#MMIW Artwork by Maddie Lamb (Courtesy: We R Native) The recent viral video revealing a disturbing scene at Winnipeg’s Marlborough Hotel has exposed the grim reality faced by Indigenous women in Canada. The footage displays an Indigenous woman with her hands zip-tied behind her, with workers trying to prevent her from leaving the hotel, hinting at a broader issue of violence, trafficking, and...
A board outside Ste. Louise Outreach of Peel food bank in Brampton that reads: “No international students!!” (Courtesy: CBC) On 22 January 2024, the Canadian government announced its intent to set new limits on study permits issued to international students in the year 2024. The government’s news release acknowledges that international students serve an important purpose and...
The demand for regulating Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly prominent in Canada. Many people are concerned about the impact of AI and are calling for the government to take action. Experts such as Yoshua Bengio, founder and scientific director of Mila-Quebec AI Institute, are urging the government to establish legal provisions for AI. According to Bengio, all general-purpose...
I recently stumbled across a 2003 interview given to a German public television station by the late author of Infinite Jest, David Foster Wallace. Though the entire interview is worth a watch, I found Wallace to be particularly insightful, as he lamented the inability of even the most intelligent of his friends to sit in silence and read a book. Even among my highly intelligent peers, it is...
“Sunny Ways,” Wilfrid Laurier’s famous words imagining a prosperous Canada, were repeated in Justin Trudeau’s 2015 victory speech. I remember being 14, excited for a Canadian transformation advancing Indigenous reconciliation, fighting climate change, and addressing growing inequalities. My naïve high school self quickly learned that politics is anything but ‘sunny.’ While I lack the space to...
This is a great recipe that requires minimal effort and dishes to show people that you can, indeed, bake! Particularly if you enjoy chocolate, and your sweet tooth craving is through the charts, I find that these brownies are the key to your perfect dessert. My brothers, who in combination are the pickiest and most annoying food critics, are always willing to break their diets because...
The following current fashion trends are perplexing to people who are not chronically online: babygirl men and mob wives. This movement is a continuation of TikTok cementing trends that are reminiscent of personas or characters which constantly change depending on what is popular on the algorithm and are packaged under labels deeply rooted in internet vernacular. Think cottagecore, Y2K, clean...
By now, we probably all know someone who has hopped on the film photography train. Whether it’s a friend, sibling, someone you follow on Instagram or even yourself, more and more people are starting to dive into the world of film photography—and I think it’s great. One of my favourite aspects of shooting with film is the imperfectness of it all. While it’s true that there’s a plethora...
If you are not versed in the modern rap drama, “stan” drama, or X (formerly known as Twitter) drama, you have probably not heard about the beef between Nicki Minaj and Meg Thee Stallion. The beef is rumored to have started 3.4 years ago due to Meg collaborating with Minaj’s long-time rap rival/enemy Cardi B on the smash hit “WAP.” With subtle wordplay and disses on different tracks, the simmering...
You know that feeling you get after you finish an exam or an assignment in which you had spent all your time and energy? A wave of relief. But when the relief and the exhaustion have passed (and you’ve cleaned up the chaos into which your living room inevitably devolved), you’re left with a deep sense of boredom. Yes, you could binge watch all twenty (and counting) seasons of Grey’s...
The Barbenheimer phenomenon resulted in an international craze this past summer. However, while occasional movie-watchers and cinephiles made their way to the theatres, beloved and well renowned actors approached picket lines. Streaming services and artificial intelligence technologies are rapidly changing the entire landscape of television and movie-watching. As a result, various media...
The defending Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs went into M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland as an underdog on a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon. In order to reach his fourth Super Bowl in six years of starting at quarterback for the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes would have to beat the soon-to-be MVP Lamar Jackson and the number-one rated Baltimore Ravens defence in the NFL. Tensions were...
This article discusses sexual assault and may be triggering for some readers. 5 January 2018. Buffalo, New York. Team Sweden versus Team Canada. It’s the gold medal game of the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (World Juniors). A sea of red jerseys envelops the ice of the KeyBank Center. Carter Hart starts in the net for Canada. Dillon Dubé opens the scoring, it’s 1–0 Canada. Sweden...
The point of this article is to introduce a sport that could potentially take North America by storm in the coming years: rugby league (League). To many, rugby may seem like one entity with one set of rules but, I assure you, it is not. The rugby ecosystem consists of several variations, the most recognizable being the rugby union (Union). Rugby sevens has also gained international...
On 22 December 2023, the government of Canada had announced a “[t]emporary public policy to facilitate temporary resident visas for certain extended family affected by the crisis in Gaza.” The policy will allow a pathway to temporary residence (up to 3 years) for family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and their immediate family members, who are Palestinian nationals directly...
In the annual Toronto Public Library (TPL) year-end message, City Librarian Vickery Bowles characterized the library as being a “crime scene.” The TPL is the largest public library system in Canada, and has been recognized as being one of the busiest libraries in North America. It serves millions who live, study, or work in Toronto with one hundred branches, providing free access to books...
January is known to be Alzheimer’s Awareness Month across Canada. With the awareness of Alzheimer’s, it is critical to be reminded of the impact of dementia on the lives of many Canadians. The experiences of those suffering from Alzheimer’s continue, and must be learned about to reinforce human rights and encourage policy changes. The Alzheimer’s Society recognizes and supports the...
On November 9, 2023, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) delivered its judgement on Peckford v Canada (Attorney General), 2023 FCA 219. Among the appellants were the Honourable Brian Peckford, former Premier of Newfoundland and the only surviving first minister who was involved with the enactment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), and the Honourable Maxime Bernier...
Bill C-332, a private member’s bill in the House of Commons, aims to add coercive control as an offence to Canada’s Criminal Code. It’s argued by proponents of the Bill that criminalizing coercive control will provide an “additional tool” for women to leave abusive situations. In 1990, the government of Ontario attempted something similar. They passed a policy making it mandatory for police...
My journey is profoundly shaped by my parents’ past; my father survived the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia while my mother escaped from Vietnam. Their stories of resilience and silent sacrifices are not merely historical narratives. Rather, they form the foundation of my existence and have taught me the true meaning of resilience and the value of silent sacrifices. In our Asian family, mental...
I thought that I had an invincible immune system. I managed to last the past few years without getting COVID, despite my run-ins with people close to me contracting it. But whenever I did hear about others having COVID, I was told that they had ‘mild’ symptoms or that while it was terrible while it lasted, it was short-lived, lasting only a week. I stayed up to date with my vaccines, but I was...
Being among strangers is an exploratory experience. To get to know a yet unmet friend is a turn-based game of social maneuvers; two or more codebreakers attempting to break a cypher that gives way to common interest. Often, no matter the person or place, to talk about movies is to resort to a robust master key. After that it’s only a matter of level of interest: self-proclaimed kinophile, passing...
Throughout my years of classical music training, I’ve come across many great composers, but Florence Price was not one of them. I only found out about this genius composer in my final year at the University of Toronto. I soon began to learn as much as I could about Price and her musical works. I discovered that she was a pianist, organist, teacher, and composer extraordinaire who lived from the...
It’s been quite a good year for the period epic. The silver screen was graced with many films that were not only realized with prestige production and mainstream release, but which have been met with a vindicating fanfare which shows that history continues to earn a place at cinemas. On the heels of Oppenheimer’s existential autobiography and Killers of The Flower Moon’s poignant tale of colonial...
Fourth Wing For fans of fantasy, romance, and action. Synopsis: Having trained her whole life to be a scribe, Violet’s life is upturned when she is enlisted in the dragon rider quadrant of Basgiath War College. She’s faced with a series of challenges and forms alliances (both human and dragon) throughout her training. Outside the school’s walls, a war escalates and Violet suspects that what...