Pandemic pressures have added to the struggle for newcomers and refugees in Ottawa
Data shows that refugee communities in Ottawa are being harder hit by the COVID-19 pandemic
Lookahead ’21: Alberta seniors club helps community battle pandemic isolation
For many members of the Okotoks and District Seniors Club, which serves the town of 31,000 south of Calgary, the pandemic has meant learn how to use technology or face long stretches of loneliness. “The main thing for the seniors is the social aspect,” said Valerie Thom, the club’s outreach co-ordinator. And connecting people remains the ODSC’s priority today. Even...
Lookahead ’21: Community group prepares for another virtual Great Glebe Garage Sale
The event is still at least three months away, but organizers are gearing up for another virtual Great Glebe Garage Sale in 2021. The massive neighbourhood yard sale is one of the main events co-ordinated every year by the Glebe Community Association. It has taken place every spring since 1986, typically on the fourth Saturday in May. Participating vendors donate...
Hazel McCallion’s 100th birthday bash to showcase arts council’s virtual transition during pandemic
When the curtain came down on live performances and other in-person cultural events because of the pandemic, the Mississauga Arts Council immediately switched gears. MAC has been navigating a virtually supportive environment since March 2020 and continues to bring artists and audiences together as best they can. Executive director Mike Douglas says he hopes people will embrace the arts more...
Canada’s child welfare system needs to be torn down and rebuilt to end its anti-Indigenous racism, critics say
The overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the Canadian welfare system accelerated throughout the 1960s, as a result of the Sixties Scoop. This is where Indigenous children were ripped away from their homes and placed into the child welfare system. The goal was to assimilate Indigenous children by placing them into white homes.
Organization fighting COVID vaccine hesitancy among Canadian adults
Misinformation and social media play key roles in perpetuating anxieties among vaccine-hesitant Canadians
Women’s support services in Ottawa struggling to keep up with rising domestic abuse cases
Domestic abuse cases continue to rise across the country. Ottawa services face a challenge in delivering the support women need.
Plan to scrap ‘racist’ streaming in Grade 9 hailed as major step for Black students in Ontario
Beginning in Grade 9, all the way through his high school career, Ethan Itwaru had a ritual of visiting the guidance counsellor once a year. His annual battle to secure the grades he needed to earn in some of his classes had him regularly questioning whether to switch to the hands-on applied stream or stay in the post-secondary-track academic stream....
Lookahead ’21: Niagara conservation group aims to revitalize region’s tree cover
Growing up in the Niagara Region, Barry Porter has watched as the land he has lived on over the years has seen increased commercial and residential development, which in turn has caused a lot of deforestation. Porter is today the stewardship director for Land Care Niagara. This year he has a goal to identify and revitalize those areas in the...
Watson has ‘burned a bridge’ after Council votes to move controversial development forward, Algonquin Elder says
Ottawa City Council voted in favour of including Tewin into new urban boundary, this Wednesday, with a vote of 16 to 8, creating further controversy with Algonquin Nation.
Lookahead ’21: Museum links pandemic, wartime challenges in ‘Make Do and Mend’ workshop series
On Feb. 19, the Canadian War Museum will host the latest in its series of “Make Do and Mend” online events, which were inspired by an exhibition about everyday life during the Second World War and advocate for resourceful, self-sufficient living in 2021. During the LeBreton Flats-based museum’s closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, an online portal called Museum at Home...
Love in the time of COVID: Couples are finding ways to make Valentine’s Day special
Family therapist Miriam Baron hopes experiencing Valentine’s Day during the pandemic teaches people not to take each other for granted.