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Volume 50 No. 22
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City calls on Metrolinx to consider other plans for Small’s Creek A MOTION by Toronto City Council to ask Metrolinx to “investigate and provide alternative proposals” for its work in the Small’s Creek ravine area has drawn widespread support including from former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson. In a Tweet late last week, Clarkson wrote: “Thank you City Council for your unanimous support to protect the delicate ecosystem of Small’s Creek. A restoration plan needs to be in place to preserve this hidden gem, one of nature’s beautiful resources in our city!” Council motion on Feb. 2 directs the city’s Executive Director, Transportation Expansion Office, to request Metrolinx to investigate and provide alternate proposals for its work “that reduce the impact to the ravine ecosystem due to Small’s Creek project, including the approach for how the pedestrian connection from Merrill Bridge Road Park to Williamson Park Ravine will be included in the scope of the project.” Work by Metrolinx has already begun in the ravine between the railroad tracks and Merrill Bridge Road Park, which is south west of Woodbine and Danforth avenues. Work in the area is being done as part of Metrolinx’s expansion of the Lakeshore East Rail Corridor from three tracks to four. This work will include the removal of a number of trees and the installation of a concrete retaining wall on the north side of the tracks. Last week’s Council motion was led by Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher and Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford. Along with the request for MetroContinued on Page 10
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Lunar New Year celebrations in East Chinatown
PHOTO: ALAN SHACKLETON
A Lion Dance is performed by the Northern Legs Southern Fists group during Lunar New Year celebrations on Sunday afternoon at the Zhong Hua Men (Chinese Archway) in Toronto’s East Chinatown on Gerrard Street East.
Beach author tells the story of her mother, Dr. Dora Akunyili, and her impact on Nigeria By Ahmed Dirie
LOCAL AUTHOR Chidiogo Akunyili-Parr’s new book, I am Because We are: An African Mother’s Fight for the Soul of a Nation, tells the story of her mother Dora’s inspirational rise to director-general of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) of Nigeria. The book also chronicles Dora Akunyili’s battles against corruption and misogyny, and the impact her career had on her family, Nigeria, and the rest of the world. Born and raised in Nigeria, Akunyili-Parr speaks Nigerian, French, English, German, Chinese, Spanish
and Italian. “I’ve lived in the Beach for about four years now,” said Akunyili-Parr. “My journey has been very much a global one. Seeking out a part of me and with it, I think, this theme that I’m very drawn to of Ubuntu and shared humanity.” Ubuntu has its roots in most Bantu languages and it speaks to the idea that we are who we are because of the people around us. Ubuntu stresses the interconnectedness between all beings as well as living in harmony with the world around us. “There’s a reminder of a shared humanity,” said Akunyili-Parr. “A person is a person to other people.
I am because you are, I am because we are and so it goes.” Akunyili-Parr feels that connection in the stories we tell each other. “I’ve been coming across this clarity on how stories help us to understand each other,” said Akunyili-Parr. “Why? Because we are two other people, right? Stories are powerful ways of showing us interconnectedness. We see ourselves very quickly in other people’s stories, right? It’s very rare that there’s a story where you can’t find a piece of you and because that’s kind of the magic of we’re all connected.” I am Because We are: An African
Mother’s Fight for the Soul of a Nation was released in January of this year. It is an intimate memoir of Dora Akunyili’s life and career, as written by her daughter. “In truth, the book came to me,” said Akunyili-Parr. “I was living in Geneva at the time and I was at a stage in my life where I was very devoted to connecting to what was coming through me.” Dora Akunyili was born in Nigeria in 1951 in southeast Nigeria to the Igbo ethnic group. A gifted and dedicated student, she was awarded the Eastern Nigerian Government Post Primary Scholarship and the Federal Government of Nigeria UnContinued on Page 5
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