Not The Same Canada

“Canada dropped to 25th in the 2026 World Happiness Report, its lowest ever, from 5th in 2015.–That sentence should land like a punch....”

FULL STORY - PAGE 8

DR. OMO OGBAMOLA

“For me, its representation is resilience.”

Starting in the banking industry, Dr. Omo Ogbamola is now an entrepreneur who specializes in producing authentic African spices locally in Canada.

Born in Nigeria, Dr. Ogbamola’s professional journey started in banking while she was still living in Nigeria, where she spent over a decade building experience in financial advisory and client management. Dr. Ogbamola later transitioned into entrepreneurship, where she spent another 10 years running businesses in agriculture, which included producing premium minimal feeds, managing farms and processing livestock. After moving to Canada, Dr. Ogbamola founded Tripplemos Food Processing Company, which was driven by the vision to produce authentic African spices locally.

Her journey into entrepreneurship was also inspired by a desire to create a solution and opportunities. With her decade-long experience in banking, Dr. Ogbamola understood the importance of financial independence and economic participation. Upon moving to Canada, she saw an opportunity to build something meaningful by introducing authentic African spices to the mainstream market, while also creating representation for immigration-led businesses.

Founded in 2022 and officially registered in November 2023, Dr. Ogbamola continued to work in banking as a banking advisor with the Royal Bank of Canada for two years before becoming fully focused on scaling Tripplemos Food Processing Company and expanding its presence across Canadian markets.

The main goal of Tripplemos Food Processing Company is producing high-quality and authentic African foods locally in Canada, while meeting strict regulatory standards approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The company is focused on making culturally authentic foods that have not been com-

promised, more accessible to people and building a scalable Africanowned manufacturing brand within the Canadian retail ecosystem.

Tripplemos Food Processing Company produces a variety of authentic African spices, such as: jollof rice spice, pepper soup spice, and suya spice, which is used for barbequing, along with countless other culturally inspired spices that are commonly used in African cuisine. Products from the company can be found in Walmart Canada, on Amazon Canada, Temu Canada, the company’s e-commerce store, several other e-commerce platforms and in over 20 African stores.

Having a trailblazing immigrant-led business in Canada is both humbling and empowering for Dr. Ogbamola. She notes that building a manufacturing brand in Canada comes with challenges, but it also comes with opportunities to contribute to the country’s diverse food ecosystem. “For me, its representation is resilience.”

Dr. Ogbamola’s pitch for the Women of Rubies Media Pitch Challenge 2026 virtual event, which led to her being declared the winner, focuses on scaling Tripplemos Foods Processing Company as a locally manufactured African Food brand in Canada. She spoke about the importance of representation in the food manufacturing sector and the opportunity to bring culturally authentic products into major retail platforms while maintaining quality, compliance and scalability.

The inspiration for the pitch came from Dr. Ogbamola’s personal journey and the gap she noticed in the markets. Many African products, especially food products, are imported to North America. From this observation. Dr. Ogbamola saw there was an opportunity to manufacture African foods locally, all the while still maintaining their authenticity and meeting Canadian food safety standards. Being the winner of the

Women of Rubies Media Pitch Challenge has been deeply rewarding and humbling for Dr. Ogbamola. She acknowledges that the platform was filled with remarkable women doing impactful work. So, to emerge as the winner is a reminder that preparation, clarity and vision matter. Dr. Ogbamola said the win provides increased visibility and credibility, which she notes is important for growth. She will receive coordinated media spotlights, strategic visibility support and cross-platform amplification through Women of Rubies and partner media outlets. She also plans on using this momentum to expand distribution, strengthen partnerships within the retail sector and continue to build Tripplemos Foods Processing Company as a recognized food manufacturing brand in Canada.

Women of Rubies is a powerful platform devoted to celebrating, empowering and inspiring women across the globe. Along with spotlighting and amplifying the stories of Black women who broke barriers, made purposeful impacts and created redefining possibilities in their communities as: founders, leaders and changemakers. The global media platform also champions causes that matter through advocacy and empowerment programs.

The Women of Rubies Media Pitch Challenge accumulates determined entrepreneurs across various sectors, ranging from food manufacturing, hospitality technology, coaching, digital inclusion and community leadership. The initiative is part of Women of Rubies’ extensive mission to provide an impact for women worldwide through storytelling, media features, leadership platforms and strategic initiatives.

Written by Sydnee Walcott Toronto Caribbean News

It was a day marked by emotional resonance, intellectual reflection, and spiritual grounding at the 26th Annual International Women’s Day celebration hosted by the Jamaica Canadian Association (JCA) Women’s Committee. Held on Sunday, March 8th, 2026, at the JCA Community Centre in Toronto, the event drew hundreds of attendees: community members, entrepreneurs, civic leaders, and former elected officials, gathered in a shared spirit of recognition, empowerment, and collective purpose.

From the opening moments, the atmosphere was both celebratory and purposeful. The program balanced inspiration with urgency, reminding attendees that while progress has been made, the work toward gender equity remains unfinished.

Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Humber River–Black Creek) delivered remarks that blended personal reflection with public recognition. Speaking about his wife, Kayla, he connected personal admiration to broader acknowledgment of Black women’s contributions in Canada. He referenced trailblazers such as Dr. Jean Augustine and Viola Desmond, whose legacies continue to shape the nation’s social and political landscape. Perruzza also pointed to current leadership, noting that both Toronto’s mayor and deputy mayor are women, an important milestone, though not a signal of completion. He underscored

Women rising together

this with statistics illustrating the persistent gaps in gender equity across politics, workplaces, and institutions.

The event’s theme, #GiveToGain, was articulated with clarity and depth in the program message from Dr. Dana Powell, Chair of the Women’s Committee and IWD Coordinator. She reframed the concept of giving as intentional and collective rather than burdensome, “This year’s theme is #GiveToGain… it’s about all of us giving with intention so that women and girls gain what should never have been out of reach: opportunity, equity, safety, wellness, recognition, and real belonging.”

Her message emphasized that meaningful change often comes not from grand gestures, but from consistent, everyday actions: mentorship, advocacy, and opening doors for others.

JCA President David Betty reinforced this message, positioning the theme as both philosophy and call to action. He highlighted the longstanding tradition within the Jamaican Canadian community of mutual support and collective advancement, noting that Black women have embodied the principles of Give to Gain long before the phrase was coined.

The event was skillfully hosted by Stacy-Ann Buchanan, whose presence brought both energy and cohesion to the program. Vocalist Tesharah Briscoe delivered a moving rendition of the Canadian national anthem and later performed “She’s Royal,” serenading award recipients in a moment that blended cultural pride with personal affirmation.

The keynote address by Kayla-Marie Williams, a television personality and entrepreneur, anchored the event in lived experience. Her message was both vulnerable and galvanizing. Reflecting on a year marked by personal and professional transitions, she

spoke candidly about resilience, faith, and the power of community support. Her words resonated deeply with the audience “We do not rise alone, but together.”

Williams emphasized that leadership is not defined by titles but by the ability to endure, adapt, and uplift others. She spoke of what she described as a valley season in her life, during which the support of other women became a lifeline. Her message reframed giving as an act of multiplication, small, consistent contributions that build confidence, connection, and change over time.

A spoken word performance by Shelly Grace added a reflective dimension to the program. Her piece, I Am Poetry, invited the audience to consider themselves as works in progress, unfinished poetry. In an interactive moment, attendees were encouraged to write down their gifts and share them with one another, reinforcing the event’s central theme of collective empowerment.

A key highlight of the afternoon was the recognition of eight women whose work continues to shape communities across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. The Women Who Inspire Change award recipients represent a cross-section of leadership, advocacy, and innovation:

• Heather Watson, empowerment coach and community organizer, recognized for her work supporting mothers and promoting holistic wellness.

• Roxanne Francis, psychotherapist and founder of Francis Psychotherapy & Consulting Services, noted for her leadership in mental health and community care.

• Keziah Myers, Executive Director of ADVANCE, acknowledged for her influence in Canada’s music industry and advocacy for Black professionals.

• Angella Bennett, Regional Director of

Tourism for Canada at the Jamaica Tourist Board, recognized for her leadership and fundraising efforts supporting disaster relief in Jamaica.

• Dr. Ingrid Waldron, professor and HOPE Chair at McMaster University, honoured for her work in environmental justice and authorship, including There’s Something in the Water.

• Simone Jennifer Smith, mental health advocate and Chief Correspondent of the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, recognized for her leadership in psychoeducational initiatives and community impact through Brothers Who Care.

• Dr. Crystal Garvey, scholar and nurse educator, acknowledged for her contributions to equity in education and her documentary Silent Voices, which explores systemic barriers faced by Black individuals.

• Alethia O’Hara-Stephenson, Vice Chair of the Upper Grand District School Board and recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal, honoured for her leadership in education, community service, and authorship.

Each recipient’s story reflected a broader narrative: that impact is not singular but cumulative, built through sustained commitment to service, advocacy, and leadership.

As the event concluded, one message remained clear; this was a call to sustained action.

March 8th, 2026 will be remembered for its recognition of excellence, and for its reaffirmation of a truth often spoken yet still being realized: when women are supported, valued, and empowered, entire communities are transformed.

We Carry a Lot… But We Don’t Have to Carry It Alone

Lately, I’ve been having more and more conversations that all seem to circle back to the same thing — people are tired. Not just physically tired, but mentally and emotionally drained in a way that’s harder to put into words. It’s the kind of exhaustion that doesn’t go away with rest. It comes from carrying a lot, quietly, day after day.

The cost of living continues to rise, and many families are feeling it. Groceries don’t stretch the way they used to. Rent, bills, and everyday expenses continue to climb. For some, it’s no longer about getting ahead — it’s about holding steady and making sure everything stays afloat. That kind of pressure has a way of building over time, even when we try not to show it.

What stands out, though, is how many people are still showing up with a smile. Still saying “I’m good.” Still pushing forward without really letting on how much they’re carrying behind the scenes. And if we’re being honest, that’s something many of us in the Caribbean community were raised on. We were taught to be strong, to handle our responsibilities, and to keep going no matter what.

That resilience is something to be proud of. It’s deeply rooted in our culture and our history. It’s what has allowed so many of us to build lives, raise families, and create opportunities in a place that wasn’t always easy to navigate. But strength doesn’t always have to mean silence. There is also strength in acknowledging when things feel heavy.

Sometimes strength looks like being honest — with ourselves and with others. It looks like saying, “This is a lot right now.” It looks like checking in on someone and taking a moment to truly listen. It looks like allowing ourselves to lean on others, rather than carrying everything alone.

Because the reality is, many people around us are going through something, even if we can’t see it. Financial stress, uncertainty about the future, anxiety, or simply the pressure of trying to hold everything together — it shows up in different ways for different people. And in a world where everything moves quickly, where social media often paints a picture that everything is fine, it’s easy to feel like you’re the only one struggling. But you’re not.

That’s why community matters now more than ever. Not just in the big moments, but in the everyday ones. A phone call. A message. A genuine “How are you?” Supporting a

local business. Taking a few extra minutes to listen instead of rushing through a conversation. These small actions may seem simple, but they carry real impact.

Our community has always been built on connection — on looking out for one another and showing up when it matters. And for those who are newer to Canada, or still finding their footing, that sense of support can make all the difference. Many of us remember what it felt like to arrive — hopeful, but uncertain. Trying to navigate a new environment while holding onto who we are. It wasn’t always easy, but someone helped. Someone made space.

Now it’s our turn to continue that. To be patient. To be welcoming. To offer guidance when we can. Because the strength of a community is not measured by how well things are going, but by how we support each other when they’re not.

There’s also something important to say to our younger generation. You are growing up in a world that comes with its own set of challenges — more noise, more pressure, and more expectation. But you also carry something powerful: your culture. It is not something you have to leave behind to move forward. It is something that belongs to you, something that can ground you, guide you, and give you a sense of identity no matter where you are.

And to the elders in our community, your voice continues to matter. Your experiences, your stories, and your guidance hold value that cannot be replaced. There is wisdom in your journey, and there are many who benefit from it — sometimes more than you may even realize.

At the end of the day, no matter where we find ourselves, one thing remains true: we were never meant to do this alone.

So as we move through these challenging times, let’s give each other a little more grace. A little more patience. A little more understanding. Let’s check in on one another — not just out of routine, but with intention.

And let’s continue to build a community that shows up not only during the good times, but also when things feel heavy.

Because even in those moments, there is something powerful in knowing that you don’t have to carry it all by yourself.

And sometimes, that reminder is exactly what someone needs.

SIMONE SMITH

simone@carib101.com

TC REPORTER

We have always been told the future belongs to those who show up. In this edition, we are proving it actually belongs to those who see the board differently. We have stopped asking for permission and started drafting the blueprints ourselves. We are blending the visionary dreams of African Caribbean women tomorrow with a raw, honest look at the labour that keeps today running. From the digital legacies we are building to the invisible work that usually goes unthanked, these women are finally speaking. It’s sharp, it’s necessary, and it’s about time.

What happens when you give a brilliant woman the keys to the future? You get a masterclass in strategy. We asked our community’s catalysts to forecast the next decade. If they could rebuild our wealth, education, or digital footprint, what would remain? Forget the status quo. We are looking ten years ahead at a community that is secure, sophisticated, and entirely our own. Welcome to the future.

If I could rebuild one pillar, it would be education. Not the version that rewards memorizing and sitting still, but one that actually matches how people think, live, and work. In 10 years, it should be flexible and fast. You wouldn’t need to drown in debt just to prove you’re capable.

Learning would come in short bursts tied to real skills you can stack over time. Schools would teach thinking clearly, communicating, managing money, handling emotions and navigating life not just passing tests.

As a Black woman with ADHD who got labeled early, I want a system that sees the whole person. One that builds confidence instead of chipping it away. Representation would be normal,

Blueprints, burdens, and bold visions

things that matter.

In ten years, education wouldn’t feel like a system you survive. It would feel like something that actually moves you forward. (Asmaa Omer)

If I could rebuild one pillar of our community, it would be unity as infrastructure, the foundation beneath wealth, education, and our digital legacy.

For too long, the Black Caribbean diaspora has been rich in voice but fragmented in movement. Conversations repeat, but collective strategy lags. Without unity, we dilute our economic power, underutilize education, and remain underrepresented in the AI-driven digital future shaping tomorrow.

Ten years from now, unity looks like coordinated ecosystems: shared resources, collaborative networks, and intentional knowledge transfer. It means community-owned platforms, investment circles, and culturally grounded education pipelines that prepare us to lead.

This future demands leadership rooted in accountability and transparency, where funding fuels real growth, not performative programming. It requires us to support one another boldly, circulate opportunities, and build with purpose.

As Audrey Hepburn said, “Hard work is never so hard when it’s done with love.” Love becomes our strategy, expressed through discipline, collaboration, and unwavering commitment to collective progress.

When we choose unity, we unlock everything else, and in that choice, we rise: powerful, aligned, and unstoppable. (Navern Nash Longshaw)

The Pillar I would rebuild: Our Digital Legacy

The future is being built in AI right now, and too many of us are still on the outside looking in. In Canada, Black professionals make up just over 4% of the population, but only about 2.6% of tech workers and even fewer in AI leadership. We’ve seen this pattern before. New industries rise, and we’re invited in late.

Not this time. If I could rebuild one pillar, it would be our digital legacy. Across the GTA, from Scarborough to Brampton, we’re already using AI to automate bookings, capture leads, and serve customers 24/7, but that’s only the beginning. By 2036, we will not just use AI. We will build it.

and the systems that power our businesses and shape our communities. Our youth will create tools trained on our voices, our stories, our markets. Barbershops, churches, and community spaces will become grassroots tech hubs, just like past generations built wealth through trades and small business. We may be overlooked. Sometimes intentionally, but we have never waited for permission to build.

This time, we build in AI, and this time, we own it. (Laura Connor, LauraC@ ConnorSpeaks.com)

Ten years from now, the wealth pillar in our community looks completely different because we finally decided to build it our way. We created a financial culture where Black families don’t just survive, we project, we plan, and we prosper.

We’ve got our own digital banking systems, built with tools that help us budget smarter, invest earlier, and see our financial future before it arrives. Every household has access to tech that breaks down goals, tracks progress and shows exactly what it takes to get from “I wish” to “I did it.”

Money conversations aren’t taboo anymore; they’re normal. Kids grow up understanding credit, compound interest, and ownership. Parents know how to file taxes with confidence, maximize savings, and keep more of what they earn. We invest in our communities, our businesses, and our futures with strategies that actually work for us.

A system where we are not starting from zero each generation. We are building a digital legacy that provides knowledge, tools, and systems that our children can inherit and expand.

A decade from now, our wealth isn’t accidental. It’s intentional, educated, and multiplied. What we pass down won’t just fill their hands, it will strengthen their minds. (LaToya Browne, CLC, Founder, Relationship and Intimacy Coach)

There is a quiet engine keeping our world spinning, usually while holding a cup of coffee and three other responsibilities. We are finally pulling back the curtain on the invisible labour women carry every single day. These stories expose the systems that rely on your silence and the true cost of being a quiet superhero. It’s time to stop normalizing the unrecognized hustle. Your labour is finally made visible.

labour I perform is walking a tightrope above uncertainty, while making sure everything below me stays standing. As a mother who raises daughters and an entrepreneur, I carry more than bills and responsibilities. I carry hope, stability, protection, and the quiet duty of making tomorrow feel possible, even on days when it feels heavy.

What no one sees is the endless mental choreography, stretching resources, anticipating needs, absorbing pressure, and moving forward through exhaustion without the luxury of falling apart.

There is no off switch. No soft place to set it all down. The true cost of this silence is that it makes extraordinary labour look ordinary. The weight disappears in the eyes of others, even while it presses on the body, the mind, and the spirit, but invisible labour is not only what we do. It is what we carry without applause. What we protect without witness. What we survive without rest, and too often, women are expected to carry it quietly.

Still, we rise, not because the load is light, but because love, responsibility, and purpose demand it. (Brenda Foreman, CoFounder African Fashion Week Toronto)

The most significant invisible labour I perform is holding space for truth: in my work, in my home, and in a world that wasn’t built with me in mind.

As a travel writer and storyteller, I don’t just capture beauty. I question whose stories are told, whose histories are softened and whose voices are missing. That work is constant. It is emotional. It is often unpaid. At home, it continues. I am raising three boys to understand equity in a society shaped by racial hierarchy. I am translating the world for them, teaching them how to move through it with confidence, compassion and awareness. I am explaining what isn’t said. I am correcting what is. I am preparing them for both opportunity and bias.

The cost of this silence is weight. So much of this labour happens quietly in conversations, in choices, in the emotional recalibration required to keep going. It is the burden of knowing that if I don’t do this work, the cycle continues.

steven@carib101.com

TC COLUMNIST

We’ll own the platforms, the data,

The most significant invisible

This invisible labour is also legacy, and legacy is how we begin to change the system. (Natalie Preddie, Freelance Travel Journalist & TV Host)

Low snowpack signals summer drought crisis

Southwestern, and Midwestern United States, drought conditions are expected to intensify. Higher temperatures and already strained groundwater levels will likely worsen water scarcity, placing pressure on farming regions and urban supply systems alike.

The agricultural impact could be significant. Key growing areas may see reduced crop yields as soil moisture declines. Smaller harvests often translate into lower market value and increased volatility in food prices. Regions that depend heavily on corn, wheat, and oats production may be particularly vulnerable.

Water systems are also at risk. As supply diminishes, water quality can degrade, often concentrating minerals and pollutants. This raises concerns about ac-

cess to clean, safe drinking water and increases the need for stronger water management and filtration systems.

The situation extends beyond the United States. Western Canada, which shares interconnected water systems and agricultural zones, may face similar pressures. However, claims of cross-border water extraction through angled drilling or imminent U.S. seizure of Canadian water lack verified evidence and should be treated with caution. Water governance between Canada and the United States is governed by longstanding treaties and regulatory frameworks designed to prevent exactly these kinds of conflicts.

Still, concerns about resource security are not unfounded. Water scarcity has historically increased competition among regions, industries, and gov-

ernments. As climate patterns shift, both countries may face difficult decisions about conservation, allocation, and infrastructure investment.

The larger issue is climate variability. Warmer winters reduce snow accumulation, while hotter summers accelerate evaporation and demand. This combination creates a cycle that is difficult to break without coordinated environmental policy and long-term planning.

The question is no longer whether these patterns will continue, but how prepared governments, industries, and communities are to respond. Without proactive measures, the effects on food systems, water access, and regional stability could deepen.

Ontario water privatization risks exposed

MICHAEL THOMAS

michael@carib101.com

TC REPORTER

“It is especially concerning to see water, life itself, being set up to be taken out of public hands and placed under a for-profit corporate model. Nobody asked for this.”

That warning, from CUPE Local 241 Vice President Matt Manassis, cuts to the core of the debate around Ontario’s Bill 60. At stake is public trust in the systems that deliver something as fundamental as clean water.

Manassis points to Hamilton as a cautionary tale. In the 1990s, the city privatized its water and wastewater systems. The results were stark: the workforce was cut in half, costs increased, and 15 million litres of raw sewage spilled into Hamilton Harbour. Homes and businesses flooded, and residents bore the financial burden. Years later, after sustained public pressure, Hamilton returned the system to public control, saving millions and restoring accountability.

This is not an isolated example. CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn argues that similar patterns emerge whenever profit enters essential services. “We’ve seen it in health care, in hydro distribution, in transportation, when private profit is mixed in, the focus shifts to generating revenue,” he said.

The risks are not abstract. In Walkerton, Ontario, failures linked to deregulation contributed to a deadly E. coli outbreak. Seven people died, and thousands became ill. The consequences of weakened oversight in water systems can be immediate and severe.

So, what does Bill 60 propose?

According to a legal review commissioned by CUPE Ontario, the legislation (specifically Schedule 16) does not guarantee that water and wastewater corporations will remain publicly owned. Instead, it grants the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing discretion over ownership structures. Despite government references to “municipal service corporations,”

that term does not appear in the legislation itself, raising concerns about how public these entities would truly be.

Labour and employment lawyer Simon Archer underscores the ambiguity, “The word public’ in the name does not have any real legal effect. The legislation does not guarantee that water and wastewater corporations will be held by a municipality or other public entity.”

This lack of clarity matters. Language shapes perception, and critics argue that the bill’s framing may obscure its practical implications.

Academic experts echo these concerns. Meera Karunananthan, Assistant Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Carleton University, stresses that public control over water systems is essential to safeguarding basic rights. She suggests the bill aligns with broader austerity measures, where cost-cutting and privatization risk undermining equity and public interest.

David McDonald, a professor at Queen’s University, adds that global evidence does not favour privatization. “Privatization generally does not work; it is generally more expensive, less accountable, and reduces transparency,” he said. Many cities, he notes, have reversed privatization efforts, bringing services back under public control after negative outcomes.

International data reinforces this trend. The World Bank has reported that 37% of private investments in water and sanitation projects become distressed, cancelled, renegotiated, or otherwise troubled. These renegotiations often favour private contractors, leaving governments and users to absorb higher costs.

Case studies from the United States further illustrate potential risks. In Pittsburgh, a financially distressed city contracted a private firm to manage water services. Cost-cutting measures included staff reductions and changes to water treatment processes. Lead levels rose above safety thresholds, and rates increased. Residents filed tens of thousands of billing complaints, and legal action followed.

In Flint, Michigan, a switch in water sources combined with inadequate treatment led to a public health crisis. Lead contamination affected thousands of residents, and an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease followed. Investigations and lawsuits resulted in sig-

nificant settlements, though responsibility remained contested.

These cases highlight a consistent pattern: when cost reduction becomes the priority, system integrity can suffer.

Critics of Bill 60 also raise equity concerns. In both the U.S. and Canada, privatization efforts have disproportionately affected racialized and economically vulnerable communities. In Ontario, Peel Region (identified as a potential pilot area for reforms) has a significantly higher proportion of racialized residents than the provincial average. Observers question whether these communities may face greater risks under new ownership models.

Historical parallels in Ontario add another layer. Hamilton’s earlier privatization involved multiple corporate stakeholders, including international firms and pension fund investments. One such entity, Thames Water, later became financially troubled, with major investors writing off significant losses. These examples underscore the volatility that can accompany privatized infrastructure.

Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles frames the issue as one of governance and accountability. She argues that Bill 60 shifts decision-making away from communities and toward corporate structures driven by profit. “We know that we can’t rely on the Ford government to put people first, especially when there’s profit involved,” she said. Supporters of public water systems emphasize that accountability is clearer when services remain publicly owned. Elected officials can be held responsible, transparency requirements are stronger, and decisions are more directly tied to community needs rather than shareholder returns.

At its core, the debate is about priorities. Water is not a typical commodity; it is essential to life, public health, and economic stability. Decisions about its management carry long-term consequences. As Hahn puts it: “We need to band together to force the Ford Conservatives to reverse course here. No one should profit from our drinking water.”

The question for Ontarians is whether privatization is efficient, and if it aligns with the values of equity, accountability, and public safety. History (both local and global) offers clear warnings. Whether those lessons are heeded remains to be seen.

AI is making delusions worse

SIMONE

SMITH

simone@carib101.com

TC REPORTER

What if the tool you trust to help you think is quietly making you less sane?

That is what researchers are now saying, and the findings should stop your mid-scroll.

A new study out of the University of Exeter reveals something most of us have not considered: generative AI can actively reinforce false information and build upon our own distorted beliefs. We have heard about AI hallucinating, but this is different. This is you and the AI hallucinating together. Here’s what that means in plain language.

When you open ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI chatbot, you are entering a relationship. The AI learns your tone, mirrors your thinking, and, here is the part nobody is talking about; it provides a sense of social validation, making false beliefs feel shared with another, and therefore more real.

You think the AI agrees with you. It does. On purpose.

This behavior has a name: sycophancy. AI sycophancy refers to a model’s tendency to prioritize agreement with user beliefs, because agreement drives engagement, and engagement drives profit. The profits of most generative AI are created through user engagement, reducing an AI’s sycophancy would lower subsequent profits. They built an agreeable machine. Now we are living with the consequences.

For most people, this creates a subtle fog: overconfidence, a slightly skewed sense of reality, an echo chamber with better grammar, but for those already struggling with anxiety, depression, paranoia, or isolation, the stakes are dangerously higher.

Researchers have documented cases where interactions with AI chatbots appeared to amplify persecutory or grandiose thinking, and chatbot-user dynamics may reinforce elevated mood, impulsive behaviors, and markedly grandiose thinking. One Canadian case involved a 26-year-old man who developed persecutory and grandiose delusions after months of intensive exchanges with ChatGPT, ultimately requiring hospitalization. Another involved a 47-year-old who became convinced he had discovered a revolutionary mathematical theory after the chatbot repeatedly validated his ideas, despite external disconfirmation.

October 2025 figures from OpenAI suggested that 0.07% of users (roughly 560,000 people each week) display signs of

psychosis or mania.

Half a million people. Every week. Now ask yourself: how many of those people look like someone you love?

This matters to our communities in particular. Black and racialized people are already navigating systems that gaslight us daily, institutions that deny our reality, histories that erase our contributions, narratives that distort our worth. When we turn to AI for relief, for clarity, for companionship, and the machine agrees with everything we feel, that can feel like healing. Validation is a trap dressed in comfort.

AI companions are designed to be like-minded to their users through personalization algorithms and sycophantic tendencies. Unlike a person who might eventually express concern, or set limits, an AI could provide validation for narratives of victimhood, entitlement, or revenge.

So, what do we do? We don’t abandon the tools; we learn to use them with our eyes wide open. Ask the AI to challenge you. Ask it to argue the opposite. Bring your real people: your elders, your therapist, your trusted circle, into decisions that matter. Use AI as a starting point, never as a verdict.

Your mind is sovereign. Do not outsource it to an algorithm designed to keep you clicking. The most radical thing you can do in the age of AI. Think for yourself, and teach everyone around you to do the same.

Canada is not the Canada many of us learned to love

SIMONE SMITH

simone@carib101.com

TC REPORTER

“An essay for Afro‑ and Indo‑Caribbean com munities, and for every Canadian who refuses to accept decline as destiny.”

Canada is not the Canada many of us learned to love. The numbers are blunt, “Canada dropped to 25th in the 2026 World Happiness Report, its lowest ever, from 5th in 2015.” That sentence should land like a punch. It tells us that something in the social contract has frayed, that economic stagnation, housing strain, youth mental‑health crises, and policy choices are not abstract statistics but lived realities in Afro/Indo and immigrant bodies across this country.

Yet, while the nation’s metrics wob ble, our communities keep showing up. We teach our children to be resilient, to be grate ful, to work twice as hard. We hold family din ners, run small businesses, staff frontline ser vices, and keep cultural life alive, but resilience is not a substitute for justice. Survival is not a strategy for flourishing.

Listen; per‑capita GDP has been slid ing since 2019; household debt sits near the top of advanced economies; food inflation hit 7.3% in January 2026; and university inter nationalization has been gutted by caps that hollow research and revenue. These problems

PAUL JUNOR

paul@carib101.com

TC

are connected. High household debt and housing precarity make people vulnerable to shocks. Food and transport costs eat into the same paycheques that should be building wealth. When universities lose international students, research and future talent pipelines shrink, and with them, long‑term opportuni ties for our youth.

For Afro and Indo‑Caribbean Ca nadians, these pressures are layered on top of historical marginalization. Inequality is not evenly distributed: African and racial ized households feel the squeeze harder, and younger people, especially girls on social me dia, are reporting steep declines in well‑being. The result is a double burden: structural barri ers plus the emotional labour of carrying fam ily and community hopes.

Numbers alone do not tell the whole story. We need the human voice that refuses to be reduced to a statistic. That voice is in our communities, and sometimes it is the voice of women who have learned to speak truth to power. As one woman in a recent interview put it plainly, “I am the messenger.” She said it is her responsibility, to translate pain into lan guage, to name the systems that wound us, and to teach others how to survive and then to thrive.

That messenger’s arc matters be cause it models a different response to nation al decline. We can either accept the narrative that Canada’s slipping rankings are inevitable, or we can treat them as a call to action. The policy responses introduced in 2026: tax cuts, a boosted Groceries and Essentials Benefit, housing rebates, and targeted food‑supply funds, offer short‑term relief. They matter. A family of four receiving up to $1,890 this year is not nothing, but these measures are, by design, temporary and partial. They do

not dismantle the oligopolies that keep gro cery prices high, nor do they fix the structural shortages that make housing unaffordable for renters in Toronto and other cities. So, what do we do? We do three things at once: we survive, we organize, and we reimagine.

• Survive, because immediate relief mat ters. Use the benefits, access supports, and protect your household, but survival cannot be the endgame.

• Organize, because policy shifts come when people who are most affected re fuse to be invisible. Push for permanent reforms: stronger wage supports, rent protections that protect renters (not just buyers), supply‑chain reforms that break oligopoly pricing, and investments in mental‑health services that meet youth where they are. Demand that universi ties be funded to welcome international students again, not as revenue streams alone but as partners in research and community renewal.

• Reimagine, because our communities have always been laboratories of resil ience and creativity. Afro‑ and Indo‑Ca ribbean people have built economies of care, informal networks of mutual aid, and cultural economies that sustain identity and dignity. We must scale those models: community food hubs, coop erative housing, culturally competent mental‑health services, and education pathways that center our histories and futures.

This is a call to convert our inherited resilience into structural power. The messenger in that interview found liberation by naming it and

then using both spiritual practice and aca demic language to explain how cognition and systems interact. That reclamation is political. It is a refusal to let the state define our worth by GDP lines or press‑freedom indices.

We must also insist that national metrics reflect lived realities. Happiness, liv ability, and human development are just numbers for policy wonks; they are the sum of whether people can afford groceries, whether a young person can access mental‑health care without stigma, whether a parent can find a safe, affordable home. When these things fail, the social fabric frays.

So here is the practical, unapologetic ask for Afro and Indo‑Caribbean communities and for all Canadians who care about a fair fu ture: organize locally, demand nationally, and build culturally. Vote with your values. Sup port community enterprises that keep money circulating in our neighbourhoods. Push for permanent policy fixes that address supply, not just demand. Insist that universities and research institutions be rebuilt as engines of inclusion and innovation. And hold leaders ac countable when short‑term relief is offered as a substitute for long‑term justice.

We are not passive recipients of de cline. The country’s rankings may wobble, but our capacity to imagine a better Canada does not have to. We have the stories, the networks, and the moral clarity to insist on a nation where dignity is not conditional, where children can be well, and where being Afro/ Indo Caribbean, or immigrant is not a source of national strength.

If you are tired, rest. If you are angry, organize. If you are hopeful, act. The messen ger is speaking. It’s time we all listened, and then built.

Ontario School Board takeovers spark concern

• York Catholic District School Board

The scale of intervention is unprecedented in recent years, raising questions about gov ernance, accountability, and the balance of power between provincial authorities and lo cally elected trustees.

The provincial takeover of eight Ontario school boards by the Ministry of Education continues to draw sharp criticism from educa tion stakeholders, who warn of lasting conse quences for public education, local democ racy, and student outcomes.

The impact of provincial supervision has galvanized local presidents of the Elemen tary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), prompting a coordinated response. In a joint statement (later detailed in a press release is sued Tuesday, March 10th, 2026) these leaders outlined urgent concerns, posed critical ques tions, and set expectations for the 2026–2027 school year.

The statement was directed to key education authorities, including ministry appointed supervisors, directors of educa tion at the affected boards, and leadership from both the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association and the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association. Together, the recipients represent the highest levels of oversight and governance within Ontario’s publicly funded education system.

At the heart of the issue is the prov ince’s decision to place the following boards under supervision:

• Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board

• Near North District School Board

• Ottawa Carleton District School Board

• Peel District School Board

• Thames Valley District School Board

• Toronto Catholic District School Board

• Toronto District School Board

Concerns from ETFO are not new. As early as January 30th, 2026, the president of the 84,000 member federation warned about the growing number of boards under super vision. The March press release reiterates that alarm, stating, “ETFO is once again raising ur gent concerns about the Ford government’s escalating and unjustified takeover of demo cratically elected school boards.”

The statement continues, character izing the interventions as egregious govern ment overreach, and a troubling centraliza tion of power, with implications that extend beyond administration into the core of demo cratic participation in public education.

Local ETFO presidents say they felt compelled to speak publicly after witnessing decisions being made without transparency or meaningful consultation. As they wrote, “As local presidents in supervised school boards, we are compelled to speak publicly about troubling decisions being made behind closed doors and the impact they are having on our public schools.”

According to the statement, many of these decisions lack clear connections to stu dents’ needs. Instead, they appear driven pri marily by aggressive cost cutting measures. The result, they argue, is a system increasingly focused on short term financial targets at the expense of long term educational quality.

The press release describes a trou bling pattern, “Decisions driven almost exclu sively by deep cost cutting with little regard for fixing the long term funding formula, con sequences for learning and working condi tions, or for the well being of the communities we serve.”

This critique cuts to a central tension in the province’s approach, whether fiscal re straint is being prioritized over educational outcomes. Notably, the local presidents chal

lenge the effectiveness of the provincial in tervention itself. One of the stated goals of supervision was to address financial ineffi ciencies within school boards. However, the statement argues that this objective has not been met. Instead, they report “increasing costs through high salaries and discretionary funding” under supervision.

This raises a critical point: if provin cially appointed supervisors are encountering the same financial pressures as elected trust ees, the issue may not lie with governance but with systemic funding challenges. As the press release notes, “In reality, supervisors are encountering the same challenges that locally elected trustees faced, demonstrating that the issues are structural, not the result of local governance.”

The implications are significant. If the root problems are structural (such as funding formulas or rising operational costs) then replacing governance models without addressing those fundamentals may do little to improve outcomes.

Educators also stress that their pro fessional expertise is being sidelined at a time when it is most needed. The complexity of balancing fiscal responsibility with student needs requires input from those working di rectly within the system. Yet, the statement suggests that educators’ voices are being ex cluded from key decisions.

This exclusion, they argue, leads to predictable consequences: fewer resources, reduced programming, and a diminished ca pacity to support students, particularly those with complex needs.

Special education students, often among the most vulnerable, are highlighted as being disproportionately affected. While these students are typically prioritized for support, the current approach appears mis aligned with the realities schools face. As the statement puts it, “Yet the decisions being im posed under supervision do not address the underlying pressures that boards have repeat edly raised.”

The lack of consultation emerges as a central theme throughout the statement. The presidents argue that meaningful en

gagement with educators, families, and com munities is not optional; it is foundational to a strong public education system.

They warn that excluding these voices undermines trust, erodes relationships, and ultimately leads to poorer outcomes for students. “Families deserve to understand how and why decisions are being made,” the statement notes, particularly when those de cisions directly affect children’s learning envi ronments.

This erosion of trust may have long term consequences. Public education relies not only on funding and policy, but also on the confidence of the communities it serves. When decisions are perceived as opaque or disconnected from local realities, that confi dence is at risk.

The statement concludes with a clear call to action as boards begin develop ing budgets for the 2026–2027 school year. The local presidents are urging a fundamental shift in approach, one grounded in transpar ency, collaboration, and a renewed focus on student needs.

They write, “We expect transparency and greater collaboration with stakeholders. We expect decisions to be guided by student needs, not by arbitrary fiscal targets.”

They also call on the Minister of Ed ucation and appointed supervisors to fulfill their responsibility to the public by engaging in broad, accessible and meaningful consulta tion at the start of the process.

The stakes, they emphasize, could not be higher.

The absence of democratically elect ed trustees’ voices is already being felt across the eight supervised boards. Without mean ingful input from educators, families, and communities, there is a growing concern that public education may drift away from its core principles: accessibility, inclusivity, and repre sentation.

At its core, this debate is about who gets to shape the future of public education in Ontario, and whether that future will reflect the diverse voices and needs of the communi ties it serves.

SIMONE SMITH

simone@carib101.com

TC REPORTER

“Mental health in the Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean workplace is a cultural inheritance shaped by survival, and it demands a cultural response.”

There is a particular kind of exhaustion that does not show up on a performance review. It lives in the jaw you clench before a Monday morning meeting. In the smile you manufacture for a supervisor who would never understand why the fluorescent lights, the microaggressions, and the mandatory culture fit feel like slow erosion. In the silence you choose, every time, because your community taught you that strength means carrying weight without complaint.

For Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean communities in Toronto and across Canada, this silence is a survival strategy centuries in the making.

Our grandmothers did not survive colonial plantations and indentured labour contracts by asking for mental health days. Our parents did not immigrate to this country, working double shifts in factories and care facilities, by disclosing vulnerability to white supervisors in institutions that never saw their full humanity. We inherited their endurance. We also inherited their wounds.

Millions of workers hide mental health struggles at work, fearing judgment, discrimination, or simply being seen as less capable or dependable. That fear is real, but for Afro/Indo Caribbean workers, it is compounded by something the mainstream mental health narrative consistently fails to name: the workplace itself is a site of racial harm.

Stigma around mental illness is especially an issue in some diverse racial and ethnic communities, and it can be a major barrier to people from those cultures ac-

Silence is not self-care

cessing mental health services. For Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean workers, this is Tuesday afternoon.

We are overrepresented in essential work. We are underrepresented in leadership. We are tasked with performing excellence within systems that were not designed to include us, and when we crack under the pressure of that contradiction, the system calls it a personal problem. It is not a personal problem.

The Afro-Caribbean cultural framework carries a complicated relationship with mental health, one that cannot be extracted from the theology of endurance, the shame of public weakness, or the communal belief that what happens in the house, stays in the house. Add to that the Indo-Caribbean inheritance of respectability, sacrifice, and intergenerational silence, and you have communities where suffering is normalized, and help-seeking is stigmatized.

This is what survival looks like across generations, but survival is not the same as thriving, and our communities deserve to thrive.

On any given week, over 500,000 employed Canadians will be unable to work due to mental illness. The economic burden of mental illness is $51 billion per year. Behind those numbers are our aunties, our uncles, our brothers fresh off the plane from Trinidad, our sisters navigating postpartum depression while managing shifts at Scarborough General. Behind those numbers are people who were never once asked, How are you, really?

Culture, not policy, is what actually makes the difference. An Employee Assistance Program flyer pinned to a breakroom bulletin board does not reach a Jamaican woman who was taught that therapy is for people who can’t handle themselves. A generic wellness webinar does not move a Trinidadian man whose father told him that real men solve their own problems.

What reaches us is recognition. Therapists who understand that our anxiety is not irrational; it is a rational response to living inside systems built to diminish us. Community spaces where we can tell the truth without translation. Workplaces where Caribbean cultural values: collectivism, spirituality, family-centered healing are treated

as assets within it.

Healing for our communities must be rooted in community. It must understand that a prayer circle at Sunday service is mental health support. That the Toronto Caribbean community organizations quietly holding people together are frontline mental health infrastructure. That the elder who sits with you in her kitchen is doing the work no EAP has ever funded.

A Message to Employers Who Think This Isn’t Their Problem

The question is not whether you can afford to prioritize mental health. It is whether you want to be the kind of workplace people trust with their whole selves. Deconstructingstigma

If your organization employs Afro/ Indo Caribbean workers and has never once asked what barriers they face in accessing mental health support, you are part of the system producing the silence. Diversity without psychological safety is window dressing. Inclusion without cultural literacy is performance.

Train your managers to understand that distress in racialized employees is often compounded by race-based stress. Create Employee Resource Groups with real institutional power. Partner with community-rooted organizations led by and for Black and Caribbean people. Listen when they speak, even when what they say implicates your institution.

The Afro-Caribbean and IndoCaribbean communities of Toronto arrived carrying everything we were given. The trauma, yes, but also the resilience, the creativity, the joy, the music, the food, the fire. Our mental health story does not begin with a diagnosis. It begins in the holds of ships, in the cane fields, in the church halls, and in the living rooms where our people kept each other sane when the world refused to.

We are not asking for pity. We are asking for the truth. We are asking for structures that finally reflect the depth of what we carry, and the magnitude of what we are capable of, when the conditions allow us to be fully, freely, unapologetically ourselves. The work is liberation.

Canadians left to struggle

BY ADRIAN REECE

TC REPORTER

Skyrocketing gas prices are further stretching the spending power of Canadians. People all over the world are discussing the rising price of oils and petrol, however the Canadian economy has long since been problematic with rising costs of living, now adding on another necessary expense that is draining the accounts of working-class Canadians.

It is becoming unbearable to reside in Canada, particularly Toronto and Vancouver, which are ranked as some of the most expensive cities in the world to live before gas prices began rising.

Turmoil in the east part of the world are affecting Canadian Livelihood. Gas has risen to somewhere around $1.60 for regular gas, with premium prices reaching well over the $2.00 mark.

What does this mean for citizens? Less driving, less commitment to going out and spending money, because the gas that is required to get there just isn’t worth it in most cases. More people may begin to rely on public transit or ride share such as uber and Lyft to get to their destinations.

These are just temporary mea-

sures, with more people opting to stay inside and the rising cost of uber and Lyft prices, many people simply cannot afford to enjoy the cities they live in. Not only is the Canadian government doing everything it can to make things harder for their citizens, in particular the Premier of Ontario Rob Ford whose decisions cause Canadians to struggle more each day, along with the reigning government party that is allocating enormous amounts of funding to foreigners and overseas interests. Canadians are left to struggle.

The mortgage rates for the housing market are beginning to come down, that is a positive thing considering everything else that is rising. However, this doesn’t bode well for current homeowners, who have purchased their homes at incredible prices, and now seeing their property value fall the way it has is disheartening all around.

The current generation is dealing with so much instability, along with all the promises of success that were taught at an early age are falling through the cracks and are looking like lies, because nothing that was promised is coming to fruition. There are more people living at home with their parents than ever before.

Most young adults are searching for independence that is out of reach for many millennials. Currently cost of living, the housing market, gas prices, OSAP repayment rates and grocery prices are bleeding this generation dry. Working class citizens are drowning under debt and inflated prices, and the government is publicly spending money outside of the country instead of pouring those funds into infrastructure that can create a prosperous country and living situation for everyone here.

Leaders have stated that this is the new norm for Canadians, further reinforcing that the regular people who make an average income are left on their own to figure out how to navigate the world that we live in. The alternative is to abandon the city and take up residence in another province that is cheaper or, to move out of the country to somewhere your dollar goes even further.

The next few years will reflect a lot of the decisions that leadership has made, and how Canadians will cope is currently an individual decision that weighs heavily on each person living in Canada.

BY JAY BRIJPAUL

TC REAL ESTATE REPORTER

There was a troubling story about Karen, a retired teacher who had always been diligent with her finances and careful about whom she trusted. One day, she crossed paths with an individual claiming to be a reputable mortgage agent. This person seemed knowledgeable and friendly, earning Karen’s confidence quickly. What Karen did not realize was that the so-called agent was a skilled impostor orchestrating an elaborate fraud involving a network of people posing as legitimate homeowners.

The impostor convinced Karen to remortgage her own home, assuring her it was a smart financial move that would yield great returns. He then manipulated her into using the proceeds to take out second mortgages on properties that belonged only to these fake homeowners. The paperwork was convincing, and the promises seemed solid. As time passed

paul@carib101.com

The symposium honouring Dr. Nana George Sefa Dei, held on Saturday, March 14th, 2026, at the auditorium of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, was both a scholarly gathering and a deeply personal tribute. Convened as part of the 13th Annual Decolonizing Conference organized by the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies (CIARS), the event brought together: community members, students, elders, scholars, and invited guests from Black, African, Caribbean, and broader communities.

From the outset, the purpose of the gathering was clear: to recognize a lifetime of influence that extends far beyond academia. Organizers described the symposium as an opportunity to celebrate Nana’s: intellectual kinship, global influence, mentorship and relational leadership, and intergenerational impact. That framing held throughout the day, as speaker after speaker reflected not only on Dr. Dei’s role as a mentor, elder, and bridge-builder.

The conference introduction positioned Dr. Dei as a foundational figure: a mentor and stalwart whose profound wisdom, truth-telling, and unwavering commitment to community have shaped generations of scholars, educators, and community leaders. His academic output alone is formidable: 47 books, more than 80 refereed articles, and 78 book chapters, but the tone of the event emphasized that his true legacy cannot be measured in publications alone.

Dr. Dei’s life also carries cultural and spiritual significance. In 2007, he was installed as a traditional chief in Asokore Koforidua, in Ghana’s New Juaben Traditional Area, receiving the name Nana

Mortgage fraud; it could happen to you

and repayments mysteriously stalled, Karen began to suspect something was wrong. By then, the damage had been done, she had unknowingly handed over her financial security to a sophisticated scam, and the impostor disappeared, leaving her with mounting debt and a shattered sense of trust. Karen’s story is a sobering reminder of how even the most cautious individuals can fall prey to mortgage fraud when criminals are determined and well-prepared.

To protect yourself from mortgage fraud, start by always verifying that your mortgage professional is properly licensed. This ensures they have met the necessary education standards and are operating under a regulated brokerage, giving you an extra layer of security. Be extremely cautious with your money; never hand over large sums directly to an individual. Insist that all payments go through your lawyer, or a trust account at a reputable brokerage. If someone asks

for a big personal payment upfront, take it as a serious red flag.

It is just as crucial to read every document carefully, making sure you understand all the details about fees, risks, and any potential conflicts of interest. Don’t let anyone pressure you to sign quickly; take your time to review everything thoroughly and never agree to anything that seems incorrect or incomplete. If you have any doubts, consult your own independent lawyer rather than one suggested by the broker or agent, and never feel obligated to sign documents immediately. Always give yourself at least twenty-four hours to go over the paperwork, so you know exactly what you are agreeing to.

While most mortgage professionals are resolute and trustworthy, it’s still important to stay vigilant. Always double-check that your broker or agent is properly licensed, carefully review all documents, and avoid rushing into any agreement. Before making a commit-

Honouring Legacy of Dr George Dei

Adusei Sefa Tweeboah. This recognition underscored what many speakers reiterated throughout the symposium: that his authority is rooted in cultural responsibility and ancestral connection.

Dr. Ruben Gaztambide-Fernández, Chair of the Department of Social Justice Education at OISE, introduced Dr. Dei with clarity and reverence. He described him as a towering scholar of anticolonial and decolonial thought whose work continues to challenge colonial legacies while calling communities toward more grounded and humanizing futures. Crucially, he noted that Dr. Dei’s impact extends far beyond the academy.

That distinction (between academic work and lived practice) became a recurring theme. Dr. GaztambideFernández emphasized that Dr. Dei lives in service to it. He has consistently bridged gaps between academia and community, between generations, and between intellectual work and ancestral responsibility. In this framing, Dr. Dei emerges as an elder, one who teaches with humility, leads with wisdom, and nurtures with care.

The program opened with a rendition of “A Change Is Gonna Come,” setting a reflective and aspirational tone. Educator Michelle Sutherland followed with a tribute piece highlighting Dr. Dei’s intellectual brilliance, describing him as a genius in curriculum. These early moments grounded the event emotionally before moving into more formal reflections on his scholarly contributions.

Dr. Njoki Wane, Professor of Social Justice Education, provided one of the most comprehensive accounts of Dr. Dei’s academic and institutional impact. She identified him as a trailblazer who opened doors for many within marginalized communities. As the first professor of African ancestry to secure a tenuretrack position at OISE, Dr. Dei helped reshape the possibilities of representation and leadership within the institution.

Dr. Wane emphasized his foundational work in African Indigenous Knowledge systems, noting that his scholarship challenges dominant Eurocentric frameworks and insists on the le -

ment, consider reaching out to family or friends for their perspective, and, whenever possible, hire a lawyer to review the paperwork to ensure your interests are fully protected.

Mortgage fraud is not just something that happens out there. It’s happening to people in our neighbourhoods, sometimes just down the street. In every story I heard, the victims were under stress, rushing to refinance, desperate to save their homes, or overwhelmed by paperwork. That is when fraudsters strike.

Mortgage fraud is a real threat in our own communities, with scammers constantly devising new ways to deceive unsuspecting homeowners. These fraudsters work hard to earn your trust, only to exploit it when you least expect it. Staying cautious and asking questions can go a long way—when it comes to mortgage fraud, a healthy dose of skepticism can protect you from years of regret.

gitimacy of diverse ways of knowing. As she articulated, his work calls for education systems that recognize lived experience, history, and intellectual traditions often excluded from formal academic spaces.

Her remarks moved beyond biography into personal testimony. She described Dr. Dei as a visionary leader committed to transformative change, someone who not only critiques the status quo but actively works to dismantle it. She also highlighted his collaborative approach to scholarship, noting that he frequently partners with students in publishing, rather than positioning himself above them.

In one of the more resonant reflections of the day, Dr. Wane framed his mentorship as both quiet and revolutionary. She underscored the importance of collective care, urging communities to “hold each other and protect one another in the face of systemic challenges. Her message positioned Dr. Dei’s work as deeply relational and communal.

International perspectives further reinforced his global influence. Dr. Maulana Karenga, American scholar and activist, described Dr. Dei as an activist scholar whose work integrates scholarly excellence with ethical and pedagogical commitment. He highlighted Dr. Dei’s emphasis on Afrocentric grounding and the principle of Sankofa, the practice of returning to the past to inform the future, as central to his approach.

Dr. Karenga also stressed the holistic nature of Dr. Dei’s educational philosophy. His work, he noted, extends beyond intellectual development to encompass emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Education, in this framework, becomes a practice of life, one that engages the mind, heart, and soul.

Similarly, Dr. Molefi Kete Asante spoke with deep gratitude about Dr. Dei’s contributions, describing his scholarship as profoundly influential within global academic circles. A video tribute from Dr. Arlo Kemp, Associate Professor at OISE, added a more personal dimension, acknowledging Dr. Dei’s mentorship and its impact on his own academic

journey.

Other speakers reinforced this theme of personal connection. Kirk Mark recounted being introduced to Dr. Dei’s work nearly three decades ago, recalling how he was told that understanding the sociology of race required engaging deeply with Dr. Dei’s scholarship. That moment, he suggested, marked the beginning of a long intellectual and personal influence.

A panel discussion, moderated by Mark and featuring: Dr. Stan Doyle, Dr. Njoki Wane, Dr. George Frempong, Dr. Paul Adjei, and Dr. Amal Madibo, offered further insight into Dr. Dei’s mentorship. Panelists reflected on their experiences as doctoral students under his supervision, emphasizing not only academic guidance but personal transformation.

As summarized in the program, panelists spoke of the mentorship received as doctoral students… as well as the guidance in their careers and community engagement. They described developing a stronger sense of self and an anti-colonial mindset that challenges Eurocentrism while creating space for Black and racialized communities within academia and beyond.

The consistency of these reflections is striking. Across disciplines, generations, and geographies, Dr. Dei’s influence is described in similar terms: transformative, relational, and deeply grounded in community.

The closing sentiment of the symposium captured this collective recognition. The celebration of Dr. Nana George Sefa Dei was an ongoing testament to a living legacy. It demonstrated how communities respond to true eldership: with gratitude, respect, and a commitment to carry forward the work.

“He has consistently bridged gaps between community and academia, between generations, and between intellectual work and ancestral responsibility.”

That line, echoed in various forms throughout the day, may be the clearest distillation of Dr. Dei’s impact. His work moves, connects, and transforms.

Toronto’s Caribbean Community Highlights: Spring

is stirring, and so is your

community!

From hat-adorned park gatherings to soul-stirring calypso tributes, from careerchanging resources to trailblazing antiracism training, this edition is packed with reasons to show up, get involved, and celebrate who we are together.

Whether you’re hunting for your next opportunity, ready to dance to Harry Belafonte classics, or simply looking to connect with the vibrant people around you, there is something here calling your name. These are the stories, events, and resources that remind us: community is how we thrive.

Let’s dive in!

Brampton World Hat Walk Returns to Gage Park – A Celebration of Creativity, Culture, and Community

Location: Gage Park, Brampton, Ontario

Date/Time: May 20th, 2026

Admission: Free and open to the public

Additional Information: The Brampton World Hat Walk is set to return to Gage Park, inviting the community to gather for a vibrant and expressive celebration of fashion, art, and connection.

Founded and organized by textile artist Navern Nash-Longshaw, founder of Château Neuf, this free community event brings together creatives, families, and fashion enthusiasts in a joyful display of millinery and personal style. Inspired by the global World Hat Walk movement, the Brampton edition continues to grow as a unique cultural moment within the city.

Guests are encouraged to wear their most creative hats and headpieces as they walk, connect, and celebrate selfexpression in a welcoming and inclusive environment.

Following last year’s success, many community members shared that they wished they had known about the event in advance. This year, the focus is on expanding awareness and ensuring more residents have the opportunity to participate.

tions, or additional information, please contact:

Navern Nash-Longshaw

Founder, Château Neuf

Organizer, Brampton World Hat Walk

Honouring the Artistry of Harry Belafonte with King Cosmos

Location: 194 Queen St. West

Date/Time: Sunday March 29th, from 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Admission: Pay-what-you-can at the door

Additional Information: Join Canadianbased Calypso and Soca performer and actor, King Cosmos alongside the highenergy group, Pimento Groove for a oneafternoon-only tribute show to honor the artistry of Harry Belafonte. With songs such as “Day-O,” “Jamaica Farewell” and “Island in the Sun,” Toronto will experience musical classics with 2026 flair.

King Cosmos is an award-winning, 2-time Calypso Monarch (the highest award for Calypso in Canada) who has performed with the Toronto Symphony and National Arts Centre orchestras and toured internationally representing the genre.

Harry Belafonte was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. His breakthrough album, Calypso was the first million-selling LP by a single artist. He was a Tony and Emmy winner.

Harry has had a major impact on King Cosmos’ career, leading him to record his first album, ‘Dis One Hot.’ “Before Harry, Calypso, (Caribbean folk music really), was a Trinidad and Tobago-based genre,” says the Trinbago born and Canadian based King Cosmos.

“With Harry’s music, and best-selling album ‘Calypso’ breaking the barrier, he paved the way for greats like Sparrow, Lord Melody and others. Now we pay tribute to him, and it feels good to do so.”

Pimento Groove is a 5-piece ensemble that features leader Maurice Gordon on guitar, Oniel Fuller on drums, Michael Kennedy on bass and Ricky McIntosh on keyboards.

Offering free online career support with expert coaches for Brampton Library members

Location: Brampton/Online

Date/Time: Coaches Available 2:00 pm11:00 pm

www.bramptonlibrary.ca/getting-startedwith-brainfuse-jobnow

Additional Information: Whether applying for a job or switching careers, Brainfuse JobNow offers expert assistance in all aspects of career development. Designed to support a wide range of job seekers, JobNow provides free access for all Brampton Library cardholders to expert career assistance, resume creation tools, live interview coaching, skill building resources, and more.

Accessible anytime with a Library card, JobNow offers several tools to assist with resume creation. Using Resume Templates, applicants can download standard Word templates from a selection of basic, modern, entry-level, functional, and onepage resumes. Moreover, SkillsFirst software is a great tool for creating professional resumes, cover letters, personal pitches, portfolios, and more.

To get personalized suggestions from experts, users can submit their resumes and cover letters to the Resume Lab and receive detailed notes from a job coach within 24 hours. And that’s not all, if at any point during their process a user needs live assistance, Brainfuse JobNow coaches are online between 2:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

JobNow has resources for interview preparation as well. Users can review carefully curated interview tips and resources to build their confidence. Users have the option to click Live Interview Coach to practice one-on-one with a career expert in the online classroom.

Job Searching is a section where users will find a list of North America-wide and local resources to help them with their job search. They can also be matched with jobs available in their area by filling out a questionnaire. Job coaches are available during live chat hours to assist in the initial stages of the job search, including helping with online job applications and providing feedback on job hunting strategies. Those who are just beginning their journey can access self-directed guidance with Career Assessments and eParachute to discover careers that best match their skills and interests.

New Free Resource by Across Boundaries: Online Training Based On The Realities of African, Caribbean, and Black Communities

Location: Canada/Online

Date/Time: Ongoing

Admission: Register for Free: https:// acrossboundaries.ca/anti-oppression-antiracism-training/

Additional Information: Across Canada, Black youth remain overrepresented in the justice system. Black individuals experiencing mental health crises continue to face harmful and sometimes fatal police responses. Black trans and non-binary people navigate layered discrimination in health care, housing, employment, and public life. At the same time, we are seeing growing resistance to equity work, with diversity and inclusion efforts being questioned or scaled back.

Reports have been written. Commitments have been made. But Black communities are still waiting for “the right care at the right time, in the right place”. These trainings exist because the gap between intention and lived experience remains too wide.

This work builds on over 30 years of supporting Black and racialized communities. Through our facilitator-led Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression trainings, we’ve worked with organizations to reflect, question, and strengthen accountability.

With this training series, we’re asking: what comes after that? If accountability is the goal, what does it actually look like in practice?

These modules are grounded in what we see every day through our work and designed to support deeper understanding, reflection, and action.

The five module series includes learning on:

• ACB Youth Involvement Within the Justice System

• Black Trans and Non-Binary Mental Health

Admission: BrainFuse JobNow: https://

The Brainfuse JobNow platform can be accessed from any computer or mobile device through a web browser by visiting this link. Users will need to create an account using their Brampton Library card number and PIN. For more information on how to get a Library card, follow this link. All Ontario residents are eligible to apply for a free Brampton Library card.

• Commitment to Standing Up for Racial Justice

• Introduction to Black 2SLGBTQ+ Communities

• Introduction to Substance Use and Harm Reduction

These are free and open to the public across Canada. SIMONE SMITH

For media inquiries, collabora-

For too long, the narrative of the African diaspora has been filtered through a lens that was never designed to see us in our full complexity. We have been told that to be heard, we must wait for a seat at a table that doesn’t belong to us. We have been conditioned to believe that professionalism requires a softening of our edges and a dilution of our truth, but there is a shift happening, a reclamation of narrative power led by those who refuse to be silent. At the forefront of this movement is Phillip Scott, the Founder and Chief Executive Media Curator of the African Diaspora News Channel (ADNC).

As a writer rooted in the intersection of social justice and cultural empowerment, I recognize in our Classic Man a continuation of the lineage of Marcus Garvey and Dr. Amos Wilson. He is a strategic storyteller who understands that in the system of global white supremacy, information is the ultimate tool of power. In this exploration, we bust the myths surrounding Black media and the man who built an empire from the refinery floors of Texas.

There is a persistent myth that independent, unapologetically proBlack media is niche or small-scale. Phillip Scott’s trajectory shatters this illusion. From his beginnings as a theology graduate working demanding shifts in the petrochemical sector, Phillip has architected a media ecosystem that commands over 19.7 million monthly network views. With nearly 3 million total subscribers across six platforms, including AfroWire AI and The Phillip Scott Show, he has built a transnational platform that rivals

Reclaiming diaspora narratives PHILLIP SCOTT

mainstream outlets in engagement and influence. This is the new mainstream for a global audience of adults across the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean who are hungry for truth.

In my dialogue with Phillip, we touched on a painful reality often ignored in the Canadian context: the toxicity of passive-aggressive or liberal racism. The myth suggests that if there is no screaming of slurs, there is no prejudice. Phillip’s first book, Passive Aggressive Racism In The System of White Supremacy, dismantles this, teaching us to catch the slow racism, the backhanded compliments and the subtle legislative erasures. We observed that in places like Canada, racism often acts like Tylenol, attempting to ease the symptoms while the sickness remains. Phillip’s work acts as a vital reminder that we cannot buy into the sauce, or the wording of those who seek to manage our perceptions.

The enemy of liberation is the myth of the divided diaspora, the idea that Black Americans, Caribbeans, and Africans have nothing in common but their skin. Phillip’s 2018 trip to Ethiopia was a life-changing turning point that proved the opposite. Arriving in Ethiopia, he felt an immediate connection to the land that shifted his worldview and deepened his pan-African focus. Since then, he has led cultural excursions for over 200 people, including medical professionals and entrepreneurs, back to the continent, bridging the gap between the displaced and their heritage. By employing journalists who live on the ground in: Kenya, Ghana, Ethiopia, and the Caribbean,

ADNC ensures that the stories told are authentic and rooted in the soil they describe.

In mainstream discourse, terms like “People of Colour” are often used as a shield to generalize the Black experience. Phillip is firm; these are curse words that facilitate the erasure of anti-Black racism. The myth that we should move toward broader labels is busted by the necessity of naming our specific historical and political reality. Scott’s insistence on the term “Black” or “African” centers our specific importance and resists the lumping together of all marginalized groups. As a writer, I align with this Garveyite principle: we put the continent first because that is where our strength originates.

There is a myth that to be a successful Black person, you must be impressed by the accolades, money, and prestige of the existing power structures. Phillip Scott is a man who is not easily impressed. He views people as people, regardless of their $100 million or their titles. His boldness stems from a grounded self-esteem, a collective pride that he seeks to instill in his audience. He doesn’t complain about why CNN won’t cover our stories; he builds his own AI-powered news network to do it ourselves. He understands that standing on business means refusing to play the proximity games that require us to sell our souls.

What can we learn from a man who went from climbing oil tanks to lead a global movement? We learn that loyalty is the foundation of any tribe. We learn that building a global movement and being a present husband and father are complementary

ambitions. Most importantly, we learn that we must create the environments we want to see.

The upcoming ADNC Narrative Power Summit is a manifestation of this blueprint. It is an exclusive evening of culture and influence designed to place narrative power back in the hands of the community. When we walk that Black Carpet, we are participating in an act of resistance. We are gathering to gain the tools to challenge misinformation and use media strategically for our own economic empowerment.

Phillip Scott is a reminder that when we raise our collective self-esteem, we stop paying attention to the distractions of those who wish to keep us small. He is a modern-day media activist who speaks with the courage to tell the truth in the face of empire. He is building a legacy of liberation.

As we look toward the future, let us remember his charge, “Don’t complain about what they are doing; create what you feel should be there.”

This is the essence of strategic storytelling. This is the heartbeat of the African diaspora.

Written by Simone J Smith

Photo Credit: Sanj P Photography

Toronto Caribbean News

You care for your loved ones. When one of yours needs one of ours, social workers and social service workers are ready to provide trustworthy and quality care.

We are the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. As the provincial regulator, we ensure all our registrants follow the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice to protect the public, and provide ethical, effective and community-centred care.

If you or someone you love needs help, you can trust one of ours with one of yours.

Peel Regional Police News

Does your doctor care?

is due to their lack of communication skills.

BY DIANA GIFFORD-JONES COMMON SENSE HEALTH

If doctors depended like actors do on an ability to connect with their audience, the medical profession would get better reviews. Most patients will tell you the same thing about their doctor: they do not make that connection at a human level. They are elusive, impossible to reach for a discussion. When they appear at appointments, they pay more attention to the computer screen in the examining room than they do you, the patient, the person needing their care. Patients have been complaining about it for decades.

In 1989, a major survey reported patients often felt dehumanized, and that doctors cared more about tests and procedures than about the person in front of them. Even earlier, in the 1960s, social researchers noted that patients described physicians as curt and abrupt, mechanical, and impersonal. Studies ever since have confirmed that dissatisfaction with doctors

Medical schools have tried to address this. Teaching people skills is now part of the curriculum. Students rehearse interviews, practice explaining diagnoses, and even role-play with actors posing as patients. Research shows that effective communication improves diagnostic accuracy, increases adherence to treatment plans, and enhances patient satisfaction. Yet many patients would be forgiven for wondering where those lessons went. Heavy workloads, computer screens between doctor and patient, and complex medical teams continue to create barriers. Medicine may be teaching communication better than ever, but the system often makes it hard for the patient to see the doctor doing it.

Many patients assume they have no choice. “I’m lucky just to have a doctor,” they tell themselves. “There’s no way I could find another one.” This is a false narrative. Doctor shortages and the complexity of healthcare have people believing they

must accept poor communication. You would not tolerate being ignored or dismissed in other parts of your life. Why accept it in medicine?

Patients do have power. Does your doctor ask about your life, listen without interrupting, and explain clearly? If the answer is consistently “no,” action is warranted. Even if you stay with the same doctor, your preparation can transform a visit. Write down your list of concerns and what you think the doctor needs to know as background. Prioritize your questions and have them written down too. Ask for clarification. Ask if you have options. Be sure you understand instructions relating to medication. Communication matters immensely in consultations, where diagnoses are discussed, treatment plans explained, and long-term decisions made. Surgery is different. In the operating room, technical skills are what matter. A brusque surgeon may still be an exceptional technician. Reputation among colleagues, experience,

and complication rates are more revealing than personality. Multiple opinions, careful questions about outcomes, and input from nurses, or other professionals are the smartest safeguards.

Walking out on a doctor may be right for some patients, but a practical alternative is a health advocate: a trusted companion who attends appointments with you. They can ensure questions are asked, take notes, track instructions, clarify confusing explanations, and follow up on tests or referrals. They function as an extra set of eyes and ears, guiding patients through complex care.

There is also the possibility that new artificial-intelligence tools capable of notetaking, translating medical jargon into plain language, and helping patients with treatment routines will assume the role of chief communicator. If managed wisely, these tools could make a significant difference. The relationship we all want still rests with two human beings: a doctor who cares and a patient who feels well cared for.

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BY STEVEN KASZAB ANOTHER LOOK AT SOCIETY

Routine numbness is quietly spreading everywhere

May I say something both profound and absurd at the same time? North Americans may be losing the human impulse to change, evolve, and be transparent with one another. It’s not that people are unaware of their circumstances; it’s that awareness no longer guarantees action.

There was a time when boredom and dissatisfaction acted as catalysts. People felt stuck, and that discomfort forced movement. Today, many feel poor, underpaid, or uncertain about the future, and yet continue as before. Weeks become months. Months become decades. This condition (what might be called routine fodder) is a psychological state where repetition dulls urgency. It traps individuals in an orbit of unchanging numbness.

This numbness can persist indefinitely, until something disrupts it.

History offers examples. A Russian peasant at the turn of the 20th century had four primary concerns: family, community, faith, and survival through labour. Then, far away in Moscow, revolution began to stir. Similarly, in pre-revolutionary France and early America, populations accustomed to hardship and routine were jolted into action

BY NORMA NICHOLSON

YOUTH AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Daniel’s parents waited in the hallway for him to get downstairs to hop a ride with them to school. His mom called upstairs, “Boy, you had better hurry, we need to get going to make a living.” He responded, “What is all the fuss? I am coming.” This was not the best response he could have given to his parents. In the car, his mom said it was disrespectful to respond to them in that way. His dad said, “Son, let’s talk when we get home later.”

As an adult, do you try to forget the details, or even try to erase your adolescent behaviours from memory? These are the transitional phases between childhood and adulthood. It is a unique stage of development. It should be an exciting time in a young person’s life. However, it can be a stressful time for different cultural groups.

Let’s look at this phase of development for all youth. Usually defined as young people between 12 and 25 years of

by political upheaval. What changed was their perception of possibility.

Revolution, like any major conflict, creates a break in monotony. It offers meaning. It offers the chance (however illusory) to become heroic. The ordinary life is interrupted. The predictable is replaced with urgency. “Everyone wants to become a hero, right?” That desire, however simplistic, speaks to a deeper human need: to matter, to act, to break free from inertia.

Routine fodder is not confined to history. It exists here, now, in our neighborhoods. Many live nearly identical days: work, rest, repeat. Occasionally, a vacation interrupts the pattern, but only briefly. The underlying structure remains unchanged. Over time, the monotony drains energy. People feel tired, disengaged, and increasingly passive.

Some attempt to disrupt this cycle with new experiences, but the effect is temporary. Others cope through avoidance, seeking comfort in sleep, distraction, or harmful habits. These are not solutions; they are symptoms of a deeper dissatisfaction.

At the same time, modern society offers constant reassurance. Entrepreneurs, corporations, and institutions promote narratives of limitless opportunity. “Anyone can be a millionaire,” is a common refrain. These

messages are often framed with optimism, but they can distort reality. For many, they create a gap between expectation and lived experience, a gap filled with frustration or quiet resignation.

Meaning is still sought in work, faith, family, and personal ambition. Yet reality is often softened or avoided altogether. The systems shaping daily life remain largely unquestioned.

This raises a fundamental question: who constitutes the working class today? If you work to generate profit for others, you are part of it. This includes not only labourers, but also managers and professionals who may not traditionally identify as workers. The distinction between classes has narrowed. Increasingly, it is less about categories and more about concentration of control: those who own significant resources and those who do not.

The rise of artificial intelligence introduces a new variable. Its integration into finance, logistics, education, and infrastructure suggests a future where fewer human workers are required. Tasks once performed by people: teaching, transportation, administration, may become automated. Efficiency will increase, but so may displacement.

This shift carries consequences. Employment structures may contract. Pri-

Young, male, gifted and Black

age. This may be defined and used differently across different settings. The Youth Justice System defines a youth as one who is between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Employment training and other opportunities usually use the higher numbers.

Do you remember when you were a teen, how you tested the limits, pushed the boundaries, challenged authority, talked back to adults, were impulsive, reactive, experimented with sex, drugs and alcohol? Did you take risks such as not respecting your curfew, walking and dressing in ways that identified your uniqueness? Hormonal changes, combined with increasing expectations, responsibilities and decision making, often lead to confusion and emotional behaviour. Ultimately, you were also creative, had boundless energy, smart, and resilient. These actions are all part of the adolescent’s development.

Adolescents are similar, yet different. While they share much in common, they also have many differences between and among them. All adolescents are faced

with the same developmental tasks, such as establishing an identity and finding a way to achieve a healthy balance between connection and separation from their parents. How they achieve these outcomes depends on many factors. This adjustment period can challenge the entire family dynamic, and parents may often feel that their method of discipline no longer brings desirable results. We have heard numerous perplexed parents who have said things like, “Why did this child turn out so different from his sibling? They both grew up in a loving home.”

In the meantime, the teen is going through a period of rapid change, often occurring simultaneously or in rapid succession. Beginning with puberty, youth undergo major physical changes, their capacities for reasoning and thinking begin to mature, their emotional responses become more intense, and their social world expands as peer groups become more important than parents.

The privilege of being an adoles-

vacy may erode as systems become more centralized and data driven. For many, adaptation will require retraining, often without clear pathways or support.

From this perspective, artificial intelligence is a force reshaping the relationship between labour and power. Without thoughtful oversight, it risks deepening existing inequalities.

The concept of routine fodder may expand under these conditions. As systems become more automated and centralized, individual agency could diminish further. The danger is psychological. A population that feels both replaceable and immobile is one that struggles to act.

Skepticism toward technological change is not new. During the Industrial Revolution, similar fears emerged. That era produced both progress and profound inequality. It also gave rise to labour movements that sought to rebalance power.

Today, the struggle continues, though the dynamics have evolved. The central concern is no longer just industrial machinery, but unmonitored and unregulated artificial intelligence.

The question is not whether change is coming. It is whether people will recognize the moment and respond before routine hardens into permanence.

cent has never been afforded to all young people. Society criminalizes normal adolescent behaviours among Black and minority youth more than their white counterparts. The anger develops within them when they are excluded from western notion of childhood innocence, indicating blameless teen behaviours.

Daniel did not learn anything in any of his classes that day. He was worried and anxious about an impending evening discussion with his parents. He remembered hearing that as a teen, the part of his brain that controls advanced thinking, like logical reasoning, planning, and complicated decision making, takes longer to develop and is not fully mature until the early or mid-twenties. He felt depressed and had no idea how to explain that emotion to his parents. He did not want to go to school. Could Daniel be experiencing racism at school?

Jamaican Oxtail: From Humble Cut to Caribbean Staple

There are certain dishes that go beyond food. They carry history, culture, struggle, and pride all in one plate. Jamaican oxtail is one of those dishes.

If you’ve ever sat down in a Caribbean household, or even walked into a proper Caribbean restaurant anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area, you already know—oxtail isn’t just something you order casually. It’s something you look forward to. It’s the kind of meal you plan your day around. It’s rich, it’s slow-cooked, it’s packed with flavour, and when it’s done right, it’s unforgettable.

But what makes it even more interesting is where it came from. Because like many of the best dishes in Caribbean culture, oxtail didn’t start as a luxury. It started as the exact opposite.

The Origins: Turning “Scraps” Into Something Special Oxtail, as the name suggests, literally comes from the tail of cattle. Back in the day, this was not a prized cut of meat. It was tough, full of connective tissue, and required time and patience to make it edible. In many parts of the world, including the Caribbean, it was considered a leftover— something given to the working class, or something you used when you didn’t have access to the “better” cuts.

In Jamaica, like much of the Caribbean, cooking has always been about making the most of what you have. There’s a deep-rooted culture of resourcefulness— taking what others overlook and turning it into something incredible.

That’s exactly what happened with oxtail.

Through slow cooking, careful seasoning, and a deep understanding of flavour, Jamaican cooks transformed this tough, overlooked cut into something rich, tender, and full of depth. The collagen in the meat breaks down over time, creating that thick, glossy gravy that oxtail is now known for.

What was once considered scraps became a dish people now line up for— and ironically, one that’s no longer cheap.

From Survival Food to Cultural Icon Today, oxtail holds a completely different place in Caribbean culture.

It’s not just something you throw together on a weeknight. It’s a dish that shows up at Sunday dinners, family gatherings, celebrations, and special occasions.

It’s something you cook when people are coming over. It’s something you serve when you want to impress.

And in places like Toronto, where Caribbean culture is deeply rooted and continues to grow, oxtail has become one of the most recognizable and requested dishes. Walk into almost any Caribbean restaurant and you’ll see it right there on the menu—usually paired with rice and peas, maybe some steamed vegetables on the side.

But here’s the thing that a lot of people don’t realize: the price of oxtail today tells its own story.

What used to be one of the cheapest cuts of meat has now become one of the most expensive. And that shift says a lot about how culture influences demand. The more people discovered how good oxtail could be, the more popular it became. And with that popularity came a higher price tag.

It’s a perfect example of how something rooted in struggle and necessity can evolve into something valued and sought after.

Why Jamaican Oxtail Hits Different

There are plenty of cultures around the world that cook oxtail, but Jamaican oxtail has its own identity.

It comes down to seasoning and technique.

The flavour profile is bold, but balanced. You’ve got thyme, garlic, scallions, allspice (pimento), soy sauce, browning, and that signature slow-cooked richness that ties everything together. Some people add a bit of sweetness, some bring in heat with Scotch bonnet peppers, but at its core, it’s about layering flavour over time.

And that’s really the key—time. Oxtail isn’t rushed. You can’t rush it. The whole point is to let it cook low and slow until the meat becomes fall-off-the-bone tender and the gravy thickens naturally. It’s not fast food. It’s real food.

Modern Day Oxtail: Still Traditional, But Evolving

While the traditional method of cooking oxtail still holds strong, people have adapted it over time.

Some use pressure cookers to speed things up without sacrificing too much flavour. Others stick to slow cookers or stovetop methods. In restaurants, you’ll even see slight variations—some leaning

sweeter, some more savoury, some heavier on the gravy.

But no matter how it’s made, the foundation remains the same.

And that’s what keeps the dish grounded in its roots. Even as it evolves, it doesn’t lose its identity.

Jamaican Oxtail Recipe (Traditional Style)

Now let’s get into it. This is a proper, noshortcuts recipe. If you’re going to make oxtail, make it right.

Ingredients

• 2.5 to 3 lbs oxtail (cut into pieces)

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 tbsp browning sauce

• 1 large onion (chopped)

• 4 cloves garlic (minced)

• 3 scallions (chopped)

• 1 tsp fresh thyme (or ½ tsp dried)

• 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (whole or sliced, depending on heat preference)

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

• 1 tsp allspice (pimento)

• 1 tsp black pepper

• Salt to taste

• 2 carrots (sliced)

• 1 can butter beans (drained and rinsed)

• 3 cups beef broth or water

• 1 tbsp ketchup (optional, for slight sweetness)

Step 1: Season and Marinate

Start by seasoning your oxtail. In a large bowl, combine the oxtail with garlic, scallions, onion, thyme, allspice, black pepper, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and a bit of salt. Mix everything well so the meat is fully coated. If you’ve got time, let it marinate for a few hours—or even overnight. This is where the flavour really starts to build.

Step 2: Brown the Oxtail

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Add the browning sauce, then carefully place the oxtail pieces into the pot. Brown them on all sides. This step is important—it builds that deep, rich colour and flavour that defines oxtail. Don’t rush it.

Step 3: Slow Cook

Once browned, add your beef broth or water. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover the

pot. Let it simmer. And this is where patience comes in.

You’re looking at about 2.5 to 3 hours on the stovetop. Stir occasionally, check your liquid levels, and let it do its thing.

Step 4: Build the Gravy

As the oxtail cooks, the liquid will start to reduce and thicken naturally. About halfway through, add your carrots and Scotch bonnet pepper. Closer to the end, add your butter beans and a touch of ketchup if you want that slight balance of sweetness. Let everything continue to cook until the gravy is thick and the meat is tender.

Step 5: Final Touches

Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. By the time it’s done, the meat should be falling off the bone, and the gravy should be rich, glossy, and full of flavour.

How to Serve It

Traditionally, Jamaican oxtail is served with:

• Rice and peas

• Steamed vegetables

• Sometimes fried plantain

And if you’re doing it right, that gravy is going all over everything on the plate. No wasting that.

More Than Just a Meal

At the end of the day, Jamaican oxtail is more than just something you cook. It’s a reflection of where Caribbean culture comes from.

It’s about making something out of nothing.

It’s about patience, flavour, and knowing that the best things don’t come quick—they come from time, effort, and experience.

And maybe that’s why it hits different.

Because when you sit down to a plate of oxtail, you’re not just eating food. You’re tasting history. You’re tasting culture. You’re tasting something that was built over generations and passed down, one pot at a time. And that’s something you can’t fake.

BY CHE MARVILLE ASK CHE

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to know exactly what everyone else needs and have absolutely no idea what you need yourself?

Most of us are experts on the people we love, or like, or sometimes barely know. We notice when our partner is withdrawn, when our child is struggling, or when a friend isn’t quite themselves. We interpret the behaviour of those around us with great precision,

Ask Che!

and yet when someone asks how we are really doing, we go blank, or we say to ourselves, “It’s too much to share.”

That is not a character flaw. This occurs because we were never taught to check in on ourselves in the same way that we check in on others.

For many of us, it goes deeper than that. It is about spending a lifetime apologizing for how we feel so often and for so long that we eventually stuff it down. When we do that long enough, we lose something precious. We lose the vocabulary of our pain, and even our

Shooting at Rihanna’s home raises awareness on safety

BY SYDNEY WALCOTT

VARIETY CORNER

Interacting with a favourite celebrity in person is always an exciting moment. So, when we hear that a celebrity does not want to interact with their fans, it leads to disappointment and assumptions about them being a diva. However, considering the traumatic situations some celebrities have been through, it’s understandable why some would prefer to limit their interactions with fans.

On March 8th, 2026, at around 1:15 p.m. local time in Los Angeles, California, singer and FENTY mogul Rihanna’s Beverly Hills home was hit by 10 gunshots from an AR-15-style rifle. The gunshots were fired from inside a white Tesla, which was parked across the street from her house.

Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three children, sons RZA and Riot and daughter Rocki, and her mother were at home when the shooting occurred and were not harmed. Bullet holes were found on the front gate of the property, the RV parked in front of her home, and a bullet penetrated the side of the house.

The suspect, Ivanna Lisette Oritz, fled the scene before being followed and apprehended 30 minutes after the shooting by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) in the parking lot at Sherman Oaks Galleria Shopping Centre. LAPD took Ortiz into custody under suspicion of attempted murder, with her bond set at $10, 255 million. Ortiz made her first court appearance on March 10th, 2026, and is charged with one count of attempted murder, 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited vehicle or dwelling.

Ortiz is a licensed speech pathologist born in Illinois and was a resident in Orlando, Florida, at the time of the shooting. Upon her identity being made public, posts made by Ortiz have surfaced across social media, revealing a fixation on Ri-hanna. Just a few weeks before the shooting on February 23rd, 2026, Ortiz made a Facebook post saying the following, “@badgalriri Are you there? Cause I was wait-ing for your AIDS 5-head self to say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you talking to me where I’m not at.”

Before that, Ortiz posted a series of videos expressing her dislike of Rihanna and falsely accusing the pop star of harassment and wanting to murder her.

“Listen, Rihanna, when you die, God is taking me to my future. You want to kill me. Shut the f*** up,” said Ortiz in one of her disturbing videos, proving that she needs help.

Ortiz’s estranged husband, Jed Valdez Sangalang, had shared that Ortiz asked him to renounce Rihanna in an email attached in court documents obtained by TMZ. Sent January 26th, 2026, the email reads, “I need you to renounce Rihanna and confess that I am better than her. Let it be done. You gotta let me know so that door can be closed,” said Ortiz in the email.

The arrest is not Ortiz’s first runin with the law. She was arrested in 2013 for a bankruptcy case, suspicion of careless driving in 2021 and suspicion of domestic violence and battery in 2023. In 2024, she also lost custody of her daughter, who she shares with Sangalang, and was held temporarily under Florida’s Baker Act, a temporary involuntary emergency detention for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. Upon being made aware of the shooting, Sangalang has asked the court to grant him full custody and sole-decision-making over their daughter.

A source told PEOPLE magazine the shooting was terrifying for Rihanna, and she does not understand why someone would target her family.

Incidents like this one only remind us of why some celebrities would prefer to keep interactions at a minimum and tighten up on security when they’re out and about or at home. While some fans may present themselves with good intentions when they see their favourite celebrity in public, there are far too many people who are obsessed and have acted on it and in some cases, it has led to the death of ce-lebrities such as: John Lennon, Rebecca Shaefer, whose murder led to California passing the first antistalking legislation in America, Selena Quintanilla-Perez and Christina Grimmie.

So, the next time we hear that a celebrity likes to limit fan interactions, let’s look at things from their perspective and understand this is someone who just wants to prioritize their safety.

own joy. We have no capacity for selfcompassion.

After reading the messages from listeners of my podcast, Let’s Talk with Che Marville, I noticed something. People rarely want to talk about politics or leadership. It is always about relationships, and what those messages have taught me is this: most unhappiness in relationships does not come from a lack of love. It comes from a lack of self-knowledge. We bring our unexamined fears into our marriages and relationships. Our unspoken needs are in our friendships. We carry our past traumas into our fresh starts, and then we wonder why the same problems keep showing up wearing different faces, as we often fail to address our unspoken needs and unresolved old wounds in our friendships.

We have also been taught that emotions are a sign of weakness and a lesser intelligence, when in fact the opposite is true. Understanding the vastness of your interior life is a superpower. That grief should be brief. That anger is the only acceptable signal that something is wrong, but sometimes anger is expressed instead of deep sadness, because you don’t know how to sit with the hurt; it has to be moved. Sometimes a deeply felt emotion is fear and grief, an aching to be heard. and to be held, but there is no one there to help us. Some of us have been taught to hide our emotions so no one can hurt us, but instead we hurt more because of what

we cannot name or release and find ourselves in a prison of loneliness.

Our emotions are not against us; they are an internal and intricate health system, the carriers of our journeys, the paths to a deeper understanding of our stories, and without our story, we trap ourselves in a myth that does not belong to us. The myth suggests that a perfect life is one that is not experienced emotionally.

The truth is this: “Life is imperfect, and it is meant to be deeply felt.”

Something to consider until next time.

Most of us were handed a few words to describe how we feel, whether we are happy, sad, angry, fine, or tired. This week, try expanding that. When something moves through you, pause and ask, “What is this, really?” Not the first word that comes. The true one. You may be surprised by what you find beneath it. That is where your power lives.

This column will explore love, relationships, grief, anxiety, and the quiet work of knowing yourself more honestly. Not to give you easy answers, but to sit with you in the real questions.

Do you have a question about love, relationships, grief, or the work of knowing yourself? Write to Ask Che! through the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper. All letters are held in complete confidence. You don’t have to carry it alone.

BY SIMONE J. SMITH HUMAN SPECIALIST

Let me ask you something you have probably never dared to say out loud: not to your friends, not to your partner, not even to yourself in those quiet moments when the world finally stops demanding something from you.

When did you first learn to question your own value? The value that exists even when you are doing nothing at all. For so many Afro/Indo-Caribbean women, our earliest lessons about worth were shaped by responsibility, not identity. We were raised to be useful before we were encouraged to be whole. We were celebrated for endurance, not ease. We were taught to be grateful for access, instead of confident in our inheritance.

Somewhere along the way, a quiet belief took root, one we rarely name, but often live by, “My worth must be proven.” Proven through service. Proven through silence. Proven through strength that borders on self-abandonment. So, let me ask you again, with more honesty this time; what would your life look like if you stopped negotiating your value? Not theoretically. Not someday. Right now.

The truth is, many of us have built entire identities around being the reliable one, the woman who absorbs the emotional weight of everyone around her, who smooths conflict, who anticipates needs

What happens when women remember

before they are spoken. We call it love. We call it duty, but sometimes, it is fear dressed up as generosity.

Here’s the part that stings a little: the world responds to the version of you that you allow it to see. The version you choose to present. So, the real question becomes, are you showing up as your highest self, or your safest self? Your safest self avoids being misunderstood. She avoids being too much. She avoids disappointing people who have no problem disappointing her. Your highest self, though, she moves differently. She sets standards without apology. She doesn’t shrink to make others comfortable. She doesn’t confuse humility with invisibility.

So many brilliant, intuitive, spiritually grounded Caribbean women are living in the gap between who they are and who they have been conditioned to be, because they have been taught that wanting more is somehow ungrateful.

Let me challenge you gently, and firmly; what if wanting more is actually your responsibility? For the women who are watching you. Your daughters. Your nieces. Your students. Your community. Whether you acknowledge it or not, someone is learning how to treat themselves by observing how you treat you.

So, ask yourself; what are you teaching them? Are you teaching them to settle? To silence themselves? To accept

crumbs and call it gratitude? To confuse survival with worthiness? Or are you teaching them that a Caribbean woman’s value is inherited through legacy, intellect, and contribution?

Here is the truth you already know in your bones; you come from women who created brilliance out of constraint, culture out of chaos, and dignity out of systems designed to erase them. Your value is not a reward. So, let me ask you the question that will define the next chapter of your life; who do you become when you stop apologizing for your power? The power that is

yours: intuitive, ancestral, Caribbean, undeniable. The power that shifts rooms. The power that clarifies your voice. The power that makes you magnetic, because of who you are.

This is your moment to choose her. Not the watered- down version. Not the polite version. The world benefits from your hesitation, but your community rises when you do.

Here is your final question, the one only you can answer; are you ready to start leading your life? Your future self is waiting for your yes.

The unholy marriage of faith and war politics

BY HERBERT HILDEBRANDT POLITICAL PARLEY

One of the more troubling patterns in current events is how easily politicians can borrow religious language and religious support with almost no resistance from Christian believers. In many cases, they do not merely receive quiet tolerance, but open endorsement. Wrap a political cause in enough moral language, enough patriotic imagery, enough talk about good and evil, and far too many believers are ready to fall in line. That is not spiritual discernment, it is political manipulation dressed up for consumption by gullible believers, and it stands in direct conflict with the teachings of Christ.

As the war with Iran escalates from early triumph to an open-ended war with no clear purpose, the usual voices are already at work, framing conflict in lofty terms, making military action sound noble, inevitable, even righteous. Once again, there are Christians willing to lend their faith, their pulpits, their platforms, and their moral credibility to the effort. That should alarm us.

War is always hell. It is never the grand and heroic thing its advocates like to imagine from a safe distance. It is mangled bodies, terrified children, grieving parents, bombed out schools, shattered homes, ruined cities, and wounds that linger for decades after the speeches are over and the cameras have moved on. Professed followers of Christ should be the very last people to speak casually about war and the first to be deeply suspicious whenever it is presented as a moral necessity to be celebrated.

Our faith in Christ should never be allowed to be hijacked for political maneuvering and the killing of our fellow man. That should not be a radical statement, but basic clarity for all believers. There is no sound New Testament theology that calls believers to encourage and fund the killing of human beings and the destruction of nations so that prophecy can be fulfilled. History cannot be nudged along, nor can God’s purposes be assisted by human violence.

Christ did not come teaching His followers to sanctify military campaigns, and he did not call the church to function

as the religious wing of state power. He did not tell us to bless destruction in his name. He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.” He commanded us to love our neighbour. He told Peter to put away his sword.

Governments will fight, nations will go to war, rulers will make calculations, and armies will advance and retreat. The world is fallen, and scripture is not naive about that. There will be wars and rumours of wars, but that is a description of the world’s condition, not a commission for Christians to become cheerleaders for military escalation.

The church loses its soul the moment it becomes useful to political entities who crave power more than peace. Once faith is recruited to serve political appetite, it no longer speaks prophetically to power. It starts serving power and it becomes a slavish tool, or simply a mascot and a source of moral cover.

None of this requires Christians to be naive. Iran’s regime is not necessarily righteous. The Middle East (and the world beyond) is full of violent actors, hard realities, and genuine threats. Governments will respond as governments do, but Christians

are not called to surrender moral judgement every time a crisis becomes complicated. No propaganda campaign should be able to turn bloodshed into virtue.

It is one thing to acknowledge that nations may go to war. It is another thing entirely to stir war fever among believers, to clothe political ambition in biblical language, and to make killing sound like faithfulness. Once that happens, something deeply corrupt has entered the conversation.

The cross is not to be hijacked as a weapon of statecraft, and nobody should dare to use the Gospel as a permission slip for human destruction. Christians should pray for restraint, for wisdom, for justice, and for peace. We should pray for civilians caught in the middle, for rulers to be humbled, and for the fever of conflict to be checked before it spreads further.

Believers are not called to sanctify war. We are, however, called to follow Christ in peace and love our neighbour as ourselves. That is one of the great commandments, not merely a suggestion.

BY DANIEL COLE PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

The illusion of optimism

Hope is one of the most powerful psychological forces in human life. It sustains individuals in times of hardship, motivates societies to pursue progress, and gives people the courage to imagine a future better than their present reality. Without hope, human aspiration would collapse into resignation. Yet paradoxically, hope can also become an illusion.

Modern psychology suggests that human beings possess what researchers call “optimism bias.” This cognitive tendency leads people to believe that positive outcomes are more likely for them than statistical reality suggests. While optimism can inspire effort, it can also distort judgment, causing individuals to substitute emotional reassurance for disciplined strategy. In other words, hope can motivate, but it cannot substitute for action.

Hope exists because something desired is not yet present. The distance between our current reality and our desired future creates the emotional tension that hope fills. People hope for health, prosperity, peace, justice, recognition, and meaning. These longing fuels countless human endeavors: the student studying late into the night, the entrepreneur risking capital on an uncertain idea, the immigrant traveling across continents for opportunity, the patient enduring long treatments for the possibility of recovery.

In this sense, hope is not naïve, it is necessary. It sustains endurance in the face of uncertainty. Hope becomes problematic when it evolves into passive opti-

BY ANYA NICOLA

mism, the belief that desirable outcomes will somehow emerge without deliberate structure or sustained effort. Many aspirations fail not because people lack desire, but because they confuse hope with a plan.

Hope says, “Things will improve.” Strategy asks, “What must be done for improvement to occur?” Hope imagines the destination. Strategy designs the route. The modern world often promotes a culture of optimism, motivational slogans, vision boards, positive affirmations, and inspirational speeches. These tools may strengthen morale, but they cannot replace the concrete systems required for achievement.

Consider a few simple realities:

• Health does not emerge from wishing to be healthy; it requires consistent habits such as nutrition, exercise, and rest.

• Financial prosperity does not arise from hoping to be wealthy; it requires disciplined saving, intelligent investment, and long-term planning.

• Expertise does not appear from enthusiasm alone; it requires deliberate practice and years of accumulated experience.

In every domain of life, outcomes follow systems.

Excessive optimism can quietly undermine progress. Behavioral economists note that people often overestimate the likelihood of success while underestimating the complexity of the process required to achieve it. This is sometimes

called the planning fallacy; the human tendency to assume projects will take less time, less effort, and fewer resources than they actually do.

When optimism is not grounded in realistic assessment, it produces a dangerous cycle. History consistently demonstrates that progress comes from individuals who combine vision with execution. Hope can ignite the spark of possibility, but it is discipline that sustains the flame. Dreams become reality only when translated into systems: daily habits, measurable goals, strategic planning, and consistent action.

A useful framework for understanding achievement is simple: Vision > Strategy > Action > Persistence

Remove any one of these components and the chain breaks. Vision without strategy becomes fantasy. Strategy without action becomes theory. Action without persistence collapses under difficulty.

Hope should never be discarded. It is too central to the human spirit to abandon, but hope must be placed in its proper context. Hope inspires the dream but does not construct the bridge to reach it.

A better future does not emerge from hope alone. It emerges when hope is joined with thoughtful strategy, courageous action, disciplined habits, and relentless perseverance. Hope may illuminate the horizon, but only effort moves us toward it.

So, keep hope alive, but remember: hope is not a strategy.

Cutting class and saving our futures

The notification from my daughter’s school made my heart jump: “Student in your household was absent for more than one period.” She’s 14, autistic, has perfect attendance, but also at that age where everything feels more complicated. I braced myself for a difficult conversation about responsibility and consequences. When I asked her where she had been, her answer stopped me cold.

While I sat in my university lecture (a mature student juggling midterms, assignments, real-life responsibilities, and the constant worry about whether there will be enough funds to cover next semester) my baby girl was outside with a homemade sign, peacefully protesting the very cuts that threaten our future.

She was fighting for my right to education and fighting for her own future access to post-secondary learning. Fighting for every Caribbean student who dreams of something bigger than the limitations this province wants to place on us. I didn’t punish her. I told her I was proud of her. I also asked her to give me a heads-up next time, because if there’s advocacy happening, I am going to want to show up too.

This moment crystallized something I have been struggling to articulate in my advocacy work. We have gotten too comfortable. We have forgotten that everything we have, every opportunity, every program, every dollar of support, was fought by people who refused to accept “no” as a definitive answer.

The irony is not lost on me that the first accredited university was cre -

ated in Timbuktu by Mansa Musa, a Black man. Yet, centuries later, we are still fighting for access to education that should be our birthright. Doug Ford’s government is making cuts that will impact current students and future scholars like my children, and too many of us are responding with resignation instead of resistance.

Not my girl. At 14, she understands what I can sometimes forget in my exhaustion: advocacy is not optional when your community’s future is on the line.

This is what healing looks like in action. Not the passive kind that happens in therapy sessions or meditation apps, but the revolutionary healing that comes from standing up and declaring that we deserve better. The healing that happens when we stop apologizing for taking up space and start demanding the space we have earned.

My daughter’s activism reminded me that legacy isn’t what you leave behind when you die, it’s what you build while you are living. Every time she speaks up, every time she shows up, every time she refuses to accept injustice as inevitable, she’s creating the world she wants to inherit.

Access to education is healing, even if you think you have nothing to heal from. Knowledge is power, and power in the right hands transforms communities. When Caribbean students succeed, we all rise. When one of us breaks through barriers, we create pathways for others to follow.

We cannot do this alone. I am putting out a call to action for our community: if you can create scholarships or

grant opportunities, do it. If you cannot fund, then amplify. Share information. Show up to protests. Make noise about these cuts because silence equals complicity.

The Toronto Caribbean community has always been innovative, resilient, and trendsetting. Tell me one thing that has been culturally relevant in the past 50 years that didn’t come from us somehow. We set trends worldwide, but we are still begging for basic educational access at home. That ends now.

Collective action is healing. Advocacy is healing. I know this personally because fighting for others and myself over the past eight years has transformed my own relationship with power, purpose, and possibility. It is shown me that nobody is coming to save us, but when we become the change we want to see, people have no choice but to follow our lead.

My daughter saw what one person could do and decided to be that person. She skipped school to secure her future and ours. If she can take that stand at 14, imagine what we could accomplish together.

The lesson she taught me is simple: sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is be irresponsible to systems that do not serve you. Sometimes healing your community requires disrupting the very institutions that claim to educate you.

I am grateful to live in this moment, to witness my child’s courage, and to know that whatever happens tomorrow, we’re building something lasting today.

The tax lessons every landlord learns the hard way

BY JAY BRIJPAUL REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST

Let me tell you about my first year as a landlord. When I bought my first rental property, I was excited about the extra income, but I quickly realized there was more to it than just collecting rent. Taxes, paperwork, CRA forms, it was overwhelming at first. However, with careful planning and a few hard lessons, I discovered you can save a surprising amount of money on taxes while staying on the right side of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

One of my first surprises happened during tax season when my accountant asked about every dollar I earned from the property. All rental income needs to be reported to the CRA, even if I was only subletting or sharing ownership with a friend.

Luckily, my accountant showed me that being a landlord is about knowing what you can deduct. I kept a folder full of receipts for anything related to the rental property. If the expense were connected to earning rental income, and I could prove it, I learned I could deduct it. There were even a couple of slow months when my expenses exceeded my rent income, and I was able to claim that loss against my other income. That was a relief!

Here’s what I learned about the kinds of expenses I could deduct:

• Mortgage interest was deductible, but principal was not. I deducted the loan interest on the property I bought.

• Property taxes – Every time I paid a property tax bill, I kept the receipt. Those bills really added up, but at least I could deduct them on my taxes.

• Repairs and maintenance – I learned that expenses like repainting the apartment and fixing a leaky tap were deductible. When I had to replace the old furnace, my accountant explained that major improvements like that are considered capital expenses. I could only claim a small amount each year as depreciation.

• Utilities – In the first year, I paid the water bill myself, so I was able to claim it as a deduction. When the next tenant moved in and started paying their own utilities, those expenses were no longer deductible.

• Home insurance – I made sure to get proper insurance for my rental, and those premiums were deductible, too.

• Property management fees – The year I chose to hire a property manager. I realized their fees were taxdeductible.

• Advertising expenses – Running online advertisements to attract new tenant’s costs money, but every dollar spent on advertising is deductible.

• Office supplies and property management apps dedicated to rentals were deductible.

• Travel expenses – For every trip to the property for repairs or showings, I kept a mileage log. Those trips added up, and my accountant showed me how to deduct a portion of my car expenses.

• Depreciation (Capital Cost Allowance - CCA) – My accountant advised me to be cautious about claiming too much depreciation. Reducing your taxes now might result in having to pay more capital gains tax when you sell, as the CRA could add back the depreciation to your capital gain calculation.

At one point, I tried renting out my place short-term on a home-sharing site. This experience introduced a whole new set of tax considerations. I learned that the CRA might treat this as business income and that it is fully taxable. They have different tax rules, and even if it is just a few weekends a year, you must report them. If you earn over $30,000, you also need to register for GST/HST. That was a revelation!

I have heard horror stories about CRA audits, so I keep at least seven years’ worth of receipts, invoices, and contracts just in case anyone ever comes knocking.

A fellow landlord once told me about the surprise of selling his rental he did not realize that half of his profit would be taxed as a capital gain. After hearing his story, I made a note to consider topping up my RRSP if I ever sell, to help offset the tax hit.

If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that understanding tax deductions and keeping good records are the keys to paying less tax and sleeping peacefully at night. I cannot imagine doing this without an accountant, and the best part is that their fees are deductible too!

YOUR HOROSCOPE

YOUR HOROSCOPE

for the week of March 22 – March 28, 2026

THE LUCKIEST SIGNS THIS WEEK: VIRGO, SAGITTARIUS, AQUARIUS

ARIES: You’re feeling the urge to push forward, but take a second look first. Something you overlooked may need attention. Fix it now.

TAURUS: You’ve been steady, but this week asks you to be flexible. A small shift could work in your favour — don’t fight it.

GEMINI: Conversations matter this week. What you say — and how you say it — can open or close doors. Choose carefully.

CANCER: You’re being pulled in different directions. Protect your energy. Not everything deserves your time, and it’s okay to step back.

LEO: You’re back in your element. Confidence is high, and people notice. Just remember — not everything needs to be a performance.

VIRGO: Details matter more right now. You’ll catch something others miss — trust that instinct. It could save you stress or time.

LIBRA: Balance is the theme, but internal this time. Stop trying to keep everyone else comfortable — check in with yourself first.

SCORPIO: Something hidden comes to light. Don’t react immediately — observe first. There’s more going on beneath the surface than you see.

SAGITTARIUS: You’re itching for movement — a change, a trip, something new. Even a small break in routine will help.

CAPRICORN: Focus on structure this week. Tighten things up — finances, plans, timelines. A little discipline now sets you up ahead.

AQUARIUS: You’re thinking differently — and that’s a good thing. Don’t water down your ideas. Stand firm in your perspective this week.

PISCES: You’re more intuitive than usual. If something feels off, it probably is. Trust your gut — it’s guiding you right.

CROSSWORDS

HOW TO PLAY :

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column, and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9 only once.

Each 3x3 box is outlined with a darker line. You already have a few numbers to get you started. Remember: You must not repeat the numbers 1 through 9 in the same line, column, or 3x3 box.

PUZZLE NO. 153

PUZZLE NO. 863