Results tagged “immigration”

The recently aired docu-drama Death or Canada tells the tragic story of one family fleeing the Great Famine in Ireland by immigrating to Canada in the summer of 1847. En route, John and Mary Willis lost four of their five children to typhus before arriving in Toronto in mid-June. Shortly afterward, as the family moved inland, John and the last son died of the disease, and Mary Willis disappeared from the historical record. They were but one family in a flood of thirty-eight thousand Irish refugees who overwhelmed Toronto, at the time a town of only twenty thousand. But their story puts a human face on a period that, despite having become a common point of identity for Irish-Canadians, is rarely discussed in any detail in Canada or Ireland. And the film, which aired last month to critical acclaim and strong viewership, marks an effective convergence between the thorough research of academic history and the personal narrative details that help make history appealing to a broad public audience.

                     

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2008--the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months, with one hero and one villain selected by each participating staff member. On Christmas Day: the heroes. On Boxing Day: the villains. And next week, cast your vote to determine the Superhero and Supervillain of the year.

Since the 1980s, thousands of Somalis have occupied the apartments at Dixon Road and Kipling Avenue. Oddly enough, their arrival in Dixon coincided with Transport Canada’s 1988 decision to allow planes to fly over the Kingsview area: the increased noise from the air traffic prompted residents to leave, which opened up vacancies and reduced property values. The first Somalis moved into the area because it was newly affordable and relatively close to Pearson Airport. After the Somali government collapsed in 1991, thousands of refugees arrived in Toronto looking for Dixon because they had heard about the pre-existing Somali community. At Pearson Airport in the early 1990s, it was common to hear arriving Somali immigrants ask: "Where’s Dixon?"

Toronto is full of great stories and great storytellers who can convey every feeling, every action into words. To celebrate the city's literary pedigree, Torontoist sat down with Judy Fong Bates and Terry Fallis, two acclaimed Toronto-based authors, for a four-part series to discuss their journeys as writers and their visions for the future of storytelling.

Toronto is full of great stories and great storytellers who can convey every feeling and every action into words. To celebrate the city's literary pedigree, Torontoist sat down with Judy Fong Bates and Terry Fallis, two acclaimed Toronto-based authors, for a four-part series to discuss their journeys as writers and their visions for the future of storytelling.

Every Saturday morning, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.

Photo by Carnotzet from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

At an event yesterday to show off Toronto's new street furniture, David Miller praised the exclusive deal with Astral Media. The contract includes a measly 1,000 new bicycle posts, because God knows we don't want to encourage cycling in downtown Toronto. The contract also includes new public toilet installations which are billed as being "self-cleaning," to which Torontoist can only issue a collective "shyeeeeah, right."

"Next stop, Quarter Pounder" is something you could be hearing on the subway in the future, as City Council agrees to look at selling station naming rights to corporations. However, TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc calls the study a "waste of time" and says the idea should be rejected, presumably because he's polled all 1.5 million riders and knows that they'd rather pay higher fares than suffer the indignity of a subway stop named after a basketball shoe instead of a 19th century Brit. Say, what if they sold the naming rights to Subway? Everybody wins!

Plagued by complaints, the City of Toronto has finally gotten around to ticketing some homeowners who don't clear the snow in front of their property. A city spokesperson said they prefer not to send out inspectors in the winter because it's so difficult to get around.