Voices in the Media

The links below feature DiverseCity Voices candidates as well as articles and press releases related to the program.

• womenspost.ca: Nothing to wear? Let an Entrepreneur Help You Out
  Loose Button – Anyone who travels knows how frustrating it is to visit London or other international cities and discover amazing stores that you can’t visit or order from once you return home (I’m still waiting for TopShop to open stores in Canada). Toronto entrepreneur RAY CAO started Loose Button to solve the problem himself – he’s helping make international fashion more accessible to consumer’s one brand at a time. The site already has an impressive lineup of retailers, including Plastic Island, and they only launched in July.
• SAEED SELVAM's Blog: How Simple Understanding, Could Change the World
  Ever been in a huge fight that came from just a simple misunderstanding? You’re talking to your significant other or friend and something was said that ticks one of you off, but because of political correctness, passive aggression and you not wanting to duel it out on the spot in order to grasp your last breath of civility, you let it slide and move on. When it comes to politics, international relations and war, the same can be said, however, the ‘let it slide and move on’ technique is not so well practiced.
• Open Book Toronto: The Proust Questionnaire, with Adebe D.A.
  In her answers to the Proust Questionnaire, ADEBE D.A. tells us her chief characteristic, her favourite flower, her motto and more.
• Financial Post: Virtual bankers want your business
  TINA TEHRANCHIAN, a certified financial planner with Assante Capital Management, said some of her clients are eschewing the normal banking channels for newer players with higher rates. “Obviously these are great vehicles for short-term saving. They give you liquidity and much higher interest rates than regular bank accounts,” said Ms. Tehranchian, adding she only advises clients to make sure they are well diversified when it comes to spreading cash around at smaller institutions.
• Broadcaster: WIFT-T Announces Winner of Deluxe Producer Internship
  "This internship is very important not only to our membership, but also to the industry, as it addresses a real gap," says SADIA ZAMAN, Executive Director of WIFT-T. "The opportunity to learn about audio and video postproduction at Deluxe is a real gift and we are grateful for their ongoing support of WIFT-T."
• SAEED SELVAM's Blog: Why Pakistan’s Case of ‘Donor Fatigue’ is Bad for the Rest of Us
  The problem with ‘donor fatigue’ is that it dehumanizes disasters and puts more of a monetary face on it. By turning a human disaster or catastrophe into something that relates directly to money, then we begin to loose the point of donating in the first place.
• Marketing Magazine: Life after brand management: Bhupesh Shah
  In the interview with BHUPESH SHAH, Liz Foster asks the question, with the number of corporate marketing roles shrinking as you climb the ladder, where do all the brand managers go?
• The First Perspective: Aboriginal candidates sought for professional journalism development program
  "We’re thrilled to launch this innovative pilot program with the vision and creativity of Winnipeg’s Aboriginal community, broadcasters, and Red River College,” said DEREK LUIS, CEO of the National Screen Institute. "We believe we’ve created a groundbreaking training initiative. There’s a need for well-trained Aboriginal journalists to bring an authentic voice and cultural perspective to the public through traditional broadcasters and online media."
• The Energy Collective: Canada’s Largest Solar Rooftop, Case Study Part Three
  DEREK WONG, a Toronto based climate change consultant writes about Canada’s largest solar rooftop, operational since early 2010.
• Torontoist: Tamils and Toronto
  For NEETHAN SHAN, a candidate for city council in Ward 42 (Scarborough–Rouge River), stereotypes about the negative impact of immigration are "very disheartening." Shan and his older sister entered Canada as Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka fifteen years ago. After graduating from East York Collegiate, Shan worked as a youth worker and school teacher before making a successful run for the Markham school board in 2006. The article written by DESMOND COLE.
• The Toronto Star: My Big Fat Geek Wedding
  When ANEIL GOKHALE, a self-described dork proposed marriage to Nicole Cheung-Seekit, an admitted science geek using the letters on a Scrabble board, it was inevitable the wedding would come with a high nerd alert.
• Saeed Selvam's Blog: ‘Oh No, the Tamils Are Coming!’
  SAEED SELVAM writes about Tamil refugees coming to Canada.
• Sway Magazine: Does the diaspora open the door to African identity?
  ATO QUAYSON writes about African diaspora
• CBC Radio: 1LOVE Moment
  Garvia Bailey, Manifesto Board Member and host of CBC Radio's 'Big City Small World' interviews Donisha Prendergast, Bob Marley's Granddaughter and Manifesto Jamaica founding team member, and CHE KOTHARI, Manifesto Toronto's Executive Director about the inaugural 1LOVE Moment.
• InsideToronto: Executive committee supports increased arts funding
  CHE KOTHARI, of the group Manifesto Community Projects, said art is a powerful tool for engaging young people and more support for young artists can reduce poverty by creating jobs and promote mutual respect and self-worth, particularly in priority neighbourhoods outside the city centre and among non-white youth. "As the face of Toronto is changing, so should our arts funding," he said.
• Oye! Times: Neethan Shan announces his Malvern walk for change
  NEETHAN SHAN emphasized that when elected, his role at the City Council will be to make municipal government more accessible, transparent, accountable and inclusive. Neethan hopes to utilize his skills and his decade long experience in community development to make City Council work for all residents in Ward 42.
• CTV News: Contentious Khadr trial set to begin at Guantanamo
  An international security defense analyst SUNIL RAM says Omar Khadr will be judged by a panel of military officers, who have an invested interest in making sure he is found guilty. He also says it is highly questionable whether Khadr could have committed the supposed crime.
• canoe.ca: Wet weather to cost Prairie farmers $3B
  The Canadian Wheat Board forecasts Canada will have the smallest area planted to wheat since 1971, an 18% reduction from last year. “For some farmers it’s a pretty significant blow,” said BMO senior economist KENRICK JORDAN, adding increases in in soybean, corn, canola and lentil planting is helping to offset the wheat shortage for farmers.
• Parentcentral.ca: Volunteers build playground in 6 hours
  MITZIE HUNTER, chief administrative officer of TCHC, said the playground is an “incredible aspect of our neighbourhoods” because it’s where communities can come together. She added the TCHC is open to building as many playgrounds like this as possible “since we have over 25,000 children and youth in our neighbourhoods that need great places to play.”
• Advisors News: First-date jitters: Setting a prospect at ease
  Putting a prospect at ease during the first meeting starts with a series of personal considerations, according TINA TEHRANCHIAN, CFP. She often does not request the usual financial documents at the initial meeting but instead sees building rapport and trust as the top priority. She focuses on listening, not on emphasizing her expertise and experience at this stage. This means asking detailed questions about the client’s personal, financial and professional situations.
• Toronto Star blog Your City, My City: Why are fringe candidates such a washout?
  DALTON HIGGINS's view of the mayoral candidates
• Bloomberg: BMO's Jordan Interview About Wheat
  KENRICK JORDAN, senior economist at BMO Financial Group, discusses the outlook for wheat.
• Bloomberg.com: ADM, Potash, Eagle Bulk to Reap Rewards of Russian Wheat Ban
  “Any industry that touches on grains, especially from a production standpoint, and from an input supply standpoint for instance, are going to benefit,” said KENRICK JORDAN, chief economist at BMO Financial Group in Toronto. He said Deere & Co., the largest farm equipment maker, will gain from the increase in production spurred by the price rally.
• CTV News: ISAF tightens security at Kandahar Airfield after attack
  SUNIL RAM, security analyst says it is clear the attack was a strategic move by the Taliban to make it very clear that they have the capacity to carry out these types of attacks.
• CBC News - Toronto - Tamil candidates seek Toronto council seat
  NEETHAN SHAN, one of three Tamils running for the council seat in Ward 42 (Scarborough-Rouge River), says the way Tamils in Toronto think about politics has changed in the past year.
• The Toronto Star: Employment bill stymies complaints against employers, critics say
  “These exemptions are just confusing patchwork,” said DEENA LADD of Toronto’s Workers Action Centre, which will launch a public campaign and video Tuesday about the repercussions of Bill 68.
• CBC News: Party system touted as way to ease voter choice
  "One of the first questions people ask me is: 'what party are you running with?,' because it's a political shorthand. It helps people place you on the political spectrum and then they have stronger sense of comfort for where you're coming from," said KAREN SUN, who is in a race with 10 others for the seat that has been vacated by Joe Pantalone, who is now running for mayor.
• UPFRONT : Dalton Higgins gives the scoop on Island Soul
  DALTON HIGGINS, Artistic Lead for Island Soul festival, gives the scoop on what’s happening all weekend long at Harbourfront Centre.
• Mennonite New Life Centre's New Voices: Why Toronto's diversity isn't evident on City Council
  KAREN SUN featured on pages 8-9
• Ossington Village: Karen Sun - Ward 19 Candidate shows good knowledge of Ossington area
  Last week I sat down with KAREN SUN, another candidate for Ward 19, replacing the departing Joe Pantalone. We talked about Ossington and last year’s restaurant and foodservice moratorium and the restrictions on entrepreneurial ventures which were passed to follow, as well as the surrounding parks, and residential areas, and the great mix of communities within the Ossington area.
• TEDxLahore: Let’s Raise Kids To Be Entrepreneurs!
  BILAL RASHID adds a definition of an enterpreneur - A person who organizes, operates and assumes the risk of a business venture.
• CTV News: Leaked file suggests 4 Canadians killed by friendly fire
  An international defense and security analyst SUNIL RAM says the information from WikiLeaks has shown the public that the government has been disingenous about the war and its objectives and the Afghan mission has been lost strategically.
• Winnipeg Free Press: Screen institute lures T.O. executive
  The Winnipeg training school for TV producers, filmmakers and journalists hired DEREK LUIS to succeed Susan Millican, who stepped down after eight years on the job."This job was an amazing opportunity to move to a national level in the training arena. I started to see the opportunities and the new energy was really in the regions, in places like Winnipeg and outside of the three major production centres of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal," he said.
• Canadian HR Reporter: The accommodation of religious observance in the workplace
  Canadian workplaces were designed for able-bodied, white males with an Anglo Saxon, Christian background who took time off to celebrate Christmas or Easter, says SANDEEP TATLA, founder and managing principle at Tatla Diversity Group in Mississauga, Ont. “Workplaces really haven’t been designed for these people coming in with very different religious holidays, religious needs,” she says.
• Canadian Literature: Review of Stealing Nusreen by Farzana Doctor
  Review of the book Stealing Nusreen by FARZANA DOCTOR
• NSI: Derek Luis named Chief Executive Officer of National Screen Institute
  "I’m excited to be joining NSI at a time when our sector is exploring new technologies and new ways of storytelling," says NSI CEO DEREK LUIS.
• The Star Phoenix: Commodity prices continue to rise in June
  KENRICK JORDAN, senior economist and metals and agriculture specialist with BMO Capital Markets, agreed that adverse growing conditions across the globe are lowering stocks and raising prices worldwide. "Basically, it's adverse weather in various key producing regions," Jordan said. "In Russia, it's drought or very dry, hot weather. It's the same in European Union. Also, in some parts of Canada and the U.S., it's too much wet weather."
• Xtra!: What's next for the Pride Coalition for Free Speech?
  “Every one of us thought that we needed as much help as we could get,” ZAHRA DHANANI says. “That’s how amazing this organizing has been — it was different than everything I’ve ever been involved in. It wasn’t about power and control; when those conversations came up, we shut them down right away.”
• Worldnews.com: Canada needs its citizens to stand up and be counted
  JEHAD Y. ALIWEIWI has received the Local Hero Award at the 2010 Urban Leadership Awards, which is an annual initiative of the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) designed to recognize those who have made significant contributions to improving the quality of life in Canada's cities and urban regions.
• The Toronto Star: World Cup’s U of T connection
  “He’s getting offers from all over the world to speak about what he’s doing,” says MINELLE MATHANI, a professor of geography at U of T and Roberts’ academic advisor. “His is a classic geographical study on how mega-events affect people.”
• Open Book Toronto: Poetry, Pasta and Prosecco
  An Interview with Erin Moure and PRISCILA UPPAL
• The Globe and Mail: Talk TOK5
  MAYANK BHATT's work is fatured in the latest Diaspora Dialogues publication TOK5.
• My City My Story: InSightOut - Che Kothari, Photographer
  Culture. Opportunity. Change. These are the words that sum up what CHE KOTHARI stands for.
• The Globe and Mail: Muslim youth helpline looks at ‘pull between worlds’
  FARRAH KHAN, a counsellor who works with violence victims, said she thinks the idea of Naseeha is a good one, but fears it may not be as inclusive as possible. “Sometimes there’s an assumption that there’s one way to be Muslim,” she said. “But Muslims are so diverse.”
• CBC: Iran's stoning death sentence under review
  FERESHTEH MOLAVI, a Toronto-based writer who fled Tehran twelve years ago, pronounced luminary vigour has come during a time when Iran is really unwavering of a general image. “Sometimes they action similar to they do not caring about it. But right right away we consider it’s a right time for this box since a Iranian management does not wish some-more disastrous perspective from a world,” she said.
• Black Daddies Club (BDC): A Movement Built On Love
  For BRANDON HAY, the founder and Executive Director of the Toronto-based men’s support community, the Black Daddies Club (BDC), a typical day goes a little something like this…
• Straight Goods: Missing in the media - Immigrants to Canada rarely see their own lives on TV shows
  Dr MINELLE MAHTANI is an associate professor at the University of Toronto, and President of the Association of Canadian Studies. She conducted a major project in 2008, exploring Best Practices in Diversity in Journalism: From the Classroom to the Newsroom.
• The Globe and Mail: Security barrier claims its first victim!
  G8/G20 Local View - GARY PIETERS as a citizen journalst
• The Toronto Star: Visible minorities lag in corridors of power, report finds
  PNKAJ MEHRA is director of India & South Asia Markets for Scotiabank, which has been a leader in promoting diversity among its ranks.
• NOW Magazine: In for a rough Pride
  One of the most moving speakers was SUHAIL ABUALSAMEED, from Salaam Queer Muslims, who, citing Pride’s claim that it was responding to complaints that QuAIA made Pride-goers feel “unsafe,” asked, Who feels unsafe now?
• The Epoch Times: East Meets West in Jazz Raga
  “I manage to sing in so many languages because I speak many different languages,” NANDITA DIAS said. “I studied language and literature at university. I love languages, cultures, dance, music and people from varied places, and it’s so natural for me from learning and speaking the different languages to sing in them.”
• The Toronto Star: A closer look at diversity
  DIVERSECITY VOICES is part of the DiverseCity Project
• nonprofit.smashits.com: Jennifer Chan Interview
  DiverseCity Counts: In conversation with JENNIFER CHAN
• The Globe and Mail: This old chair
  DEVYANI SALTZMAN on the pleasures of the right book in the right place.
• National Post: Police look at inclusive guidelines
  Board chair ALOK MUKHERJEE says the proposed police policy would determine how to accommodate employees and the public in an array of scenarios. Should someone, for example, be allowed to bring a Sikh ceremonial dagger into a courtroom? How should religious dietary restrictions be handled for someone in custody? Can a witness demand to be interviewed by a different officer?
• Wealth Manager: Navigating the cottage succession minefield
  "As an adviser, you want to be able to do intergenerational advising," TINA TEHRANCHIAN said. "You want to keep that wealth under your management as it passes from one generation to another and the best way of doing that is establishing a line of communication with the next generation," she said.
• The Globe and Mail: Ethiopia election win tainted, observers say
  AKLILU WENDAFEREW, head of the Canadian branch of a solidarity committee for Ethiopian political prisoners, said the election shows that Ethiopia is “continuing to slide away from democracy into absolute totalitarianism.” Western donors such as Canada should use their influence to pressure Mr. Meles to move toward free and fair elections, he said.
• Aesthetics Now Magazine: Che Kothari - Paving the Way to a More Creative World
  Australian publication Aesthetics Now Magazine featuring an interview with CHE KOTHARI on pages 70 - 88
• SunTV: Sathish Bala & Nandita Dias
  RBC desifest Founder/CEO Sathish Bala and acclaimed jazz singer NANDITA DIAS on SunTV's Canoe Live.
• Pambazuka News: Land investments are wholesale sell-outs for women farmers
  Uncertainty around food and fuel supply globally has sparked investor interest in the acquisition of large parcels of productive land around the world, for commercial production or long-term investment, writes NIDHI TANDON. But these developments, which effectively take land away from local farmers and in many cases perpetuate ‘environmentally damaging farming methods’, threaten to have ‘serious negative impacts for small farmers, in particular women, who have no say in the political and trade decisions around their lands,’ Tandon warns.
• CBC News: Toronto Islamic arts centre breaks ground
  JEHAD ALIWEIWI, who runs a newcomer's settlement agency called Thorncliffe Neighbourhood Office, said since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, young Muslims have struggled with negative stereotypes about their religion and identity.
• RCI: The Link with Marc Montgomery
  A look at internet banking with TANYA RAHEEL of Butterscotch.com who walks us through the pros and cons of banking online and shares some security tips to protect your information.
• CTV News : NATO assault - Channel: Sunil Ram, security analyst
  A defence and security analyst SUNIL RAM says it is clear that the attack was a strategic move by the Taliban to make it very clear that they have the capacity to carry out these types of attacks.
• Canadian immigrant: Columnist contributes to Diaspora Dialogue
  Canadian Immigrant columnist MAYANK BHATT is one of the 18 contributors of ‘Writing the New Toronto’ that features a dynamic mix of voices from across the city and across communities.
• The Globe and Mail: Putting a fresh face on Toronto’s leadership
  ALOK MUKHERJEE, the police board’s first South Asian chair and a long-time advocate of diversity in Toronto’s leadership, said he’s delighted the city has decided to make this a priority. Toronto’s political institutions are making great strides when it comes to inclusion, he said, but “there’s still a significant distance to travel.”
• The Toronto Star: Using the web to find a foodie near you
  EDLYNNE LARYEA swears she’s not a geek. Before last spring, Laryea, 33, had never met a stranger from the Internet in person. But few of her offline friends share her passion for food, so Laryea, a digital marketing strategist, started discussing her culinary adventures with fellow food lovers on Twitter.
• Dollmag.ca: Kathryn Bigelow’s Oscar win - A step forward for women?
  It’s these types of positions that are higher ranking in the film industry where women are most underrepresented, says SADIA ZAMAN, executive director of Women in Film and Television-Toronto.
• HubPages: Guide to 'Arranged' Marital Bliss
  In her book 'First Comes Marriage: Modern Relationship Advice from the Wisdom of Arranged Marriages', REVA SETH advises women on how to find their Mr.Right.
• Healthosp: Toronto Indie Band Uncle Seth Finds New Audience through Podcasting
  "Clearance is needed because podcasts are actually MP3 file downloads, so artists have to give permission to have their tracks included." explains JAY MOONAH, who plays bass and harmonica with Uncle Seth. "The network gives the bands and the podcasts an immediate way to connect."
• Financial Post: Packaging your business to sell
  Selling a business with the goal of optimizing value is a three- to five-year planning process, said lawyer Ruby Wong, who practices corporate/commercial business law in Toronto. "It's not like listing your house for sale tomorrow - at least not if you want to maximize value," she added.
• The Vancouver Sun: Critics contend temporary foreign worker program 'inherently exploitative'
  "Immigration Canada has been pushing the idea of temporary workers because they are very into the idea of disposable labour," says Francisco Rico-Martinez, an advocate on the issue and director of the FCJ Refugee Centre in Toronto. "You bring someone here to work and you don't spend any money training them, preparing them, nothing. And at the end of the two years working here, you send them back and you don't have any responsibility whatsoever about that person."
• InsideToronto: Parties, term limits among electoral reforms debated
  "There are neighbourhoods in Toronto where 30 per cent of people can't vote," said panelist DESMOND COLE, project coordinator of I Vote Toronto. "In some cases, entire neighbourhoods have little representation at the ballot box."
• InsideToronto: Scarborough Better Ballots meeting attended by engaged audience
  DESMOND COLE was one of the panelists answering questions and he's project co-ordinator of I Vote Toronto, which is a campaign advocating to extend the municipal vote to permanent residents
• CBC.ca: The Current
  If you force someone to volunteer, does it defeat the purpose? This is National Volunteer Week. And a large percentage of high school students have to do a certain amount of volunteer work before they can graduate. We look at how well that's working out. AKLILU WENDAFEREW commented on April 19,2010.
• openDemocracy: Faith, fundamentalisms and feminists on the frontline
  The article published by SAIRA ZUBERI.
• The Gazette: Three extraordinary poets: Kate Hall, Priscila Uppal and Robyn Sarah
  Toronto poet and novelist PRISCILLA UPPAL's new volume of verse, Traumatology, is wry, bawdy, bold and completely honest. In the best of her work, Uppal puts every aspect of her physical and emotional self on display, and allows her raw impulses to draw her toward fresh insights into questions of personal identity.
• Digital Journal: The environmental problems still afflicting North America
  "The shift to green economy needs a much stronger government push," says Dr. IJAZ RAUF, a nanotechnology expert.
• The Toronto Star: Forum looks at ‘why people aren’t voting’
  “We have to look at why people aren’t voting,” said DESMOND COLE, a member of the Better Ballots’ working group.
• Ghana Web: Ghana Embassy in Denmark is indeed a messy place
  Dr. AMIN ALHASSAN writes about problems in the Embassy of Ghana in Denmark.
• RCI: The Link with Marc Montgomery
  ANDRES BERRIO talks about culturally appropriate food banks.
• South Asian Focus: Practical advice for wouldbe entrepreneurs in ICCC Hard Hats tour
  PANKAJ MEHRA, ICCC's director for SME and Trade, explained: "The Hard Hats Tour Series is an innovative learning opportunity where attendees get privileged access to a 'behind the scenes' tour of a successful business enterprise."
• South Asian Focus: Is it time for an 'immigrant' political party?
  NEETHAN SHAN, candidate for Toronto Ward 42, pledged he wouldn't shy away from the 'R' word when elected City Councillor. "I will never shy away from issues surrounding racism whatever it may cost me politically. Because then I'd be a person of colour denying racism exists."
• Toronto Star: Dreamers and Doers: Black Daddies Club a labour of love
  BRANDON HAY uses the memory of his slain father Brian as motivation. The founder of the Black Daddies Club remembers what a police officer in Jamaica told him six years ago as investigators probed his father’s shooting death.
• Canadian Immigrant: TRIEC and RBC present the 4th annual Immigrant Success (IS) Awards
  GUILHERME DIAS, director of strategic talent management came to Canada from India 10 years ago and joined Pitney Bowes in 2007.
• The Mark: Crafting an Income
  FARZANA DOCTOR on how being a writer – even a successful one – means not enough cheques and lots of balances.
• Toronto Observer: Municipal candidates differ on needs of newcomers 
  KAREN SUN, executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council’s Toronto Chapter, and city council contender in Ward 19 says there are more appropriate ways the city can help immigrants
• TVO's The Agenda: Interview with Dr. Patrick Habamenshi on his view of aging in Canada
  Steve Paikin interviews DR. PATRICK HABAMENSHI on his view of aging in Canada.
• The Toronto Star: Porter - City council hopefuls are just what Toronto needs
  "How do you build your city so people have places to sit down and meet each other?" asks KAREN SUN, the executive director of the Chinese Canadian National Council's Toronto chapter.
• Oye! Times: Canadian Immigrant and RBC Launch Popular Vote To Uncover Canada’s Top Inspirational Immigrants
  Canadian Immigrant magazine, in partnership with RBC, has kicked off the voting for the second annual Top 25 Canadian Immigrants awards. ROBIN CARDOZO is among the finalists.
• The Daily Planet: It's a hip hop world... and we're all just living in it
  Hip hop culture transcends national and ethnic boundaries to unite people, award-winning journalist DALTON HIGGINS told Humber College students in his speech ‘It’s a Hip Hop World: Globalization and Youth Culture’ on Thursday.
• The Toronto Star: Diversity will change the face of the workplace
  SANDEEP TATLA is a human rights lawyer, diversity advisor and the managing principal of Tatla Diversity Group. Her focus is on workplace diversity and creating inclusive workplaces.
• The Toronto Star: Should we preserve Toronto business institutions?
  In his Your City, My City blog post today, DALTON HIGGINS writes: "While I was out at the Toronto Women's Bookstore recently reading from my new book Hip Hop World, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread when the employee at the store informed me that the store's doors may be shut by the time summer rolls around. "The idea of yet another crucial institution falling by the wayside does not sit easily with me."
• The Toronto Star: Porter - What I learned at campaign boot camp
  "Your candidacy isn't about you," said ALEJANDRA BRAVO, 38. "You're just a vehicle for an idea."
• The Toronto Star: Boot camp for female election candidates
  ALEJANDRA BRAVO, 38, who has run unsuccessfully twice at the municipal level, told the group that her motherhood came under question, and confessed a “whisper campaign” that she’d abandoned her children really stung. But Bravo said she was heartened by the “incredible solidarity from other women that lifts you up,” and urged candidates not to take things too personally. “Your candidacy is not about you, you represent an idea,” she said.
• TVO The Agenda: Desmond Cole
  Extending the vote--I Vote Toronto's DESMOND COLE and why non-citizens should vote in municipal elections.
• The Toronto Star: Meet the Your City My City bloggers
  AMARJEET KAUR CHHABRA and DALTON HIGGINS are among the first Your City My City bloggers.
• Toronto Sun: T.O. to become even more multicultural: StatsCan
  “The number of languages within India are more than 200,” said NEETHAN SHAN, executive director of the Council of Agencies Serving South Asians (CASSA), which has been operating in Scarborough for the past two decades. “The diversity among the communities are so huge that it must be taken into consideration when we’re looking at services — especially in Tamil, Sikh and Punjabi communities, which are underfunded.”
• #voteTOin41: Desmond Cole "I VoteToronto"
  DESMOND COLE, winner of the 2006 edition of City Idol, discusses how to make municipal elections more representative and fair by allowing permanent residents the right to vote.
• TVO The Agenda: Ending voter apathy
  DESMOND COLE, who heads up I Vote Toronto, agrees that changing the rules could help change the game. The amendment he’s advocating seeks to give non-citizens the right to vote in municipal elections, and already has 67 local groups supporting of the move.
• The Vancouver Sun: Olympic poetry
  PRISCILA UPPAL, Olympics/Paralympics poet-in-residence for Canadian Athletes offers this ode to Canada's gold medal men's hockey team.