat, and after half an hour, finally found him.

“He came out from under Doug’s bed and said ‘Meow!’”, McKinlay recalled.

Liu and McKinlay used to try to feed cereal to Pooky when he came to visit them. Offering food to Pooky is common among residence students, even though the R.As let students know that Pooky has a home, and therefore doesn’t need to be fed. In fact, Richman said that although Pooky spends a lot of his time visiting the

university, he comes home at least twice a day to eat and take a nap, and also comes home most nights.

Pooky has also been spotted in a number of other strange places over the years. Richman remembers one time when her cat befriended a master’s student.

“Pooky would hang out in the lab with him,” Richman said.

This September, 4^th year student Ys Lee spotted Pooky coming out of the 3^rd floor elevator of Foley Hall, the upper year apartment style residence. UTSC graduate Andrew Scott, who lived in residence for several years, recalls a similar incident in which he spotted Pooky in the Foley Hall lobby.

“I thought to myself, ‘Oh, it’s just Pooky’, and I began to head for my room,” Scott said. “After one or two steps, I thought, ‘Wait a minute, that cat’s not supposed to be in here!’ I escorted Pooky to the exit and wished the cat a pleasant evening.”

Along with the various ‘Pooky stories’ that students have collected over the years, several conspiracy theories about the cat have emerged.

“There’s one that Pooky is 100 years old,” said Fitzpatrick. “Or that there are two Pookies, one male and one female, and another that Pooky has died several times and been replaced with new cats.”

Upon hearing these theories, Richman just laughed.

“It’s the same old Pooky!” she said.

Richman feels that everyone at UTSC has recognized that Pooky is a remarkable cat, and that everyone looks after him. Once, Pooky was injured in a scrap with another cat. A student noticed this, and immediately called the cat’s owners, having found the phone number on Pooky’s tag, and had them meet him at the vet.

“It was just amazing,” said Richman. “The way you guys treat him, it makes me feel good, makes me feel good about letting him go out there.”

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by Alina Smirnova

Sept. 24, 2009

Headbands adorned with bright feathers, shoulder bags made out of reused burlap coffee sacks and bags made out of bicycle tires.  This was the scene at East Lynn Park on the last weekend of September where the Danforth East Community Association (DECA) held its first annual arts fair. Over 35 artisans and exhibitors pitched tents in the park and sold their crafts, pictures, jewellery and clothes.

“We’re really trying to make our community a more vibrant and interesting place and we’re bringing some culture and excitement to our neighbourhood,” said Mary Cowan, who organized the fair and is also on the executive board of the association.

David Gardner, who is also on the executive board of DECA, explained that the community has been around for a long time, and recently has been undergoing changes.

“For years now we’ve been gentrifying – turning over,” he said. “A lot of young families are starting in the area.”

Gardner also said that older businesses are transforming and the community as a whole is becoming younger and “flashier.”

DECA’s website states that the community boundaries stretch as far west as Coxwell Avenue, east to Main Street, north to Mortimer Avenue and Lumsden and south to the train tracks. The idea of an arts fair was brought up at the annual meeting in November last year.

Part of the goal was to bring out some local artists and let them show-off their talent to the community.

“We know there are a lot of creative people in East York and that a lot of creativity goes on behind closed doors,” Cowan said. “I started handing out flyers and talking to some people, saying, ‘You know, we’re having this art fair,’ and they were saying ‘Thank you!… Thank you for having this!’ so we knew we tapped into something our community wanted.”

Then the work began.

Before the fair could take place a permit had to be obtained, insurance bought, advertising distributed, an application package written up and run by a lawyer, artists picked and port-a-potties rented. Cowan admitted that the permit was a bit stressful to obtain because of the Toronto public workers’ strike this past summer. The fair received an approval for their permit only a month ago, and the final paperwork arrived just a week before the event.

One of the local artists, Anthony Jim, greeted every visitor to his tent with a smile and welcomed them to his project.  Jim is a civil engineer by profession, but in his spare time, he sketches. Six years ago he began the Riverdale Historical Art Project.

“I spent many years there, and I love it,” Jim said, referring to the Riverdale neighbourhood.  His works are careful pencil drawings of local historical buildings which include the old Don Jail, churches, and houses in the area. He laughed at how people recognize the trees in his drawings. He says he hopes the project ends up being a collection of his works, other’s stories and facts that will educate people about the history of the area and drawing techniques. Jim learned his techniques from engineers when he was a teenager.

“Curve sketching in calculus is applied to drawing this,” he explained, as he pointed to a curve on one of the roofs in the building.

Cowan said that DECA intends to make the arts fair into an annual tradition.

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Danforth East Community Association

http://www.danfortheast.ca/

contact@danfortheast.ca

Stacey Kwan

September 24, 2009

A few weeks before the minor hockey season officially kicked off, Hockey Canada has sent out a plea to ice arenas and equipment suppliers to reduce costs in an attempt to make hockey more accessible to a wider range of participants, particularly ethnic minorities.

And while Hockey Canada does not keep statistics on the number of minority youngsters enrolled in amateur leagues, the move comes at a time when the NHL is spotlighting some up and coming young hockey players who are visible minorities.

Some experts say that may be key to making ethnic minorities fully accepted at the entry level.

“I looked up to the first Asian player in the NHL, (Korean born goalie) Jim Park when I was growing up,” said Dennis Lim, a Toronto amateur hockey player who began playing in the 1980s.  “It is easier to identify with [him].”

There is a stigma that hockey is a ‘rich white kids’ sport, but a spotlight on NHL players who are minorities may help remove that, Lim said.

In the most recent NHL draft, the Toronto Maple Leafs picked up Nazem Kadri, who is

of Lebanese decent and a Muslim. Kadri, P.K. Subban and Devon Setoguchi are changing the face of hockey on the professional level.

Hockey Canada has been working to ensure that ice rinks across the nation are safe and friendly environments. Their major program to help ensure this is called Speak Out!

According to their website, Speak Out! was started in 1997, “in order to educate and prevent bullying, harassment and abuse in hockey across Canada.”

“It’s a session in which the volunteers learn about the ethics in sports, how to be a role model, and about the power they have,” said Paul Carson, Hockey Canada’s director of development.

Speak Out! Is a mandatory off-ice workshop for any adult who becomes involved in minor hockey in Canada whether they are the coaches, referees, or working for the

local association.

Besides the program the game itself has built in deterrents.

“There are rules and regulations in the game of hockey itself to help diminish the number of incidents,” Carson said. “The officials have the ability to penalize players if they hear anything with a game misconduct.”

But some parents say the policies don’t work.

Maria Athwal’s son is half-South Asian, and has been playing minor hockey for seven years.

Her son has himself had to contend with unfriendly comments.

“A player once told him he was a pretty good goalie for a coloured kid,” she said. “The consensus is that it is part of the game, so it is accepted.”

In those seven years, Athwal has seen only one referee kick out a player for making a racial comment on the ice.

This is not just an issue at the minor hockey level, it’s happening at the professional level as well. In one case, Sean Avery, then a member of the Los Angeles Kings, allegedly made a derogatory remark towards then Edmonton Oiler Georges Laraque, whose parents are Haitian. In the end Avery was not punished, as the NHL was unable to gather enough solid evidence.

This is not unusual, explained Bill Hutton, risk management officer for the Ontario Minor Hockey Association.

“If a referee doesn’t hear it, because he’s in the corner and it happened in front of the net for example, then it becomes a matter of one player’s word against the other,” he said.

Hutton recalled four incidents in the last five years that were reported to the OMHA.

Three of those four involved a racial slur on ice and the fourth was an incident in which a team of First Nations players was confronted by another team in the arena’s lobby and someone called out the derogatory term, ‘Wagon burners’.

In each case there was no conclusive evidence who said the derogatory remarks but in the First Nations case there were many witnesses and the local regional executive of the offending team had a session with the players, coaches, and parents to discuss issues of bullying, harassment, and discrimination.

Dennis Lim says despite everything, he has seen a change.

“More and more ethnicities are playing the game,” he said. “I even participate in Korean and Asian only hockey tournaments.”

He said that this is evident particularly in Toronto, where there is more diversity.

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