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Community Leader George Knia Singh Vying for Liberal position to Represent Scarborough Rouge-River

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BY ALYSSA MAHADEO

Confident, passionate and purpose driven, community advocate George Knia Singh has been defending the cause of Scarborough-Rouge River for twenty nine years. His determination and persistence has brought him to the forefront of the community lending his voice, speaking out against issues regarding educational improvements and youth engagement, bringing attention to social issues affecting the community such as racial carding, substance abuse and also the ever-present prevention of crime and violence in the city.

Born in Toronto to parents of Guyanese and Bermudian heritage, Knia’s positive attitude and determination has brought him through the trials and tribulations of life. As a single father and diligent community mentor he has first-hand experience traversing the rocky plains of the healthcare system and being deserving of quality education.

Recent graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and named one of the People to Watch for 2014 by the Toronto Star, forty two year old Singh first found himself involved in politics in 1997. The Mega City elections were taking place and he felt that it was important for residents to have a candidate who really understood the needs of the community and what they were going though. The people needed someone in government that could offer perspective from the average person and he had confidence that it was a challenge he was willing to accept.

Four years prior in 1993 he was an independent business owner of a hip-hop recording studio. Over the course of those couple of years he had networked with many youth from within the community. His studio was a frequent spot for youth to come and record music and in 1996 he decided to implement co-op placements, working with the different boards of education within the city to host students and mentor them at his studio. Working closely with the youth of the community they brought to his attention personal issues they faced and explained social conditions that weren’t quite up to par. Hearing their stories of injustice Knia decided to take action and put himself forth as a candidate in the upcoming elections.

He quickly discovered that running for candidacy wasn’t all about community service, but directly related to how many volunteers you had and the amount of signs you could blanket the neighborhood with which was directly related to what financial resources you had at your disposal.

Knia didn’t let that discourage him. He decided to take a step back, regroup and devise a strategy for the next time the opportunity would present itself. By 2010 he had closed down the public location of his studio. The previous year his father had passed away and the loss deeply affected him as he was immensely grateful to the dedication and hard work both of his parents had committed to provide a stable environment for him during his formative years. Running his business at the recording studio hadn’t been as fruitful as he had hoped and after his father’s passing he knew that he needed to take steps towards leaving behind his own legacy that would honor all that his parents had done for him.

Knia’s intellect was sharp and his mind keen to gather more information to further educate himself. In 2010 he decided to go back to school to get his degree, applying to The University of Toronto as a mature student. This same year he put himself forward in politics for a second time running for election tackling all three levels of government municipally, federally and provincially.

He received positive feedback from potential voters, rallying behind the issues he would debate and the message he brought forth. Again he found himself lacking the manpower to do more, working with limited resources but still working hard to promote himself and make his face known within the community. It was an insightful experience, and through his campaign he found himself becoming more outspoken and making connections that he would be able to utilize in the future.

After the 2012 Danzig shooting in Scarborough, Knia was an active part of the effort to lobby the government to provide more resources to prevent crime and violence in the city. Simultaneously he was also a part of the Caribana Board fighting for the retention of the cultural property of the community. He was in the middle of a legal battle fighting to prove that Caribana belonged to the Caribana Arts Group working to secure the name and trademark of one of Toronto’s highly anticipated Caribbean summer events.

Knia believes everyone is capable of doing well if given the opportunity and the right support. He has been a strident campaigner for the fair treatment of all Torontonians regardless of race or socio-economic background. “For me it’s been all about having a responsible government,” Knia explains, “It has always been about bridging the gap between the average person and people in power. I find that too often our elected representatives are people who come from wealth, who are well connected; the average person tends to lose faith because they cannot identify with the people they are electing and that their vote doesn’t matter.”

Knia has made it his personal mission to change that; he has chosen to run for office because he knows that he represents a different way of approaching politics, looking at it from a very practical standpoint stating, “Every person is part of the government. We are all contributing taxpayers and we are all supposed to work together to find the best solutions for our society.”

Throughout his campaign, Knia has made it a point to be very open and honest with his position, strategically avoiding taking on the stereotypical persona of a politician. His main objective if elected is to be an elected official, not a politician, but an accurate representative of the average person in the community. “I desire to help make our society better in any way that I can and getting involved in government is one of the most effective ways to do that, providing you with the resources and public confidence to make change.”

 

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Forgetting isn’t just something to be annoyed about, it’s a smart way to survive

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Photo credit - Press Foto

BY KHADIJA KARIM

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name, or where you left your phone and thought, “Why can’t I remember anything?” Forgetting might feel frustrating, but it turns out that forgetting things can actually be good for you. Experts believe forgetting might be an important part of human survival and could even have benefits.

You probably think that remembering everything would be better, right? If you remembered every tiny detail, like what you had for breakfast three weeks ago, or the colour of every car you saw today, you would be overwhelmed. Our brains are constantly receiving information, and if we didn’t forget some of it, we wouldn’t be able to focus on what really matters at that time.

Forgetting helps you clear out information you don’t need, and it helps your brain remember the most useful memories. Think about how hard it would be to focus on important things if your mind was filled with random thoughts. Forgetting helps you stay focused and keeps your mind from getting lost.

So, why would evolution make us forget things? Early humans had to deal with dangerous environments that changed quickly. They needed to remember things that helped them survive, like where to find food, or how to avoid predators. They didn’t need to remember every small detail, like what happened last week. Forgetting information, they didn’t need allowed them to make quick decisions based on what was most important at that moment in time.

For example, if you remember a recent storm, you might make sure to stay inside or find shelter. If you remembered every storm you’d ever seen, it would be harder to make decisions about the present. Forgetting irrelevant details helps you stay on your feet and helps you react faster to new situations. This ability to forget likely helped early humans survive and make better decisions in their everyday lives.

Next time you forget something, don’t be too hard on yourself! Forgetting is a natural part of how our brains work and can actually help you stay focused on the important things. It might seem annoying at times, but it’s helping you make better decisions. Forgetting isn’t just something to be annoyed about, it’s a smart way to survive in a world that’s always changing!

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Blink equity dives deep into the gap between people of colour and decision-making roles in Canadian law firms

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Photo Credit: AI Image

BY ADRIAN REECE

Representation in the workforce has been a topic of conversation for years, particularly in positions of influence, where people can shift laws and create fair policies for all races. Representation in the legal system is an even more talked about subject, with many Black men being subjected to racism in courts and not being given fair sentencing by judges.

The fear of Black men entering the system is something that plagues mothers and fathers as they watch their children grow up.

Blink Equity, a company led by Pako Tshiamala, has created an audit called the Blink Score. This audit targets law firms and seeks to identify specific practices reflecting racial diversity among them in Toronto. A score is given based on a few key performance indicators. These KPIs include hiring practices, retention of diverse talent, and racial representation at every level.

The Blink Score project aims to analyze law firms in Ontario with more than 50 lawyers. The Blink Score is a measurement tool that holds law firms accountable for their representation. Firms will be ranked, and the information will be made public for anyone to access.

This process is ambitious and seeks to give Canadian citizens a glimpse into how many people are represented across the legal field. While more and more people have access to higher education, there is still a gap between obtaining that higher education and working in a setting where change can be made. The corporate world, at its highest points, is almost always one race across the board, and very rarely do people of colour get into their ranks. They are made out to be an example of how anyone from a particular race can achieve success. However, this is the exception, not the rule. Nepotism plays a role in societal success; connections are a factor, and loyalty to race, even if people are acquainted.

People of colour comprise 16% of the total lawyers across the province. Positions at all levels range from 6% to 27%. These numbers display the racial disparity among law practitioners in positions of influence. Becoming a lawyer is undoubtedly a huge accomplishment. Still, when entering the workforce with other seasoned professionals, your academic accolades become second to your professional achievements and your position in the company.

What do these rankings ultimately mean? A potential for DEI-inclusive practices, perhaps? That isn’t something that someone would want in this kind of profession. This kind of audit also opens law firms up to intense criticism from people who put merit above all other aspects of professional advancement. On the other hand, there is a potential for firms to receive clientele based on their blink score, with higher ones having the chance to bring in more race-based clients who can help that law firm grow.

It is only the beginning, and changes will undoubtedly be made in the legal field as Blink Equity continues to dive deep into the gap between people of colour and decision-making roles in these law firms. This audit has the power to shift the power scale, and place people of colour in higher positions. There are hierarchies in any profession, and while every Lawyer is qualified to do what they are trained to do, it is no shock that some are considerably better than others at their jobs. The ones who know how to use this audit to their advantage will rise above the others and create a representative image for themselves among their population.

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“The Pfizer Papers!” Documentation of worldwide genocide

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BY SIMONE J. SMITH

We are living in a world where promises of health and safety came packaged in a tiny vial, one injection was promoted by powerful governments, supported by respected institutions, and championed by legacy media worldwide. Sadly, beneath the surface, a darker truth emerged.

Reports from around the globe began to tell a different story—one that was not covered in the news cycles or press conferences. Families torn apart by unexpected losses, communities impacted in ways that few could have foreseen, and millions questioning what they had been told to believe.

Those who dared to question were silenced or dismissed (the Toronto Caribbean Newspaper being one of those sources). “Trust the science,” we were told. “It’s for the greater good.” As time went on, the truth became impossible to ignore.

Now, I bring more news to light—information that demands your attention and scrutiny. The time to passively listen has passed; this is the moment to understand what’s really at stake.

I reviewed an interview with Naomi Wolf, journalist and CEO of Daily Clout, which detailed the serious vaccine-related injuries that Pfizer and the FDA knew of by early 2021, but tried to hide from the public. I was introduced to “The Pfizer Papers: Pfizer’s Crimes Against Humanity.” What I learned is that Pfizer knew about the inadequacies of its COVID-19 vaccine trials and the vaccine’s many serious adverse effects, and so did the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA promoted the vaccines anyway — and later tried to hide the data from the public.

To produce “The Pfizer Papers,” Naomi, and Daily Clout Chief Operations Officer Amy Kelly convened thousands of volunteer scientists and doctors to analyze Pfizer data and supplementary data from other public reporting systems to capture the full scope of the vaccines’ effects. They obtained the data from the Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency, a group of more than 30 medical professionals and scientists who sued the FDA in 2021 and forced the agency to release the data, after the FDA refused to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request.

It was then that the federal court ordered the agency to release 450,000 internal documents pertaining to the licensing of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The data release was significantly and the documents so highly technical and scientific that according to Naomi, “No journalist could have the bandwidth to go through them all.”

The “Pfizer Papers” analysts found over 42,000 case reports detailing 158,893 adverse events reported to Pfizer in the first three months The centerpiece of “The Pfizer Papers” is the effect that the vaccine had on human reproduction. The papers reveal that Pfizer knew early on that the shots were causing menstrual issues. The company reported to the FDA that 72% of the recorded adverse events were in women. Of those, about 16% involved reproductive disorders and functions. In the clinical trials, thousands of women experienced: daily bleeding, hemorrhaging, and passing of tissue, and many other women reported that their menstrual cycle stopped completely.

Pfizer was aware that lipid nanoparticles from the shots accumulated in the ovaries and crossed the placental barrier, compromising the placenta and keeping nutrients from the baby in utero. According to the data, babies had to be delivered early, and women were hemorrhaging in childbirth.

Let us take us to another part of the world, where research has been done on other pharmaceutical companies. A group of Argentine scientists identified 55 chemical elements — not listed on package inserts — in the: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, CanSino, Sinopharm and Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines (according to a study published last week in the International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research).

The samples also contained 11 of the 15 rare earth elements (they are heavier, silvery metals often used in manufacturing). These chemical elements, which include lanthanum, cerium and gadolinium, are lesser known to the general public than heavy metals, but have been shown to be highly toxic. By the end of 2023, global researchers had identified 24 undeclared chemical elements in the COVID-19 vaccine formulas.

Vaccines often include excipients — additives used as preservatives, adjuvants, stabilizers, or for other purposes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), substances used in the manufacture of a vaccine, but not listed in the contents of the final product should be listed somewhere in the package insert. Why is this important? Well, researchers argue it is because excipients can include allergens and other “hidden dangers” for vaccine recipients.

In one lot of the AstraZeneca vaccine, researchers identified 15 chemical elements, of which 14 were undeclared. In the other lot, they detected 21 elements of which 20 were undeclared. In the CanSino vial, they identified 22 elements, of which 20 were undeclared.

The three Pfizer vials contained 19, 16 and 21-23 undeclared elements respectively. The Moderna vials contained 21 and between 16-29 undeclared elements. The Sinopharm vials contained between 17-23 undeclared elements and the Sputnik V contained between 19-25 undetected elements.

“All of the heavy metals detected are linked to toxic effects on human health,” the researchers wrote. Although the metals occurred in different frequencies, many were present across multiple samples.

I am not going to go any further with this; I think you get the picture. We have been sold wolf cookies, very dangerous ones. These pharmaceutical companies must be held accountable. I am proud of anyone who has gone after them for retribution, and have received it. Regardless, in many ways, there is no repayment for a healthy life.

REFERENCES:

https://ijvtpr.com/index.php/IJVTPR/article/view/111

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and-business/why-a-judge-ordered-fda-to-release-covid-19-vaccine-data-pronto

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender_category/toxic-exposures/

Pfizer’s ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ — and Legacy Media’s Failure to Report on Them

55 Undeclared Chemical Elements — Including Heavy Metals — Found in COVID Vaccines

 

Public Health and Medical Professionals for Transparency

FDA Should Need Only ‘12 Weeks’ to Release Pfizer Data, Not 75 Years, Plaintiff Calculates

Judge Gives FDA 8 Months, Not 75 Years, to Produce Pfizer Safety Data

Most Studies Show COVID Vaccine Affects Menstrual Cycles, BMJ Review Finds

Report 38: Women Have Two and a Half Times Higher Risk of Adverse Events Than Men. Risk to Female Reproductive Functions Is Higher Still.

 

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