Record Reviews

Stephen Carlick

The xx – XX
A satisfying debut from South London hipsters too detached for their own good

Rating: B -

The hype machine is very inconsistent. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong and sometimes it creates something of such middle-of-the-road mediocrity that it’s hard to tell. The debut album from South London quartet the xx falls somewhere in the better half of the hype spectrum, but it still doesn’t do everything other critics tell you it will. It has been called haunting and mesmerizing, but it’s not. It has also been called R&B, but it’s not. What it is? A smooth and easy-going, cleanly-plucked guitar album that tends to float along better in the background than if one is listening for something extraordinary. XX is a slinky and sensual album whose intimacy is created by the wispy, conversational singing style of vocalists Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim.

It’s unfortunate, though, that instead of using romantic tension to create an album that builds and releases, they’ve opted for a less demanding route. The album falls short of such great heights both melodically and musically. The album’s greatest flaw is that it sounds too content to pile on the style without enough consideration for substance or musical concern. There is nothing exciting about the band’s song-writing, nothing that indicates a willingness to push musical boundaries or to invest themselves fully in their craft. The album’s saving grace is the spacious, moody production which, to their credit, was done mostly by the band themselves. XX is a “night album,” to be sure, one that sounds better on headphones than over speakers and works best when things are quiet and you’re feeling restless or pensive. It’s too musically and emotionally detached to be truly compelling and worthy of the hype heaped upon it, but XX is a consistently satisfying listen.

The Flaming Lips – Embryonic
An astounding, engaging and rewarding album of rare quality

Rating: A

I feel as though I have to put myself in context before I write this review, so here it is. I’ve never been the biggest Flaming Lips fan. I was too young to know about the Lips during their supposed heyday (when they released 1999’s The Soft Bulletin) but when Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots dropped in 2002 I was interested enough to pick up the CD. For seven years since then, I’ve been unmotivated to check out their past work. This was based solely on my impression of the pleasing-if-not-slightly-novel Yoshimi and 2006’s gallingly quirky At War with the Mystics.

It was, then, nearly earth-shattering to hear Embryonic for the first, and especially second and third, time. It was so loud and then so pretty; so cacophonous and then so sparse; so dissonant and then so melodic; so powerful. Lazy critics will likely point to the influence of Pink Floyd, but this record is an affecting mix of everything, an intoxicating blend of Kraut-rock, noise, soul, pop, children’s music, industrial and gentle shoe-gaze that gets better with every listen. The album was purported to be a double-album, so though the album measures in with eighteen tracks, the nine-track album sides make for satisfying and cohesive listens both individually and as a pair. Embryonic is an album of captivating riffs and constantly shifting musical ideas that never outstay their welcome. It’s an album of movements that come and go to create a dynamic, hypnotic whole that implores the listener to listen—actively. In an age where media often begs us to use all our senses at once, Embryonic is a rare album that deserves and rewards the unmitigated employment of just one.

Q-Tip – Kamaal the Abstract

An artistic statement from the Hip Hop Legend
Rating: B+

Kamaal the Abstract was supposed to hit shelves seven years ago, but Q-Tip’s label at the time, Arista, cancelled its release because they doubted the record’s commercial viability. Since then, it has floated around the internet, being passed about by fans via torrents and peer-to-peer file-sharing. The album has finally been given a physical release and while it isn’t the best thing Q-Tip has ever done, it’s a necessary artistic step from a musician who never really fell off. It’s hard to imagine a record label passing this up now, but that fact lives as a testament to both Q-Tip’s influence and his artistic integrity. For the latter, one might suggest the fact that Tip never changed the album to suit the demands of his label. One could also make the case that to even create the album in the first place demonstrated Tip’s indifference to commercial success and showed his commitment to making an album that paid homage to the music that was influential and formative to his growth as a musician.

All this considered, however, it’s Q-Tip’s influence that makes it hardest to comprehend Arista’s decision not to release Kamaal. So many rappers have now gone the same eclectically jazz-funk route that it now makes the album seem conventional, despite Kamaal’s having preceded the trend. The amount of singing here, combined with the jazz-funk influence felt heavily throughout the album, provide listeners with some understanding for the genius of last year’s The Renaissance. However, while Kamaal the Abstract lacks the cohesiveness and sheer energy of that album, it stands on its own as a solid album of experimental jazz-hop. It represents a vital step in the career of one of the few rappers that never attached his name to something he didn’t stand wholeheartedly behind.

Tour de Chocolat

Gursevak Kasbia

A quick trip to the grocery store when I was young usually involved me begging for a chocolate bar but having very little selection to choose from. In fact, the first time I ever tried cacao was when I placed a spoon into the Fry’s cocoa powder tin, only to taste a putrid powder which did not resemble any chocolate substance I had before. Years later, I realized that this was cacao in its purest form, and the process of creating the chocolate I recognized in stores was much different. So when I was invited to the Toronto chocolate festival I could not help but resist finding out how chocolate is produced, a bit about its history and what different flavours are being created.

The history of chocolate began thousands of years ago in Mexico and Central America. It was not in the current form you would find in confectionary stores today - as bars, cookies or cupcakes—but rather as a liquid. The ancient Maya drank the chocolate since they believed it possessed many medicinal properties.  Cacao was unknown to Europe since Columbus and the Spanish landed in parts of the Caribbean including Jamaica and the Yucatan Peninsula in the early 1500s. The explorers saw that people were using cacao beans as a form of currency and were curious as to why. The Spaniards initially hated the cacao beverage that they were offered by local tribes. However, they soon realized that agave nectar and evaporated cane sugar could be added to the mix to make the taste more appealing. With aristocratic Spaniards forcibly taking native women as concubines, chocolate made its way into the kitchens of these explorers.

However, it was not just the taste that lured the women into cooking with it, but also the addictive nature of cacao. From this point onwards chocolate began its hybridization, as when the explorers began substituting cinnamon for traditional spices for flavouring the chocolate.

Theobromide cacao, the scientific name of cacao, is a derivative of the Greek meaning “food of the Gods” and its no wonder traveling explorers brought back millions of pounds of this food fit for kings and queens. Its rich texture combined with other ingredients such as vanilla and almond, had an aroma that could be sensed by any nose miles from where it was being processed. Columbus arrived in the Americas and also began to export cacao to Europe, and so began the cacao trade.

At first taste cacao is a very bitter seed that really would not seem pleasant to the average taster. But to aficionados, this first taste, bitterness and all, can help determine what end product it will become when ground and processed for consumption. There currently exist three different families of cocoa beans: Criollo, Forasteros and Trinitario. Criollo beans grow primarily in South America’s milder climates. Forasteros beans are produced in the Amazon and account for about eighty percent of the world’s cacao production. Trinitario is considered a hybrid bean and it is produced in the Caribbean and South America.

Thus our history lesson ends and our journey into Toronto’s Fourth Annual Chocolate ball begins. The inspiration for the Chocolate ball came from Joey C, the Toronto based director of JCO communications.

Lina Dhingra, one of the event organizers who also contributed to this year’s TIFF, explained that the event was to showcase “Toronto’s finest chocolates and chocolatiers” and it combined the pleasures of chocolate with a ’50s and ’60s theme.

Weather could not dampen or chill anyone’s hearts as the warm aroma of chocolate cakes, biscotti and even dinner items featuring chocolate were all on the tasting menu. I had a few different tasting chocolates to savour. Among these was a strawberry-wasabi filled white chocolate. Its creator Brandon Olsen described his chocolates as being “unique and for a niche chocolate market, [all] [the] while promoting fair and sustainable cacao and business practices.”

Also present were bakeries such as la Patisserie La Cigogne, which featured beautiful rum chocolate balls and chocolate cream filled puffed pastries. They each had unique artistic impressions. Chocolates with champagne filling added to this delectable menu. The entrepreneurial spirit of Toronto’s finest chocolate producers was apparent. It didn’t take long to see why Canada positions itself among the few nations in the world who can use its cultural diversity to benefit chocolate making.

This night was also dedicated to a great cause - in support of the Ava Rose foundation. Ava was only an infant when she needed the help of Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. As a thanks to her team of paediatric surgeons, the foundation was developed to help give back to her community.

ImagiNative Film & Media Arts Festival celebrates 10th Anniversary

Jessica Finch

The ImagiNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival has honoured Aboriginal culture by showcasing the latest work of filmmakers, performers and digital artists for 10 years. This year the festival celebrated its achievement with a series of special events. New Media Mash Up was a unique presentation that placed the sounds of Inuk throat singing against a backdrop of ‘mashed up’ video footage. The combination of old and new Aboriginal art forms was the idea behind this show and was the basis for the entire festival.  In addition, this year’s special art gala event, Codetalkers of the Digital Divide, took the festival in a new direction. The event saw displays of digital art, and Native inspired websites accompanied by a discussion from the artists and curator, Cheryl L’Hirondelle.

New Media Mash Up

New Media Mash Up was a powerful, collaborative media piece presented by two Indigenous artists: Tanya Tagaq and Bear Witness, of Six Nations. Tagaq is a professional Inuk throat singer. And with each performance, her voice goes to incredible lengths as she moans, growls and sings with throat sounds. The art of throat singing is deeply rooted in Inuk culture. As Tagaq states, “[throat singing] has helped me get in touch with my heritage; I’m proud to be Inuk.” Traditionally throat singing is done by two people facing one another, singing back and forth as if in conversation. At the New Media Mash Up event Tagaq was singing solo but her piece was brought to life through the strength of her voice and her rhythmic movements.

“[Throat singing] can take over your whole body” says Tagaq. She says that all of her movements come from a pure an emotional place. On stage at Mash Up, Tagaq is accompanied by a percussionist and violinist, but also by the experimental visuals of a video jockey (VJ) Bear Witness.

As a VJ, Bear Witness employs cross-over techniques in his work, combining the idea of DJing to video in a specific style called Jawa. Mash Up is Bear’s first attempt at live Jawa, but his remixes of home video and film footage flow perfectly with Tanya’s singing. Bear’s use of personal as well as Hollywood video clips is done to, “re-contextualize [typical] images of Natives seen in the media, [and] show Hollywood interacting with real life”.

The live mixture of old and new media in Mash Up was seamless and evocative, and both artists hope to collaborate with one another again in future. Outside of ImagiNATIVE, both performers pursue their arts in various streams. Tanya has worked with Icelandic singer Bjork as well as the Kronos quartet, and her CD, SINAA, is in stores now. Meanwhile Bear Witness works as an experimental filmmaker and DJ, based out of Ottawa and Toronto. Check out Tanya’s website at www.tanyatagaq.com for more information on her tour dates and new projects.

Codetalkers of the Digital Divide

In war time, codetalkers were Indigenous people in North America who relayed code to the allies, in languages unknown to the enemy. In today’s context, Indigenous people are still using code but the purpose, platforms and technologies have changed considerably. Codetalkers of the Digital Divide, presented by curator Cheryl L’Hirondelle, investigated our changing technological landscape, through art pieces done by artists from across North America. Paintings by artist Buffy St. Marie illuminated the gallery, while a webpage designed by Melanie Printup Hope was projected onto a once white wall.  Hope’s web page, designed in the mid 1990s, is just one example of Indigenous digital work that was done prior to the rise of Web 2.0.

Two Mac computers in the gallery showcased additional web projects by Indigenous artists, past and present. The websites were open for public perusal, but many of the projects were later explained by their artists. One of the web projects called IsumaTV 2.0 was a video display and upload site, dubbed, “Indian Youtube.” The site was originally launched by Igloolik Isuma Productions in 2008, with an upgrade to 2.0 earlier this year. Two of IsumaTV’s creators were on hand to discuss the site. They explained that Internet in remote Northern communities is slow and extremely expensive, which has kept many Indigenous people from entering the 21st century. IsumaTV proposes that, “servers be set up with the site for remote communities [to access], so popular content can be seen by people who are off the grid.”

The ambition behind IsumaTV and a number of other new media projects at this exhibit were clear. Most impressive, however, was the presentation of Alanis Obomsawin’s Manawan, her documentary film made in 1972. The piece was projected in a separate part of the gallery. It was a touching film, but Obomsawin’s descriptions were truly breathtaking. The documentary focused on the Atikamekw people and their place in 1970s Quebec society. The oppression described by Obomsawin with regards to her own experience and that of the Atikamekw people was heart-wrenching. “The biggest oppression starts when you’re five [when you go to school],” as the Anglophone and Francophone teachers told the kids who they were, and who they should be, said Obomsawin. Oppression and overcoming adversity were strong components in many of the works presented at ImagiNATIVE. Manawan will be released soon on DVD by the NFB. To learn more go to www.nfb.ca/alanis-obomsawin and check out IsumaTV at: www.isuma.tv.

Toronto on Film depicts our many cityscapes

TIFF Cinematheque celebrates Toronto’s 175th birthday

Angela Walcott

Hollywood actors have returned home, the red carpets have been rolled up and eager fans have caught a glimpse of their favorite stars. So the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is over, right? Not really. TIFF is not all about hype. The festival lives on in quiet ways, as in the recently published anthology entitled Toronto on Film which celebrates Toronto’s 175th birthday. The anthology includes interviews from film critic Geoff Pevere, TIFF CEO, Piers Handling and award-winning critic, Matthew Hays. It also follows the development of feature film making in the city with a glossary listing 175 key films.

Of the 175 films highlighted as part of Toronto on Film, is a film series that took place from October 9 to October 22 at TIFF Cinematheque. The series provided Torontonians with an opportunity to examine and enjoy the development of Toronto’s cinematic history. Some memorable movies in which Toronto is featured are Dream Tower, Bollywood/Hollywood and EMPZ4 LIFE.

Dream Tower is the story of the ill-fated Rochdale College—an educational institution run by ambitious-minded students—who wanted to take education to new heights during the 1960’s hippy era. Paul Goodman inspired a vision of self-education and self-sufficiency in a university with student residences. The idea went terribly wrong due to poor management, free loaders, motorcycle gangs and drugs that started to infest the complex. The dream crumbled. Director Ron Mann takes us on a tour of Toronto’s past, when Yorkville was a bohemian hippy hangout. From this historical perspective, the events that helped to shape the city serve as a reminder of how a cityscape changes.

Toronto has evolved and matured and this was captured on screen by the well-known director Deepa Mehta. It was with her successful films such as Earth and Fire, and Bollywood/Hollywood that Mehta mixed comedy and love and featured Toronto prominently. In the film, her musical dramatization tells the story of Rahul, an attractive and wealthy Indian man, who employs a woman to portray his fiancée. The Eastern cultural traditions meet the West and Toronto serves as the happy medium where these cultural divides come together.

For the stark reality that Allan King depicts in his film EMPZ4 LIFE, Toronto is filmed as a wasteland. In the suburb of Malvern, crime and violence have robbed many youth of hope for a decent future. Young capable black men especially do not strive for academic success. But along comes Brian Henry, volunteer for youth agency HOODLINC, that helps high-risk young men achieve success. Meanwhile mathematician John Mighton volunteers in the same community. Together they instill confidence and the desire to succeed in their students. It is an uplifting film.

In all three films, there are different perspectives and viewpoints of Toronto. It’s this reflection of diversity in the films that is the beauty of the series. TIFF Cinematheque presents a selection of more than 300 films annually, including directors’ retrospectives, national and regional cinema spotlights, thematic programs, exclusive limited runs, and classic and contemporary Canadian and international cinema. The collection also includes many new and rare archival prints. There is a lot to choose from for anyone interested in film.

Amreeka: one immigrant family’s experience

Review of Cherien Dabis’ new film at the Toronto Palestine Film Fest

Pacinthe Mattar

It’s 1991, and while the Gulf War rages on in the Middle East, a different war is being waged in the United States.

In Ohio, a Palestinian doctor sees more and more of his patients walk out on him (no real American wants to be treated by an Arab!), and he soon begins to wonder how he’ll be able to provide for his wife and two daughters. Then, the death threat arrives, and inspires more to follow suit daily. Soon afterwards, the Secret Service shows up to his daughters’ school to investigate a rumour that his eldest wants to kill the president.

“Absurd things kept happening,” said Palestinian-American filmmaker Cherien Dabis in a recent interview in Toronto of her time growing up in the American Midwest. “I was 14, and it was a very eye-opening time for me. The way that the media was perpetuating stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims… I wanted to do something about that by trying to tell the story from my own point of view.”

And she did. Dabis’ real-life events, and those she heard about, are what inspired her award-winning film, Amreeka. The film opened the 2nd annual Toronto Palestine Film Festival, attracting over 900 people to the film’s Canadian premiere.

Amreeka, which is the Arabic word for “America,” tells the story of Muna, an endearing yet strong-willed Palestinian mother. Muna has just plucked her teenage son out of their home in the West Bank and moved in with her sister’s family in Illinois in search of a better life—one without checkpoints, occupation, and daily reminders of her failed marriage.

The film dances delicately between humour and heaviness. A resilient Muna struggles to find a job and ends up taking orders at White Castle, the local burger joint – the only place that will hire her. “Two degrees and 10 years’ experience, and in this country all it gets me is a hamburger,” the former banker Muna laments, while dressed in her blue uniform and matching visor.

Muna’s son, Fadi, gets a crash course in surviving high school, getting smashed into lockers in the hallway for speaking up to defend himself and his country when provoked by a posse of racist bullies. But Muna and Fadi’s chronicles are filled with laugh-out-loud hilarious humour as well. Muna brings her Palestinian flare into her work and creates the delectable Falafel Burger to add to White Castle’s menu. Meanwhile, Fadi gets fashion advice from his feisty, young American cousins who tell him what to wear so he doesn’t look like a (God forbid) ‘FOB’—Fresh Off the Boat.

This feature film, Amreeka, is a success story in more ways than one. But in the early days, Dabis says it was hard to gain support for the movie

“I was going out with the script at a time when people were looking for a heavy Iraq war drama,” she explained. “Amreeka was ‘too culturally specific’ or it was ‘too light.’ It was ‘too political’, it was ‘not political,’ or it ‘wasn’t political enough.’ This story is just about average people, but people were looking for a war-driven Iraq film.

Dabis didn’t bend, and eventually, the film that was seven years in the making was filmed between Ramallah, Palestine and Manitoba in a whirlwind 24 days. In 2009, Amreeka made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, and played at the opening night of New Directors/New Films, a co-presentation by The Museum of Modern Art and The Film Society of Lincoln Center.  Amreeka made its international debut at the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes Film Festival.

Dabis says she wanted the film to tell more than just her personal story. “My goal was to make a movie about a family, about Palestinians, that could be mainstream,” she explained. “I wanted to bring in the marginalized. The message of this movie is family, and love and strength and resilience…in the general sense, not just related to Palestinians.”

Amreeka was the perfect selection to kick off the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, which aims to showcase “the extraordinary narrative of a dispossessed people living in exile or under occupation” through thought-provoking film, discussions and art. The festival, organized by Palestine House, took place between September 26 and October 2.

As Muna and Fadi navigate their new lives, they learn that life in the United States is not as rosy as they thought it would be. They discover that separation barriers exist even in the Land of the Free—if not literally, than figuratively. Fadi had convinced his mother to move there because it was “better than living like prisoners in our own country,” but soon the duo tastes the bitterness of homesickness and experience the deep desire to belong somewhere—anywhere. As they change to adapt to their new reality, they both rebel against what they know and what they’ve been taught and they find the meaning of being proud of who they are.

In the end, Muna and Fadi’s journey isn’t too different from Dabis’ personal journey in creating Amreeka. “It was a lesson in listening to your heart,” said Dabis.

Amreeka opens on October 30 in select Canadian theatres.

For John Irving, writing is a compulsion

Angela Walcott

An angry voice filled the Fleck Dance Theatre at the Harbourfront Centre at the International Festival of Authors. Writer John Irving wasn’t angry because he had to catch a flight for the US immediately after reading from his latest novel, Last Night in Twisted River, it was because he was emotionally invested in the character he had created for the novel.

Irving was in Toronto to read and talk about his latest literary creations, along with first-time and established writers, during the festival which took place from October 21-31.

As a writer, Irving understands the characters he creates. He knows how they react, why they react and what will trigger a response. His reading was especially unique in that he was so emotionally involved in the character’s response, that he read the novel like it was a script. It is not hard to imagine Last Night in Twisted River adapted for the big screen, since two of his best-selling novels were made into movies. The World According to Garp starred Peter Sellers and The Cider House Rules starred Michael Caine and Toby McGuire.

In an interview following the reading, John Irving spoke with Canada AM host Seamus O’Regan and he revealed that the novel was in his mind longer than any he had written—more than 20 years. He confessed that the last sentence to the novel eluded him until 2005. When he finally found the last sentence, it was so obvious he didn’t know why he couldn’t find it before.

The research for his novel was easy because he grew up in the world he depicted. It was very accessible to him. Novels he read as a child made him want to become a writer. The 19th century writers wrote plot-driven stories. As a habit, Irving writes the last sentence of the novel first. This is a process that he used in Cider House Rules as well. He says he knew the tone of voice of the last sentence. It was more upbeat than the rest of the text and the tone of voice was one of elation.

“If you think you are capable of living by writing then write,” is a quote that Irving pulled from his novel in his reading at the festival. Writing represents much more to Irving, “Writing is not a career choice,” he said. “It is like an eating disorder. It is a compulsion.”

International Festival of Authors celebrates 30 years

Angela Walcott

It’s a book lover’s paradise, where writers from all over the world stimulate the imagination of festival-goers with literary delights, captivating stories and characters. The International Festival of Authors (IFOA) celebrated its 30th anniversary this year with participation from authors from 15 different countries.

The IFOA was spread out over three key locales at the flagship location of Harbourfront Centre, which allowed for easy access to events. Bookworms could be seen hopping to and from events. In the Lakeside Terrace, a magnificent view of the harbour on a bright Sunday afternoon was the setting for The Fifth Estate’s co-host, Linden MacIntyre’s reading session. MacIntyre read from his latest work entitled The Bishop’s Man which is an impressive tale of justice and healing. The novel garnered a spot on the shortlist of the 2009 Giller Prize.

Also in the Lakeside Terrace was France’s Eric Emmanuel Schmitt who read from The Most Beautiful Book in the World, a collection of eight short stories of happiness from a woman’s point of view. In his view, women are stronger characters. “I tried to become a woman in the book, because women decide everything,” he said.

Over in the candlelit Brigantine Room, the line-up included a roundtable discussion entitled “On Hearing Voices and Seeing Places You’ve Never Been,” with authors Nicholson Baker, Ian Pears, Adam Thorpe and David Wroblewski. It was moderated by fellow writer Charles Foran, and the focus was language in writing. David Wroblewski opined that when a character gets into an author’s head, the author becomes obsessed, and subsequently he or she loses the initial connection they established with that character.

On the other hand, with historical novels there is more distance. While language can pose problems to some writers, others see it as a chance to experience different eras through language.

David Wroblewski’s main struggle with writing is his preoccupation with language. Once a software developer, he said he gets annoyed when the wrong word makes it into a sentence. “Every problem seems to be a problem of language,” Wroblewski said. “I wanted this book to be written for the body and not the head—based purely on sensory experience—soaked in the physical and abstracted from the linguistic world.”

Judging from the turnout for the events at IFOA this year, it appears that attendees don’t necessarily have to be part of the literary elite to enjoy an author reading or a good novel.

Additional highlights of the festival included a $500 door prize from book publishers, discounted student tickets for the event and autographed copies of novels from the authors themselves. IFOA is now in the third year of its Ontario touring component. This year the festival will stop in Barrie, Burlington, Don Mills, Midland, Orillia, Parry Sound and Uxbridge.

Home Safe reveals the recession’s impact, shows housing is a human right

Amanda Connon-Unda, Culture Editor

As the lights dimmed at the Revue Cinema in Toronto on October 8 the audience went silent. Laura Sky’s latest film called Home Safe Toronto started playing. Serene yet emotive music filled the dark room as the SkyWorks Charitable Foundation logo crossed the screen.

Laura Sky is my former boss, so I know her organization well. Sky started SkyWorks after she left the NFB, in order to produce her own films about social issues. Sky’s films aren’t necessarily destined to be broadcast (although sometimes they are), but instead her films are funded through NGOs, government agencies and private donors. They are made in consultation with community participants who give feedback and consent along the way. Her films are eventually toured as feature length documentaries across the country. It’s a process that drastically departs from the broadcasting model, whereby independent producers are beholden to broadcasters’ audience and marketability considerations, budgets and deadlines.

Home Safe Toronto is a very timely film which was being researched both prior to the recession and in the wake of the recession being thrown about incessantly in the media. In the film, Sky and her executive co-producer Cathy Crowe reveal that homelessness is becoming a new reality today for more working families. As the manufacturing sector has weakened due to recent restructuring, housing insecurity is becoming more common.

Home Safe is a national film series that has several editions. It features what’s happening to children and their parents facing housing insecurity or homelessness in four cities across the country. Home Safe Toronto reveals what’s happening to families in the G.T.A.

According to recent city statistics, in April there were almost 1200 families living in homeless shelters in downtown Toronto. Meanwhile more than 70,000 households were on the waiting list for affordable housing.

Cathy Crowe, a street nurse and co-producer of Home Safe Toronto, explained the objective of their film. “It was to witness family homelessness - to make it visible,” she said. “But [we wanted] to go beyond the stereotype… To show that [homelessness] is families hitting a crisis or misfortune through lack of adequate social programs and employment that make them fall into homelessness,” she said.

While researching the film during the economic downturn Sky and Crowe found that laid-off workers and their families were facing some extreme stresses. The families they followed were relocating to follow work, doubling up in apartments with other families and even moving into family shelters. The producers said that some families are having to choose between paying their rent or feed their kids.

The Richards family in Brampton was one of the families featured in the film. Colleen Richards recently joined the fast-food workforce to support her family. She was working 60-hour weeks at $10 an hour. Her husband was laid off from Chrysler and his employment insurance ran out.  She and her husband and two kids were finding it very hard to live off of her wage and at the time of filming they were facing an eviction notice.

After Home Safe Toronto’s premiere Richards explained what she got out of participating in the film: “We had a voice,” she said. “It empowered us and it gave us an opportunity to open up dialogue and hopefully inspire some change…And to tear down some of those walls and the prejudice that is out there,” said Richards.

Home Safe Toronto is a touching film that includes the stories of loving families who are enduring tough times. The film highlights the social need for better affordable housing policies that would enable families to have a decent standard of living even during economic downturns. The film reveals a liberal, human rights oriented, pro-union stance through its sourcing and its request for economic justice.

Sky’s narrative voice is interwoven throughout the film. She tells the story of her grandmother who helped organize labour unions in the Toronto garment factory where she worked during The Depression era.  The concluding segment of the film depicts community building today amongst laid-off workers and it was particularly moving. “Together we’ve begun to ask the bigger questions… [about housing] and about recognizing housing as a human right,” said Sky in her closing narration.

As the finale music came on in the theatre during the film premiere, the audience clapped stridently. Their sound was resoundingly clear. The audience clapped even louder as the families who had participated in the film went on stage for the final Q&A period.

Audience members and friends of SkyWorks commented on the families’ bravery for having faced the stigma of coming out and talking about their economic hardship. In the Q&A period the stereotype about homelessness was discussed and people talked about making changes to legislation so that there would be more affordable housing in future.

Home Safe Toronto will tour across the country at community screenings. The documentary is available for use by educational institutions, community groups and activists and is part of a tool kit of materials to help plan local strategies. For more information visit www.skyworksfoundation.org and www.vtape.org.

Sisters in Spirit lead struggle against violence

Amelia Murphy-Beaudoin

In the last 30 years, there have been at least 520 documented cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in Canada, according to the latest research from the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC).

More than half the cases have occurred since 2000. Over two-thirds of the total number of missing women have been found dead. Twenty-five per cent are still missing. If the same murder and disappearance rate was applied to the general female population in Canada, there would be 18,000 murdered and missing women in the country.

The federal government’s willful ignorance has allowed many of the murders of Aboriginal women to go unsolved. According to NWAC’s research, only 52 per cent have been cleared, compared to a national homicide clearance rate of over 80 per cent.

It’s a national tragedy that Aboriginal women are not a priority for police and public officials. Sadly, when an Aboriginal woman is murdered or disappears, her case does not mobilize the police to act, or the media to report.

Women are more likely to be victims of social and physical abuse because of their gender. This problem is amplified when we talk about Aboriginal women. For example, despite all the public attention on the Robert Pickton murders, we rarely hear that most of his victims were young, Aboriginal women.

It is an appalling double-standard involving racism, stereotypes and discrimination that makes the cases of these women less important. Many of the Aboriginal women who have been murdered or disappeared have had difficult life circumstances. But it is precisely these circumstances that placed them at a much higher risk.

The oppression of Aboriginal people has been a fact for so long that the federal government is fully aware of the myriad of issues affecting their communities. But the government knowingly ignores them. The fact remains, despite the indifference of the federal government, that an Aboriginal person is five times more likely to be murdered than a non-Aboriginal Canadian.

It’s true that alcoholism, drug addiction, and involvement in the sex trade are more common in Aboriginal communities than in the rest of society. There are reasons for these trends. The murder and disappearance of Aboriginal women is the most severe example of the price that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples are paying for the appalling social conditions in which they are trapped.

Aboriginal communities endure environments that are overcrowded, sometimes contaminated, and usually without adequate basic services such as sewage services or running water. More than one third of Aboriginal people in Canada have, in government jargon, a “core housing need,” meaning their homes do not meet the most basic standards of acceptability. A lower standard of education and levels of unemployment and poverty three times higher than mainstream society are the norm.

Despite this state of desperation, or perhaps because of it, the Aboriginal community has mobilized around the cases of these murdered and missing women.

In the last five years, public attitudes have shifted, giving momentum to the cause. Craig Benjamin, Amnesty International Indigenous rights campaigner, said: “Five years ago, there was a sense that nobody was listening, which isn’t the case anymore.” Calls for a public inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered Aboriginal women have been increasing, along with a growing body of research on the issue, which politicians are content to fund—but only as a substitute to heeding the calls for a national investigation.

Recently, the United Nations asked the Harper government to investigate why hundreds of deaths and disappearances of Aboriginal women remain unsolved.

The pressure is on the federal government to respond to this growing public pressure for accountability and justice, and to demand a thorough investigation of this ongoing horror.

On October 4, 72 Sisters in Spirit vigils took place in 69 communities, up from 11 vigils in 2006, the first year they were held. The vigils honour the lives of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls.

The vigils coincide with a report entitled No More Stolen Sisters from Amnesty International citing a “shocking failure” by the federal government to stop the killing and disappearance of Aboriginal women. There still remains a lack of coordinated action on the federal level. Amnesty International decries the federal government’s “piecemeal approach” to dealing with violence against Aboriginal women, calling for a coordinated, national action plan.

The following is part of a statement that was read out at the Sisters in Spirit vigils from coast to coast:

“The violence experienced by Aboriginal women and girls in Canada is a national tragedy. The disappearance and murder of our Aboriginal sisters is felt nationwide, with countless First Nations, Inuit, and Métis families and communities grappling with the loss of a loved one and struggling to find answers. We are speaking out, as individuals and organizations, because we believe this violence should be of urgent concern to everyone in Canada.

“More than that, this concern must lead to action—action to ensure that the rights and safety of Aboriginal sisters, daughters, mothers and grandmothers are respected and protected.

“Aboriginal women face disproportionate levels and severe forms of violence no matter where they live in Canada. There can be no piecemeal solution to a problem of this scale. Therefore, we are calling on all levels of government to work with Aboriginal women, including the NWAC and other key stakeholders, collaboratively on issues of justice, safety, economic security and the well-being of Aboriginal women and girls.”

NWAC is calling for a national plan of action that recognizes the violence faced by Aboriginal women because they are Aboriginal and because they are women, that ensures effective and unbiased police response, that improves public awareness and accountability, that reduces the risk to Aboriginal women by closing the economic and social gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Canada, and that improves the child welfare system.

It’s time to begin this important work. There have been several recent initiatives undertaken by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police and the governments of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, among others, that show “concrete acknowledgement” of the specific challenges facing Aboriginal women. This is progress, but it isn’t enough, and it doesn’t excuse the decades of inaction by the federal government.

Recently, under pressure from the Aboriginal communies and advocacy organizations, the RCMP has created a task force to try to solve a portion of the cases of missing and murdered women—the mysterious deaths and disappearances of women along Highway 16.

Yellowhead Highway 16 West, which runs 720 km between Prince George and Prince Rupert, has come to be known as the “Highway of Tears.” Since 1969, that stretch of road has seen 19 women, all but one of whom were Aboriginal, go missing or be found murdered. All of those cases are still unsolved.

Beginning in June 2008, hundreds of people joined a powerful journey called Walk4Justice—trekking from Vancouver to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to press for a public inquiry, and to honour the missing and murdered women of the Highway of Tears.

Canadians should not tolerate the horror of these crimes: more than 520 daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers stolen away from their families, friends, and communities. These women were murdered in our cities and along our highways. As citizens, Aboriginal people are entitled to the same protection as any one else, and their disappearances should be investigated as vigorously as anyone else’s.

Our task is to join and support the struggles led by Aboriginal women in their communities as they resist these massacres. Progressives can play a role in building and expanding solidarity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to force the government and its agents to take decisive action and to stop the tragedies.

Visit the website of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC): http://www.nwac-hq.org/en/index.html.

This article originally appeared in Socialist Worker issue 512, November 2009

Student debt? Only in North America

Ontario students now pay the highest tuition in Canada. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Nicole Brewer

When I was strolling through the clothing section of Ryerson’s store, I found a shirt that said “My kids and my money go to Ryerson University.” It had the desired effect, and I giggled silently to myself. This was one of those situations when it’s funny because it’s true. But when you find yourself in thousands of dollars of debt, the truth is that it’s no laughing matter. I am paying almost $6,000 this year in tuition and fees, more than any other first-year student in my program before me, and statistically the education I’m receiving isn’t any better. Any improvement in the curriculum has come from evolution and dedication, not more resources, leaving the hike in tuition unnecessary and unfair.

Maybe it’s just me being old-fashioned, but education really seems like something that should be accessible by ability, not by finances. When the cost of living is combined with tuition and fees, many students simply cannot afford a post-secondary education, whether they meet the requirements or not. A limited number of scholarships are given to those who soar above and beyond the requirements of their institute of choice, but even those scholarships are only given out to a handful of students, and they rarely cover the cost of tuition.

For those students who have to take out loans, the stress of university is increased by the pressure of having a loan gathering interest in the background while you’re busy studying for your ten mid-terms.

Tuition-free universities and colleges are scattered all around Europe in France, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Ireland. In South America, Brazil still offers free tuition. Even certain colleges in the United States provide free education, and still tuition fees in Canada rise year after year.

Just five years ago, it cost only $4,800 for the very same program I’m enrolled in today. Some say that tuition costs should rise with inflation, but according to the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), in 2008, tuition fees were almost 1.5 times more expensive than they would have been had they only been increased by inflation since 1995.

A report put out by Statistics Canada on October 20 found that Ontario’s tuition fees are now the highest in the country, despite having the most government funding. The same report showed that students enrolled in undergraduate programs this year faced the same 3.6 per cent increase in tuition fees as they did last year, even though last year there was a 3.5 per cent inflation rise to match the tuition’s rise in cost, compared to this year’s 0.8 per cent decline.

Clearly there is more to the hike in fees than just inflation: two decades ago, 82 per cent of university and college operating funds were covered by public funding from provincial and federal governments, compared to a mere 57 per cent in 2007, as shown in a report from the CFS. Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to accuse the Canadian government of squandering our money (it would hardly be fair, since I can hardly keep to a budget for myself, let alone a country), and in a lot of ways we Canadians are doing pretty darn well for ourselves.

What good is it, though, if the post-secondary education we do offer is only available to those who can afford it?

The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) recently won a major battle with the government regarding tuition fees: since the mid 90s, Ireland has given university and college students free tuition, and the government was hoping to re-introduce fees. The system which enables free tuition is called the free fees scheme, and taxpayers “pick up the tab” for education, which costs the government nearly $505 million.

Thanks to Ireland’s free fees scheme, participation rates at college and universities have soared, with 72 per cent of people in the country having received post-secondary education.

Free tuition may seem like the perfect solution, but since it’s not foreseeable in the near future, what we need to realize is that a degree doesn’t need to cost $20,000 to be credible. Even in Quebec, tuition fees are almost half what they are in Ontario. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: “higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.”

And let’s be honest: higher education costing $6,000 per year is not equally accessible to all. Post-secondary education doesn’t need to lower its standards to be right-friendly, just its prices.

Join the movement to drop fees. Contact your student union for more information: info@mycesar.org or volunteer@rsuonline.ca.

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