Anderson Ruffin Abbott 1837 – 1913

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Contributed by Cabbagetownpeople.ca. Abbott was Canada’s first black doctor graduating from the University of Toronto in 1861 at age 23.   Although born in Toronto into a wealthy family, he travelled to the United States to work as one of only eight black surgeons in the Union Army during the Civil War. Because of segregation […]

I have certain expectations

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Contributed by Duncan Fremlin. I read the obituaries every day.  They’re the only part of the newspaper I can rely on to be truthful.  I even read the obituaries in my hometown newspaper in Sault Ste. Marie,  just in case I see the name of an old high school pal.  It has happened.  Leonard Lidstone […]

Create, Listen, and Experience

Jobim Novak is a 25-year-old writer and spoken word artist. He is also a mental health advocate and speaker who has been a friend of Bell Let’s Talk for the past three years. Trained as a Child and Youth Care Worker, Jobim currently works with the Toronto Writers Collective, a non-profit that provides creative writing […]

Remembering Vickie Rennie (12 November, 1957 – 22 July, 2020)

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Contributed by St. James Town Community Corner (The Corner). Vickie will be remembered for her many outstanding contributions to St. James Town. As a proud resident of this community she assumed leadership in several initiatives that supported her neighbourhood.   Vickie was a planner and organizer extraordinaire who loved her community passionately. In 1992 she […]

METAPHORICALLY TRANSFORMED

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Contributed by Erdine (Dee) Hope, Toronto Writers Collective – My name is Dee Hope. That is what I am called here in the downtown core, where I grew up and worked for the past fifty years but is now a gentrified community. Currently I am a caseworker for a mental health and addiction support agency, […]

Summer Edition of the Parliament Street News

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When you live in Canada, every day is Canada Day. Like father’s day, I always joke that “every day is fathers Day kids”.  This adage is true for Canada too. Whatever you think of the local municipal, provincial or federal governments, we are all lucky to be living in Canada. So we should celebrate maybe […]

The heroic work of personal support workers

Contributed By Kathy Flaxman. Jaime Robles has been tested twice for COVID-19: results negative.   He is a true hero, working in the ICU of a major Toronto Hospital where his day includes helping nurses change patients’ positions, changing diapers and cleaning dirty bums every time a patient has a BM, moving patients in and […]

The Corner during the Pandemic

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Contributed by Aravind Joseph  (The Corner). The Corner is an organic community hub in SJT where residents and service providers come together seamlessly to collaborate, innovate and build community.  The Corner is governed by a Steering Committee of 8 residents and 5 service providers.  More than 20 organisations provide services at The Corner.  30% of […]

Ned Hanlan 1855 – 1908

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Contributed from the Cabbagetown People Website – www.cabbagetownpeople.ca Champion Oarsman – Ned Hanlan His resting place can be found in the Necropolis @ Section C, Lot 40   Ned’s father, John Hanlan, was a boat builder in Kingston and then moved to Toronto where he was the first lease-holder on Toronto Island now named after […]