Remarkable refugee stories
Re Café Is A Safe Haven For Syrian Asylum Seekers, by Mary Luz Mejia (NOW, December 3-9). Kudos. You have found true stories of real people and scooped the major newspapers, who appear to be looking for this unsuccessfully. Remarkable café owner and inspiring people.
Jay Lee, From nowtoronto.com
Canada ships terror in the other direction
After reading Matthew Behrens’s excellent article about Saskatchewan’s deep involvement in shipping uranium to many countries for their nuclear weapons programs (NOW, December 3-9), I was struck by the staggering hypocrisy of those who ignore or support such programs.
Many of these same individuals, including that province’s premier, Brad Wall, stand firm against the coming influx of Syrian refugees because, according to their xenophobic views, some may be terrorists. I guess it is okay by their standards if the terror threat is shipped in the opposite direction.
David Maharaj, Etobicoke
Toronto cop played deadly game
One question not asked at trial or in Jonathan Goldsbie’s Playing With Gunfire (NOW, December 3-9) is why Toronto police Constable James Forcillo placed himself 10 feet directly in front of Sammy Yatim, who was standing above him in the open streetcar door. Forcillo himself supplied the answer when he testified that he was trained to “win.” So he positioned himself in a showdown with Yatim, and we know today who lost. There was another loser that night, Constable Forcillo, who, while holding the superior weapon, chose to play a deadly game of one-upmanship rather than to serve and protect.
Ian Scott, Toronto
“Sammy” versus “cold-blooded” cop
I find the media’s personalizing of names interesting in all the hot air being expelled over poor young “Sammy” Yatim being ruthlessly shot by cold-blooded Constable James Forcillo. Would our sympathies shift if our pal “Jimmy” were confronting ruthless, violent “Samuel”?
Greg Kokko, Toronto
Looking for controversy in band’s name
Re An Open Letter To Viet Cong: Change Your Name Already, by Jon McCurley (NOW, December 1). I live in Vietnam. I agree somewhat with the writer that Vietnam suffers more than a little from misconceptions and misunderstandings about the war, and that Vietnamese people are often portrayed as untrustworthy when all they were doing was defending their country at great human loss. But leave the band alone, please. Just come here and live in the home of an average binh dan, then talk to me about difficulty and disadvantage. This controversy over the band’s name is only a problem if you go looking for it. You live in the free world. Value that.
Robert Harding, Saigon
Is Viet Cong racist or political?
Whether the band chose the name Viet Cong out of ignorance or not, I don’t see it as a racist name. It is a very political name, especially to the thousands of people who fled Vietnam to escape that army and the Communist government.
I visited Ho Chi Minh City in the mid-1990s and came back with a Ho Chi Minh T-shirt. He was a national hero, the leader of a movement that freed the country from colonial oppression, first French, then American. The first time I wore that T-shirt in Toronto’s Chinatown, a man came up to tell me that the figure on my T-shirt had killed millions and forced his family flee here. I could see that it upset him. Was it racist of me to wear that shirt?
Chris Hegge, From nowtoronto.com
Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park at Island airport?
Re Deluce Downed (NOW, November 19-25). The Liberals’ quick nix of any notion of jets flying at Billy Bishop was terrific news for all who care deeply about the great treasure that is Toronto’s waterfront. Hopefully, this decision signals the beginning of the end for the Island airport. Imagine the new tunnel to the Island one day being used by people for fast, easy access to Billy Bishop Park. Better yet, how does Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park sound? We could do no better to honour the legacy of the former PM who in 1972 initiated the revitalization of the city’s waterfront back when his son Justin was just months old.
Robert McBride, Thornhill
Mirvish keeps theatre scene alive
Recently I had the pleasure of attending the musical Motown in Toronto’s theatre district. I hadn’t seen a show here for at least a couple of years.
At times you hear news that the theatre industry isn’t what it used to be in Toronto, but judging from shows like this, our theatre scene is alive and well. I hope Mirvish continues to deliver more rewarding and entertaining shows to keep our theatre and arts culture thriving.
Alana Rayman, Toronto
Cape Breton Heroes thick and chewy
Folks missed a true treat December 2 when Maritimers the Town Heroes played a rare gig at the Horseshoe. Although the crowd was more rabble than throng, the Cape Breton duo played a knock-yer-socks-off show.
We were a happy few who got to see them this time around. There’s something thick and chewy and comforting about their music. It’s truly Canadian but has a much broader reach. I’ve listened to a lot of indie bands over the past few years, and Town Heroes are my personal hands-down fave. Their song hooks turn into earworms on first listen, their arrangements are full of surprises, their lyrics at once simple and powerful. They make it all sound so easy. Next time they pass through, let’s show ’em some T-dot hospitality.
Colleen M. Subasic, Toronto
