Issue 15 - Summer 2022

The Weight of Childbirth During a Climate Crisis

Perspective by Gargi Elizabeth Chatterjee

I enrolled in midwifery school in search of hope and purpose. But what does it mean to bring new life into a world that's becoming less liveable?

Also in this series

Editor's Letter by The Local

We’re in a Climate Emergency—It’s Time We Started Acting Like It

There is still time to mitigate the harms of climate change and build resilient communities in this city. But we need to start now.

Feature by Denise Balkissoon

A Brine Against Nature

Winter road salt finds its way into Toronto’s waterways all year long, harming wildlife, decreasing biodiversity, and damaging infrastructure.
Feature by H.G. Watson with photography by Christopher Katsarov Luna

Carving Out a Brand New Island

With Villier’s Island, the city aims to combat climate change, create a new mouth to the Don River, and add needed housing. But constructing a climate positive neighbourhood from scratch is no small task.
Feature by Inori Roy with photography by Christopher Katsarov Luna

As Toronto Temperatures Rise, Inequalities Widen

Climate change causes heat waves, but the city’s politics, policies, and design determine who suffers most.

Feature by Steph Wong Ken with photography by Christopher Katsarov Luna

The Line Between ‘Invasive’ and ‘Native’ Blurs

Not all invasive plant species are damaging to Toronto’s ecosystems. Treating them like they are could do more harm than good.

Feature by Emma McIntosh

The Drive to Reduce Car Pollution Hits Gridlock

Pollution from major roads causes premature death and illness, disproportionately affecting the low-income people who live next to them. Solutions are available, but the political will is not.

Feature by Emma McIntosh with photography by Carlos Osorio

How a Downtown Landfill Became an Accidental Bird Sanctuary

The Leslie Street Spit was a wasteland of rebar and construction materials. Now it’s an avian paradise and a crucial place for preserving biodiversity in the centre of Canada’s largest city.

Stories from the Outdoors

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Recent issues
Issue 14 - Spring 2022

"Living With It"

This is the sixth wave of the pandemic but the first wave of the “living with it” era. How does a city recover when COVID is no longer the single dominant force in our lives, but still very much present? From beleaguered theatre artists to shopkeepers in a Malvern mall, from the TTC to the health care system—stories about individuals and institutions groping their way towards a new kind of equilibrium.
Issue 13 - Winter 2022

The Schools Issue

From overworked ECEs to anxious alternative school parents, from teenagers mourning their lost high-school years to elementary school students still learning from cramped apartments—an ongoing series about Toronto kids, the people who teach them, and the state of the education system two years into a global pandemic.
Issue 12 - Fall 2021

Precarious

In 2021, the gap between our dated vision of what it means to “have a job” and the patchwork reality of how people earn their living has never been wider. From nurses doing gig work to mothers on EI working under the table, from college instructors to sex workers to nail salon technicians—a series about the way we work today, and how to turn precarious labour into decent work.