January 25, 2010
“I think I might be a little bit racist. And I’d like to change.”
When one writer found herself sinking into a mire of prejudice and resentment, she set out to find a cure. But maybe 12 steps aren’t enough. The first step to getting help, they say, is admitting you have a problem. That part took me years of halting, painful introspection and self-doubt. Later, I told friends—just a handful at first. They weren’t surprised; some of them even admitted to... [More >>]
January 8, 2010
In the twilight of the independent bookstore, Chapters looms
The local indie bookstore is an endangered species, and the blue meanie, Indigo, is their predator Pages Books' bare shelves in its final days of business. Photo by Rick McGinnis. On a warm night in early September, several hundred people gathered at Toronto’s Gladstone Hotel to hold a wake for a bookstore. For 30 years, until its closing at the end of August, Pages Books, located in the heart... [More >>]
December 10, 2009
Night confronts darkness of the North—both literal and metaphorical
Abbie Ootova and Linnea Swan workshopping "Night" in Pond Inlet, Nunavut. Photo courtesy Human Cargo. For a playwright from Toronto, creating a play about Canada’s North is a daunting task. How do you talk about a culture that, though Canadian, is as foreign as one from the other side of the world? How do you approach difficult issues like suicide when you’re not just an outsider, but... [More >>]
December 2, 2009
After the Tamil Tigers’ defeat, Sri Lanka searches for a fragile peace
When the Sri Lankan army crushed the Tamil Tigers last spring, it was the end of the war. But for four veteran activists, this is just the beginning Supporters of the Tamil Tigers protest outside the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, spring 2009. Photo by Mark Blinch/Reuters. I can smell chilies and spices in the cool night air. A few Tamil men and women are handing out biryani in Styrofoam containers to... [More >>]
November 23, 2009
The Ecuadorian village that’s taking the Toronto Stock Exchange to court
Marcia Ramírez is suing the Toronto Stock Exchange over a violent incident with a Canadian mining company's security service. Photo by Malcolm Rogge. Marcia Ramírez is in for the fight of her life: suing the Toronto Stock Exchange for listing a company that it knew might cause her harm. In early December 2006, Ramírez was one of some 30-odd residents of the remote Intag valley in northwestern... [More >>]
November 17, 2009
Turning the lens on Aboriginal urbanites with “Concrete Indians”
Portrait of Jennifer Podemski, one in a series in Nadya Kwandibens "Concrete Indians" project. Image courtesy the artist. Nadya Kwandibens Nadya Kwandibens stepped off a Greyhound bus from Phoenix, Arizona, in Kenora, Ontario, in November 2006 with only her camera and her computer. During the two-and-a-half-day trip, her suitcase, containing all her belongings, had been misplaced at a transfer... [More >>]
September 30, 2009
Transitional-program fans give U of T a failing grade
The University of Toronto has come under fire by students, community activists, and even former minister of education Zanana Akande over proposed changes to its Transitional Year Program, a specialized academic program that helps students without the usual educational credentials make the leap to university. The 38-year-old program has been particularly successful at recruiting high school dropouts,... [More >>]
September 23, 2009
Canadian independent video-game designers score big internationally
Gameplay in Critter Crunch for the Playstation 3. Image courtesy Capybara Games. On May 5, 2006, 35 Toronto area video-game developers converged in one spot with a particular goal in mind: to create an entire game, start to finish, in just three days. It was a daunting task, but in the end 10 completed games were assembled, while seven others came just short of the deadline. The Toronto Game Jam—or... [More >>]
September 17, 2009
Solidarity forever. Or until the litterbox is full.
In which the author finds his lefty credentials sorely tested by one malodorous cat Solidarity forever. Or until the litterbox is full. Illustration by David Donald. It’s hard enough to be a socially progressive, left-leaning, anti-globalization, conscientious sort in this world, but to be a socially progressive, left-leaning, anti-globalization, conscientious sort and be mildly inconvenienced? It’s... [More >>]
September 10, 2009
How film festivals like TIFF can end up hurting indie movies
Frame from "Picture Start," a video installation screening as part of the Toronto International Film Festival. It’s a familiar ritual in movie palaces and multiplexes all over the country. You find yourself in a lineup for a film that you know nothing about, aside from its reputation as a remarkable new work by a hot young director from the Carpathians, or maybe Polynesia. For sustenance,... [More >>]
