Tag Archives: Toronto
So… a raccoon walks into an art class…
Cultured raccoon creeps into Scarborough high school’s art class
‘He did not have time to get into the paint,’ art teacher says
A Toronto raccoon seemingly sought sophistication in its Wednesday morning escapade and crept into an art classroom at R.H. King Academy.
Mark Tufford, an art teacher at the Scarborough high school, arrived at work shortly after 8 a.m. to prepare for the day.
He opened the windows and left the room, only to return to the critter perched on a desk, “looking at me.”
“It was mostly disbelief,” Tufford said of the sight. “It was definitely a story to tell.”
“He was sitting on a table. I could see him clearly through the window of the door.”
Tufford locked the classroom door and informed the main office.
“The raccoon was terrified,” he said.
“King” the raccoon later sought refuge in a supplies cabinet, Tufford said.
Maintaining public housing status quo wrong
By PAT WATSON
Mould, leaking ceilings, broken windows covered with cardboard, leaking rusty plumbing. Any of these could be describing housing conditions on any one of the poorly supported reserves where indigenous people live in Northern Ontario. But they also describe conditions crying out for attention within the properties managed by the City of Toronto.
The list of problems would also have to include the rate of violent crime that occurs on or in the vicinity of public housing property, which exceeds the rate in other parts of the city.
Is it too far a stretch to characterize City management as a slumlord?
Here is what the mayor’s Task Force looking into the crisis we call Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) came back with: “TCHC is an organization that, because of its history and structure, is unsustainable financially, socially and from an operating and governance perspective.”
Yet, rather than do away with this whole enterprise, the Task Force has come back with two main recommendations about the structure of the organization, both of which would mean keeping TCHC in existence in one form or another.
The Task Force has recommended changing the name of TCHC to NewHome. NewHome, old home, what’s the difference if it looks and functions no differently?
– See more at: http://sharenews.com/maintaining-public-housing-status-quo-wrong/#sthash.4b51f6RC.dpuf
Pat Watson is the author of the e-book, In Through a Coloured Lens.
The Dusty Crystal Ball does a snow job on 2016
The Dusty Crystal Ball does a snow job on 2016
By PAT WATSON
The seconds are ticking into 2016. At this time and in this space, as one year hands off to the next, the Dusty Crystal Ball nudges its way to the centre to again prognosticate, with absolute improbability, expectations for the year ahead.
Here then, for your amusement, are the top 10 events to watch for in 2016 – none of which are expected to materialize. Remember, this particular crystal ball is very, very dusty, and has yet to see any of its predictions come true…except for the odd accidental piece of irony.
Prediction 1: The unusually warm Christmas 2015 season, during which time so many across Canada finally began to talk about the reality of global warming, will quickly be forgotten once meteorologists and climatologists ramp up their statements that this year’s weather anomaly is the result of yet another El Niño system. The questioning will end when a more typical winter returns by the end of January. Then, the talk among strangers at bus stops while waiting in the freezing cold for the bus or streetcar will be, “Global warming? What global warming?”
– See more at: http://sharenews.com/the-dusty-crystal-ball-does-a-snow-job-on-2016/#sthash.hTEzz2NS.dpuf
Pat Watson is the author of the e-book, In Through a Coloured Lens. Twitter@patprose.
Comments sections rife with hate and nastiness
http://sharenews.com/comments-sections-rife-with-hate-and-nastiness/
By PAT WATSON
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has issued a notice that it is suspending comments posted below news reports on matters concerning indigenous people because “over many months these stories draw a disproportionate number of comments that cross the line and violate our guidelines.” The notice posted earlier this week characterized some comments as “clearly hateful”, “vitriolic” and “ignorant”.
The suspension will continue until the middle of January, perhaps longer. We shall see.
This suspension of comments follows a similar suspension decision by the Toronto Sun daily newspaper announced at the end of September.
Well, there is that saying that “haters gotta hate.”
– See more at: http://sharenews.com/comments-sections-rife-with-hate-and-nastiness/#sthash.kRtdgUXu.dpuf
Subsidized Housing task force response lipstick on a crumbling pig
TCHC task force response lipstick on a crumbling pig
By PAT WATSON
Have you ever sat in an exam, written what you thought was a really good response to an essay question, only to find out that you did not read the directions for the question properly? No matter how well you wrote the paper, you then get a failing grade. In some sense, that is what we could make of the recent announcement from the executive at Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) regarding how they plan to improve the portfolio.
The plan of action sounds rosy, but does it truly answer the key problem, which is the model of public housing that now burdens the city? That burden includes a growing $1.7 billion backlog of repairs on a heap of crumbling bricks and mortar that houses more than 50,000 people in 2,200 TCHC buildings.
The promises for improvement follow the interim report put out in July as part of Toronto Mayor John Tory’s Task Force on Toronto Community Housing. Tory has made some comments about what needs to be done to improve safety and security within TCHC sites, among them evicting residents involved in criminal activity. For most TCHC residents, this latter is a pointless argument, as they are being wrongly characterized in this matter. Many who use TCHC property as sites for doing illegal business are not residents.
The report coming from TCHC Chair Bud Purves and interim CEO Greg Spearn places a good deal of emphasis on increasing security as well as providing information to residents about how to anonymously report crimes. Crime, including bodily harm and murder, occur more often per capita in and near TCHC property than in other parts of the city. Safety and security will always be an important concern, but to overlook the environmental design and social components that would allow for a higher rate of occurrence is to write the wrong answer to the question.
However, to show they mean business, the city plans to re-mortgage the properties in order to finance the $400 million they plan to spend over two years, starting almost immediately, to carry out such initiatives as pest control, job creation and increased security features.
But picture TCHC workers putting security cameras on the side of a building only to have them fall off along with bricks a few days later. It could happen. An entire four floors of brick facing fell from a TCHC building in Scarborough back in April, just as the spring thaw was setting in. Imagine if it was only the cold that had been holding those bricks in place.
No. Putting lipstick on a pig is not the best answer that could have come out of this task force. How about…
– See more at: http://sharenews.com/tchc-task-force-response-lipstick-on-a-crumbling-pig/#sthash.emRPQLkX.dpuf
Abuse of women is not a game – Opinion column
Here is my latest column in Share Newspaper (Sharenews.com)
Physical and Sexual Abuse of Women is Not a Game
By PAT WATSON
Another high-profile man has been outed for his abusive behaviour involving women. The insistence by a well-known, now former, CBC radio host that his habit of choking women he invites on dates and then punching them in the head is consensual has appalled many. This individual has reportedly hired a top-notch female lawyer to defend his case as he has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against his former employer.
This matter of female abuse is a very emotional issue, therefore after this particular case came to public attention, a wave of female voices rose up to share stories of being the targets of abuse.
At the same time, a two-minute video showing how men sexually harassed a woman walking the streets of New York City went viral. Some hailed the video. And, it was criticized by others because of the way it racialized the males who hassled the woman. The producer of the video is male and he has stated he edited the 10 hours of footage to make his point not about race, but about the daily abuse of women on the streets.
– See more at: http://sharenews.com/physical-and-sexual-abuse-of-women-is-not-a-game/#sthash.lHNSwvK5.dpuf
Radio interview & more free e-book download days
Hello All.
Here is the url for the author interview that took place on Sunday afternoon, Dec. 15 on Diasporic Music with host Otis Richmond to further promote In Through A Coloured Lens. It can be heard in the last 30 minutes of the recording, but the entire 2-hour session is good.
http://uhurunews.com/radio/playaudio?resource_name=sly-dunbar-pat-watson
In other promo news, another free download period at amazon.com has been added: Dec 16 to Dec. 18. So catch it while you can. If you don’t have a kindle reader, your copy can be downloaded to tablet, smart phone or computer using features available at amazon.com.
Once you’ve read In Through A Coloured Lens, remember to leave a comment and rating at amazon.com . Please share your opinion there with other readers.
Find it at: http://www.amazon.com/Through-Coloured-Lens-Pat-Watson-ebook/dp/B00F8EODTC/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387174867&sr=1-1&keywords=in+through+a+coloured+lens
News of e-book download comp and radio interview
Thank you to those who responded to the poll regarding interest in a free download from amazon.com/amazon.ca/amazon.co.uk of my debut e-book, In Through A Coloured Lens, taking place over a two-day period – this Saturday, Dec 14 and Sunday, Dec. 15.
Also on Sunday, Dec. 15 at 3:30 p.m., I’ll be interviewed by Diasporic Music host Otis Richmond on Uhuru Radio. http://uhurunews.com/radio/?tzoffminutes=300
What is In Through A Coloured Lens about?
A young man searches for his identity. Young Black men lose their lives to the stories created about them that they then buy into. A mysterious bus driver documents an apocalyptic tale of our contemporary lives as it relates to the Book of Revelations. A woman speaks in the Council Chamber at Toronto City Hall to tell about how her life went from normal to the desperation of depression and homelessness and recovery. A northern city become known for it’s annual Caribbean carnival rivalling many similar celebrations around the globe. A little girl skips along a sidewalk, bringing memories of long forgotten childhoods.
In Through a Coloured Lens is a compilation of timely and timeless columns selected from the hundreds by Toronto writer and columnist Pat Watson that have appeared over the past ten years in Share newspaper – “Canada’s largest ethnic newspaper”. Here are words on the lives of African Canadians and the issues that affect them even beyond Canada’s borders. With Watson’s particular insights colouring each view, themes range from family relations to race relations, politics to humour, mental health and poverty, and even spirituality.
For added dimension, there are illustrations by M.W. Santerre
We may laugh, but Rob Ford is a monster we created
We may laugh, but Ford is a monster we created
Television, it’s been said, is the medium that allows you to have in your living room people you would not otherwise invite into your home. Thus it is with Rob Ford, current mayor of Toronto, and his eldest brother Councillor Doug Ford, two politicians who are currently in the spotlight because of behavior deemed for the most part socially offensive.
But this troubling set of circumstances – evidence of a video of the mayor of Toronto consorting with criminals, spending his leisure time in what appears to be a crack den, blackmail, extortion, obscene language, and just plain spectacle, along with his enabling brother – involves not just these individuals, but all spectators.
We may allow ourselves to gawk at this show in disgust, amazement or amusement, but prudence requires some context and perspective, otherwise we may be surprised at where our participating in this whole mess will take us.
First, we have all become part of a scenario that can best be described as an alternate reality. Or if you will, some form of insanity, because soundness of mind is not what is operating at the source – that source being the Fords.
The Ford Circus creates psychic and emotional dissonance. Normally, when someone in a position of public trust breaches that agreement he resigns from that position. This has so far not been the case with Rob Ford. This leaves pundits with no formulaic answer for what is happening and what will happen next.
Part of the confusion is that Ford retains loyalty among his supporters in the face of undeniable antisocial behavior. But it bears remembering that other politicians who have been in the spotlight for scandals have seen their popularity ratings also go up, former U.S. president Bill Clinton being a prime example.
Another matter is the politics of the dollar has taken primacy. Ford repeats after just about every apology that he is keeping spending down, that he is ‘looking after the little guy’ and that he’s saved Toronto a billion dollars. All of these claims can reliably be refuted, but as the saying goes, if you repeat a lie often enough it comes to be believed as the truth. Even the liar believes it.
Politicians have made hay with economic insecurity to the extent that a significant enough portion of voters will make allowances for all kinds of oversights as long as politicians can convince them that they are looking after “taxpayers’’ money. This reaction has not happened in a vacuum. There has long been dissatisfaction with the way money given up by everyday people to various levels of government has been mishandles or wasted.
The votes that brought the Harper Conservatives to power a decade ago came after revelations about funding improprieties by the Chrétien Liberals, the so-called sponsorship scandal in which monies were paid out to Quebec advertising agencies for work that was not done or overpayments were made. It was a $2-million debacle that eventually put the Liberals in third place in Parliament. The current Senate scandal involving inappropriate travel expense claims that saw three senators censured is also about money.
Spending baggage is also haunting Ontario’s Liberal government. By now we should all be familiar with the litany of fiscal waste attached to the current provincial Liberal legacy. Add to that the outrage fueled by right-wing media reporting on retiring municipal politician Kyle Rae’s $14,000 send-off party and we begin to see why and how an outlier like Rob Ford won through. Ford had, after all, made a reputation of railing against pretty much any government spending. No one likes having his or her trust abused. When government leaders do that at the most base level of concern – money – they are stepping deep into the public’s vested interest. So if a person with political ambitions comes along with a message that he will “stop the gravy” train, desperate people will cling to it like a life raft.
We may laugh or be aghast at Ford, but he’s not the only one creating this dystopian drama. He is but a nick-nack from our collective focus on the ‘almighty dollar’. This then is what happens when we make money our god; it turns around and makes a mockery of us all.
The preceding article is a modified version of my column in the November 21 issue of Share newspaper. Share is Canada’s largest ethnic newspaper. Visit sharenews.com
Image by Theo Moudakis taken from the Toronto Star
Toronto writer and columnist Pat Watson is the author of the e-book In Through A Coloured Lens available at amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk.
In Through A Coloured Lens 