We’re getting outside to enjoy the summer while still maintaining some distance as the COVID numbers drop… a few of the restrictions have been lifted and life is little less constrained. Patios are filling up again and a larger selection of stores are open. The following photos were taken downtown on a sunny day a week or so ago…. as I re-learn how to take candid shots of people!
The 3D Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square has been replaced by a newer, hardier version. Same same but different.
LEFT:
“The original TORONTO Sign was installed on Nathan Phillips Square in front of Toronto City Hall in July 2015 for the Toronto Pan American and Parapan American Games. Although it was only intended to last a few weeks, in response to the sign’s popularity, the City of Toronto extended its presence on the Square and it became a Toronto landmark.
The Medicine Wheel was added on June 18, 2018 in honour of Indigenous Peoples and to increase awareness of National Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21.
The Medicine Wheel symbol was chosen, in consultation with Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre, as it is an emblem of North American Indigenous cultural values, tradition and spirituality. Its four directions (East, South, West and North) symbolize completeness, wholeness, connectedness and strength.
A maple leaf was added to the TORONTO Sign in 2017 to mark Canada’s 150th birthday.
The TORONTO Sign has become symbolic of Toronto. According to a Destination Toronto visitor survey, the TORONTO sign was one of the top three most visited attractions in the city and it is consistently ranked as one of the most Instagram-worthy spots.
In September 2020, a more durable replica of the original TORONTO Sign was installed”.RIGHT:
“The artwork design on the TORONTO Sign uses vibrant African fabric patterns as a backdrop to represent the diverse community of people of African descent in Toronto and globally.
Woven into the colourful patterns are African cultural symbols like the Adinkra Sankofa bird, which represents the importance of moving forward through recalling the past.
The inclusion of portraits of Canadians of African descent is an important statement in recognition that people of African descent are here, beautiful, bold and proud, holding Toronto accountable for justice and equity.
The City of Toronto recognizes the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African descent (2015 to 2024).Danilo Deluxo McCallum is a Toronto based visual artist. He works professionally as a painter, videographer, illustrator, graphic designer, muralist and art mentor. A product of the city, the characters depicted in McCallum’s work reflect a diverse landscape of people.”
below: What is happening? By the looks of it, Doug Ford and John Tory have taken up cricket. Nice uniforms but something’s not cricket…
below: What is happening is a protest. A decent sized crowd gathered at Nathan Phillips Square late this afternoon because why? Because another Ford, another protest. Been there, done that, and is he really going to do what? Sigh.
below: Making a point. Doug Ford recently dictated that the sex ed curriculum brought in by the last government will no longer be taught because not enough parents had been consulted about its contents. Today he announced that the number of Toronto city council seats will be reduced from 47 to 25 after he consulted with zero zilch nada of Toronto’s 2.7 million people. Hypocrisy. It also gives credence to the theory that this is all sour grapes – he lost the last mayoral election to John Tory and his ego is damaged.
below: “To succeed we must secede #provinceofontario” An interesting concept?
below: Ford did campaign on cheap beer, a dollar a can if I remember correctly. There was no beer at Nathan Phillips square this afternoon. No consultations AND no beer.
below: A lone dissenter (or at least the only visible one). “Thank you Doug Ford. You saved me a part of my battle, for the Mayor’s office. Harris suggested this at amalgamation you put it in to action. Jim McMillan.”
Once the speeches were over, some of the protesters went inside City Hall to the council chambers where a city council meeting was in progress. We’ll see what happens in the coming days and weeks.
below: Like most days, there were lots of tourists in the square too. But that’s a whole other story!
Sculptures by Ken Lum.
I was walking up Bay Street yesterday when I stopped. Out of the corner of my eye I had caught a glimpse of a sculpture that I had never seen before. It is ‘Two Children of Toronto’ by Ken Lum, 2013.
Two children, a boy and a girl, sit opposite each other, some distance between them.
What you can’t see in the above picture is that there are words in bronze mounted on the wall. The words say: “Across time and space, two children of Toronto meet”. The two kids are looking towards each but not each other.
below: Both children are wearing clothes from bygone days.
below: But the boy’s clothes are more Chinese looking.
After my walk the other day, I started researching Ken Lum. I discovered that he has another sculpture nearby, and fortuitously, it was one that I took some pictures of back in December. It is “Peace Through Valour” located at the NW corner of City Hall property. Winston Churchill is standing close by.
It commemorates the 93,000 Canadians who fought in the Italian campaign of WW2 and was dedicated in June 2016. A Canadian soldier stands vigil at each corner of the memorial. The top of the 7 foot x 7 foot square is a topographical map of Ortona, a town in Italy that was a scene of a battle at Christmas time in 1943. Ortona is on the Adriatic coast and its streets were narrow which made it difficult for Allied forces to liberate the town from Nazi Germany.
Money for the sculpture was donated by the Italian-Canadian community.
Rob Ford
City councillor and former Mayor of Toronto
May 1969 – March 2016,
Funeral procession from City Hall to St. James Cathedral, 30 March
below: For two days Rob Ford lay in repose at City Hall where people could pay their respects. And many did. Yesterday, the line up wound around the corner of City Hall as people waited their turn. Some people loved him; some people hated him. Possibly there were those who were indifferent.
This morning there was a short procession from City Hall to the noontime funeral at St. James Cathedral.
below: After arriving at City Hall, Doug Ford greets the crowd.
Although the procession was scheduled to begin at 10:30, it didn’t start until close to 11:30. A group of people waited at Nathan Phillips Square including some of Rob Ford’s supporters. I overheard a conversation between two men who were discussing what they thought of politics and politicians, most of it negative. At one point they declared that all career politicians should be kicked out of office. I thought to myself, you mean guys like Rob Ford? Wasn’t he a career politician?
About 20 or so people were holding a large flag made of a couple of Canadian flags and all the provincial flags stitched together. It was a very diverse group of people, diverse in age as well as in ethnic background. They were joking about whether or not they were going to be on the front page of the ‘Sun’. We shall see!
below: A woman finds a quiet place to sit and wait.
below: The police were in position, ready to start, long before the procession began. So was the media and it was a very large media presence indeed.
below: The Toronto Fire Department had a large Canadian flag on display at Queen and Bay streets, near the beginning of the procession route.
below: Trying to keep the people, most with cameras, off the streets.
below: This guy may have been filming the crowd (and me) but he didn’t look away from his phone.
below: The crowd in front of St. James cathedral
As I was walking away from the cathedral, a woman approached me.
She pointed towards the church asked me if I knew what was going on there.
added later: I was going to discard this photo but then I noticed the man in the mask.
Who wears a mask to a funeral procession?
Remembrance Day
the eleventh day of the eleventh month
November 11th at 11am in 1918 (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month) was when an armistice was signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente. Nov 11th became known Armistice Day, or in some countries such as Canada, Remembrance Day. An armistice is an agreement to stop fighting, a truce in other words. After this signing, it took several months of negotiations before the First World War officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919. That treaty ended the war between Germany and the Allies. (The Allies of WW1 were also known as the Entente Powers while Germany and her allies were known as the Central Powers)
The poppy became a symbol of Remembrance day, and a symbol in remembrance of soldiers who died fighting in all wars, after the publication of the poem ‘In Flanders Fields’ in 1915. This popular and often quoted poem was written by Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae. In it he talks about the poppies that grew in the battlefields at Flanders Belgium during WW1.
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,”
below: The cenotaph (war memorial) in front of Old City Hall was unveiled on 11 Nov 1925 to commemorate those Torontonians who died in WW1. Since then, it has been expanded to include those who lost their lives in WW2 and in the Korean War. The word cenotaph comes from the Greek and translates as ’empty tomb’. This style of memorial has been used widely for commemorating someone, or some group, whose remains are interred elsewhere.
More than 6000 Torontonians lost their lives in these three conflicts. Close to three thousand men died in World War 1, a number that represents about 2% of the male population of the time. (1)
In the middle of University Avenue is a statue erected by the Toronto District of the Sons of England Benefit Society in memory of their members who died in World War 1. Founded in 1876, this society provided insurance to its members who were in need because of illness or accident.
In 1914 Canada was still part of the British Empire. As a result, when Britain found itself at war in August of that year, Canada too was involved.
below: At the base of the center lion is a small plaque that reads: “Chas Adamson, sculptor, 1923”.
below: The Sons of England building on the NW corner of Richmond St. East and Berti St., 1922
photo credit: Toronto public library website
Another memorial in this city is the Ontario Veterans Memorial. This is a 30m long granite wall in front of Queens Park dedicated to all the men and women from Ontario who served in the military. Etched into the granite are scenes depicting Canadians in military roles between the time of the Fenian Raids in 1867 to the present day.
below: Part of the granite wall. The red in the picture is a reflection of the red carpet that was laid in front of the memorial for the Remembrance Day service.
below: part of the granite wall
Transcription of the passage by Canadian author Jane Urquhart:
One by one they left behind the bright fields of innocence and stepped into the darkness of experience
Their brave departure was discrete* and humble.
Un à un, ils ont quitté les champs illuminés de l’innocence pour se plonger dans la noirceur de
i’expérience. Ils ont quitté avec courage, discrétion et humilité
Some do not return. Their absence is as big as sorrow, as wide as grief.
Certains ne reviennent jamais. Leur absence laisse un vide aussi béant que le chagrin,
aussi vaste que le deuil.
The returning walk back toward their northern homeland. Their faces are shadowed,
but they are carrying illumination in their arms.
Ceux qui reviennent marchent vers leur terre nordique. Leurs visages sont dans l’ombre
mais ils portent la lumière dans leurs bras.
(* discrete vs discreet ?)
below: Some of the wreaths laid at the Ontario Veterans Memorial on Remembrance Day.
below: Although it is not a war memorial per se, someone left a small poppy wreath by this plaque at Nathan Phillips Square. The plaque is by the arches over the pool, the freedom arches.
Transcription of the plaque: Freedom Arches. The citizens of Toronto dedicate these arches to the millions who struggled, including Canadians, to gain and defend freedom and to the tens of millions who suffered and died for the lack of it. May all that we do be worthy of them. Only in freedom can the Human Spirit soar. Against the Human drive for freedom nothing can long succeed. This plaque is mounted on a slab of the Berlin Wall.
below: The 3D Toronto sign was red on Remembrance Day.
We remember collectively as a nation, as a community. We also remember privately, as individuals, as families. Countless small memorials can be found around Toronto including in schools, in churches and other religious institutions, and in cemeteries.
below: A memorial to the 48th Highlanders, Mount Pleasant cemetery. In memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers, and men who have served with the 48th Highlanders.
Dileas Gu Brath, their motto, is gaelic for ‘faithful forever’
below: Quiet memorials
(1) source: Patrick Cain, Global News
below: Coke, Dole juice, Diet Coke, Fanta orange, cans, cans, and more cans.
below: Coors beer, Canada Dry, Nestea, more Fanta, more Coke, all crushed and ready to be recycled.
The City of Toronto collected about 200,000 tonnes of blue bin recyclables in 2014. Since a tonne equals 1,000 kilograms, that’s 200,000,000 kilos of recyclable plastic bottles, pop cans, tin cans etc.
Piles of crushed recyclables collected from Toronto’s blue bins are stacked along Bay Street beside City Hall. They will be part of an installation entitled ‘There is No Away’ for Nuit Blanche this coming weekend. This work was sponsored by the city’s Solid Waste Management committee and put together by artist Sean Martindale. This installation hopes to raise awareness of just how much garbage we produce and throw “away”.
National Seniors Day, 1st October
Just this week StatsCan announced that the number of Canadians older than 65 was more than the number of Canadians under 15. There were 5,780,900 Canadians 65 and older (16.1% of the population) compared to 5,749,400 who were under 15 years old (16%).
The results of the last census in 2011 showed that Toronto had a population of 2,615,060, 14.4% of whom were over 65.
There was a CARP Flag Raising ceremony at City Hall today to celebrate the contributions of older adults across Canada. CARP, formerly the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, is a national, non-partisan, non-profit organization that concerns itself with issues that affect the older members of our communities. Membership is no longer restricted to those over 50 years old; the societal challenges posed by aging populations are a concern to people of all ages.
below: CARP president Moses Znaimer and a woman (my apologies for not knowing who it is) listen to a speech by Toronto city councillor Pam McConnell prior to raising the flag.
Population by age group in Canada, as of 1 July 2015. All numbers from Statscan.
The largest group are those between the ages of 50 and 54
A full report, prepared by the city, of the population of Toronto in 2011 and how it compares to that of 2006 is also available.
Let’s talk about this couple
If you ride the Toronto subway you’ll probably recognize them from the walls of Queen station.
A couple of weeks ago I was standing beside them when I overheard a woman telling the man she was with that the people in the mural were Lord and Lady Simcoe.
I was fairly certain that she was wrong so I checked. This is a picture of John Graves Simcoe.
There could be some resemblance and John Graves Simcoe did play an important part in Toronto’s history. He was the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada (1761-1790). He established York (now Toronto) as the capital of Upper Canada in 1793 and he gave us Yonge Street. But note the military clothing in the above portrait; he was a British army officer after all and I doubt he’d be depicted in a mural wearing a green jacket and matching cap.
There aren’t many pictures his wife Elizabeth, or Lady Simcoe, but suffice it to say that they don’t look like the woman in the mural.
A few minutes online provided the following information: The title of the mural is “Our Nell” and the people are supposed to be William Lyon McKenzie and Nellie McClung. Three buildings are shown, the old Simpsons building (now the Bay), City Hall, and the Eaton Centre. The artist is John B. Boyle.
This is a photo of William Lyon McKenzie; I guess there’s a resemblance.
McKenzie was born in Scotland in 1795. He emigrated to Upper Canada as a young man. Although he held a number of jobs, he seemed to like writing for newspapers best. After working for newspapers in Montreal and York, he established his own newspaper, the ‘Colonial Advocate’ in 1824. Although that paper went bankrupt and he fled to New York for a short time to evade his creditors, he used newspapers as a vehicle to promote his political ideas for most of his life. To a large degree the story of Upper Canada politics of the early 1800’s is a story of the Tory governing elite vs the Reformer upstarts. McKenzie was solidly on the side of the Reformers.
Toronto was incorporated as a city on 6 March 1834 and the first municipal elections were held later that month. McKenzie was elected as an alderman. At that time, the mayor was elected by the aldermen from their own ranks and in 1834 McKenzie was appointed mayor. He lost the next election in 1835.
McKenzie was also a leader in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. It was not much of a rebellion, more like a skirmish near Montgomerys Tavern (near Yonge & Eglinton) that the Reformers lost badly. The rebellion leaders were allowed to flee to New York state. Once in Buffalo, McKenzie declared himself the head of a provisional government of the Republic of Canada. He even convinced some Americans to help him invade Upper Canada from Navy Island in the Niagara River. Bombardment of Navy Island late in December 1837 by the Royal Navy destroyed the S.S. Caroline, an American ship that was helping to supply McKenzie’s followers on Navy Island. And that was the end of McKenzie’s rebellion.
Okay then, that’s the man in the mural. What about the woman? I went looking for picture of Nellie McClung as well as information about her. I recognized her name but I couldn’t remember what her role in Canadian history was. First, this is her picture:
I didn’t see any pictures of her with long hair or as a younger woman. Nellie McClung was born as Nellie Mooney in Ontario in 1873 but moved to Manitoba as a child. One of the causes that she worked on was woman’s suffrage and she helped Manitoba in 1916 to become the first province to allow women the right to vote and to run for public office. By 1922 women could vote federally and in all provinces except Quebec. Quebec women could vote federally but had to wait until 1940 before they could vote in a provincial election.
McClung was also one of the five women who campaigned to have women recognized as “persons” by the Supreme Court so that they could qualify to sit in the Senate. In 1930 Cairine Mckay Wilson was appointed Canada’s first female senator, just four months after the “Persons Case” was decided.
Now when you pass through Queen subway station you can think a little about the history that it represents, and not so much about how ugly it is. Because it is ugly. Especially this section of the mural:
Is that a woman in the foreground? Or a slug with appendages?
A newly installed large 3D sign in Nathan Phillips Square is Toronto’s latest tourist attraction and local photo op. It is scheduled to remain in the square until the end of 2015 at which point it will be moved to another public location.
#share3DTO #hostcity2015
as I walk Toronto 