Peel Regional Police has launched a pilot project to deal with calls from person with addictions or in mental health crises. Instead of sending out a team of police officers in response to such calls, two crisis workers would be dispatched. They would be equipped with the training and tools to safely de-escalate the situation […]
Trinidad-born Dr. Rhonda McEwen was installed on Wednesday, Oct 12th, President and Vice-Chancellor of Victoria University. The installation ceremony took place as part of the university’s Charter Day celebrations which included steelband music and a live calypso performance by David Rudder. In her address at the installation, Dr. McEwan noted that Victoria University has “a well-articulated […]
While walking the TIFF red carpet last week, Viola Davis said that embodying an African warrior who leads an all-female battalion in The Woman King was just part of the gig. “Your job as an actor is to humanize your character. Nobody is strong all the time,” Viola Davis said. “Nobody’s without vulnerability, no one’s […]
Three of the best of “Caribbean – Canadian” films in three different venues on three different days By Stephen Weir Why does it just happen in September? Now that all the critics and movie people have seen the best new film festival flicks how do we, the common people, get a chance to buy bags […]
Six persons from the Caribbean community are contesting the Toronto City Council elections to be held on October 24. One of them – lawyer Knia Singh, a former chairman of the Caribana Arts Group (CAG) -is running for mayor and the five others for councillor. (There are 31 candidates running for mayor of Toronto, including […]
Sulaimon Giwa has strong opinions on modern day policing from years of lived and academic experience. He doesn’t however, have a specific answer for what it means to defund the police. “It’s a question I’ve been trying to grapple with,” he said. “Are we actually using the correct language to define and have meaningful […]
Ontario ombudsman Paul Dube who recommended standardized, mandatory de-escalation training for police across the province in a report he made in 2016, said last Wednesday that “progress has been painfully slow” on his recommendation on this issue. Dube was speaking at a news conference introducing his annual report, which outlines trends and investigations his office […]
This fall, the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) presents the first major retrospective of late Trinidadian-Canadian artist Denyse Thomasos. One of the finest painters to emerge in the 1990s, Thomasos had a singular style that employed abstraction as a means to explore contemporary issues of race, the architecture of confinement and our complex relationships to […]
The Black Business and Professional Association (BBPA) presents Sinting Fest from August 26-28, 2022. This free community event will celebrate Caribbean culture both locally and from around the Diaspora with food, fashion, music, and dance. Performers at the event will include Da’ville, Kairo McLean, Michie Mee, Jay Douglas, Rayzalution, and many more. The event will also host […]
By Stephen Weir The Honourable Jean Augustine probably didn’t have to say anything except All-A-Board, but a 1,000 people waiting to board the TTC Freedom Train wanted to hear what the first Black Canadian woman to serve as a federal Minister of the Crown and Member of Parliament had to say. Standing on steps inside […]
