This Magazine

Progressive politics, ideas & culture
Menu

Toronto

January-February 2017

REVIEW: Exploring Toronto’s legacy of poverty in print

Bryan D. Palmer and Gaétan Héroux's new book examines the city's history of the poor, from the 1830s to present day

Ryan B. Patrick

Toronto’s Poor: A Rebellious History By Bryan D. Palmer and Gaétan Héroux Between the Lines, $34.95 Tracking the ebbs and flows of societal and economic events, Toronto’s Poor: A Rebellious History by Bryan D. Palmer and Gaétan Héroux studies the history of the city’s poor and resistance. Héroux, an anti-poverty activist with the Ontario Coalition […] More »
January-February 2017

Meet the Toronto artist transforming one of the city’s unlikeliest neighbourhoods

Caroline Akwe performs at Yonge and Eglinton amid construction and bustling businesspeople

Nicole Abi-Najem@NajemNorth

Photo by Dean Bradley Like much of Toronto, the Yonge and Eglinton neighbourhood has undergone great change. As condos crop up on nearly every street corner and new transit lines are built to expand the city, the midtown area, frequented most by businesspeople and commuters, has seen vast growth. Nothing is stagnant, and the streets […] More »
September-October 2016

How a non-profit is supporting Toronto dancers with a safe space

Launched in 2009, Love-in provides alternative training to professional dancers

Michaela Cavanagh@mmcavanagh

Photo courtesy of Love-in/Facebook “Enjoy how your body feels!” dance teacher Kristina Alleyne shouts over the music. The rehearsal hall is lined with standing fans, swiveling hot air. It’s a warm summer day in Toronto, but the dancers aren’t holding back, leapfrogging through the air and improvising to the Alleyne’s rapid counts of six. The […] More »

The power of hip-hop

How music brings social change

Dina Lobo

“Having a message should be cool,” says Toronto hip-hop artist Rich Kidd on the power of rap. Kidd hosted First Out Here: Indigenous hip-hop, a documentary by Noisey, in which Kidd visited Winnipeg, Regina and Toronto to meet with Indigenous hip-hop artists. Kidd, born to Ghanian parents, says he drew a lot of parallels between […] More »
March-April 2016

Speak out

How an inspiring new generation of spoken word poets found their voices—and are using them to confront racism and challenge damaging stereotypes about Muslim women

Fatima Syed@fatimasyed401

Nasim Asgari is looking at the tofu sitting in her shopping cart, waiting for her mother to join her at the food aisle at the No Frills store in north Toronto. I wonder what it’s going to taste like, she thinks. She adjusts her headscarf. Tomorrow she’ll start her trial 40 days as a vegetarian. […] More »

Gender Block: online threats to women’s safety are kind of a big deal

Or, why we need to start taking university campus threats to women's groups seriously

Hillary Di Menna

There is some criticism out there that police and University of Toronto (UofT) campus security took online threats to shoot up women’s studies classrooms too seriously. If Canada didn’t have such a history of letting women and girls be abused, and in some cases murdered, maybe these criticisms would be right. As of Sept. 11, […] More »

Five in a row: Fire on Water, Sarah Polley, big fish at TIFF, and more

Sue Carter Flinn

Last Sunday I swung by Fire on the Water – named for a time when old boats were lit ablaze and set out to sea for entertainment – a day of art installations, music and dancing at Sunnyside Bathing Pavilion in west-end Toronto. Built in 1922 as changing facilities for the local beach and swimming […] More »

The long road of LGBTQ rights in Canada

Kyle Dupont

Toronto’s LGBTQ community is gearing up for what is set to be another successful Pride Week in the city. The event  has taken place in various forms since the late 1970s and has run annually since 1981. It continues to grow increasingly popular within the LGBTQ community, but also with all members of society. Last […] More »

Independent tow truck operators protest latest OPP proposal; call it death knell

Kyle Dupont

One of the best ways to get noticed is to disrupt the morning commute. That is exactly what a convoy of independent tow truck drivers did this morning as part of a protest against the Ontario Provincial Police’s proposal to contact its use of tow truck companies to a selected few. Together, those 50 plus […] More »

Hundreds gather at Enbridge AGM in Toronto to protest pipelines

Kyle Dupont

About 200 protesters gathered on King Street today as Enbridge held their annual general meeting inside the King Edward Hotel. The mass of protesters had congregated on the street to voice their opinions on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would stretch 1,172 kilometres from Bruderheim, Alta., to the port of Kitimat, B.C. The proposed […] More »

Toronto Women's Bookstore calls for submissions about TWB past and present

Graham F. Scott

Tara-Michelle Ziniuk, Toronto author, performer, and activist, and sometime This Magazine contributor, yesterday emailed to announce that she’s editing an anthology of writing about the Toronto Women’s Bookstore, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year (depending on when you start counting). The TWB has had a difficult few years from a financial perspective, but the […] More »