Canada

Sharon Bala Warns Against Collective Amnesia in “The Boat People”

February 8, 2021

Sharon Bala’s The Boat People tells a nuanced tale of migration. Inspired by real events , the novel follows Mahindan, a Tamil asylum-seeker who flees persecution amidst civil war Sri Lanka, only to find himself facing deportation by the Canadian government for suspected ties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). A multi-narrative work, … Read More

The Fragmentation and Murders of Queer Brown Men in Toronto

November 8, 2018

Eight men were murdered in Toronto, their bodies dismembered and placed into more than dozen fiberglass garden planters on a residential property on Mallory Crescent. This was the same Leaside neighborhood where self-employed landscaper and occasional mall Santa Bruce McArthur worked. Fragments of bodies were found in a wooded area adjacent to the property as … Read More

Why Did Jagmeet Singh Avoid a Loaded Question About Sikh Nationalism?

January 21, 2018

Jagmeet Singh just got engaged and the hype is making me go back to one very telling conversation. “Just think about this,” my dad told me, as he texted me the link to Jagmeet Singh’s bizarre interview with Terry Milewski. I am Canadian by birth, Punjabi Sikh by ethnicity, American by naturalization, and socialist by … Read More

January Has Been Declared Tamil Heritage Month In Canada

October 9, 2016

KING IN THE NORTH The Canadian House of Commons declared January Tamil History Month earlier this week. The motion to declare Tamil History Month was originally proposed by MP Gary Anandasangaree in January of this year. It stated “the government should recognize the contributions that Tamil-Canadians have made to Canadian society, the richness of the Tamil language and … Read More

Photo Essay: Udaan/Flight

November 12, 2015

Our grandparents are the bridges that connect us to our homeland. And in the literal sense of the title, they migrate like birds from Punjab to the diaspora every six months. “Udaan” showcases grandparents from the Greater Toronto Area that find ways to connect to their motherland, while unlearning the more traditional beliefs they were … Read More