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re dead zone (now, march 4-10). I agree with Hormoz Nabili that the stretch of Dundas West between Spadina and Bathurst needs a facelift, but its situation pales in comparison with other parts of the city core. Just for kicks, let’s instead describe the walk along Dundas East from Yonge to Parliament: From the thriving heart of Yonge, complete with giant-screen videotrons, Dundas quickly declines in the course of only two blocks. A collage of poorly stocked convenience stores, questionable restaurants and bars and low-density housing in desperate need of repair mingled with unattractive low-rent concrete apartment complexes follows. Colourful fixtures include Filmore’s (prominently advertising the best “couch and face dancers” in Toronto). Guests at the Grand or the Comfort Suites along Dundas East or tourists who decide to wander over to explore the joys of Cabbagetown or Little India are in for an unpleasant surprise.
Dundas West is now what it was designed to be – a utilitarian corridor serving the needs of local residents.
Stephanie Kalt
Toronto
what has susan g. cole been smok ing? I note with a serious amount of alarm her revised views on gay marriage (NOW, March 4-10). Like Cole, I too have a beloved teenage girl. Her mother and I do not demonstrate for a better world, join causes and work in the legal profession as feminists so that our cherished girl can someday become somebody’s wife. While she, alas, might choose this for herself, her parents still want something different and better for her. I’m sorry that Susan has given up on this great hope. Will someone tell Susan that lesbians can’t get into the Klan either. Like the institution of marriage, this is another club that I’m happy not to join.
Karen Andrews
Toronto
re imaginary crimes, by alan Young (NOW, March 4-10). I was greatly dismayed to discover Bill C-12 received first and second reading in the House of Commons recently. If enacted in its present form, the bill would eliminate the defence of artistic merit for child pornography, leaving only a slightly modified defence of public good. On July 28 of last year, I was arrested by Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (now Canada Border Services Agency) for importing into Canada a copy of Catherine Breillat’s Fat Girl, which was deemed “obscene” under the Code. Classifying the film as child pornography, Customs then contacted Niagara regional police service (NRPS) to investigate, resulting in my being transferred into custody. I was imprisoned.
I was eventually released, and all charges against me were dropped.
Those of us who are cinephiles have good reason to fear that we will be dolphins in the dragnet that Bill C-12, if enacted in its present form, will cast.
Sheldon Warnock
Toronto
I would like to echo daniel fisch lin’s comments with regard to the shameful behaviour of Canadian embassy officials in Havana (NOW, March 4-10). In the summer of 2002, Cuban professor Arnaldo Coro was denied entry into Canada to attend the national convention of Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC), the national organization representing Canada’s 50,000 ham radio operators. Coro is a world-renowned expert on the use of ham radio for emergency communications and was supposed to be the keynote speaker at the event.
Even more bizarre, just four months earlier he had obtained a visa to enter the United States to attend a similar event.
So believe it or not, Canadian officials treated him worse than American officials!
Bob Chandler
Toronto
the story everyone seems to have missed on Haiti (NOW, March 4-10) is that Aristide started off as a progressive until he needed the help of the U.S. to get back into power. My understanding (and I’m no expert) is that in return for U.S. help, Aristide all but abandoned his left-wing policies and embraced the IMF and World Bank. Years of neo-liberalism got Haiti nowhere (like the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean), and eventually almost everyone in Haiti became fed up. In turn, Aristide became more oppressive, until he became a liability for the U.S.
John Richmond
Etobicoke
In response to tearing regent up (NOW, February 26-March 3). I would like to correct some misconceptions on the part of the writers. First, the revitalization of Regent Park will not result in a decline in the number of rent-geared-to-income (RGI) units. Toronto Community Housing not only intends to replace all 2,087 RGI units, but it also has an obligation to do so under provincial law. There is no negotiation on this point. We’re in the business of housing people, not displacing them.
Second, it is true that tenants will have to be relocated once redevelopment begins. However, this will be temporary. The development will be done in stages over 10 to 12 years, so residents who choose to will be able to stay in the community during construction. Once construction is done, all current residents will be able to return to the new units in Regent Park if they so choose.
The raison d’être for the revitalization of Regent Park is to build a better, healthier community for those who live in publicly owned housing.
Derek Ballantyne
CEO, Toronto Community Housing
thanks to those activists who wrote about the Regent Park redevelopment turning into an exercise in gentrification and the destruction of the wider community. That’s exactly what happened with Lower Town Ottawa in the late 1960s, which, to my shame, I supported. Why not first build homes in the community for dislocated Regent Park residents and offer them to those needing to relocate? A more gradual development could offer new homes for old, and no one would be forced to relocate outside the community.
Barry McGrory
Toronto
re four-wheel death trap (now, February 26-March 3). There’s one other hidden danger of driving an SUV: overconfidence. Late last January, I was driving back to Toronto from a conference in Montreal. Halfway home, a blinding snowstorm struck. My companions and I in our tiny rent-a-car finally concluded that it was dangerous to continue and stopped at a hotel for the night. The next morning, after the storm, as we continued down the highway in sunlight, we counted 14 cars off-road in the space of a kilometre. All of them were SUVs. (I don’t remember how many had rolled.) The lesson? City-dwellers unused to driving in adverse weather conditions aren’t going to be safer in an SUV. Instead, they’re going to take more risks and invite more possibilities of danger.
Rachel Bokhout
Toronto
re outkast’s recent native-in spired performance at the Grammys (NOW, February 26-March 3). If the condition of native peoples permits native spokespeople (and the well-meaning left) to devote their considerable energies to denouncing the “racist filth” of OutKast’s performance, then things must be looking up for native communities!
God knows why Andre decided to work the stereotypical 1950s Amerindian look, but I don’t think he thought he was dressing up like a real native, do you? The point is, Andre liked the way the awful costumes looked, and there’s almost no chance that he did it with any malice. So leave the guy alone and take the tiresome PC crusade elsewhere.
Andrew Mason
Toronto
matthew mernagh’s no-thrill pills (NOW, February 19-25) brought tears to my eyes. It’s criminal what people who are diagnosed with mental illness are put through by some doctors. Taking powerful anti-psychotic drugs turns many of them into emotionless zombies – and then they are told to go out into the world and fend for themselves. It’s no wonder so many are winding up in shelters or on the streets with nowhere to go.
Manuel Saraiva
Toronto
far from settling the issue raised by Mel Gibson’s film about who bears the burden of responsibility for Jesus’ death, Michael Schulman’s letter (NOW, March 4-10) slyly offers that the murderous divine plan was God-authored. What are any of us really responsible for if God is omnipotent and omniscient and has a plan for every person? I guess a defence of “I did it but it wasn’t my idea” wouldn’t really go over so well in court. When the chips are down, and despite the “swearing on the Bible” bit, God doesn’t really have any legal standing these days.
Geoff Rytell
Toronto
I enjoyed jeffery haas’s article Spam Scam (NOW, March 4-10), especially the part about the spammers getting gaping chest wounds after going out hunting with shotguns. Here’s hoping they all meet gruesome deaths!
Margaret Seballos
Toronto
why does now always insist on using headlines that have no bearing on the article? Yuri No Fun (NOW, March 4-10) is one of the most misleading titles I have ever read. I went to high school and played in numerous bands with Yuri, and that statement is exceptionally unfair. As for why he left Tangiers, not having spoken to him about it, I can wager a reasonable guess – because they suck! I have tried to be the good, supportive local musician, but they make me want to cut off my ears. NOW seems to think they are the shit. Hard to see why NOW supports them, since they’re not even American.
Not that you will publish this, as you seem to have lost your edge. Sad, sad, sad that you represent the counterculture in our city! Who knows? You may print my less than flattering critique of Tangiers. I say good, maybe it will inspire them to practise! No offence, Shelton!
Jason Darby
Toronto
