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Weekend Newsstand: September 26, 2015
Today: comedy in Toronto is very white, a new system for repairs at community housing properties, and a woman refused entry to Legoland.
The Toronto edition of Montreal’s celebrated comedy-world behemoth festival Just for Laughs, JFL42, kicked off on Thursday, and comedians both local and imported will be performing around downtown until next Saturday. But as the Globe and Mail investigates, people of colour trying to break into comedy in this city often face barriers their white counterparts breeze past. In a city filled with people from all walks of life and boasting a hugely diverse population, Toronto’s comedy scene can look alarmingly white, as with many other creative industries. As we enjoy world-class comedians, from John Mulaney to Hannibal Buress, it’s worth reflecting on why that is.
In an effort to combat the multi-billion-dollar repair backlog in Toronto Community Housing spaces, a new, more streamlined system is going to be put in place. Until now, repairs have been done one at a time, with a contractor hired to fix one problem in one housing unit and then move on to a new job that could be at any other TCHC property, repairs will now be bundled: if several apartments in one complex need new countertops, for example, or (as with several units) the roofs are in desperate need of repair, one contractor will be assigned to do all those repairs at one property. Mayor John Tory and TCHC President Greg Spearn said this new system will streamline repair times and cut costs, as supplies can be ordered in bulk.
An “embarrassed and humiliated” American tourist was turned away from Legoland in Vaughan this week when she attempted to go to the attraction without a child in tow. Legoland bills itself as a child-oriented attraction and only allows adults without children to go to the once-a-month Adult Only Nights. Alice DeFriez, who described herself as a Lego enthusiast, is not the first person this has happened to, either: “Lego fanatic” John St-Onge was also denied entry after he travelled from Windsor to go in 2013.