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SDP Community Working Group announces the cut to Access to Sports Project and presents a revised plan to SDP Planning Table. The role of the SDP Planning Committee is to set the agenda for decision making items that have to be made at the SDP Stakeholders Table as well as deal with time sensitive issues related to the SDP. On Thursday October 6, 2021, the SDP Planning Committee met to deliberate on final issues related to this evening’s first Deep Dive Session. The Deep Dive is a unique consensus decision making model, designed by the SDP Planning Committee, to determine how $500,000.00 (five hundred thousand dollars) yearly of City funding allocated towards the Regent Park Social Development Plan will be spent. The SDP Planning Committee meeting of October 6, 2021, was hosted by Lindsay Jackson of the Social Development Table and a resident of Regent Park. The following is a report of this meeting. After a land acknowledgement led by Denise Soueidan-O’Leary and app...

In this episode #3 of the “4GetAboutIt!” Youth Collective, youth hosts get into “deep conversations” about relationships, love, romance and self-love. Samir, Daiem and Saima are youth residing in Regent Park. They are also members of the 4GetAboutIt! Youth Collective, a collective of young people involved in journalism activities at the Focus Media Arts Centre. When the collective was asked to identify issues pertaining to the interests of neighbourhood youth – among the concerns that came up were: the environment; youth unemployment; housing; and relationships! It should not be surprising that relationships came up. As social beings, the capacity to form and maintain relationships is essential to us and how we function within society. It is a key component to being mentally healthy, and having a positive sense of wellbeing. In reflecting upon this further the 4GetAboutIt! crew decided to make healthy relationships the subject of their next show. Whether it is navigati...

31 deaths from gun violence 31 funerals 31 grieving families Louis March, is the founder of the Zero Gun Violence Movement. The Zero Gun Violence Movement is an awareness and advocacy movement that works across the City to engage people and organizations that are genuinely committed to reducing gun violence and building safe and healthy communities, not for some, but for all. The Regent Park Youth Collective invited Louis March, to discuss the recent gun violence incident that occurred in Regent Park. On September 18, 2021, a 29 year old man sustained life-threatening injuries and a 27 year old adult male suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while Thane Murray was pronounced dead at the scene. Murray was well known and respected in the Regent Park community. He was a mentor and big brother to many and the community was shock by this horrendous act of violence. A Vigil was held at the spot of the shooting, which was attended by many youth and older community memb...

Three newcomers to Canada share their some of their experiences as newcomers and hopes for the future. Regent Park and the surrounding areas of the downtown east are home to many diverse communities with immigrants making up approximately 67% of the population. Integrating into Canadian society is a goal both for the newcomer and the community they find themselves in. RPTV News reporter Mahsa Alikhani, a recent newcomer to Canada herself, speaks with Abdullah, Liene, and Rashed about their experiences. Not only were these newcomers faced with the normal challenges of setting up their lives in a new surrounding, dealing with language, finding employment, housing, accessing services, getting around, learning the new culture and customs, but they had to manage all that while dealing with the restrictions imposed on them by the coronavirus safety protocols. Unanimously our newcomers Abdullah, Liene, and Rashed identified that learning the language, finding work, and connecting with...

A report of the Virtual Sunday in the Park Festival Sunday in the Park is an annual event that takes place usually in the month of August in Regent Park. Typically it is the biggest festival held in the community. Each year the Sunday in the Park festival features music, culture, food, raffles, games and fun activities, for all ages. This year, due to concerns about Covid -19 and consideration of social distancing, it was decided to hold the 30 Anniversary of Sunday In The Park... virtually....and in September. Lead by a steering committee comprised of community members, this year’s 30th Anniversary of Sunday in the Park took place on September 19, 2021, by Zoom. The online event featured information on COVID-19 from speakers from the Regent Park Health Centre which included Q&A about vaccination. Break-out rooms were also held for trivia games where residents could win prizes. The event included the playing of an RPTV videos about the the history of Sunday in the Par...

The vast majority of Canadians are against racism and acknowledge it as an issue in Canada, though about two-thirds of all non-white Canadians say they have experienced it themselves, according to a new poll. Those results come just ahead of the 2021 federal election -- an election with platforms that, according to some advocates, do not have a strong enough push against anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism as well as a commitment to police reform in Canada. Sandy Hudson, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Canada, said that the lack of attention coming to these issues in terms of party policies and platforms was not only "extremely frustrating," but "telling" of parties' values. Though most of the major federal parties have included racism and discrimination in several sections of their platform, outlining some call to action to tackle the racial issues, Hudson says what they currently have is not nearly enough or substantive. The NDP's platform includ...

A Report of the English Federal Leaders Debate – Election 2021 The federal party leaders met Thursday night on September 9, 2021, for their only English-language debate, a two-hour event that they used to both attack their rivals and make a case for support ahead of the Sept. 20 election. The debate saw heated exchanges over five key issues: affordability, climate change, pandemic recovery, reconciliation, leadership and accountability. The opposition leaders criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for calling parliamentary elections during a pandemic. Trudeau called the vote last month hoping to win a majority of seats in Parliament, but polls indicate his Liberal party could lose power to the Conservatives in the day of the elections. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Annamie Paul tried to brand Trudeau as a failed prime minister who has long promised transformative progressive change but has failed to deliver. Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole, who faced...

Daiem takes us through the platforms and challenges faced by all four of the major parties. Justin Trudeau has officially had Parliament dissolved, and is calling for an early election. The election will take place on September 20, 2021, allowing for just over a month for campaigning. So far, the Conservatives and NDP have officially released their platform. It’s sure to be an interesting race, as the leaders of all four major parties has come under fire for at least something or the other. Trudeau’s track record and missteps related to Brown Face, the Jody Wilson-Raybould affair and We Charity scandal is well documented. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has been criticized for being seen not following COVID guidelines. Conservative Erin O’Toole has had to deal with criticism from within his own party related to his stance on abortion, LGBT rights, carbon pricing and the environment which has put him at odds with his own party. And Green Leader Annamie Paul, the first Black Canadi...

Regent Park residents of Chinese origin represent the largest ethnic group in Regent Park - and Mandarin and Cantonese together represent the second largest non-English language groups in Regent Park after Bengali. Despite this large contingent of residents they remain relatively unseen in the cultural life of Regent Park. The exception is the Happy Dance Group. In Regent Park, every Wednesdays and Saturday evenings, between 6 pm – 8 pm, a group of twenty Chinese women from around the area gather to meet, talk and…dance. The Happy Dance Group, made up of mostly seniors meet in the courtyard behind the Daniel’s Spectrum Arts Centre to dance to popular Chinese music. The Happy dance group was founded by Miss XIANYAO TANG. “Dancing makes me feel friendly, happy and helps me get some exercise,” she said. The group has been dancing/practicing together for more than 5 years. According to Miss Tang, in China people dance in huge groups in the public square using similar routines, to keep fit,...

Healing Black Leaders Project holds a community graduation celebrating participants. On July 28, 2021, the Healing Black Leaders Project held a graduation ceremony outside the Daniels Spectrum Arts Centre in Regent Park. The graduation ceremony celebrated 23 leaders of African descent who completed the program. The leaders that attended the event, work in identified at-risk communities (commonly referred as Neighbourhood Investment Areas) across the City of Toronto, including several participating young leaders from Regent Park. In addition to handing out completion certificates and swag, the ceremony was also held to recognize the work of leaders in the communities they serve. The Healing the Black Leaders Project is a pilot project designed to provide Black leaders with the inspiration, support and additional skills they need to continue making a difference in their community. The project is part of on-going efforts to deal with anti-black racism and systemic barriers and w...