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The recent announcement on October 21, 2021 by the Ford Government to remove the work certification for immigrants comes as a much-welcomed move for many newcomers, and also various Ontario job sectors that have seen an increased demand for skilled workers. Currently there is a labour shortage in Ontario with 300,000 jobs unfilled - the consequences for the government mean billions of dollars in lost productivity. Canada as we know it is a land of immigrants. From the first European settlers who arrived here at the beginning of the seventeenth century to the most recent influx of immigrants from Afghanistan, newcomers have been the lifeblood of Canada’s development. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton framed the issue in terms of unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. He stated that the new legislation, if passed, would: Eliminate Canadian work experience requirements for professional registration and licensing unless an exemption is granted based on a demonstrated public health and

The Peel District School Board passed an anti-Islamophobia strategy with approval from community groups. The motion, calling for an anti-Islamophobia strategy, was brought forward and passed at a Peel District School Board meeting on September 30, 2021, by trustee Nokha Dakroub. The plan is being put in place with the intention of making schools safer for Muslim staff and students. In a video posted to twitter, Nokha Dakroub said: “It is meant to include the delivery of mandatory anti-Islamophobia training to all staff, accountability measures, and regular communication with the broader community.” Many community groups are supportive of the plan. Aasiyah Khan, Manager of Education Programs at the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM), said: “As for mandatory anti-Islamophobia training for staff, such education is a way to eradicate misunderstanding around Islam, to bring in "diverse narratives" about Muslim communities, and to make sure educators have the tools t

Inglewood Arms rooming house residents facing eviction win their rights to treated as full tenants Residents of the Inglewood Arms, a rooming house in downtown Toronto, located at 295 Jarvis Street, are celebrating after the Landlord and Tenant Board found them to be tenants with full protection of the Residential Tenancies Act, 2006 and not hotel guests as their landlord asserted. The order dated October 7, 2021 came after three days of hearings. “ It is a horrible thing to live at the whim of a landlord who slowly erodes the tenant rights that so many fought so hard to attain: even the most diligent and compliant of tenants will feel vulnerable and abused. I’ve lived at the Inglewood Rooming House for over 12 years and know many tenants who’ve lived there many years as well. Despite this, the landlord asserted we were mere hotel guests with no rights. So adamant was the landlord and so important is this cause, I decided to challenge the landlord at the Landlord and Tenant Board

Ontario to offer help to temp workers Ontario is set to introduce legislation that would require temporary help agencies and recruiters to be licensed. If approved, the proposed legislation would require Temporary Help Agencies and recruiters to have a license to operate. It would also spell out penalties for unlicensed temp agencies and recruiters, as well as businesses who use unlicensed agencies. The province is looking at hiring a dedicated team of officers to crack down on Temporary help agencies and recruiters who are exploiting or trafficking workers. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said there are more than 3,000 agencies in the province and the vast majority operate ethically, but not all. “Unfortunately, some are lawbreakers who exploit their workers,” he said. “This needs to change.” Ministry of Labour inspections have found multiple temporary help agencies that are paying workers below minimum wage and denying basic employment rights, McNaughton said. “The undergroun

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is declining to apologize for comments he made about immigrants. After an unrelated announcement on Monday, October 18, in Tecumseh, Ontario, Ford launched into a familiar line about Ontario’s biggest problem being a shortage of workers, particularly in the trades and construction. He said people who want to come and work their “tail off” like every other new Canadian has done should come to Ontario, but people who want to “collect the dole and sit around” should go somewhere else. The term “collect the dole” which means accessing social assistance is a disparaging term used to describe the act of accessing “government programs that provide a minimum level of income support to individuals and households living in poverty.” New immigrants are often ineligible for many services shortly after immigrating, including being ineligible to receive social assistance. The Canadian immigration system favours the highly educated, highly skilled class of immigrants, yet

  A new subway station is coming to Moss Park neighborhood relatively soon as part of the Ontario Line, a twelve-billion-dollar rapid transit project that will run across 15.5 kilometers connecting the Ontario Science Centre to Exhibition/Ontario Place. Moss Park is one of the fifteen station locations as part of the Ontario Line and with the exception of the station’s entrance located on the northwest corner of Queen and Sherbourne, it will be built underground. Anything constructed above ground for the Moss Park Station will be developed by Infrastructure Ontario and anything built below ground will be developed in partnership with Metrolinx. T he Moss Park Ontario Line station will connect a dense and fast-growing area of the city to the subway network. An estimated 7,300 people are expected to use Moss Park station during the busiest travel hour. However, there are a number of questions and concerns that community members have. ”What are the benefits of this project for the

Regent Park youth discuss philosophical questions related to values, beliefs and ethics. The 4GetAboutIt! TV is a youth-led TV & Radio show produced by Regent Park youth involved in Regent Park TV and the Focus Media Arts Centre. In this third episode of their television studio show, the youth collective reflects on their own personal beliefs while musing on philosophical questions. “Would you rather?”….so begins the host, Saima Islam, asking the other members of the collective the first question. “Would you rather go into the past and meet your ancestors, or go into the future and meet your great grand children?” In answering this question, the youth panel engaged in an interesting conversation about the past, the present and the future. Some of the members of the collective choose to go into the past to influence an ancestor to make different choices or fix a problem that would impact on their present and/or change the outcome of their future. One youth felt that by go

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