Series: Spring 2002

A bustling Saturday in Toronto’s trendy Danforth neighbourhood. The sidewalks, shops, and cafes are crowded, as is the local Loblaws, where customers are busily-and carefully-choosing the fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, fish, and other foods they will serve up throughout the week. Nothing on this day seems unusual until, suddenly, about 50 protesters march toward the… Continue reading Horror Show

Late in the afternoon of October 16, 2001, Carlyn Zwarenstein, dripping wet, sat down at a computer in the offices of eye, a Toronto-based alternative weekly. Her notepad was virtually empty; interviewing and note-taking at the Ontario Common Front’s march through Toronto’s financial district had proved impractical at best. When she’d tried to write, rain soaked… Continue reading Alt-Weakly

Roden Public School Junior sits in the middle of a quiet residential neighbourhood in downtown Toronto. Weekdays from 8:45 a.m. till 3:15 p.m. the three-storey, concrete building houses over 500 kids from junior kindergarten to Grade 6. Up on the third floor, 26 Grade 2 students are following a character education program called “Roots of… Continue reading The Daily Dunce

Blender, Vibe, Spin, Rockgrl, Circus, Mojo, Jockey Slut. At major newsstands and bookstores across the country, a variety of pop music magazines are available to Canadians, covering a wide range of genres, from hip-hop to metal to electronica. It seems as if there’s a magazine suited to every music lover out there, but look again. While there are national specialty music… Continue reading Critical Miss

On a clear Thursday morning in mid-January, Young People’s Press acting executive director Michael Hoechsmann carries a box of old newspapers across his office in midtown Toronto. Despite limping with his left leg, from which a cast has just been removed, he wants to show me some previously published YPP articles. “In many cases, people… Continue reading Growing Pains