Marching backward? Why a recent event in Toronto leads in the wrong direction
This nickname comes from Toronto's long association — as noted in the Star this month — with the Grand Orange Lodge, more commonly known as the Orange Order. Based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it's a fraternal organization for Protestant men of British origin. The Orange Order has existed in Canada since its earliest days as a British colony and by 1920, at its peak, counted about 100,000 members in 2,000 lodges nationwide. This is even more impressive considering the Canadian population was around 8.5 million at the time, and that Order membership was limited to Protestant men, largely of British descent.
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Winnipeg Free Press
30 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
‘They're real people': Mob focus of JFK assassination flick filmed in Winnipeg
WINNIPEG – Nicholas Celozzi has spent much of his life revisiting the events leading up to the assassination of former U.S. president John F. Kennedy. Hushed stories filled his childhood home. Conversations with his uncle Joseph (Pepe) Giancana, brother to Chicago Mob boss Sam Giancana, later helped shed light on his family's possible involvement in one of the most debated moments in American history. After decades of film and television portrayals of Sam Giancana, Celozzi is reconceptualizing the 1963 shooting of Kennedy with a focus on the major players in the Chicago Outfit, a powerful Italian-American criminal organization. For Celozzi, his latest screenwriting endeavour is about more than telling another assassination story. It's about family. 'My family, my cousins, really got tired of people using our name, monetizing our name and telling a fake story,' Celozzi said in an interview. 'These aren't fictional people … they're real people. They're vulnerable, they have nerves, they make mistakes, they are not quite sure about things.' Sam Giancana, head of the Chicago Outfit in the 1950s and 1960s, was widely known for his ties to the Kennedy family. He was gunned down in his home in 1975, and his killing remains unsolved. Many have speculated the Mob group also played a role in Kennedy's assassination, and this is explored in Celozzi's 'November 1963,' which began filming in Winnipeg this summer. Relying on Pepe Giancana's stories, Celozzi focuses on the 48 hours leading up to the assassination. Giancana, a fill-in driver for his brother, had been a fly on the wall in the days leading up to the assassination, said Celozzi, who is also one of the producers on the independent film. Many conversations led to what Celozzi calls the 'Pepe chronicles,' a series of stories detailing the family's Mob ties. 'I was always aware of who they were. These aren't things that everybody just kind of goes home and talks about. It's an awareness. It's kind of a strange reality that you're born into,' said Celozzi. Pepe Giancana died in the mid-'90s, leaving his stories with Celozzi. The writer said he knew he wanted to do something to honour his family's history without degrading them to caricatures often found in Mob flicks. So he began working with Sam Giancana's daughter Bonnie Giancana to craft the script. Over the course of several years and rewrites, Celozzi said they worked to ensure every detail was accurate. 'I needed to keep that honest with the story Pepe gave me, or why do it at all? If I wasn't going to be truthful to what he gave me, there was no purpose in me doing it,' said Celozzi. He brought veteran Canadian producer Kevin DeWalt of Minds Eye Entertainment on board to produce the movie, which wrapped shooting in Winnipeg last week and goes into post-production in Saskatchewan. 'I don't think the family's proud of what happened … it was important for them to tell the truth before they die,' DeWalt said. The cast includes John Travolta, Dermot Mulroney and Mandy Patinkin and is directed by Academy Award nominated English filmmaker Roland Joffé. When it came time to pick a location that could mimic 1960s Chicago and the landmark Dealey Plaza in Dallas, where Kennedy was killed, producers chose Winnipeg over other major cities such as Atlanta and New Orleans in part because of its Exchange District neighbourhood. Producers decided Winnipeg was a perfect stand-in for the Windy City. Dealey Plaza, and the famous Grassy Knoll, was built from scratch at Birds Hill Provincial Park, northeast of Winnipeg. The film features 1,500 extras and 75 to 80 period cars to accurately portray the time period. DeWalt said he expects viewers will be blown away by the film's ability to bring a new level of authenticity and validity to the moment in history. 'People will walk out of the theatre with their own impressions about what it all means,' he said. 'At the end of the day, at least we've given them the tools for one of these things that's been told, and they can make their own impressions in terms of how they feel about it.' When asked if he thinks the film might ruffle feathers with historians, governments or Mob members, Celozzi said that's not his goal. 'What I'm doing is just putting in that missing piece, not glamorizing, just writing it.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 3, 2025.
Toronto Sun
14 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Justice system not above criticism
The exterior of the Ontario Court of Justice in downtown Windsor is shown on April 22, 2021. Photo by Dan Janisse / Windsor Star A country where the decisions of judges and prosecutors can never be criticized is a country that is not a democracy. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Every Canadian citizen — not just politicians and media commentators — has the right to publicly agree or disagree with decisions made by judges and prosecutors. As long as they do not threaten their safety and are critical of their decisions, as opposed to personal attacks on those delivering them, they are legitimate forms of public expression and debate. Last week, the president of the Ontario Crown Attorneys' Association said 'attacks' by 'politicians, media and members of the public' in the context of two high-profile criminal cases were 'affronts to the rule of law.' This was in reference to the Crown's submissions for sentences for Freedom Convoy organizers Tamara Lich and Chris Barber on mischief charges, and the fallout from the acquittal of five former junior hockey players on charges of sexual assault. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. No doubt many agreed with Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who tweeted on X in response to the Crown's submission to sentence Lich and Barber to seven and eight years respectively: 'Let's get this straight: while rampant violent offenders are released hours after their most recent charges and antisemitic rioters vandalize businesses, terrorize daycares and block traffic without consequences, the Crown wants seven years prison time for the charge of mischief for Lich and Barber.' Poilievre's tweet failed to note the final decision on sentencing will be made by a judge. Others will argue his argument is misguided. But it was hardly an attack on the rule of law. A similar controversy erupted in the wake of the decision by Ontario Superior Court Judge Maria Carroccia to acquit five former junior hockey plays of sexual assault in the Hockey Canada trial. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Her ruling prompted public reactions from high praise to scathing criticism for the judge — much of it from lawyers — but all of it fair comment, as long as it did not stoop to threats or attacks on the judge's character. In our view, robust public debates about the decisions made in our courtrooms do not undermine the rule of law in Canada. To the contrary, they contribute to how our laws evolve over time and are a measure of our commitment to democracy. Read More Toronto Blue Jays Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rival anti-migrant and anti-racism protests face off outside a hotel housing migrants in London
LONDON (AP) — Anti-immigrant and anti-racism demonstrators faced off in London on Saturday in the latest in a series of protests outside hotels housing asylum-seekers. Several hundred protesters waving Union Jacks gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, calling for it to be closed as housing for migrants. Chants including 'Scum' and 'Britain is full' were directed at the hotel. Police separated the demonstrators from a larger group of counter-protesters chanting 'refugees are welcome here,' as people inside the hotel watched from windows. Protests against migrants have taken place in recent weeks in Epping, a town on the outskirts of London where an asylum-seeker was accused of sexual assault, and in a smattering of other towns in England. Protesters say they are concerned about the safety risk posed by the migrants, many of them young men who have recently arrived in Britain in dinghies across the English Channel. The demonstrations have drawn local people, but have also been attended, and in some cases organized, by far-right groups. The protests come a year after several days of anti-immigrant rioting across England and Northern Ireland. Crowds in more than two dozen towns attacked hotels housing migrants, as well as mosques, police stations and a library. Some rioters targeted non-white people and threw bricks and fireworks at police. The summer 2024 violence was sparked when three girls were stabbed to death at a summer dance class in the town of Southport, and online misinformation identified the attacker as a recently arrived migrant. In fact, killer Axel Rudakubana was a British-born 17-year-old. Experts and community groups warn that the mix of anger, fear, misinformation and political agitating that fueled that violence could erupt again, though protests this summer have been small and largely peaceful.
