#9101 - Feb 1991

Digital Archiving Completed by the Ethnography Lab, A University of Toronto Anthropology Initiative 

and Produced in Collaboration with David Perlman/Wholenote Media Inc between July-December 2015. 

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HELP KEEP THE-= " 

nsington Market 

FEBRUARY91 

E MARKET'S .MUSICS ... -LIVE! 

by Colin Puffer 

The Kensington Market Drum 

has been delivered free, door to 

door, throughoutthe Market area 

for a year and a half. Now, to 

ensure its continued free 

deli very, a group of local 

performers have banded 

together to partake in the mother 

of all benefits. 

The Market's Music - LIVE! 

Taking place at The Silver 

Dollar, 484 Spadina Ave. on 

. ~· m., Feh 24, the show wUI 

feature -the MarkeCs finest 

musicians and a few designated 

imports from outside the Market. 

Performer's reasons for desiring 

to play the benefit range from 

the lofty - wanting to support 

an independent community 

newspaper - to crass self 

interest - wanting a shot at the 

fabulous door prizes and auction 

items. Others just want a good 

party. 

Organizers of the benefit have 

tried to ensure that the evening 

reflects the diversity of 

Kensington. The rainbow of 

musical styles will include blues, 

reggae, fotk, bluegrass, rock, 

traditional and some sounds that 

defy description. 

According to the organizing 

committee's location's manager, 

Pete Barnum, the Silver 

Dollar was selected as a venue 

largely because of its size-big, 

but not so large that a sense of 

intimacy is lost - and its fine 

sound system. Says Foggy 

Mountain Dead boy Mallory, 

"It's one of the best I've ever 

worked with, and Glen, the 

soundman is top-rate". 

Organizers, who hope very 

much to keep the benefit a 

Cont. page 16 

Also, page 5 

GARBAGE 

ACTION 

j 

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':1:::- a I t J;o'" 

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ot\ltt\ 

Tambor 

MAP 

& 

GUIDE 

See pages 8&9 

and much much more 

Regularly: 

News, news ...................................·............. 2,3 

Market Matters, Mutterings·-··-·········-·····4,5 

Talking Drum, Editorial, Opinion, Letters ........ 6,7 

Map and Directory ........................................ 8,9 

Kensington Environmental, Market Gourmet •.. 1 0 

Learning With You, Dates To Watch _ ............ 11 

Kensington COmmon ................................ 12, 13 

Community I Arts ........................................... 14 

AT LAST? ~ I Entertainment and Sports .......................... -.15 

t Drum Hum, (community ads) ... -·····-··-······16 

"Thev're all headliners. as far as I'm concerned'', says artistic director Robert Agricola.



~·--- ... 

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2 NEWS 

The Kensington Market Drum, February 1991 

Dundas Shootout Has People Scared 


Area residents, already made 

nervous by a recent fire in the heart 

of the Market, have further cause 

for concern. On Thursday, Dec 27, 

there was a fatal shooting at the 

Kim Bo Restaurant at 546 Dundas. 

It was executed as a spectacular 

gangland style hit. Two gunmen 

entered the restaurant and opened 

fire, killing Dan Vi Tran and 

wounding Mau Luy Quach and 

Hoan Thanh Luc. The killers then 

made a rapid exit and faded into 

the crowd. A police search through 

the Metro area failed to tum up 

either of the killers who- have 

possibly crossed into the U.S. 

At one point police believed that 

the murder was in retaliation for 

gang action in New Jersey in 

which Tran was believed to be 

involved. This theory has now 

been discounted. 

Karaoke Cafuffie 

Police responded to another gun 

call in the Market in the early hours 

of Jan 4 at the Quan Saigon 

Mekong Restaurant on St. 

Andrew. What actually occured is 

not _clear. Certainly there was a 

shot, or shots, fired and a man 

ended up with a head wound. But 

doctors were unable to determine 

whether the head injury had been 

caused by the bUllet itself or was 

self-inflicted as the victim dived 

for cover. 

Again on Dundas 

Sunday, February 3, produced 

another fatal shooting on Duridas. 

Deceased is Vinh Due Tat, age 29 

of 153 Augusta Ave. The wounded 

include: My Kuong Thich, age 16, 

no fixed address (back wound); 

Kuong Vin Duong, age 25, 423 

Crawford Ave. (leg wound); 

Phaibaim Souydalai, age 27, 36 

KenSington Ave. (neck wound). 

Those firing the shots-there 

appears to be more than 1 gun 

involved-made a hasty escape up 

Kensington Ave. DeteCtive Steve 

Hulcoop of Metro Homicide 

Squad will be heading the 

investigation. 

When Is A Crime Asian? 

The Drum first learned of the 

Asian Crime Unit (ACU) when 

investigating the fire at 56C 

Kensington (see December 

· Drum). The reporter was told that 

since the arson took place in a 

Vietnamese restaurant it would be 

looked into by the ACU. Attempts 

to contact this unit were at first 

fruitless-it is apparently a very 

busy group. 

Det. Sgt. Elford, head of the 

ACU said there had been no 

progress in the fire case. He gave 

the impression that the 

investigation of a relatively minor 

fire was not very high on the list of 

the unit's priorities. This may be 

understandable, given the size of 

his staff and the number of more 

serious crimes in the past months. 

The ACU 

The Asian Crime Unit which 

works out Of 14 Division is 

comprised of 5 officers, one of 

which is a Traffic Control Officer. 

It is these five who are called upon 

to deal with crime classified as 

"Asian". As well as covering 

Toronto they are called to 

municipalities outside of Metro. 

Of the 5 officers, only 2 are 

fluent in Vietnamese, with one 

also speaking Cantonese. So, 

language can be an enormous 

problem when investigating a 

crime. Couple this with the Asian 

community's traditional reticence 

to deal with police (were the 20 

· people in the Kim Bo at the time of 

· the shooting really all in the 

bathroom?) and the ACU ofte11 

runs into a brick wall in its 

investigations. 

The View From 14 · 

Kensington Market is in many 

ways a unique community. 

Residents know each other and 

talk to each other. But often this 

informal exchange of information 

leads -to distortions. The Drum, in 

its coverage of the two shootings, 

interviewed a number of people 

who were all aware of a third 

shooting in another restaurant. 

This third assault, it turns out, 

dido 't take place. Almost every 

Market resident has heard rumours 

of massive drug deals, extortion, 

turf-wars and gambling. How 

much truth is there in these 

rumours? 

Det. Elford doesn't believe that 

the problems are as wide-spread as 

some believe. What some people 

label extortion is often no more 

than a couple of toughs walking 

out of a restaurant without paying 

for a meal. A crime, but certainly 

not Miami Vice material. And 

what appears to be a turf-war may 

be only macho posturing by young 

roosters. But when contacted after 

the Kim Bo shooting Elford 

warned that he feared more serious 

problems could arise in the future. 

This concern, sadly, has been born 

out. 

Community Based Policing: Who Chooses How 


If the police are here to serve and 

protect, how does the community 

tell the police department how it 

wishes to be served and protected? 

Jan 22 there was a meeting at the 

Bob Abate Recreation Centre to 

address this question. Called by 

Rob Maxwell, City Councillor for 

Ward 11, the group assembled to 

discuss the concept of community 

based policing. While not a new 

idea, it is the first time that it there 

has been an attempt to 

implemented it in the Metro area. 

Though community based 

policing means different things to 

different people there is a general . 

agreement that police forces must 

become better integrated with the 

groups they serve, to avoid being 

viewed as an intimidating ·and 

foreign force. Maxwell says that 

Also, page 1 0-11 

Market 

Gourmet 

& 

Bob The Waiter 

Superintendent Winter of 14 

Division is himself commited to 

the idea. 

The meeting covered a fair 

number of ways in which they felt 

the "us and them" problem could 

be avoided: more police on the 

street instead of in cruisers; hiring 

policies that reflected the ethnic 

and languag~ mix of the 

· community; training pol;ce to 

respond to people and not just 

situations; and perhaps most 

importantly, some type of forum 

where the community could 

regularly make its concerns 

known to police forces. 

Alexandra Park Meeting 

-There was another meeting about 

policing, this time called and 

chaired by Superintendent Winter, 

held on Jan. 30 at Alexandra Park 

Community Centre. Winter 

explained how the department saw 

the implementation of a 

Also, page 12-13 

A Union of 

The 

Unemployed 

community based program. 

Reading from a report issued by 

the Solicitor General's Office, he 

outlined a plan that included a 

formaf consultation group, 

chaired by a civilian with a police 

officer as vice-chair and 

comprised of what he called a 

"vertical slice" of the community, 

i.e. a representative from 

community centres, a high school 

student, a senior etc. He maintains 

that the Solicitor General's report 

is only a blueprint, not the fmal 

form that program will actually 

take. 

The next community based 

policing meeting will deal with the 

election of a chairperson, deciding 

on a consultation process, the 

name the group shall use, and 

general organizational work. The 

meeting takes place at New 

Horizon's Senior Home, 1140 

Bloor St West, at 7pm, February 

26. . 

.Also, page 14 

The Nuts at 

Grossman's 

Quan Saigon Me Kong, St. Andrew, Jan 4, gun call "shots fired" 

Women's Detox 

to Open in April 

Consultation Continue-s 

by Masha BueU 

While plans for a women's detox 

centre in the Dundas West and 

Claremont area are developing on 

schedule, the process of 

community consultation and 

public education also continues. 

A group of concerned 

community members have been 

meeting regularly with 

representatives of the Women's 

Community Care Cenire since the 

original public meetings were 

held. The group is made up mostly 

of area residents. 

Aida Vuk, speaking on behalf of 

the centre, said "they still have 

their line and we have ours" but 

indicated that the original standoff 

seems to be evolving into a 

situation where both sides are 

listening and attempting to address 

the various isSues. 

The Centre wants people to 

consider that providing detox 

facilities will help to clear up a 

problem rather than create one. 

Vuk feels that helping people 

understand where detoxification 

fits into an overall continuum of 

care will help breed tolerance. 

The community~s concerns 

appear to be two-fold. While they 

agree that such a facility may be 

necessary in some other 

community, they continue to deny 

the need for it within their own 

community. And they are afraid of 

the effect the facility will have on 

their young people "if they see this 

(alooholism) perhaps it will make 

them go that way". Vuk 

commented that in many cases 

they find that the young people are 

more aware of substance abuse in 

general and in some cases better ' 

informed than some adults. 

j 

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~ 

< 

~ 

p. 

The Kensington Bellwoods 

Community Legal Clinic sent a 

letter of support for the facility to 

the Land Use Committee. Mindy 

Lopes is a community legal 

worker at the clinic, who spoke 

with community members who 

called reacting to the letter. Some 

considered it controversial. Lopes 

confirms that some elements of the 

community are still denying the 

need, and looking· for a loophole to 

halt the project. But the City's 

Land Use Committee heard 

deputations February 7 and 

decided not to support the 

community challege to the 

building permit. 

Lopes also commented on the 

effect of cultural norms regarding 

the whole issue of substrance 

abuse and its denial - the "we don't 

have this problem and you're 

going to bring it in" attitude. 

"Alcoholism is socially 

acceptable when you're born with 

it and raised with it. No one pays 

much attention until it gets to a 

certain point and then someone 

says: you better cut it out or you're 

going to die. Then maybe you 

think twice". And she spoke of 

another equally complex 

consideration, the extent to which 

women are conditioned to hide 

their problems, particularly if they 

are in conflict with their husbands. 

An abused woman often will not 

speak about the abuse. Instead she 

will go to a family doctor 

complaining of "nervousness" in 

order to get a prescription for antidepressant 

medication. Or she 

may turn to the church for help. 

But it is less likely she will seek out 

co~nselling, rehabilitation or 

support services - especially if she 

has to go far outside per 

community.



The Kensington Market Drum, February 1991 NEWS 3 

Hospital Parking Lot 

Nassau and Leonard looking south. Plans showed five 

floors high at this corner rising to eight along Leonard 

(Three along the Bellevue lot lines.) 

Co-op Proposed 

by David Perlman 

A meeting of the Toronto 

Western hospital-community 

liaison group on January 29 

heard the latest idea for the 

Leonard lot-from a developer, 

the Goldman group. They suggest 

putting all the parking on 

the Leonard Street lot. underground, 

and putting a co-op 

apartment building on top. This 

idea is fine with the hospital 

management who w"ant to 

expand the amount of parking 

available on the site. To accommodate 

all of it, the developer 

1 

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'lib 

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0 

t 

will have to go down four levels. 

To pay for 4 levels of parking 

underground, there have to 

be around 190 units in the coop. 

The developer and hospital 

were sufficiently encouraged by 

the response at the meeting to 

carry the idea further to the next 

liason group meeting. That next 

meeting will be Tuesday, 

March5, at 6:30 pm in the 

Bathurst Lounge inside the hospital. 

In addition to seeing more 

detailed plans, the group will 

talk about how to keep the community 

at large informed. 

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•••••••••••••••••••••••• 

DISTANT DRUM 

An open letter .to the minister ~f the environment of Ontario, Ruth 

Grier, regarding the CN railway lands and the Spadina lrt: 

Minister, · 

We are people who have tried to participate in the consultation processes recommended by the environmental 

assessment act of Ontario (EA). We did so in a consultative committee set up by Metro early in 1987 to try 

to come to terms with community opposition to the spadina lrt. This LRT was proposed to the community in 1985- 

6, around the same time that the Ontario municipal board was awarding development rights to CN real estate in the 

railway lands at the foot of Spadina Avenue, west of the skydome. The consultation was very drawn out, spanning 

some four years to this point in time-and we are not yet within sight of a hearing under the act 

In the meantime, depending on which way you look at it, a much needed transit project is languishing 

because of stubborn opposition; or a very necessary. provincial environmental assessment of metro's transportation 

planning policies and priorities is being stalled by planners and engineers who would rather take the route of discrediting 

the province's environmental assessment act. 

So, we are writing to say that now the province must prove itself to be the protector of the environment 

of the province-and that includes the part oHhe environment consisting of. cities. 

So far as we can see, cities like Toronto and governments like metro are fighting tooth and nail to prevent 

the environmental assessment acl from being applied to urban development. Either they claim environmental jurisdiction 

over some place or project themselves or else they take so long in following the act that they make it 

appear to be unworkable. You should take this as a sign of how good the legislation potentially is. 

You have called for hearing on the EA itself. So in the near future you'r~ going to hear public opinions 

on how to make the act work. One answer is, don't count on changes to the act to make it work. Because the mentality 

of local governments is that all they have to do to keep power is to make the province's environmental legislation 

unworkable. And they'll be able to make any act not work if that's what they want 

• It's no wonder they're trying, though, since in.many cases the province has power to prevent the environmental 

damage that the local governments are doing and allowing. . 

Take for example the twofold case of the Spadina lrt and the CN railway lands west of SkyDome. 

At this stage, ttc/metro has constructed an argument for a Spadina lrt bas_ed significantly on the idea that 

the lrt will get people out of their cars and onto transit-lrt as a weapon in the war against the private automobile. 

But when you examine their plan you will see that what they are trying to do is to keep attracting as 

many commuters as possible, by any means, to the Toronto downtown core. So they find themselves taking six 

years to put in a streetcar line on Spadina because they're trying to find a way of keeping it from interfering with 

the traffic! 

They refuse to acknowledge that they are actually protecting the car, by saying that a streetcar only has 

right of way when there is a physical barricade around it It should be the streetcar itself that has rightcof-way not 

some segregated part of the road. - 

The sad truth is that transit planners in metro can't even win a skirmish with the metro roads department, 

let alone plan a viable transportation strategy for metro. 

You and your government, on the other hand, can, with a stroke of the pen in the Highway and Traffic 

Act, give streetcars right-of-way protection on every street in Metro. That could still save your taxpayers $75 million 

on Spadina Avenue alone. 

Lots more than Spadina Avenue is at stake here. Consider for a moment: if Toronto had succeeded in 

our Olympic bid last fall, you would have had only one slim opportunity to have a provincial environmental assessment 

ofthe Olympic plan. And that would only have beenbecause metro would have argued that the Spadina lrt 

was necessary for the redevelopment of the Spadina railway lands. 

We hope you will not let the city and the railway companies come to a deal on the railway lands which 

allows environmenral assessment of railway lands to remain in city hands. We ask that you treat the upcoming 

environmental assessment of the proposed Spadina lrt as an assessment of metro's capability to plan transportation 

to the railway lands. And we ask you treat it also as an assessment of the City of Toronto's claim to be able to protect 

the environment of Ontario from the City's own plans, policies, and projects. 

If you do we'll have better news for our environment in some distant DRUM. 

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4 MARKET MATIERS 

Garbage Action 

Garbage Crunch IV ~ 


GARBAGE ACTION! 

There will be major changes to 

Kensington market garbage 

collection, starting mid-February, 

says Commissioner of Public 

Works and the Environment, Nick 

Vardin. Retailers and 

restauranteurs in the market will 

be visited by s member of the 

public works department who will 

hand-deliver an announcement 

from public works explaining the 

changes. Merchants should expect 

delivery of the announcement in 

the second or third week of 

February, according to Peter 

Gerkis, acting director of the 

City's sanitation department · 

While the text of the 

announcement is not yet available, 

it is expected to include: 

collection of corrugated cardboard 

five nights a week (Mon-Fri); 

collection from all restaurants six 

nights a week (Mon-Sat); 

introduction of a Saturday pickup, 

for merchants only as an interim 

measure; 

where a pickup has been cancelled 

because of a holiday, pickup to be 

made the following day. 

The only thing that appears to be 

in doubt is the question of the extra 

collection on Saturday nights. 

Supported by councillor Amer, 

Drum, area business and the 

garbage action group, it was 

previously opposed by public 

works on the grounds that if 

granted to Kensington it would 

have to be granted to all retail 

businesses in the city, at a time 

when the trend is to less collection 

rather than more-for 

environmental as well as fmancial 

reasons. In fact, the city services 

committee recommended to 

council on January 18 that there be 

no extra pickup as a permanent 

measure. 

But now measure has been 

supported publicly by 

Commissioner Vardin, local 

couocillors Amer ·and Martin, and 

by the Kensington garbage action 

group (local merchants, residents 

and environmental activists). As 

well, it is among the 

recommendations in a report 

which will be on the agenda of a 

Kensington market area task force 

meeting February 13. (See Task 

Force Meeting, this page) 

j 

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0. 

The hoped for compromise is 

that public works will add the extra 

pickup out of its existing operating 

budget-not a precedent setting 

council decision but as a logical 

temporary measure, one element 

of a comprel)ensive local waste 

reduction action plan. The extra 

pickup will at least mean a more 

manageable mess, and more 

merchant support for the longterm 

local garbage action plan 

kensington market area task force: EAST MARKET REPORT, January 1991~~ 

7. PROBLEMS RELATED TO GARBAGE DISPOSAL 

Concerns: that city, metro and community must come up with a 

comprehensive waste reduction action plan for the market, or run the 

risk of losing the essence of the Market--the sale of produce. 

In essence the problem is that the Market receives basically ~he same 

garbage disposal service from the City as the surrounding re.sidential 

areas (two nights a week) 

Recommendation 7 (A-J) 

A. one additional garbage pickup a week, so therefore, collections 

Monday, Thursday and saturday; 

B. In the absence of A., immediate reinstatement of the previous 

practice: Monday garbage collections · missed because of a holiday 

·should be postponed to the Tuesday instead of cancelled outright; 

c. that the City resume nightly collection of cardboard (5 nights a 

week); that merchants and local garbage action groups parblclpate in 

a program to separate waxed from unwaxed cardboard; that the province 

look to introducing a "discouragement tax" on produce delivered from 

outside the province in waxed cardboard; that there be a public 

education program in the ~rea to educate people to the differences 

between waxed and unwaxed card.boards; · 

D. that community, metro and city develop means for merchants to 

separate at source food matter from cardboard, and to store the food 

matter for return to the Ontario Food terminal for composting or 

other use; 

E. that the task force advise metro of kensing~on market support for 

a plan to set up composting ~acllities on a commercial scale at the 

ontario food terminal , 

F. that the Task Force support nightly waste colllection for all the 

areas restaurants; 

G. that ·the introduction of nightly pickup of garbage for restaurant~ 

be followed by introduction of a plan for commercial recycling and 

food waste separation by all restaurants receiVing nightly pick-up; 

· H. that following the successful introduction of commercial recycling 

and food waste separation by restaurants, nightly garbage collection 

be extended to all area businesses willing to implement · this 

commercial recycling and food waQte separation plan; 

r. that City Metro and local garbage action group try to arrange for 

as many homes as posoible in the area to receive backyard composters; 

J. that wherever possiblre, a comprehensive ~arbage action program in 

the Kensington area be used to generate work for local people, and 

cooperative educational opportunities for local youth. 

L..-_;_ ___-.,..____.__-.~rom the east market report _____________. 

Hope for changes to garbage collection schedule 


r------------------~ 

1 TO: METRO COUNCILLOR MARTIN, CITY 

COUNCILLOR AMER, MPP MARCHESE 

I SUPPORT COMPOSTING FACILITIES AT 

THE FOOD TERMINAL 

I WORK IN/ OWN/ RUN A BUSINESS THAT 

BUYS FOOD FROM THE ONTARIO FOOD 

TERMINAL. 

IF YOU PROVIDE A COMPOSTER AT THE 

TERMINAL, WE'LL SEPARATE CARD 

BOARD FROM VEGETABLE GARBAGE, 

AND BRING THE VEGETABLE STUFF 

I WITH US TO THE FOOD TERMINAL WHEN 

I WE COME TO BUY. 

I 

I 

:NAME: 

: NAME OF BUSINESS: 

I 1 ADDRESS: 

I 

I SIGNATURE: 

I 

I 

I (FILL OUT THE LETTER, THEN PHONE 599- 

ll DRUM FOR SOMEONE TO COME AND 

COLLECT IT) · 

L-------------------~ 

.. 

Many Matters Close to 

Resolution, says Fisher. 

Long time market business 

booster Gus Fisher has requested 

Drum to advise market businesses 

that many of the matters we have 

covered in these pages are now 

close to resolution, among them 

relocation of gas mains on 

Augusta at the city's expense, a 

canopy by-law suitable for the 

market, the end of the restaurant 

control . by-law, and the 

construction of ceremonial gates 

at the five key entrances to the 

market. 

Fisher bases his optimism, he 

say, partly on the attention that 

Drum and the Task Force have 

given to these matters, but also on 

meetings that he has had, or has 

scheduled, with city officials and 

politicians. 

Task Force Meeting 

February 13th 

(Drum Staff Report) 

The next meeting of the 

Kensington Market Area Task 

Force will take place February 13 

in committee room 5 at city hall at 

7.00pm. 

The meeting will be the last as a 

Task Force member for Drum copublisher, 

David Perlman , who 

has been on the task force since its 

inception in 1987. He cites "a 

growing conflict of interest. .. 

trying to report task force news, 

while on the task force." 

Cuul Z yvatkauskas will replace 

David . Perlman on the task force. 

She ·was co-chair of the 

Kensington Residents 

Association with Allan Schwam in 

1986 when the association helped 

organize Spadina opposition to a 

proposed LRT on Spadina. 

The closing date to get items on 

the main agenda for the meeting 

was February 4, too late to publish 

details here. But certainly one item 

on the agenda is the East Market 

Report -'- a document compiled 

by members of the task force 

containing some 65 

recommendations covering 

' 

Baldwin St, St Andrew, and Jm1S 

of Kensington and Spadina Ave. 

Matters covered in the report 

-include: garbage action, the 

parking garage expansion, St. 

Andrew road widening, impacts of 

the Spadina LRT, the role of 

George Brown College in the 

market, the present and future role· 

of the task force, and the 

preservation and expansion of 

affordable housing in 1he market. 

The section of the report dealing 

with garbage action was received 

favoumbly at a garbage action 

meeting, Jan 22, with the 

Commissioner of Public Works 

the Environment (sec garbage 

action elsewhere on this page), so 

hopes are high among task force 

members that other 

recommendations will be given 

equally serious considemtion. 

--- 

~ 

~ 

...... 

/;- 

/ /_ 

~ ~--.._ _t c;_./ 

\Ji\!\JJ. 

~. ~··\ 

I 

...... ~-




Will The Chicken 

Cross The Road? 


Down the alley past the 

Matyas Mona Lisa, just 

north of where St. Andrew 

runs into Kensington Ave, 

there's one chicken killing 

plant. Halfway back along 

. St. Andrew toward 

Spadina, south of the 

surface parking lot, there's 

a second chicken plant, for 

killing and packing. 

Occasional forklifts trundle 

from one to the other 

carrying bins, sometimes 

empty, sometimes full of 

chicken parts. 

But for how long? 

News is the owner of both 

plants (same owner) wants 

to double the height of the 

Geez, 

·some Tax! 

by Angie Cboly 

Now that we are all fattened up after 

the festivals comes the kill. G.S.T. 

I yelled, wrote letters and well 

hey begrudgingly handed the 

government my first partial 

payment of 90 cents on a $13.00 

restaurant bill. Geez there goes bus 

fare to get my son back home. 

Lucky I found a nice pen on the 

streetcar. It seemed like some 

convoluted compensation for 

putting out extra on our excursion 

today. 

To add insult to injury the 

government has "given" me a 

quarterly G.S.T. rebate of $74.00, 

simply because I'm below poverty 

level. Political manouvers to make 

the poor complacent? 

So far it seems like I have given 

roughly $2.00 a day to the G.S.T. 

. pot m-m-m ..... that makes it $14.00 

a week $60.00 a month (bru;ed on a 

thirty day month ) and ticka ticka 

ticka $720.00 (approx.) a year, 

yikes!!!! Now minus my rebate of 

$296.00 and hey, the grand total 

G.S.T. contrabution is $424.00. I 

better cut my spending fast! Just 

think thiS is one person, how many 

people in Qmada? , 

Friday Jan 4th was my first night 

work with g.s.t. in effect 

-speculation round the kitchen how 

g.s.t would affect tips . 

-just what g.s.t. stands for-"get 

sma!!e!' !ips" O!' "give smaller tips" 

or "god, seven-times tables" 

-boss made g.s.t. stamp in blood red 

ink 

-throughout night I either made 

people aware of how much g.s.t. 

was paid out on their bills (unless 

they said something before I did) 

-then, an argument between two 

patrons: do we tip on the total 

(which includes g.s.t)or tip before 

g.s.t.? Reply from me- neither 

want nor expect tip on g.s.L - 

brought hand kissing. 

The result of that first night was 

people feeling sorry for me and 

giving 15% like I would have 

normally gotten,clinker was it 

ended up being 15% on total 

including g.s.t. 

plant beyond the Banana 

Lisa, consolidate 

operations, free up the land 

south of St. Andrew for 

who knows what? 

Just think. No 

more jokes about the 

chicken crossing 

Kensington to find his feet. 

The city's 

Committee of Adjustment 

was hearing this one Feb 

12. City planning didn't 

like it. Results by the next 

issue? Check the score. 

MARKET MATTERS 

THE GST 

Will you get money back? 

Revenue Canada is giving a 

GST rebate to those Canadians on 

low incomes. 

True to form, Revenue Canada 

has a chart to determine whether 

you are eligible for the rebate or 

not and you really should consult 

it But the basic idea is as follows: 

if you are single and reported a net 

income of less than $24,355 for 

1989 you are eligible for the full 

rebate. The rebate is 

approximately $290, paid yearly 

in four installments: January, 

April, July and October. The July 

and October installments will 

reflect your 1990 tax form. If you 

earned up to $30,100 you wilL 

I 

I 

.~ ·. 

receive a partial rebate. For those 

with dependents the annual income 

allowance is somewhat l;ligher. 

If you're eligible and haven't yet 

received your rebate, you probably 

neglected to apply for it when you 

filed your 1989 income tax form. 

But don't despair. You can still 

apply for the rebate by sending 

Revenue Canada an application. 

Pick up your application form in 

their offices at 36 Adelaide St. East. 

For information about your 

rebate call the GST hotline 277- 

6381, if busy dial 1-800-668-7622 

or for touch tone service 1-800- 

267-6999. 

Why 

i! 

lease'? 

Why drive'? 

:-::£1-----mo 

~ 

You Call. 

\Ne Haul 

(no frills, rio spills) 

Anywhere in M~tro 

or the GTA 

Call (24 hrs) 925-6800 

best rates 

i! (the bottoiTI line) 

NET ••• VVORK 

M(iorc~ 

PAIN tt:::I 

(416) 977-3502 

REINGEWIRTZ PAINT STORES LTD. 

EST. 1929 

PAINTS, VARNISHES ,AND IMPORTED WALLPAPERS 

SEYMOUR ZWEI~ 

GARY S. ZWEIG 

107 BALDWIN STREET 

(CORNER HURON STREET) 

TORONTO 

/ 

We Found 

Your Dog ... 

How Do We 

Find You? 

That's the question we ask every time 

we pick up a lost dog without a tag. 

The Animal Control Officer wants to return it safely, and a licence tag 

helps us identify your dog if it gets lost 

Dog owners in Toronto must buy a licence tag for their pet each year. 

Tags cost $5.00 if your dog is spayed or neutered - $1 5.00 if it isn't 

Need more convincing? Any lost dog with a 1991 licence affixed gets 

its first ride home FREE OF CHARGE. . 

Complete the coupon below and mail it or take it to: 

m 

City of Toronto 

Department of Public Health 

ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES 

19 River Str~et 

Toronto, Ontario M5A 3P1 OR CALL: 392-6767 

-DO NOT SEND MONEY WITH THIS COUPON- 

City of Toronto 

5 

DOG INFORMATION 

-PI;.;. -;;;;;,";"c7e:.;:-----------------------------~------ 

Breed I Dog's name I Age in yrs. 

D Male D Neutered D Female D ~payed I Colour 

Date of Rabies Vaccine 

Day I Month I Year 

Name of Vet or Clinic 

Rabies Tag No. 

Owner's Last Name I First Name . 

Address 

Home Phone 

Toronto, Ontario 

I Bus. Phone 

Apt No. 

Postal Code 

0 seu cao :::;fJ 

esta connosco ... 

Eonde 

esta voce? 

Esta e a pergunta que se nos depara sempre que 

encontramos um cao sem a respectiva chapa de identifica~ao. 

A secc;:ao de Controlo de Animais gostaria de entregar o cao ao 

dono mas, sem uma identificac;:ao, nao e f



6 

T ALKlNG DRUM 


TALKiNG 

~ ·RvM. 

••• 

' 

We started out compiling notes for this 

editorial about the way the media wasn't 

watchdogging itself in the coverage of events 

in West Asia: 

- -complex events in the Persian Gulf area 

reduced to"the war" 

--the sportstaik in the reporting (whole new 

ball game) 

--who was saying SAD~dam and who sad-DAM 

--who was referring to "President George 

Bush" and who to "US President George Bush" 

~ -who was making any effort to differentiate 

between the terms "Iraqi" and "Arab" and 

"Islam", and so on anti on. 

Finally, we were going to ask you to 

boycott any paper or tv or radio station that 

referred to what is happening in !'the Gulf" 

as "Operation Desert Storm" without 

explaining that Operation Desert Storm was 

the US Pentagon's name for the killings. 

But we succumbed exhausted, in despair - 

switched off and out, right out. 

Then we he-ard "carpet bombing" and wondered 

how much death was being swept under the 

carpet, so we tried to phone .Joe Clark to say 

"tell the United Nations whose forces these 

suppo-sedly are to teli Bush to do no burning 

until they've carpet bombed it for a few 

weeks with leatlets instead". 

The leaflets wbuld say, "You the people of 

Iraq, rise up against the tyrant Saddam 

Hussein, murderer of his people. Reclaim your 

cause. We will support you in your struggle 

for freedom" is what we wanted Clark to tell 

the UN to tell Bush to tell who? But whose 

leaflet would you believe in Iraq today? 

Now we hear the CBC newscaster Nash 

preface a report with "we remind 

you that 

this report is cleared by US military 

censors" -- as if to say "so it has a clean 

bill of health." 

Hey, CBC, how about a new radical 

policy -- if one of your people files a 

report that doesn't "clear the US military 

censors", it should go back to t .he person who 

submitted it. They should rewrite and 

resubmit, with the truth intact (that's the 

radical part). Don't worry if nothing ever · 

gets through that way. We wouldn't mind. At 

least it would be news. 

••••••••••••••••• 

LAST TIME 

WE REPORTED 

THAT Arson in the doorway 

of a Kensington Avenue 

Karaoke bar endangered 

lives. 

And now, twice, life has been 

lost. See Latest Dundas 

Shootout pg 2. - 

THAT the Goofs played the 

Apocalypse for the Record 

Peddlar. 

And then headed west. See pg. 

15. 

THAT women's detox centres 

are scarce - 8 of 118 . beds - 

and there's community opposition 

to the one proposed for 

I;>undas and Claremont. 

The women's community care 

centre is still scheduled to open 

jn April, see pg. 2 

THAT a proposed non-profit 

·housing building at 25 Cecil 

St. looked like i( was in trouble. 

News is the group's board will 

be asked to look at another site 

in the area. 

THAT one of the hazzards 

for pets, this time of year, is 

salt burns. 

See letters. 

THAT market merchants 

support the idea of a composter 

at the food terminal. 

Prove it. See page 5. 

THAT the winter parade was 

cancelled. 

There's a full "91 Carnival season 

planned. Call 947-0673 for 

info. · 

THAT we couldn't get a picture 

of Jack Layton as auctioneer 

at the St. Stephen's 

Elmo fund-raiser. 

Applicants for auctioneer for the 

. DRUM benefit February 24 

(Silver Dollar) should call 599- 

. 4317. 

THAT there's extra market 

garbage service on the way. 

And so, it seems, there is. See 

pg. 4. 

THAT Kensington's garbage 

breakdown was 29% cardboard, 

66 % meat and fish, 

5% fruit and vegetables. 

Bob the waiter checked. See 

Kensington Environmental. 

THAT Market Gourmet 

would return. 

And has. See pg. 10. 

THAT salt fish has toget 

soaked for at least 12 hours. 

More like 24, some market 

cooks say. 

THAT you'd be able to read 

the Cecil Centre's executive 

director's side of things in 

DRUM. 

See pg. 12. Sorry about the 

small print, but it's not a paid 

· promotion! 

THAT DRUM has some 

space·available, free of charge 

for information about community 

events. 

But we don't have a crystal ball. 

Phone 599-DRUM (or fax by 

arrangement at the same number) 

7 days before month-end. 

THAT this month's open 

stage would be Grossmans' •. 

Yup. 

THAT members of reggae 

band Revelation made a video 

in the market. 

And some of them will play for 

DRUM. See pg. 1. 

And this time last year, for 

cryin' out loud .... 

THAT the expansion of the St. 

Andrew' s/Baldwin parking 

garage would commence in the 

summer of 1990 and be completed 

in the spring of 1991.. .. 

THAT on the subject of the proposed 

new abortion legislation, 

a small group of market people 

interviewed were almost all for 

women's choice .... 

THAT the corner dropin for 

homeless people on Augusta 

was looking for new housing for 

people who drop in at the corner. 

. THAT the market must make 

strides toward trying a pedestrian 

mall again. 

T~ f¥,ffrS ~ 0\J 

/V'ID N06D 'f>Y S ~~£ 

• •••••••••••••••..•.•••••


TALKING DRUM 

7 . 

••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

Letters to DRUM 

Contin~oo 

Kate McNeil 

'< 

But what is her commitment 

to such a "new" organization? 

Will she take the responsibility 

of chairing it? No. Will 

she undertake to be a member of 

such a group. No. Will she 

attend its meetings? Not necessarily. 

If the new committee 

meets her standards "My office 

and city staff could assist with 

the development of this organization 

in a supportive role." 

What a bold concept! If we 

disband, re-organize, meet 

where she wants us to meet, 

make no excessive demands on 

her time and patience, above all, 

have no links with the rest of 

city council, "her office", 

indeed all "city staff' will be - 

are you ready for this people of 

Toronto - she and "her office" 

will be "supportive". 

And suppose - just suppose 

- that members of the 

task force don't accede to these 

demands? No need to worry. 

You are advised that all of her 

constituents are free to call her 

office with specific concerns 

and suggestions." 

She may not return your 

Be Nice? 

Dear Editor, 

It was probably just chance 

that a City of Toronto notice 

advising residents to clear the 

ice from their sidewalk was 

placed next to Dr. Jack 

Gewarter's column on winter 

hazards faced by pets. To those 

who do not own a cat or dog the 

relationship may not be obvious. 

Could my dog read, the 

connection would be painfully 

obvious. 

To comply with the City's 

regulation to keep the sidewalks 

clear of ice many people simply 

chuck handfuls of ice salt over 

everything white. Even the 

lightest sprinkling of white fluff 

is soon assaulted with hard 

white rocks. While the climate 

seldom demands more than a 

few days of snow shovelling or 

ice clearing a year, this ice salt 

is found on the sidewalks and 

roads from November tq April. · 

This preferred method of ice 

calls as she does not return the 

calls of some me_mbers of the 

KMATF. But listen people, you 

are certainly entitled to call. 

Councillor Amer has 

launched a broad attack not only 

on the KMA TF and its members 

but on the right of any group of· 

people in the city to have an 

integral link to the standing 

committees of council through 

the sub-committee process. 

The attack on the committee's 

"respresentativeness" is an 

old one. Most of the members 

of the committee can remember 

identical words from former 

councillors June Marks and 

Gordon Chong both of whom 

were bitterly opposed to the 

principles of citizen participation 

in the democratic process. 

Is councillor Amer a "new" 

breed of politician who endorses 

political reform in theory but 

in practice fights it bitterly? 

Her attitude of call my 

office if you have any problems 

and my staff will look after you 

is not much more than a return 

to the patronizing attitudes of an 

older era where politicians 

To Who? 

removal not only wrecks shoes, 

cars, some spring plants, etc., it 

coats lips and skin in a salty 

mist, it costs money, but most 

of all it causes cracked and 

bleeding paws on our fourlegged 

friends. 

To see my large, lumbering 

dog reduced to a limping jelly 

tot infuriates and saddens me. 

No amount of looking for 

"clean" routes to walk, washing 

off painful paws, or wearing 4 

red rubber boots, significantly 

reduces paws being tom by the 

salt. 

While the juxtaposition of 

the two articles may have been 

chance I hope other Kensington 

Market residents will make a 

concerted effort to make this an 

unsalted, animal friendly neighbourhood. 

Ms. Gillian Conliffe 

looked after their supporters 

with personal favours and punished 

those they didn't like by 

destroying their collective 

efforts to reform and improve 

the functioning of government. 

The issues raised in this 

. controversy between councillor 

Amer and the KMA TF involve 

broad principles and the committee 

is determined that this 

issue be fully debated and 

resolved for the benefit of all 

residents of Toronto and not 

only those of Kensington 

Market Area. 

Alia~ Schwam 

Mr. Schwam is chairman of 

the Kensington Market Area 

Task Force. 

Housing 

Action 

Invitation 

Dear Kensington Area 

Residents: 

I am writing on behalf of 

the Kensington Housing Action 

Group (KHAG) to invite you to 

our community committee 

meetings. 

The KHAG is formed of 

people who live and work in the 

Kensington Market Area;, the 

group has come together with 

Social Services Agencies working 

with the community to look 

into housing issues. 

The KHAG's mandate is to 

seek to protect and expand the 

supply of affordable housing in 

the Market area, both in.the private 

and public sector. Our first 

goal is to get more members of 

the local residential and business 

community involved in our 

work. , 

Caring communities grow 

healthily and safely with the 

participation and involvement 

of their members, and certainly 

housing is an issue that affects 

us all. 

Please feel free to come to 

our next meeting that will take 

place on February 14 at the St. 

Stephen's- Corner Drop-In, 

203 Augusta Avenue, at 7 p.m. 

For any further information 

regarding the KHAG, caii 

Madalena Silva at 926-8221 or 

Roland RomColthoff at 862- 

5411. 

We are looking forward tro 

seeing new members! 

Madalena Silva, 

Community Development 

Worker, St. Stephen's 

Community House 

The Corner - a drop-in 

for homeless people 

January 27, 1991 

It's Over! 

The three most stressful events of 

my year, Christmas, New Year's 

and my birthday, fall all in a row. 

On January 7, I turned fifty-six . 

Fifty-five was the most profound 

birtllday of my life. Suddenly, - 

or does one come slowly but 

blindly to this point - I saw the 

light at the end of life's tunnel. The 

past year was filled with one after 

the other crisis ending with 

mother's death on Sept 22. 

Dreading deciding whether or not 

tp attend the funeral.and confront 

my severely estranged brother, it 

was decided for me. Mother 

should have been buried next-to 

my father ' in Mt. Pleasant 

Cemetery on Monday except that 

there was a run on death that week. 

The undertakers were "backed up" 

and the funeral would be Tuesday 

- the day of my flight to Florida 

and a much needed rest and 

rehabilitation -(See Drum 

November. Hi I'm Kate and I'm an 

alcoholic ...). My son would 

attend. He and my cousin assured 

me that it would be best if my 

brother and I were not seen by 

others to be glowering at each 

other over mother's casket. She 

would understand. 

At the Florida treatment centre 

the first video I saw was about 

grief. During the group encounters 

and one on one counselling I was 

able to deal with the pain of the loss 

of many things in my life. Mother, 

top of the list. 

I see clearly now how truly 

remarkable she was. Born in 

Portsmouth England she met my 

father in the theatre. He emigrated 

to Timmins. Mother followed a 

year later cutting short a career in 

the theatre and despite warnings 

from her mother that she would rue 

the day whe married Harold Burt. 

She did. But she somehow adapted 

to the severe climate. 

My brother was born in England 

in 1930 while mother was on a 

visit. I was born in Timmins in 

1935, January 7, 2 a.m. in the 

middle of a three ·day blizzard 

while dad was off to , fetch the 

doctor for the second time. The 

first time he assured mother I was 

not on the way, it would be another 

two months before I would arrive 

and left. I apparently had a 

different agenda while Dad was 

off once more to get the doctor. 

Mother told me often how 

. wonderful an experience it was for 

her. I only know I must have 

fought, to get back in again. I'd 

made a mistike. The little 

matchbox Hollinger Mines 

townsite house, its only insulation, 

sanded tarpaper (alternately up the 

street red and green, ours was 

green). Its only heat source' a small 

black, potbellied stove fired by 

wood and coal in the little living 

room where I was not It was cold. 

I've often said I was born facing 

south and took my first steps in that 

direction. I've spent a lifetime 

looking for the perfect climate. 

I've discovered it exists in the 

heart. 

Through the years mother has 

figured intimately in the fabric of 

my life. ·Sometimes, often, 

aggravatingly, I saw her last with a 

friend who knew I'd been 

avoiding visiting mother in the 

nursing horne where she'd resided 

after the two years she's spent 

waiting in St. Michael's 

"holdline" wing - after the fall 

she had, out of a bed in acute care 

- after the fall she had out of her 

chair next to her bed the day after 

the operation she'd had to drain 

blood from her cereoellum 

(causing coma). Our journey 

thru the building became 

unsettling as we discovered there 

were no pictures on the walls. 

Passing lost and lonely looking old 

whitehaired women in various 

states of ambulation. 

I remembered the last I'd 

visited. Scanning the large 

common room ,where no one 

watched television, I could not 

pick mother out of the sea of 

bowed white heads. Where is 

"Alice Burt?'' I asked the nurse 

sitting on top of- a leggo slightly 

higher than the room. Swinging 

her legs absentmindedly, she 

looked up and cast her eyes around 

the room - ''Let's see, Mrs. Burt 

was wearing her black and white 

print with the red splotches ... and 

a sweater - there!" She pointed. 

Sure enough. So that's how they 

keep track of the faceless bodies 

- by their clothing. 

This time we were directed to 

mother's room at the end of a long . 

painted pale green cement walled 

hallway. Bonnie kept saying 

''There are no pictures on the walls 

- how terrible." Bonnie and I 

entered mother's room to find 

mother lying asleep. It was 2 p.m. 

Looking around I noticed the little 

bulletin board next to her bed was 

empty. Pictures and cards from 

family and friends conspicuously 

absent. No flowers adorned the 

window sill as they had in the 

beginning several years ago 'after 

the fall. I'd heard stories from my 

sister-in-law of missing clothing 

and other personal items, mother's 

wedding ring simply turned up 

gone one day. It was a chronic 

problem at the facility north of 

Toronto. 

The visit was short. Mother rose 

to the occasion as only she could. 

She heard the news , of my recent 

full life managing an occasional 

"good gracious me. Eee gad!" 

Never quite sure if she knew me, 

she could have only recognized 

my voice. Her eyes frnally useless 

yet mother as always wide eyed - 

making you believe she could see 

every nook and cranny of your 

face. It was time to go. There was 

no more to say. As we backed out 

the door; "Bye morn, see you next 

time." As always she rose to the 

occasion. "Goodbye, god Bless". 

Bonnie and I cried and held onto 

each other. Walking back along 

the 'miserable hallway to the 

·elevator - I know it would be the 

last time I made this joJlllley. It 

was our last goodbye. 

* * 

.. 


and Produced in Collaboration with David Perlman/Wholenote Media Inc between July-December 2015.



g- 

The Kensington Market Drum~ February 1991 

Drum's Kensington M 

Three hundred stores 

Street by Street: the people who ha 

Body & Soul Restaurants Grocery Bakery Veg & Fruit-Entertainme 

,•• 

16•1 

Samko Coin Laundry 

lSO Augusta, 595-5277 

Clean and Friendly, 7 

days a week. Dry CleaningToo! 

Melo's Food Centre 

151 Augusta, 596-8344 

Portuguese Style 

Sausages 

Import and Export 

Lusitania Grorery 

152 Augusta Avenue 

593-9745 

Portuguese Grocery 

Store 

The Boat 

158 Augusta, 593-9218 

International Cuisine 

Specializing in Portugucse 

Food 

CAAMUnited 

Hanlware 

160 Augusta & 564 Dundas 

598-8195 or 596-8098 

Two Locations! 

Barraca das FrutasiRoszler 

Fruits 

186 Augusta, 593-9709 

Fruit and Vegetables 

House of Spice Importers 

190 Augusta, 594-8724 

or 182 Baldwin, 593-9804 

Spice, Coffee, Fruits, 

Nuts 

Vanipha 

193 Augusta, 340-0491 

Fine Lao Thai Cuisine 

Restaurant, catering, 

take-out 

Park Royal 

199-201 Augusta, 593- 

9314 

Furniture and Appliances 

Everything for the Home 

Caza National 

200 & 224 Augusta 

5%-6417 

Clothes For The Whole 

Family 

Shoney's 

Recycled Clothing 

206 Augusta, 979-0700 

Lowest Prices. 

Best Selection in Second · 

Hand. 

Table Shoppe 

208 Augusta, 599-9239 

House of Furniture 

Lowest Prices In Town 

Iberica Bakery 

209 Augusta, 593-9321 

Custard Tarts, Sponge 

·Cake,Bolo De Arroz, Icc 

Cream 

Midnight Romanre 

Leather Fashion 

221 Augusta, 599-5615 

Made-To-Measure 

and Ready-To-Wear 

Casa Acoreana 

235 Augusta, 593-9717 

Nuts Make The World 

Go Around 

Fairland Bargain Centre 

241 Augusta, 593-9750 

Kensington's Largest 

Quality Discount GothingStore 

Perola's Supermarket Baldwin Street Bakery 

247 Augusta, 593-9728 191 Baldwin, 598-3701 

All kinds of groceries European Style Breads 

from South and Central and Pastries, Baked 

America 

Fresh Daily 

Augusta Fruit Market Seven Searessed 

49 Kensington, 977-2930 

Fine and Refined Finds. 

Vintage and More. 

Cafe La Gaffe 


Mon-Sat 11-4, 6-10 (11 onFri) 

. Sunday from 5pm. LLBO 

International Food Market 


Fresh Fruit and Vegetahies 

Retail and Wholesale 

Toronto Dominion Bank 

56A Kensington A venue 

Green Machine 

INTERAC 

Lc Uyen 

56C Kensington, 598-3328 

Authentic Vietnamese 

Food,LLBO 

Major cards, Karaoke 

after8pm 

Essenoo Natural Foods 

561> Kensington, 596-2176 

Serious Health Food. 

Fibre.( Coffee, Ice Cream, 

Spice ... ) 

Rebelo's 


The Market's Supermarket 

Juice Bar Too 

Tutti Frutti 


Chinese & European 

Foods, 

Under New Management. 

Coffee, Cheese, Chocolate 

Cynthia's WeSt Indian 

Foods & Records 


Soul Foods 

Sanci Tropical 


Freshest Herbs, Avocadoes, 

Mangoes, Exotica, 

Since 1914 

Caribbean Corner 

67 Kensington, 593-



The Kensington Market Drum, February 1991 9 

Market Visitors Guide 

not all under one roof 

o have helped pay the. bills for DruiD 

'tainment House & Garde~ Fish & M_eat Furniture Appliances & More 

Gl 

~ 

,j e. ,~·· iDiQ,l 1 

,. !I I D 

LEGE STREET 

• 

n'~ .. , 

;!church I ·· .... 

In's 

~,;,",, . .., , 

1 

" -~AU STREET ~ 

----, I George Brown I .: 

College 

. . I lr 

~ 

. z 

HI 

~ 

~ 

Cecil I !1 

~om munily ~ 

Cenlre 

I : .--c_ec_•_L_sT ___ 1 

~ 

I~ 

BALDWIN SiET 1!\ I w BALDWIN 

I v ~ 

... I D;opl" • ~ 

, ST...ANDREW C 

QUARE ~ -The'€o r ner' • ·~ I . I I ~ 

·ue Square 

w 

;:::) 

t=~~ 

:I: 

G 

DOD 

Flying Monkey Natur.d 

Foods 

314 College, 968-1515 

Open 7 days a weekfrom 

bulk food to crystals 

Lazerline Desktop Publishing 

& Design Inc. 

317 College Street 

924-8726 Fax 924-J826 

College Book.~ 

321 College, 975-0849 

A new bookstore serving 

university and community 

Nick's Grill 

339 College, 9219745 

Good food, Cheap beer 

Central Guaranty Trust 

343 College, 961-8247 

Mon closed. Tues 

Thurs 10-5, Fri 10-7, Sat 

12-3. 

Jenina's Unisex Hair 

368 College, 966-0830. 

-Portuguese & Spanish 

spoken. 

w 

m 

Qua6ty Bakery 

370 1/2 College, 922-2595 - 

Taste the difference 

Quality makes. Bagel 

special $1.50/dz. Open 

Sundays. 

G reat H orse Natural 

Foods 'n Things 

378 College, 964-1805 

Organic meats, tofu, natural 

cosmetics, etcetera 

Front Row Video Centre 

400 College Street, 927- 

1702 

Open 

Come see 

Sneaky Dec's 

431 College, 368-5090 

Global Survival Tuesdays 

Great Music, Good 

Cause 

Mars food 

432 College Street 

921 -6332 

Out of this world 

~ 

l•ttnz•l 

Sun One Hour Photo 

Lab 

310 Spadina, 59i -9307 

One hr. processing, cameras, 

accessories, passport 

photos _ 

Switzers Deli Restaurant 

324 Spadina, 596-6900 

Catering, deli delivery 

Order by fax 596-7044 

Liquor Control Board of 

Ontario 

337 Spadina, 597-0145 

Fine wine, spirits and 

beer from around the 

-world. 

Leaderwave 

Trading Co. Ltd. 

369 Spadina, 340-1727 

Century 21, 

First Realty Inc. 

377 Spadina, 340-8900 

Tonny Louie, broker 

Grossman's Tavern 

379 Spadina, 977:7000 

Neighbourhood bar 

Nightly entertainment 

Spadina Cafe 

401 Spadina, 340-6383 

A Pleasant Change. A 

Little of the Continent in 

Chinatown 

Spadina Garden Restaurant 

416 Spadina Ave., 598- 

2734 

Szechuan-Hunan & 

Peking Cuisine 

Fully licensed, LLBO 

EIMocambo 

464 Spadina Ave. 324-966] 

Music & good times, 

local & international, 

everynight. 

Silver Doll3r 

484 Spadina, 925-8832 

Music most evenings. 

Reggae, jazz, rock and 

blues. 

Spadina Garden Restaurant 

· 

116 Dundas West, 977- 

3413/4 

Szechuan-Hunan & 

Peking Cuisine · 

Fully licensed, LLBO 

Spadina Retail Post Outlet 

.d!~ .ifl0'- ~ 

576-578 Dundas, 593- 

8885 

Full service retail postal 

outlet. 

rc.cctl 

Sun Kang 

• 

Cleaners """= 

l!i!!f)ITI 

576-578 Dundas, 593- 

8885 

Quality Dry Oeaning, 

Repairs and Alterations 

- Fast! 

~ 

WELCOME NEW 

DIRECTORY MEMBERS, 

FEBRUARY 1991 ! 

Brew-Your-Own! 

168 McCaul 977-2289 

wine and brewing supplies 

good starter instructions 

beer from $55/imp. juice 

Judy Florist 

37 4 College-street 

920-2177 

Special price 

roses 

College Street United 

Church 

Corner College and 

Bathurst 

Phone 929-3019 

A warm welcome awaits 

you 

Chinese Vegetarian 

House 

39 Baldwin Street 599- 

6855 

Baldwin at McCaul 

Friendly place, fine fresh 

food 

Locksmith & Safemen 

38 Baldwin St., 597- 

1212 

Builders and locksmith 

hardware, leading brands 

Reingewirtz Paint 

Stores Ltd 

107 Baldwin, 977-3502 

Paints, varnishes 

and imported wallpapers 

Second Cup 

340 College, 323-3702 · 

Tired of the same old 

grind? Try ours. 

Around Again 

18 Baldwin, 979-2822 

New and used records, 

tapes, CDs. Buy, sell, 

trade 

~ 

New Comers Bu 

Self-Help Offic 

George Brown Colh 

21 Nassau, 867- 

lnfo and advice to r 

business - 

St. Stephen's 

Community Houl 

ESL program 

~25-21 03, Peggy 

Daycare 

925-21 03, Fatima 

Youth Recreation 

925-21 03, Franl 

Pimentel; 

Adult Services 

9.26-8221 , ¥ aria 

Senior Services 

926-8221 , Irene - 

Conflict Resolutior 

926-8221 , Natali 

Rockhill; 

Youth Employment 

531-4631, Anita I 

A.I.D.E.S. 

323-1498, Toni 

Lauriston 

The Corner 

977-7223, Allen 

Flaming ; 

The Drug-Free Arc~ 

920-8980, Ki m K. 

King Edward Dayca 

922-8705, Beatric 

Milner. 

The Market's Music .... Liv 

rJ1 J j' A Benefit ·~ J) j 

'J · - for - 

Kensington Market Dr~ 

~ - ~ ~---/ 

$10.00 

.....~ ~~t.Qi 

or less if necessary 

All proceeds to Drum 

Keep our - 

The Silv 

Spadina/North o 

Sunday, Feb.



10 

•••••••••••••••••••••••• 

KENSINGTON 

ENVI'RONMENTAL 

U-N arne-It, We Chuck It 

by Bob the Waiter 

It's 3 a.m. and it's cold in the 

market - one of those nights 

when everything should be frozen 

but thanks to a bunch of symbols 

on the CITY TV weather map the 

air still feels damp. It's so cold the 

chickens stacked up on death row 

in that truck parked on St. Andrew 

don't have much to say and even 

the guys spotting for the dealers 

have finally gone back to their 

rooms. 1bere 's not even a yuppie 

BMW driving around trying to 

score. It's lonesome. 

I'm out on Kensington Ave 

looking at garbage. I don't mean 

the kind that wears expensive furs 

and argues with the market 

vegetable vendors over the price 

of asJmagus because they read in 

'Toronto Life that's what you are 

supposed to do; I mean that 

aromatic stuff piled up in front of 

all the stores and stands of our 

neighbourhood like frozen 

Picassos. 

It always amazes me what 

people throw out. Sometimes I 

find some really great stuff. Those 

big plastic jugs _that black olives 

are shipped in make excellent food 

storage containers and there's 

enough wood stacked up out there 

to build a bungalow. Which brings 

me to the point of this article: 

garbage is a poorly managed 

resource. 1bere' s gold in them thar 

frozen Picassos. 

A quick investigation of a 

couple of garbage bags from in 

front of one of my favourite 

rruuket shops will prove my point. 

Our neighbourhood is unique but 

what we toss out is similar .to what 

comes out of an average Canadian 

kitchen. Okay I've got the bags 

·back home on my kitchen floor so 

here goes. 

The Bob the waiter garbage 

content check list looks like this: 

organic material 50% 

paper and wood 25 

plastic and foil 15 

styrofoam 5 

frozen gluck 5% 

Somehow we've got to get this 

stuff off the street and circulating 

back in the economy. 

The organic garbage is the stuff 

that really stinks. Everything from 

week old eggplants to chicken 

heads is slowly unthawing onto 

my kitchen floor like a librarian 

after a couple of shooters. The 

answer on what to do with it is right 

here under my nose. Actually it's 

right under my feet Out on the 

farm they call this compost and 

mat's what we should do with it. If 

we could acquire the funding, I'm 

sure most of this organic relish 

could be collected, shipped out of 

town and buried on exhausted 

farm land where it would break 

down into saleable compost. 

Imagine this, "Natural Authentic 

Kensington Compost" $5 per bag. 

Perhaps the whole operation could 

pay for itself. 

We obviously need two more 

blue boxes added to the basic 

paper, glass, and tin-can 

receptacles we already use (or 

should use). They could 

occommodate the recycling of tin 

foil, styrofoam, plastic and metal. 

Wood could be reconstituted as 

paper or particle board type 

building materials. This would 

take a lot of organization and 

money to start up but when we 

consider that it's estimated 

Toronto will have exhausted an 

the available landfill sites by 1993, 

we may not have much chOice. 

As for the froien gluck melting 

into scime sort of rat's ass pate on 

my kitchen floor, I guess we could 

dry it in the microwave then 

enamel if and make mood rings. 

Present plans· by Metro are to 

ship everything that's not 

presently recycled north to 

Kirkland Lake, where it would be 

compacted at a twenty to forty 

million dollar processing plant 

then stashed.in the empty Adam's 

Mine - · a two thousand by six \ 

hundred foot underground dome. 

Unfortunately it doesn't make 

much sense to burn fossil fuels to 

ship garbage all that way at a 

$30.00 per tonne disposal charge. 

Besides a mass exodus of our 

refuse out of here may discourage 

recycling. It looks like mass 

composting and a more aggressive 

recycling plan are our best bets. 

This is war folks and we're all in 

the trenches up to our ankles in 

pate. I think we an could take a frrst 

step by buying one of those 

stretchy nylon mesh bags, then 

refuse all plastic and paper bags 

when we shop. Bags, bags, and 

more bags. I must have fifty plastic 

bags under my sink. I usually end 

up taking them to Jamaica with me 

where my friend makes umbrellas 

out of them. Maybe stores should 

start charging for bags or else 

make them so artistically pretty we 

wouldn't want to throw them 

away. 

These are reasonable measures 

but what we need is a really 

creative twist to deal with all that 

big stuff garmge that takes up so 

much room in our land fill sites. I 

believe we can solve this problem 

by throwing another problem at it. 

Consider the following. Every 

year I go south to Jamaica and stay 

with my Jamaican friends orr a 

farm. I usually take down a couple 

of hockey bags filled with 

discarded tools, clothing and 

buckets etc. that I come across in 

my wanderings. The Jamaican 

mind being the inventive thing that 

it is converts all this junk into some. 

of the most creative and practical 

devices i_maginable. Plastic bags 

become umbrellas, flattened tin is 

reborn as roofmg material and an 

old bicycle, a length of rope, some 

metal hooks and a few plastic jugs 

is synergized into a chain powered 

irrigation pumping system. 

Let's send otic junk to the third 

world! . 

Don't snicker yet. It gets better. 

From labour day to spring 

break"up, a significant percentage 

of Canada's rural and inner city 

population sputters along on UIC. 

Why not ship them south for 

twenty weeks instead of leaving 

them here to rot? Two-hundred 

and fifty dollars per week slowly 

spent in the inexpensive rural 

environment of emerging nations 

would be a boost to these low tech 

economies and if each 

unemployed Canuck was 

accompanied 'by a requisite 

package of junk ... 

UIC thus dispersed could be 

deducted from our present foreign 

aid budget thus paying for the 

whole project. We could thus 

convert our unemployed and our 

big junk from an economic dnlg to 

a positive international asset Most 

foreign aid we pour into the third 

world, like the one hundred 

million dollars we fronted Haiti 

MARKET MARKET Tfie Kensington Market Drum, February 1991 

The ·Market· GOtirmet 

Guatemalan Tamales a Ia Kensington 

by Peigi Rockwell 

he Solorzano family· prepare 

les just as they would in their 

tative Guatemala And they find 

he special spices and banana 

,eaves required for their recipe in 

te Kensington marlcet. 

They came to Canada four years 

.go as refugees. Originally 

ttling in the Kensington area, 

,ey now live in Toronto's east end 

ut come to Kensington every 

·eekday so the children can attend 

.ensington Community School. 

.ory Solorzano accompanies her 

hildren and then shops in the 

arket for fruits, vegetables and 

.atin american foods. 

''When I first came to Canada 'I 

'ldn't think I would fmd the food 

m my country, but in the marlcet 

can fmd everything I need," says 

ory. 

Tamales are complicated to 

take so they are usually reserved 

or special occasions, like 

'hristrnas. We are featuring the 

·ecipe now so you can practice up 

:fare another holiday. Although 

tales aie made throughout Latin 

.•• merica, recipes differ from 

ountry to country and from 

amily to family. 

Fresh banana leaves are 

metimes available in the market, 

not, you can pick them up frozen 

n Vietnamese food stores or at 

'erola Supermarket, 247 Augusta 

,ve. In Guatemala Flory wraps 

Flory Solorzano and her daughter Ulinova outside 

their favourite market shoo. the Oxford Fruit Market 

te tamales only in banana leaves but she says they're not quite the same here so she also wraps the banana 

.eaves in foil before she boils them in water. 

2 lbs masa mix 

10 oz lard 

2lbs pork 

2 large turkey legs 

10 tomatellos (green tomatoes) 

10 red tomatoes 

2 guagillo chills 

3 tsp sesame seeds 

1(2 cup green pumpkin seeds 

1 stick cinnamon . 

Guatemalan Tamales 

3 tsp ajioti (pellets of red colouring) 

5 cloves 

1 tsp black pepper 

2-3 tsp salt 

2 red peppers 

1 cup olives 

1 onion, -diced 

4 garlic cloves 

~ ancho chili 

4 lbs banana leaves (4 packages if frozen) 

Add 8 cups water to the masa and stir until smooth. Add lard and salt and stir constantly over medium heat 

or 20 minutes. Pour into bowl to cool. 

Cut pork and turkey meat into cubes. 

Heat red tomatoes and tomatellos in a dry pan over low heat stirring constantly. Peel cooked tomatoes. 

Heat red pepper in dry pan and set aside. 

Hea:t sesame seeds and green pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over low heat until brown. 

In new pan dry heat chills, 1(2 diced onion, garlic, cinnamon, clove. Mix with browned seeds ang peeled 

>matoes. Puree until smooth. 

Brown remaining onion in 4 tsp lard, add puree and stir until mixture boils. Add turkey and pork and boil 

or 15 minutes, stirring constantly. Salt to taste. Add 1(2 cup masa and boil for 5 minutes. 

Grind ajioti (food colouring pellets), add them to 1/4 cup water and put through sieve. Add red liquid to meat 

~~ . 

To form a tamale: place 1' of foil on table and cover with banana leaves. Place 1(2 cup masa mixture (a 

1ing handful) onto leaves and flatten leaving an indentation iii centre. Into indentation place 1 piece of pork 

d 1 piece of turkey, a large spoonful of the puree, 1 olive, 1 piece of red pepper. Cover with masa mixture 

form a pocket and fold over banana leaves and foil. 

Repeat until the ingredients are all used up. Boil tamales in a large pot of water oyer medium heat for 3 hours. 

'lace a rack in the bottom of the pan so tamales don't touch the bottom. 

since 1960, disappears into some 

dictator's Swiss bank account. 

Money and junk dispersed at the 

local level would go directly into 

!he home economies of some of 

the world's poorest people. Hey 

General, try depositing a hundred 

used bicycle frames into your 

covert bank account 

Oh well. I've retUrned the bags 

to the sidewalk and I'm sitting here 

by my window looking up 

Kensington Ave. It's still cold out. 

More numbing than the cold is the 

dark. l'here' s darkness 

everywhere around here. 

Mankind first developed 

decorative clothing to harmonize 

his consciousness with the 

unconscioUs Gods he perceived an 

around him. Our Gods must be 

pretty dark and angry. Dark like 

the Amazonian rainforests which 

are cleared for cattle pasture to 

produce the black leather jackets 

we wear to remind the suits that the 

big monopoly game might have 

some matl dogs waiting at the end. 

Angry like the dark I saw in the 

artist's eyes as he cried brandy 

driven tears at my Christmas 

dinner table because he was so 

sure Saddam's biological plague 

weapons were going to be released 

into the earth's weather system. 

Bleak like Goof lyrics, dark like 

Johnny Crash's tattoo. 

I'm watching the garbage truck 

roll by and I"m reminded of the 

Springstein song where Bruce is 

chanting "listen to your junk 

man ... he's singing, singing." 

I hear our junk man singing on 

the street below. It's that awful 

Black Velvet Elvis song by 

Alannah Myles. 

Now that's garbage.



The Kensington Market Drum, February 1991 · 

LEARNING WITH You 

11 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

LEARNING WITH YOU 

iiATEs·ro·wATCH 

Learning With You is Drum's cooperat-ive learning section. Make Drum 

aware of a concern or interest you want others to share or understand. We in 

return will take time and make space available for you to communicate 1 your 

interests and concerns. You are invited to offer your ideas - 

thoughts, questions, suggestions for joint projects. 

No· Enemy in.the Classroom 

writing, drawing, 

by Trustee Olivia Chow these difficult and horrifying gathering information about 

times. . peacemaking efforts; expressing 

War simplifies reality in We have passed a motlon at the concerns to politicians. 

dangerous ways: good and evil, us Board of Education asking every Materials that deal with the 

and them, Canadians against the 'public school across Toronto to complex history, economy, 

enemy. 

develop programs to reflect on: all religion and . culture of the people 

The US . military chief Colin those who are suffering or have of the Midle East will be oollected. 

Powell was recently quoted as suffered in the war; the families of So will writings, reflections and 

saying "We are dealing with an those involved in tJ)e fighting on methodologies developed by our 

enemy that is resourceful, ·an all sides; our hopes for the safety students, teachers and parents. 

enemy that knows how to work and the safe return of all those Also, we will widely distribute our 

around problems, an enemy that is involved in the fighting directly or book on how to tackle racist jokes, 

ingenious." 

indirectly; our hopes for an early and the procedures we have in 

This type of war-game thinking end to these tragic events place on how to deal with racial 

desensitizes all of us and creates unfolding in the gulf; the strategies incidents. 

fertile ground for dividing our that our teachers and students can Our students are creative. They 

communities and our children one employ to promote continued will come up with many ways of 

from another; making them less emphasis on racial harmony. expressing the unity of all 

able to treat others fairly, not to do We are asking our teachers to students, whatever their country of 

something to another you would listen, to facilitate discussion, to origin. Hopefully their creative 

not want done to yourself. We be honest about sharing concerns, · ~ and positive voices will be heard . 

teach them as best as we can how to and to encourage students to do by our leaders. 

solve conflicts through nonviolent 

means, we teach them not gaOtering information that will 

something constructive such as: 

to be bullies. It's harder to do so in help them understand the issues; 

fias file 

my cat 

by Sophia Perlman 

mycat has ketense 

tha donot ware metens 

my cat is wite and nevr bits 

she mcse me fel good 

and we kept coleg her bcese 

she wese lost but she is fawnd 

and i am happy 

but she jemps on pepols sholdrs 

that maks me sad and mad 

Dear Masha and David and 

Sophia, I live at Kensington 

Place if you would like to 

know whose writing this is 

my name is Nevin. A tree got 

cut ·down my mom wanted to 

hang a tire up on the tree; ·so 

the kids could swing on the 

tire. 

I used to go through the f-ire 

hydrant and the house in _ the 

back and I tryed not to crash 

into the tree. It was a big 

tree. 

by Nevin Gawryluk 

I. J·., ·,.. ,,, 1._." -.J \. J ~·, _ '!\ t' ·~'a" ,·4" .•. .'' -t~,.- ,~ 

Parents's 

Conference '91 

by Masha Buell 

The Toronto Board of Education 

is now accepting regi'strants 

for the Parents's Conference '91 

This is the third such 

conference held by the Board - 

the two previous were in 1979 

and 1982 . These conferences 

brought together more than 

1000 parents, staff and trustees 

to discuss a broad range of 

education related topics. 

This year's conference 

will discuss major educational 

issues affecting Toronto schools 

in the 1990's. There will be 

opportunities to propose 

recommendations which will go 

· to the Board and the Ministry of 

Education. 

The conference should also 

strengthen parent networks and 

help .- encourage parents' 

participation with teachers and. 

administrators in the overall 

responsibilty for our childiens' 

education. 

The conference will 

take place at Central Technical 

School on Sunday April 21, 

1991, and run from 8:30 am to 

5:30 pm. Services included in 

the $15 registration fee - 

interpreters in ~erallanguages, 

lunch, light "reneshments and 

supper, and childcare on 

location. 

A wide range of topics 

have been chosen for workshops 

- from Dealing With Violence, 

Saying No to Drugs through to 

Student Learning Styles and 

Alternative Schools. 

Each 

school'community should take 

the opportunity to select pare!lt 

delegates for the conference. 

Any school, parent association 

or individual who has not 

received information on the 

conference and application 

materials is invited to contact 

the Community Services Office 

at 591-8355. 

... 

Scadding Court 

SCAT cabaret is held every 

Thursday evening from 7 -9:30pm 

from Jan 31.- May 2 at Scadding 

Court Community Centre. There 

will be different performers every 

week. Pay what you can fees (with 

free coffee and muffms). Day care 

available by reservation only. For 

information call Peter Oliver at 

363-5392 

Scadding Court is holding its first 

Chinese New Year Party on 

Friday, Febniary 22, 8pm - lam. 

Support the centre, 'and play black 

jack, or try your luck at the wheels. 

Dancing, food, refreshments. 

Held under a Special Occasions 

Permit. 

·Scadding Court is running an 

Early Morning Swim program, 

Tues(fhurs, 7:30-9 am. For 

information call Roberta 

Boardman at 363-5392. 

Looking for Day Care? Scadding 

Court can provide the a"Sistance 

you need. For information on 

workshops call Linda Lutes at 

363~5392. 

Toronto Associations of 

N~ighbourhood Services is 

hosting a free performance of the 

Company of Sirens' production 

"There's No Problem Here", a 

play about racism. The 

performance is on Monday, March 

11 at 7pm at Scadding Court 

Community Centre. For 

information call 363-5392 

DRUM 

offers some space 

free of charge for 

information about 

community events. 

599-DRUM 

COLLEGE STREET 

. UNITED CHURCH 

CORNER OF COLLEGE AND BATHURST STREETS 

WORSHIP · SUNDAY 10:30 A.M. 

IJ ~~1 (J '- • A caring .christian- 

~ ~ ' 1~, communtly 

~ ... '\ ·~ ~IJJ ((. ill ft• Bible-based preach. 

-~~~i?' !, . lh_ftt;t ~ ! A \I 

• Open to everyone 

··>Q;~·~~~~~V ~~il ~~·~·ljjj meaning in life 

,,~.~~n~} ~·~;; ~~.~u~•:: .. ~~·,· J·1nr A warm welcome 

' -'"\''' J--l. ·J r ••, JJ;: ·' I ~jltl 

.:;:ir~~~':,;. - M.~!"';'~~ ~ · awaits you 

- B-;~~~t H~ll Availabl~ Phone 929-3019 ~ 

~-, 

~3CDCY> w iJDcn~@ 

child care centre 

SNOWFLAKE CHILDCARE CENTRE 

l'ull and part-time spaces now available for children 2 1/2 

to 5 years. 

A small non-profit daycare. Whole fotlds menu. Individual 

and creative development. Call 368-9124. 

39 Carr Street, Toronto, Ontario 

fJ 

/ .f;J. :\.--':!, 

/ i\ U· f ~ 

Family 

Dav Care 

Se.rvices 

Family Day care Services 

A United Way Agency 

We need wann,loving and reliable people 

to provide childcare in their homes 

Benefits to include: 

• earning adciltlonallncome while being at home 

• ongoing training and support 

• toys and equlpllllellt 

Open your. home and your heart by becoming a 

lkensed chlldcare provider. 

1 For 1110re Information call 922-9556. ,



12 KENSINGTON COMMON 

A Union of the Unemployed 

When people hear of a 

union of unemployed workers, 

the most common response 

is,"How can people' without 

jobs have a union? They have 

no workplace!" 

This didn't deter a handful 

of enemployed people who 

gathered in the basement of 

Spadina MP Dan Heap's riding 

office at the height of the 1982 

recession. Realizing that "In 

unity, there is strength" they 

formed the TORONTO UNION 

of UNEMPLOYED WORK 

ERS to fight, as a group, for the 

rights of the otherwise powerless 

unemployed. 

Militantly activist, they 

were an inspiration to the jobless, 

and other similar groups 

sprang up all across the country. 

by Lee Zaslofsky, 

Community Health Worker, 

West Central Community 

Health Centres 

How well do you know your 

Health Centres? How often do you 

use our services? What services 

would you like us to offer? Are you 

satisfied with the medical services 

you ·use? 

These are some of the questions 

we will be trying to answer in a 

Needs Assessment study of the 

communities that West Central 

Community Health Centres 

serves, including Kensington. 

West Central has two locations, 

the Alexandra Park Health and 

Dental Clinic (64 Augusta Av., 

364-4107); and Niagara 

One of their first actions was 

·helping to organize a MARCH 

ON OTTAWA for jobs in 1982. 

Oth'er actions followed, which 

forced various government 

agencies to respond to their 

demands on behalf of the unemployed. 

Many remember their 

fights against unscrupulous 

companies and landlords who 

preyed on the poor. They were 

in the forefront of the struggle 

for welfare rights, and housing 

for singles. In 1988, after 7 

years of working with the jobless, 

and in response to an 

improved economy, the 

T.U.U.W. suspeneded operations. 

Last month, with unemployment 

mushrooming and a 

recession fully under way, a 

group of former members decided 

to re-establish the union. 

Attacks by the Mulroney government 

on social benefits such 

as the cap on provincial social 

welfare payments and the c'uts 

in U.I.C. benefits must be 

stopped, says the Union. They 

plan to hold a rally for 

"DECENT JOBS OR INCOME 

NOW!" on Feb. 11, 11:30 a.m., 

at All Saints Church "OPEN 

DOOR CENTRE,'' Sherbourne 

and· Dundas St. E. 

A free lunch, and entertainment 

will be provided; followed by a , 

march on the Adelaide St. 

Welfare office and the Federal 

Conservative Party headquarters. 

The Union may be reached 

at 363-0306. 

West Central To Do 

Community Needs Assessment 

Neighbourhood Health Centre 

(674 Queen St West, 363-2021). 

Funded by the Ontario Ministry 

of Health, our focus is on building 

a healthy community- including 

physical health and community 

health. 

The Needs Assessment will 

study in depth the health needs and 

goals of the communities we serve 

and will recommend ways we can 

help to meet them. Ministry of 

Health funding will make us 

possible to analyze statistics and 

other data to lay the basis for our 

study. 

But our focus will be in listening 

to people in the community and 

working with them to seek goals 

we can achieve together. To do this 

we will be doing door-to-door 

canvassing in the various 

languages spoken in our area; 

focus groups made up of residents; 

interviews with community 

people, and other outreach. 

We invite interested community 

members to join us in creating our 

study, in reaching out to our 

neighbours, and drawing up 

recommendations for 

improvements to our services and 

to health in our community. 

The study is due to begin 

sometime in March, once we have 

hired a consultant to help us. It will 

last about six months, and the 

information we obtain will be 

available to interested agencies 

and individuals. We're excited by 

the possibilities this study will 

offer to us to learn from, and work 

with, our neighbours. · 


Age 16 in 1988: 

Pastries from the Control System 

Age 16 in 1988 . 

Pastries from the Control System 

General revenues is the best euphemism 

I've ever heard. 

Revenues of these people divided in pies. 

Odd pieces of pie 

Who gets the big one? 

Who wants the small one? 

And where did they all come from? 

Who made them? 

How much came fromMargaret? 

Her face like a work sock, 

Dyed red and stuffed with snow. 

How much of that pie came form Her? 

Now much this year, she preferred Lysol to finer 

spirits. 

And my friends aren't part of it at ali. They are the 

Lines between this piece and that. 

Marc F. Walker 

DRUM IS ALSO 

photographers 

advertising+ editorial 

industrial+ portrait 

still life + location 

post production 

videographers 

inquire 416-599-drum 

Here, as offered in the December "DistanJ 

Drum", is the text of a documenJ prepared 

by Cecil CenJre Director Julia Goldstein 

for the Cecil Board of Managei'TU!nJ. We 

publish it here unedited, and without 

commenJ exceptio note that we don't have 

the City legal di!partmenJ' s resources. 

Kensington Drum Article, Background 

and Inaccuracies 

The June/July issue of a local 

newspaper, the Kensington Drum, 

included an article . purporting to 

investigate labour issues at Cecil Centre, 

titled "Cecil Centre labour dispute raises 

larger questions". As Board and 

commiuee members are aware, I received 

and tabled an unpublished draft versioo of 

the article before I went on vacation on 

July 4. An edited version was finally 

. published in my absence. As I indicated at 

the June 28 AC and Board meetings, the 

article seemed to serve the purposes of ooe 

person, and represented an escalation of an 

en-going discipline problem. 

Madeline Yakimchuk, the former· 

Progr11m Co-ordinator, had already 

indicated in past memos and during 

grievance proa:edings that she intended to 

bring her complaints before the public eye 

and that she regarded it as her right of 

"freedom of speech" to publicize her 

objections to supervisioo. Even attempts 

(at Step Three grievance hearings by the 

Office of Labour Relations) to discourage 

this activity met with no response, despite 

disciplinary measures. Past memos also 

declared an intention to challenge my 

management style as Director of the 

agency, through any means possible. 

Shortly before I left, I received word that 

Madeline, who had gone to attend a 

Program Committee meeting at Scadding 

Court, had told Scadding's Program 

Director that the publication of the article 

in the Kensington Drum would result in her 

firing or my own. When coofronted with 

this report, Madeline denied that it, or 

anything like it, had ever occurred. 

It is also worth noting in passing the 

history of Cecil Centre's reJatioos with the 

Kensington Drum and its editor, David 

Perlman. David was once employed as a 

Kensington Drum Article, Background and Inaccuracies 

casual program . worker at Cecil, under 

Madeline's direction, as was his wife, 

Masha Buell, another Drum staffer. When 

plaits to first set up the newspaper were 

under discussion in 1989, Madeline 

proposed that Cecil sponsor and house the 

project. The Program Committee turned 

down the plan. Madeline continued to 

work with the Drum staff. In May of this 

year, I attended a meeting of the 

Kensington Market Area Task Force held 

at City Hall. As Board and AC members 

will recall, I reported that all local seiVice 

agencies had been invited to this meeting 

and were asked at that time to discuss their 

services and co-ordination efforts. The 

Task Force was represented almost 

exclusively by David Perlman, who took a 

distinctly hostile tone in questioning all of 

the agency staff present on the strucrure 

and activities . of their organizations. Many 

presenters and the Chair privately 

expressed objections to the direction and 

tone of his questions after the meeting. 

I was not interviewed before the 

original artricle was written, nor were most 

current Board members. It appears that 

two resigned Board members, Louisa 

Kamin, and Yvonne Ferrer were 

interviewed along with Board member 

Keny Gearin. It is clear that Madeline 

spoke with the reporter; the reporter came 

tO Cecil Centre io meet with Madeline 

during working hours the day before I 

received 'the draft article. When it was 

presented to me on Thursday, June 21, at 5 

pm., I was informed that the deadline for 

my respoose to the docwnent was Friday, 

the 22nd, h!:fore 6 pm., when the paper 

would go to press. The reporter informed 

me that the article had been deliberately 

wriuen without speaking to me, and that 

my "inplt" might perltaps consist of a few 

sentences at the end of the article. Acting 

on the advice of the City Legal 

Department, I contacted the reporter 

Friday afternoon, to invite him to my office 

to go through the article with him in order 

to identify gross inaccuracies and 

distortions. He refused my offer, 

indicating that he had no time to do this, as 

the publication was already behind 

schedule. He phoned back a few minutes 

later to ask my permission to quote the 

conversation we had just held, in which I 

had stated that the article he had written 

represented irresponsible journalism, 

reporting exclusively the position of 

resigned Board members and a disgruntled 

employee. I granted him pennission to so 

quote me. Much to my surprise, after the 

deadline had passed, I received messages 

on my home answering machine from . the 

reporter. Early the following week, !he 

editor, David Perln(afi contacted ine, 

insisting that I identify the libellous 

aspects of the article for him. The paper, 

evidently, had not yet gone to press. Acting 

on the advice of the Chairperson, I did not 

pursue the matter further, but suggested 

that he speak with responsible parties 

associated with Cecil Centre. I 

subsequently established that he spoke 

with the Otairperson and with the Office of 

Labour Relations at this point, among 

others. 

As mentioned earlier, the editted 

version was published in my absence. This 

article was apparenty distributed in 

photocopy form to a variety of people 

associated with Cecil Centre. I am unable 

to say who has received copies, as I am 

only aware of those individuals who have 

contacted me as a resuh of the mailing. 

(One example, Victor Cheng, former 

computer consultant for the AOCC 

agencies). To date, very few people have. 

The article itself contains many errors 

and distortions. There are errors of fact, 

judgement, and some basic 

misunderstandings about how a 

community agency functions. The intent 

of the article is, quite simply, to discredit 

my work as Director, and to discredit the 

Board. The theme of the article is 

ostensibly "community accountability", 

but it is never established how this 

accountability is to be provided, or how it 

has been failed at Cecil Centre. Several 

large, false impressioos are aeated in the 

article. The overall impression is created 

that I am an mbitrary, racist manager, who 

refuses to be evaluated. (As members are 

aware, I tabled a fonnat for my evaluatioo 

last March, before any of this had 

occurred.)' I am said to be an employee of 

the Office of Labour Relatioos, rather than 

the Board. In general, it appears that I've 

said things, set policies' and acted in ways 

I have not. A good deal of what is said 

directly echoes passages from past memos 

from Madeline. As I was never 

inteiViewed for the article, I cannot really 

explain the use of quotation marks around 

material credited to me. The article reports 

the nwnber of staff at the centre incorrectly 

and inconsistently within the text, is 

inaccurate as to individual memberships 

on the Board and A C, identifies "majority" 

Board opinion falsely, and attributes 

policies recommended by the Program 

Conuninee to me. h is difficult to identify 

passages in the article which in any way 

reflecf the events at, or structure of, Cecil 

Centre. 

Finally, me of the key issues ignored in 

the article is the fact that the staff of Cecil 

is unionized. 1hls affects virtually every 

aspect of staff supervision and staff 

relations. The impression is created that 

the staff have no means of protectioo from 

management abuse and are forced to take 

desperate measures to bring a case to light. 

In reality, the collective agreement 

provides ample protectioo from abusive 

management practices, as it spells out 

precisely the way in which basic 

administrative practices regarding labour 

relations will be handled. As discussed 

previously in various committees, the 

grievance procedure in particular provides 

a legitimate mechanism for the airing and 

resolution of staff grievances. The 

procedure itself is the result of the process 

of collective bargaining and represents a 

mutually agreed upon basis for problem 

resolution. The article also challenges the 

notioo that Boards must operate lawfully, 

taking the position that such a 

responsibility cannot be imposed upon 

volunteer-run bodies. All Boards are 

required to act within legal requirements, 

and cannot improvise their own rules as 

they go, especially within the context of a 

unionized staff. The text objects to the 

process whereby a Board communicates 

with staff primarily through the Director, 

yet that is a normal procedure in any 

hierarchical body, and is, of course, 

consistent with the management of 

unionized staff. 

Update: ' 

Before. this article was published, the 

reporter, Mike Milando, and the editor, 

David Perhnan, were warned by myself 

and the Chairperson that the contents 

presented in the draft might be libellous 

and could result in legal action. At the 

present time, the centre is still waiting for 

word from the City Legal Department 

regarding the issue of libel and 

defamation. 

Julia J. Goldstein




The· 

Carwash 

by Derek Rogers 

KENSINGTON COMMON 

Bob felt like he was dead He had 

just got off the the 11 pm bus from 

Sudbury with no money, no job 

and no family or friends in 

Toronto. Going back to Sudbury 

was impossible. The only shelter 

that he knew of was closed, so he 

slept on a heating vent in an 

underground parking garage. The 

next morning, he felt ~orse than 

the day before. He lined up at the 

Scott Mission for a cup of coffee 

and a donut By late morning he 

was . out panhandling and two 

hours later he had enough money 

to buy a razor and give himself a 

proper shave. Looking for a job 

was more difficult There's no 

worlc in Toronto for a sheet metal 

worlcer with a prison record After 

weeks of fruitless searching he 

was offered $20 to clean up the 

basement of a bar on Queen street. 

When it came time to be paid the 

bartender said he was short on 

cash, but could offer him a few calmly looked through the more interesting stories to tell !.hap 

drinks instead. Several hours later, viewing window. Unable to see Larry the taxi driver. He woilld 

Bob found himself staggering up the woman through the clouds of talk to Bob about all the strange 

Spadina Avenue. Too drunk to' steam, he put his ear to the glass things that had happened in his cab 

make it to a hostel, he curled up in and could distinctly hear over the and they quickly became friends. 

a doorway and fell asleep. The noise of the machinery the words One day after worlc the two of them 

next morning he· was awakened by to the song, "singing in the rain". decided to go for a drink. LarrY 

a man wearing a funny looking hat, 

·needed some cash so they stopped 

whose loud, jovial voice echoed in "I'm singing in the rain 

at the money machine on the 

his aching head, "Hey I can't have Just singing in the rain 

corner of Spadina & . College. 

my workers sleeping on the job .... Oh what a glorious feeling 

Sprawled face down on the floor, 

so come on in and get to work". I'm happy again" 

directly in front of the machine 

From that time on, for twenty-five 

was a guy Bob had seen before 

dollars a day Bob found himself The woman re-appeared at the sleeping out on the A venue. A 

worlcing at the carwash. 

other end, miraculously unhurt In long line of people were waiting to 

Bob enjoyed his new job. He fact, she looked and felt great. use the machine. One after another 

liked how the cars would drive in After putting her clothes back on, they uncomfortably stepped over 

off the streets covered in the salt she bowed to her stunned audience the uncot ncious figure. The loud 

and grime of a long winter. Their thanked them for a wonderful time 'beeping sound' of their fmancial 

wi..'11 ~hields would be caked with and then walked off down the transactions filled the air. 

mud, their fenders marked with the street. 

After looking long and hard at 

scars of a thousand battles. Like For most of the guys working at the man, Bob turned to Larry and 

old and tired warhorses they the carwash driving the cars on and . softly whispered in his ear, "I think 

would slowly pull into the off the conv~yor ·belt was that guy is dead". Larry laughed 

driveway, their rads wheezing something special. The chance to loudly, "hell no he's drunk, he'll 

from the strain of the cold winter be able to sit behind the wheel of a probably wake up with one hell of 

air. The owners of these poor ' Jag or a Poi:che, even if_ it w~ only a hang over". ''Listen Larry", Bob 

beasts would hand over their keys for 10 seconds, was a big thrill. Of persisted "I've seen a dead man 

to Bob and silently give him a look all the cars that came through the . before and I'm telling you that guy 

as if to say, "please.... is there one that was the most popular was is dead". Their discussion ·was 

anything you can do?" Bob would not the Jag or the Mercedes or even interrupted by a woman in high 

respond with a nod of calm the Rolls, it was the Cop car. Bob healed shoes as she tripped over 

reassurance. He would proudly would wa~ch. his co-workers as the sprawled figure. Jokingly, 

climb into driver's seat and drive they sat, grmnmg ear to ear, unable Larry yelled out, "Hey lady, do 

the tired vehicle onto the conveyor to believe that they were actually you know it's thirty years bad luck 

belt Once the front wheels'were in the driver's seat of a cop car and if you trip over a dead man. The 

firmly secured, he would step out not in the back seat wher~ they had woman glared at him and silently 

of the car and like a concerned been on countless occas10ns. proceeded to . make a cash 

~ parent sending their child off to What interested Bob the most withdrawal as if nothing had 

school foc the first time, he would was the relationship between the happened. Bob and Larry watched 

watch as the car slowly descended driver's and their cars. After her as she punched in her code. 

into the carwash. From the dealing with literally thousands of The money popped up in the slot 

viewing window that ran the cars and their drivers he began to and she quickly put it into her 

length of the building he would realize that it was not necessarily purse. Once she had left, they 

watch as great torrents of water the person that made the car, but cautiously approached the man on 

rained down on the roof and sides rather the car that made the person. the floor.and rolled him onto his 

of the car. Jets of scalding hot It got to the point that if he saw back. The man was dead. The 

steam shot up from the flooc while someone walking down the street police came and the body was 

large, bushy rollers twirling at he_ would say, "Now that guy is a taken away. Later, they found out 

frantic speeds wiped off months of BMW kind of guy" or "that from one of the police officers that 

dirt In a fmal coup de grace, a woman is definitely of the fourgigantic 

he had died of starvation. 

fan enveloped the car in a wheel drive variety". Peo~le were Two weeks later Larry drove his 

blast of hot air. The car would their cars. How they lived, who cab into the car wash as usual. As 

emerge at the other end looking they were was all reflected in the he headed inside for a coffee he 

shiny and new. For Bob it was a cars they owned and drove. called out to Bob, "Hey Bob, can 

sight he thought he would never One day while cleaning out the you clean out th~ back seat for 

tire of. It was as if new life was interior of a BMW Bob found me .... my last fare stunk it up real 

being breathed into every vehicle three, new twenty dollar bills left good". Sure enough Bob found a 

that passed through the car wash. carelessly out on the front seat. plastic bag stuffed under the back 

One day when Bob was working Leaving them where they were, he seat He ripped it open and inside 

the late shift, a woman drunk from continued on with his work. Wh,en wrapped in a towel, was a dead 

drinking at the bar across the the driver, a man in a three piece baby. It took less 'than 20 minutes 

avenue walked onto the lot and business suit got back into the car for it to bocome the media event of 

loudly announced that she needed he called the owner of the carwash the year. TV, radio and 'newspaper 

a wash. Before anyone could stop over and accused Bob of stealing reporters converged on the 

her she stripped off her clothes and the money. Luckily the car wash carwash. Bob was asked to reenact 

the discovery several times 

ran singing into the carwash. owner was a fair man and believed . 

While the other workers screamed Bob's story. 

for both the police and the media. 

in horror and frantically raced for Of all the people that passed A massive man hunt was 

the emergency cut-off switch, Bob through the carwash, none had organized to find the baby killers. 

That night, Bob and LaiTy were 

interviewed by the CBC Journal's 

Barbara Findley and in that 

following week the carwash did 

its' best business ever. All that 

Bob could think about was the 

poor guy who died all alone in 

front of the money machine. 

A week later after 35 years of 

driving a cab, Larry called it quits. 

Bob missed his friend. Everything 

around him began to look like the 

color of grey. He couldn't 

concentrate on the job and it all felt · 

routine. 

On one particularly grey 

morning officers Bates and 

Bowanda drove their cruiser into 

the carwash. Bob climbed into the 

driver's seat and drove the cruiser 

onto the conveyor belt. He 

remained inside the car as it 

travelled through the carwash. He 

watched with awe as the jets 9f 

water propelled against the 

windows and the giant brushes 

rubbed up and down against the 

cruiser. Feeling like a butterfly 

emerging from its cocoon Bob 

drove out of the carwash onto the 

tarmac. For the first time in weeks 

he felt alive again.Without 

13 

hesitating he locked all four doors 

of the cruiser. Officers Bates and 

Bowanda were standing 10 feet 

behind the crosier eating their 

Harveys double cheese burgers. 

Looking at the control panel on the 

dash, Bob flicked a switch. The 

cruiser's siren W-A-1-L-E-D 

loudly._ Bates laughed "Will you 

look at ·that ... the guy fmds a dead 

kid and now thinks he can do 

anything". 

Inside the cruis-er· Bob 

decides to try a few more 

switches. The rotating redlights 

on the roof of the-cruiser begin 

to flash. "Cut it out will ya" 

yells Bates. In response, Bob 

shifts into reverse and presses 

firmly down on the gas pedal. 

The cruiser leaps backwards 

towards the officers. The double 

cheese burgers go flying. Bob 

shifts back into drive and the 

cruiser screeches out of the car 

wash and disappears down the 

Avenue. 

That ends the story of how 

Bob came to get and lose his job 

at the carwash. 

What's The F.U.S.? 

Feline Urological Syndrome 

by Jack Gewarter 

Cats can develop a disorder 

of the urinary tract whereby 

mineral crystals form in their 

urine, irritating the lining of, the 

tract and sometimes causing a ' 

deadly blockage to normal 

urination. Both sexes may be 

affected, neutered or intact, but 

due to their anatomy, males are 

more prone to blockage. 

Cats will often tell you 

when they're suffering from 

F.U.S., if you pay careful 

attention to certain signs. First 

they may spend alot of time 

scratching around and straining 

in the litterbox. Often owners 

think their cat is constipated or 

making an unusual number of 

visits to the box. Other cats may 

urinate or spray in odd places 

around the house and blood 

might be detected in these 

cases. Some cats will sit and 

groom their genitals excessively 

· or cry very plaintively while 

· attempti11g to urinate. 

These . cats might 

demonstrate pain on being 

touched or picked up around the 



14 

••••••••••••••••••• 

OPEN STAGE 

Colin Puffer 


'l' - 

,(£" 

., 

Open Stage is a tenn that is more 

comfortable in a folk music 

environment. ·what happens at 

Grossman's Tavern on Sunday 

afternoons is often called a blues 

jam. But to describe the music 

played as blues is misleading as 

well. Al2 bar blues is the root of 

most performances but there is 

nothing to prevent the music from 

branching off in any direction - 

which it frequently does. 

Rarely does a solo performer 

take the Stage. There are always 

people crazy to jam. The difficulty 

in maintaining tightness can grow 

exponentially as musicians are 

added to a mix so it is an indication 

of the generally high level of 

proficiency -of most of the 

musicians that a tune rarely falls 

apart completely. And 

occasionally they soar - the 

serendipitous pairing of a good 

bass and crack drummer or hot 

guitar behind a strong vocal. 

Your Gracious Host 

The jam which begins around 3:30 

pm is hosted by Steve Grisbrook, 

the guitar player/vocalist of Blue 

Sneakers. When not on stage Steve 

can be seen running around the 

tavern with his clipboord, tapping 

shoulders and putting together the 

next group of jammers. 

Sometimes it is just a question of 

adding a bass player to what is 3/4 

of an already extant band. 

Sometimes it's an instant band 

with all the players unknown to 

each other. 

Because of the open nature of 

the stage, the pool from which the 

musicians are pulled varies from 

week to week. 

Who's On First?- 

This week there's someone who 

used to drum tor the Guess Who, 

and Jake The Snake on saxophone. 

Then Rolf Kemp (anybody out 

there remember Judy Collin's 

cover of his "Hello Horray"?) 

singing Duke Ellingtori. There's a 

great trio who do a searing version 

of Sting's "Shadows in the Rain" 

and Andy celebrates his 39th 

birthday by doing a solo acoustic 

set. Next a flashy singer with a 

. classic cigarettes and whisky 

voice gets up and, man, he's got all 

the moves. A walking Bud 

commercial. As the song ends you 

wonder if he'll punctuated the 

fmal chord with an arm thrust or a 

kick. It's not a big surp~ when 

he ends with both at the same time. 

As Time Goes By 

Members of the house band rotate 

in and out of the mix. Jeannette 

Cook puts down a slinky bass line 

in a slow blues, Bill Redefine's 

drumming S{mks what could have 

been a lack-lustre performance by 

a nervous guitar player and a shaky 

beginning becomes credible. The 

music leans slightly in the. 

direction of country, staggers 

toward jazz, nods in the direction 

·of folk and then swings back with 

some Rand B. 

Blue Sneakers 

The afternoon ends with a short set 

by Blue Sne3kers. Hedefme and 

Cook are joined on stage by 

Grisbrook and guitarist Clide 

Wilkinson. The Sneakers' music 

ranges from a Steely Dan cover 

through, some raunchy blues, to a 

great funky tune by Wilkinson and 

finishes with Cook belting out a 

Joplin number with the audience 

adding demented harmonies. 

Message From Ed 

Looking back on previous Open 

Stage columns it is pretty obvious 

that almost everything written on 

the subject is laudatory. The basic 

philosophy of Drum's 

entertainment page is this: with so 

much good music happening in the 

Market, why bother writing about 

the duds? As Drum is only 

published once a month we can't 

waste space with negative 

reviews. But just to prove we're 

not totally one-sided some of the 

reservations about Grossman's on 

Sunday .afternoon; 

If you have an aversion to 

The Drug-Free Arcade, getting to know it inside and out. 

No surprise, lots of young people come through. They 

play, stay, learn, make. More surprising, parents are 

dropping in in large numbers, looking for much the same 

information. The foundation is well laid, now they're 

going to need support (and funding) to build on a good 

beginning. 

.And after Steve G's afternoon, another Steve with the evening's jam. But that's another story ... 

cigarette smoke, forget it. In the 

November Drum article about 

pool halls, when trying to be 

polite, we said "the washroom 

could ~ some attention". Well, 

Grossman's washroom could use 

some attention too. 

The format of 3 songs and then 

off (this is the practice with many _ 

open stages) sometimes 

encourages players to shoot the 

works and cram every hot ijck they 

know into a 30 second solo. With 

the band changing every 3 songs 

and a gap of only a couple of 

minutes between sets the sound 

mix is pretty good. But 

occasionally solos, that judging by 

facial expressions must have been 

god-like, are totally lost. 

However there are terrific salt 

peanuts, and beer, though not dirtcheap, 

is reasonable at $3.40 a 

bottle and $2.80 for draft. 

Nimkiis, a Little Bit of Thunder 

by Nance Woods 

Nimkiis, a little bit of thunder, 

also translates as Native art. Sole 

proprietor- Doug Fox, 

Wikwemikong artist, and Verna 

Friday, manager, pull together 

thematic art shows each month. 

Both Fox and Friday have a 

background of Native art 

promotion. Fox has taught in 

schools and exhibited in "Ontario 

North" at Ontario Place for at least 

the last ten years. Friday's 

background has been in 

publishing, particularly 

Sweetgrass Arts Publishing, a 

national Native magazine that 

promoted a positive image of 

Native peoples through the arts. 

December's theme was the 

· "Trickster" a mythical character, 

recognized as wise person and 

fool, used to teach Native young. 

Lenore Keeshig-Tobias, Maria 

Campbell, Drew Taylor and 

Herbie Barnes also contributed 

with art from the written word. The 

next theme for the upcoming show 

in February is Native erotic art. 

Nimkiis promotes selfdetermination 

by being financially 

independent; 

in other words, 

Nimkiis does not accept 

government funding. 

Nimkiis promotes other Native 

artists such as: Richard Bedwash, 

Stephen Snache, Doug Fox, 

Robert Noble, Russell Noganosh, 

Ken Syrette, Simon Paul-Dene, . 

Brian Wright-Mcleod, Darla 

Fisher-Odjig, Rebecca Baird, 

Lorna Dennis, Cheryl Henhawk, 

and Wilmer Nadjiwan. Nimkiis 

does shows with other Native and 

non-Native artists, exhibitions, 

private showings and sales. 

e Nimkiis, a little bit of thunder, 

~ translates Native art in the city. 

~ Nimki.is Gallery, 139 Seaton St., 

o Toronto Ontario, M5A 2T2. 

! Phone: 360-5543. 

• NIMKIIS PRODUCTIONS 

PRESENTS 

NATIVE EROTICA FOR VALENTINES 

February 8 - 14, 1 Oam-8pm 

Nimkiis Galle_ry, 139 Seaton St. (Dundas/Sherbourne) 

Opening Reception - February 8, 6-1 Opm 

Works featured by: 

Simon Paui-Dene • Stephen Snake • Ken Syrette 

Brian Wright-McLeod • Lorna Dennis • Rebecca Baird 

Doug Fox • Brian Marion • Darla Rsher-Odjig 

Margaret King • Wilmer Nadjiwon • Rusr;e/1 Noganosh 

Ephrem Commanda • Rdbl!rt Simoneau 

i




Performance 


Celestial Music from the 

Black Mountain 

The Angels of Montenegro played 

the Cameron House on Saturday 

Jan. 18. They are not your average 

band. Although attaching labels to 

bands i.e. thrash, blues, jazz, etc. is 

often misleading, it can sometimes 

serve as a convenient short-hand. 

The Angels' music defies 

conventional labeling. Looking 

over my notes from the show I see 

I've scratched down ph..--ases like 

"baroque Herb Alpert", and 

"Sergio Leone meets Marvin 

Gaye". But ·even these attempted 

descriptions are probably due as 

much to the band's make up (and 

we're not talking about lip-stick) 

as what they play. 

The band consists of: Tom St. 

Louis, vocals and guitar; Steve 

Haflidson, percussion; Simone 

Desilet, cellp; Marlowe Bork, 

trumpet; Darcy McFadyen, 

French hom; Caitlin Jenkins guitar 

and vocals (the Cameron show 

was Jenkin's last with the OOrld - 

she's leaving to pursue her solo 

career). 

This band plays very few three 

minute songs, with some tunes 

bordering on operatic length. 'The 

Haze(fo My Soul" is almost 

symphonic with several distinct 

movements. But The Angels can 

metamorphose from a small 

chamber orchestra into a Motown 

. band as they did when they 

followed "The Haze" with a 

ENTERTAINMENT/SPORTS 

soulful "Love Is For The· Birds". the cabaret is designed to be 

The latter tune would probably anything but trendy. Peter Oliver, 

have benefitted from a funky bass Community Developer at 

chugging away in the background, Scadding Court, hopes to reach 

a cello not quite having the soulful ."people who have little 

punch needed to drive the song. opportunity to experience 

One of the highlights of the . performance of theatre, music or 

evening was undoubtedly "Grey dance, either for economic reasons 

Streak", a St. Louis tune about or they are intimidated by the 

love and life when you're ambience of foi:mal Arts venues". 

thirtysomething. The melodic .... The cabaret will start informally 

nature of the French hom, trumpet , at 7 pm with the frrst half hour left 

and cello, coupled with the sweet open to give audience members a 

voices of St Louis and Jenkins can chance to warm up, meet each 

produce some beautiful 5 part other and drink the free coffee .. 

harmony and the frequency with Each evening· there will be a 

which post-song echoes arose featured performance by a well 

from the audience indicated how known local artist or group. SCAT 

well received the Angels of will also provide a platform fur 

Montenegro music is. 

local community and amateur 

The Angels of Montenegro's pe~ormers and groups. 

next certain market area M1xed Company Theatre, under 

performance will be Friday the direction of Simon Malbogat, 

. February 22 at the Cameron, is in c~~e of booking the acts and 

unless they also play Scadding's coordinaung the shows. 

Scat Cabaret the night before. February Schedule 

C 

A 'T C b t 14th - Robert Priest (poetry), 

S ~ a are Eileen O'Toole (music/dance/ 

Thursday, Jan 21, Scadding Court 

Community Centre, 707 Dundas 

St. W.(at Bathurst) initiated a 

series of cabaret evenings that will 

run every week for the next three 

months. Each show will be 

different with a typical evening 

providing a grab-bag of artists 

including musicians, poets, 

comedians and theatre troupes. 

It's Not Queen St. 

While all are welcome at the 

centre, and the diverse line up is 

sure to appeal to a wide audience, . 

poetry/comedy) 

21st- Neil (Neo) Chapman of the 

Neotones and ·others 

28th - Mimico Boys (music), 

Trudy Hartman (music) 

More acts will likely be added. 

. February is Black History · Month. 

SCAT Cabaret is hoping to add 

Clifton Joseph, Lillian Allen and 

lchacka Tafari to the lineup. Artist 

wishing to perform at the cabaret 

should contact Simon at Mixed 

Company - tel. 588-8580 

SCORES AT A;s·.:·GfANCE 

z 

.... 

~ 

z 

- 

() . Dundas Gunner.s 7 - 14 Division 0 

"' z 

Cecil Centre 0 - Kensington Dru"'mers 0 

Kensington Pickup 3 - Wasteco Warriors 0 

Dundas Detox 1 - Neighbourhood NIMBY s 0 

Oilers 5 - Canadians 0 

Jets 2 - Republican Guards 2 

Ottawa Senators 43 - Ottawa Senators 43 

..... 

Gulf Poolers SO - Teletruth 0 

::.::: ~ 

The Goofs Tour Across Canada 

by Lisa Blonde 

Jan 4 -Played the first show of 

the tour here in Toronto at the 

Rivoli with "Scruffy 

Tearaways" . · 

Jan 10 -Left Toronto·heading 

West across Canada 

Jan 12 - Played at the club 

Stripes in Winnipeg with 

"Matricide" and "Mary 

Pranksters". The show went 

well. Skinheads trashed 

washroom in club during the 

show. Merrick and English 

Shaun repaired the damage for 

the grateful owner. They were 

rebooked for another show for. 

Feb 4. The band raved about the 

Jamaican beef patties, saying 

they were the best they'd ever 

tasted. 

Jan 19- Played at the Westward 

Inn in Calgary, with 

"Skinyard". The crowd was into 

cocaine and the owners were 

just plain cheap. 

Jan 23 - Played at Cruel 

Elephant Club in Vancouver 

with "Krazy Kats" and "Pee 

Wee Manson". The c.rowd was 

great, some even donating TVs 

for the Goofs to smash. The 

show was sold out and Merrick 

had a rockin birthday bash. 

Jan 24 - Played in East 

Vancouver at the .Cambrian 

Walsh Hall with "From 

Beyond". Again TV s were 

donated. 

Jan 27 - Bunked and practised 

with the "Dayglo Abortions" in 

Victoria. They boozed it up 

with Mike Kinnis from the 

Dayglos (ex-Goof). 

Jan 29 - Played a rocking show 

at Club Soda in Vancouver with 

"T.T.Racer", "Tame The 

Wasteland", and an all-girl band 

called "Bombshells". The show 

was amazing despite the 

majority of long-haired rockers 

in the audience. 

Jan 30 - Played at the Arts Club 

in Vancouver with "Billbre.ed" 

and "Elvis Lovechild". 

Jan ·31 - Played at The 

Kamloo}1s Club for a private 

party??? 

Feb 1 - Played in Edmonton at 

the Richie Hall. They "Rocked 

against Racism" along with 5 

other bands. 

Feb 2 - Played at the Student 

Uniori in Regina. 

Feb 4- Played an encore 

performance at the Stripes Club 

in Winnipeg. 

Feb .5 - The last show of the 

I.Our was played at the Spinning 

Wheel in Thunder Bay. Arrive 

home in Toronto on the 7th of 

February. They were all missed. 

All in all, the tour went well, 

despite poor publicity in 

Winnipeg and Calgary. They 

experienced a short delay early 

on somewhere near Wawa 

Ontario due to a blown out tire. 

Their biggest expenses were gas 

(Approx. $1,600 round trip) and 

of course beer. 

15 

Steve Goof (lead singer of 

Bunchofuckingoofs) summed it 

all up by saying "I'm glad I live 

a sheltered life in the Market. 

The rest of the world has a lot 

of growing and learning to do." 

· ···~i--:r:;.···· 

More Music N.otes 

Fat Albert's -300 Bloor St W., 

featured acts: Wed . . 13, Bob 

Snider; Wed. 20 Trudy Artman; 

Wed. 27 Gail Solomon. 

Mariposa presents: Tues. 26 at the 

Diamond, June Tabor & The 

Oyster Band with Bare Naked 

Ladies. 

Sneaky Dee's - 431 Bathurst Fri . 

15, Dr. Limbo; Sat. 16, The 

Molly McGuires; Fri. 22, Sw.unp 

Baby; Sat 23, Thomas Trio & 

The Red Albino. 

Kates Place at . The Last 

Temptation - 12 Kensington Ave.: 

every second and fourth Sun.: 

Kate McNeil & Friends. 

The Angels of Montenegro Fri. 

22 at The Cameron, 408 Queen St 

W. and possibly Thurs., 21 at 

Scadding Court. 

" 

.,



16 


MARKET'S 

MUSIC 

(from page 1) 

neighbourhood event, will 

begin in the Market, giving 

local residents first chance at 

the available tickets. Though 

the evening will focus on the 

music of Kensington, it will 

also feature poetry, video 

shows (of last summer's 

Carnival and some great 

Goofs footage), an auction 

and even some stand up 

comedy. Although the 

benefit committee feels they 

might be able to squeeze one 

or two more acts into the 

program the line up to date 

looks like this: · AI 

Cromwell, Steve Fever, The 

Foggy Mountain Deadboys, 

Eileen O'Toole, Tom St. 

Louis (Angels of 

Montenegro), Caitlin 

Jenkins, Lee Shropshire, 

The Boom Band, Norm 

Hacking and The Virgins. 

Dollars at the Door 

.- 

The Market's Music .... Live! 

A Benefit 

for 

Kensington Market Drum 

$10.00 

or less if necessary 

All proceeds to Drum 

Keep our paoer 

--=-- 

The Drum realizes that some 

folks would prefer to spend a ~ 

Sunday evening in quiet appreciation for the free 

contemplation, preparing home delivery they've been 

for the rigours ·of the up- · receiving. In certam parts of 

coming week at work, rather the market, sometime within 

than attending the party of the next two weeks, 

the century. These people Drummers will be knocking 

will also be given the on doors in a fund raising 

opportunity to express their bid. The goal is to raise 1 

dollar from every household 

that has been getting the 

Drum on a regular basis. 

This should ensure 

continuing delivery. 

Showtime 

The benefit will commence 

with the first act taking the 

stage at 7pm ~harp. The 

organizers are tight lipped 

about the order in which the 

Rerformers will appear. 

'They're all headliners, as 

far as I'm concerned", says 

artistic director Robert 

The Silver Dollar 

Spadina/North of College 

7:00pm 

Sunday,Feb.24, 1991 

Agricola. "This show will 

run like a finely crafted 

watch, so you'd better be on 

time if you don't want to 

miss anything." 

For advance tickets please 

call 599-DRUM or Colin at 

599-4317. 

& 

., 

DRUM HUM DRUM HUM 

COMMUNITY ADS 

00 For Rent and Sale 04 Help at Hand 

WANTED: ads for ADVOCATES FOR 

apartment and rental INJURED WORKERS. 

houses. Phone 599-DRUM Free legal services for low 

income people with WCB 

THINKING OF ·and CPP claims. For info 

SUBLETTING . YOUR phone 363-0304. 

PLACE? let your . 

community know first b 07 Events 

phoning 599-DRUM. y The Kensington Market 

02 Chil

#9101 - Feb 1991

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