Executive Director's Message

Remembering, Commemoration and Celebration

As the car turned the corner of Davenport Road, turning into Church Street (non-Torontonians, indulge me for a moment), I sensed a change in the air at this intersection of the northern entry to Toronto’s Gay Village. A place that represents freedom, liberation and possibilities for many young queer persons across Canada, but probably more so around the globe.

Cash Cows And Scapegoats: The Plight Of International Students

Cash Cows And Scapegoats: The Plight Of International Students

Toronto / May 2024 - “We will have to be nuanced in our response.” I wrote to my Board of Directors, as a follow up to their discussion on the almost daily announcements of changes to the International Students Program from the federal Minister of Immigration. But after hitting send, I wondered how do you nuance the lives of individuals that are being impacted by these changes?

Cash Cows And Scapegoats: The Plight Of International Students

Toronto / May 2024 - “We will have to be nuanced in our response.” I wrote to my Board of Directors, as a follow up to their discussion on the almost daily announcements of changes to the International Students Program from the federal Minister of Immigration. But after hitting send, I wondered how do you nuance the lives of individuals that are being impacted by these changes?

A Message On Refugee Rights Day

Toronto / April 4, 2024

Dear OCASI Family,

Today we recognize the thirty-ninth anniversary of the Singh decision which confirmed that refugees are protected by Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

This day and what it represents -access to justice for all who are resident on this land, is more important than ever as we bear witness to unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers arriving on our shores seeking protection and refuge.

In Sisterhood

Toronto / March 2024

The invitation to join a group of feminist sisters over a two-day retreat with a loose agenda and no plans for post retreat work was met with a hopeful sigh and a touch of skepticism. As I walked into the hotel lobby that Sunday evening after an uneventful ride from the airport to Gatineau, I was met by two of my African-descent sisters who had arrived earlier and had made themselves the unofficial welcome community. We hugged and I could feel the early loosening of the muscles in my upper back.

On Joy

Toronto / February 2024

How far have we come in these past four years when global consciousness was reawakened to the persistent and enduring legacy and practice of anti-Black racism, when for more than nine minutes we watched on television the snuffing out of breath from a Black man by the knee of a uniformed white policeman.

Bridging The Divide

Toronto / January 2024

2024 arrived amid the echoes of war for land and the richness it holds, in the various diasporas here in Ontario and across the country. From Palestine (Gaza) to Sudan; and Congo to Ukraine many of our communities here in our cities and towns are engaged in some discussion, debate, protest, anguish and fear for their loved ones caught in the violent power play of capital and its unrelenting greed.

Walking In Solidarity ...

Toronto / October 2023

“End renovictions! Bring back rent controls”! “What do we want”? “Rent controls”! “When do we want it”? “Now”!

The chants - the call and response of rallies and demonstrations of years past and current moments of protests, echoed faintly along University Avenue as a scraggly group of just over one hundred concerned residents walked from Toronto City Hall to Queen’s Park.

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