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2010 Villain: Racial Stereotyping

This year, Toronto's reputation for tolerance was undermined. Racial stereotypes crept into our politics, our schools, and our media—and reminded us that our city is not magically immune from racism. Even more troubling: our muted reaction to many of these incidents.

Tamils and Toronto

Rocco Rossi and Sarah Thomson supporters protesting Rob Ford’s recent comments about immigration last week. Photo by Harry Choi/Torontoist. It’s no surprise that mayoral candidate Rob Ford’s opponents have seized on his recent comments about immigration as proof he is unfit to become the next mayor of our very diverse city. Nor is it surprising, [...]

Still They Stand

Toronto’s Tamil community comes together for an evening vigil along University Avenue. Their large rallies have come and gone, but Toronto’s Tamils have yet to vacate the downtown core. Permanently located on the corner across from the U.S. Consulate, they continue to protest for all but fifteen minutes each day. During their only break at [...]

The Daily Photoist: May 25, 2009

Every weekday morning, bright and early, we feature a photo or (two) from a photographer in Torontoist’s Flickr Pool, our way of showing off their great work and starting the day off as prettily as possible. Tamil candlelight vigil BY HYFEN

You Know You’re Rice

There was a movie that played at Hot Docs called Reporter. It was about Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times columnist who globetrots to the sites of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters in an effort to provide original reporting that will draw attention to crises of which very few people are aware. Most interestingly, Kristof [...]

Tamil Tiger Trashers Take to the Skies

Photo by Jonathan Goldsbie/Torontoist. As members of the Tamil community continue their demonstrations against the conflict in Sri Lanka, a high-flying counter-protest is underway, in the form of a small airplane circling around central Toronto with an anti–Tamil Tigers message in tow. Reader Mark Ostler first noticed the lofty banner, which reads “Protect Canada. Stop [...]

Tamils Go Back to University

Like you didn’t know this was coming: after a lengthy protest that shut down University Avenue for several days at the end of last month, and Sunday night’s Gardiner takeover, Tamil protesters have once again forced the closure of University Avenue southbound from Dundas Street West to Queen Street West. According to Toronto Police, the [...]

Torontoist vs. Torontoist in… Tamil Protests

In Torontoist vs. Torontoist, two Torontoist staffers face off to debate an issue important to our city. We invite our readers to join in the debate in the comments section after the post. Photo from last night’s Gardiner protest by 松林Ｌ. Last night, several thousand Tamil protesters took over the Gardiner Expressway for several hours, [...]

Tamils Take to the Gardiner

Top photo by Miles Storey/Torontoist; bottom photo by Nick Kozak/Torontoist. Not long before dusk on Sunday night, several thousand Tamil protesters flowed onto the Gardiner Expressway, shutting it down shortly thereafter, to protest the ongoing violence in Sri Lanka. The Gardiner would remain shut down until about midnight, when the protest migrated off the roads [...]

University Avenue Re-Opens

After several days of sustained protest from Toronto’s Tamil community that effectively shut University Avenue down to traffic, the Toronto Police Service reports that—as of 9:13 a.m.—the street is back open in both directions [

Despite “Scuffles,” Tamil Protest Continues

The protest by Toronto’s Tamil community in front of the U.S. consulate on University Avenue continued last night and throughout today, with the street remaining closed between Dundas Street West and Queen Street West. And although heavy rain had thinned the crowd yesterday morning to only a hundred or so protesters, the Toronto Star reports [...]

“Canada, Help Us.”

For the third straight day, throngs of demonstrators from Toronto’s Tamil community—the world’s largest outside Sri Lanka—have congregated on University Avenue between Queen Street and Dundas, holding court outside the U.S. consulate. As of nine o’clock this morning, the percussive rhythm of drums and rallying cries continued to resound along the artery, hemmed in on [...]