Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

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 for j

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, Gordon’s widow

Jay Douglas and Jamaica's  DJ General Trees drop a big one! Toronto’s all-time favourite reggae performer Jay Douglas has a new song out and a new “album” in the works. Still going strong after 45-years of performing, the Toronto singer has just “dropped” Jah Children, a single he has recorded with Jamaica’s Dancehall DJ General Trees. Saying that Douglas is part of Toronto’s reggae scene, is unfair to the singer.  Better to say he started the reggae scene in the Six back in the late sixties with the group The Cougars and continues to be the big draw for the sound. While the Yorkville and Yonge Street scenes have long since disappeared, Douglas continues to soldier on. You have probably seen him on stage at Caribana and Carnival concerts, headlining at the CNE, on TV as he accepted his Junos, and performing at some of the GTA’s most popular watering holes. “ We have never stopped,” Jay Douglas told the Caribbean Camera. “I started as a kid in Montego Bay in the early early

New Biannual art fair for Caribbean art, all set for Mandeville Painting by Jamaica's Krystal Ball By Stephen Weir Attention Jamaica, a group of Caribbean Canadian art experts is about to   put the spotlight on art and artists from Jamaica and other Caribbean nations.   A 3-day exhibition and sale of local art beginning January 30th will take place in Mandeville Jamaica. The fair is being spearheaded by well-known founder of the Black Artists Network Dialogue and CArt’s Creative Director.   Karen Carter. She describes the upcoming CArt Festival as a contemporary art fair connecting artists from the Caribbean region to the international art world. “CArt is an opportunity for fair goers to meaningfully connect with local artists, and acquire original art to add to their art collection,” Karen Carter told the Camera.  It will take place at the Mandeville Hotel in Mandeville. This is the first installment of CArt which will be a biennial Art Fair. The weekend