Volume 1 • Issue 6
Wednesday, October 7 2026
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FEATURE
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
SADÉ MCCREATH
Photo Courtesy of Andiswa Mrasi
Purpose Beyond Speed Have you ever wondered what happens when someone decides to stop caring about what other people think? For Sadé McCreath, that moment arrived at age 30, an age when the sporting world expects sprinters to pack up their spikes. Instead, on a July afternoon in Edmonton, McCreath exploded out of the blocks, tore down the track in 10.86 seconds, and became the fastest woman in Canadian history. She shattered the 10.90-second barrier, ranking among the top ten fastest women on Earth that season. When you talk with Sadé, you quickly realize that her 10.86 clocking was not an overnight stroke of luck. It was the payoff of a fifteen-year grind, a radical shift in her mindset, and a commitment to something far bigger than running fast. “I stopped caring about people’s opinions, and I stopped fearing their judgment,” she explains with warm clarity. “I went into last season like I did not really have anything to lose. The moment I stopped caring what other people might say, everything changed…” To understand where that mental toughness comes from, you have to look at how Sadé was raised in Ajax, Ontario. Her family roots stretch back to Westmoreland, Jamaica. Raised by strong women (her mother and grandmother) Sadé spent her childhood watching them work tirelessly and take immense pride in everything they did. Hard work was the baseline expectation. “My life was very structured,” Sadé recalls. “When I was young, my mom told me, ‘I don’t put you in all these sports just for you to play-play and have fun. If you are going to do anything, it is to be the best, and you are supposed to learn something out of it to make you a better person.’” That standard of excellence stayed with her. Yet track was not her first love. For a decade (from age six
to sixteen) Sadé lived and breathed competitive gymnastics, expecting to become an Olympian on the mats; but in grade seven, her best friend convinced her to try out for the track team simply so they could get out of being in class. Sadé entered everything available: 100m, 200m, 400m, long jump, and triple jump, to maximize her qualification chances. She won every event. As gymnastics grew intimidating and track felt like destiny, she made the pivot. She earned a Division I scholarship to Bethune-Cookman University in Florida, graduating in 2018 while laying the groundwork for an international career. Even the strongest athletes battle moments of deep self-doubt. Before her historic breakthrough, Sadé spent years grinding on the international circuit, questioning whether her destiny was limited to being a relay runner. “I’ve been in track and field since I was fifteen, and I became Canada’s fastest woman fifteen years later,” she admits candidly. “So many times I thought, ‘Maybe it’s not for you.’ My coach, Charles Allen, would ask, ‘Why not? What is stopping you?’ My family reminded me that I have worked for this my entire life.” That circle kept her grounded when the road got steep, teaching her to trust her timeline. What makes Sadé’s story extraordinary is what she does off the track. In addition to competing at the world’s highest level (including reaching the 4x100m Olympic final in Paris and winning Pan American gold) she works full-time as an Ontario probation and parole officer. Her daily work places her directly inside youth detention centers, supporting young people navigating heavy consequences and searching for second chances. When asked about that work, her voice fills with emotion, “When you hear what they have gone through at such a young age, and still see them say, ‘It’s going to be okay, I’m going to figure it
out, they inspire me,” Sadé says, holding back tears. “I never had it that rough. So, who am I to give up on myself? Who am I to not think I am that girl, if these kids can be so resilient?” That perspective gives her athletic career profound purpose. Running fast has now become about showing those young people what resilience looks like in practice. Today, Sadé gives back through ElevateGirls in Ajax and Girls Forward across Toronto. Both programs focus on keeping young girls engaged in sports, building self-confidence, positive self-talk, and mental discipline. She has also partnered with UNHCR Canada on their Sports for Humanity initiative, advocating for inclusion through sport. “We live in an instant-gratification world,” she observes. “I want every young girl to know that real things that have value take time. If you can think it, it can be done. Take it from me; fifteen years later, it will come, and it will feel so much better because the journey made it worth it.” Off the track, Sadé is warm, relatable, and unapologetically herself; an astrological Cancer who loves dancehall music, Real Housewives marathons, and a plate of curry goat. When reflecting on her legacy, her focus shifts back to opening doors for others; “I want to be remembered as a barrier breaker,” she says with quiet conviction. “Even though I was afraid of breaking those barriers, I still did it. I want young girls to say, ‘Sadé did it, so why can’t I?’” Sadé McCreath’s journey proves that age is just a number, patience pays off, and true power comes from running your own lane with purpose. Her story is not over; she is just getting started.
Written by Simone J. Smith TCN Now
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Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
NEWS & VIEWS
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Donald Trump’s North America map raises questions MICHAEL THOMAS michael@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Donald Trump posted a map on Truth Social showing the United States’ flag covering Canada, Mexico, Greenland, the Caribbean and other parts of North America. The post appeared without an explanation, but it landed within a broader pattern of Trump publicly discussing territorial expansion and changing geographic names. Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in acquiring Greenland and has also spoken about the Panama Canal and Canada becoming part of the United States. The latest map therefore adds another layer to a contentious conversation about U.S. power, territory and sovereignty. U.S.-Canada tensions have been heightened by trade disputes, with Washington and Ottawa imposing tariffs on one another’s goods. As if those tensions were not strained enough, Trump signed an executive order on August 27th, 2026 directing the U.S. government to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America.” The order applies to U.S. federal usage; Canada continues to use Lake Ontario. Trump shared a map portraying Mexico and Canada under the U.S. flag and, days earlier, posted imagery suggesting that New Mexico should be renamed “New America.” The White House did not provide an explanation for the North America map, according to reporting by The Independent.
Foreign-policy scholar Kurt Taylor Gaubatz criticized the attention surrounding Trump’s posts, writing that news organizations should put such posts in a box labelled “Crazy things Trump did yesterday” so they do not distract from what he described as more consequential developments. Commentator Eric Daugherty reacted on X with “LMFAO!” and said Trump was going “Full North American empire mode.” His comments were sarcastic and should not be treated as evidence that the United States was preparing an invasion. The map comes amid a wider consequential U.S. foreign-policy agenda. The administration has taken military action involving Iran, intensified pressure on Venezuela, maintained a hardline policy toward Cuba, and expanded military operations against suspected drug-trafficking vessels in the Caribbean. Critics have described some of these actions as coercive or reminiscent of gunboat diplomacy, while the administration has presented them as matters of national security and law enforcement. Canada has also warned that the international order is changing. Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand recently said the “USdominated international order” is not coming back,” reflecting Ottawa’s assessment of a significant shift in relations with Washington. Greenland remains another flashpoint. Denmark has increased its military and NATO presence around Greenland following years of tension over Trump’s interest in acquiring the territory. A recent security agreement involving the United States, Denmark and Greenland has expanded U.S. military infrastructure while maintaining Greenland’s connection to Denmark. For Canadians and countries across
the region, the symbolism matters because maps are not merely decoration. They can communicate claims, ambitions and assumptions about power. Whether Trump’s post was intended as satire, provocation or political messaging is not established by the image itself. What is established is that the map placed sovereign countries and territories beneath the visual identity of the United States, creating an image that raised questions about how Washington views its neighbours and sphere. The question is what Trump means by a map posted on social media. The larger question is what repeated territorial imagery, renaming efforts, trade pressure and military actions communicate to countries that share
borders, waters and interests with the United States. The U.S. government’s foreign policy has never ceased to amaze me, and I shall explain. Does anyone think for a second that Russia, North Korea and China do not have narcoterrorism, as the U.S. government claims to be fighting in the Caribbean? Why isn’t the U.S. there? Could it be that it is not as easy to grab resources and land in those nuclear-armed countries? Easy answer: A bully only picks fights he feels confident he can win, with the exception of Iran, of course, where the bully was taken to the classroom publicly and with a bloody nose, too.
NEWS & VIEWS
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TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
A staircase might actually be one of your best workout options BY DIANA GIFFORD-JONES TCN HEALTH REPORTER Most people are less physically active than they should be. So, when you get the chance to take a flight of stairs, do it. Think of the escalator as your enemy and the stairs as your friend. A new analysis reinforces the message that climbing a few flights is well worth the effort. Researchers combined the results of nine studies involving almost half a million people. The participants were followed for about 14 years. Those who regularly climbed stairs had a 39 per cent lower risk of cardiovascular death and a 24 per cent lower risk of death from any cause than those who did not regularly climb stairs. Those are impressive numbers. Climb the stairs! Here is a lesson in understanding these kinds of studies. They were observational, meaning there was no random assignment of half a million people to climb stairs and the other half to take elevators. Instead, researchers arrived at their conclusion by watching what people were already doing and then looking at what happened to them over many years. This opens the door to a problem called reverse causation. Think about two people standing in the lobby of an office building. One walks toward the staircase. The other presses the elevator button. It is tempting to conclude that the person taking the stairs is healthier because stair climbing is making that person healthier.
Healthier people like to take the stairs as a matter of course. These people already have stronger legs, better balance, better lungs and healthier hearts. They are lighter, more active and less likely to have arthritis. Those waiting for the elevator may already have heart disease, shortness of breath, bad knees or some other condition that makes climbing stairs difficult. In that case, the stairs are not necessarily the cause of the difference. They are instead a marker of the difference. This is what scientists mean by reverse causation. The apparent cause and effect can run in the opposite direction from what we assume. It is an important caution because headlines are particularly good at turning associations into prescriptions. Benjamin Franklin would have understood the argument. In 1772, when he was 66, Franklin wrote to his son about the virtues of exercise and observed that walking a mile up and down stairs provided more exercise than walking five miles on level ground. He also pointed out the convenience: stair climbing could be done indoors when bad weather discouraged going outside, or when a person was short of time. More than 250 years later, the inventor in Franklin would surely have admired the innovation of elevators, escalators, and all sorts of other conveniences. As an astute observer of the world, would he have recognized that in making life easier, we have also made ourselves less active? Unlike walking on level ground, climbing requires lifting our body weight
against gravity. The large muscles of the legs have more work to do. Heart rate and breathing rise quickly as they demand more oxygen and energy. Stair climbing can therefore deliver a vigorous cardiovascular workout in a short time. Take the stairs at work. Walk to the store. If you drive, park further away. Get a dog and walk it. Do these things with happiness. Do not let modern conveniences lull you into poor health.
Remember, stairs demand our respect, especially as we age. Balance, vision, muscle strength, and reaction time change. Medications add to the risk of falling. A staircase is an excellent piece of exercise equipment when using it deliberately. Use the handrail! Mind your footwear. Remove any obstacles. Stay safe while being healthy.
TIFF Brunch builds a future for storytellers PAUL JUNOR
paul@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
There was much to look forward to at the fourth annual TIFF Black Excellence Brunch, a gathering that has become an important space for Black screen-industry professionals to connect, collaborate and imagine what comes next. Presented by RBC, the 2026 brunch brought together: Black creators, filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, industry leaders and media professionals from Canada and around the world. Held during the Toronto International Film Festival, the brunch carried the theme “Future-Proofing the Black Content Creator.” The setting offered a relaxed and welcoming environment for conversations that extended beyond introductions and networking. The focus was on the realities of building sustainable careers and creating work that can survive a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. The discussions centred on three important areas: content, access to philanthropic funding, and production and distribution. These conversations addressed emerging channels, creative tools, new approaches to funding, and the challenge of reaching audiences within an increasingly complex entertainment ecosystem. The speakers were candid about the obstacles Black creatives continue to encounter. Access to funding remains a significant challenge, while strong networks, meaningful support and opportunities for collaboration can make an important difference. The conversations were both illu-
minating and empowering because they moved beyond celebration and acknowledged the practical realities of working in the film industry. TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey also addressed attendees and spoke about the importance of the Black Excellence Brunch and the opportunities for collaboration, networking and support within the industry. His remarks reinforced the value of creating spaces where Black screen professionals can meet, exchange ideas and move projects forward. The brunch was hosted by Danielle Pinnock: executive producer, entrepreneur, creator and host of Get the Keys. Her presence helped keep the gathering focused on the power of stories and the responsibility of storytellers to shape how communities understand themselves and their histories. That message was particularly meaningful as Mo Abudu received the Spotlight Award. In reflecting on the recognition, Abudu shared, “I started this journey at 40. I am still building at 62. There is no age limit on purpose.” Her words offered a powerful reminder that creative ambition does not have an expiration date. The event also reflected the continuing work of Marsha John-Greenwood, TIFF’s Vice-President, People & Culture, whose leadership has helped establish the brunch as a recurring gathering for Black screen-industry professionals. The fourth consecutive edition demonstrates how a space created around connection can develop into an important part of the festival’s wider industry community. Danielle Pinnock reiterated the power of stories to influence how we understand ourselves and imagine the future. Recognizing Black storytellers as documentarians of history also means recognizing the responsibility to create space for those coming behind them.
Photo Courtesy of Black Screen Office
What made the gathering especially relevant was its attention to the changing business of storytelling. For creators, having a strong idea is only one part of the equation. Understanding where audiences are watching, how projects are financed, how stories are distributed and how creative relationships are built has become equally important. The brunch created room for those conversations without losing sight of the people behind the work. RBC’s public recap identified panelists and participants including Sean Charles, Ben Watkins, Tayo Babalola, Tope Babalola, Nadine Williams and others, underscoring the breadth of the industry represented in the room. The 2026 Black Excellence Brunch
did not disappoint. It was a room built around possibility, not celebration. More than a celebration, it provided a nurturing space for connection, collaboration, conversation and exploration. As the entertainment industry continues to change, the need for Black creators to have access to networks, resources, funding and platforms remains clear. There is, indeed, much to look forward to at TIFF 2027. The continuing celebration of Black creatives, industry leaders and changemakers ensures that their work remains visible, and that the next generation of storytellers can see a place for themselves in the room.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
Decades in, still meeting people: One finance professional’s rule for networking BY TYRONE STEER TCN REPORTER Ade Tayo has lived in Canada for decades. On a Wednesday evening in September, he went to a networking event in Toronto and explained why he still goes to events like it. “To meet people, get contacts, and connect with them more,” he said. Tayo works in finance and helps people with financial and tax planning. He went to the Strive Networking event on Sept. 23rd, 2026 at Big Trouble with a simple aim. If business comes from a conversation, he said, that is good. If he can help someone with something, that is good too. At events like this one, he said, “You never know what you will get,” so he tries to stay open. That is his rule: meet people first and let business follow. Trust comes before clients. Most of Tayo’s clients come from his own community, he said, and from people who know people who know him. He ties that to trust. A person hires someone they have reason to believe. He also meets some clients at networking events, which is why I was there too. His approach fits that pace. A first talk at a networking night gives a person little reason to trust a stranger with their money. Tayo treats it as a start. Building trust requires getting to know each other and that takes time. He also does not treat the event as a place to sell. He said he wants to learn more about the people he meets and see how he can help them. His circle reaches beyond one community. Tayo is Nigerian, and he said he has close friends who are Haitian and Jamaican. He described the people he deals with as a diverse group. That could also be seen as a description of my own network: made up of people from several places and still based on who knows who. Others in the room, at other stages Tayo was not the only person in the room, and the others had varied reasons to be there. He has been here for many years, but how about the experiences of people who have just arrived, or came to country recently? Two other attendees shared their stories of various stages of the job hunt in the wake of AI. A finance professional who also trades stocks had been in Canada four days. He had come from Italy and he said he came to meet peers and start building relationships. That is a fast start. It is also a test of what a networking night can do for someone who has just arrived: it can put a person in the room. It cannot tell them which work will survive, which skills an employer will want, or whether a contact will turn into a job. A data engineer who moved to Toronto this year has not yet found work. He has interviews in other cities over the next three weeks. Data engineers help build, run, and organize the systems that use data. Statistics Canada found that coding-intensive jobs, such
as software engineers and web designers, grew at about the same rate as other jobs from November 2022 to December 2025. The gains were concentrated among workers aged 30 to 49. The number of coding professionals under 30 stayed flat. Statistics Canada researchers estimated that about 60% of employees in Canada hold jobs that AI could change. About half of that group are in jobs where AI may help workers do the job, so exposure does not mean a person will lose a job. Finance is one of several fields with high exposure. In finance and insurance, more than half of employees held jobs where AI could do key tasks and gave workers little help doing them. Tayo and the trader both work in finance. Tayo’s view of AI is practical. He called AI a tool “That will come, whether we like it or not.” People who learn how it works in their own field will do better, and he compares the excitement and worry around AI to the early years of the internet. While some people misuse it, people will adapt, and some will build new products to deal with those harms. AI agents (programs that can carry out tasks once you give them access) are now coming to the mainstream. Tayo has had some experience with one and said that how fast it works is “Crazy!” The Toronto job market looks better than a year ago. The unemployment rate (which is the share of people in the work force who are looking for work and cannot find it) was 6.7% in the Toronto area in August. It was 9.0% in July 2025. Yet the data engineer is still searching. This can be seen in one of two ways: a city-wide rate can improve while one person’s search takes longer, or a lower rate may not reach every field equally. It is hard to say which is the accurate read though. For Caribbean readers, Statistics Canada has details by place of birth. In the 2021 census, Black immigrants born in the Caribbean, aged 25 to 54, had an unemployment rate of 9.6%. For all Black people in that age group, it was 11.8%, and for all Canadians in that age group it was 8.3%. The figures date from the pandemic, when Statistics Canada says racialized groups were hit harder, and they cover only Black immigrants born in the Caribbean. Strive Networking launched in November 2023. The company says it has hosted more than 28,000 attendees at events in 119 cities in nine countries. Events run in each city about every six to 12 weeks, always on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Seen side by side, the four people did three plain things. They went in person. They went with a modest aim: to meet people, to build contacts, or to find peers. None of them reported a job from the night. Tayo, who has the most experience of the four, framed it as a habit. He goes, he meets people, and he sees what follows.
NEWS & VIEWS
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NEWS & VIEWS
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Saint Lucia: beyond paradise, possibility SIMONE SMITH simone@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Have you ever noticed how we reduce Saint Lucia to a postcard? Those iconic Pitons rising from the sea, the rhythm of steel drums on a beach, the scent of tropical fruits in the air, we have packaged this island into something we consume rather than something we engage with. What if I told you that beyond the turquoise waters lies an economy awakening, a place where opportunity grows as abundantly as its bougainvillea? The morning mist hugs the mountains like a lover’s embrace, and already, entrepreneurs are mapping their
futures. In Castries, the capital’s bustle is the sound of a business ecosystem finding its voice. The air carries the scent of innovation, as young Saint Lucians return from diaspora with global perspectives, ready to build what their ancestors dreamed. What if Saint Lucia is not simply somewhere you visit, but somewhere you build? Look beyond the resorts and you will find Invest Saint Lucia, the nation’s investment facilitator, connecting capital with vision. The island is strategically positioning itself beyond traditional tourism, embracing business-process outsourcing with a workforce that combines Caribbean warmth with professional excellence. Consider this: KM² Solutions is projected to create 1,000 new BPO jobs by 2027, transforming service delivery while preserving cultural identity. The real story is not just in the numbers, but in the narrative of possibility. Saint Lucia’s greatest asset is not its natural beauty; that is merely the canvas.
It’s true value lies in its people: resilient, educated, and increasingly entrepreneurial. The island’s strategic location in the Eastern Caribbean offers access to regional and international markets, while its English-speaking environment simplifies business operations. Perhaps you have never considered Saint Lucia as a manufacturing hub, yet agro-processing is connecting local agriculture to global supply chains. Or as a renewable energy frontier, where solar and wind innovations are reducing dependency while creating sustainable alternatives. The blue economy: marine services, sustainable fisheries, ocean-based tourism, is an economic strategy. The moment that changes everything is realizing that Saint Lucia’s cultural identity is not decoration, but economic infrastructure. The island’s festivals, cuisine, and traditions are assets that differentiate its business landscape in a global marketplace. When you invest in St. Lucia, you are participating in a cultural renais-
sance.
Incentives exist, not as handouts. Tax holidays of up to 15 years for qualifying projects, duty relief on essential inputs, special development area concessions; these are signals of welcome. The Vieux Fort Free Zone offers export advantages while the domestic investment program specifically welcomes returning nationals and diaspora investors. Investment in Saint Lucia is about impact. It is about building businesses that employ locals, preserve culture, and create sustainable value. As one investor recently noted, “The most profitable ventures here are those that respect the island’s rhythm while accelerating its progress.” So, I ask you to look again. See beyond the vacation brochure to the investment prospectus. Hear beyond the steel drums to the sound of opportunity. Feel beyond the tropical breeze to the pulse of economic potential. Saint Lucia is ready for your investment.
United Achievers Club Scholarships empower Brampton youth success PAUL JUNOR
paul@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
For more than five decades, the United Achievers Club (UAC) has been making a meaningful difference in the lives of young people. Since its launch in the 1970s, the Brampton-based non-profit organization has promoted Black excellence through programs, initiatives, leadership development opportunities, and scholarships that recognize outstanding academic achievement. The presentation of scholarships at the organization’s annual awards gala remains one of UAC’s signature events. This year’s celebration, held on Saturday, August 29th, at Maple Banquet Hall, reflected both the organization’s history and its growing impact. What began as a program awarding three scholarships in 1985 has expanded to 14 scholarships in 2026, a testament to UAC’s enduring commitment
to youth development and educational success. The growth of the program highlights the power of optimism, faith, and community investment in young people as they pursue their academic and professional goals. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown congratulated the scholarship recipients in a message published in the event program, “To this year’s recipients: I congratulate you on your outstanding accomplishments,” he wrote. “We look forward to seeing the positive impact you will make in Brampton and across Canada in the years ahead.” The 2026 scholarship recipients represent a broad range of talents and academic interests: •
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Oluwatomiwa “Tommy” Balogun, St. Martin Catholic Secondary School, Chemical Engineering, University of Toronto. Michelle Ben, Turner Fenton Secondary School, Kinesiology and Health Sciences, York University. Shadrach Boakye, St. Augustine Catholic Secondary School, Faculty of Arts and Science, University of Toronto. Joshua Dormant, St. Marcellinus Catholic Secondary School, Bachelor of Commerce, Queen’s University.
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Jhayla Esono, Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School, Creative Industries, Toronto Metropolitan University. Matthew Girma, St. Joan of Arc Catholic Secondary School, Mechanical Engineering, University of Toronto. Jaeda Goodon, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Secondary School, Life Sciences, McMaster University. Khannell Grant, David Suzuki Secondary School, Criminology, Law and Society, University of Toronto. Amora Marryshow, Notre Dame Secondary School, Advanced Studies in Arts and Humanities (SASAH) and Psychology, Western University. Pearl Nwokenye, Notre Dame Secondary School, Honours Health Sciences, University of Ottawa. Alyese Sutherland, St. Francis Xavier Catholic Secondary School, Environment and Urban Planning, Toronto Metropolitan University. Rhesa Thomas, Woodbridge College, Social Development Studies and Social Work, University of Waterloo. Saige Uhunmwangho, St. Martin Catholic Secondary School, Bachelor of Music, University of Guelph. Dylan Wellington, Loyola Catholic Secondary School, Mechatronics En-
gineering, Toronto Metropolitan University. The keynote address was delivered by Nailah Gordon-Decicieo, a former UAC scholarship recipient, lawyer, Criminal Duty Counsel, and youth advocate. Returning to inspire the next generation, she shared a message of perseverance, leadership, and overcoming obstacles. Her remarks encouraged students to embrace opportunities, confront challenges with confidence, and continue striving for excellence. UAC also acknowledged the generous support of sponsors, including: the Kiwanis Club of Brampton, the Black Internal Support Network of Peel Regional Police, Jennifer Cave Williams, Dr. Darlene and Matthew Weekes, Carole Walker of The Operators Insurance, and members of the United Achievers Club. Over the years, UAC scholarships have left lasting marks on the lives of hundreds of students. As the organization looks to the future, its investment in young people will continue to inspire and support generations of aspiring leaders on their journeys toward academic excellence.
NEWS & VIEWS
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
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Enslaved ancestors, digital records, and the data MICHAEL THOMAS michael@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Nearly four million records of enslaved people are now searchable online, records that were previously difficult, if not impossible, to find. However, these same records are only available to those willing to give up their data to an Ancestry account. Let us dive in. These are records of enslaved people who were kept in 20 former British colonies, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, South Africa and Trinidad, to name a few. The collection consists of more than 300,000 pages and spans the years 1813 to 1840. Researchers describe the records as having been created with chilling preci-
sion. They include names, ages, physical descriptions and family ties, as well as births, deaths and transfers of ownership. Some records even documented whether an individual was born in Africa or the Caribbean. Nicka Sewell-Smith, a professional genealogist and senior story producer at Ancestry, defended the importance of the records. “When I use these records to unearth my enslaved ancestors, I am using them for a purpose that was different from what it was initially intended for. Our product is restoring the humanity of a person.” Sewell-Smith also spoke about the precision of the documents. “You can pinpoint an exact birthday for an enslaved baby,” she said. For those who would rather detach themselves from the history of the slave trade, Sewell-Smith offered another perspective: “There are potentially millions of people who descended from the enslaved people in the archive. Oftentimes, one of the ways that people detach from enslavement is to insinuate that nobody is living connected to these people. That is foundationally not true.” Professor Matthew J. Smith, direc-
tor of a centre at UCL, also weighed in, calling these registers “The most systematic set of archival documents we have on enslavement in the British Caribbean and British colonial world.” The register was released following a three-year research project examining the British government’s role in slavery and identifying as many as 10,500 people who invested in the trafficking of enslaved Africans over nearly two and a half centuries. Yet, just like clockwork, there have been calls for historians to shift the focus of research away from the people and institutions that owned, trafficked and administered enslaved populations, and toward the lives of enslaved people themselves, with the argument that this would help the public better understand their experiences. Here is where the conversation becomes complicated. Professor Smith put it plainly, “The biggest piece of the story of British slavery, and it is also the most misunderstood piece, is the experience of the enslaved.” That experience absolutely deserves examination. So do the systems, in-
stitutions and individuals that created, administered and profited from slavery. One should not erase the other. Then there is the question of access. How much personal information should people be required to surrender to discover their own history? What happens when deeply personal ancestral records become part of a commercial data ecosystem? The Ancestry scheme raises questions that deserve scrutiny. We have seen data-driven platforms before. When the desired amount of data was harvested, some disappeared or changed their terms of access. This may or may not be different. Caution, however, should remain the watchword. Please do not simply give your data to anyone claiming they can tell you your history. Data is the new currency, so ask yourself: Why now? How long have our people been asking for reparations? What is the answer? Have the holders of these archives suddenly developed memory loss? Why now?
Tariffs reshape Canadian prices, inventories and markets STEVEN KASZAB steven@carib101.com
TCN COLUMNIST
I left the office today amazed at the attitudes expressed to me by my suppliers, customers and fellow employees regarding tariffs and their effect upon us all. Rather optimistic. Many believe there is a glut of products made by Canadian manufacturers that cannot be sent to the U.S. market. Therefore, prices will fall, and deals can be had. Logically, if the market is saturated with products, or if goods have been made as planned despite the tariff attacks, prices could drop. Some may try to sell off excess stock. Then what? Excessive stock demands better prices, or so they say. We have seen how corporations respond to slight cost increases. They also re-
spond to our desire for fair prices. Packages shrink, with less product inside, while the price remains the same or goes up slightly. That is something that happens, right? These corporations play their cards like a casino, testing whether sales will hold despite price hikes. Suppliers are terrified at the prospects before them. Metal mills and suppliers may have lots of stock or dwindling stock, putting pressure upon their sales staff to sell quickly. Idle stock is death in this business. Metal corrodes, rusts and depletes over time. Suppliers often sold stock to America, but that market is now more difficult to access. The Canadian market is small compared with America. Canadian manufacturers, distillers, breweries, retailers and agricultural sectors must concentrate on our smaller marketplace. That brings me to an unwanted prediction: grocery, energy, retail and foodstuffs could all become more expensive. Why? •
Canada’s governments, provincial and federal, face demands for infrastructure and public services. If governments raise taxes or fees to fund those demands, households and businesses will feel the increase through taxes and the
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cost of services. Property taxes could rise as well. Corporations are not charities; they are businesses centered on profitability. If companies see an opportunity to protect or increase margins, they may respond by raising prices, reducing package sizes or changing what consumers receive for the same amount of money. Canadian prices do not exist in isolation. If trade disruptions, tariffs and supply pressures raise costs, manufacturers and retailers may adjust prices accordingly. Comparisons with European prices may be tempting, but those comparisons need to account for differences in taxes, wages, energy, transportation, regulation and market structure.
This is where optimism deserves a second look. There may be bargains when companies need to clear excess inventory, but a temporary glut does not necessarily mean permanently lower prices. Once that stock is gone, the cost of replacing it, transporting it and selling it in a disrupted market becomes the next question. Statistics Canada reported in its third-quarter 2026 business survey that 65% of Canadian manufacturing businesses had sold goods to the United States that were
subject to U.S. tariffs during the previous 12 months. That does not tell us what every manufacturer will experience, but it shows that the trade disruption is reaching deep into the manufacturing sector. As of September 2026, the situation is not simply a matter of Canadian goods sitting on shelves. The federal government says the United States imposed a 50% tariff on $27.6 billion of Canadian goods effective August 22nd, 2026, while Canada imposed matching counter-tariffs on selected U.S. products effective September 8th, 2026. Those measures make the question of where Canadian goods go next more than a theoretical exercise. For consumers, bargain hunters may be right for a moment while still being wrong about the longer-term picture. Clearance prices can appear beside rising replacement costs. A sale today does not guarantee a cheaper product tomorrow. That is the tension businesses and consumers need to watch closely. So, if you meet someone who is optimistic about what is going on here in Canada, shake their hand and greet them. They may be a rare breed in the coming months and years.
PAGE 8
NEWS & VIEWS
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Race, Evictions and Toronto’s Housing Crisis SIMONE SMITH simone@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
The loss may begin with an income shock, a notice taped to a door, a hearing, a repayment agreement that collapses, or the quiet decision to leave before the formal process is complete. On paper, that departure may never appear as an eviction. In a household’s memory, it can feel exactly like one. That distinction sits at the centre of Toronto’s growing eviction-data controversy. Toronto Community Housing Corporation reports one set of numbers. Figures derived from Tribunals Ontario records and analyzed by housing advocates suggest another. Both may be accurate within their own definitions. Together, they reveal a deeper problem: the city still does not have a complete public account of who is being displaced, how often, or what happens afterward. TCHC’s published figures count completed evictions, households physically removed or those that vacated under a notice or order. By that measure, the corporation recorded 162 evictions in 2023, 237 in 2024 and 391 between January and October 2025. Arrears accounted for 258 of the 2025 cases, while 133 were classified as non-arrears. TCHC says its eviction rate remains below one per cent of its housing portfolio. The tribunal figures measure something broader. Using information obtained through a freedom-of-information request, advocates calculated eviction outcomes by subtracting withdrawals and mediation, or alternativedispute-resolution cases from applications. Their figures show approximately: 624 outcomes in 2023, 610 in 2024, and
541 in the first ten months of 2025. The difference is not a minor statistical disagreement. In 2023, the gap between the two datasets was 462 cases. In 2024, it was roughly 373. By 2025, the difference had narrowed but remained substantial. The numbers do not necessarily prove that TCHC is hiding physical removals. They do show that Toronto is using competing measurements to describe the same housing crisis. TCHC files more applications than it ultimately enforces, the corporation has explained. Some tenants enter repayment agreements. Some cases are withdrawn. Some are mediated. Some orders may be voided when arrears are paid. Others may end with tenants leaving voluntarily before enforcement, but voluntary is a complicated word when the alternative is losing a home. For a tenant facing a hearing, medical crisis, reduced income or a rulesbased notice, leaving before the sheriff arrives may be the least damaging option available. A database may record no completed eviction. The tenant may record displacement, disruption and fear. That is why definitions matter. They determine what the public sees, and what they do not see Let us take a look at the case of Reem Saad and her mother, who faced a non-arrears, rules-based eviction from a Pleasant View Toronto Community Housing unit amid serious medical concerns. Their experience illustrates the distance between administrative language and lived reality. A formal record can describe a process. It cannot, by itself, capture the panic of finding another home, the cost of moving, the loss of neighbourhood ties, or the physical strain placed on an already vulnerable family. The people most affected are seniors, people with disabilities, families living on fixed incomes and residents whose stability can be shaken by a single emergency. They also include communities already confronting racialized hous-
ing insecurity. African Caribbean tenants represent approximately 40 to 42 per cent of TCHC’s tenant population. Broader housing research presented by the city indicates that African Caribbean respondents were nearly twice as likely to report a lifetime eviction experience, while neighbourhoods with higher shares of African Caribbean renters had nearly twice the eviction-filing rate even after poverty controls. Yet TCHC does not currently publish eviction data disaggregated by race. That absence prevents a definitive public answer to a central question: are African Caribbean tenants being disproportionately affected within Toronto’s social-housing system? The question cannot be answered by assumption. It requires evidence. Without race-based data, the city cannot properly measure disproportionality, identify patterns or design targeted remedies. Nor can residents easily test official assurances that the system is working equitably. The gap is especially striking because the city already collects demographic information in some prevention programs. In 2025, the Eviction Prevention in the Community program reported preventing 1,105 household evictions. African Caribbean-led households represented 465 of those cases (42%) and Indigenous households accounted for 44 cases. The Rent Bank reported 2,961 approved grants, including 441 to African Caribbean-led households. Those figures suggest both need and reach. They also raise an uncomfortable question: what does prevented mean over time? A case may be closed successfully because a tenant remains housed at that moment. If the household later loses the unit, enters shelter, or moves into unsafe or unaffordable housing, the public record may never connect those events. The source material notes that longerterm stability and later displacement are
not systematically published in the reviewed metrics. Prevention is essential, but prevention cannot be fully evaluated if the city measures the immediate outcome and loses sight of the household afterward. This is the larger story beneath Toronto’s eviction figures. It is about the politics of counting. What qualifies as an eviction? Does an order count if it is later voided? What about someone who moves in with relatives, enters a shelter or leaves the city? The records do not answer all of these questions. That is precisely why the unanswered questions matter. TCHC’s Data for Equity Framework is expected to support future reporting, with Q4 2026 reporting requested on demographic characteristics such as: race, age, gender and postal code. Advocates and community groups, including the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association, have called for stronger transparency, a moratorium and racedisaggregated data. A more complete system would connect applications, orders, mediation, enforcement, departures and post-eviction housing outcomes. It would distinguish between a case resolved through genuine stability and one merely pushed out of public view. Toronto needs a more honest picture of displacement. The city’s socialhousing system is supposed to provide security for people who cannot reliably find it in the private market. If the public record cannot show when that security breaks down, then the problem is the system may be losing sight of them. When people disappear between categories; between an application and an order, between a departure and a removal, between prevention and long-term stability, the absence of data becomes part of the story.
Seven students carry forward Anna Lewis’s legacy PAUL JUNOR
paul@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
The awarding of seven Anna B. Lewis Anniversary Memorial Scholarships at the awards presentation on Saturday, August 29th, was a very uplifting event. The recipients distinguished themselves in a wide range of areas, including academics, athletics, community work and skilled trades. These students demonstrated academic success and distinguished themselves through their scholastic achievements and accomplishments. Many of the recipients came from Brampton, Toronto and Mississauga, showcasing the achievements of Black students in the community. The scholarships are made possi-
ble largely through the efforts of Founder and Coordinator Greta Archer, Pastor Rev. Dr. Gene Archer, Senior Pastor of Pilgrim Church of the First Born (PCFB), and members of the scholarship committee. In attendance were family members, friends, members of Pilgrim Church of the First Born and New Life Christian Fellowship Church, as well as community supporters who came out in force to celebrate the scholarship winners. The Memorial Scholarships honour the ongoing legacy of Anna B. Lewis, who passed away in 2006. Her memory and influence, however, continue to live on through the students whose educational journeys are supported by the scholarships. The jam-packed program included a full itinerary outlined in the program booklet. Rev. Dr. Gene Archer welcomed the recipients with words of appreciation and gratitude. “It is with a heart of thanksgiving and gratitude that we celebrate this, the 20th year of the Anna B. Lewis committee, awarding post-secondary scholarships to worthy/qualified students,” he said. “We
have to date awarded over 50 scholarships, plus this year’s seven recipients will proudly be added to that number. Sister Anna would be pleased indeed. So, we carry her legacy forward. Fixed in our determination to help students succeed!” Greta Archer reaffirmed the message with words of positivity, celebrating the accomplishments of this year’s recipients and the challenges they have overcome. “This year, we are Happy to Celebrate 7 Amazingly, Academically Accomplished, Multi-talented! young people who have overcome many challenges thus far in their educational, and life’s journey,” she said. The seven scholarship recipients are Mykayla Scarlett, who is pursuing studies at a university in Florida and excels in throwing events; Makayla McIntosh, who will major in communications at Saginaw State University with aspirations of becoming a television personality; and Jude Miller, who will begin the Truck and Coach Technician program at Centennial College. Christian Noel plans to become a structural engineer after completing
Civil Engineering studies at York University. Joshua Clarke will begin the Carpentry and Renovations program at Humber Polytechnic. Taraja Smith will study Pharmacy Technician at Humber College, while Tayari Smith is registered in undergraduate Life Sciences at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where he achieved a 95 per cent average in his first year. The scholarship committee expressed its appreciation to: Blanch McIntosh, Claudette Powell, Ministers Colette Daley and Denley McIntosh, Janet Stewart, Elder Amolyn Peart, Janel Archer, Minister Clairmont Humphrey and Elder June Stoute for their contributions. Appreciation was also expressed for Journey’s International Cuisine, led by award-winning chef Courtney Guy, which catered the dinner. For two decades, the Anna B. Lewis Memorial Scholarships have done more than recognize achievement. They have helped turn one woman’s legacy into an opportunity for another generation to build its own.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
NEWS & VIEWS
PAGE 9
Jamaica reopens JAMPRO office, deepening Canadian trade PAUL JUNOR
paul@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
There was a strong turnout at Jamaica’s Consulate in Toronto on Thursday, September 24th, 2026, for the Jamaica Ministerial Business Reception, bringing together representatives of Jamaica’s diplomatic corps, business organizations, nonprofit sectors and members of the Jamaican community. The reception highlighted Jamaica’s efforts to deepen trade and investment ties with Canada and create new opportunities for Canadian businesses across priority sectors. Senator the Honourable Aubyn Hill, Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, led a high-level delegation marking the relaunch of the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) North American Regional Office in Canada. The Toronto office is located on the second floor of 303 Eglinton Avenue East, where the Consulate General is also located. The delegation included: Shullette Cox, President of JAMPRO, and Margaret Baird, who leads JAMPRO’s North American Regional Office in Canada, along with private-sector representatives. JAMPRO is Jamaica’s export and investment promotion agency. Established as a statutory body under the JAMPRO Act in 1990, its mandate is to promote and facilitate investment and exports while support-
ing economic growth and job creation. Its stated purpose is to “Build relationships and realize business opportunities.” The presence of public and private-sector representatives reflected that mandate. The goal was not simply to discuss investment, but to help move companies from market interest toward practical opportunities through sector knowledge, facilitation and connections. The relaunch comes as Jamaica seeks to strengthen its commercial relationship with Canada. JAMPRO says the Toronto office will pursue stronger federal and provincial partnerships, expand commercial connections between Jamaica and Canada, and create opportunities for investment, exports and business collaboration. The Canada mission ran from September 24th to 26th, with activities extending beyond Toronto to Montreal and Ottawa. Margaret Baird moderated the reception. Kurt Davis, Consul General of Jamaica in Toronto, delivered opening remarks, while High Commissioner Marshall Coore-Lobban also welcomed Minister Hill and the delegation. The High Commissioner described the opening of the JAMPRO Canada office as “A significant and strategic step in strengthening Jamaica’s commercial presence in this important market.” She also highlighted the importance of collaboration among investors, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders. Minister Hill brings extensive private-sector and international banking experience to his portfolio. According to Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, he has more than 35 years of private-sector experience, has lived in nine countries and has conducted business
Photo Courtesy of Jamaica High Commission in more than 125 countries. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and was appointed Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce on January 11th, 2022. In his address, Hill spoke about Canada’s importance as a longstanding economic partner and discussed: Jamaica’s economic progress, fiscal management, international reserves and the need for collaboration. He emphasized the importance of sound management and positioning Jamaica not only to receive assistance, but eventually to become a country capable of providing support to others. Shullette Cox welcomed guests and emphasized that the relaunch represents a renewed commitment to Canada. Her message was clear: Canada is more than one city, and Jamaican businesses must look beyond Toronto while building stronger connections between private-sector partners in both countries. JAMPRO has similarly stated that its Canadian strategy will extend beyond Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area. The Jamaica High Commission in
Ottawa also underscored the importance of building connections and creating opportunities for mutual growth and prosperity. For the Jamaican diaspora, the reopening also creates a direct bridge between community, commerce and country. Diaspora entrepreneurs and professionals are often positioned between markets, cultures and networks, making them important participants in expanding trade. The challenge now will be to convert the energy of the reception into measurable partnerships, new exporters, investment commitments and jobs. The message from Toronto was an invitation to: Canadian businesses, Jamaican companies, investors and diaspora leaders to move from conversation to action and investment. The reception was followed by the Caribbean Canadian Investment Summit & Trade Forum, held September 25th–26th in Toronto, further extending the conversation around cross-border trade, investment and economic partnerships.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
FEATURE
PAGE 13
Photo Courtesy of Mike Rybinski
ASUN “ACE” EASTWOOD Toronto’s Belizean Visionary In the late 1980s, an eighteen-yearold mother stepped off a plane at Toronto’s Pearson airport holding five hundred dollars, no Canadian family connections, and a two-year-old boy in her arms. Behind them lay Belize City; ahead lay the frigid concrete of Toronto’s East End. When the boy’s father joined them shortly after, running from his own troubles back home, he crossed the border to come and join his family here in Canada. That toddler was Asun Eastwood. Today, he stands as one of underground Hip Hop’s most uncompromising voices, but before he was selling vinyl worldwide, he was a child navigating the brutal contradictions of migration, survival, and belonging. Origin: The Cowboy Country and the Concrete Co-op Belize is an anomaly; the only Englishspeaking nation in Central America, a cowboy land of untouched coral reefs, unpaved streets, and a fierce resistance to foreign corporate chains. Asun’s roots run deep into its cultural soil: his paternal grandfather played marimba in Belize City, while his maternal grandfather served as a high school principal and politician. Yet, Toronto offered no gentle welcome. Settling initially near Regent Park and later moving into East End government housing, tragedy struck early. While under the care of local babysitters who struggled with addiction, the toddler was severely physically abused; burned with hot soup and robbed. The trauma silenced him; he stopped speaking entirely for nearly two years. Stability came slowly through community solidarity. A family friend
took in Asun and his mother in Malvern. His mother worked two jobs while launching her own business. Briefly sent back to Belize for fourth grade in the British school system, Asun absorbed the rhythm of folk songs, punta, and local brass bands, forging an unbreakable bond with his homeland As he grew up in Toronto, music was not Asun’s primary obsession. His nickname “Asun” (given by his parents) was paired with “Eastwood” in homage to Clint Eastwood’s raw cowboy persona and his own East End roots. His early ambition was basketball. Starting at age four at S.H. Armstrong community gym in the West End, he competed against older men and future Canadian basketball pioneers. When his family bought a home in Pickering prior to ninth grade, he felt uprooted. Then, in tenth grade, an Ontario teachers’ strike abruptly canceled high school sports across the province. Without the modern infrastructure of AAU travel teams, his basketball pipeline collapsed. Asun dropped out of school at seventeen. He took a job at Bay Ridges Market in Pickering, paying five hundred dollars a month in rent to his parents while quietly embezzling fifty to sixty thousand dollars from the store over two years. The breaking point arrived when he brought a shoe box packed with cash to his mother, offering to buy a $19,000 Honda Accord outright. Seeing the money, his mother broke down in tears of heartbreak. Exposed and cast out, Asun plunged fully into street hustling. The lifestyle nearly killed him in 2008 when he was shot; an ordeal born of misplaced vulnerability that left him wounded and reclusive
While Asun chased fast money, his non-biological brother, Chopz, lived and breathed Hip Hop. When Chopz died in 2014, Asun felt haunted by his brother’s unfulfilled dream. In 2016, he returned to writing and recording as an emotional catharsis. The floodgates opened. In July 2017, he released his debut solo album, Nimbus, featuring Conway the Machine and Skyzoo. Four months later, tragedy struck again when his close friend Brandon Briggs passed away. Asun immediately poured his grief into Hollywood Briggs. Over the next eight years, Eastwood released twelve albums, collaborating with underground royalty including: Benny the Butcher, Kool G Rap, Styles P, Ghostface Killah, and M.O.P.. Grief had become an artistic mandate. Transformation & Present Moment: Medicine in the Dirt Asun’s music mirrors his life: heavy basslines, East Coast boom-bap cadences, and vivid street reporting infused with moral reflection. He treats microphone control like a fine discipline, balancing raw power with vocal restraint. This philosophy extends beyond the booth. In 2023, Eastwood partnered with graphic artist Mark Stoddart to transform his signature catchphrase, “Let Me Talk My Sh*t,” into a public health campaign raising awareness for colorectal cancer among Black men. Supported by Canadian cultural figures like Maestro Fresh Wes and Bishop Brigante, the initiative turned street bravado into community advocacy. Culturally and financially, Eastwood rejects streaming-era disposability. He operates his own independent
platform, selling physical vinyl directly to a global fanbase. Whether watching Chopz’s daughter, Egypt, graduate as high school valedictorian, or raising his own two-year-old son with uncompromising discipline, for Asun, true community is paramount. Today, Eastwood stands at a crossroads between two worlds. In Toronto, he navigates an unforgiving music industry while eyeing a future in executive A&R. In Belize, where annual land tax on family property costs a mere twenty dollars, he sees the ultimate blueprint: buying back land, building generational wealth, and restoring sovereignty to his people. He has survived child abuse, police involvement, street violence, bullet wounds, and the loss of his closest brothers. He has proven that an African Caribbean man from Toronto’s East End can build a global career on his own terms. Yet as the studio lights dim, the ultimate tension lingers: Can an artist who built an empire out of grief and grit transform the business before it transforms him; and how much land will he reclaim in Belize before the world finally catches up? Photo Credit: Sanj P Photography
Written by Simone J. Smith TCN Now
PAGE 14
FOOD
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Caribbean Fusion: Jerk Turkey with Cranberry-Sorrel Sauce Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that has a way of bringing people back to the table. No matter where we come from, what traditions we grew up with, or how different our family recipes may be, there is something special about gathering over a meal and taking a moment to appreciate the people around us. For Caribbean families living in Canada, Thanksgiving can also become a beautiful blend of cultures, where familiar Canadian traditions meet the bold flavours and spices we know from home. That is exactly what inspired this week’s Caribbean Fusion recipe. Turkey may be the traditional centrepiece of a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner, but there is absolutely no reason it has to be boring. With the right seasoning, a little heat and plenty of Caribbean flavour, a simple turkey breast can be transformed into something that feels familiar while still bringing something completely different to the table. This Jerk Turkey with Cranberry-Sorrel Sauce takes two Thanksgiving favourites and gives them a Caribbean twist. The turkey is rubbed with a rich jerk-inspired marinade made with thyme, scallion, garlic, ginger, allspice and Scotch bonnet pepper, then roasted until tender and juicy. Instead of serving it with plain cranberry sauce, we bring sorrel into the mix, creating a sweet, tangy and lightly spiced sauce that complements the jerk seasoning beautifully. Sorrel is one of those flavours that instantly brings back memories for many Caribbean families. It is rich, tart and colourful, and it pairs naturally with the warm spices we associate with the holidays. In many Caribbean households, sorrel is especially popular around Christmas, where it is steeped with ginger and spices and served cold. By combining it with cranberry, we get something that feels completely at home on a Canadian Thanksgiving table while still holding onto that unmistakable Caribbean flavour. The beauty of this recipe is that it does not try to replace tradition. It builds on it. You still have your turkey, your cranberry sauce and all the sides that normally come with Thanksgiving dinner, but now there is another layer of flavour running through everything. The jerk seasoning brings warmth and depth, while the cranberry-sorrel sauce gives you that sweet and tart balance that works perfectly with roasted turkey. For this recipe, we are using turkey breast rather than an entire turkey. It makes the dish easier to prepare, easier to manage and more practical for smaller families or anyone who does not want to spend an entire day roasting a full bird. If you are already planning to cook a whole turkey, however, the same seasoning can easily be used. Simply increase the amount of marinade to suit the size of your bird and adjust your cooking time accordingly. One of the most important parts of jerk seasoning is balance. It should be spicy, but heat alone does not make something jerk. The flavour comes from the combination of thyme, scallion, garlic, ginger, allspice and pepper working together. A touch of brown sugar rounds everything out while lime juice and vinegar help brighten the marinade. The Scotch bonnet brings the heat, but it also brings its own unique flavour, which is why it remains such an important ingredient in Caribbean cooking. If you are cooking for guests who do not enjoy a lot of spice, you can easily reduce the amount of Scotch bonnet. You can even remove the seeds and membrane before adding the pepper to the marinade. That allows you to keep much of the flavour without making the turkey too hot. If your family likes their jerk with some serious kick, leave the seeds in and adjust to your taste. The other star of this dish is the cranberry-sorrel sauce. Traditional cranberry sauce is already naturally tart, which makes sorrel an easy fit. The two flavours blend beautifully together, especially when simmered with fresh ginger, cinnamon, orange and a little brown sugar. The result is a sauce
that is rich in colour, slightly sweet, pleasantly tart and full of holiday flavour. The sauce can also be prepared ahead of time, which is always helpful when cooking a large Thanksgiving dinner. In fact, the flavour becomes even better after it has had time to cool and sit. Once refrigerated, it thickens slightly and allows the spices to settle in. You can serve it chilled, at room temperature or gently warmed, depending on your preference. This is also one of those dishes that looks impressive on the table without being overly complicated. Once the turkey is marinated, most of the work is simply allowing the oven to do its job. That leaves you time to prepare your other sides, enjoy your company or, realistically, clean the kitchen before everyone arrives. Ingredients For the Jerk Turkey • 1 large boneless turkey breast, approximately 3 to 4 pounds • 4 scallions, roughly chopped • 4 cloves garlic • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, chopped • 1 Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded for less heat if preferred • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves • 1 teaspoon ground allspice • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika • 1 teaspoon black pepper • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt • 2 tablespoons brown sugar • 2 tablespoons soy sauce • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 1 tablespoon melted butter • 1 teaspoon onion powder • 1 teaspoon garlic powder • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg For the Cranberry-Sorrel Sauce • 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries • 1 cup dried sorrel petals • 2 cups water • 1/2 cup brown sugar, adjusted to taste • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, sliced • 1 cinnamon stick • 3 whole cloves • Zest of 1 orange • Juice of 1 orange • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • Pinch of salt • 1 to 2 tablespoons maple syrup, optional Preparing the Turkey Before you begin, pat the turkey breast dry with paper towel. Removing excess moisture helps the seasoning stick and also helps the outside of the turkey develop better colour while roasting. To prepare the jerk marinade, combine the scallions, garlic, ginger, Scotch bonnet, thyme, allspice, cinnamon, smoked paprika, black pepper, salt, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, melted butter, onion powder, garlic powder and nutmeg in a blender or food processor. Blend until you have a thick, slightly textured paste. You do not need the marinade to be perfectly smooth. In fact, leaving a little texture from the herbs and scallions adds flavour and gives the turkey that rustic jerk-style coating. Place the turkey breast in a large bowl or resealable bag and rub the marinade generously over the entire surface. If the turkey breast still has the skin attached, gently loosen the skin with your fingers and work some of the marinade underneath. This helps season the meat directly instead of leaving all the flavour on the outside. For the best result, allow the turkey to marinate in the refrigerator overnight. If you are short on time, four to six hours will still give you plenty of flavour, but overnight is ideal. When you are ready to cook, remove the turkey from the refrigerator approximately 30 minutes before placing it in the oven so
it cooks more evenly. Cooking Instructions • Preheat your oven to 375°F. • Place the marinated turkey breast in a roasting pan or oven-safe baking dish. • Spoon any remaining marinade over the top. • Cover loosely with foil and roast for approximately 45 minutes. • Remove the foil and continue roasting for another 30 to 45 minutes, depending on the size of the turkey breast. • Baste the turkey once or twice with the juices from the bottom of the pan. • Cook until the thickest part reaches an internal temperature of 165°F. • For extra colour, increase the oven temperature to 425°F during the final 5 to 10 minutes. • Remove the turkey from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing. • Spoon some of the pan juices over the sliced turkey before serving. Resting the turkey is one step you do not want to skip. When meat comes directly out of the oven, the juices are still moving throughout the meat. Giving it time to rest allows those juices to redistribute, helping the turkey stay moist when you slice it. Turkey breast is also much easier to overcook than a whole bird, so a meat thermometer is extremely useful. Once the internal temperature reaches 165°F, it is ready. Leaving it in much longer can quickly turn a juicy turkey into a dry one. Preparing the Cranberry-Sorrel Sauce • The cranberry-sorrel sauce can be prepared while the turkey is cooking or made a day ahead. • Add the water, dried sorrel, sliced ginger, cinnamon stick and cloves to a medium saucepan. • Bring the mixture to a light boil. • Reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 10 minutes. • Remove from the heat and allow the sorrel to steep for another 10 to 15 minutes. • Strain the liquid, pressing gently on the sorrel to extract as much flavour as possible. • Return approximately 1 1/2 cups of the strained sorrel liquid to the saucepan. • Add the cranberries, brown sugar, orange zest, orange juice and a pinch of salt. • Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. • Simmer for approximately 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. • As the cranberries begin to burst, gently mash some of them with the back of a spoon. • Continue cooking until the sauce thickens. • Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. • Taste and adjust the sweetness as needed. • Add maple syrup if you prefer a slightly sweeter sauce with a subtle Canadian touch. • Allow the sauce to cool before serving. Do not worry if the cranberry-sorrel sauce still looks slightly loose when it first comes off the stove. It will continue to thicken as it cools. If you prefer a smoother sauce, you can blend it briefly once it has cooled slightly. If you enjoy more texture, leave some of the cranberries whole. One of the best things about this sauce is how flexible it is. If you want the sorrel flavour to be stronger, simply steep the sorrel a little longer. If you prefer more cranberry flavour, reduce the amount of sorrel liquid slightly. The goal is to allow both flavours to come through without one overpowering the other. When serving, arrange the sliced jerk turkey on a large platter and spoon a
small amount of cranberry-sorrel sauce over the top. Keep the remaining sauce on the side so everyone can add as much as they like. Garnish the platter with fresh thyme, orange slices or a few whole cranberries for a simple but colourful presentation. This turkey pairs well with many traditional Thanksgiving sides. Mashed potatoes are always a natural choice, especially because they soak up the juices from the turkey and sauce. Rice and peas can also replace traditional stuffing or potatoes if you want to push the meal further toward the Caribbean side. Fried plantain, roasted sweet potatoes, macaroni pie and steamed vegetables would all work beautifully alongside it. You could also serve it with a Caribbean-style stuffing made with plantain, herbs and sausage, but you do not need to completely reinvent the entire Thanksgiving table. Sometimes one or two bold dishes are enough to create that fusion without making dinner feel unfamiliar. That is really what Caribbean Fusion is all about. It is not about taking one culture away from another. It is about allowing different food traditions to meet, borrowing what works and creating something new in the process. For many Caribbean families in Canada, that is already how we cook. Recipes change naturally depending on where we live, what ingredients are available and who is sitting around the table. One generation may cook something exactly the way their parents did back home, while the next adds something they discovered here in Canada. Neither version is necessarily better. They are simply different chapters of the same story. Food has always travelled with people. Ingredients move, recipes evolve and flavours adapt. That is why dishes like this work so well. Turkey may not immediately make someone think of Caribbean cooking, and sorrel may not immediately make someone think of Thanksgiving, but put them together and suddenly it makes perfect sense. The jerk seasoning gives the turkey personality. It is fragrant, spicy and deeply savoury, with just enough sweetness to balance everything out. The cranberry-sorrel sauce cools things down with bright acidity while adding warm holiday spices in the background. Even the colours work perfectly for a Thanksgiving table. The turkey develops a deep roasted crust while the cranberry-sorrel sauce becomes a rich ruby red. Add a few fresh herbs around the platter and you have something that looks like it belongs at the centre of a holiday meal. If you have leftovers, slice the jerk turkey thinly and use it in sandwiches the following day. Add a little cranberry-sorrel sauce, lettuce and mayonnaise and you have a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich with a completely different personality. You could also chop the turkey and add it to pasta, rice, soup or a simple wrap. At the end of the day, Thanksgiving food should be about comfort, flavour and sharing something good with the people around us. Traditions matter, but there is always room to create new ones. This Thanksgiving, maybe that means keeping the mashed potatoes, vegetables and pumpkin pie exactly the way your family has always made them, but giving the turkey a little Caribbean attitude. Maybe it means placing a bowl of cranberry-sorrel sauce beside the traditional gravy and seeing which one disappears first. However you choose to celebrate, this Jerk Turkey with Cranberry-Sorrel Sauce brings together the warmth of a Canadian Thanksgiving and the unmistakable flavours of the Caribbean in one dish. Sometimes the best recipes are not completely traditional or completely new. They live somewhere in between, where different cultures, memories and flavours come together around the same table.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
HEALTH
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Repeated exposure is shaping your taste preferences BY DIANA GIFFORD-JONES COMMON SENSE HEALTH Have North Americans become accustomed to excessively sweetened beverages? That is my theory after hosting guests from both Europe and Asia recently. Without exception, upon taking a sip of bottled iced tea, they remark on how sugary it is. One child declared it tasted like syrup. It is no small concern that North Americans have come to prefer sweeter foods and beverages. We also tend to go for colder drinks, not those at room temperature, and that is not helping. It is a lesser-known fact that cold temperatures reduce the perception of sweetness. The colder the drink, the less sweet it seems. At corner stores where people shop for refreshment, it is no small challenge to find selections not full of sugar. I have been in enough convenience stores around the world to be frustrated at what they offer in this part of the
world. Zero nutrition. Garbage drinks, candy, chips, and fatty fast food. In a typical North American convenience store, stretches of refrigerated space are given over to soft drinks, sweetened iced teas, sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit drinks, and flavoured beverages. Fifty per cent of the store may seem like an exaggeration, but it is not far off, and the other half contains chips, candy and other highly processed food. By contrast, a convenience store in Japan offers a vastly unique experience. You will find some sweetened drinks, but you will also find an astounding assortment of unsweetened green tea, barley tea, oolong tea, black coffee, sparkling water, and plain water. Unsweetened tea is a regular beverage. It is a public health disaster that the North American beverage environment has become saturated with sweetness, and we should do some finger pointing, because taste is trainable.
If someone gets sickly sweet drinks often enough, that level of sweetness becomes familiar. Reduce the sweetness and, for a while, the drink may seem tasteless, but the palate adapts. What is astonishingly sweet to a child visiting from afar can become unremarkable to a local who has been drinking it for years. We have become accustomed to beverages that are liquid candy. The consequences involve high caloric intake and increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, dental cavities, and everything that follows from these gateway diseases. Consumers need to get angry. Why should we have to navigate aisles filled with brightly packaged sugar water before finding plain water or unsweetened tea? Why should we have to decipher labels only to discover that the beverage is loaded with sugar? Why, when governments are spending enormous sums dealing with obesity, diabetes and dental disease, are we so reluctant to challenge an industry
that profits from selling the products that contribute to those problems? I would like to see thousands of consumers join me in writing to the chief executives of the big beverage companies and convenience store chains, and to government regulators, too. For their absence of care, I have a strong message: shame on you! We all should change our habits of our own initiative. Do not buy those awful drinks. The far better choice comes freely out of our faucets. Drink good old-fashioned water. Make your own unsweetened tea. Drink your coffee black. To the beverage executives, I will add more scorn. You know exactly how much sugar you are putting into these products. You know that taste preferences can be shaped by repeated exposure. You know your customers include children who have not yet learned to question what they are drinking.
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TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, October 7, 2026
You are not the problem, your blind spots are BY SIMONE J. SMITH HUMAN SPECIALIST In World War II, the US military studied bombers that returned from missions. Bullet holes clustered on the wings and tail. The obvious fix: add armor there. Mathematician Abraham Wald said no. Armor the places with no holes. The planes hit in the engines never came back. Everyone looked at the same planes. Wald looked at the planes that were not there. That is the difference between thinking and seeing. After watching this video, it got me thinking; how many of us are thinking with incomplete evidence. Three questions that cut through noise What do I actually know? Before you fix anything, stand still. In a coffee shop, a long line feels like a cashier problem. Watch closer. Most people waiting have already paid. They are waiting for the machine. The slow part was invisible because it was behind the line. What am I assuming? You assumed faster payment means less waiting. It did not. Paying was never the bottleneck. Making coffee was. We fix the most visible part of a problem and call it the whole problem. How can I check? Pick one busy morning.
Add a second person to the machine. Time the whole wait from joining the line to holding the coffee. If it improves, keep it. If not, you learned something cheaper than another salary. The patterns we keep repeating A student gets a 58 on a test. “I am bad at this subject,” becomes the story. What do you actually know? You know which questions you did poorly on. What are you assuming? That you did poorly at them because you did not understand. Look closer. Maybe you ran out of time. Maybe you misread what was asked. Each one is a different fix. Someone does not reply to your message for two days. Your guess: they are annoyed with you. What else could explain it? They are busy. They forgot. They do not know what to say. How can you check? Send one short follow-up asking for what you need. You do not have to decide how they feel before you do that. Survivorship bias in everyday life Let us take a look at what survivorship bias is. It is when we draw conclusions from what survives while overlooking what did not make it to the sample. The bombers on the airfield survived. The coffee shop owner saw the line at the register, not the wait at the machine. Your unanswered message tells
you less about the other person than your first reaction does. The public is irrational. We rely on stereotypes and experts because complexity is exhausting. System 1 thinking jumps to conclusions. System 2 thinking asks: what am I not seeing, and why am I not seeing it? A framework for emotionally charged moments: When stakes are high, emotions run hot. Here is how to navigate: Prime the conversation: Set the stage for receptivity. “I want to understand what happened before I decide what it means.” Acknowledge multiple perspectives: “I see this one way. You might see it another. Both could be true.” Address underlying concerns, not surface arguments: The long line is not about cashiers. The test score is not about intelligence. The silence is not about rejection. Use language that resonates with values: For North Americans: efficiency, autonomy, results. For Caribbean folks: community, respect, relationship. Match your message to their mindset.
lem you keep coming back to. Write what you know happened. Write what you think caused it. Then choose one thing you can check. Before you spend another hour thinking about it, check that one thing. Questions to sit with: • What evidence am I missing because it never came back to be counted? • Where in my life am I armoring the wings when the engines are the problem? • What guess have I defended longer than I have tested it? Action you can take today Pick one situation. A work conflict. A family tension. A business decision. Apply the three questions: 1. 2. 3.
What do I actually know? (List only observable facts) What am I assuming? (Name the hidden story) How can I check? (Design one small test by Friday)
Thinking clearly is only half the job. It shows you what you are missing. The rest is courage to check.
Your reflective notebook: Take one prob-
International students have gone from solution to problem BY HERBERT HILDEBRANDT POLITICAL PARLEY For years, Canada welcomed international students with open arms, glossy recruitment campaigns, and an implied promise that education could become the first step toward a Canadian future. Their tuition helped keep colleges operating, supported thousands of jobs and allowed provincial governments to avoid an uncomfortable conversation about how badly they were underfunding postsecondary education. When housing shortages worsened and public frustration grew, however, those same students were suddenly recast as part of the problem. Canada did need to regain control of the system. Student numbers had become disconnected from available housing, credible educational programs, and realistic employment opportunities. Some institutions and recruiters exploited applicants, while too many students arrived to discover that the education, work, and immigration opportunities they expected were not actually available. Ottawa was right to intervene, but acknowledging that does not excuse the political whiplash or the financial model governments deliberately allowed to develop.
Ontario provides the clearest example. In 2023–24, the province supplied approximately $9,460 in college funding for every full-time domestic student, compared with a Canadian average of $15,187. That was 38 per cent below the national average. Colleges filled that enormous gap by recruiting international students who could be charged dramatically higher tuition. By 2025–26, an international undergraduate in Ontario was paying an average of almost $49,800, compared with about $9,000 for a Canadian student. In plain language, the international student was paying $5.60 for every dollar paid by the domestic student. This was not an accidental loophole hidden from government; it was the business model. Queen’s Park could claim it was controlling public spending, colleges could expand programs and payrolls, and Ottawa could celebrate Canada’s popularity with global talent. Everyone benefited politically and financially, provided nobody asked whether public colleges should depend on a constantly expanding stream of temporary residents to remain solvent. Then the politics changed. Between January and July 2026, Canada admitted only 28,200 new international students, approximately 80 per cent fewer than
during the same period in 2024. Full-time international enrolment at public colleges is estimated to have fallen from 206,000 students in 2023–24 to 120,000 in 2025–26. That is a loss of almost 86,000 students, or 42 per cent, in just two academic years. The consequences are now moving through the system. Ontario’s Financial Accountability Office attributed $372 million in lower-than-planned college operating spending in 2025–26 to declining international tuition revenue. Ontario has now announced $64 million for 4,122 additional seats at Centennial, George Brown and Seneca, part of a larger effort to rebuild domestic capacity. Yet taxpayers are being asked to stabilize institutions after years in which governments quietly shifted the cost onto people arriving from abroad, without acknowledging the socio-economic consequences. Domestic students now face reduced programs and services, college employees face layoffs, and neighbourhood businesses lose customers who once rented apartments, bought groceries and used local transit. The abrupt correction therefore lands on families and communities that had no role in designing the original policy, including many immigrant workers whose
livelihoods were tied to the education economy. International students are not blameless consumers, and Canada cannot guarantee permanent residence to everyone who buys an education here. Neither should students be treated as convenient sources of revenue when institutions need money and convenient scapegoats when immigration becomes politically unpopular. Many made life-changing decisions based on a system that governments, colleges and recruiters aggressively promoted. The answer is not to reopen the floodgates. Public education must be funded transparently, international enrolment must be connected to available housing and genuine labour-market needs, we must publish each institution’s dependence on foreign tuition, and state clearly that a study permit is not a promise of permanent residence. Changes should be predictable and phased in, not delivered through years of reckless expansion followed by a panicked contraction due to changing political fortunes. The well-being of Canadian citizens must weigh primarily in any decision and should influence long-term planning as the number one priority.
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Wednesday, October 7, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
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Your step-by-step guide to homeownership BY JAY BRIJPAUL REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST High rents and home prices in the Greater Toronto Area often make saving for a down payment difficult. Yet true affordability depends on the rent-to-income ratio, which may create opportunities for renters to consider homeownership. Canadian renter households earn about $114,000 annually and spend 28% of their income on rent. Single renters pay a higher share, often 40% or more, underscoring how combined incomes improve affordability. Importantly, lower rents do not always translate into greater affordability if local incomes are also low. The same principle applies to homeownership: balance housing costs with income. A better question than “Can I afford a home?” is “What home can I afford?” Recent declines in GTA home prices give buyers more choices. If you pay $2,750 in rent, compare that to the total monthly cost of owning, including mortgage, taxes, fees, insurance, utilities, and maintenance. Sometimes, a $450,000 condominium with a substantial
down payment can have similar monthly costs, depending on rates and fees. First-time-buyer programs (such as the First Home Savings Account, the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan, and Ontario’s landtransfer tax refund) can help with down payments. Expanding your search beyond Toronto’s priciest neighbourhoods or considering older condominiums can also improve affordability. Another option is to purchase property with rentable space, such as a secondary suite, to help offset costs. However, be mindful of risks such as vacancies and additional maintenance. Remember, homeownership includes expenses beyond the mortgage and requires an emergency fund. While renting provides flexibility and fewer responsibilities, those with stable finances may benefit from putting housing costs toward building equity. Affordability and financial strength depend on multiple factors; always consider the full range of costs involved in ownership. Your first home does not have to be your dream home; it can be a steppingstone. Focus on properties with monthly costs that
fit your budget. Homeownership may not be possible for everyone right away, but for some, it is closer than expected. Begin by reassessing your housing expenses. If rent exceeds 28% of your income, consider more affordable options and save the difference. Choosing housing with utilities included can also free up funds for a down payment. If your parents have extra space, moving in with them can help you save for a down payment. Taking on household responsibilities and exploring family support, such as home equity, can help you progress faster. Remote workers might consider relocating to smaller towns with lower rents and home prices. Buying a pre-construction property can also let you start with a smaller down payment and build equity as the home is completed. Rent-to-own options let you rent a home with the option of purchasing it at a predetermined price within a specified period, often five years. A portion of your rent goes toward your future down payment, helping you build equity and credit while
gaining stability. Consult a lawyer before entering into any agreement. Some renters choose to invest in stocks or other assets rather than buy a home. Investment gains are taxable, whereas profits from selling your principal residence are tax-free. Renting may be less stable because landlords can end your lease, whereas owning provides both a place to live and a long-term investment. Inflation erodes the purchasing power of money over time, and investment returns may not keep pace. Real estate can hedge against inflation because property values tend to rise as the currency weakens. Rent increases with inflation, but homeowners can eventually pay off their mortgage and build lasting wealth. If you want to transition from renting to owning, set a clear goal. The SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely) can help you stay focused and increase your chances of success.
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