Statues placed at Toronto’s Ireland Park to represent the arrival of the Irish famine migrants on the city’s waterfront in 1847. Designed by Irish sculptor Rowan Gillespie, they were modelled on a similar Famine Memorial in Dublin for which he created seven statues of famine migrants about to embark on
Continue readingAuthor: Ken Theobald
Canadian Dimension: Gaza and Canada’s refugee double standard
Jihan Qunoo holding a press conference in front of the Prime Minister’s Office, Ottawa, December 19, 2023. Photo courtesy the Rural Rights Refugee Network. Nearly 50,000 Palestinians live in Canada. Most arrived here as refugees. They make up a small part of a global Palestinian diaspora, numbering seven million. Witnessing
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: No shelter from the storm
Protest against Vancouver’s removal of a homeless encampment on the sidewalks in the Downtown Eastside, August 16, 2022. Photo courtesy PHS Community Services Society. Mass homelessness has persisted in Canada for the past four decades. It has persisted because of systemic failures and failed policy decisions. A plethora of government-funded
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Beyond an emergency
Protesters gather outside a downtown Toronto intake centre to support refugees forced to sleep on the streets due to a lack of resources within the city’s shelter system. Photo courtesy the FCJ Refugee Centre. The plight of Toronto’s homeless and the crisis in the city’s shelter system were on full
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