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January-February 2022

Uniting Montreal’s North

Grassroots collective focuses on community

Madeline Lines

A late summer day in 2008 changed everything for the community of Montréal-Nord, a multicultural suburban borough in the city’s north end. Fredy Villanueva, an 18-year-old Honduran refugee, was shot and killed by a police officer in a park. The shock of his death rippled through the tight-knit neighbourhood, sparking immediate outrage, rioting, and protests. […]

Plotting the revolution

Podcast explores alternative ways of living

Khadija Alam

When Zawadi Bunzigiye was assigned to create a project with some sort of community impact as part of their creative writing program at OCAD University, they were stumped. It wasn’t until a conversation with a friend that Bunzigiye decided to start a podcast. What began as an academic assignment has blossomed into a “passion project” […]

Food for thought

Rising grocery prices across the country

Sydney Hildebrandt

The average grocery bill for Canadians has increased by 170 percent over the last two decades, according to Canada’s Food Price Report 2021. This is especially so over the last two years—since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, Canadians have seen a major bump in their grocery bills. Food production issues resulting from […]

Grappling with grief

Experiencing loss during the pandemic

Bhanwar Dhanoa

I haven’t suffered loss nearly at the scale of many people since the pandemic started. But I have suffered loss. And I’ve been preoccupied with what to do with that feeling, during a time when touch and physical presence are treated on par with the deadly disease that they could spread. I’ve struggled to process […]

The right to leave

People experiencing pregnancy loss deserve employee protections

Vanshika Dhawan

When Julia Horel presented a report at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) for the non-profit where she worked, she had a secret. Less than 24 hours prior, she received gut-wrenching news. Sometime between the first ultrasound at eight weeks into her pregnancy and the follow-up two weeks later, she experienced a miscarriage. The embryo she […]

Emergency preparedness

Climate change is on the minds of many—for those living with OCD, the reality can be especially challenging

Samantha Jones

I grew up surrounded by a family of storm enthusiasts on the east coast of Canada, where I developed a fluency in the threat of tropical storms, hurricanes, and winter storms. Each weather system evolved according to its own unique before, during, and after. For me, each event was a coupling of fascination and fear, […]

Embracing water through poetry

Rita Wong, Emily Riddle, and Sacha Ouellet connect across rivers in face of a pipeline

Erica Hiroko Isomura

Art and activism are necessary to sustain hope, especially in hard times like the present. In June and July 2021, poets Rita Wong, Emily Riddle, and Sacha Ouellet joined me to record the audio project “From the Prairies to the Pacific Rim,” a poetry exchange and conversation about waterways and the Trans Mountain (TMX) pipeline […]

Party time

New ebook press prioritizes inclusion

Jessica Rose

  When Natahna Bargen-Lema and Megan Fedorchuk launched Party Trick Press, they didn’t shy away from lofty goals. With a mission of revolutionizing eLiterature and bringing higher standards of diversity, accessibility, and inclusion to the publishing process, the digitally focused press aims to challenge the publishing industry’s complicated reputation. Soft launched in October 2020, Party […]

We need more disability representation in scripted television

It's time for this change to be made

Adam Pottle

In January 2021, I pitched a scripted television series to the CBC. My story focused on several Deaf characters, not only because I myself am Deaf, but because disabled characters seldom form the nucleus of scripted TV shows. Reality TV, however, is a different story. Reality series such as Deaf U, The Undateables, Born This […]

What city planners can learn from Pokémon

A letter from a long-time fan of the game

Marco Ovies

Dear city planners, I was 10 years old when I picked up Pokémon for the first time. I remember unwrapping it Christmas morning and rushing to immediately grab my Nintendo DS to play it, immersing myself in this world where creatures and humans not only coexist but work together to build a brighter future. A […]