Gleaner

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ARTS: Culture and community outdoors and free (July 2021)

August 16th, 2021 · Comments Off on ARTS: Culture and community outdoors and free (July 2021)

When a museum is more than a building

The sculpture, “Cracked Wheat,” by Shary Boyle, is included as part of the Gardiner Museum’s audio walking tour of the Linda Frum & Howard Sokolowski Plaza. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

By Meribeth Deen

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Tags: Annex · Arts · Life

EDITORIAL: Doug Ford plays the joker card (June 2021)

July 15th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Doug Ford plays the joker card (June 2021)

Doug Ford has become the first Ontario premier to invoke Section 33 of the Constitution, the so-called notwithstanding clause. This allows him to ignore an Ontario court ruling that quashed Ontario’s new law limiting third-party advertising ahead of the provincial election. It is a tantrum by a premier who will do anything to silence his critics including violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion

ON THE COVER: REDress at Trinity-St. Paul’s (May 2021)

June 15th, 2021 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER: REDress at Trinity-St. Paul’s (May 2021)

Red dresses hang on the exterior of Trinity-St. Paul’s Church in a show of solidarity with those seeking justice for Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The REDress Project started as an art installation by Jaime Black at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in 2014, and has since spread across the country as a reminder of the shocking number of women and girls lost. For more information, visit jaimeblackartist.com. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

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Tags: Annex · News

NEWS: Brunny Rexall to shutter (May 2021)

June 15th, 2021 · Comments Off on NEWS: Brunny Rexall to shutter (May 2021)

Closing comes as a surprise after only 3 years in operation

On June 11, as many patios and retailers reopened, Rexall’s sign came down. NEILAND BRISSENDEN/GLEANER NEWS

By Nicole Stoffman

Rexall Pharmacy in the former Brunswick House is closing after only three years, on June 11. Employees will be re-assigned by the corporately-owned store, but the future of management is uncertain, according to an employee. 

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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: Farmer’s Market returns to the Annex (May 2021)

June 15th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Farmer’s Market returns to the Annex (May 2021)

Cameron and Shaylynn from Sun Ray Orchards in Beamsville, Ontario were happy to be serving customers at the first Bloor-Borden Farmer’s Market of the season. NICOLE STOFFMAN/GLEANER NEWS

The Farmer’s Market returns for a 14th season with 16 organic food vendors, which is the same number found there during pre-pandemic times.

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Tags: Annex · News · Food

EDITORIAL: Ford chooses wrong path, again (May 2021)

June 15th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Ford chooses wrong path, again (May 2021)

And this month in Ontario politics: Premier Doug Ford, yet again summons the experts for their advice, and pledges to follow their lead. And yet again, once advice is received, promptly goes off in a wildly different direction. This month, the experts told Ford it was safe to re-open schools for the month of June. They told him schools need to be opened not just for the sake of education, but for the sake of mental health. Yet here we are, with schools closed until September.

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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion

CHATTER: The pivot to the mask trade (Apr. 2021)

May 12th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: The pivot to the mask trade (Apr. 2021)

Stores like David Dunkley Fine Millinery at 974 Bathurst St. have successfully re-tooled to make protective masks for their customers.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

Rainbows, sparkles and onesies, it turns out, are no match for a global pandemic. That’s what Lien Nguyen and her business partner found out after COVID-19 forced numerous strategic pivots just to stay alive. Their enterprise, the Unicorn Café, opened up in January of 2020 at 561 Bloor Street W., and attempted to continue running via Uber Eats. Like many businesses, the Unicorn Café entered the mask trade and in that, found some hope.


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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: Tarragon’s Reinvention (Apr. 2021)

May 12th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Tarragon’s Reinvention (Apr. 2021)

Fans of original Canadian theatre will be pleased to know that the Tarragon is not gone. On offer in May are audio dramas Scorched and Come Home-The Legend of Daddy Hall. Visit tickets.tarragontheatre.com. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

The Tarragon Theatre has stayed afloat through the third wave of this pandemic by bringing theatre lovers a full season of audio dramas. This art form enjoyed its golden age in the 40s and had been enjoying a rebirth which has boomed with the pandemic. Theatres have been discovering its usefulness as a cheaper and more reliable way to deliver shows than filmed productions or Zoom plays. Actors record their parts remotely, which are combined by the producers who then add in the sound design.

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Tags: Annex · News

EDITORIAL Ford must resign (Apr. 2021)

May 12th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL Ford must resign (Apr. 2021)

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has just announced three days of paid sick leave while on day nine of his 14-day PAID leave. He is self-isolating after a colleague in his office tested positive for COVID-19. The hypocrisy does not cause Mr. Ford to flinch, though he claims to be following the advice of “the brightest minds in the world.”

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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion

CHATTER: Runners Shop keeps the pace during pandemic (Mar. 2021)

March 26th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Runners Shop keeps the pace during pandemic (Mar. 2021)

The Runners Shop team, celebrating one year in the Annex, includes (from L to R): Tara Lapstra, Greg Lindsay, and owner Lynne Bourque. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

March 2021 marks one year since the start of the first lockdown in Toronto under the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto. It also marks a year since The Runners Shop moved to a more visible location at 374 Bloor St. W. The store’s opening came on February 18, just four weeks before the first lockdown. 

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Tags: Annex · News

EDITORIAL: Organization, not talk, needed for vaccine roll-out (Mar. 2021)

March 26th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Organization, not talk, needed for vaccine roll-out (Mar. 2021)

We called in the army to fight COVID-19, then hired a retired general to lead the vaccine roll-out. Now, as the process stumbles forward, the general’s off with a pat on the back from our noble premier. At a press conference announcing the end of General Rick Hillier’s contract, Premier Ford told the press, “I tried to get him to renew (his contract) but, as he said, ‘Doug, I did the job I came for, we got everything set up.’’’ Yet here we are, with fewer than three quarters of our seniors over the age of 80 vaccinated and the premier still falsely blaming the Federal government for a lack of supply. The governmental incompetence on display is as astounding as it is dangerous. 

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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion

EDITORIAL: Legislated dignity for the greater good (Feb. 2021)

March 5th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Legislated dignity for the greater good (Feb. 2021)

COVID-19 case counts are way down from the peaks seen in January, and in response the economy is opening up in many places. However, Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr. Eileen de Villa, and Peel’s MOH Dr. Lawrence Loh, have asked the province to continue lockdowns, stating their fear that the worst is yet to come. They also each advocate for mandatory paid sick days to encourage the symptomatic to stay home and stop the spread.

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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion

NEWS: Carrying on a legacy (Jan. 2021)

January 27th, 2021 · Comments Off on NEWS: Carrying on a legacy (Jan. 2021)

Bringing chess to life after Chess Institute of Canada founder’s passing

Every June, when the Bloor Annex BIA closed the street for a festival, the Chess Institute would set-up their giant chess board with life-sized pieces. It was a very popular feature for attendees. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

By Tanya Ielyseieva

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Tags: Annex · News