CHURCH SERVICE SUNDAY OPENS FESTIVAL

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Invitation to the Media and the Public

The media and the public are invited to attend the opening service of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival 2016 Festival at the Anglican Church of the Nativity, July 10th, 2016 at 10.30am.  Following the service light refreshments will be served.  

The Anglican Church welcomes visitors of all faiths and religions.  It will be an Anglican Service that will be celebrated.  This is a Free Event.

The Church is located in Malvern at 10 Sewells Road, Scarborough, Ontario. Parking is limited, however you may park in the Malvern Mall across from the Labels store.

About Toronto Caribbean Carnival

The Toronto Caribbean Carnival is an exciting three-week cultural explosion of Caribbean music, cuisine, and revelry as well as visual and performing arts. It is a major international event and the largest cultural festival of its kind in North America. As Carnival is an international cultural phenomenon, the city of Toronto and the Greater Toronto region will come alive with the pulsating rhythms and melodies of Calypso, Soca, Salsa, Zouk, Reggae, Chutney, Steel Pan and Brass Bands celebrating the Carnival of the Americas. The Festival Management Committee oversees the running of North America's largest outdoor festival.

Corporate sponsors / partners of this year's festival include: OLG, The Toronto Star, CTV, CP-24, the Federal Government of Canada, the Province of Ontario, the City of Toronto, Tourism Toronto, Grace Kennedy Foods, the Ontario Science Centre, Exhibition Place, Malvern Town Centre, and Porter Airlines.

For more information about the programmes and events, please visit the festival's official website at www.torontocaribbeancarnival.com. The Festival Office is located at 19 Waterman Avenue, Toronto. Contact info: Tel: 416-391-5608; Email: info@torontocaribbeancarnival.com.

For media inquires:

Stephen Weir Toronto Caribbean Carnival Publicist

Phone 416-489-5868

Cell: 416-801-3101

Email: Stephen@stephenweir.com

COMPETITION BEGINS FOR THE JUNIOR CHEF OF THE 2016 TORONTO CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL

NEWS: COMPETITION BEGINS FOR THE JUNIOR CHEF OF THE 2016 TORONTO CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL

Think your child has got what it takes to be the first Junior Chef of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival? The Carnival and Grace Foods is asking junior chefs to put on their thinking toque blanches and wow the Carnival celebrity chef consultant Latoya Fagon with a recipe suitable for summer!

Children between the ages of 11 and 16 are eligible to take part in the Toronto Carnival's Junior Chef Culinary Competition The deadline for entries is June 23rd

“The competition provides a platform for young aspiring chefs to demonstrate their culinary skills and promote passion for healthy eating and lifestyle,” explained Denise Hererra-Jackson, the CEO of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival. “The competition is aimed at spreading Caribbean Gastronomic Culture by using local products with Caribbean flavours inspired by Grace Foods.”

Junior chefs must come up and cook a healthy choice recipe that uses at least one healthy Grace Product. The meal option is for lunch or dinner.

Ten junior chefs will be selected by the competition’s consulting celebrity chef
La-toya Fagon by June 27th to move on to a qualifying round where they, with professional help, will cook their recipes.

After the live qualifying round, three contestants will be selected to go to the Finals which will require a second grilling recipe for presentation on stage, July 16th (1-5pm) at the Toronto Caribbean Carnival’s Junior Carnival. The Parade and Junior Carnival takes place in Neilson Park, in Malvern (Scarborough).

The winning chef receives a $500 cash prize. Second place receives $250 and third place gets $150. For rules and information about the competition visit: here: http://www.juniorchef.ca/. A full list of Grace Foods’ products is available on www.gracefoods.ca

Junior Carnival Parade/ Family Day July 16, 2016. This will be the biggest children's parade ever! The free Junior Carnival Parade will take place in and around Neilson Park in the Malvern community. Over 2,500 children will perform for the judges and play Mas. Games, food, Calypso and Pan performances in the Park after the parade. 10 a.m to 8 p.m.

For media inquires: Stephen Weir, Toronto Caribbean Carnival Publicist, 416-489-5868, Cell: 416-801-3101, Email: Stephen@stephenweir.com;

Sikh Heritage Month About To End In Ontario - Brampton Art Gallery the place to be - Media Alert

MEDIA ALERT

Attention Assignment Desks, Arts & Entertainment Editors

Sikh Heritage Month Closing Night Celebration.

Saturday April 30 from 6 – 10 p.m.

WHO:	Singh Street Style. Tom Smart exhibition curator.  Marty Brent PAMA manager.  Members of the Sikh Heritage Month Committee. Artists. Performers. Politicians
WHAT:	Sikh Entertainment filled closure to Sikh Heritage Month. Closing Night Celebration Singh Twins Retrospective Art Show, Dhole drumming, performances in the courtroom, Gatka demonstrations in the parking lot (weather permitting) Kirtan music and workshops, art showdown and more. FREE
WHERE:	PAMA
	9 Wellington St East
	Brampton, ON K2T 0K5
WHEN:	Saturday, April 30. 6pm  – 10pm
WHO:	Accredited journalists, videographers, photographs, bloggers and social media practitioners.  Press interviews  in English and Punjabi.

ABOUT PAMA

PAMA is a place to explore and learn about Peel Region’s culture and heritage, as well as use conversation, questions and stories to help make new and fascinating connections to the surrounding community. Throughout the year, PAMA offers a variety of workshops and programs for all ages, families and adults. With so many different programs to choose from, PAMA has something for everyone. Operated by the Region of Peel, PAMA is located at 9 Wellington St. E. in Brampton. Visit pama.peelregion.ca to learn more.

FURTHER INFO:

Erin Fernandes

Marketing Co-ordinator

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives

905-791-4055, ext. 7596

Erin.fernandes@peelregion.ca

 or 

stephen@stephenweir.com

What is Happening to Customer Service At American Airlines?

What is Happening to Customer Service At American Airlines?

A friend of mine is pressing American Airlines over problems he had with a Toronto to Santa Fe flight and back. He has been up and down the chain of command at American Airlines, but with no results. He shared his letter of complaint with me. I have removed one paragraph and removed one name, still makes for interesting reading!

Douglas Parker
Chairman and CEO

Dear Douglas Parker:

I have always been a fan of American Airlines ever since I went down to Cambridge, Massachusetts as a graduate student. American stood for quality, efficiency, and reliability. Last week we took American Airlines from Toronto to Albuquerque, and enroute there and back we experienced so many problems that I feel the need to report them to you.
My partner and I left for Albuquerque – enroute to Santa Fe – on AA 1038 to Dallas on Thursday, July 2nd. The flight arrived early, and we waited the necessary three hour at the gate of our connecting flight AA 5721. As the time went by, there was no sign for us at B2, from where we were scheduled to leave at 4:50. At 5 o’clock, we were informed that we were leaving from B49 at 5:20. We raced over there only to sit and wait. The plane was delayed – it was further delayed – then at 7:10, we were informed that the crew had not appeared, and so the flight was cancelled. We could go to B40 to arrange for flights the next day.
At B40 I was informed – after waiting in line for much more than an hour – that we were on a flight the next day. The uninformed agent then gave me a meal voucher and a voucher for a room. “Where is the Ramada?” I asked. Suniura, the agent at Gate 40, replied simply and briefly, “I don’t know!!!” So much for aid or help.
We took a taxi to the VERY substandard Ramada – eighteen miles from the airport. The furniture was too slimy to sit in – there was no restaurant open – there were no stores in the immediate or distant vicinity where we could even buy toothpaste and a toothbrush. After waiting half an hour for service, we decided to leave – we took a taxi back to the Grand Hyatt and spent the rest of the night there. (I enclose the bill for the Hyatt – including the telephone calls we had to make about meetings in Santa Fe the next day. I also enclose the unused voucher for the dreadful Ramada.)
At breakfast the next morning we used the dinner and breakfast vouchers, paying the remaining $19.00. Given flight arrival, baggage claim, shuttle to the rental car company, and obtaining the rental, we arrived at our destination –eighteen hours later than scheduled. It goes without saying no only were these eighteen unpleasant hours but they were also eighteen hours that have been forcibly removed from a packed agenda.
Enroute back from Santa Fe and Albuquerque, we were scheduled to take AA 2511 to Dallas to transfer to 2308 to Toronto on July 6th. We arrived at the airport two hours ahead of time, yet faced another series of delays due to mechanical failures. Eventually the woman at the desk said that “Due to mechanical difficulties,” the plane would not take off. We were instructed that we needed to line up to receive bookings for subsequent flights! Should we count ourselves lucky that we received flights the next day – along with some new coupons! Others were not as fortunate.
Going to retrieve our luggage, I listened as the man in front of me addressed the agent at the American luggage office. He told her, “I find it disgusting that American has gone so downhill!” She replied automatically, “I can only agree with that view!”
And so we went off to the Best Western, arming ourselves with a car (receipt enclosed) for the evening. (Bill was $64.19 plus $3.00 for gas.)
At dinner that night, we spent a grand total of $67.71 – and the fine restaurant refused to take your dinner voucher. We were given no voucher for breakfast.
The next morning we arrived at the airport at 5:30 am. for flight 3071, departing Albuquerque for Chicago at 6:50 a.m.. With our prechecked tickets, we waited in line for almost an hour to receive our bag tags. The woman on duty was dealing with one customer for thirty minutes! When I went up to her and said we had to get to our gate, she snarled back, “I am only a trainee!” I managed to get my bags checked through another agent! The trainee was still plodding. One woman behind us said, “I will never travel American again!” Another said that she had been three days trying to get from the Dominican Republic to somewhere further – and she wondered just what was happening! There was open hostility at the airport – grumblings, complaints, exasperation!
When we finally reached Toronto – six days after departing and two days ruined by air travel – we picked up our car a day late. (That cost of an additional day amounts to $25.60. or $20.00 American.)
I do not understand what has happened to American Airlines. We were rudely treated. We never heard an apology for all these cancellations. I was and am aghast.
I enclose all the bills for our abortive trip, coming to a total of $459.04. I would be grateful if you would pay this amount – the least when you consider all the missed appointments, meetings, and other important happenings.

Sincerely,
David Staines

RBC TAYLOR PRIZE Announces Partnership with EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL

RBC TAYLOR PRIZE Announces Partnership with EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL - Channel 167 Sirius XM

TORONTO, Jan. 25, 2016 /CNW/ - The RBC Taylor Prize is pleased to announce its partnership with the show EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL on the Canada Talks Channel on Sirius XM.  RBC Taylor Prize sees this new partnership as a natural fit since almost all award winning non-fiction books in Canada do come down to politics.

Listen to EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL each Wednesday (6-7pm)  for interviews of RBC Taylor Prize shortlisted authors and organizers of Canada's most prestigious non-fiction prize. First up was a feature interview with Noreen Taylor, the engaging and erudite founder of the Prize.  This Wednesday (January 27, 2016) short-listed author/journalist David Halton  

All five 2016 RBC Taylor Prize finalists will be featured:

• David Halton for Dispatches from the Front: Matthew Halton, Canada's Voice at War, published by McClelland & Stewart;
• Ian Brown for This is Sixty: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning?, published by Random House Canada;
• Camilla Gibb for This Is Happy, published by Doubleday Canada;
• Wab Kinew for The Reason You Walk, published by Viking Canada; and
• Rosemary Sullivan for Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, published by HarperCollins Publishers.

About Everything is Political

The show is heard Wednesdays from 6 pm to 7 pm (EDT) on SiriusXM's Canada Talks, channel 167.  The programme was launched last summer by journalist / broadcaster Evan Solomon.  Mr Solomon is the executive producer of the show, the host this Wednesday will be Sun political reporter David Akin.

Sirius XM Canada Holdings Inc. (TSX: XSR) operates as SiriusXM Canada. SiriusXM Canada, with more than 2.7 million subscribers, is the country's leading audio entertainment company and broadcasts more than 130 satellite radio channels featuring premier sports, news, talk, entertainment and commercial-free music.

About the RBC Taylor Prize:

Established biennially in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation, 2016 marks the fifteenth awarding of the Prize, which commemorates Charles Taylor's pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction. Awarded to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception, the Prize consists of $25,000 for the winner and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists, as well as promotional support to help all of the nominated books to stand out in the media, bookstores, and libraries.  All authors are presented with a custom leather bound version of their shortlisted book at the awards ceremony. The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are: Michael Bradley, Vijay Parmar, David Staines, Edward Taylor, Nadina Taylor, and Noreen Taylor.

To download high-resolution images of the finalists and their book covers, please go to www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_shortlist.zip

To download high-resolution images of the trustees and the jury please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_trustees_and_jury.zip

SOURCE RBC Taylor Prize

For further information:

Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates, Stephen Weir: 416-489-5868, cell: 416-801-3101, stephen@stephenweir.com

A one-of-a-kind survey of internationally acclaimed First Nations artists opens in Brampton

James Simon Mishibinijma Thunder Spirits (detail), ca 2009

PAMA PRESENTS FROM THE HEART OF TURTLE ISLAND: CONTEMPORARY ART FROM MANITOULIN ISLAND

Brampton, ON. (Jan. 18, 2016) – A one-of-a-kind survey of internationally acclaimed First Nations artists opens at the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) on January 24. All are welcomed to the opening celebration, featuring many of the exhibited artists, contemporary dancers and remarks from the curatorial team on Sunday January 31^st from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

From the Heart of Turtle Island: Contemporary Art from Manitoulin Island features the work of more than 30 Manitoulin artists, including the legendary Carl Beam, Anne Beam, Leland Bell, Mary Pheasant and many more. Through vivid paintings, drawings, prints and other art forms, the classic Woodlands style of painting is represented alongside other contemporary styles emerging from the island.  

“This exhibit offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the scope of artistic expression on Manitoulin Island in a single exhibition,” said Thomas Smart, Supervisor & Curator of the Art Gallery and Education Services at PAMA. “It is a powerful reflection of the First Nations experience in Canada, including the significant cultural and traumatic issues indigenous people still face across our country, as recently detailed in the report by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.”

The exhibition is presented by a curatorial team comprised of artists, curators and arts administrators, Nikki Manitowabi and  Mike Cywink; artist, musician and curator Mark Seabrook; curator and arts administrator Anne Benness; and PAMA’s Thomas Smart.  

“This exhibition demonstrates PAMA’s commitment to working collaboratively to tell the stories of our extended community, including Canada’s First Nations upon whose traditional lands PAMA is built,” said PAMA Manager Marty Brent.

PAMA partnered with several organizations to bring this exhibition to life including the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, the Wiikwemikoong Art Gallery, the Wikwemikong Development Commission and the Wikwemikong Board of Education. The exhibition received valuable assistance from the Clifford and Lily Fielding Charitable Foundation, Fisher Wavy Inc., and the Ontario Arts Council through its Annual Operating Grant Program for Public Art Galleries.

The exhibition will be on view at PAMA from January 24 until March 20. It will then tour to venues in northern Ontario.

Running concurrently with the exhibition are Carl Beams’ Selected Prints, highlighting the dynamic innovation of one of Canada’s most significant artists, and Spiritual Connections, an exhibition exploring the themes of spirit, myth and folklore.

PAMA is a place to explore and learn about Peel Region’s culture and heritage, as well as use conversation, questions and stories to help make new and fascinating connections to the surrounding community. Throughout the year, PAMA offers a variety of workshops and programs for all ages, families and adults. With so many different programs to choose from, PAMA has something for everyone. Operated by the Region of Peel, PAMA is located at 9 Wellington St. E. in Brampton. Visit pama.peelregion.ca to learn more.

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Contact:

Erin Fernandes Marketing Co-ordinator Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives 905-791-4055, ext. 7596 erin.fernandes@peelregion.ca

Lesley Hudson Communication Specialist Region of Peel 905-791-7800, ext. 4478 lesley.hudson@peelregion.ca

Issued for the Peel Art Gallery By:

STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com
109 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto, ON
CANADA. M4R 1G5
Tel: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101
www.stephenweir.com twitter: sweirsweir 

Jury Recognizes the Five Best Canadians in Literary Non-Fiction

Wednesday, January 13, 2016 • Toronto, Ontario
RBC Taylor Prize 2016 Shortlist Announced
During a standing-room-only press conference at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto, Jurors Susanne Boyce, Joseph Kertes, and Stephen J. Toope announced five finalists and shared their shortlist citations for the fifteenth awarding of the RBC Taylor Prize. To select these five finalists, the jury read and evaluated 120 books written by Canadian authors and submitted by 39 Canadian and international publishers.

The finalists for the 2016 RBC Taylor Prize are:

Ian Brown for Sixty: The Beginning of the End, or the End of the Beginning? Published by Random House Canada

Of the book, the jury said: “Henry James once said that we should “grant the artist his donnée”—in other words judge writers only on what they have set out to do and how well they have achieved this aim. In Sixty, Ian Brown opens up his diary to us, reflecting on what it means to have entered his seventh decade, nothing more, nothing less. The result is a smart, witty compendium of his thoughts and those of others. Ian Brown is, by turns, hilarious and sad, and the result is both engaging and moving.”


Camilla Gibb for This Is Happy, published by Doubleday Canada

Of the book, the jury said: “Camilla Gibb grew up with a remote and steely mother and a father whose mental illness displayed itself in cruelty. After her own bipolar diagnosis, Gibb searched desperately for stability in her nuclear family. That dream collapsed. How can a writer find ‘happy’ in a messy, unravelling life? Through writing, of course, and by haphazardly building a new family only partly defined by blood. The memoir of a time of salvation, This Is Happy, is exquisitely taut. Through raw, often agonizing writing, we are surprised by a kind of ‘happy’ that flows quietly from companionship.”

 
David Halton for Dispatches from the Front: Matthew Halton, Canada’s Voice at War, published by McClelland & Stewart 

Of the book, the jury said: “Seventy years ago, Matthew Halton was a household name in Canada. While he was a student in England, Lady Nancy Astor befriended him, providing entry to the political elite. He parlayed access into vital journalism, reporting in the 1930s from Germany where he foretold Hitler’s march to war; then from the battle sites of Al Alamein, Sicily, and Normandy. His vivid personal style gave authority to his work, mesmerizing CBC radio audiences. No hagiography, David Halton’s Dispatches from the Front is a loving but honest account of a father’s triumphs and failings, written in lucid, urgent prose.”


Wab Kinew for The Reason You Walk, published by Viking Canada

Of the book, the jury said: “Brutally honest, original, funny, uncomfortable, and compelling, Wab Kinew’s memoir explores the personal reconciliation of a father and son and that of a country searching for healing and a way forward. When Wab Kinew’s father was diagnosed with cancer, he decided to reconnect and in so doing learned about his dad’s terrifying childhood at residential schools. The reader is transported into an extraordinary world of truth and reconciliation. As he explains: “during our time on earth, we ought to love one another, and that when our hearts are broken, we ought to work hard to make them whole again.”


Rosemary Sullivan for Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva, published by HarperCollins Publishers

Of the book, the jury said: “Combining exacting research with brilliant storytelling, Rosemary Sullivan tells us what it means to be the daughter of Joseph Stalin. As terrifying and mystifying as Stalin was to the Soviets and to the rest of the world, he was doubly so to Svetlana. The result for her was, of course, tragic. The achievement of Rosemary Sullivan’s Stalin’s Daughter is that in this portrait we see the inescapability of tyranny, when the tyrant’s rule is not only political but also personal.”


Noreen Taylor, founder of the Prize and chair of the Charles Taylor Foundation, expressed her delight at the shortlist, stating: “Having read each of the books on the longlist, I know how difficult it must have been to arrive at today’s decision. The jury had to choose between a dozen excellent books, with subjects spanning the deeply personal to the poetic and a quality of writing that is uniformly strong. Hearing now the titles on their shortlist, I am once again impressed by the calibre of our fifteenth jury: their selections reflect the impressive range and passion that is synonymous with the best traditions of literary non-fiction.”

Vijay Parmar, President of RBC PH&N Investment Counsel, shared Mrs. Taylor’s enthusiasm and commented: “RBC Wealth Management is proud to be the longtime presenting sponsor of the RBC Taylor Prize, working in partnership with the Charles Taylor Foundation to bring these thought provoking books to the reading public.”

The RBC Taylor Prize recognizes excellence in Canadian non-fiction writing and emphasizes the development of the careers of the authors it celebrates. All finalists will be supported with extensive publicity and promotional opportunities over the next two months.

Public events already confirmed include a free 90-minute Round Table Discussion in the Atrium of the Toronto Reference Library in downtown Toronto on Thursday, March 3rd, presented by the Toronto Public Library and Harbourfront Centre’s International Festival of Authors; and the Ben McNally/ The Globe and Mail Authors Brunch on Sunday, March 6th at 10:00 a.m. at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto (for tickets, please contact Ben McNally Books at (416) 361-0032 or visit benmcnallybooks.com).

On Monday, March 7th the finalists will be celebrated and the fifteenth winner announced at the annual RBC Taylor Prize gala luncheon at the Omni King Edward Hotel in downtown Toronto. The winner will receive a $25,000 cash prize and a crystal trophy; the remaining four finalists will each receive $2,000.


About The RBC Taylor Prize
Established biennially in 1998 by the trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation, 2016 marks the fifteenth awarding of the RBC Taylor Prize, which commemorates Charles Taylor’s pursuit of excellence in the field of literary non-fiction. Awarded to the author whose book best combines a superb command of the English language, an elegance of style, and a subtlety of thought and perception, the Prize consists of $25,000 for the winner and $2,000 for each of the remaining finalists, as well as promotional support to help all of the nominated books to stand out in the media, bookstores, and libraries. All authors are presented with a custom leather bound version of their shortlisted book at the awards ceremony.

Sharing a commitment to emerging Canadian talent, The Charles Taylor Foundation and RBC will also grant the third annual RBC Taylor Prize Emerging Writers Award. Shortly after the March 7th announcement of the 2016 Prize winner, he or she will name their choice of emerging author to receive this award.

The trustees of the Charles Taylor Foundation are: Michael Bradley, Vijay Parmar, David Staines, Edward Taylor, Nadina Taylor, and Noreen Taylor.

The presenting sponsor of the RBC Taylor Prize is RBC Wealth Management. Its media sponsors are The Globe and Mail (exclusive newspaper sponsor), CNW Group, The Huffington Post Canada, Maclean’s magazine, and Quill & Quire magazine; its in-kind sponsors are Ben McNally Books, Event Source, IFOA, The Omni King Edward Hotel, and the Toronto Public Library Board.

For General information about the prize visit: www.rbctaylorprize.ca.

Follow us on on Twitter at www.twitter.com/taylorprize and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RBCTaylorPrize.

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Media contact: Stephen Weir & Associates
Stephen Weir: 416.489.5868 | cell: 416.801.3101 | stephen@stephenweir.com

To download high-resolution images of the finalists and their book covers, please go to www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_shortlist.zip.

To download high-resolution images of the longlisted authors and their book covers please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_longlist.zip.

To download high-resolution images of the trustees and the jury please go to: www.rbctaylorprize.ca/2016/2016_trustees_and_jury.zip