Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

Tomorrow's Caribbean Camera Tonight! ROCHDALE – IT’S THE SIXTIES MAN. FREE LOVE AND FREE RENT COME TO TORONTO. BLACK POWER TOO By Stephen Weir Do you know what Rochdale College was? No? That probably means that you weren’t alive and living in the Toronto in the late Sixties when Rochdale was the centre of all things counter culture … including Black Power. Cast of rochdale in costume It was a large residence on Bloor Street near Spadina and housed over 800 people; most of them love bead-wearing students.  It was launched in 1968 as an experiment in a student run, free form alternative education set in a hippie run co-op.  Rochdale lasted only 8-years.  Closure came when the students stopped paying rent and the building started falling apart. At the time the police and neighbours said it had become a haven for drugs and crime. It was closed in 1975 when the authorities actually welded the front doors shut. Irony of Ironies, it is now a senior’s residence and many of

It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This By Stephen Weir The stars glittering above were most certainly aligned.  There will never be a Caribana King and Queen Competition as good as what happened last Thursday night at Lamport Stadium. What do we mean? In point form here’s why it was an event for the carnival history books. Clear warm skies. No wind. A stadium filled to capacity with hard-core fans of the carnival arts. Drama. Pageantry. And, two big surprises at the podium. According to Weather Canada, when the gates opened at the downtown soccer stadium, it was a sunny cloudless 25 degrees Celsius. When the contest ended just before midnight it was 20 degrees Celsius – just the right temperature to cool down an estimated audience of 10,000 as they streamed out of Lamport. Most of the crowd left the open-air stadium long before the winning announcements were made. Those that did stay greeted the names of the new King and Queen with loud gasps and then applause. Judges  d

Look Down The Track Senators – Wanda’s Emancipation Train Is Heading For Ottawa. By Stephen Weir Wanda Thomas Bernard at the mike Union Station Stand back  honourable members of the Senate. The Emancipation Train is heading to Ottawa and Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard is going to blow her conductor’s whistle until Canada’s Upper House listens to the voices of the Caribbean and African American communities. Dr. Bernard championed a bill proclaiming August 1 st  Emancipation Day in Canada. Even though the legislation was passed by the Liberal Government and made it through two readings in the Senate, it failed to come up for the final vote before the Senate recessed.  The bill will not be brought back for a third and final reading. At last Wednesday’s Freedom Train Ride in Toronto, the Nova Scotia senator said she is not going to give up.  Speaking to a crowd of close to 1,000 people inside TTC ‘s Union Station she told them  “I am 66 years old and I don’t have to retire (

THE KIDDIES PARADE - ANOTHER BIG WIN FOR THIS YEAR'S TORONTO'S CARIBBEAN FESTIVAL --> By Stephen Weir  You could tell that everyone was pumped to cheer on the children.   A city ambulance stuck a Trinidadian flag on its hood. A Caribbean man donned a banana costumes and walked the parade route handing out bananas to the junior revellers.   Local politicians waved and cheered and parents cried for joy when they saw their kids play mas on Neilson Road in Malvern! If you can ignore the punishingly hot sunshine and the lack of a cooling wind, Saturday’s Junior Carnival Parade and Family Day. There were over 2,000 little masqueraders wearing costumes belonging to nine competing bands. An estimated 8,000 people lined the parade route and sat in the stands to wildly clap and cheer at one of Canada’s biggest children’s costume parade. On Saturday morning Mayor John Tory and Deputy Mayor, Michael Thompson, along with other councillors and MPPs cut a ribbon to

The Grand Old Grande Parade.  Best hang on to your feathers. Sure the parade is in its 52nd year and it is very much the same old same old. However, there are additions and changes to the grand old Grand Parade that spectators should be aware of to get the most out of the August 3rd  world famous road march. First of all the parade is bigger, noisier and longer than last year – the route is 8km in length almost twice the distance in2018.  The parade is larger and will take much longer to play out along Lakeshore Blvd and in the Exhibition Place grounds. Third, the pan orchestras are back in the parade and will certainly make themselves heard above the roar of the crowd. Chris Alexander the head honcho at the carnival office spoke to the Caribbean Camera about the changes and upgrades to the Saturday parade. The bands, beginning at 9.30 am will present themselves in this order: guest bands, competitive bands and then non-competitive bands. Steel bands will round ou