Oprah in Toronto

Oprah Winfrey in Denmark on 30 September 2009 to promote Chicago as Olympic host (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Die-hard fans lined up at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre to see Oprah Winfrey bring her life-class north of the border. The event had motivational speaker Tony Robbins, spiritual healer Deepak Chopra, Iyanla Vanzant and Bishop T.D. Jakes. The event aimed to inspire and help individuals change their world.  It was the first-ever Canadian broadcast and it will air live on the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Related articles

• Oprah takes Toronto (theglobeandmail.com)
• Oprah Winfrey’s ‘Lifeclass’ comes to Toronto (ctv.ca)
• Oprah in Toronto: Class is in session for sold-out crowd (thestar.com)
• Oprah Winfrey adds second show to Toronto event (ctv.ca)
• Oprah Winfrey’s Lifeclass tour draws thousands to Toronto shows (thestar.com)

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I forgot to mention Makimono Sushi Restaurants Pickering location

In an update to my previous post on “The Best Sushi in the GTA” I forgot to mention Makimono’s other location in Pickering. In case you are in the Pickering Town Centre area just take a quick walk arcross the street to 1790 Liverpool Road, just north of the 401. It’s also a great location for Sushi in Durham Ontario. The location is sometimes busy during lunch, however it’s also has a great atmosphere and staff. Of course, being that it’s an all-you-can eat location, you may want to leave a lot of room to “expand”. Otherwise you may need to take a quick nap afterwards. We all love good eats and if you have other locations, please be sure to share them with us. Happy eating!

Related articles

• Sushi can be a healthy meal – if you choose wisely: The Dish (healthzone.ca)
• Jiro Dream of Sushi (mawenlin.wordpress.com)

You burb I burb we all scream for the suburbs

Cookie cut lives in the suburbs

It’s a cookie cut life of mediocrity, welcome to the burb. It’s all the same, we love it and it’s nothing to absurd. Admit it, we were sucked into the dream; the dream of owning a piece of Canadian terra-firma and all that it means. You love the plastic playground and uniform styles. The box stores and endless cars scream out the word character. It’s perfect and fun! It’s lovely and glorious, isn’t it? We enjoy the hours spent in the daily commute; a life like this is a wonderful pursuit. We love, even more, waking up early to catch a GO Train; packed in like sardines, it’s all normal, we are not insane. We enjoy closing ourselves out from the world; shielded by our iPhone, Android, Blackberry and tools. Thank you fast food, easy meals, it’s all so divine. Yes, we live in the suburbs and our lives have never been better. It’s all so simple and pedestrian.

Related articles

• This is why we call it Northern Ontario (thetwentiesroar.wordpress.com)

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Election Day in Canada – May 2, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper

Well a historic election has just taken place in Canada. The Bloc was decimated in Quebec, and almost wiped off the map. Newfoundland told Conservatives what to do with themselves. The Greater Toronto Area is painted blue and Toronto has gone NDP Orange. Also, it looks like we have our very first Green member of Parliament. So what went wrong for the Liberals? They took their support for granted. Canadians were looking for change and they did not see it in the Liberals, in Ontario. Yes, there was a lot of vote splitting, however lets be honest. Ontario has been red for a long time. This is a breakthrough for the Conservatives in Ontario. The question is, can they live up to that support?

The G.T.A is an important battleground and they better take note. As for the NDP, they better not take their Quebec support for granted. The Bloc imploded, Liberals were yesterdays news and they did not like the Conservatives. So we are left with the NDP. Jack the time to start working is now. As for the Liberals, there is a lot of soul searching.

However I will offer this advice to all parties. (1) Liberals, you need to go back to your roots. Your party is not dead. I’d rather say that it is in hibernation and healing. Canadian’s have not forgotten you, rather the opposite happened. You forgot them. Remember who you are and what you stand for. Otherwise, what is the point of the Liberal Party. It is time for you to reconnect. (2) NDP you have been given the chance to prove your worth, so do not disappoint. From the people I have spoken to many parked their vote with the NDP. Also, in Ontario, people simply love and trust Jack Layton.  It will be important, despite a majority Conservative government, that the NDP choose their battles well and fight for those who voted for them. Less we forget, as often Canadians do! (3) Conservatives fought a simple and straight-forward campaign. You delivered your message and Canadians listened. We are concerned about the economy and trust in that has been given to you. However, do not take that trust for granted. A lot of Canadians still do not trust the Conservative Party and a lot of seats were gained from vote splitting. Be careful how you govern. Canadians are watching. Do not slip to the right with arrogance. As Harper said, keep a steady ship. If you can prove your worth maybe your quality will be remembered. (4) Finally, to Elizabeth May and the Green Party. You have made Canadian history! Despite the media ignoring you, thank you for running and not giving up. The Green Party should be a wake up call to ALL parties. People voted for Elizabeth May and the Greens across Canada. Their ideas and policies should not be ignored! Summed up in Elizabeth May’s own words “amateurs built the ark and professionals built the Titanic”. People are wary in Canada and if the status-quo parties cannot deliver, Canadians may decide someone else can.

Congrats to Prime Minister Harper, who has finally gotten a majority government for the Conservative Party. We will all watch, wait and see what policies are implemented and what happens in the next Parliament. See you in 2015!

By Mannee Jay

GlobalMedic – Rahul Singh has joined Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010

My sincere congratulations goes out to Rahul Singh, who is now one of the most influential people in the world. Truly an Angel walks among us!

Signed: @iammannyj

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Rahul Singh – Global Medic

Indo—Canadian paramedic Rahul Singh has joined US president Barack Obama, talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and Apple boss Steve Job in Time magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2010.

The Toronto—based paramedic, who founded GlobalMedic in 1998 to help disaster—hit people, has been the face of Canadian relief efforts around the world, including the quake—hit Haiti, in the past 10 years. Calling his on—going relief work in Haiti “a shining example” of “selfless effort”, the magazine said, “Singh and his group of volunteers wasted no time in arriving in Port—au—Prince and setting about providing clean drinking water and medical aid wherever it was needed.

“Over an eight—week period, his team distributed 2.4 million gallons of clean water, while GlobalMedic’s two inflatable field hospitals brought medical assistance to more than 7,000 people. They also trained a local team of Haitians to take over the work, and right now that is just what they are doing.”

Speaking to IANS, Montreal—born Rahul Singh said, “I am excited to get on Time’s list. But this recognition is not about me, it is about our volunteers.”

Singh, whose parents migrated to Canada from Delhi’s Maharani Bagh, said he founded GlobalMedic after seeing the ravage caused by mudslides in Nepal in 1998.

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Bravo the Best Bakery in Durham Ontario – A Hidden Gem in Ajax!

If you are looking for a hidden gem, you need to visit the Bravo Italian Bakery in Ajax Ontario. It is the best little charm in North Ajax and will hopefully be for years to come. Go taste and see! In my opinion you will not be disappointed!

Bravo! Italian Bakery

81 Middlecote Drive
Ajax, ON L1T 0K3
(905) 428-3105

Open Tue-Fri 10am-7pm; Sat 9am-4pm; Sun 9am-3pm

Cito Gaston Back After Jays! Cito is back…

If the Jays season were a movie, it might be called Back To The Future. Because one look at the bench and those people standing behind the bags and you might think you’ve been transported to the 1990s. Standing in the dugout calling the shots is Cito Gaston, the bench boss who took the team to the heights of hysteria with back-to-back World Series.

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Serving students in culturally clustered schools

I still think that this is a bad idea? There are other ways to solve social issues and problems. Excuses are unacceptable and only help to further alienate various groups in our city. However, if someone can provide me with a reason this a good idea, I am all ears. Andy MJ /a.k.a “The GTA Patriot”.

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Educators debate need for same-culture role models amid reality of ‘segregated’ schools. When Canada’s largest school board votes tomorrow on whether to start an Africentric alternative school, there will be those, including Ontario’s premier, who oppose a school that clusters children by race.

Segregation, critics charge, has no place in our public schools.

Yet schools have long been segregated, naturally, by virtue of the colour-coded neighbourhoods in which they sit, says veteran urban planner Mohammad Qadeer of Queen’s University.

In Canada, he argues, this could be a good thing?

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Girl Refused Employment Because Of Dreadlocks

Jessica Devnani was excited about the prospect of starting her first summer job at Canada’s Wonderland, but in the end, she found no amusement in the park’s request that she cut her dreadlocks, or find work elsewhere.

“I went in for my interview and they hired me on the spot so a week later I went for my first day of training,” she explained.

When she showed up she was given the bad news — the hair had to go.

“I was angry they didn’t tell me at the interview when they saw my hair,” she adds.

As a private company Canada’s Wonderland is entitled to a hiring policy and they have a rule of no extreme hairstyles.

A spokesperson for the company declined an interview.

“They got my hopes up with the job and then telling me I had to resign,” Devnani complains.

Canada’s Wonderland says it will look into better communicating its hiring policies and Jessica doesn’t plan to take any action against them, but she just hopes it doesn’t happen to somebody else.

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Father of slain muslim teen charged with murder

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – A 57-year-old man from Mississauga, Ont., has been charged with murder after his 16-year-old daughter died overnight.

Aqsa Parvez was rushed to hospital Monday morning in critical condition after a man made a 911 call in which he allegedly said he killed his daughter.

The teenager died in hospital late Monday night.

Peel Regional Police have charged her father, Muhammad Parvez, 57, with murder – a specific degree will be determined later.

He made a brief court appearance Tuesday morning and was remanded in custody pending another court appearance Wednesday.

Aqsa Parvez’s friends have said she had been arguing with her devout Muslim family for months over her reluctance to wear a hijab.

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Immigrants choose to settle in Canada’s largest cities

Immigrants are still choosing to start their lives in Canada in one of the “big three” -Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver – but there are signs of changing times.

Among all the census metropolitan areas, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver again attracted most of Canada’s new immigrants, according to 2006 census data on immigration released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.

Of the 1.1 million immigrants who landed in Canada between 2001 and 2006, about 70 per cent settled in one of the “big three” and about 28 per cent headed for other urban areas. Only three per cent chose to settle in a rural area, the 2006 census found.

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