Catch da Flava On-Line

Over 70% of the Regent Park population are people of colour; South Asian, Black, Chinese and South-East Asian residents make up the majority. Why is this important to point out? Well, health experts in Toronto, especially those associated to the Community Health Centre movement, say that race is often one of the most telling facts about a person that determines their health outcomes. These ‘facts’ that determine someone’s health are called social determinants of health. It is no surprise then that community health centres have been collecting Ethno-racial data on clients for quite some time, and are urging the province, and even the country, to follow suit. This is because community health centres were established on the principles of the social determinants of health which includes factors like safe and secure housing, social inclusion, income and education, and increasingly race. These factors matter when assessing the health needs of their clients because they are the real drivers i

Regent Park is home to approximately 12,000 people. Many of the residents are of the Islamic faith and have reported encountering Islamophophia in Toronto and even in their home community of Regent Park. As of 2020, Islam has 1.9 billion followers making up about 24% of the world population. There are almost as many Muslims as there are Christians in the world who make up about 29% of the world population. With such a large following, you would expect there would be little to no misconceptions among the Western public about the Islamic community. Unfortunately, this is not the case and Islamophobia in North America is widespread. I invited Imam Said Rageah of the Sakinah Community Center to have a conversation about the public misconceptions of Islam and how we can better educate the people about Islam. Islamophobia is described as the illogical fear, hatred, and prejudice towards Islam and its followers (Muslims). These prejudice and fears are often caused by misconceptions about th

Regent Park TV reports on the June 2, 2020 meeting of the Regent Park Social Development Stakeholders Table. Currently Regent Park is undergoing a massive redevelopment from a social housing neighbourhood to a mixed-income and mixed-use community. One of the two plans governing the Regent Park redevelopment is the Regent Park Social Development Plan. The group charged with working with the City of Toronto to implement the plan is the Regent Park Social Development Stakeholder’s Table (also known as the SDP Stakeholder’s Table). The Stakeholder’s Table comprises of residents, agencies and grassroots groups in the Regent Park area and their mandate is to make decisions related to the development of social infrastructure that the community deems necessary to ensure that Regent Park is a cohesive and socially well functioning neighbourhood. The following is RPTV’s report of the June 2, 2020, meeting of the Social Development Stakeholder’s Table held through the on-line application of Zoom.

The Regent Park neighbourhood is undergoing a massive transformation from social housing community to a mixed-income and mixed-use community. As a result of this revitalization, the Regent Park community is the beneficiary of a beautiful new park, a gloriously designed aquatic centre, a new community centre, a new track and soccer field, a new arts centre (Daniels Spectrum), two new child care facilities and a newly built youth centre (Dixon Hall).  What many people don’t realize, is that the building of these new amenities had a lot to do with a little known and understood City policy, called Section 37. Section 37 is a part of the Ontario Planning Act that deals with zoning issues and community benefits. This complex but crucial legislature is applied when developers exceed limits on building height or density. In return, they must provide benefits for the community. This may include: recreation centres and child care, public art, heritage sites, access to greenspace li

There used to be a time when small business owner’s principal worries were about securing investments, attracting customers, advertising, and most importantly the survival of their business. According to a report titled Canadian New Firms: Birth and Survival Rates over the Period 2002-2014, May 2018 by the Canadian Government, the survival rate for small businesses within the first five years is 63% and after ten years that number drops down to 43% so it is no wonder that creating and operating a small business is a risky venture. However, when a small business does manage to be successful it can be a great accomplishment. Sadly, the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020 has created a new and even bigger challenge for small business owners. Take for instance the Parliament Street Optical.  The Parliament Street Optical is located on the east side of Parliament Street, between Carlton and Gerrard Street. The business is owned by Munaverali Gulamhusein. Unlike big businesses who regularly genera

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked unprecedented upheaval across the globe. Millions have tested positive, and hundreds of thousands have died. In more than the 200 countries in the world that coronavirus has taken hold, health systems have been devastated, unemployment is rampant, and populations have been in self-isolating lockdowns for months on end. And while our scientists desperately search for vaccines and improvements to testing, there is another dimension to the pandemic that is emerging; it is the staggering realization that disproportionately the most vulnerable are the hardest hit – the poor, the elderly, the marginalised, and those in low income but vital jobs. In Downtown Toronto East including the areas of Regent Park, Sherbourne-Dundas, Moss Park, Cabbagetown, St. Jamestown and the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood where many of the most vulnerable members of our society live, there is a crisis brewing. Homeless encampments are springing up everywhere leading to conflic

In the wake of the pandemic, employment consultant Wayne Greenway, offers some helpful tips on finding a new job in the current environment. As anyone who has ever been unemployed and looking for a job will agree, the task of finding that job is gut wrenchingly difficult. Writing cover letters, tailoring resumes, and attending interviews (if you can get them), is like have a full-time job all on its own – in fact some people can be unable to find work for months if not years. Add to this mix of uncertainty and anxiety the coronavirus pandemic, and you have uncertainty and anxiety amplified by factors that are simply unquantifiable. With more than two million Canadians out of work, finding a new job may not be that easy. Perhaps because of the nature of the pandemic, a total societal disruption, the Government of Canada has not come forward with any new employment programs, instead the Government has focused its efforts at helping people through the crisis with relief programs such as t

Louisa Jewell offers her opinion on how people can better cope with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. If there is anything that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us is that disproportionately the virus has affected the most vulnerable. This may be because of age and the compromised heath issues that come with age, or it may be because of socio- economic factors (low income, inadequate access to health care, racialized, marginalized, precariously housed).  Additionally, there is the issue of one’s mental health. Sadly, the most vulnerable in our societies straddle some or all of the above factors, however it maybe that mental health is the least well understood. Mental health can be understood to relate to the emotional wellbeing of a person.  To have what is considered a mentally healthy full life, one is able to functionally cope while experiencing a range of emotions including pleasure and pain. Mental illness on the other hand is considered to be a psychiatric disorder, impa

Regent Park is currently going through a major revitalization, transitioning from being Canada’s largest solely social housing community to being a mixed-income and mixed-use community. The development is managed by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). The Regent Park TCHC Community Up-Date Meeting, held on Feb 18, 2020 at the Regent Park Community Centre, brought together representatives from Toronto Community Housing (TCH), residents, and other community members to learn what is the status of the newest buildings, discuss the community benefits plan and hear who TCHC short-listed for the final stages of the Regent Park development. As the final phases of the Regent Park redevelopment are set to unfold, the residents of Regent Park are struggling with the revelation by the TCHC back in 2018 that the Daniels Corporation (the sole builder since 2009) is not slated to complete that last stages. Apparently, the TCHC has known since 2014 that they do not have a contract with D

Regent Park, built in the 1940 to provide affordable housing, is undergoing a massive revitalization and will be transformed into a mixed income community. Despite the doubling of the resident population, no additional public housing units will be built. Yet there are over 100,000 on the waiting list for affordable housing in Toronto. According to Homelessness Hub, approximately 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness nightly. Additionally, a significant number of Canadians, especially Indigenous people, live in substandard homes that are overcrowded and/or dilapidated. Even Canadians that are lucky enough to have housing struggle to afford their homes and are at risk of becoming homeless if they lose their jobs. This situation is exacerbated by an expensive housing and rental market and insufficient access to affordable housing. Although Canada has signed on to many international treaties that signify access to adequate housing as a human right, this is still a major issue in our cou