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Letters To The Editor News

Tracy Curley, proud cannabis advocate, BFF


Tracy Curley, proud advocate, BFF

It’s hard for me to process the death of cannabis activist Tracy Curley (NOW, June 6-12). She was my BFF. We spoke almost daily. She was a fixture at 4/20 Toronto and Global Marijuana March events and often featured in photographs in NOW. She was very proud of her NOW Cannabis Activist Of The Year Award, which she hung on her office wall.

Matt Mernagh, From nowtoronto.com

Church comings and goings

Richard Longley’s brief history of Bathurst United describes our place of worship as “temporary.” This is not the case. We moved into the Trinity St. Paul’s Centre in 1985. The move was always considered a relocation to a new home. Our congregation has worshipped on Sunday mornings in the chapel at the TSP Centre for the past 34 years.

The article also implies that Bathurst United is now considering a move related to the Westbank project, under construction on the former Honest Ed’s property. The congregation did explore such a move, but it turned out to not be viable.

Relocating to the College Street United Church is a possibility. We expect to make a decision before the end of this year.

Ted Fairhurst, Jasper Miller

Co-chairs, Coordinating Committee, Bathurst Street United, Toronto

Aniara mind-blowing

Kudos to Norm Wilner for his remarkable and insightful review of the mind-blowingly visionary Swedish sci-fi movie Aniara (NOW, May 16-22).

Brilliantly conceived and absolutely riveting from beginning to end, the best film I’ve seen this year is sadly gone from TIFF Lightbox after a one-week run. Lucky were the audiences who saw this masterful film on the big screen and thank you to Wilner for getting me there.

Jack Ritchie, Toronto

Ford formula

Ha! Leave it to Doug Ford to leave his liberal foes in his miasmic wake (NOW, May 23-29). They think he’s just some dumb guy, but this pro-business, anti-labour, self-styled “man of the people” blinds them all with a combination of policy jabs and hooks they don’t see coming. 

To Ford, it’s “common sense” to download provincial budget obligations to municipal taxpayers. Wise guys call this nothing more than a cynical fiscal shell game but it’s perfect politics. No services = No problems = No crisis. Get it? It’s just people. 

Ford perpetrates a petty but satisfying vindictiveness toward Mayor John Tory and the city. Ford takes the money away with one fist and smacks “spoiled” Tory in the face with the other. 

In his brazen brilliance, he emulates Trump’s carefree motto: “Sure this makes no sense. Who cares?” 

John Harvard, From nowtoronto.com

Keep it separated

In response to Al McPherson’s letter to the editor (NOW June 6-12). 

There is no legal means of separating from a province. Under the Constitution Act, “municipal institutions” are an exclusive provincial jurisdiction. 

We cannot separate from Ontario unless Ontario agrees. But if the recent carbon tax ruling means the federal government may usurp provincial jurisdiction where there is an overriding federal interest, then the feds should be able to intervene in such matters as municipal planning, for example.

Bob Murphy, Toronto

Woody Allen allusions

In Samantha Edwards’s review of Factory Theatre’s production of Beautiful Man (NOW, May 16-22) she alludes to an unproven claim concerning Woody Allen, unfairly connecting him with Harvey Weinstein and Roman Polanski.

Listen to Dylan [Farrow]’s story, sure, but why not listen to Moses Allen’s as well? He accuses his mother, Mia, of emotional abuse and psychological manipulation. There is a lot more to the story. No one can prove anything for certain. 

Patrick Russell, Toronto

Congrats Dr. Klein

My congratulations to NOW editor and publisher Alice Klein for being awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Trent University. It’s a well earned and deserved honour. I also respect Trent, mainly because of its programs that promote so-cial justice and human rights for women and Indigenous peoples.

Don Weitz, Toronto

D-Day disappointment

I was disappointed though not at all surprised that NOW chose to completely ignore the 75th anniversary of D-Day. I guess events of 75 years ago no longer matter.

I didn’t expect NOW to stand at attention with hand-on-heart and drone on about “our brave boys.”

But you could have pointed out that in Canada at the end of the 19th century, women were not considered to be persons, legally speaking, which meant among other things, they couldn’t vote. At that time, men who didn’t own property were also denied the right to vote. Universal health care didn’t exist even as a dream. Ordinary working people laboured six days a week, 10 hours a day. The social safety net was utterly beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings. A very tiny percentage of Canada’s population controlled virtually all the nation’s wealth, and they were absolutely determined to keep it that way. 

For the rest, there were neighbourhoods like Toronto’s Ward where working-class people lived in shanties.

But the passage of time dulls our senses. We now find ourselves moving backward as the economic and political elite re-establish their tight-fisted hold on the nation’s wealth. This is what happens when we choose to assume that the past doesn’t matter.

Steve Soloman, Toronto

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