Provincial Day of Action Held to Call for a Stop to Legal Aid Cuts

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed  A rally held outside the Constituency Office of Premier Doug Ford in Toronto, Ontario

A coalition of community members, frontline legal aid workers, and lawyers is calling on the government of Ontario to stop the cuts to Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) and community legal clinics.

On July 30 protests and actions were held in communities across the province to demand that Attorney General Doug Downey and Premier Doug Ford to reverse the cuts to funding the legal aid system in the province.

The Progressive Conservative government slashed nearly 30 per cent of the organization's budget in April and said that the LAO could no longer use provincial funds for refugee and immigration cases.

There were actions in different parts of Toronto, Brampton, Bracebridge, Fort Frances, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, Little Current, Marathon, London, Mississauga, Moosonee, Newmarket, Owen Sound, Peterborough, Renfrew, Sarnia/Point Edward, Thunder Bay and Windsor. 

“Ford's $300 million cuts to legal aid will hurt a huge number of people in Ontario, including tenants, low-wage workers, women fleeing violence, people struggling with mental illness, workers hurt on the job, and parents with custody or support issues. They're the biggest cuts ever faced by legal aid and community legal clinics,” said the organizers.

The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) joined the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario (SALCO), Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic (CSALC), and Centre for Immigrant and Community Services (CICS) in the provincial day of action outside the constituency office of Premier Ford.

 The BLAC is a specialty legal clinic that works to combat individual and systemic anti-black racism through the provision of legal aid services. It provides free legal assistance to low to no income Black Ontarians who meet its case selection and financial eligibility requirements.

“Doug Ford says that he is loved by the Black community. He says that he has massive support from the Black community. He says that he loves us and that we love him. That there is no other politician in this country who has supported us more than he has. This statement is backed up by telling us that he takes 80 young Black children to his cottage for several days in the summer months.

“The Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) is here to tell Mr. Ford that the 80 children that he takes to his cottage does not the “Black community” make. That while some may love beneficence of taking Black children to his cottage, doing so is not a solution to the massive systemic discrimination and inequity faced by the over 600,000 members of the very diverse Black community across Ontario. And, neither are the cuts that he has made to policing oversight, education, social services and Legal Aid Ontario,” said Ruth Goba, executive director of the Black Legal Action Centre, outside Ford’s office.

Goba said if Ford really wants to support the Black community, she would urge him to “ask the young Black people stuck in detention who can no longer get legal aid certificates for bail because of Mr. Ford’s cuts to legal aid if they feel supported and loved? And who are very likely to be in detention because of racial profiling in the first place.”

 

She would also urge the premier to “ask the Black refugee fleeing domestic violence who can’t get assistance from a legal clinic or Legal Aid Ontario to make their refugee claim, if they feel supported and loved?”

“My guess, Mr. Ford, though I do not profess to represent the entire Black community in the province, is that if you thought to ask these questions, the answers would be a resounding NO!! This should matter to you. It should matter very much. If you truly do “love” and care about the Black community as you purport to, BLAC urges you to reverse the cuts to Legal Aid Ontario and other areas that impact vulnerable Ontarians.”

Photo contributed Staff of Black Legal Action Centre (BLAC) and other community legal aid clinics outside Doug Ford's Etobicoke North constituency office

In a statement on the legislative changes in Ontario that it issued in May, BLAC said that without consulting stakeholders, the government cut Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) funding by a third, with an anticipated $31 million cut next year. 

“This will have a severe impact on the LAO clinic system and consequently, communities most impacted by social and economic inequities,” it said. 

BLAC said what is particularly concerning to BLAC and others is the government’s decision to single out legal services provided to immigrants and refugees, and effectively cut 100% of its funding to these services.

It notes that immigration is a major source of growth of the Black population, with 53% of all African Canadians in Ontario born outside the country.

“The cuts to the immigration and refugee law services will put people’s lives in danger, and is an attack on human rights. Community and specialty clinics such as BLAC provide services on issues that are most critical to our communities.”

 These service areas, which intersect, include housing, income security, education, health care, mental health, disability programs, workers’ rights, domestic violence, and environmental issues.

It notes that clinics prioritize client and community needs and attempt to meet them strategically, making efficient use of scarce resources.

Clinics use lawyers, non-lawyers, public education initiatives and other delivery systems in order to deliver services cost-effectively to those who cannot otherwise afford lawyers and court fees.

“These LAO cuts have the effect of creating further barriers to access to justice for the most marginalized members of our community. These LAO cuts will impact all low to no income Ontarians,” BLAC said.

The coalition members are: Association of Community Legal Clinics of Ontario,
Ontario Association of Child Protection Lawyers, OPSEU, Society of United Professionals (IFPTE 160), and Voices of Scarborough.

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, Aug. 8-14, 2019.]

Police Board Holds Public Consultation on Race-based Data Collection Policy

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed  Notisha Massaquoi, Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel of the Toronto Police Services Board

The Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB) and its Anti-Racism Advisory Panel (ARAP) are inviting the public to participate in the development of its Race-based Data Collection policy.

The Board will be meeting with various stakeholders, community groups and subject matters, and would also like to provide the public with the opportunity to provide invaluable input into the development of the final policy that will be presented to the Board for approval in September.

For more than a decade, communities have been asking for the Toronto Police Service to collect and report on race-based data collection, in order to enhance transparency, accountability, and to help to create a better understanding on how policing services are delivered, specifically across racialized, marginalized and vulnerable populations.

“With the drafting of this policy, the Toronto Police Services Board wanted to ensure that in addition to working with the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel (ARAP), the public was confident that a sufficient number and representative cross-section of community members, community organizations, subject-matter experts as well as members of the Toronto Police Service were consulted in the development of the Policy,” say Uppala Chandrasekera and Notisha Massaquoi, Co-Chairs of the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel.

Chandrasekera is the director of public policy at the Canadian Mental Health Association and a member of the TPSB, who is a well-regarded mental health advocate, and Massaquoi is the executive director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands and a prominent equity champion.

The panel itself is a diverse group of community members, mental health advocates, academics, service providers and police officers.

“This policy is literally groundbreaking as the Toronto Police Service Board is the first police governance body in partnership with various communities, to create a comprehensive policy that makes race-based data collection mandatory across the entire organization and the Toronto Police Service will be the first police service in Canada to create the resulting operationalized procedure,” say the Co-Chairs.

They said the Board and Service wanted to be proactive, working ahead of the timelines set out in the Anti-Racism Act's Anti-Racism Data Standards which came into effect in 2017.

“The development of this policy demonstrates that our Board and Service are committed to becoming national leaders in this very important and topical area.”

Chandrasekera and Massaquoi note that the collection of race-based data means that racialized communities can better monitor how policing services are delivered in their communities.

“It provides an opportunity to analyse trends and behaviours, and creates the opportunity to identify gaps in training, process and procedure. The public reporting of this data is a first step towards an open, transparent working partnership with communities in the interest of increasing public trust and eliminating systemic racism.”

Photo contributed  Uppala Chandrasekera, Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism Advisory Panel of the Toronto Police Services Board

The Anti-Racism Advisory Panel’s work is grounded in an anti-oppression framework, with a specific focus on anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism, as well as an analysis of the systemic, intersectional, and historical ways that racism and discrimination affect Black, Indigenous, and racialized peoples.

Initially, the work of ARAP was intended to focus only on the establishment of a monitoring framework (i.e. key benchmarks and performance indicators) for the Board to use in assessing the response to and implementation of each of the recommendations from the inquest into the death of Andrew Loku.

Loku, a Black man with mental health challenges and a father of five, originally from South Sudan, was shot and killed by police on July 5, 2015 after refusing to drop a hammer he was carrying in the building where he lived. The shooting sparked days of protest by Black Lives Matter in Toronto.

Following the release of the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s interim report, “A Collective Impact: Interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service,” the TPSB determined it was appropriate to expand ARAP’s mandate to include the development of a mandatory race-based data collection policy for the TPS.

A draft of the Race-based Data Collection Policy notes that “…it is the Board’s policy that race-based data will be collected by the Service in all stops, searches, interactions involving Use of Force, charges, apprehensions and arrests.

“The Board has chosen to engage in a phased implementation of this Policy, with a focus on a single area for collection first: all Use of Force incidents. After this first phase is properly evaluated, the Board will, as soon as possible, expand the application of this Policy to the mandatory collection of race-based data across all areas of the Service.”

 The link is now available on the TPSB’s website, under the "Policies & By-Laws" tab until the end of August.

http://tpsb.ca/policies-by-laws/rbdc-policy

This is a unique opportunity for communities to provide feedback into what will be a groundbreaking policy in Civilian Oversight and Police Governance.

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, Aug. 8-14, 2019.]

Jamaica Summer Games and Wellness Festival to Kickoff in Toronto

By Neil Armstrong

Karl Hale, organizer of the Jamaica Summer Games and Wellness Festival, and Angella Bennett, regional director - Canada, Jamaica Tourist Board

A new initiative promoting sports, wellness, music, culture and Jamaica will take place in Toronto during the third weekend of August.

Jamaica Summer Games and Wellness Festival is the brainchild of Jamaican-Canadian Karl Hale who notes that it will feature seven beach and land sports on August 17 and 18 at Ashbridges Bay in Toronto.

This is to support Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation, a charitable organization he founded, to build their 25^th school in Jamaica.

Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation seeks to improve the lives of the next generation of Jamaicans and their communities by creating a world-class education system through investment in infrastructure, resource materials and expertise.

Hale is expecting approximately 500 athletes in different sports this year and anyone interested in participating can register online. Approximately 300 people have already registered and the sports ambassadors are Daniel Nestor, tennis; Dwayne De Rosario, soccer; Jonathon Power, squash; and Nick Kypreos, hockey.

The sports are beach tennis, squash, tennis, pickleball, beach soccer, beach volleyball and beach ultimate frisbee. There will also be yoga, a wellness talk series and live music.

Hale, who played Davis Cup for Jamaica for 10 years, says he came up with the idea for a couple of reasons; one, to have a new revenue stream to help the Foundation build schools, and two, sports and health and wellness are things that they know.

He is currently the tournament director of the Rogers Cup Tennis Tournament in Toronto and the director of Racquet Sports at the prestigious Donalda Club.

“We have a good partner, the Jamaica Tourist Board, and we feel there is a need in the community for something like this because it’s a little bit different than what’s out there. It’s not your normal reggae festival or something like that; it’s more health and wellness, family and sport and we see an opportunity to grow this tremendously over the next few years.”

He believes they can get to 10,000 athletes which helps Brand Jamaica and Helping Hands create awareness get more people on their school builds and grow their charity.

Hale says he chose Ashbridges Bay because it is a beach and they wanted the feel like that of a beach in Jamaica and they are also trying to promote the island as well.

“We thought it’s a unique idea because everybody thinks Jamaica Summer Games in Jamaica which potentially we can grow to that. In the future we do have a vision to do that but right now it helps promote Jamaica and Helping Hands, people love it and the sports are doing really well – the registration – so we hope a lot of people come out for the health and wellness centre on the 17^th and 18^th of August.”

Hale has plans to travel to Jamaica in July 2020 with 40 volunteers to build the 25^th school in Port Antonio, Portland.  Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation has built schools in Westmoreland, St. Elizabeth, Trelawny, Kingston and other parts of Jamaica. This year it built schools in Treasure Beach and in St. Thomas.

“We just try to look and whoever is interested in hosting us, and Port Antonio was really eager to host us. We had a good experience last time so we’re going back.”

Food For The Poor is their build partner on the ground so they will be helping volunteers of the Foundation to construct the school. 

Karl Hale in conversation at the media launch of the Jamaica Summer Games and Wellness Festival at The Real Jerk restaurant

The Jamaica Summer Games and Wellness Festival includes beach volleyball, beach tennis, beach soccer, beach frisbee, pickleball, tennis and squash

Angella Bennett, regional director – Canada of the Jamaica Tourist Board, says this is a very new concept to Toronto and thankfully Hale came to the JTB with the idea to support Helping Hands Jamaica Foundation in Jamaica.

“We came onboard, we are the sponsor because we want to promote Jamaica’s health and wellness awareness in Toronto. It’s becoming quite a popular destination for health and wellness and we thought why not have a summer games activity that will speak of sports fun activity in a very healthy environment.”

The aim is to promote Jamaica as the main destination for health and wellness.

Bennett said Jamaica is dedicated to sports tourism and health and wellness, and has the perfect environment for it.

“When you do yoga in the morning it’s beautiful to do it with the sunrise in Jamaica. All our hotel partners are offering very extensive health and wellness programs within the hotels so we want to make sure that that awareness is known in Toronto.”

She said Canadians are a very big part of the numbers of travellers to Jamaica “and everyone is looking for a vacation where they can disconnect from all the technology that is so connected to them.”

“They want to disconnect and have a special time in Jamaica. We want to offer Jamaica as an option for them.”

The media launch for the Summer Games and Wellness Festival was held at The Real Jerk restaurant, owned by Jamaican-Canadians Lily and Ed Pottinger, in Toronto and where international stars, Rihanna and Drake shot a music video for “Work” a few years ago that went viral.
 
 

To register for the sports competitions at the Jamaica Summer Games and Wellness Festival, go to: www.jamaicasummergames.net

Emancipation Day to be Celebrated in Toronto

By Neil Armstrong

Emancipation Day (August 1) will be celebrated in Toronto with an annual train ride organized by A Different Booklist Cultural Centre and an event hosted by the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS).

On August 1, 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act, also known as ‘Emancipation Day,’ secured the freedom of people of African origin throughout the British Empire which included Canada.

This year the OBHS will hold its annual celebration of freedom with a series of events, starting on August 1 at the Artscape Sandbox in Toronto.

Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard of Halifax, Nova Scotia will be the keynote speaker that evening that will also feature artists from the city.

The Canadian senator will be among hundreds that will gather at Toronto’s busiest subway station, Union, at 10:45 p.m. on July 31 for the 7^th annual Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride which will start there and end at Sheppard West station where the celebration welcoming Emancipation Day will continue until 1:00 a.m.

Under the theme #ResilienceDespitetheOdds, the train ride will feature leaders, activists, and politicians from the Black community in Toronto.

Among them will be literary critic and poet, George Elliott Clarke, and Senator Thomas Bernard will act as the conductor following in the tradition of Harriet Tubman, lead conductor of the Underground Railroad which led many African Americans seeking freedom to Canada.

“This ride, symbolic of the role of the Underground Railroad in Canadian history, is free and open to the public. Everyone should know and have freedom, and it’s our collective responsibility to liberate,” said the organizers.

Referencing a recent article by Toronto-based human right lawyer, Anthony Morgan, and news stories about immigration officers recently conducting street checks in Toronto, and other issues, they said, “we are not there yet.”

“Emancipation Day honours the history, memory, and legacy of Black Canadian’s resistance to white supremacy. It also recognizes Canada’s complicity in the enslaving of Africans and how this colonial heritage stole Black liberation. However, this Black Canadian cultural tradition that once thrived is now barely surviving after more than 184 years. The holiday has significantly waned in terms of its public familiarity, currency and relevance,” writes Morgan.

He notes that, “the resulting failure diminishes the tradition’s potential to unify, organize, and mobilize diverse Black communities around a consciousness of Black liberation in Canada. This is also a lost opportunity for deepening community development and fostering a sense of belonging within Black Canadian communities.”

The organizers said #FTR2019 is “a continuation of A Different Booklist’s traditional effort to strengthen and unify our community.”

Natasha Henry, now president of the OBHS, in her book, ‘Emancipation Day: Celebrating Freedom in Canada,’ writes that, “The end of the horrific, inhumane practice of African slavery in all British colonies was the result of the determination of enslaved Africans in the New World, including Canada, along with Black and White abolitionists in the Western Hemisphere and in Europe.”

Henry notes that the passage of the 1833 Abolition of Slavery Bill was a victory for those who advocated fervently, but most importantly, for the people who were emancipated.

“In recognition of their newly acquired freedom, which came into effect in most British territories on August 1, 1834, former slaves quickly created a venue from which to express their allegiance, elation, and gratitude. The first day of liberation was a joyous occasion, for which emancipation came freedom and much cause for great celebration.”

Rosemary Sadlier, president of the Black Canadian Network and past president of the OBHS, says in 1997, in support of the initiative of the Caribbean Historical Society of Trinidad and Tobago, she began seeking official recognition of August 1 as Emancipation Day.

“I was successful with the City of Toronto, Metro Toronto, the City of Ottawa, and by 2008, the Province of Ontario. It has gone to second reading twice in our Canadian Parliament.”

Sadlier noted that with the new federal government and a more sizable Black Caucus, she initiated a parliamentary petition to facilitate/ensure that August 1 would be considered for national commemoration. She said she initiated the idea with Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard who was happy to take it on and make it a Senate matter.

“With her incredible support, and the hard work of her office, Bill S-255 – An Act proclaiming Emancipation Day, has gone to second reading,” says Sadlier about the senator.

Sadlier is encouraging people to celebrate the day in any way that suits them, whether it be a spiritual service at their place of worship, a community event, or crafting a letter to have Emancipation Day off as a paid holiday or joining the Emancipation Day Underground Freedom Train Ride.

Morgan recently wrote a creative Afrofuturistic article which he entitled a “Template letter to employer requesting a day off for Emancipation Day” for the Nova Scotia Advocate.

“Maybe you will find something going on in your community that will commemorate August 1^st as Emancipation Day! Maybe that means that you will contact your Senator to let them know that you want to see August 1^st recognized in Canada! It is Black History and it is Canadian History!” writes Sadlier in an email.

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 25-31, 2019.]

Toronto Caribbean Carnival has a Longer Route for Parade and Entertainment Zones

By Neil Armstrong

Mayor John Tory and some masqueraders at the official launch of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto

The Festival Management Committee (FMC), organizer of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, has officially launched the month-long celebration at Nathan Phillips Square in the heart of the city.

The carnival is the largest cultural event in Canada and largest outdoor festival in North America.

Chris Alexander, chief administrative officer of the FMC, says there are some new things this year including a much longer route so masqueraders can “do a lot of stuff” and entertainment zones.

Most of the grand parade on August 3 will happen outside of the grounds of Exhibition Place and will go along Lake Shore Boulevard to west of Parkside Avenue and then turn around to head to Canada Boulevard.

Alexander says 75 per cent of the route is on the street outside Exhibition Place while the rest is on the inside – a gated area and an area for VIPs so they can access money to operate the parade.

He says the FMC has expanded activities over the month and there are many events happening in Malvern that are related to the junior carnival, such as the Jr. Carnival King & Queen Showcase and Jr. Carnival Parade & Family Day.

The organizers have made a conscious effort to hold many of the events outside of the core of the Toronto.

“We have more bands this year, more masqueraders obviously so we have increased guest bands. We have the competitive bands, which we have a number of those staging in different areas; we have non-competitive bands, which is new this year. It’s the same costumed bands but now they’re just not competing and then we have the steel bands.”

He says it will not be a standing parade where masqueraders are waiting to get on stage. Instead it is a movement and there are areas where they can “stop and do a whole bunch of stuff.

On the matter of not having a title sponsor this year, Alexander said the FMC has a three-tier model that includes sponsorship, gating some events and government granting.

He said the impact of the carnival does a lot for the city and its economic impact is $400million and plus.

“We’re surviving, we will need more; we always need more, we need more sponsors, obviously, it’s something that will always do well for the festival.”

The CAO said a big reason they need sponsors for the festival is because the majority of the events are free such as the Junior Carnival and other activities held throughout the city.

Alexander said 15 per cent of people who come to the major carnival event are the ones that pay, 85 per cent of people see the carnival for free.

“We want to continue to do that, we want to continue to give that to Toronto to make sure that everybody understands that it is a gift to us. It was a gift in 1967 and it’s still a gift today.”

The organizers have created a hashtag, #RespectTheParade. Alexander explained that they want people to see the spectacle of the parade but what many people tend to do is join in and make it a street party which it is really not.

“We really want people to respect the parade, respect the mas, respect the masqueraders so what we’ve done this year is a number of things to make sure that happens.”

Instead of having one stage and one activity taking place where everybody joins in the parade because it was the only thing happening, this year they have created a number of diversion or entertainment zones along the parade route.

There are five of these which will allow people to go get food, get refreshed and get entertained while the masquerade is taking place and they can see the mas on the street.

Joe Halstead, chair of the board of the FMC, says the carnival is stronger today than it has ever been and they are ready to celebrate this year. He said symbolically the festival is a celebration of freedom and diversity and as a community it is brought to the city with love and pride.

While acknowledging funding from all levels of government, Halstead said the City of Toronto is the strongest and most reliable supporter of the festival.

Mayor John Tory said the City has provided a cheque for $625, 000 to the organizers and is providing the usual city services such as policing and work done by other departments.

“The Caribbean Carnival is a nation thing, it’s a provincial thing but it’s really a Toronto thing. It’s ours, it was born here 52 years ago; it’s going to live here for 1052 years from now and that’s why we’re proud to be the biggest supporter.”

He said the festival shows off the wonderful African Canadian Caribbean communities that the city is privileged to have.

Deputy Mayor Michael Thompson said fifty-two years ago the carnival was a gift to Canada by the Caribbean community as part of Canada’s centennial celebration. It attracts over two million people annually.

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 25-31, 2019.]

'A Little Black Lie' Returns to the Stage in Toronto

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Crossfield House Productions  Troy Crossfield and Sheronna Osbourne are leads in the play 'A Little Black Lie'

Fresh off it’s run at the DC Black Theatre and Arts Festival, Crossfield House Productions is bringing back its award-winning play, 'A Little Black Lie,' to Toronto's Tarragon Theatre.

Directed by Douglas Prout and written and produced by Troy Crossfield, it will run from July 24-28.

Founded by the writer, actor and producer in 2016, Crossfield House Productions is an independent Black-owned production company in Toronto that specializes in producing theatre and film.

Crossfield, a Jamaican-Canadian who is appearing in season two of the TVJ show, 'Ring Games,' has produced two successful plays that have been performed locally and internationally.

Dahlia Harris wrote and produced Ring Games and then casted him from Toronto to go to Jamaica and play one of their lead roles in the drama series.

He decided to start his company because as an actor in many productions he has seen producers who could not continue their projects because of finances. There was also the issue of the lack of roles in Toronto which led him to bring onboard a group of people he believes in and who are on his team.

“We can do our own thing, let’s put ourselves on stage. Let’s open up the doors for ourselves. A lot of times when we go in these audition rooms we’re not always getting called,” says Crossfield while also noting that it is a great time to be black now to “write our own narratives.”

He plays the male lead, Michael, in 'A Little Black Lie,' while Sheronna Osbourne plays the female lead, Stacey.

Like 'A Little White Lie,' 'A Little Black Lie' pivots around the character Michael Myers who is dealing with identity issues that impact his family, friendships and relationships. This plays out all around him and in the other characters as well.

“It is a mix of comedy and drama and we deal with heavy issues like illness in the family, lies within relationships that come out and he has Stacey that is his love interest in both shows, and just figuring out a way of how to get her in his life and how to keep her in his life once all these lies are exposed,” says Osbourne who is a partner in the company and also a fashion stylist.

Crossfield says what is important for them while they are developing more stories is consistency and they hope to become the Tyler Perry of Toronto.

The cast has 20 actors and Osbourne says the biggest challenge is scheduling rehearsal time but they have gotten into a groove in terms of doing so for specific scenes.

“We have truly grown organically into this family; we’re like brothers and sisters,” says Osbourne who is also the costume designer.

Like Osbourne and other partners in the company, Crossfield wears multiple hats and is “like the Tyler Perry model where he is writing his first shows and then being on stage and directing films.”

“I’ve always taken on those multiple roles just in being multifaceted too – being an actor, being a writer, being assigned to Sony Music as a songwriter it just allows me to work my brain in different areas at the same time.”

When he is in rehearsals he gets to be Michael but if they have a question related to the script he changes from that character to become the writer.

Sometimes Prout will call for the writer or has a question about costumes and both Crossfield and Osbourne have to come out of their characters to provide answers and then return to the roles.

Through humour, gentleness, transparency and Caribbean flavour, their plays discuss forgiveness, acceptance, healing, and moving forward. They have also opened the doors for their audience to have important conversations with their
family and friends.

The company is currently in pre-production mode for its first official film out of Crossfield House Productions which is the film version of the first play, 'A Little White Lie.'

They will begin production of that as soon as the run of 'A Little Black Lie' is over so  shooting begins in August.

Osbourne says participating in the DC Black Theatre and Arts Festival was a very good experience for the company.

“It was the first time with some new cast members so it was nice to really jump in. It was personally my first festival experience so it was very fast and furious.”

Crossfield says it was good to see the team going out there as a unit “and travelling together and just really seeing my partners step up into their roles and like, man, this is all on us, from the funding and everything like that and going after funding but we really have to put our stuff together in order to make it work.”

Both actors are promising a lot of drama, laughter and love at 'A Little Black Lie' and a “faith-and-hope dream realized.”

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 18-24, 2019.]

Jamaican-Canadian MPP Holds 'People's Picnic' to Celebrate Canada Day

By Neil Armstrong

Photo credit: Eddie Grant   MPP for Scarborough-Guildwood, Mitzie , the midst of some of the people who attended the 'people's picnic' organized by her at Queen's Park

Despite Premier Doug Ford’s cancellation of the annual Canada Day celebration at Queen’s Park, there was an event held on the front lawn of the Ontario legislature to mark the occasion of the country’s 152^nd birthday.

Jamaican-Canadian Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Scarborough-Guildwood, Mitzie Hunter, says about 1000 people attended what she organized and dubbed the “people’s picnic” on July 1.

“Today is Canada’s birthday and nobody says no to Canada Day. We have to open Queen’s Park and invite people down to celebrate the birthday and the founding of our province and our country,” says the Ontario Liberal Party politician while speaking with the Gleaner at the event.

She says the event which started at 11:00 a.m. and ended at 3:00 p.m. attracted hundreds of people, “mostly families, some who have been coming as traditions with their children and now they’re parents and it’s just a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of this nation.”

Instead of hosting the Canada Day celebration, the Ontario government decided to cut costs by offering free admission to 10 attractions across the province.

Free Canada Day admission was offered to the first 500 people at Ontario Science Centre, the Royal Ontario Museum as well as a number of others across the province.

According to government officials the plan to offer free admission was cheaper than it would have cost to run the traditional Canada Day party at Queen's Park.

Hunter said they started off with a land acknowledgement and the explanation of the Indigenous Peoples who have been steward of this land for thousands of years and “to all of us who are now stewards and the importance and the significance of this province and this country.”

“People have come from all backgrounds recognizing that Canada has been good to all of us and it’s about giving back to our nation, being proud of the freedoms that we benefit from here in our province.”

Hunter said her family immigrated to Canada from Jamaica and through hard work her parents worked to make a life for their family.

“My brother and I, our job was to go to school, so we benefitted from a great public education system and eventually I became the education minister. That’s the kind of province and country we live in and we deserve to honour and celebrate our province, celebrate our country.”

She said when the premier cancelled the Canada Day celebration she thought “no, let’s bring it back, let’s have an old fashioned picnic and invite everyone down to enjoy their parliament building here in Ontario.”

Hunter noted that people travelled from Windsor, Barrie, Hamilton, Scarborough, Markham, Mississauga, Brampton, all over Toronto, and there was even a family from Queen’s Park in Scotland. 

“This has been a joyous day, one person said to me her feeling about today is gratitude and her experience has been joy and that really explains how people felt about being here at Queen’s Park today for Canada Day.”

Canada Day celebrations were held in the nation’s capital, Ottawa, and in cities throughout the country in different forms – some with speeches from politicians, performances, barbecues and fireworks. 

Under the Liberal government led by former premier Kathleen Wynne, Hunter served as Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development, Minister of Education, Minister Without Portfolio, and Associate Minister of Finance (Ontario Retirement Pension Plan).

In the June 2018 Ontario general election, the Ontario Liberal Party was defeated by the Progressive Conservative Party led by Doug Ford and was reduced to seven  MPPs which is below the number of seats required for official party status in the Ontario legislature. The required number is eight.

As the former CEO of the Greater Toronto Civic Action Alliance, Hunter worked to solve some tough social, economic, and environmental challenges. 

Previous to this, she was the Chief Administrative Officer (COA) of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation, Vice-President with Goodwill Industries, and a Regional Director at Bell Canada.

Hunter grew up in Scarborough, graduated from the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus with a BA, and completed her MBA from the Rotman School of Management.

Meanwhile, the main federal party leaders were out and about in what some speculate were campaign-style stops as Canada’s general election approaches on October 21.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended a Canada Day celebration in Ottawa’s Riverside South before going to the major festivities on Parliament Hill. 

“This year, we have a lot to celebrate. In the last four years, Canadians have created more than a million new jobs. The unemployment rate is at its lowest since the 1970s. And across the country, 825,000 Canadians have been lifted out of poverty. There’s never been more opportunity, or more progress to share in. And that’s thanks to Canadians, like you,” said Trudeau in his Canada Day statement.

Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer was in Medutic, New Brunswick, then at Toronto Ribfest in Etobicoke before heading to Kelowna, British Columbia.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh spent the day in his riding of Burnaby South, British Columbia.

[This story was published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, July 11-17, 2019.]