Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  Nevis to St. Kitts Cross Channel Swim Celebrates 24th Anniversary by Stephen Weir Forget swimming the English Channel. The Nevis to St. Kitts Cross-Channel Swim is a challenging yet rewarding experience, offering participants the chance to cross the scenic Caribbean waters between the sister islands of Nevis and St. Kitts. Celebrating its 24th anniversary at the end of the month, the event has grown into a premier sporting occasion with a focus on conservation and community. According to Laura Johnston, the event’s PR specialist, excitement is building. "It is coming up soon, and it’s a swim you won’t want to miss," she told the Caribbean Camera. Stephen Weir, our reporter and an avid scuba diver, has explored these waters numerous times. While he hasn't swum the channel, his underwater experiences in the area are unforgettable. "You never know what you're going to see," said Weir. "A few years ago, I was close to the Nevis shoreline when I happened t...

Archival photo by sweir A REAL PARADISE IS A LATE NIGHT COSTUME LAUNCH WITH JAMAAL MAGLOIRE By Stephen Weir The Toronto Revellers are set to kick off the 2025 Toronto Caribbean Carnival season with a highly anticipated spectacle, unveiling their new costumes at Paradise: The Big Reveal on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Parkview Manor. Led by former NBA star Jamaal Magloire, the powerhouse mas’ band will be the first major Toronto carnival group to showcase its designs for the upcoming festival. With vibrant colours, intricate designs, and electrifying performances, the night promises to set the tone for the season ahead. The Toronto Revellers are set to kick off the 2025 Toronto Caribbean Carnival season with a highly anticipated spectacle, unveiling their new costumes at Paradise: The Big Reveal on Saturday, April 12, 2025, at Parkview Manor. Led by former NBA star Jamaal Magloire, the powerhouse mas band will be the first major Toronto carnival group to showcase its designs for the upc...

  We are going to miss you, Jill! By Stephen Weir The votes have been tallied, the seats in the Ontario Legislature have been assigned, and the provincial parliament is set to resume at the end of this month.While much of the provincial news these days revolves around Trump’s tariffs, one important piece of Caribbean-Canadian election news has not received much attention: Dominican-Canadian Jill Andrew has lost her seat. Andrew’s defeat in Toronto–St. Paul’s, after serving eight years as an NDP MPP, returns the riding to the Liberals.Andrew finished second in the race with 13,524 votes, while newly elected Liberal MPP Stephanie Smyth secured victory with 17,421 votes. Progressive Conservative candidate Riley Braunstein, a self-described “leader in stakeholder relations and government operations,” placed third.In 2018, Andrew made history as the first queer Black MPP elected to the Ontario Legislature. At the time of the election call, she was the Official Opposition Critic for Cult...

  The Great Pyramid of Giza Curse. I Am The Last Diver In The Water By Stephen the Cursed One It is not a legend. I know it firsthand to be true. And so did my deceased diving companions—before they succumbed to Earth's unforgiving waters. Maybe it was the long-dead Hemiunu, the architect of the Great Pyramid, who was ordered by aliens to punish us for defiling Giza’s sacred monument, once one of the ancient Wonders of the World.   He did. I found out he was the gift that keeps on giving. The cemetery continues to be filled by my Red Sea media dive team. It was ten years ago when a scabby, toothless Egyptian guide who had spent his life hustling tourists at the entrance to the Great Pyramid of Giza used traditional phrases and gestures to ward off evil from infecting his potential customers — especially when hustling a dumb journalist and a sweaty TV camera crew. Yeah, like us. "A'udhu billahi min al-shaytan al-rajim" (أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم—"I seek refuge ...

  E.P.I.C. Carnival Gears Up for an Epic April 25th Costume Launch By Stephen Weir While many local Carnival aficionados are in Trinidad celebrating Carnival, others have stayed behind in Toronto to prepare for what promises to be an epic event on April 25th. E.P.I.C. Carnival, a medium-sized mas band, is celebrating its tenth year participating in Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival and is getting ready to show their stuff. The acronym "E.P.I.C." stands for Energy, Passion, Imagination, and Culture. Jerrol Augustine, also known as "Stretch," is the bandleader of E.P.I.C. Carnival. He recently announced the theme for this year’s presentation and confirmed April 25th as the official date for its costume launch. Each year, the band unveils a new theme for the carnival. In 2024, their theme was "Imagination," featuring sections such as Grenadus, Ethereal, Day Dream, Aquaria, and Wild Thoughts. This year, according to Stretch’s Instagram account, the 2025 theme is “...

  The Eglinton–Lawrence Election Results  The Dream That Got Away Last week, in an election story by reporter Stephen Weir, two-time NDP candidate Natasha Doyle-Merrick announced that she was withdrawing from the race in the Eglinton–Lawrence riding. She stepped aside to prevent Michelle Cooper, the Progressive Conservative rookie candidate, from overtaking the Liberal hopeful. “I recognize that the race in Eglinton–Lawrence (including the Yonge–Eglinton area) is a clear two-party contest between the Liberals and Conservatives. To prevent a Conservative win and more years of neglect, I’m stepping aside to avoid a vote split,” Doyle-Merrick said days before last week’s vote. In an official campaign press release, the former candidate expanded on her decision to withdraw. “Lawrence Heights is my home. It is a community of talented, intelligent, and ambitious people who deserve to be heard—not just used every four years for votes,” she wrote. “This election is crucial because Dou...

  Did Natasha’s Bold NDP Election Poison Pill Move Hand Victory to the Liberals? By Stephen Weir Did Natasha’s bold election move last week in the Etobicoke–Lawrence riding win one for the Left, or did she hand a victory to the Conservatives? Natasha Doyle-Merrick, the NDP candidate in the Conservative-leaning and affluent riding of Etobicoke–Lawrence, announced last week that she was ending her campaign, leaving the Liberals and the Conservatives to battle it out in today’s election. The Caribbean Canadian social activist sent a copy of her Twitter withdrawal statement to me, who reposted it after confirming its authenticity with her campaign. “I recognize that the race in Eglinton–Lawrence (including the Yonge–Eglinton area) is a clear two-party contest between the Liberals and Conservatives. To prevent a Conservative win and more years of neglect, I’m stepping aside to avoid a vote split,” said Doyle-Merrick. In an official campaign press release, the former candidate expanded o...

  Royal Canadian Mint Unveils Hogan’s Alley Silver Commemorative Coin in Time for Black History Month As Black History Month unfolds across Canada, the Royal Canadian Mint has unveiled a new collector’s coin honouring Hogan's Alley, a once-thriving Black community in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood. The 2025 $20 Fine Silver Coin, designed by renowned Caribbean Canadian artist Kwame Delfish, celebrates the spirit and resilience of the neighbourhood that flourished until its demolition in the early 1970s.

  15 actors dressed like dogs take to the stage  (Don’t worry they are trained)  The CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre has just opened   "15 Dogs,"  a powerful stage adaptation of the award-winning novel by Trinidadian-Canadian author  André Alexis . Running from  January 28 to February 16, 2025 , this thought-provoking production explores themes of consciousness, loyalty, and the complexities of the human (and canine) condition, as fifteen dogs in a Toronto veterinary clinic are granted human intelligence. Venue: CAA Theatre 651 Yonge St, Toronto, ON, M4Y 1Z9

  BOB's Your Garbage Picking Friend on Four Caribbean Islands DeWitt Lee(right) and fellow BOB beach cleaner show their catch By Stephen Weir for Caribbean Camera Ignore the chill outside your door today—it’s Bob Marley Day in Toronto! DeWitt Lee wants you to picture yourself ankle-deep in warm Caribbean waters, taking part in the second annual BOB clean-up, held in memory of the late, great Bob Marley on February 6th. BOB? It stands for Beautify Our Beaches. This is the second year volunteers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, and St. Lucia will roll up their sleeves—or dive in—to clean up in Marley’s honor. Whether wading, snorkeling, or scuba diving, teams will be removing everything from plastic waste to hurricane debris—and in some cases, even abandoned vehicles. While Marley’s family has organized clean-ups in Jamaica before, what makes BOB special is its regional reach. The clean-up now extends to other Caribbean nations, turning this into a wider movement. This yea...