In this issue
A Summer Without Tourists
We don't usually think of Toronto as a travel destination. But when the tourism industry imploded overnight, the effects rippled across the city.
Here I Am, Stuck in Malvern
When my father died, heading downtown was a way to escape my grief. Now, under lockdown, I see him everywhere.
Where the Pandemic Hit Hardest
COVID has amplified social issues that have long existed at Jane and Finch. It’s also revealed the resiliency of the community.
A Small Town on Copeland Avenue
For years, I’d been craving the community and intimacy of small-town life. Then the pandemic hit and I found that it had been around me the whole time.
A Pandemic Across Time Zones
For the millions of Torontonians with family overseas, COVID has meant not just navigating our own lockdowns, but living through theirs as well.
Cruising Through COVID
I never thought I’d own a car. Now I’m stockpiling groceries and driving through the zoo, locked safe inside my vehicle like the Pope.
My Own Private Island
The ferry is empty. Beavers and mallards rustle through the bush. Without visitors, life on the Toronto Island is quiet and peaceful. It all feels terribly wrong.
In this issue
Last Week, In Review
As the first tentative positive signs emerged, it was tempting to look beyond the week—to try to trace the curve past where it flattens to the point it sinks beneath the horizon. It's too early for that.
Monday in Lockdown, Without Wi‑Fi
As schools, government services, and life itself seems to move online, those without internet access are struggling to stay connected.
Tuesday in Allan Gardens, Where the Police Guard the Benches
With shelters crowded and drop-ins closed, the police and the homeless play a strange game of cat and mouse.
Wednesday on the Front of the Frontlines
One is sick with COVID-19. Another has lost a quarter of her income. The personal support workers who care for our most vulnerable remain underpaid and underappreciated.
Thursday in Virtual Bail Court
Overnight, almost every aspect of the justice system has transformed in the name of public health. So why are we still sending people to crowded jails?
Friday with Charlotte
Teens like Charlotte are caught in a strange limbo, their plans for impending adulthood put on hold as the world freezes in place.
Saturday is Just Another Day
Every hour is a hundred years long, and each day is over before it’s begun. In a pandemic, everyone has their own personal theory on the passage of time.
Sunday in the Suburbs
The broad emptiness, the desolate streets, the deadening sameness—it turned out my parents’ suburban neighbourhood was the ideal place to live through a global pandemic.
In this issue
Welcome to Lawrence Heights
The future of Toronto as an equitable, liveable city begins in inner suburbs like this.
How it Feels to Be “Revitalized”
A revitalization project promises to transform this public housing community into a mixed-income neighbourhood. But meeting the needs of existing residents while appealing to affluent newcomers is a difficult balance.
The Picture Man
Thirty years ago, Rodrigo Moreno photographed neighbourhood kids for a school project. He's come back ever since, tracing the changing lives of people in a corner of the city few find worthy of documenting.
Why a Health Centre Started Teaching Algebra
Pathways to Education's unconventional approach to community health starts with helping kids finish high school.
Where the Spadina Expressway Didn’t Stop
Defeating the Spadina Expressway is a celebrated story of urban resistance. Less told is the story of the neighbourhood that has lived with a freeway running through its heart for the last fifty years.
The Toronto Basketball Powerhouse Nobody’s Ever Heard Of
The kids don’t get free sneakers. The team has to haggle for gym time. The coaches are unpaid. So what makes Toronto Basketball Academy so good?
On the Food Bank Frontlines
With demand skyrocketing, distribution sites closed, and volunteers staying home, food banks are scrambling to keep Toronto fed.
In this issue
Health, Incarcerated
How the prison system became a ramshackle, underfunded wing of the health care system.
Elderly, Confused, and Under Arrest
As more and more seniors with dementia become entangled with the law, how can the justice system adapt?
Not Criminally Responsible
Were last summer’s high-profile disappearances from CAMH signs of a broken program—or a complex system working as it should?
Why Are Most People in Prison Unconvicted?
Even as the rate of convicted offenders drops, the number of people in detention awaiting trial keeps growing. The uncertain, boring, brutal reality of life on remand.
Letters from the Inside
For a time, I was the only openly gay man in my prison. Then I met a trans woman and we started our own LGBTQ2 support group.
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