Newsstand: August 10, 2015

In the news today, Michael Chan is suing the Globe and Mail for libel, and resources to mitigate poverty in Toronto's suburbs need far more attention.

By Tannara Yelland • Illustration by Matthew Daley

Provincial cabinet minister Michael Chan, who represents the riding of Markham-Unionville, has launched a libel lawsuit against the Globe and Mail. Chan, who is serving as Premier Kathleen Wynne’s minister of citizenship, immigration, and international trade, has been the focus of an ongoing investigation by the Globe into politicians with close ties to or under the influence of foreign nations. The investigation was sparked by a 2010 comment from then-Canadian Security and Intelligence Service director Richard Fadden, who referenced Canadian politicians under foreign influence but didn’t refer to Chan or any other politician by name.

Poverty in Toronto city, as opposed to the GTA, is a perennial issue for downtown liberals and many journalists, and is frequently the subject of hand-wringing if not actual progress. However, suburban poverty is a huge and growing issue all-too-often overlooked: University of Toronto professor David Hulchanski led a research project whose findings included a jump in the number of Peel residents living in low-income-classified neighbourhoods. In 1980, just two per cent of Peel residents fit that bill, while in 2010, it was more than 50 per cent. And the number of shelter spaces for youth is woefully inadequate at just 14 for an area with more than 1.3 million people. Both short- and long-term solutions are in short supply, and getting shorter.