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January-February 2021

The gig is up

App-based workers in Canada are taking things into their own hands

Ryan Hayes

“I remember thinking to myself: if this is the future of work, then the future is going to be hell,” recounts bike courier Brice Sopher. Sopher began working for Toronto food delivery startup Hurrier in 2015 after getting laid off from his office job. As an event promoter and DJ, he was attracted to the […] More »
November-December 2020

Change is coming

Our November/December editor's letter

Tara-Michelle Ziniuk

I am writing this days after the world learned that the officers who murdered Breonna Taylor would not be charged. People have noted that this was announced on the exact date Emmett Till’s killers were cleared of charges 65 years earlier. We’ve long been relying on systems meant to do exactly what they’ve been doing. […] More »

Remembering RM Vaughan

A round-up of tributes to the poet, novelist, playrwright, community member, and friend

Sarah Ratchford

It was with heavy hearts that we learned of the passing of our long-time friend RM Vaughan this week. Over the course of many years RM was involved with This in various capacities: as the magazine’s Literary Editor, as a columnist, as a contributing editor, and as a writer—writing features, arts pieces, and more. Many […] More »
September-October 2020

Why fashion and beauty?

Our September/October editor's letter

Tara-Michelle Ziniuk

It’s a wild time to be writing about fashion and beauty, given people on social media have taken to referring to jeans as “hard pants,” while most of us continue to shelter in place in some variation of comfortable clothing (occasionally dressing up from the waist up for Zoom meetings and events). But fashion and […] More »
May-June 2020

I’m not a fake Canadian

Thoughts on travelling as a person of colour

Li Charmaine Anne

I often think of myself as a proud Canadian. Of course, Canada is by no means a perfect—or even racism-free—country, but as a Chinese-Canadian who has had the privilege of travelling widely, Canada remains one of my favourite places. But I’ve learned that introducing myself as Canadian in a foreign country can be surprising to […] More »
May-June 2020

Talking travel, staying home

Our May/June editor's letter

Tara-Michelle Ziniuk

Months ago, before 2020 started, when we set out to come up with themes for the year, we could never have expected how the coming stretch of time would unfold. Travel, at the time, seemed like a theme that could affect just about anyone: people who had access to it, people who did not (and […] More »

Pitch to our fashion & beauty issue!

Deadline is May 15, 2020

Sarah Ratchford

This is looking for pitches for our annual culture issue, which this year will be our September-October issue—the theme for it is Fashion & Beauty. We want to hear progressive perspectives on all things related. Some examples include: slow fashion, wearable tech, fat acceptance, and how various identities intersect with these themes. We want work […] More »
March-April 2020

Lacking representation

South Asian representation on screen is not as sparse as it once was; but what does representation mean if it isn’t any good?

Rachna Raj Kaur

In North America, many Hollywood stars of Indian descent are household names: Mindy Kaling, Priyanka Chopra, Kumail Nanjiani, Hasan Minhaj, and Scarborough native Lilly Singh. According to YouTubers Colin and Samir, Hollywood has realized that Indians—in North America and India—have the buying power to demand representation on screen. I think we’ve always known this, but […] More »

The role of white media in perpetuating online racism

Redefining the “hot potato” of Yolanda Bonnell’s request

Sanchari Sur

On February 10, 2020, I was surprised to be tagged in a tweet that highlighted a Globe and Mail article titled, “The colour of criticism: How should media respond when an artist asks for only non-white critics to review them?” Rungh, an online space based in Vancouver, B.C., known for highlighting and amplifying IBPOC [Indigenous, […] More »
November-December 2019

A thank-you note to Gen Z D&D gamers

With appreciation for making gaming more inclusive

K. J. Aiello

Picture this: Kurt Cobain, 20-hole Doc Martens, plaid shirts, and Jurassic Park—the first one. Then there was me. I was the only girl in a 10-person Dungeons & Dragons campaign reeking of pimply closet-nerds. If this picture reminds you of something, it should. Those kids in Stranger Things are adorable, sure, but there’s something hauntingly […] More »

You harass me now, but I used to be one of you

A trans woman reflects on years in the trades and a changed relationship to the industry

Niko Stratis

[Content warning: language, violence, homophobia, transphobia] It is hard to describe the beauty of being awake early in the morning. Not lying-in-bed-hitting-snooze awake, but being out in the world. There’s something about a coffee before the world is alive, singing quietly to yourself so as not to wake anyone else. Taking the dog out for […] More »