It’s a myth that only the Conservatives can be trusted with managing the economy. Under their “stewardship” we are the only G7 country in a recession, and while Mr. Harper argues how “risky” it is to trust either opposition party with managing the balance sheet, his government has run successive deficit budgets and our economic […]

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I read the September Gleaner article “A haven for children’s literature”, on the 20th anniversary of the Lillian H. Smith library, and I was instantly brought home to my old neighbourhood in Toronto. I remember fondly afternoons spent reading a book in the garden behind the library. Or wintry afternoons spent roaming through the stacks, […]

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The problem is that the function of arterials is still seen only as moving cars and trucks By Joe Cressy and Albert Koehl Residents of downtown Toronto will soon start to notice an important change on their streets — a change that is going to make life safer for all our neighbourhoods. In the coming […]

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Let’s lead so they will follow By Terri Chu, The federal election has been lack lustre on the environmental front to put it mildly. In fact, finding an environmental platform from the three major parties to write about for this final piece before election day is akin to searching through Kim Kardashian’s twitter feed for […]

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Frankenstein Live emphasizes language over spectacle By Annemarie Brissenden How does one reckon with the horror of one’s own creation? It’s a question posed by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, and one asked of the audience in Frankenstein Live premiering this month at the Walmer Centre Theatre. “[Frankenstein] was so obsessed with creating […]

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College and Russell streets facilities at risk By Brian Burchell The College Street branch of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is facing a whopping 333 per cent rent increase when its lease is renewed for another 20-year term in 2018. The landlord, a numbered company owned by Brookfield Asset Management, says raising […]

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Lillian H. Smith library branch celebrates 20 years By Annemarie Brissenden Can you remember the first book you ever read? Picture cracking open its spine and tracing the letters with your finger, as you try to make sense of the words. Remember your delight at the illustrations, giggling as the brilliant colours leapt off the […]

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Heritage Toronto plaque honours poets MacEwen and Acorn By Annemarie Brissenden He was large, gruff, almost a bully, and an ardent Marxist who used poetry to foment revolution. Equally passionate, she was a fey little thing who decided in her teenage years that she would live for poetry. And for a brief, explosive time, Milton […]

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Just as the stigma surrounding mental illness has started to dissipate, the College Street location of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is facing a crisis of its own. Its landlord, a numbered company owned by Brookfield Asset Management, is playing hardball during a scheduled negotiation in which it is seeking to increase […]

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RE: Bloor “foremost a public space” (July) As someone who’s been pushing improvement in Bloor bike safety for at least a decade now, I’m glad that the Gleaner has kept up its coverage. And while I am in total agreement that improvements to bike safety are quite overdue in the Annex, I’m less certain that […]

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Opining on rail safety, daycare, development, health care, and Bill C-51 When residents in The Annex Gleaner coverage area go to the polls on Oct. 19, it will have been less than 18 months since they voted in a federal by-election to replace member of Parliament Olivia Chow, who had stepped down to run for […]

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Transition to green economy, stand up for civil liberties, and be fiscally responsible By Nick Wright I am running for the Green Party in the upcoming Oct. 19 federal election for University-Rosedale because it is the only party with a plan to solve the emerging global environmental and economic crisis and transition to a sustainable […]

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