Volume 1 • Issue 8
Wednesday, November 4 2026
Toronto Caribbean News - Now! Formerly The Toronto Caribbean Newspaper
“T...”
FULL STORY - PAGE 8
PAGE 2
FEATURE
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, November 4, 2026
DR. CAMISHA SIBBLIS
Photo Courtesy of Andiswa Mrasi
Reshaping Legal and Academic Landscapes To enter an institution as a client is to be evaluated; to re-enter it as a scholar is to dismantle its scales. As a seventeen-yearold, Camisha Sibblis encountered the quiet, bureaucratic machinery of judgment. It was a world divided into rigid categories of the deserving and non-deserving, where vulnerable young Black women were forced to perform worthiness while navigating condescension. She felt the friction between colorblind rhetoric and human reality. “The way that I was treated as a young Black woman made me aware of the duality,” Camisha reflects. “You have to perform what deserving is... there is so much judgment involved and so much condescendence involved that I definitely considered at that point how I can enter into these systems and humanize them for people who were like me who ended up in my position, who were real human beings deserving of care and compassion that the system wasn’t giving,” Long before she was Dr. Camisha Sibblis: sociologist, criminologist, registered social worker, and founder of transformative academic institutes, she was a parentified child navigating personal upheaval. Growing up in Toronto as the daughter of reggae icon Leroy Sibbles, her early life was a surreal contrast. Her father was the “Coolest dad ever,” who drove a talking car, collected gadgets, and taught her how to dismantle firearms during target practice. In Jamaican cultural circles, admirers would literally bow when he walked by, an attention that deeply embarrassed his young daughter. She sang backup on his records and recorded a duet with him, yet she deliberately turned away from the stage. Seeing the grueling gamble of the music industry firsthand, she sought stability over the spotlight. When her parents separated and subsequently divorced, the family fractured dynamically. At twelve, she moved to Maple, Ontario, transitioning from a multicultural neighbourhood into an environment where she was one of only three African Caribbean students in her entire school. In Maple, she experienced the unsettling duality of being simultaneously invisible and hyper visible. Classmates caricatured her, singing her name to the melody of “Aisha,” while teachers operated under low expectations. Yet amidst institutional dismissal, one moment ignited her trajectory. A teacher named Mr. Wearett sat down with her father during a parent-teacher interview and offered a simple, radical assertion: Camisha could do anything. “He
was the only teacher that spoke about me in that way,” she recalls. “I carried those words with me and it really bolstered how I thought about my possibilities.” When teen motherhood arrived at seventeen, it pressed her into immediate adulthood, stripping away whatever remained of her youth. Yet her son also provided an anchor. Fast-tracking her high school completion, she entered university by 1997, moving into family residence at nineteen with OSAP funding and a toddler in tow. While her contemporaries went out to campus pubs and clubs, Camisha stayed home in her apartment, learning to budget for furniture and textbooks while managing isolation. She married at twenty-two and had two more children, balancing mothering three kids with rigorous academic study. Her professional vocation evolved through a process of elimination. Initially, she dreamed of becoming an obstetrician-gynecologist, inspired by Dr. Cliff Huxtable on The Cosby Show, who slipped away to deliver babies and make families happy, until she realized she had zero tolerance for blood. She pivoted to psychology, then philosophy, where she fell in love with analytical reasoning and psychoanalysis. Preparing to study law, she wrote her LSAT and requested reference letters. A professor stopped her with a crucial question, “Have you ever hung out with lawyers?”. Reflecting on her interactions with the legal process, she recognized that legal advocacy often required defending oppressive systems rather than pursuing pure truth. “I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to only advocate for the truth. I had to advocate for the law, which often is an extremely oppressive process,” she explains. “He suggested social work to me because you actually are a social justice advocate.” As a frontline practitioner, Camisha brought deep empathy to child welfare investigations, school social work, and clinical assessments for the Office of the Children’s Lawyer. Her ability to perceive unspoken emotional cues made her an effective clinician, leading her to earn a PhD from York University to bolster her private psychotherapy practice. When she began teaching university courses, a new calling emerged. African/Caribbean female students approached her after class, expressing relief at finally seeing an African/Caribbean instructor who spoke candidly about systemic race dynamics. “I realized that that is where my activism had to pivot,” she says. “So, I decided to be a professor.”
That pivot eventually altered Ontario legal history. In 2017, while serving on the faculty at the University of Windsor, Camisha authored an Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA) (an Enhanced Pre-Sentence Report) in R. v. Morris, a case involving a young Black man named Kevin Morris. Her comprehensive report detailed how systemic antiBlack racism, neighbourhood trauma, and institutional bias shaped Morris’s life. Justice Shaun Nakatsuru utilized her assessment to mitigate Morris’s sentence, establishing a legal precedent in Ontario that required courts to take judicial notice of systemic anti-Black racism during sentencing. Yet true to her critical lens, Camisha refuses to celebrate reform uncritically. She questioned whether raceinformed reports can genuinely protect Black youth when criminal courts continue to view them through a lens of inherent risk and carceral logic. For Camisha, true justice requires transforming the institutions themselves. Today, as Director of the Black Scholars Institute at the University of Windsor, Camisha leads what she describes as a movement rather than a standard academic department. Having co-founded RAACES and chaired the President’s Anti-Black Racism Task Force, she helped spearhead a cluster hire that expanded the university’s African/Caribbean faculty from four to twenty-four scholars. The institute serves as an intellectual sanctuary and pipeline, connectingc o m munity activism with rigorous scholarship to mentor the next generation of African/ Caribbean academics. From a teenage mother to an acclaimed scholar reshaping legal and academic landscapes, Dr. Camisha Sibblis’s life demonstrates that lived adversity can become an instrument for structural liberation. When asked what message she would offer a seventeen-year-old young woman finding herself pregnant and uncertain about her future, she reaches back to the teacher who first saw her potential. Her answer is crisp, unyielding, and rooted in earned dignity, “You can do anything you want. Don’t let teen motherhood define you. You can do and be anything that you want”
Written by Simone J. Smith TCN Now
Personal Injury Accident Specialists Motor Vehicle Accident Slip & Fall Injuries Landlord and Tenant
ABRAHAM LEGAL SERVICES
Personal Injury Claims Provincial Offences Pedestrian Accidents
Contact Abraham Legal for a FREE Consultation TEL: 647-696-4898 470 Chrysler Drive Unit 1 Brampton Serving Durham Region, Peel and Halton Region and Toronto and the GTA
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
NEWS & VIEWS
PAGE 3
Black OPP Officers call for independent investigation he said.
MICHAEL THOMAS michael@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Several Black officers are calling for an independent investigation into what they describe as racist treatment within the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP). They allege they were disciplined for conduct tolerated among White colleagues and dismissed during probation. They say their accents were treated as performance deficiencies and complaints raised internally were dismissed. According to the officers, each was one of no more than two Black officers. All three left the force within a year. They want Ontario’s Inspector General of Policing to examine whether probationary assessments are being used to conceal discrimination and push Black recruits out. The Inspector General’s legislative mandate began April 1st, 2024. The office has oversight of the OPP. I spoke with two officers, whose identities are being withheld at their request. I began with Peter, who questioned why the force would recruit Black applicants if it did not want them to succeed. “If they do not want Black officers, why would they waste our time? Why would they take us through the interview process? Take us through the academy? We lost our jobs; we came on board just to help the community,”
“Derailing people’s careers is not fair, especially on flimsy excuses like the way you speak, because for someone to have an accent is as a result of that person speaking more than one language,” he added. Asked what might motivate the hostility he described; Peter suggested resentment toward educated Black recruits could be a factor. He also made broad comments about colleagues’ education and exposure to other cultures. These are his views and allegations, not independently established findings. Peter questioned how police could serve and protect the public while, in his view, discriminating against their own members. He said he was referred to a newcomer centre because supervisors questioned his ability to communicate. He feared refusing to attend would affect his evaluation. Recalling the experience, he said: “Oh my God, this is what I have been reduced to.” He said he cried in his car on the drive home. Peter also said supervisors questioned the smell of his native food, his driving and his use of GPS. A driving instructor, he recalled, questioned the referral. Peter described the experience as an elimination process rather than training. He wants culturally informed coaches for recruits. Peter is currently on stress leave. His advice to Black people considering a career with the OPP was one word, “Don’t.” My next conversation was with John, whose account closely echoed Peter’s. “I spent more than a decade in the human service field, working with peo-
ple most of us walk past; people without homes, people struggling with their mental health, young people who needed someone in their corner,” John said. John said his driving was questioned and his driving privileges removed for several weeks without explanation. After a positive evaluation, he said, the privileges were restored the same day, still without a clear explanation. John also said his accent became an issue. He said concerns about his performance damaged his record, which took a formal meeting with human resources, a union representative and a senior officer to correct. Two weeks before his probation ended, he was dismissed. “I was told, ‘I was not a good fit.’ What it really meant was that I didn’t
belong,” he said. “I don’t believe what happened to me was only about me.” John believes his experience reflects a wider problem in how people who do not look or sound like those assessing them are evaluated. He said probationary records can make decisions difficult to challenge. Both men hope an independent review will establish what happened and help ensure Black recruits can serve with dignity and be assessed fairly. Their accounts raise serious questions about consistency, cultural competence and accountability in police recruitment. Those questions deserve a thorough, impartial examination.
PAGE 4
NEWS & VIEWS
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Canada’s rising interest rates raise bigger questions BY ADRIAN REECE TCN REPORTER Canada’s economic pressures are once again in the spotlight after the Bank of Canada raised its overnight policy rate by 0.25 percentage points on October 28th, 2026, bringing it to 2.50 per cent. Major banks subsequently raised their prime lending rates, with TD listing its prime rate at 4.70 per cent effective October 29th, 2026. The decision will be felt differently depending on a person’s financial circumstances. Variable-rate mortgage holders and borrowers with lines of credit may see their borrowing costs rise. Homeowners renewing fixed-rate mortgages will face the rates available when they renew, not necessarily an automatic increase tied directly to this announcement. Either way, many households are managing housing, food, transportation and other essential expenses with little room to absorb another financial shock. An interest-rate increase is a monetary-policy decision intended to manage inflation; it is not proof that government spending caused financial pressure. That distinction matters. Canadians can challenge fiscal priorities while recog-
nizing that the Bank of Canada operates independently when setting monetary policy. Public discussion should separate these responsibilities rather than treating every economic problem as the result of one decision or institution. For some Canadians, however, the frustration extends beyond interest rates. There is anger about government spending priorities and the perception that money is being directed toward international commitments while pressing needs at home remain unresolved. Canadians are entitled to ask whether foreign assistance and domestic investment are being balanced responsibly. There needs to be a stronger focus on home soil before additional foreign interests are explored. Consider the everyday experience of Ontario commuters: paying to use a toll highway while facing persistent construction and bumperto-bumper traffic on another major route nearby. People want public decisions translated into services and infrastructure that make daily life more manageable. Canadians are also concerned about education, access to nutritious food, housing affordability and the ability to build stable households. Still, governments must be held accountable for their
choices while in office, and for whether those choices improve people’s lives. A shift in priorities is needed. At the next federal election, voters may decide that another political party offers a more convincing plan for strengthening the economy and protecting Canadian interests. Canadians should demand measurable commitments on housing, affordability, education, food security, infrastructure, productivity and good jobs, and judge every party by its record. The promise of Canada feels increasingly uncertain to people who expected education, hard work and responsible choices to lead to a comfortable life. More Canadians are considering opportunities beyond the country’s borders because they believe their skills may be better rewarded elsewhere. A country that invests in educating its people should also create conditions in which they can use their training, build careers and raise families. There has been public discussion about whether highly educated Canadians who leave should face financial penalties because the country helped fund their education. Before asking graduates to repay society by staying, Canada should ask whether it offers the oppor-
tunities that make staying a realistic and attractive choice. The return on education is strongest when people can contribute their skills willingly, not when they feel trapped. Toronto and Vancouver are frequently identified among Canada’s most expensive cities, and both continue to attract newcomers, businesses and ambitious professionals. Yet high housing and living costs can make it difficult for newcomers and long-time residents to establish themselves. Attracting talent is only part of the equation; retaining it requires a credible path to stability and opportunity. Other countries are competing for skilled graduates and experienced professionals, offering salaries and career opportunities that may be more attractive. If the country wants people to build their futures within its borders, it must make that future attainable. The question is whether governments at every level understand what people are being asked to endure, and whether they are prepared to make the difficult choices required to restore confidence in the Canadian promise.
Jamaican Diaspora honours six leaders PAUL JUNOR
paul@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
There was anticipation surrounding the 2026 Jamaican Diaspora Impact Awards (JDIA) Gala. Hosted by the Consulate General of Jamaica at Toronto, the event took place at the Toronto Botanical Garden on Friday, October 23rd, 2026. Attendees came from a cross-section of sectors, including community service, business, politics, law and education. Details about the gala stated that the JDIA shines a light on individuals whose contributions strengthen communities, open doors for others and help shape the Jamaican Canadian story. The second annual gala was held under the theme “Celebrating Legacy, Leadership and Community Impact.” The awards recognized six members of the Jamaican diaspora in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Five recipients were selected through a public nomination process and evaluated by a panel of judges; Trevor Massey received the separate JDIA Icon Award. More than 35 individuals were nominated, according to Mary Anne Chambers, Chancellor of the University of Guelph, who spoke on behalf of the judges. Kurt Davis, Consul-General of Jamaica at Toronto, said the awards were created to recognize sustained service rather than a single achievement. “The JDIA is about recognizing people whose leadership, service and commitment have made a meaningful difference over many years. The Jamaican Diaspora in Canada is filled with extraordinary individuals who continue to strengthen communities while maintaining deep and meaningful
connections to Jamaica.” Davis, who developed the awards with his wife, Suzanne Robinson-Davis, added, “Achievement describes what someone has accomplished while impact reveals whose life has changed because that person chose to act.” He also thanked sponsors, including Porter Airlines, Grace Foods Canada, the Jamaica Tourist Board, LIUNA Local 183, the VM Group and firsttime gold sponsor Couples Resorts. “Your support is more than an investment in an event,” he said. “It’s an investment in recognition and encouragement and in community building.” The honourees represented a wide range of service. Dionne Sinclair was recognized for her work in equitable health care, Black nursing excellence and financial empowerment. Diana Burke was honoured for advancing early childhood education, access to technology and philanthropy through PACE Canada. Dwayne Holness was recognized for elevating Jamaican stories through film, entrepreneurship and mentorship. Maureen Henry was celebrated for her volunteer leadership with women, newcomers and communities. Verna Andrade was acknowledged for decades of service in education, health care, children’s services and community development. Massey received the JDIA Icon Award for a distinguished legacy in education, youth development and diaspora service. A former registrar at Centennial College, he founded the Lifelong Leadership Institute in 2012, whose programs include Leadership by Design and SummerUp. Before the formal program, TCN Now interviewed several honourees. Sinclair spoke about arriving in Canada as a domestic worker, later becoming a nurse and working for 30 years before retiring in 2008. She said the award was especially meaningful. Holness discussed his entrepreneurial work and his connection to Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Photo Courtesy of Lolleta Cunningham
Chambers emphasized that the selection process had to be inclusive, and evidence based. “While many individual nominees might be worthy, not all nominations did their nominees justice,” she said. “Nominations that make a strong case for recognition by including evidence in the form of substantiated examples of the individual’s contributions and impact receive high scores.” Marsha Coore-Lobban, Jamaica’s High Commissioner to Canada, urged attendees to follow the honourees’ example. “Your accomplishments remind us that impact is not measured solely by professional success, but by the lives we touch, the communities we strengthen and the opportunities we create for others,” she said. “Let us continue to invest in our communities, mentor the next gener-
ation and strengthen the bonds that unite us as one Jamaican family.” Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, delivered the keynote address. He framed the diaspora as central to Jamaica’s international reputation. “Long before any tourists from Canada visited Jamaica, they met a Jamaican somewhere,” he said. “You are our greatest marketers and our greatest advertisers. Nobody can sell Jamaica like you.” In many ways, the second JDIA Gala symbolized the excellence and resilience of Jamaica’s diasporic community in Canada. The recognition of these six individuals demonstrated the power of communal honouring, celebration and affirmation.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
Radon; The invisible danger in your home BY DIANA GIFFORD-JONES TCN HEALTH REPORTER “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That advice applies to smoke detectors, carbon monoxide alarms and the care needed to avoid a myriad of household accidents. Do not neglect to protect yourself and your families from another avoidable problem and a leading cause of lung cancer. Radon is an invisible, odourless, tasteless radioactive gas that can accumulate inside our homes. It is a simple test that determines if you need to act. It is tragic when someone learns that radon exposure may be the cause of a lung cancer diagnosis, but thousands of deaths annually are attributed to it. It is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and the second-leading cause overall after smoking. Yet many have never tested their homes. Why are we neglectful when the cause of the problem is well understood? In the sixteenth century, a mysterious respiratory illness was evident among miners in Europe. Georgius Agricola, a German physician and mineralogist, wrote about it in his 1556 work De Re Metallica. In 1879, physicians studying miners in Germany identified lung cancer as an explanation for the unusually high death rate. It took decades more for scientists to uncover the full dangers of radon. The connection between exposure and lung cancer became firmly established in the 1950s, and subsequent research demonstrated that it was not confined to miners. The same naturally occurring gas could enter ordinary homes from the ground beneath. Radon is produced by the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rock. It seeps through cracks in foundations, gaps around pipes, floor drains and other openings. Outdoors, it disperses into the atmosphere. Indoors, particularly in enclosed lower levels of buildings, it can accumulate. Many homes have some radon, but concentrations vary. Your
neighbour’s reassuring test result tells little about your own house. Neither the age of the building nor its price is a reliable indicator of safety. A new, expensive home can have elevated levels just as an older house can. The danger is not that a person breathes radon once or twice. It is prolonged exposure. As radon decays, radioactive particles can be inhaled and damage cells lining the lungs, increasing the risk of cancer. Smoking compounds that risk. The first step is to test your home. Do-it-yourself radon test kits are available, or you can hire a measurement professional. Testing is best done over a period of at least three months, ideally during the fall or winter, when closed windows and heating patterns can make the results more representative of indoor exposure. Follow the kit’s instructions carefully and place the detector on the lowest level of the home that you regularly occupy. Next, understand the result. If a properly conducted long-term test exceeds acceptable levels, you need to take corrective action. There is no “riskfree” level, so the objective should be to reduce exposure as much as possible. If levels are high, contact a certified radon mitigation professional. The most common solution involves installing a system that draws radon from beneath the foundation and vents it safely outdoors. The home should be tested again after mitigation to confirm that the system is working. Buying a house? Ask whether a long-term radon test has been done and request the results. Renovating? Consider radon testing as part of the project, particularly if you are finishing a basement or changing how the home is ventilated. If you have a private well, ask a qualified professional whether radon in the water warrants attention. “Better safe than sorry.” Another easy, well used line, but you must walk the talk.
NEWS & VIEWS
PAGE 5
PAGE 6
NEWS & VIEWS
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Dying wishes: Who decides later? SIMONE SMITH simone@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Canada is asking a hard question: if illness will one day take away your ability to choose, can you choose now? The federal government has introduced Bill C-41, the MAID Safeguards Act. It would let adults make an advance request for medical assistance in dying after being diagnosed with an incurable illness expected to remove their capacity to decide later. The bill also stops the planned expansion of MAID for people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. This issue is about who gets to speak when a person can no longer speak for themselves. Imagine a woman diagnosed with early Alzheimer’s. She is still clearminded. She knows the disease may eventually take her memory, her judgment, and her ability to consent. She says, “If I reach a point where I am suffering and cannot recognize my own life, I do not want to be kept there.” Should her earlier voice count? For many people, the answer is yes. A national conversation found that 67% to 69% of Canadians support ad-
vance requests for people diagnosed with serious or incurable conditions that will lead to loss of decision-making capacity. That support is about dignity, fear, and the wish not to become a stranger in one’s own body. Others hear something different. They worry about a society where frailty, disability, poverty, loneliness, or family exhaustion quietly becomes a reason to die. They worry that choice can become pressure when care is hard to access, and support is scarce. Both concerns deserve respect. This is a fight to make sure compassion does not become careless. An advance request would not turn MAID into an automatic later event. Under the proposed law, every eligibility requirement would still have to be met. The person would still need to be experiencing intolerable suffering at the time MAID is provided, even if the conditions written in the advance request have been met. The federal government says provinces and territories would decide whether to offer advance requests in their jurisdictions. That matters. Health care is delivered locally, and a safeguard on paper is only as strong as the system that carries it out. The bill also rejects expanding MAID for mental illness as a sole condition. The government says concerns remain about whether those cases can be assessed safely and consistently. For people living with mental illness, that
decision may feel like protection, or exclusion. Both reactions are understandable. The deeper issue is whether Canada is investing enough in treatment, housing, community care, and crisis support so that no one feels death is the only escape from suffering. Most people will not be pressured loudly. Pressure rarely arrives that way. It arrives in a tired caregiver’s sigh. In a hospital hallway conversation about burden. In a culture that praises independence but abandons people who need help. In a system where palliative care, home support, disability benefits, and mental-health services are uneven. If we talk about the right to die without also talking about the right to live well, we risk making vulnerable people feel that dying is the responsible choice. That is why safeguards cannot be paperwork. They must be relationships: independent assessors, time to reconsider, access to advocates, culturally competent care, and real alternatives to MAID. When this topic comes up at the dinner table, in a faith community, or online, try this: •
•
Name the value first. Ask, “What are we trying to protect: autonomy, safety, dignity, or freedom from suffering?” Separate the person from the policy. Someone can support a loved one’s wishes while still fearing a
•
• •
poorly designed system. Ask about conditions, not slogans. Who assesses capacity? How is coercion detected? What happens when family members disagree? Listen for fear. Fear of being a burden is not the same as a settled wish to die. Demand both choices. A society serious about MAID must be equally serious about palliative care, disability support, mental-health care, and home care.
Do not leave this decision to the headlines. Read Bill C-41 and the federal explanation of MAID eligibility and safeguards. Contact your member of Parliament and your provincial representative. Ask three questions: How will consent be verified? How will coercion be prevented? What new investments will ensure people have real care options before MAID becomes the only visible door? If you support advance requests, say so, and insist on strong protections. If you oppose them, say why, and offer a plan for the suffering people are trying to escape. If you are unsure, stay in the conversation. For me, uncertainty is moral attention. What we are hoping for is that Canada will build a society where no one is pushed toward MAID because living with care, dignity, and support feels impossible.
ResQ celebrates 25 years of youth empowerment PAUL JUNOR
paul@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
A sold-out audience gathered on Sunday, October 25th, for the ResQ Youth International 25th Anniversary Gala and Fundraiser at 30A Polonia Avenue in Brampton. The celebration brought together distinguished guests, community members, family and friends under the theme “A Legacy of Impact, A Future of Hope.” The theme reflected the organization’s work since its founding in March 2001. According to ResQ’s website, the non-profit community organization was formed by law enforcement officers, Crown attorneys, lawyers, educators and community representatives to support at-risk youth. Its mission is to help young people in crisis find stability, purpose and opportunity, and to ensure that no young person is left without hope or help. Over the years, its programs, services, initiatives and special projects have evolved, but its commitment to youth remains central. Ms. Leslian Brown served as
emcee and delivered the opening remarks. Pastor Steve Barnett, Treasurer of ResQ’s Board of Directors, offered the opening prayer. Board Chair Osborne Barnwell welcomed guests and acknowledged the importance of their presence at this milestone celebration. Abigail Hamilton, ResQ’s Founder and Executive Director, reflected on the significance of the gala and fundraiser. She explained that the vision grew from witnessing young people pass through the court system without the guidance, support and mentorship they needed. She also spoke about the challenges the registered non-profit has faced over the years. Hamilton looked ahead to online courses that ResQ plans to offer through its work with Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), as well as the transition to the ResQ Virtual Academy. For her, people (not programs) remain at the heart of the organization’s work. Despite being rejected for funding 20 times, she said she remains optimistic and positive about the future. The program also featured performances and reflections from community contributors. Evangelist Gerry Thompson spoke about making a difference in young people’s lives through motivational and volunteer work. He shared that he had been told he would not live to see the age of 21 but had outlived that prediction. He
encouraged the audience to be part of the solution rather than the problem, reminding them that, “It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.” An exciting cultural performance was presented by Crrdella Betha Lyn Velma Rose Tun Bush. The audience also enjoyed a steelpan performance by Miss Opal George Mitchell, a musical performance by Ms. Tesharah Brisoce, and an inspiring youth testimonial from Miss Diondra Brown. The keynote address was delivered by the Honourable Michael H. Tulloch, Chief Justice of Ontario and President of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1991, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2012 and became Chief Justice of Ontario in 2022. He recalled the early work that helped shape the initiative, including the contributions of Justice Irving Andre and Abigail Hamilton. Chief Justice Tulloch spoke about the importance of second chances, emphasizing that mistakes made early in life should not determine a person’s future. He celebrated community as a force for advocacy, advancement and empowerment, particularly for people whose economic circumstances or personal hardships may have contributed to poor choices. He also referred to the provincial government’s work on restorative justice, describing the approach as transfor-
mative.
An important part of the evening was the presentation of recognition awards to individuals whose work has supported youth and communities across Peel Region and beyond. Honourees included members of Peel Regional Police, community representatives and other supporters. Deputy Chief Mark Dapat, Superintendent Joy Edwards and Sergeant Amy Davidson were recognized for their ongoing support and collaboration in helping empower young people across communities. Hamilton also expressed gratitude to the gala team, volunteers, contributors and supporters. In a message shared on October 26th, 2026, she thanked those whose generosity, time, talents and commitment helped make the celebration possible. ResQ’s longevity speaks to the power of community in sustaining a vision rooted in the needs of marginalized young people. For 25 years, the organization has worked to offer support, guidance and opportunity. Its anniversary celebration was both a recognition of that history and a reminder of the work still ahead: ensuring that young people and families facing difficult circumstances are met with hope, practical help and a community willing to stand beside them.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
NEWS & VIEWS
PAGE 7
Sacred SpaceMosque Honours Ali’s Legacy SIMONE SMITH simone@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Stepping into the Temporary Exhibitions Gallery at Toronto’s Aga Khan Museum felt like walking through a portal of collective memory. Soft light fell across speculative architectural drafts and metallic fragments as the atmospheric soundscapes of Pakistaniborn artist Saks Afridi’s SpaceMosque enveloped the room. The exhibition reconstructs a forgotten alternate history where mysterious vessels floated over global cities around the turn of the millennium, offering to answer a single prayer per person every twenty-four hours. Suspended between sculpture, video, and manufactured recovered artifacts developed alongside students from Toronto Metropolitan University, one metaphysical question echoed off the gallery walls, “If all your prayers were answered, would it change the world, or just yours?” As an African-Caribbean journalist who views cultural storytelling through the dual lenses of history and spiritual identity, I felt the psychological gravity of that query immediately. Faith is rarely a passive belief; it is an active reclamation of moral agency.
Afridi’s speculative narrative invites us to reflect on desire, morality, and how personal conviction transforms into collective power. Walking through the quiet expanse, it became clear that this gallery was asking us to interrogate how we carry our deepest convictions into a complex world. That exact tension between personal belief and public impact bridges Afridi’s speculative universe with the real-life legacy of Cassius Clay turning into Muhammad Ali. Hovering over the exhibition’s atmosphere was the anticipation of “The Greatest,” Prime Video’s authorized eight-episode biographical drama premiering worldwide on Wednesday, November 4th, 2026. Executive produced by Muhammad Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali, alongside actor Michael B. Jordan, the series marks the very first scripted drama authorized by the Ali estate. During an intimate conversation, Lonnie Ali reflected on why this project required her direct stewardship. Rather than offering a polished Hollywood myth, the first season titled “I Shook Up the World” focuses strictly on four pivotal years, tracking young Cassius Clay from his 1960 Olympic gold medal in Rome to his 1964 championship victory over Sonny Liston. Lonnie shared how vital it was to protect the raw truth of his teenage years, reviewing scripts to capture authentic family dynamics, racial pressures, and behind-the-scenes nuances that historians often miss. Production designer Elisa Sauve painstakingly rec-
reated period settings using Black-operated archives and local history, ensuring every fabric, wall paneling, and room felt meticulously real. As Lonnie noted, history requires us to tell the whole story. “It takes work and if you fail, you get up, you dust yourself off, and you keep going.” That spirit of enduring heritage took on tangible form during the private tribute event held at the Aga Khan Museum on November 1st, 2026, launching A Legend Carved in Stone. This limited-edition fine-jewelry collection, presented by Toronto brand Omi Woods in partnership with Muhammad Ali Enterprises, translates Ali’s principles into wearable art. Founder Ashley Alexis McFarlane, a Toronto designer whose work draws on her Jamaican heritage and Africana Studies background at the University of Pennsylvania, crafted the line using conflict-free fine metals and fairly sourced African gold. McFarlane transformed ancient cultural motifs (such as cowrie shells and Akan gold weight geometry) into heirloom pieces that honour Ali’s journey. Editorial attention belongs to the symbolism woven into these precious metals. Lonnie highlighted how deeply Muhammad loved jewelry and appreciated artistic craftsmanship, mirroring his father’s work as a church muralist. Two motifs stand out with profound resonance: the butterfly and the bee. Lonnie spoke tenderly of her partiality to the butterfly, noting how “The flap of a butterfly’s wing can
change so much in the world.” Even more striking is the symbolism of the bee. Lonnie shared a rare personal revelation: at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville where Ali is buried, a bee box hangs in the tree directly above him. The day after his passing, an enormous beehive appeared overnight outside the Ali Center, requiring a beekeeper to handle a phenomenon never seen before. In McFarlane’s collection, these elements become sacred heirlooms, reminders of a man who moved with delicate grace yet possessed unyielding strength. True legacy is not carved merely in gold or stone; it is forged whenever we refuse to shrink in the face of our own power. Leaving the exhibition, I realized that whether through sci-fi architecture, authentic drama, or gold heirloom jewelry, the mandate remains identical: to live with uncompromised principles. Coming Up in Part Two - Join me in our next instalment as we pull back the curtain even further into Lonnie Ali’s private reflections. We will explore Muhammad Ali’s courageous draft refusal during the Vietnam War, his spiritual evolution from his Baptist upbringing to Sunni Islam, and the untold intimate details of his global crusade for human dignity. I will also share photos of the collection, and how you can experience the speculative architectural drafts, metallic fragments and the atmospheric soundscapes of Pakistani-born artist Saks Afridi’s SpaceMosque.
Tariffs expose failures that leave workers paying STEVEN KASZAB steven@carib101.com
TCN COLUMNIST
I have a personal attachment to metal and aluminum. They are two of the main materials used in our fabrication process, so the impact of tariffs is not an abstract political debate for me. It is something I see in the cost of doing business, the availability of materials and the uncertainty surrounding investment. Since the tariff dispute began, my employer’s business and investment plans have faced pressure from an increasingly unpredictable trade environment shaped by President Donald Trump’s administration. The consequences are being felt on both sides of the Canada–United States border, particularly by manufacturers that depend on cross-border supply chains. Tariffs on steel and aluminum have disrupted trade and increased costs for businesses that rely on these materials. The Bank of Canada report-
ed in April 2026 that Canadian steel exports to the United States had fallen by half after tariffs were imposed. It also noted that some manufacturing firms further down the aluminum value chain had experienced layoffs as they faced higher input costs. These are not distant statistics to workers whose livelihoods depend on a functioning manufacturing sector. The pressure does not stop at the factory gate. When the cost of materials rises, businesses must decide whether to absorb the increase, pass it on to customers, reduce production or delay investment. Workers may face fewer hours or layoffs, while small and medium-sized businesses struggle to remain competitive. The impact varies by company and sector, but the uncertainty itself makes planning difficult. Consumers are also feeling the strain of higher prices. Groceries, transportation, repairs and everyday services have become more expensive. Tariffs can contribute to some price increases, particularly when imported materials or goods are affected, but they are not the only explanation. Inflation, supply conditions, operating costs and corporate pricing decisions also matter. We should be careful not to blame every increase on tariffs or
accept corporate explanations without asking questions. Within the store-fixture manufacturing sector, I understand the United States market to be substantial, with annual demand estimated at between $1.7 billion and $2.5 billion. It raises an important question: how much of that demand could be met by manufacturers in North America? Corporate leaders often speak about supporting local communities. Procurement decisions are one way to demonstrate whether those commitments translate into action. The ownership of major industrial companies also deserves scrutiny. Stelco, a Canadian steel producer, was acquired by United States-based Cleveland-Cliffs in 2024. In September 2026, the company announced plans to idle certain Hamilton operations, with up to 500 employees potentially affected. The company cited tariffs, weak demand and import pressure. This situation raises difficult questions about foreign ownership, investment commitments and the protection of Canadian industrial capacity. However, the acquisition alone should not be presented as the cause of the pressures; the trade dispute and broader market conditions are also part of the
picture.
Governments and corporate leaders cannot claim they had no reason to anticipate trade uncertainty. President Trump had publicly discussed tariffs as an economic and negotiating tool before returning to office. Canadian businesses and governments therefore needed contingency plans: stronger domestic procurement, diversified export markets, resilient supply chains and meaningful support for affected workers. Instead, many workers and smaller businesses now find themselves responding to decisions made far beyond their control. Federal and provincial leaders, corporate boards should be judged not only by what they announce during a crisis, but by whether they prepared people for foreseeable risks. “Always hope for the best but prepare for the worst.” It is advice worth remembering in business and public life. Tariffs may be a tool of political and economic strategy, but the consequences are lived by workers, families and small businesses. They deserve more than blame, slogans and promises. They deserve foresight, accountability and a plan.
PAGE 8
NEWS & VIEWS
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, November 4, 2026
The Train Arrived; The Community May Not SIMONE SMITH simone@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
Let me put this plainly; Little Jamaica did not just lose time during the Eglinton Crosstown construction. For years, the community was told to be patient. The LRT would come. The dust would settle. The customers would return. The street would bloom again. Patience is a strange thing to ask of people whose livelihoods are disappearing while they wait. More than 300 small businesses are reported to have closed during the 16year construction period, according to the Little Jamaica BIA. A 2022 City committee report found more than 140 stores permanently closed, and analysts found that 48 of 85 Black-owned businesses in the area had shut down. Those are barbershops. restaurants. salons. record shops. Places where people were known by name. Now the train is here, and the question Toronto must answer is not, “Isn’t it wonderful that the LRT is open?” The question is who is left to benefit from it? Toronto loves a redemption story. We like to believe that if a community survives long enough, the city will eventually reward it. Little Jamaica’s story is not a redemption story. This stretch of Eglinton Avenue West, between Keele and Vaughan Road, has been a centre of Caribbean life in Toronto for generations. It has carried the music, food, language, style, faith, hustle, and memory of people who built lives here after arriving from: Jamaica, Trinidad, Grenada, Barbados, St. Vincent, Guyana, and across the region. It was a living room for a
diaspora. When people say, “Little Jamaica,” they are talking about belonging. They are talking about a place where a Caribbean grandmother could hear her own accent in the street. Where a young person could see possibility without leaving the neighbourhood, and that is precisely what is at risk. We cannot pretend the LRT construction did not hurt businesses. It did. For years, fences, detours, noise, dust, and inaccessible sidewalks made it harder for customers to reach local shops. Business owners described watching foot traffic disappear while bills kept arriving, but here is the part that should make us uncomfortable. The construction did not happen in a vacuum. While businesses struggled, property values climbed. The Little Jamaica Community Land Trust reports that Eglinton West property values rose about 135% between 2016 and 2021. Think about what that means. A business owner may have survived the construction, only to face a new landlord, a higher lease, a property sale, or a redevelopment plan. The train may bring more people to the neighbourhood, but it can also bring higher rents, higher taxes, and investors who see the land (not the people) as the prize. That is the cruel irony of transitoriented development. Transit is supposed to connect communities, but when a community has been weakened by years of disruption, the new connection can become an exit door for the people who built it. Again, I want to make sure that I am clear. This is not an argument against progress, density, or new housing. Toronto needs transit. Toronto needs homes. Toronto needs investment, but progress that removes the people who created a community’s culture is not progress. If Little Jamaica becomes a shiny corridor with new condos, new cafés, and new branding, but the Caribbean busi-
nesses, elders, artists, and families who gave the area its soul can no longer afford to stay, then we have not revitalized Little Jamaica. That is the uncomfortable truth mainstream coverage often softens. A neighbourhood can be physically intact while culturally emptied. A street can look busy while its history is being priced out one lease at a time. The people of Little Jamaica are not asking Toronto to feel sorry for them. They are asking for a seat at the table before decisions are made, not after the moving trucks arrive. They are asking for protections that match the scale of the harm. They are asking for commercial rent support, affordable space, culturally grounded planning, and real ownership opportunities. The Little Jamaica Community Land Trust is one of the most important responses to this crisis. It is a Black-led effort to acquire and steward land so that housing, businesses, and cultural spaces can remain in community hands. Its goal is to preserve the ability of Caribbean and African people to live, work, own, and belong in the neighbourhood they helped shape. That is what any community with power would do. This story should make people uncomfortable because it asks a question that Toronto does not like to answer, “When a Black and Caribbean community is harmed by a public project, who pays for the repair?” Some will say the market decides. Some will say developers create jobs. Some will say the LRT will eventually help everyone. Some will say businesses should have adapted. Those arguments are not entirely wrong. Development brings opportunity. New residents can support local shops. Better transit can expand access. We should not pretend every change is destruction. We also cannot pretend that every community starts from the same place. Little Jamaica endured years of
construction disruption while carrying the additional weight of racialized disinvestment, rising costs, and the fragility of small family-run businesses. When the playing field is uneven, calling the outcome natural is avoidance. If this article makes you feel something, do not let it end as a feeling. Turn it into action: • Spend deliberately. Visit a Caribbeanowned business on Eglinton West this week. Buy something. Tell the owner you came because you want them to stay. • Ask the hard questions. Contact your city councillor and ask what specific protections exist to prevent cultural and commercial displacement in Little Jamaica. • Support community ownership. Learn about the Little Jamaica Community Land Trust and support its work through donations, partnerships, or volunteering. • Challenge the language. When you hear revitalization, ask, revitalization for whom? • Tell the stories. Share the names of businesses that survived. Write about the ones that did not. Memory is a form of protection. The Eglinton LRT may finally be running, but a train is only useful if it carries people toward a future they can afford. Little Jamaica taught Toronto how to celebrate. It fed us. Styled us. Schooled us. Gave this city rhythm when the city did not always give it respect. Now Toronto has a choice. We can treat Little Jamaica as a brand to be marketed after the original community has been displaced. Or we can treat it as a living inheritance, and fight to keep its people rooted in the place they made. The subway has arrived. Now Toronto must decide whether Little Jamaica gets to stay.
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
NEWS & VIEWS
PAGE 9
Canada must expand permanent residency for migrants MICHAEL THOMAS michael@carib101.com
TCN REPORTER
As the next immigration levels plan approaches, the Migrant Rights Network is calling on the federal government to act on the findings of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism by expanding access to permanent residency for migrants in Canada, including undocumented people. The organization argues that Canada must expand pathways to permanent residency rather than introduce further cuts and caps that leave migrants vulnerable to exploitation, family separation and removal. Following her September 28th to October 9th visit to Canada, UN Special Rapporteur Ashwini K.P. issued preliminary findings raising significant concerns about racism and discrimination across immigration and refugee policies. Among the recommendations attributed to her findings was a call for Canada to ensure that “All migrant workers have a clear pathway to permanent residency from the time of their arrival in the country.” The concerns raised during the visit included several areas of immigration policy. The Rapporteur heard accounts of “Exploitative, dehumanizing, and unsafe
work conditions,” including inadequate food and rest, limited healthcare, serious injuries and deaths, and threats of repatriation. Some workers compared their treatment to plantation systems. She described Canada’s continued reliance on these arrangements as shocking and called for an end to closed work permits and pathways to permanent residency from arrival. She also documented concerns about how South Asian international students are portrayed as responsible for pressures on housing, employment and public services. The findings highlighted racist hostility, workplace exploitation and the fear some students experience over potentially losing their immigration status. The Rapporteur further raised concerns about unequal treatment of people seeking protection, including Palestinians, people from Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and survivors of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. Her findings also referenced reports involving two Palestinian sisters who died after being unable to complete Canadian student visa applications because of biometric requirements. She called for an urgent racial equity review of immigration and refugee policies. International students are among those particularly affected by these concerns. “International students came here to study, work, and build a life. They subsidize post-secondary education, work essential jobs, and contribute billions to the Canadian economy. Now they are being blamed for housing costs and unemployment while facing exploitative living and working conditions without access to protections and uncertainty about whether they can stay,” said WeiChun Kua of Migrant Students Unit-
ed Vancouver. Kua added, “When politicians turn us into a problem to be reduced, that hostility follows us into our workplaces, classrooms and neighbourhoods. We need leaders to confront racism and ensure permanent status for people who have made their lives here.” Migrant farm workers face similar concerns. “Imagine growing the food on people’s tables while being denied enough food and rest yourself. Imagine getting hurt and being afraid that speaking up will cost you your job and your right to stay,” said Stacey Gomez of the Centre for Migrant Worker Rights Nova Scotia. “These are the conditions workers described to the UN. All migrants need permanent resident status so they can defend their rights, live with their families, and build their futures here. Canada cannot keep calling their work essential while treating their lives as disposable.” The debate also extends to Canada’s economic immigration policies. On October 16th, 2026, the federal government announced changes to Express Entry, effective November 3rd, 2026, that will award additional points for eligible Canadian work experience or qualifying job offers in high-wage occupations. However, concerns remain about how lower-paid workers in sectors such as caregiving, agriculture, food processing and cleaning will fare under a system that gives additional consideration to highwage occupations. Manuel Salamanca Cardona of the Immigrant Workers Centre in Quebec said, “The UN is asking Canada to confront racial discrimination in its immigration system.
Prioritizing higher-paid occupations risks rewarding the wage inequalities that racism and gender discrimination have already created.” He added that people caring for older neighbours, harvesting food and cleaning workplaces deserve security and a future in Canada. The Migrant Rights Network is calling on the federal government to: • Expand permanent residency: Ensure access for all migrants in Canada, including undocumented people, and reduce prolonged waiting times in existing pathways. • End tied permits: Abolish closed work permits and protect workers who speak out against exploitation. • Guarantee equal access to services: Fund healthcare, settlement assistance and public services without discrimination based on immigration status. • Confront systemic racism: Address discriminatory immigration practices, including unequal access to humanitarian protection and family reunification. The message is clear: migrants contribute to Canada’s communities and economy, yet many continue to face uncertainty about their rights, safety and future. The Migrant Rights Network is urging Canada to move beyond acknowledging these concerns and take meaningful action to ensure that dignity, protection and the opportunity to build a life in this country are not determined by immigration status or income.
DO YOU HAVE EXPERIENCE IN HOTELS OR FOOD SERVICE ABROAD OR IN CANADA?
Who Can Apply:
Scan to learn more
Have a valid work permit Are interested in hospitality Have availability
HTA75.com
FEATURE
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
PAGE 13
Photo Courtesy of Urszula Opitek; Photographer at LIGAS
CHRISTOPHE LEWIS Beyond Life Sentences Forty-five minutes is barely enough time to scratch the surface of a routine life, let alone process the complex experiences of a man who spent sixteen years inside Canada’s federal prison system. When Christophe Lewis logged into our interview, there was no theatrical posturing or rehearsed redemption arc. Sitting across the screen, his presence carried the quiet, unshakeable gravity of someone who has navigated the darkest corridors of institutional control and emerged with his mind fully intact. Most public profiles offer neat, digestible narratives of hardship and recovery, but as a writer with a background in clinical psychology, I recognized immediately that Christophe does not fit into standard biographical templates. He operates with the calm precision of a man who thrives in chaos because he has already mastered the art of psychological composure. The fortyfive-minute conversation was an invitation to peek through a heavy iron door into an extraordinary, ongoing lifetime. To understand the man standing today as an advocate, real estate investor, and founder of the Freedom Is A Must Foundation, one must look at how Canada’s legal and educational apparatuses attempt to blueprint young African/Caribbean lives. Born in Jamaica and raised in Toronto’s Regent Park neighborhood, Christophe entered the Canadian school system reading and writing far above his grade level. Yet, in a pattern familiar to marginalized communities, advanced intelligence in a young Caribbean boy was misdiagnosed as disruptive boredom. Rather than nurturing his potential, administrators funneled him into English as a
Second Language classes despite his fluent English, grouping him indiscriminately with other immigrant youth. The defining psychological scar of his early years arrived at Lord Dufferin elementary school. A guidance counselor gathered five young African/ Caribbean boys, aged eight to twelve, and asked them to name their support group. The children chose “The Usual Suspects.” Instead of challenging that self-fulfilling stigma, the adults accepted and institutionalized the label, embedding a criminalized identity into impressionable young minds. Shortly thereafter, an innocent childhood trade (swapping a Discman for a Game Boy with a classmate named Henry) escalated into a criminal complaint when school officials summoned the police, laying a robbery charge that locked the legal system’s fangs into his life. By the time he reached high school at Central Tech, he was caught in what he describes as “Spirale” a vicious institutional cycle where society’s preassigned labels become self-fulfilling realities. By age fifteen, Christophe was living a surreal double life. Outside his doorstep on George Street (sandwiched between the 311-youth courthouse and the strip clubs of downtown Toronto) he witnessed an environment dominated by systemic poverty, over-policing, and street hustle. While his childhood peers initially vowed never to sell drugs, the sight of classmates arriving at school in Air Max sneakers slowly eroded their resolve. Christophe adapted rapidly, transforming his restless energy into street economics. By sixteen, he was generating $30,000 to $100,000 a month, driving a $30,000 vehicle without a driver’s license, carrying a firearm
for protection, and stepping out of high school classes to serve clients in alleyways with two cell phones and a pager vibrating on his hip. Yet, the turbulence outside was mirrored inside his home. His parents, navigating their own generational and colonial trauma, raised him under severe discipline. His mother offered corporal punishment. In that domestic environment, violence became normalized as the primary currency of selfpreservation, a harsh lesson that if you did not project overwhelming force, force would inevitably be inflicted upon you. Home was part of a relentless pressure cooker that conditioned him to expect conflict around every corner. The inevitable collision with the criminal legal system resulted in a life sentence that swallowed sixteen years of his adult life. Yet, prison did not break Christophe Lewis; it transformed him into a formidable legal strategist. From inside federal institutions, he studied the law, challenged prison conditions, and sued Correctional Service Canada, winning three separate legal actions against the state. He authored groundbreaking investigative commentary, including Death by a Thousand Cuts, exposing the systemic neglect and physical degradation of aging prisoners. During his incarceration, Christophe underwent a profound psychological shift, mastering the practice of mindfulness and what he calls “The pause.” Recognizing that “A decision made in anger is a decision made to fail,” he cultivated a deep internal stillness. Upon his parole release in November 2021, he turned this discipline into certified practice, training crisis responders, youth mentors, and commu-
nity leaders in mindfulness and conflict de-escalation. He proved that the very analytical tools used by institutions to isolate a man could be repurposed to build his liberation. Today, Christophe Lewis operates on a scale that defies standard expectations of post-carceral life. Beyond leading the Freedom Is A Must Foundation, he has invested in sustainable real estate projects like Eco Haven and was handpicked by retired professor Melissa Munn to take over her forty-year-old federal prison reintegration program, Get Out, Stay Out. He now re-enters federal penitentiaries not as an authority guiding others toward true freedom. When our forty-five-minute interview concluded, it felt less like the end of a story and more like the opening scene of an intense documentary trailer. We did not have time to explore his spiritual transformation, his navigation of lifelong parole restrictions, or the detailed mechanics of his property portfolio. That limitation is precisely the point. Christophe Lewis is not a static case study or a victim of circumstance; he is an evolving architect of human potential. Forty-five minutes was merely an introduction. The most vital chapters of his life are still waiting to be told Photo Credit: Sanj P Photography
Written by Simone J. Smith TCN Now
PAGE 14
FOOD
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, November 4, 2026
When Jamaica Meets Italy: Jerk Chicken Lasagna with Creamy Coconut Béchamel Bringing together the bold flavours of the Caribbean and the comforting traditions of Italian cooking There is something special about a meal that brings people together, especially when it combines flavours and traditions from two completely different parts of the world. Food has always had a way of crossing borders, connecting cultures and creating new experiences around the dinner table. Some of the most memorable dishes are born when someone decides to take a familiar recipe, introduce a little creativity and see what happens. This week’s Caribbean fusion recipe does exactly that, bringing the bold, unmistakable flavours of Jamaica together with one of Italy’s most beloved comfort foods. Jerk Chicken Lasagna with Creamy Coconut Béchamel might not be something you would expect to find on a traditional Jamaican or Italian dinner table, but that is exactly what makes this combination so interesting. Imagine tender pieces of chicken seasoned with aromatic Jamaican jerk spices, layered between sheets of pasta, a rich tomato sauce, melted cheese and a silky coconut-infused béchamel. Every bite delivers a balance of warmth, spice, creaminess and comfort, transforming two familiar culinary traditions into something entirely new. Two Culinary Traditions, One Delicious Combination To truly appreciate this dish, we need to understand where its two main influences come from. Lasagna has a long history in Italian cooking, with early forms of layered pasta dishes dating back centuries. Although the exact origins of modern lasagna remain a subject of culinary debate, the dish is strongly associated with the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, particularly Bologna, where layered pasta, meat sauce and béchamel became a celebrated combination. Over time, lasagna travelled well beyond Italy, finding its way into kitchens across North America and becoming a favourite for family gatherings, special occasions and Sunday dinners. Jamaican jerk cooking has an equally fascinating history, although its roots are very different. The cooking tradition developed in Jamaica through the knowledge and practices of the island’s Indigenous Taíno people and Africans who escaped enslavement, including Maroon communities. Over generations, techniques involving seasoning, smoke and slow cooking evolved into one of the Caribbean’s most recognizable culinary traditions. Today, jerk is celebrated for its distinctive combination of Scotch bonnet peppers, allspice, thyme, garlic, ginger and other aromatic ingredients. What makes jerk particularly interesting is that it is much more than simply adding heat to a dish. Authentic jerk cooking is about developing layers of flavour, balancing the warmth of spices with herbs, peppers and carefully prepared meat. Traditional jerk is often cooked over pimento wood, giving it a smoky character that cannot be completely duplicated in a home oven. However, the seasoning itself offers a wonderful foundation for creating new dishes, especially when combined with ingredients that can balance its intensity. That is where the Italian influence comes into play. Lasagna is naturally rich and comforting, while jerk chicken brings an entirely different level of complexity.
Instead of competing against each other, these two styles of cooking can complement one another beautifully. The tomato sauce provides a savoury foundation, the pasta gives the dish structure, and the cheese adds richness. Meanwhile, the jerk seasoning introduces warmth, character and just enough Caribbean personality to make the finished dish stand apart from traditional lasagna. The Secret Is in the Coconut Béchamel One of the most interesting elements of this recipe is the coconut béchamel, a Caribbean-inspired variation of the classic French white sauce that has become an important part of many Italian baked pasta dishes. Traditional béchamel is prepared using butter, flour and milk, creating a smooth sauce that adds moisture and richness. For this recipe, we replace part of the dairy milk with unsweetened coconut milk, introducing a subtle tropical flavour without overpowering the other ingredients. Coconut milk has been an important ingredient throughout Caribbean cooking for generations, appearing in everything from rice and peas to curries, stews and desserts. Its creamy texture and delicate sweetness make it particularly effective when paired with bold spices. In this lasagna, the coconut béchamel helps soften the heat of the jerk seasoning while tying the different flavours together. The result is a sauce that feels familiar but offers something unexpected with every bite. The key is balance. We want the coconut flavour to complement the chicken rather than turn the lasagna into an entirely different dish. Using a combination of coconut milk and regular milk creates that balance, while a touch of nutmeg, garlic and Parmesan adds depth. The finished sauce should be smooth, rich and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, allowing it to settle beautifully between the layers of pasta. Jerk Chicken Lasagna with Creamy Coconut Béchamel Servings: 6–8 Preparation Time: 30 minutes, plus marinating Cooking Time: Approximately 1 hour Oven Temperature: 375°F (190°C) Ingredients For the Jerk Chicken • 1½ lbs (680 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs • 2 tablespoons Jamaican jerk seasoning paste • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 tablespoon lime juice • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves • 1 teaspoon brown sugar • ½ teaspoon ground allspice, if desired • Salt and black pepper to taste For the Tomato Sauce • 1 tablespoon olive oil • 1 small onion, finely diced • 1 red bell pepper, finely diced • 3 cloves garlic, minced • 1 can (796 mL) crushed tomatoes • 2 tablespoons tomato paste • 1 teaspoon dried oregano • ½ teaspoon dried basil • ½ teaspoon brown sugar • Salt and black pepper to taste
For the Coconut Béchamel • 3 tablespoons butter • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour • 1 can (400 mL) unsweetened coconut milk • 1 cup whole milk • ½ teaspoon garlic powder • ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg • ¼ cup finely grated Parmesan cheese • Salt and white or black pepper to taste For Assembly • 9 oven-ready lasagna noodles, or enough for three pasta layers • 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese • ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley or chopped scallions for garnish • Butter or cooking spray for greasing the baking dish Instructions Step 1: Marinate and Cook the Jerk Chicken • In a large bowl, combine the jerk seasoning, olive oil, lime juice, garlic, thyme, brown sugar and allspice. Add the chicken thighs and coat thoroughly. • Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably 2–4 hours, to allow the flavours to develop. • Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for approximately 5–7 minutes per side, depending on thickness, until browned and the internal temperature reaches 165°F (74°C). • Remove the chicken from the skillet and allow it to rest for 5 minutes before chopping into small, bite-sized pieces. Set aside. Step 2: Prepare the Tomato Sauce • In a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and red bell pepper, cooking for approximately 4–5 minutes until softened. • Stir in the garlic and cook for another minute before adding the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil and brown sugar. • Season with salt and pepper, reduce the heat and allow the sauce to simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. • Stir the cooked jerk chicken into the tomato sauce and remove from the heat. Step 3: Make the Coconut Béchamel • Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk continuously for approximately 1–2 minutes to create a smooth roux. • Gradually pour in the coconut milk, followed by the whole milk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. • Continue cooking for 5–7 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens. • Add the garlic powder, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth, then remove from the heat. Step 4: Assemble the Lasagna • Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. • Spread a thin layer of the jerk chicken tomato sauce across the bottom of the dish.
•
•
•
Arrange a layer of lasagna noodles over the sauce, followed by approximately one-third of the remaining chicken mixture, one-third of the coconut béchamel and a sprinkling of mozzarella. Repeat until you have three layers of noodles, distributing the chicken mixture and béchamel evenly. Finish with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover tightly with foil, ensuring the foil does not rest directly against the cheese.
Step 5: Bake and Serve • Bake covered for 30 minutes, then carefully remove the foil and continue baking for another 15–20 minutes, until the cheese is golden, the sauce is bubbling and the pasta is tender. • Remove from the oven and allow the lasagna to rest for 10–15 minutes before slicing. This helps the layers hold together. • Garnish with chopped parsley or scallions and serve warm. Making This Recipe Your Own One of the wonderful things about Caribbean cooking is that recipes often evolve from one household to another. Some families prefer a little extra heat, while others enjoy allowing the herbs and spices to take centre stage. This lasagna is no different. If you enjoy a fiery dish, consider adding a small amount of finely chopped Scotch bonnet pepper to the tomato sauce. For those who prefer something milder, reduce the jerk seasoning slightly and allow the coconut béchamel to provide a more delicate balance. Chicken thighs work particularly well because they remain tender and juicy during cooking, but chicken breast can also be used. You can even prepare the chicken on an outdoor grill before adding it to the sauce, introducing a smoky flavour that brings the recipe a little closer to traditional jerk cooking. Just remember that jerk seasoning varies significantly between brands, so tasting and adjusting the seasoning is always worthwhile. A Little Caribbean Flavour at the Family Table Perhaps the best part about this recipe is what it represents. Caribbean cuisine has never stood still. It continues to evolve through migration, shared experiences and the creativity of people who carry their food traditions wherever they go. Across Canada, Caribbean families have introduced generations of neighbours and friends to the flavours of their heritage, while also discovering new ingredients and cooking styles along the way. Jerk Chicken Lasagna with Creamy Coconut Béchamel is not intended to replace traditional Jamaican jerk chicken or a beautifully prepared Italian lasagna. Both deserve to be appreciated in their own right. Instead, this dish celebrates what can happen when two culinary traditions meet with a little imagination and a willingness to experiment. So, the next time you’re thinking about preparing lasagna for Sunday dinner, why not give it a Caribbean twist? You might discover that a little jerk seasoning, some creamy coconut béchamel and a familiar family favourite are all it takes to create a new tradition around your own dinner table.
HEALTH
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
PAGE 15
What does consent mean now? BY DIANA GIFFORD-JONES COMMON SENSE HEALTH Children learn the rudiments of consent long before anyone uses the word. We teach them to ask before taking another child’s toy, to distinguish common from personal spaces, and to understand that not everyone wants a hug or a kiss. People have boundaries, and we must respect them. As adults, we learn the principle is more complicated, and these days, it is getting hard to follow. Sexual consent is now understood as an ongoing, voluntary agreement rather than something implied by a previous encounter, a relationship or even a marriage. In health care situations, patients are expected to participate in decisions about their care instead of simply deferring to professional authority. In our digital lives, we are asked to consent to the collection, storage and use of personal information, often without much idea of what we are agreeing to. Informed consent has long been central
to medical ethics, grounded in the idea that people have a right to make decisions about their own bodies. Yet the shift away from medical paternalism has been significant. A patient should understand the proposed treatment, its risks, the alternatives, and the consequences of refusing it. Signing a form is no substitute for a meaningful conversation. Now consider what happens when artificial intelligence enters the consulting room. AI can assist with interpreting medical images, identifying patterns in patient records, producing clinical notes, and informing treatment recommendations. Patients may not know when AI is involved, what role it plays in a decision, or how much weight a clinician gives its conclusions. In a September 2026 editorial in The American Journal of Bioethics, Harvard Medical School researchers Marina Hovhannisyan and J. Wesley Boyd raise concerns. Traditional consent assumes that a patient is authorizing a defined intervention. AI systems, however, can be updated, retrained and used in new ways after that initial
agreement. The authors argue that meaningful consent in AI-assisted care needs to be an ongoing process, with greater transparency about the technology’s role and significant changes in its use. Consent given today cannot apply to a technology that changes tomorrow. Nor should patients be expected to understand the technical workings of a complex algorithm before they can make a reasonable decision about their care. Health institutions have a responsibility to explain what matters in terms ordinary people can understand. Think of the routine click on “I agree” that allows us to use an online service. We may be authorizing the collection of location data, the analysis of our behaviour or the processing of photographs and messages. How long the information will be retained? Who else might gain access? How might it be used in the future? Refusing permission invariably means losing access to a needed service. Is that meaningful consent, or the price of admission? There is also a question of power. A patient
may feel unable to refuse a recommended procedure. An employee may be reluctant to challenge an employer’s request for personal information. A consumer may have little practical choice if every available service demands the same permissions. A formal yes does not establish that a person understood the implications or felt free to refuse. None of this means that consent has become an obsolete idea. Quite the opposite. As technology gives institutions and companies greater capacity to collect information, influence decisions and act on our behalf, the principle of personal autonomy becomes more important. The responsibility for protecting it cannot rest solely with individuals. These are questions for doctors, technology developers, lawmakers, educators and the public, not just for the person clicking the “I agree” button.
PAGE 16
LIFE
TCN Now | www.TCN-Now.com | Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Windsor Black Scholars Reframe Thriving BY SIMONE J. SMITH HUMAN SPECIALIST Along the banks of the Detroit River, where water carries memories of freedom seekers who crossed into Windsor at a historic terminus of the Underground Railroad, a transformative intellectual movement is taking root. From October 23rd to 25th, 2026, the University of Windsor’s Black Scholars Institute (BSI) hosted Futuring Black Thriving: Black Activism in a Border City, a landmark threeday symposium designed to turn university spaces, art galleries, and community halls into living classrooms open to all. Under the leadership of BSI Director Dr. Camisha Sibblis, this gathering articulated a vital truth: African/Caribbean thriving is not merely about surviving historical and present-day structural barriers, but about generating original knowledge, preserving cultural memory, challenging established institutions, and boldly imagining liberated futures. Established by the University of Windsor Senate on October 7th, 2022, and aligned with the national commitments of the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion, the Black Scholars Institute represents a dedicated hub for research excellence, mentorship, and diasporic connection. By recruiting transforma-
tive scholars, developing an interdisciplinary Black Studies program, and fostering collaboration between faculty, students, and broader border-city communities, the Institute is establishing Windsor as a major centre of intellectual innovation. For University of Windsor alumni, the BSI offers profound reasons for pride, demonstrating how their alma mater elevates African/Caribbean leadership and nurtures a space where African ways of knowing, scholarship, and belonging actively flourish. The symposium’s three-day experience guided attendees through a connected, interdisciplinary exploration of African liberation. The journey commenced on Friday evening at the Windsor Essex Caribbean Association with Embodied Activism and the Geographies of Black Refusal. A compelling dialogue featured renowned thinkers Katherine McKittrick, Robyn Maynard, and M. NourbeSe Philip exploring African feminist thought, African Canadian studies, transnational activism, policing, and plantation continuities. Commemorating the centenaries of revolutionary figures Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, and Patrice Lumumba, the evening bridged rigorous scholarship with vibrant cultural celebration. The opening night culminated in an unforgettable live perfor-
mance and interview with Jamaican Canadian reggae icon Leroy Sibbles, whose foundational basslines rooted the theoretical discussions in living musical heritage. Saturday shifted the landscape to Art Windsor-Essex for Artivism, Movement(s) and Law. Opening with a keynote performance of Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip, the day confronted how legal regimes and racial capitalism historically commodified Black life, echoing political contestations that demand contemporary institutional transformation. Panels addressed the juridical afterlives of colonial violence and the ongoing racial governance of Caribbean farmworkers with Justicia for Migrant Workers, while showcase performances by local artists Teajai Travis and Chidera Ikewibe demonstrated the power of creative expression. Concurrently, interdisciplinary discussions on architecture, public health, and environmental geonomics highlighted how African scholars are actively reframing public policy, urban space, and community health. The series concluded on Sunday at the School of Creative Arts (Armouries) with a focus on Black Politics, Economy, and Health. Dr. Robyn Maynard presented a keynote book launch for the second edition of Policing Black Lives: State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present, contextualiz-
ing state violence and abolitionist possibilities. This was followed by a dynamic panel of University of Windsor scholars examining local activism, collective memory, and spatial politics. Across all three days, the symposium demonstrated how African intellectual leadership links regional histories with global diasporic conversations across Canada, the Caribbean, and Latin America. As this introductory article kicks off our three-part editorial series detailing each day of the gathering, the Black Scholars Institute stands as an indispensable asset to the University of Windsor and the surrounding region. Sustaining this momentum requires enduring commitment. Alumni, researchers, community partners, and students are invited to engage directly with the Institute’s mission through mentorship, scholarly collaboration, community advocacy, and financial support. By investing in the BSI, supporters ensure that Black scholarship continues to lead public dialogue and inspire future generations. We invite you to follow our upcoming feature installments, explore the Institute’s initiatives, and join in advancing Black thriving in Windsor and beyond
Pretending every degree is equal is a scam BY HERBERT HILDEBRANDT POLITICAL PARLEY For generations, parents were told that university was the safest road to financial security, while skilled trades were treated as a fallback for students who were less academic or less ambitious. That advice is now dangerously outdated. University can still be an excellent investment when a degree leads directly toward medicine, law, engineering, nursing, accounting, teaching, or another defined profession. What is increasingly difficult to defend is sending every capable young person into a costly four-year program without a clear career path waiting at the other end. In Ontario, average undergraduate tuition for a Canadian student reached $8,958 for the 2025 and 2026 academic year. Multiply that by four and tuition alone approaches $36,000 before books, transportation, housing or lost earnings are considered. Among university students leaving school with government student assistance in 2023 and 2024, the average loan balance was $18,545, while thousands owed $30,000 or more. For international students, the
arithmetic becomes brutal. Average Ontario undergraduate tuition was $49,802 per year, or almost $200,000 over four years before living expenses. Canada has spent years selling international education as a doorway to opportunity, but for many families it has become an extremely expensive gamble built on borrowed money, uncertain employment and shifting immigration rules. The university premium is also not equal across every program. Statistics Canada found that undergraduate degree holders earned a median employment income of about $74,700 five years after graduation, but outcomes varied sharply by field. Engineering and computer science graduates were near $94,000, while arts and humanities graduates were around $54,600. Graduates with career and technical diplomas in trades, services and natural resources earned approximately $56,200. In other words, the label on the credential matters far less than the economic pathway behind it. This is where the skilled trades deserve a complete reassessment. Ontario says it will need more than 400,000 workers in skilled trades related occupations over
the next decade, yet youth unemployment remains above 16 per cent. An apprenticeship is not free or effortless, but between 85 and 90 per cent of it consists of paid training on the job. While many university students are accumulating debt and waiting years to begin earning, apprentices are building experience, increasing their wages and moving toward certification. For many immigrant families, a university degree represents security, status and the fulfilment of sacrifices made across generations. That deserves respect, but sacrifice should not be confused with value. Parents do not ultimately want a framed degree hanging on the wall. They want their children to become capable, independent, and financially secure. A young electrician, millwright, welder, or refrigeration mechanic who earns while learning, avoids major debt and reaches solid financial footing in their early twenties has not chosen a lesser path. In many cases, that young person has made the wiser investment. Government and schools need to stop measuring educational success by how many students enter university. Career counselling should show families the tuition, debt, employment rate and median
earnings attached to specific programs, alongside the wages, demand and certification requirements of individual trades. Colleges and trade programs must also be linked directly to employers because training without sponsorship can become another dead end. University is not necessarily a scam. The scam kicks in when you pretend every degree is equally valuable, that debt is automatically an investment and that a young person without a bachelor’s degree has somehow settled for less. Education should be judged by what it builds: competence, opportunity, independence and a realistic return on the time and money invested. Ontario needs skilled workers; young people need a dependable future and families need an honest comparison before signing tuition agreements. For a student pursuing a profession that truly requires a degree, university may be exactly right. For many others, the most intelligent road to a debt free and prosperous life may begin with work boots, paid training and a trade. That is not lowering expectations; it is finally updating them.
LIFE
Wednesday, November 4, 2026 | www.TCN-Now.com | TCN Now
PAGE 17
How multi-generational living is reshaping Ontario’s real estate BY JAY BRIJPAUL REAL ESTATE SPECIALIST As an Ontario realtor, I have walked through countless front doors with clients, each family bringing its own hopes, worries, and dreams for the future. One trend has stood out in recent years: more families are asking me the same question. “Can we find a place where everyone fits?” They are not just talking about square footage; they are looking for space for grandparents, parents, and children under one roof. I remember working with the Singh family last spring. They had lived separately for years, but rising housing and elder care costs finally pushed them to consider multigenerational living. Their story is not unique. According to Statistics Canada, 2.4 million people lived in multigenerational households in 2021, and in Brampton alone, one in seven homes housed three or more generations. For many South Asian, Caribbean, Asian, and Mediterranean families, this approach comes naturally, but
families from every background are now seeing its value. The benefits are clear. By pooling resources, families can afford homes they never thought possible, often with separate suites, legal basement apartments, or garden units. The Singhs chose a house with a main-floor unit for the grandparents, an upstairs suite for the parents, and a bright basement unit for their adult children. This setup lets everyone maintain privacy while staying close enough to share childcare, daily support, and expenses. I always remind my clients that goodwill alone is not enough. The happiest multi-generational homes are built on clear agreements and open communication. Before moving in together, families should agree on how to split mortgage payments, bills, groceries, and repairs, and put those terms in writing. It is important to clarify whether an adult child’s contribution is rent, a loan, or an investment with ownership, especially if the property is ever sold or the relationship changes. These
details matter; money can cause tension, even in the closest families. Beyond finances, I have seen families thrive when they set boundaries and respect each other’s independence. Grandparents might help with childcare, while adult children pitch in with errands and household expenses. Expectations should be clear; no one should be expected to become a full-time babysitter or caregiver without support. Finding the right home is half the challenge. I help clients find flexible properties: legal secondary suites, garden suites, or homes that can be adapted over time. Design matters: accessibility, privacy, separate entrances, and cost-effective utilities make a significant difference. Before any renovations, I always advise clients to check municipal rules and consider programs such as the federal Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit. Sometimes, families want to go a step further and invest in a small apartment building, living in a few units and
renting out the rest for extra income. In those cases, I strongly recommend working with a real estate lawyer and an accountant to draft a comprehensive co-ownership agreement and to understand the tax implications. These precautions help avoid misunderstandings down the road. As a realtor, I believe our industry (and our cities) need to embrace multigenerational living as a smart, sustainable solution. Builders can design homes with flexible layouts; municipalities can make it easier to legalize secondary suites; and governments can provide clear guidance on ownership and financing. A home is not just an investment for one person or couple. When thoughtfully planned, it is a foundation for generational security, a way to share costs, support each other through life’s changes, and give the next generation a real shot at homeownership. It is incredibly rewarding to help families build that future together.
ONE OF YOURS NEEDS SUPPORT. ONE OF OURS CAN HELP. 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.
Learn more at OCSWSSW.org Scan
ETHICAL
ACCOUNTABLE
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNITY-CENTRED