Families are not happy with the Ford government’s last-minute decisions

March 2, 2022 Matias de Doviitis

Doug Ford, Premier of Ontario, trying to dig Ontario out of problems with tiny shovel

The hope that many shared last year that things were returning to normalcy were suddenly taken away by the Omicron variant. Yet, the effect of the new COVID wave was amplified here in Doug Ford’s Ontario due to a lack of clear planning or competence. The wait-until-public-outcries-boils-over-to-make-a-decision strategy simply has not worked and has left families hanging in the lurch time and time again.

Community Coalition Launches Campaign for Community Benefits at Downsview Park

September 24, 2021 Kumsa Baker

TCBN celebrates community benefits on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT project with new construction apprentices, unions and community groups. Photo credit: Toronto Community Benefits Network

Downsview Park is currently in the planning stage for a large mixed-use neighbourhood which will see proposals to develop new housing, retail, commercial, institutional and/or community uses on the site. The combined site is estimated at 520 acres which is roughly the size of Toronto's downtown core area. These developments and projects like the recently announced Netflix film studios will lead to many changes at Downsview Park and the surrounding area for years and decades to come. One community group based in the local area is seeking to raise a key question - how does the community benefit from all of these new investments and developments?

Meet Your Federal Election 2021 Candidates For The Humber River- Black Creek Riding

September 17, 2021 Kuwarjeet Singh Arora

Election Day is on Monday, September 20, 2021. Don't forget to vote for the candidate of your choice! Please check out the positions from the four parties highlighted.

Community Coalition Launches Campaign for Community Benefits at Downsview Park

August 28, 2021 Kumsa Baker

The Bloom Red Project and Anthony Perruzza’s Office Hold a Period Product Donation Drive to Fight Period Poverty in Downsview Community

July 19, 2021 Krystal Grover

Pictured from left to right: Alexandra Modi, Krystal Grover, Tanvi Balasubramanian and Ayesha Khan at the donation drive booth. Photo credit: Sinthura Chandramohan

What was once forecasted as a rainy and gloomy day took a turn for the better and resulted in the raising of many menstrual products and a significant community impact. The Bloom Red Project, in collaboration with Anthony Perruzza’s office, held a menstrual product donation drive for the Downsview community. Krystal Grover, the co-founder of The Bloom Red Project, and Ayesha Khan, the Councillor’s Outreach Staff and Aide, organized this event, coordinating volunteers, donation drop-offs, logistics and everything in between.

Jane Finch Community Groups Say: Enough Is Enough – Host Virtual Event Calling for Intersectional Equity

May 28, 2021 Ayesha Khan

Residents and activists gathered for the virtual town hall. Photo credit: Jane Finch Action Against Poverty

On Wednesday May 5, 2021, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty in conjunction with Black Creek Food Justice Network, Jane Finch Education Action Group and Jane Finch Housing Coalition hosted a virtual public event speaking out against various injustices they feel have been wrought against the community.

Hybrid Learning is Bad for Students

May 27, 2021 Matias de Doviitis

Sign the petition against hybrid learning: “School boards are using terms like the “Community Learning Model”, but the reality is that hybrid means there is one teacher for one class made up of online AND in-person students. It will not matter if your preference is that your child attend school in person or online - all students will be forced into some version of a virtual class and some version of an in-person environment.”Source: https://www.supportourschools.ca/ — Sign the petition against hybrid learning:
“School boards are using terms like the “Community Learning Model”, but the reality is that hybrid means there is one teacher for one class made up of online AND in-person students. It will not matter if your preference is that your child attend school in person or online - *all* students will be forced into some version of a virtual class *and* some version of an in-person environment.”
Source: https://www.supportourschools.ca/

Flashback to early 2020 and the Ford government was staring down the gun barrel of teacher strikes all over Ontario. Unrest with parents was tangible and his public support in polls was sinking. At issue were class sizes and the quality of education. Then COVID-19 pandemic started, and those issues were put aside as students were sent home after the March break. A long, grinding year of on-and-off homeschooling started. Now, once again, education is creating controversy and parents and teachers are re-organizing.

Block Boy: The Story of Jeremiah Ranger; Part Two: November 20, 2015

May 26, 2021 Pastor Bill Sunberg

November 20, 2015. You may remember that day because it was an eventful day in world news. Ten gunmen with grenades stormed a five-star Radisson Blu Hotel in Bamako, Mali. They took 170 hostages. 27 people were killed.

News on that day was less tragic back home in Toronto. On that day, the Toronto Christmas Market officially opened for the season in the Distillery District. For the first time, they would charge an admission fee on weekends to help reduce the size of the crowds.

Reconciling with Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day as a Descendent of Genocide Survivors

May 18, 2021 Vennila Mathialagan

Tamil students protesting in support of the victims of the Tamil Genocide. Photo credit: British Tamil Forums

When I was eight, I remember being angry that my parents cancelled my birthday party because of ethno-political conflict back in Sri Lanka. Several years later, I learned that the “conflict” my parents cancelled my birthday over, was a massacre of 40,000 innocent tamil civilians by Sri Lankan military forces

Jane and Finch has Been in Crisis for 40 Years

May 13, 2021 Michelle Dagnino

A message of hope for Jane and Finch, carried by a child. Photo courtesy of Jane Finch Community and Family Centre Staff

When the WHO declared the COVID pandemic on March 13, 2020, the lives of billions of people were impacted. The lives of most Canadians changed forever, plunging many people into crisis. For some Canadians there has been a silver lining – no more hours spent commuting, deeper connections with family, increased savings, and for many white collar professionals, they saw their business revenues and salaries increase.

Yet for the residents of Jane and Finch, like those in Malvern, or Agincourt, or Brampton East, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the culmination of 40 years of crisis.