On Wednesday, September 12 at 7 pm, Defend Toronto will have its first meeting at Holy Trinity. Organized by former Mayor John Sewell and friends, this citizen movement will counter the attacks on Toronto by Premier Doug Ford. From John Sewell: ” The Premier held a press conference…making some outrageous statements about using the `notwithstanding’ clause under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to get around the judge’s decision to get his way. That clause has never been used in Ontario. He is a frightening man.”
The meeting will begin with a discussion of the provincial plans to restructure Toronto City Council, which a judge has now ruled as unconstitutional, and that the election will proceed with 47 wards on October 22.
Don Eady, lawyer for several of those who took the matter to court, will take us through the judge’s decision and outline what it means for us. A speaker from Progress Toronto will talk about the election and what’s at stake for the city. There will then be a general discussion of what we can do to convince the provincial government not to appeal the decision.
This will be followed by talk about the provincial plan to take over the Toronto subway system. Shelagh Pizey-Allen of TTCriders will talk about what that organization thinks of the provincial plans. And long-time transit advocate Steve Munro will discuss how this will impact the whole transit network. This will be followed by general discussion of what actions we should and could take.
The last part of the meeting will be a general discussion about what kind of an organization Defend Toronto will be; creating a steering committee; how often we should meet; and the issues we should focus on.
On Sunday, August 12th at 12:30 pm, former parishioner Mary Lou Dickinson will read from her new novel, The White Ribbon Man. There will be a Q and A with the author after the reading. This is a free event open to all. Please join us!
“The White Ribbon Man is a murder mystery set in Toronto. A woman’s body is found in the basement toilet of a downtown Toronto church. It is an Anglican church that welcomes homeless people for coffee and soup and has a congregation composed largely of social activists. The discovery challenges a community that sees itself as a compassionate one and causes people who once were comfortable with each other to become suspicious instead. During the investigation we get to know something about the minister whose sleepwalking makes him suspect, a librarian who answered the classified ad in the Globe and Mail placed by another suspect; one of the wardens who is an activist against violence against women, a member of the congregation who was the neighbour and friend of the murdered woman, and the detective in charge of the investigation. The gentle handling of all of these characters and their issues allows the reader to see humanity and vulnerability of each one and the way in which as a community they support one another.
https://www.inanna.ca/index.php/catalog/white-ribbon-man/
“After a woman is found dead in a downtown church basement, nearly everyone becomes a suspect. Dickinson deftly takes us into the world of a social-justice community and their struggles to cope in the aftermath of violence. When a writer and cop unintentionally team up, imagination and evidence blur. This is a page-turner with an unexpected plot-twist that will leave the reader guessing until the very end.”
The Jesuit priest James Martin tells of his drive near the Rift Valley in Kenya two decades ago:
“I was transfixed by the verdant green grass that carpeted the hillside”, he writes. “Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, a lone white sheep clambered down the hillside and darted in front of my car. I swerved to avoid hitting it… Then I watched the sheep gingerly climb down into the valley on the right side of the road. Just then, from my left, a figure darted across the road. It was a young Maasai shepherd… The shepherd dashed in front of my idling car. Barefoot, he smiled and waved to me as he passed. He scrambled down the side of the hill in pursuit of the sheep, raising clouds of dust, calling loudly all the time… Then I looked up and saw the rest of the flock, about twenty or thirty sheep, up the hill on my left. How stupid! I thought. He’s leaving behind the whole flock for that one sheep. Then something dawned on me, and I laughed out loud. It was the Parable of the Lost Sheep in action!”
In the photo above, the Rev. Sara Boyles conducts Ken West’s Celebration of Life, Friday, June 29th. 2018 .
Ken was a long-time member of our community, serving in many roles, most recently on the Finance Committee. He and long time partner Bob were married here. We will keep Bob and their family in our prayers.
Bob read some of Oscar Wilde’s fine lines about love and the universe at Ken’s funeral. The lines are part of Wilde’s long, early poem called “Panthea” that celebrates all of the ancient Greek gods and their role in the celebration of life and love immersed in the world of nature.
