Category: Focus

Milka Gebrekiduce is a thoughtful little girl. The Grade 2 student wears a brilliant pink sweater and twirls one of her many braids around her finger. Her brown eyes grow a bit more serious as she recalls a painful memory: she hurt her tooth last year after being knocked down by an older boy running across the playground.

Ayan Karshe used to be the “violent one.” She’ll tell you that herself. But it’s hard to believe when you shake the gentle hand of the 16-year-old, as she makes her way out the front doors of Ridgemont High School in Ottawa’s south end.

When the Conservative government implemented the Safe Schools Act in 2001, the education minister’s message was one of restoring “respect and responsibility” in Ontario schools.

Corporate sponsors say they want to contribute to Ottawa’s arts industry — but they expect the local government to support it as well.