Sampling Culture http://samplingculture.posterous.com Most recent posts at Sampling Culture posterous.com Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:06:00 -0700 Sights of Paris http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/09/05/sights-of-paris http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/09/05/sights-of-paris

In Paris public spaces have Old World charm. While wandering down narrow streets or wide boulevards I constantly stopped to look around me. Perhaps if I was more attentive to what surrounds me in Toronto then I'd take more photos and have fun playing 'photographer.' Here are some shots I got with my handy point & shoot - Just one step up from an old iphone camera.

 

 

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Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:14:00 -0700 Where's your food from? http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/30/location-location-wheres-your-food-from http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/30/location-location-wheres-your-food-from

It was a cloudy summer sunday in August at the first annual Conscious Food Festival. The festival was nestled in between the low buildings at Fort York and there was a picturesque backdrop of the city's downtown in the distance. With an advisory committee of over 10 names, the festival's manifesto urged people to take the dialogue about food sustainability to the next level, and it stated that the small actions people take add up.

The festival's goal was to educate attendees about food that is local and natural and which is produced in a way that does not harm the environment. Companies were selected by the committee because they were deemed socially responsible or have incorporated recycling and reuse into their production. Josh Bowman, is a development associate who works at Second Harvest. He was seated at the Second Harvest table at the festival. His organization feeds 15,000 meals a day to hungry people in Toronto by picking up and preparing excess food and delivering it to more than 200 social service agencies. Catering companies, restaurants and grocery stores make donations. As Second Harvest's pamphlet proclaims, they're helping to solve two of Toronto's toughest problems: hunger and food waste. Over at Ravine Vineyard's table, Alex R. Harber was selling wine. His family owns the estate winery, and he is one of the vendors who is making an effort to make his product in an environmentally sustainable manner. How? - “We're in our second year of getting our biodynamic certification,” he said. “We're mixing the science of horticulture with the rhythms of the earth. So we're becoming stewards of the land and we're making less impact than standard horticulture,” he explained. In addition to producing wines that are 100 per cent organic, the vineyard is also in the Niagara region and by remaining in the family for generations to come, the family hopes to “fight the good fight against the residential urbanization of farm lands in Niagara,” he said. At the Grindhouse BBQ stand savoury organic pulled pork sandwiches on a bun with arugula and goat cheese were being sold for a mere two dollars. In addition to many cheeses, wines and ice cream that were on some tables for people to try, the politics of food were also made apparent. In order to encourage consumers to buy locally produced products and fresh produce instead of American or foreign produce, Local Food Plus was on site. Chris Trussell, a marketing and development representative from the organization explained that they lobby to get certified local and sustainable foods from farmers into large institutions. The University of Toronto is one of their most successful institutional partners who are in their fifth year of their pledge to shift ten per cent of their spending dollars to local sustainable produce. They've now well surpassed their goal. Meanwhile, Local Food Plus has their own campaign (at buytovote.ca) directed at individual consumers. They are asking for pledges to shift ten dollars a week to buy Certified Local Sustainable food. The idea is that consumers vote with their dollars. Mayoral candidate Joe Pantalone was also at the festival. When asked about his approach to sustainability at a city level and what he plans to do, he launched into his credentials on the environment. “I was the chair of the environmental roundtable from 2003 to 2006. I led the city to get the Green Roofs bylaw and the Green Toronto Building Standards,” he said. “We have to provide the (food) systems so that families and companies can plug into them. In a few days I'll release my official food policy. I want to emphasize more local food production. I have an idea for harvesting fruit trees to provide food to community groups.” Like the festival's official literature, Pantalone is enthusiastic about the Conscious Food Festival. “It can change our orientation to food and enrich our lives,” he said. “We can eat better, tasty food, local food, and environmental food,” he said. Indeed, many participants did eat at the festival and some may have even learned about the food they were eating too. At least one caterer said he would give his left-over fresh foods to Second Harvest that day. While the festival was not very busy late in the day on Sunday, Second Harvest's Josh Bowman said, “The festival is presumably going to grow.” The Conscious Food Festival has the potential to provide a learning opportunity to participants. The festival started the process by showing that the ethics of food are as much about individual consumption as they are about government policies that guide food production. Although the festival did a good job of providing individual consumer education it seemed devoid of educational material about the global issues surrounding unjust food distribution. Perhaps in the future, local and global alliances can be built around the awarenesses that are created at this festival. Here's to hoping.

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Thu, 05 Aug 2010 06:07:00 -0700 Kensington Market comes alive http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/kensington-market-comes-alive http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/08/05/kensington-market-comes-alive

Citizens filled the streets to the sounds of electronic belly-dancing music. A crowd huddled in a circle around a group of performers who wore belly-dancing costumes and jingled their bells in time to the music. People took photos and clapped after each dancer went into the middle of the circle. Walking down Augusta Avenue, the smell of hot corn tomales and empanadas, samosas and thai spring rolls emanated from each food stand and wafted into the nostrils of passers by. Local artists and vendors sold their jewelry and paintings to visitors and residents who make their homes in Kensington Market.

Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market are a time when cars are banished from the streets and people take over the streets to build community. The event in July was called Water! Streams of Consciousness. Over in the wading pool in the Bellevue Square park, children and their parents mingled on a picturesque summer day. The market is always full of sites and sounds – only Pedestrian Sundays are better because the market is enhanced by the presence of more people and a greater feeling of celebration that permeates the space. Imagine what our city streets could be like if they were allowed to flourish the way the Pedestrian Sundays festival has enabled Kensington Market to, each summer since 2004. Over the years, the idea of Pedestrian Sundays has spread to different neighbourhoods, in both Mirvish Village and Baldwin Village. Perhaps the idea is ripe enough to spread across the entire city. Pedestrian Sundays don't propose to permanently change the streets, instead, the website tells us: “they forever change the way you perceive them.” The idea behind Pedestrian Sundays is stated simply on pskensington.ca: “Remove the automobile and the streets become a cultural playground – an expression of our community’s diverse ethnicity, age and interests.” The festival is very DIY and encompasses the human touch that is missing in so many large over-produced festivals that draw people to the city in the summer. It's all about local community and building a sustainable future by going back to the roots of how cultures thrive through local ecologies. As the website explains this link to the global ecological movement: “A community takes back their common space and celebrates a day of cleaner air.” On this particular Sunday in July, many groups came out to build ties with the community, reach out to the public and sell their wares. The Toronto Vegetarian Association, Oxfam Canada, and Spacing magazine were all there. Even Blocks Recording Club, an indie label collective run by artists, set up a little table to sell music by acclaimed local artists such as Owen Pallett, Kids on TV and Katie Stelmanis. Meanwhile, many bands performed - at least one per corner along the route from College to Dundas on both Augusta Ave and Kensington Avenue. The band Escalate had set up outside of the Embassy bar on Augusta and drew quite a crowd. With their jazz-lounge sounds and confident style, the four piece band did an excellent job captivating a self-selected audience of younger hipsters and families alike. Theatrical performers were found along the route too. A puppeteer had set up a little theatre and drew a small crowd toward his interactive performances. Meanwhile, Clay & Paper Theatre had set up a large caravan loaded up with books for sale. Books were only a dollar each and the proceeds went toward funding their cycling oriented puppet squad and other theatre projects. It was like a scene from a bohemian movie, or a blast from the hippie era of the past. People looked at books and made their selection, while a cheerful lady with a hula-hoop twirled around and sang a song. On Nassau Street a group of dancers from the group who run Standupdance.com did modern improvisation on the street. They moved fluidly like water around one another and communicated freely with their bodies as people watched. They paid no attention, and as the postcard they gave me explained, they were there to 'dance like no one is watching.' Further along Nassau Street, a group of musicians played music as a group of ten people played musical chairs. When the music stopped everyone scrambled to find a seat. The music got faster and faster until there were only two women players left. Finally only one declared victory, and another round started. It's not too late to attend the next Pedestrian Sunday. There are several more slated to happen before the end of the season. On August 14th the market will remember the blackout in Toronto, when people enjoyed acoustic music, community meals and low consumption activities. August 28th will mark the market's celebration of Air! The Kensington Community Air Show. “In contrast to the Toronto International Air Show, we fly messages of peace, blow horns and hot air, eat chili, blow bubbles and dance in the street,” says the Pedestrian Sundays website (pskensington.ca). On September 25th, Pedestrian Sundays will celebrate earth and global harvest traditions, and on October 30th, Halloween celebrations will honour ancestors.

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Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:37:05 -0700 Tips from eco-entrepreneurs http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/03/17/tips-from-eco-entrepreneurs http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/03/17/tips-from-eco-entrepreneurs Several sustainable business owners in Toronto shared their thoughts about being resilient and ecologically responsible during the recession. Natalie Stephenson, owner of eco-fashion store, Heart on Your Sleeve said that the recession is a time for reevaluating her business spending patterns and priorities. She said she’s taking her business online rather than keeping a store in Kensington Market. Stephenson said, “I think the hey-day of consumer products are numbered. People are seeing now that the most important things are not things that you acquire with money.”
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Rebecca Sweetman, executive director of The Paradigm Shift Project, makes documentaries about sustainable development projects abroad. She said eco-frugality is “just common sense.” She said being eco-frugal is doing a lot of things your grandmother told you to do, like re-using old tea towels instead of buying consumer products like Swiffer wipes, cleaning out old bottles to reuse them, and growing veggies in your garden. Another way to save money and energy is by switching from regular light bulbs to compact florescent ones. They last longer and only use a quarter of the energy. The bulbs actually pay for themselves after 500 hours of use. --------- Try a twitter search on Eco-frugal: http://search.twitter.com/search.atom?q=eco-frugal --- Quoted on this series on Eco-frugality: http://www.freedomclothingcollective.com/ http://www.heartonyoursleeve.ca/ http://www.theparadigmshiftproject.org/ Food Not Bombs http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Really_really_free_market http://www.globalaware.net/ http://www.lesliejermyn.com/

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Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:31:18 -0700 Eco-frugal in Toronto http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/03/17/eco-frugal-in-toronto http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/03/17/eco-frugal-in-toronto TORONTO - April 2009 Networked Streets
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Reusing, refashioning and building community As both social entrepreneurs and activists try to save their money, conserve natural resources and build community, eco-frugality appears to be thriving. Amanda Sissons unpacks boxes of fabric, buttons and unused colored paper for the craft swap happening at her store. She says she has a good feeling about how many people will show up that cold winter day at Freedom Clothing Collective. Established in 2006, Freedom Clothing is a cooperatively owned and operated store by Sissons and three of her friends. About an hour after she has been unpacking supplies, 15 people fill the small store on Bloor Street West in Toronto. By 8pm that evening, at least another 40 people have passed through to exchange their unwanted materials.
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Sissons explains, “Now that people can't afford expensive items they are looking for new ways to re-do their old clothing.” According to Sissons, the craft swap encourages people to get together to swap items they are not using. It’s also a good place for people to share crafting tips. She says, “It's recycling.” Freedom Clothing represents one sub-section of a larger group of people involved in the unofficial ‘eco-frugal’ movement in Toronto. In an eco-frugal approach, reducing waste, remodeling and reusing old things becomes en vogue during financially uncertain times. Since the economic turmoil swept North America, eco-frugality that combines both ecological and fiscal responsibility has retained followers. Eco-fashion stores like Freedom Clothing, non-governmental organizations such as GlobalAware, dumpster-diving groups like Food Not Bombs (who collect unwanted food and then cook for the hungry) and freecyclers like the Really Really Free Market (who swap unwanted items), continue to persist in their efforts. When times are tough, these groups are building community by sharing and reusing what they have. Their commitment to living an environmentally-friendly, socially sustainable and frugal lifestyle appears stronger than ever. North American Green consumerism is strong Trendwatching.com's March 2009 brief professed that during the recession consumers still want to move away from non-sustainable products to those that aren't contributing to a large ecological footprint. According to the GfK Roper Green Gauge study, "Americans are taking notice of the dual benefits of making simple eco-friendly changes that help both the planet and their wallets.” They found “More Americans are discussing recycling (86%), conserving energy (79%) and conserving water (76%); - - all simple ways to save money.” In Canada, the City of Toronto launched its Live Green Community Investment Program last year. They award grants of $25,000 to community groups who undertake action on sustainable energy use. In Toronto, the persistent popularity of and curiosity about community gardening and all-things-environmental is evident in the March ‘Ecoholic’ issue of NOW Magazine. Across income levels and diverse lifestyles the buzz about being Green and sustainable has not lessened. In fact, more people may be making cost-effective decisions and lessening their ecological footprint at the same time. Grassroots Green Contrary to the Green-washing of mainstream products by major retailers, in grassroots circles, a skeptical attitude toward corporate mechanisms persists. This is true, especially now, in reaction to the recent North American financial collapse. Bryn Roshong, an activist and labour union organizer said, “I hope that people see job losses and companies failing, and relate it to their own consumption and connect that there needs to be a holistic change in the way we relate to the planet.”
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Roshong, Wes Hannah, Ben Hackman and others in Toronto are participating in Food Not Bombs. Almost every weekend they collect unwanted food from vendors at St. Lawrence Market and grocery stores before closing time. Then they cook the food for homeless and hungry people on Sunday afternoons. Instead of the unwanted food going into the garbage, the edible food gets rescued and served to around 50 people in Allen Gardens. Roshong explained, “A lot of food comes from California or Chile and is grown with pesticides, and shipped here. So much energy goes into producing our food, and then sometimes perfectly good vegetables get thrown away because no one buys them. There’s so much food wasted and so many people go hungry in this city. I see it as completely backwards.” Community efforts Roshong and the ‘Really Really Free Market’ collective put on the ‘free store’ events. People attending donate and take away items without the exchange of money. People bring clothes, toys, books, electronics, and kitchen utensils to the store. Their last ‘free store’ event in March was held at the Toronto Free Gallery, and they estimated that up to 800 people visited. The event drew people from a broad cross-section. They put advertisements in Now magazine, on Craigslist, and put up posters around the city. There were kids and people of all ages searching for something they might like to take home. Passersby also came in, unaware what the event was about, but learning once inside. Roshong and Hannah said it was a great way to build community. For them, the recycling aspect is important. Roshong said, “There’s no reason why we can’t reclaim things…We are going to become a larger community space for people to have an alternate means of sharing and getting what they need.” While unique to Toronto, free store events are happening regularly all over the world – in the Netherlands and in cities like Vancouver. According to Roshong's pamphlet, free stores are “responsible to the environment, community, and the planet.” Hannah said their event is an example of eco-frugality, which is “not just dependent on a depressed market.” He said, “It’s brought out in times like these, but people see it is sustainable, even if they have a high paying job and job security.”
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In Kensington Market at GlobalAware, executive director Clive Shirley had similar things to say about how his organization is eco-frugal. He said they print their postcards on tree-free paper, they recycle old books by making them into new notebooks and they stock fair trade clothes. “I think people can save money by investing in products that are made well that will last for life. Rather than going to Walmart and buying a cheaply made knife that will last one year, and then going back again each year for twenty years, people should buy one knife that will last,” said Shirley. Dr. Leslie Jermyn, an anthropology and environmental studies instructor at the University of Toronto, said that as people are budgeting, environmental solutions fit into their thinking. Jermyn explained being eco-frugal means, “making choices to reduce energy usage, excess and waste.” Community initiatives like these show us that through reclaiming old things and turning them into new treasures, eco-frugality is alive and well. As times get tough, it makes sense that eco-frugality and community-building are on an up-surge and they are only getting stronger. It will be interesting to see whether private and public funding will be channeled into official government, industry, and smaller community projects too.
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Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:53:59 -0800 Wine appreciation 101 http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/01/22/wine-appreciation-101 http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/01/22/wine-appreciation-101 Wine appreciation is as popular as ever. Wine marketing creates a culture of its own. Wine blogger, Monika Janek uncorks her perspective on the world of wine. Video produced originally by Amanda Connon-Unda for the Ryersonian.ca [wpvideo E66PiTff]

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Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:43:38 -0800 Video profile: Homegrown Skateboards in Nova Scotia http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/01/22/video-profile-of-homegrown-skateboards-in-nova-scotia http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2010/01/22/video-profile-of-homegrown-skateboards-in-nova-scotia On Jesse Watson's trip to Toronto in November, the skateboard company owner spoke about how he has been creating skateboard culture for years in LaHave, Nova Scotia. Homegrown Skateboards makes small runs of skateboards - sometimes only 20 editions of a board. For Watson, his work is craft production in the age of mass production: It's local, craft-based and borne out of a need to skate. His skateboards link culture, art, and collaborative design. Watson's Skateboard designs and his guest-artist series boards were on display at Harbourfront Centre until January 3, 2010.
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My VIDEO profile can be viewed on the Ryersonian's website .

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Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:29:32 -0800 Reimagining public space, one plant at a time http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/12/07/reimagining-public-space-one-plant-at-a-time http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/12/07/reimagining-public-space-one-plant-at-a-time [wpvideo iovtAoAT] As part of our series on unique artists, Amanda Connon-Unda discovers how a pair of artists - Sean Martindale and Eric Cheung - create artistic interventions that compel people to think about their lived environments. Video Notes: Produced by Amanda Connon-Unda Featuring Sean Martindale and Eric Cheung Some photos provided by Sean Martindale (http://picasaweb.google.com/sean.martindale/PosterPocketPlants#) Made in Toronto, Canada, in December 2009.

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Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:10:17 -0700 Chef Andrew George http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/07/31/chef-andrew-george http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/07/31/chef-andrew-george He dreams of Aboriginal fusion cuisine across Canada
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Canadian readers of the Globe and Mail may have learned in May 2009 that Aboriginal foods are going to be highlighted at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. In her article, “Aboriginal cuisine preps for the world stage", Alexandra Gill wrote about what will take place. All eyes and taste-buds are likely to be rapt by the new Aboriginal fusion cuisine showcased in the Aboriginal Pavilion at the games. In fact it’s reasonable to deduce that wherever Aboriginal fusion cuisine appears in Canada, it exists as much more than a traditional style of cooking paired with a refined modern style.  In a recent phone conversation with one prolific 45-year old aboriginal chef from British Colombia, Andrew George shared his wisdom about what Aboriginal fusion cuisine is and where he sees it heading across the country. Aboriginal fusion cuisine is demonstrated as more than just a way to make a living, it’s a way to give reverence to Aboriginal cultural traditions and a way to inspire Canadian chefs from many different walks of life. Recently with these goals in mind, George created a training and development program in partnership with the Kla-how-eya Aboriginal Centre of the Surrey Aboriginal Cultural Society. There he offers disadvantaged youth the opportunity to upgrade their education and obtain a hands-on cooking experience. Last month from Vancouver, George explained what differentiates Aboriginal fusion cuisine from other kinds of cooking. He said, “It’s described as fresh, organic and very health-conscious cuisine. It’s lean and healthy. We have hardly any fat on the meat. We advocate for local products used in our culinary school. In a way we’re going back to the basics of cooking. It’s all made from scratch, it’s organic and local. We look to local nations, as well, for our suppliers.” George explained enthusiastically, “Why is it fusion cuisine?… (Because) In most cases we can’t use our traditionally produced foods. But we can use other products. In restaurants we have to make it food safe – and it has to be prepared in an industrial kitchen. So, we duplicate our traditional dishes in a modern version, which can be difficult. We take authentic concepts and we move them forward.” A member of the Wet’suwe’en nation, George grew up on reserve. He said, “We grew up poor and on reserve and walked the trails as our fore-fathers did. I learned as a young person how to cook on an open-fire and how they preserved and cooked food.” Then in junior high school, with his six siblings and his parents both working, George said, “Someone had to cook.  I took up the challenge. I didn’t like doing dishes. I liked open camp fire and we only had a wood stove.” George said he learned from his mother who was an excellent cook how to cook well, and he enjoyed it. In Grade 11, George said his career counsellor thought he would make a good professional chef. So, after taking summer jobs in restaurant kitchens and finishing high school he went to college. After only visiting the ‘big city’ – Vancouver – once before in grade seven, George decided to move there in 1983 for college. He said he was late for the first day of class because he got lost. He said, “It was risky for me. A big culture shock, but it paid off. It was a huge decision for me. I noticed there were only two aboriginals in the school. A lot of people approached us about aboriginal cuisine to ask us how to cook in that style. They wanted to know – I realized it was a niche that we had.” The first job George got in the city was in 1985 in one of Vancouver’s first Aboriginal restaurants where he learned how to cook on a wood burning barbeque. In 1992 as one of the most-renowned Aboriginal chefs and community leaders, George participated in the Native Canadian Haute Cuisine Team at the International Culinary Olympics in Germany. Then in 1997, along with a writer who he met there, Robert Gairns, he co-authored a book entitled FEAST—Canadian Native Cuisine for All Seasons, which was published by Doubleday. The book outlined how to cook game meats like bison and moose, inspiring home cooks and restaurants alike. From that point onward, George continued to expand his cuisine repertoire and gained business knowledge. Now he’s an expert in his field. Today, George shares his version of fusion cuisine through the consulting with other chefs at restaurants such as the Four Seasons in Whistler and he ensures Aboriginal inspired menus are prepared. He wants to educate the public on how his people traditionally prepared food. He said, “I want to give them a whole new experience. I create a whole new dish. I do a combination of French, Italian and Aboriginal. I think cuisine has a key role to play today because the world is very universal. In Canadian cities we have many diverse people and ethnic backgrounds coming together with their own cuisine. We’re fortunate to have many cultural cuisines in Canada.” Furthermore, George explained why he wants to incorporate his own traditions into the cuisine he puts into menus and educational syllabi. He said he sees fusion cuisine as, “promoting our culture – taking Aboriginal products from all parts of Canada.” Before the Olympics George says he’ll be going to remote regions, talking to elders about the traditional ways of harvesting and looking at modern technologies to move Aboriginal cuisine further into contemporary forms. He said, “I’m trying to modernize it. Highlight it and make it mainstream.” George says his goals for Aboriginal Canadian cuisine are to have it be recognized internationally like other cuisines are. He explained, “The more people we educate and motivate – it will be better for all. The more people we get involved – the further it goes. Not only Aboriginal chefs are interested in this cuisine. Aboriginal fusion cuisine is getting more of a presence in the restaurant market.” George said he wants to train as many people as he can in Aboriginal cuisine. George said that because the country is so vast there is a big range in the Aboriginal cuisine found. George said “It’s critical to move forward as a people that we show we understand who we are. We are able to produce haute Aboriginal cuisine. That’s my goal and vision.” Although George says he only knows of a few restaurants specializing in Aboriginal cuisine he said he wants to create his own log house restaurant with a theater to promote Aboriginal culture, with dancers and a dinner theatre. He said, “There is room for restaurant like that in Vancouver.” Indeed there is plenty of room for restaurants like that all over Canada and in Toronto too. Originally written for the Ryerson Free Press

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Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:49:38 -0700 Little Boots vid exploits LA's poverty http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/07/30/pop-music-videos-lately http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/07/30/pop-music-videos-lately Little Boots pop music video for 'New in town' deals horribly with the serious issue of poverty
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While in San Francisco, a beautiful city with plenty to do in what is an urban playground to those with an income, I saw many homeless people on Market Street. It was very sad. I saw this right before we went further along to the Saks Fifth Avenue and Iphone stores. What a contrast it was - seeing a very large number of visibly poor people and then seeing the Apple store packed with people buying the new 3GS. Sure we have poverty in Toronto and plenty of panhandlers, but in California I noticed nobody really begs for change. However, maybe since people may have farther distances to go, shopping carts seemed to be more common. As usual popular culture and music videos out there fail to amaze me in their deftness and insensitivity when it comes to the real economic crises of our time. I recently got a copy of Little Boots latest album, 'Hands' and it features a track called "New in town" as seen below. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUs9YzY7t-8&hl=en&fs=1&] According to the Boots youtube site: "we made a video for the new single 'New In Town' in down town LA coz I wrote the song one of the first times I went to LA on my own so its kind of about being a stranger in a strange place ...www.littlebootsmusic.co.uk" This whole video reeks of recession-style capitalization. It is exploitative of the real condition of poverty. Did they use actors to play 'homeless'? Or did they exploit real street residents? The tone of the video makes poverty look like a laughable condition, rather than as a political problem which needs people to take action on, to change, within our society. While we are desensitized regularly in urban places to the poverty and suffering around us, I'm not quite sure what this video accomplishes. Other than the song's clearest message: "sex is free" Now everyone go out and have sex! = ? Having just returned from California; a state in serious debt with a real poverty crisis, and a former movie-man Schwarzenegger as governor, one has to wonder why Little Boots makes light of this sad situation. According to the Governor's site, in March he had a plan to relocate people in a tent city in Sacramento into Cal Expo. But, in another NPR story, there was reportedly some resistance from residents. Meanwhile homeless advocates pointed out that there were at least 1200 homeless people and only 200 beds being provided. Little Boots' poorly done music video does nothing but exacerbate a false sense of what poverty is. I guess this is old news... but I really wish pop music videos could have better standards than this.

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Sun, 14 Jun 2009 22:05:05 -0700 City Scenes: Los Angeles, San Francisco http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/14/photos-of-la-and-san-fran http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/06/14/photos-of-la-and-san-fran Here are a few photos of city scenes taken in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I found some typical July weather and lots of palms. Midtown LA
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Car culture galore... One can spend a lot of time driving around this state.
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Skaters near the waterfront in San Fran
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Lovely old car across from Dolores Park in SF
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Los Angeles neighbourhood
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The City of Angels from the Griffith Observatory
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Originally uploaded by Amanda C-U

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Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:05:29 -0700 Pillow fight sparks curiosity http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/22/pillow-fight-in-toronto http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/22/pillow-fight-in-toronto
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On a mild Saturday afternoon in March at Dundas Square, twenty-two year old, Kevin Bracken, the organizer of the large outdoor pillow fight which is to take place, waits calmly. Within a number of minutes, there are a few more people gathering. The pillow fight is set to start at 3pm, and so far only twenty of the more than 2700 facebook event 'Yes' RSVPs are there. Kevin says unapologetically, “I think everyone had a late night last night. We try and make our events late so that people have time to go out to a party the night before and sleep in.” But he adds, “We want to be conscious of our communities. We don't want to scare kids and parents away.” So, he said, they do their events before the sun goes down. [wpvideo jbAa3sQ8] Torontonians proved to be happy clickers for the event, and fewer people turned out than expected. Kevin explained, “They RSVP easily and they aren’t super committed.” But, when all was said and done, it was clear that an eclectic mix and significant number of people came out to enjoy the pillow fight. It's hard to tell how many, but a conservative estimate might be 350 pillow fight participants, another 200 spectators engaged in laughter and curious delight, and many more people passing by. The crowds coming out of the Eaton Centre that day saw the spectacle from the street and many had no idea what was going on. One middle-aged man said, “I am glad they are enjoying themselves. Toronto needs more free events like this.” And, even though a costly permit is now required by the privately owned Dundas Square, the pillow fight event did not have one. But, the organizer, Kevin, who took the risk, had no trouble from the authorities. Kevin, who moved from Toronto back to his home, New York City, several months ago said, “I used to be walking on egg shells because I did not want my visa student to get revoked, but now if I get arrested I just want to be bailed out of jail in time for the after-party.” Since 2004, Newmindspace, the collective Kevin and Lori Kufner co-founded, has been the group behind many public interventions in Toronto and New York City. Kevin says that when he moved to Toronto for the rave scene and to attend University, there was a real need for reclaiming public space in Toronto. According to Kevin, Newmindspace picked up where several other groups left off - people doing train parties, Reclaim the Streets, and the Toronto Public Space Committee. He said, “We were originally inspired by massive public art installation like ‘The Gates’ in Central Park by Christo and Jeanne -Claude….We wanted to transform the landscape with something bright and colorful. We hoped to grow to that grandeur but we took a different direction with people instead of objects.” Kevin said that unlike events by groups like Improv in Toronto, which are geared toward the spectator, his events are geared toward the participants. He said, “Flash mobs have a goal of bewildering passersby. Whereas, I think the laughter we want to get is one created by a genuine feeling of joy and pleasure…Experiencing the peak experience, in the Maslow sense of the word. Being in a pillow fight is euphoric. There is no denying that.” In addition to Newmindspace’s most recent pillow fight here, they’ve gathered nearly 5000 people at a pillow fight in New York City’s Union Square. In Toronto, their largest event was a light saber battle in front of the ROM in November 2007. Coming up next, on April 4th they’re organizing a pillow fight on International Pillow Fight Day. This time they’ll be bringing signs that say, “Pillows Before Profits” and “Bail Out Newmindspace”. They’re piggy-backing their event onto the protest against the bail out, that same day on Wall Street. Kevin says they decided to do so, after getting criticism from an activist who said, “If you really wanted to reclaim the streets for people - not corporations – then you would work with the Wall Street organizers.” They considered and decided it wasn’t a bad idea. However, Kevin remains skeptical about traditional activism. He said, “We get criticism that we don’t ally with traditional causes. But, the reason they have trouble getting people to go to protests is because sometimes they alienate people…” Although the Newmindspace project is about reclaiming public space, inventing new ways of having fun, and creating community, the idea is to include as many people as possible without having an explicit political agenda. He says, “We are deconstructionists. We want people to take their own meaning. I don’t want to set out on a course and persuade people to agree with us…. The entry level is low to include anyone who wants to participate… It's not our job to tell people why they want to come... Some people come for the message, others to loose weight, others to meet girls. As long as some people come for the party and stay for the cause, then it’s ok.” After the two hour long pillow fight at Dundas Sqaure, exhausted pillow fighters lay down in a large huddle, which Kevin referred to as a “cuddle puddle”. The event was over, and the clean up commenced. With garbage bags and brooms, the group cleaned up the pillows that lay scattered all over the square. By Monday morning, when students and people are off to work, the square will be turned once again into the mundane spot it once was. Maybe memories of the euphoric pillow fight, engraved into the minds of Torontonians, will remain.

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Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:22:16 -0700 Our city's Safe Streets Act doesn't deal with poverty http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/10/our-citys-safe-streets-act-doesnt-deal-with-poverty http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/10/our-citys-safe-streets-act-doesnt-deal-with-poverty This article was published in the Ryerson Free Press, February 2009 issue. Here's a look at panhandling and the Safe Streets Act in Toronto. The city needs a better way to deal with real poverty. -
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(photo originally on: http://therandomizer.wordpress.com) George Hill, part-time panhandler, carpenter, and father of five children, sits in front of Blockbuster video store on Parliament Street near Winchester Street, kitty-corner to his friend Chris ‘The Viking’ who sits outside the St. Jamestown Delicatessen. It's an early Saturday evening and the guys are about an hour into their regular shift from 5 to 10 p.m. (when the neighbourhood liquor store closes). In the darkening light, each of them holds a paper coffee cup up and asks passers-by to “spare some change”. Most people passing ignore them or nod their head. Chris, who refuses to give his last name because he says it is dangerous, says he has been in the shelter system in the 16 years since his wife died. He says his bed is full of bed bugs. He uses crutches, has long disheveled blonde hair and appears to be middle-aged. Hill wears heavy working boots and a fall coat. He says that he’s suffered from mental illness and left his wife and kids. Now, he says, he pays child support and rent, buys food and goes to the food bank. In order to make ends meet, he does occasional carpentry work and he panhandles. “It’s my part time job,” he says. On a good shift, he says he makes $5, two sandwiches and a loaf of bread. On rare days, he says, he makes $50. At the time the province adopted the Safe Streets Act, in 1999, the Toronto Star wrote it was “supposed to protect Ontarians from annoying beggars and squeegee kids”. Nine years later, across the GTA, people are still complaining about panhandlers. The act made it illegal to panhandle near an ATM, pay phone, public toilet, TTC stop, or on the road. It is also illegal to panhandle and: threaten; use abusive language; obstruct a person’s path; walk in front, behind or beside them; be intoxicated; or ask for money repeatedly. In 2004 police gave out 2725 tickets, and in 2007 that number almost quadrupled, with 10,584 tickets given for aggressive panhandling, according to Toronto Police Services. Panhandlers say the tickets range from $65 to $170. Even though he knows panhandling can be illegal, Hill claims that he doesn’t know much about the act. But he said the streets are safer with him there. Hill says that the regular residents who get to know him sometimes ask him to look after their dog or bicycle. Douglas Rowlands, resident of 10 years, and survey writer for the Don Vale Cabbagetown Residents Association, says he regularly gives a panhandler a few bucks for looking after his dog while he shops. He says, “I have no problem with that. He’s doing something respectful. There are some pretty ratty people who come to you and lay it on thick and that’s where my sympathy stops.” According to the association’s 2007 survey of 468 residents in Cabbagetown, 82 per cent said panhandling is a very serious problem along Parliament Street. Rowlands said residents cite panhandling as the major deterrent to bringing up Parliament Street’s appeal for residents who would like higher-end stores moving in. He said people support the local businesses but at the same time, “People are saying ‘We don’t like going to No Frills.’ Everyone goes to Loblaws at Queens Quay, or to the Danforth.” According to Rowlands, it’s not only that most people want nicer shops; they don’t want to be panhandled all the time. Rowlands said, “You can be asked four or five times in a few blocks. You can’t get away from it.” He said, “It is about perceived danger rather than actual attacks… There was one tall skinny black guy. He followed me down Wellesley Street, yelling at me. A few years ago there were some Native Canadian men in a state of drunkenness and disrepair, panhandling and yelling awful things about white people.” Toronto Police Const. Kevin Cummings, with 51 Division, regularly deals with calls in Cabbagetown, but he says they are not for panhandling. When Cummings was told about the association’s survey results about panhandling, he said, “It sound(s) like panhandlers are on every corner … They are not outside every business. It’s not like that at all.” He says he comes across panhandlers on his bike, and he’ll give them several warnings before he writes a ticket. He explains, “I am fair. I am not going to see one guy and say ‘you’re going to jail today.’ There are bigger fish to fry. I’m not going to go after the one guy that has a problem. On the flip side… If we get community complaints we have to answer to those. Our primary goal is the community’s enjoyment...” Cummings says he wouldn’t classify panhandlers as criminals, “Essentially we are giving the same kinds of tickets like you would get when you drive through a stop sign. It’s a nuisance.” Chris says he believes the way the law is written it is illegal to panhandle, whether aggressively or not. When he gets stopped Chris said the police usually don’t say much. “Most of them know me. Some of them say, ‘Chris, Move on.’ Some of them are harsh. Some of them wave and I know it’s time to move. Out of respect I move. I am not here to cause trouble. I just sit here with my cup.” He said, “I don’t know what goes on in the precinct, but it seems like they say ‘lets go hit Parliament Street and clean it up.’ Then next week they might go to Yonge Street.” He said he’s been ticketed at least once for drunken disorderliness, and on one day he said he got $750 worth of tickets. He and Hill say they post the tickets up on their walls and call them ‘wallpaper.’ Hill, who said he racked up 29 tickets in three years, said he paid his first one, and then he met Chris, who told him he didn’t have to pay. Hill laughed and said, “I stopped paying. Every time the police stop me they check to see if I’m wanted, and it doesn’t come up on their computer.” Hill said “police tell us here’s a ticket, but you know you guys don’t have to pay.” He asked “Why give me a ticket if I don’t have to pay? I don’t know what they are thinking.” Cummings said he doesn’t think ticketing is effective. He says if panhandlers get a short jail sentence it isn’t going to get people off the street. He said a panhandler will “be back out there because he has a problem. He can’t work. He has an addiction, or no housing.” Doug Fisher, from the Old Cabbagetown Business Improvement Area, said, “Panhandling is not an issue where the police are very effective. They can’t haul everyone to jail. They don’t have the legal authority to do it, and they don’t have the space to do it.” A.J. Withers, from Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, says that there are already criminal laws in place to deal with assault and harassment and she doesn’t see why there needed to be law directed specifically toward panhandling. Withers said, “This law was the province’s way of criminalizing regular behaviours that people do under extreme poverty.” Withers says their coalition used to refer people to Downtown legal Services and Parkdale Community Legal Services, but these organizations recently stopped dealing with panhandling cases. According to Withers, from 2000 to 2006, panhandlers could bring their tickets to the coalition. Withers says that with law students they fought thousands of tickets and had the vast majority thrown out. She says the coalition stopped because they only have one full-time and two part-time staff members. She said, “We could do it again, but the provincial government passed when the access to justice act, which means you need a registered paralegal. We can't afford registered legal aid.” She says that since poor people cannot afford legal defense they will be increasingly convicted. Research done at the Centre for Urban Community Studies at University of Toronto suggested that there is a sizeable sub-group of homeless people committing minor offenses who are stuck in a cycle between shelters, jails, and hospitals, and who are becoming alienated from community life. The report recommends that affordable housing be provided for this sub-group as a more cost-effective strategy. The coalition says it wants poor people to have their basic needs met through the provision of adequate shelter beds downtown. Members said they want the safe streets act to be cancelled. Withers said the police need to stop giving tickets and the city needs to provide more free legal services. This past spring, the City of Toronto said it would use a ‘homes first’ approach to get panhandlers and homeless people off the streets. Fisher, who has had some contact with staff from the city’s new Streets to Homes program, said it sounds positive. He said the staff are supposed to work with individuals in the community to figure out what they need –housing, a meal or clothing program, or community contact. On the other hand, Withers said she doesn’t like the program because she said it pushes homeless people out of downtown. She said she hears complaints from the homeless that the housing provided is far away and sometimes in disrepair. She said people have little money to pay for food or TTC to access services downtown. She said, “It makes space for rich people to not have to look at the poor… The city is working to gentrify the downtown.” Rowlands said, “I’d like that the social and economic conditions are such that we wouldn’t have panhandlers. But we’re a long way from that. …”

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Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:22:39 -0700 Can Gourmet Burgers do well in the recession? http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/09/gourmet-burgers-in-recession http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/09/gourmet-burgers-in-recession Cabbagetown was my local neighbourhood beat for my reporting class last term. I wrote this article in November 2008 . It appeared in the Ryerson Free Press in February. Read the whole article below for details on the ever-changing Cabbagetown neighbourhood!

The grey-haired former restauranteur known as Trevor Barryman sits on a bar stool, to eat his gourmet burger with onion rings. He faced the window, looking at Parliament Street, on a Tuesday afternoon. He’s having his second burger in a week at the newly opened Gourmet Burger Co. in Cabbagetown.

Finishing a bite, Barryman says that people have been predicting the complete gentrification of this commercial strip for the last 30 years. He explained, “They told me it would be the next Yorkville.” He continued, “They were wrong.”

He said, “If someone told me they were opening up a hamburger place here I would have told them it was a terrible idea. Who would pay for a $13 lunch in this neighbourhood?” But, Barryman said that when he came in for his first burger on Saturday there was a line-up out the door.

This new burger joint faces the usual challenges of setting itself apart from the other restaurants that sell burgers in Toronto, and begs the question, can a gourmet burger joint do well and bring people in from other neighbourhoods?

In November, John Ward, 39, who is an experienced restauranteur and caterer from Australia, opened this burger restaurant at 482 Parliament Street. His new take out and small sit-in spot can appeal to a wide range of people with varying budgets - from those who want to pay $6 for a gourmet burger, to those would can afford $13 for a deluxe burger with sides and a drink.

Because of the diversity in income levels in the neighbourhood, Doug Fisher, staff of the Old Cabbagetown Improvement Area (BIA), says the businesses that do best here appeal to the largest spectrum of incomes. Fisher said that like a hardware store, which everyone likes, the same may be true for buying lunch. According to Fisher, “A burger place also appeals to everyone.” Fisher says the Gourmet Burger Co. has a great chance of gaining loyal customers from across the city.

A walk along Parliament Street reveals a real mix of restaurants. There are older dinners, ethnic take-away places and gourmet restaurants, alongside organic butchers, dollar stores and the discount no-frills grocery store. According to Fisher, the rents in this commercial sector range from $1,500 to $5,000 a month. He said, “Our rents are lower that those on Church Street, so they are a bargain for business owners because they can still get customers from some of the nearby neighbourhoods for a third the rental price.” He said that the rental costs have been inching up, but not to the point that older businesses are being priced out.

Walking the streets there are panhandlers, renters from James Town and Regent Park, students and home-owning professionals. On Parliament there are no exquisite floral or chocolate stores, upscale clothing boutiques or bookstores. For a long time the area has not even had a Starbucks (although one is going to open soon in the same block as Gourmet Burger Co.) If you were walking along Parliament Street, you might never guess that just a few blocks east is a neighbourhood that boasts million-dollar homes.

On the west side of Parliament Street, in the first block north of Cartlon, Spiros Maniatos owns the block of buildings. They currently house a dollar store, Johnny G’s Diner, and now – Gourmet Burger Co.

Fisher said, “Based on my blog research, there seems to be a lot of talk about Gourmet Burger Co.” He said the key for businesses in Cabbagetown that aim to attract people with higher incomes is to draw people into the neighbourhood. Fisher said he thinks that Gourmet Burger Co. can potentially draw people from outside, as a few other businesses in the area have done.

John Lee, the owner of Omi, a sushi restaurant that moved into the area in November, said that business has been very good since the move from Church Street. He said, “We have a lot of our existing customers and the neighbourhood locals coming to our new location.” He said he gets around 70 per cent of his business from his existing customers, and the remaining 30 per cent from Cabbagetowners.

At a home furnishing store, Mi Casa, which has been in the area for 20 years, the manager, Andrew Halkewycz, said they draw roughly 60 per cent of their customers from outside of the neighbourhood, and around 40 per cent are Cabbagetowners.

In spite of the few stores that regularly draw people into the neighbourhood, Fisher said Cabbagetown has not become a destination spot, like the Distillery District or Church Street. “People don’t wake up on a Saturday and say ‘Let’s go to Cabbagetown.’ The neighbourhood is still a locally serving area, with businesses largely there to suit the local populations,” he said.

There are many well-known long-standing restaurants on Parliament Street that Cabbagetowners frequent. Fisher said, “Gourmet Burger Co has a good chance to compete.”

Sure enough, every pub in the area serves a burger; but, Gourmet Burger Co. is the only place specializing in various kinds of unique burgers. Fisher said, “I had a smokey bacon burger with fries and spent around $10. I could have spent less on their normal burger with condiments for $5.50, but I was happy to pay more for the unique toppings. I think they have a good broad price range for their customers.”

A glance at the menu at Gourmet Burger Co posted on the meticulously hand-written signs above the ordering counter reveals that in addition to the cheaper basic burger, the signature suggestions made by owner John Ward, range in price from $5.95 to $9.95.

Down the street, the popular House on Parliament pub offers their basic burger with sweet potato fries for $12.38, around $4 more than at Gourmet Burger Co. The Pear Tree, Ben Wicks Bar & Bistro, Big Mamma’s Boy, JAM café, and Stonegrill all offer burgers with sides ranging in price from $7.99 to $16. At these restaurants the burgers are among the lowest-priced items on their menus.

Fisher said, “If you sell only a burger, you need to sell more.” John Ward says he is selling between 100 to 175 burgers a day, which is quite good, according to Geoff Wilson, a restaurant consultant in Mississauga, who did a quick calculation of Ward’s sales and costs.

Wilson said that the decision a potential customer makes to buy a gourmet burger versus one from McDonalds will be based on a couple of factors. “Is the customer in the group that has been significantly influenced by the trend of ‘premiumization’? If so, that customer will be looking for more than just a regular burger, and if it’s different they are prepared to pay more. It has to have an enhanced flavour profile and a more appealing quality proposition. They have to want to buy it for the experience rather than just for filling up their stomach,” he said.

Ward says he has the differential gourmet aspect covered. He’s offering customizable burgers with the toppings they want, and including some unique Australian options – fried egg and beets - which are common in his home country’s standard burger, but found rarely (if ever) in Toronto. Furthermore he says he’ll soon be introducing a burger of the week with either salmon, bison, or pulled pork. Currently he has chicken, beef, and lamb burgers on offer with toppings like avocado, bacon, pineapple, gouda and brie.

At around 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Ward’s wife and two-month-old son visit the restaurant. Ward says he’s happy to have started this new business, after owning six other successful ones in the last 14 years. He says he’s glad, because with the restaurant he won’t be working late night pub hours, and he can spend more time with his son. Ward says he is up for the challenge of serving anyone who enjoys good food. He said he wants Gourmet Burger Co. to be like a good pizza place: “Everyone enjoys it… 12 year olds and grandmothers. It transcends age. I want people to leave here saying it was the best burger they ever had.”

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Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:45:13 -0700 A Look at OCAP that defies stereotypes http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/08/a-look-at-ocap-that-defies-stereotypes http://samplingculture.posterous.com/2009/03/08/a-look-at-ocap-that-defies-stereotypes Published in February 2009, for the Ryerson Free Press. At the office of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), three desks are squished together in a bunker-like room without windows. Three metal filing cabinets are labelled “Immigration”, “OCAP”, and “Organization History.” A pile of protest banners leans against the wall. The walls are plastered with posters such as: “Fight to Win: March on Queens Park, 2000” and “Convergence 2010. No Olympics on Stolen Land. No Social Cleansing. No Eco-Destruction.” Others are in Portuguese with images of Brazilian workers. It’s clear that the coalition’s work in Toronto is connected to global struggles. As I wait, four activists arrive from Montreal. A mother among them has a newborn and carries the requisite baby bag with snacks and toys. So much for that militant-activist stereotype. Some city politicians, residents, and academics claim that OCAP takes an extreme approach in its representation of a vocal minority. But, on a symbolic level, the coalition speaks not just for the panhandlers visible to us, but also for the invisible poor. Its members speak for those who are too ashamed to fight for a right to government housing and for an increased minimum wage. The organizers at the coalition create a process that is politicizing for those who want to be involved, and forums for protests about broader issues. As a direct action anti-poverty group, the coalition advocates in Toronto’s City Hall for the poorest people. People who are often referred to as an underclass, those who can’t contribute to society, who are frequently classified as deserving or undeserving, without any examination of the larger economic context. The coalition advocates assertively, frequently breaking the rules. It plays a controversial role in Toronto’s political scene. It sometimes successfully gets homeless people on the map in a terrain that is otherwise dominated by stakeholders with power – the people in suits: developers, politicians, and residents’ groups. The trouble is that not everyone is aware of the work it does beyond its notoriously loud protests. In early September 2008, one city councillor’s constituency assistant spoke to me about the different communities in his ward. When OCAP came up, he rolled his eyes. He’s not the only one who appears to shrug off the coalition as merely a radical activist organization. For most liberal citizens, the idea of a poor people’s unruly protest is unsettling. It reminds us of revolution, and the reversal of power that took place during significant times in history, like the French Revolution, when people demanded bread and got angry at the royalty, chopping off their heads for their presumptive sense of entitlement. The working classes were hungry and the ruling class disdained them. The anger that citizens had then was unbounded and brought them together in a frightening force. Clearly they had nothing to lose. Today, many people still find direct-action protest tactics to be in bad taste and, on a subconscious level, terrifying. The large number of police at some protests exemplifies the hyper-vigilance of the city trying to maintain order and the status quo. A journalism professor at Ryerson University, April Lindgren, who is familiar with Toronto politics, and who is a former Queen’s Park bureau chief, also shared her doubts about the coalition’s reputation. She said, “Their use of sometimes violent means – organizing the riot on the Queen’s Park lawn a few years ago – undermines their cause.” But the coalition has a different idea about what it is doing. On Oct. 4, 2008, the coalition marched along Parliament Street to “take back Cabbagetown.” According to its website, it “made it clear that poor people who live in the neighbourhood and use services in the neighbourhood are staying in the neighbourhood.” At the local Business Improvement Area (BIA), Doug Fisher said business owners were not impressed with the coalition’s loud and annoying protest against gentrification. Inside the coalition’s tiny one-room office near the Moss Park Armory, two organizers, both part-time staff at the organization, AJ Withers and Kelly Bentley, explained that they go to city council meetings to remind the councillors of things we would rather not be reminded of. They say they provide access to politicians in a way that most poor people can’t have alone. “What approach are people supposed to take when they are living in dire conditions?” Withers asked. “We…organize people to take action. So if squeamish liberals and reactionaries don’t like us, we don’t give a crap.” She added that they went to council last year to let councillors know that shelter beds are infested with bed bugs and that tuberculosis was going around. They demanded that more beds be made available. But, Withers said, councillors tell them there are enough beds, and they brush off the fact that shelters aren’t safe. She said, “They are not on the front lines dealing with people.” Most people don’t know about the range of work that the coalition does. Withers said, “Our protests are aimed at broad-scale change, but we wouldn’t be responsible as an organization if that’s all we did. We believe in our Band-Aid day-to-day solutions for people too, and that’s where our case work comes in.” They compile a list of affordable housing from newspaper listings to distribute to agencies working with low-income clients. They advise people on legal matters when possible, and on welfare, if they have problems. Withers said they give people the tools to solve problems for themselves, and sometimes they call the welfare offices on their behalf. She said they get around 20 people a week asking for help. In addition to working with the downtown sector, the coalition also supports a group of Somali women in Rexdale. It has a community among the homeless population and ask people to come to meetings and speak at protests. Bentley said, “I work with Ontario Disability Support Plan recipients to process their social-assistance forms. They know that OCAP is there to support them, and I think it gives them a sense of security and belonging. At the same time, as we tell them about our research, they tell us what is happening on the street.” But, Withers admitted, “The homeless community is transient… Our membership is more fluid.” Since it formed in 1989, the coalition has held frequent general membership meetings. Until 2001, it had support and funding from the Canadian Auto Workers union, but that relationship ended after a series of incidents which the union could not support. According to the coalition, the actions that ended the relationship – such as evicting then-Ontario Finance Minister Jim Flaherty from his office because the eviction rate had skyrocketed while he was in power – were some of their most successful. Withers said that when the union pulled their funding, even a poll on City TV indicated the popularity of the coalition’s actions. Withers explained, “We never let our funders control what we do. That makes things hard, but it’s the way we have integrity.” Withers also noted the role of the media, stating, “If we sign someone up to get welfare, nobody cares, but anything we do that is sensational gets into the news.” According to Withers, another misperception of the media is about the coalition’s dealings with the police. Withers said, “Lots of times police do something outrageous, like they take a child away from a mother during a protest, but instead of letting them do that, we support people to defend themselves against police violence.” She adds, “How democratic is it if you have to protest in a benign way? We want to express the urgency and the change that people need.” Withers said, “We are building a poor people’s movement… I think that the detractors of our organization are a testimony to our effectiveness. It’s a serious fight and you’d expect that we would be loved and hated.” But moments after Withers insisted pugnaciously on the need to break some rules, Bentley asked, “Where can we send people for Christmas help?” Once again, any impression of the coalition as a simple extremist group is shattered.

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