Beach Olympian Penny Oleksiak to meet fans in support of food bank
Volume 50 No. 14
BEACHMETRO.COM
October 5, 2021
EAST TORONTO residents will have a chance to congratulate swimmer Penny Oleksiak on her record-breaking summer Olympic performace during an event next week to benefit the Daily Bread Food Bank. Oleksiak, who grew up in the Beach and attended Monarch Park Collegiate, will be at Kew Gardens on the afternoon of
Thursday, Oct. 14, to meet and greet fans. By winning three medals in the pool at the Tokyo Olympic Games this past summer, Oleksiak became Canada’s most awarded Olympic athlete in history. Oleksiak, 21, won a silver and two bronze medals in Tokyo. She added them to the gold, sil-
ver and two bronze medals she won five years ago at the Rio Olympics to give her a total of seven; more than any other Canadian Olympian. The Oct. 14 event is from 3 to 5 p.m. near the front entrance to Kew Gardens, by the Cenotaph, just off Queen Street East. Those attending are asked to bring food bank donations.
Liberal MP sets priorities for minority government By Amanda Gibb
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
Elder Little Brown Bear, Manager of Aboriginal Culture at Michael Garron Hospital, speaks during a pipe ceremony and sacred fire on the grounds of the East York hospital on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation last Thursday.
Ceremony marks first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation at sweat lodge By Alan Shackleton
A SOMBRE ceremony was held on the grounds of Michael Garron Hospital in East York to mark Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. Held at the site of the Bear’s Den All Nations Traditional Medicine Sweat Lodge at the Coxwell Avenue hospital, the ceremony was attended by a large crowd including Ontario Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth Dowdeswell.
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women and girls, and for Canadians to become more aware of all of our responsibilities towards truth and reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. Little Brown Bear said that change can be made, but it will take all people working together to do so. “We may sometimes think the culture is too big to change, but we are the culture and we can change,” he said. “There have been lots of pretty words, but now is the time to commit to those pretty words.
Anger is not going to fix this. We must walk with soft moccasins and listen to each other,” Little Brown Bear said. “I grieve so much for those children and missing women.” He said that declaring a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a step in both the healing process and in making permanent change. “Today is the right thing to do,” he said. Little Brown Bear said listening to each other and learning the truth about the abuses of the Continued on Page 5
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“This is not a day of celebration. It is a day of reflection and looking back,” said Elder Little Brown Bear, Manager of Aboriginal Culture at Michael Garron Hospital as he conducted a pipe ceremony by the sacred fire which was going to burn all day on Sept. 30. The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was declared by the federal government earlier this year with the intent of remembering the legacy of the Residential School system, murdered and missing Indigenous
ELECTED FOR the third time in a row as the MP for Beaches-East York in last month’s federal election, Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said his priorities as a member of the minority Liberal government will include finishing the fight against COVID-19 from both a health and economic recovery perspective. “The first priority is to finish the fight against COVID-19, including continued support for new vaccinations and booster shots, and an expansion of rapid testing,” he said in an interview with Beach Metro News last week. “We then need to prioritize the recovery, and that work will include serious climate action, strengthening both our healthcare system and social safety net, delivering affordable housing and child care, and advancing reconciliation.” Erskine-Smith was re-elected in Beaches-East York in the Sept. 20 federal election, winning more than 56 per cent of the votes cast. He has held the riding since 2015 after defeating former NDP MP Matthew Kellway. In 2019, Erskine-Smith was re-elected after winning more than 57 per cent of the total votes cast in Beaches-East York. This will be the second minority Liberal government in a row of which ErskineSmith is a member of the ruling party. He said he hopes to see a greater sense of co-operation on numerous shared priorities from during this minority government’s tenure, including “ambitious climate action.” “(I hope) that we all put aside political posturing and get back to work in a serious and competent manner,” said ErskineSmith. The issues of affordable housing and homelessness in Beaches-East York were hot topics before and throughout the elecContinued on Page 20
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