Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

How did this happen? The Christmas Rush is here   By Stephen Weir  IF your son or daughter has ever lined up all night on Yonge Street to buy a pair of designer sneakers, there is a book you might want to buy and sneak under the Christmas tree! Available only through on-line booksellers like Amazon.ca and Indigo, The Art of Sneakers written by Hollywood actor Ivan Dudynsky, is the book of choice for "sneaker heads" around the world. "The sneaker is quite simply a piece of art. And why shouldn't it be? Try to name anther item that combines sport, technology, innovation, design and fashion all mushed into one 12-inch piece of rubber, nylon and leather," writes Jeff Staple, one of more than a dozen world sneaker experts who wrote chapters for this millennial-friendly highly visual coffee table book.  Haven't heard of Staple? That means you are probably older than 30 and buy your sneakers at Wal-Mart.  He founded an un...

Innocence Canada Welcomes Federal Promise of Independent Commission From:  Innocence Canada (issued by Stephen Weir on behalf of Innocence Canada)   News release  December 13, 2019 TORONTO: A federal plan to create an independent body to seek out and correct possible wrongful convictions represents the realization of a 25 year-dream for the innocence movement.  Innocence Canada - the country's leading organization advocating for the wrongly convicted - pledged to give Justice Minister David Lametti its full support and assistance as the government establishes the independent commission. Innocence Canada, formerly the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, has been advocating for the creation of an independent commission since the organization’s inception in 1993.  Over its 25-year history, Innocence Canada has participated in the exoneration of 23 wrongly convicted people in Canada in addition to contributing to a number of publ...

Front Page News: CTV Face of Toronto Nathan Downer’s TV Career Takes An Upward Turn He is one of the good guys and he is a good friend of the carnival. Long time CP-24 stalwart Nathan Downer has been bumped up to the big times and is now delivering the news to a much much bigger Toronto TV audience on a much bigger screen! CTV News Toronto (CFTO) announced that as of yesterday Nathan Downer has taken over from veteran announcer Ken Shaw as the co-anchor of CTV NEWS AT NOON alongside veteran newsy Michelle Dubé. Downer will also co-anchor CTV NEWS AT SIX beginning in early January when Shaw retires. “I’m very excited to join the anchor desk of Canada’s most-watched local newscast, to be part of this incredible team, and to work alongside an exceptional journalist in Michelle Dubé,” said Downer. “I’m tremendously honoured to uphold Ken Shaw’s legacy of guiding Torontonians through the biggest events unfolding in our wonderful city.” For news watchers, the move from channel 24 down the...

--> Another Mandala Comes To Toronto By Stephen Weir  Yesterday royalty came to town. Chances are you missed out. No, it wasn’t some politician. Nor a Soca star or a famous blogger either. We are talking about the real deal. On Wednesday Nelson Mandela’s great-grandson Siyabulela Mandela was in the city to speak to journalists, to mark the anniversary of Nelson Mandela’s death and to view the “MANDELA: Struggle for Freedom” exhibition currently on display at the Meridian Arts Centre in North Toronto. It is a major exhibition developed by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. The Manitoba museum created this multi-media exhibition in collaboration with South Africa’s Apartheid Museum. It came to Toronto directly from Winnipeg and opened in early October. It runs till January 5th 2020. The exhibition is described as being a “rich sensory experience of imagery, soundscape, digital media and objects. MANDELA explores Nelson Mandela’s fight f...

Ontario Court Wants To Let G98.7 Groove The Way It Used To By Stephen Weir On air G 98.7 has been “Groovin” just fine since the death of Fitzroy Gordon eight months ago.   But, in the boardroom and the courts, there are serious ruts in those grooves following the passing of the founder and boss. Last Thursday the fate of the station that bills itself as   “The Way We Groove” was once again in front of an Ontario Supreme Court Justice. At stake was the ownership of the station, the ownership of the estate of the late Mr. Gordon and the settling of the management team to handle the Kern Street station’s crushing debt. The case is not closed yet, however, last week the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice issued a partial decision that settles who is exactly in charge of the beloved Caribbean Canadian FM Station. Although the Caribbean Camera has not seen Thursday’s direction, the paper has learned that control of the G-97.5 is now in the hands of two people, Gordo...