Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

 Trudeau Comes to the Jr Carnival Kiddies Parade in Malvern While I Get CSIS Bums Rush I have been thrown out of a lot of events over the years, but never before have I been tossed from a Black church by Prime Minister Trudeau's staff. This all started Friday evening when a Scarborough methodist church invited Anthony Joseph , the publisher of the Caribbean Camera, to come to a hush hush Saturday afternoon service and cover it for his paper. He asked me to come with him to deliver a gift of freshly baked Caribbean bread (AJ is also a baker) to a Methodist church on Morningside Drive. Small church, Big Caribbean Canadian membership. We arrived just before a pan player brought his kit into the church. Special service complete with Caribbean music. We were invited to attend but after signing in we were approached by two security officers in civvies, asking who we were and why did I have my camera out? I assumed they were CSIS. It was all hush hush that Justin Trudeau was going to...

  Pet Marchan and Justin Trudeau talk Caribbean food TRUDEAU COMES TO CARNIVAL BOOT CAMP By Stephen Weir Last Friday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to Toronto to meet with Mayor John Tory at City Hall. When he finished the tete-et-tete and went out onto Nathan Phillips Square, he got 45-minutes of Carnival boot camp training that touched on all aspects of the carnival arts, from pan, to costume making to carnival food! “I met the Prime Minister of Canada this morning!” said Noel Audain, a longtime costume maker for Louis Saldenah’s Mas K Camp. “ It was exciting to show him the art of wire bending.” “ I set up a display to show the Prime Minister the fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown in the Caribbean and used in our cooking,” explained long time Carnival associate Petronilla Marchan. “ I had it all. Peppers, mangos, yam, casaba and something he had never seen before. Caribbean Tamara,” continued Ms. Marchan. “ He was very pleasant and took his time looki...

By Stephen Weir, photographs by Dan Moreland Wave after wave of junior masqueraders showed off their moves and their wildly colourful mas costumes to an audience of parents, friends and members of the press.   The Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s Junior Parade media launch was held indoors at the Malvern Town Centre mall over the lunch hour on Tuesday. Ahead the July 21 st Junior Carnival, a preview of costumes and performances was put on display for the cameras. The hour and half launch was a mixture of entertainment by young costumed revelers and speeches by adult politicians, sponsors and organizers giving the media information about four coming events for children taking part in the 2018 carnival. “ This year we really want to bring it back to the kids and to the families,” said Kevin Carrington, the MC for the media launch. “We have the Junior Carnival King and Queen Showcase taking place on stage at the Woodbine Centre in Etobicoke on July 15th...

It was a Kiddies Launch Weekend in Toronto By Stephen Weir  Photographs by Don Moreland Two days. Three launches.   Close to a 1,000 kids and parents spent part of their weekend taking in costume launches for this year’s Kiddies Parade. On Saturday and Sunday trio of Mas Camps held parties and fashion shows for junior revelers who want to play Mas this summer.   Sun Lime Mas, Louis Saldenah’s Mas-K-Camp and Tribal Carnival held free costume launches to show children what costumes they could wear in the coming July 21 st Junior Carnival. On Saturday Sun Lime Mas did just what their name says.   Under a warm sun, the Kiddies Band Launch was taken outdoors onto a large wooden stage that had been built behind their St. Clair Avenue East headquarters (Kennedy/Midland).   Parents and friends sat in lawn chairs and limed while the children lunched on hot dogs and treats and waited for the show to start.    Over a dozen young chil...