First at Five: Multiculturalism Day
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Maritimers come together to celebrate the diverse communities that make up the country.
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CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Eastman Pride helps bring celebrations to rural Manitoba communities this summer
Several first-time Pride events are coming to rural Manitoba communities this summer, as a local group works to spread the message of Pride throughout the province, and into places where they believe it's needed now more than ever. "It's something that I think has been a long time coming in our area," said Kathy Majowski, one of the founding members of Eastman Pride. "It's very exciting." On Sunday, Eastman Pride will host the Beau-Head Pride Celebration, the first Pride event to take place in the town of Beausejour. It will include community members from the neighbouring rural municipality of Brokenhead and beyond. The group is also hosting or supporting Pride events this summer at Powerview-Pine Falls (which happened earlier this month), Pinawa, the rural municipality of Whitemouth, Lac du Bonnet and Victoria Beach. Eastman Pride was founded with the goal of bringing Pride events to more communities in the Eastman region, Majowski said. She also has a personal reason for wanting to see Pride events in small and rural communities. "I live in Tyndall, and my daughter is part of the queer community and she's a teenager, and we've always enjoyed going to the Pride Winnipeg events and participating in that," she said. "But having something closer to home was important for me, for her to see that it's not just Winnipeg where she belongs. It's across our province that she is welcome." Majowski said she knows many young members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community struggle to find acceptance and a sense of community in rural areas, and they're often forced to deal with negative comments and prejudices. "Those negative voices by far are in the minority, but they can be very loud and they can be very ugly," Majowski said. "So when the youth hear that, that can be a big motivation for our group." The group was also inspired to organize as many Pride events as possible in the area after a woman who was trying to organize Pride events last year was publicly criticized by some community members at a public council meeting, Majowski said. "There were some people that came to that meeting that were against it, and they essentially intimidated that individual, and they didn't feel safe hosting that event after that meeting," she said. "That was our last straw. When we heard about that, we were like, 'Yeah, we need to do this.'" She stressed those negative comments came from community members and not from members of council, and she did not want to say where in Manitoba the incident happened. "The councils themselves have been overwhelmingly supportive," Majowski said. Pinawa Coun. Michael King attended a Pride event that was held in Pinawa on Sunday, and he hopes to see more public figures show up at these kinds of events. "I thought it was just important, with some of the rhetoric going on, to show solidarity with the queer community and just with all people," King said. "It sends a message that it's a safe community and accepting community, so I just wanted to be part of that." King said it was also important for him to take his young son to the event, in part due to some of the negative rhetoric about the 2SLGBTQ+ community that he sees being increasingly targeted at boys and men online through algorithms and social media. "There were a bunch of kids there. My son went, and a bunch of his friends were there, and I also thought it was good there were a lot of men there," he said. "I think that for men, when it comes to being an ally, just be compassionate to people and let them live their lives. It's really not that complicated. "We can treat everyone with dignity and respect. I don't think that's super radical." This weekend's Pride event in Beausejour will have volunteers from the Winnipeg River Area Lions Club helping out. "The Lions are all about inclusivity. Everybody is welcome and everybody is treated equally," Winnipeg River Area Lions Club president Leslie Joyce said. "And we focus on marginalized people. We're looking for where we can bring people in and improve their quality of life." The local Lions Club has been very impressed with the work and the passion of the members of Eastman Pride in setting up this year's events, she said, and she feels the group's mandate and their work ethic fits well with what the Lions Club is trying to do in eastern Manitoba communities. "The more I attend those meetings, the more I see the passion of the individuals who want to make a difference and who want to create a safe space," Joyce said. "So yeah, as Lions, this just fits perfectly with what we believe." Sunday's Pride event in Beausejour is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. at the Train Whistle Park. Those taking part will do a walk around the town, and return to the park for a community barbecue and celebration that will feature speakers, live music and activities for people of all ages.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
‘I was trapped': Nearly 100 people needed to be rescued from Toronto elevators during heat wave
Tenants in a North Toronto apartment tower have been without one elevator for months, and then lost the other one in the middle of a record heat wave. Tenants in a North Toronto apartment tower have been without one elevator for months, and then lost the other one in the middle of a record heat wave. CTV's Jon Woodward reports. Nearly 100 people needed rescuing from Toronto elevators that broke down or got stuck during the city's recent record-breaking heat wave, according to figures provided to CTV News by Toronto Fire Services. The rising temperatures, humidity, and sometimes power outages were all factors in the 96 rescues in three days – more than triple the usual call volume – as critics also wonder if weaknesses in provincial elevator regulations played a role. 'In the heat wave, you have moisture. These are mechanical units. They're often very safe, but sometimes they stop in the heat, and we respond,' said Toronto Fire Services Division Command Paul O'Brien in an interview. Residents of a north Toronto building at 45 Driftwood Ave. told CTV News they believe they're responsible for a disproportionate number of those responses. One of the two elevators in the 14-storey building hasn't worked for about five months due to a fire. The other went down a few days ago, tenants said. 45 Driftwood Ave. elevator The elevators at 45 Driftwood Ave. is seen in this undated photo. 'During the heat wave three days ago, I was trapped in the elevator. I was there for 32 minutes before the fire department came to take me down,' said Ola Adekolu, who lives on the seventh floor. She needs the elevator as her knees are so arthritic. 'We were sweating like crazy, four of us in the elevator,' she said. Another tenant, Marcia Walker, said when she uses the elevator, she is wary, wondering if she'll have to jump out at any time. 'I was lucky that it's only one time that I've been stuck in the elevator, but there are other times that it seems like the elevator wanted to get me stuck, and so what I did is I go like this,' she said, gesturing as if she was pulling the door open. 'I push the door open, and I run,' she said. Element Elevators, the company responsible for elevator maintenance at the building on Driftwood, told CTV News that the elevator has likely been on the fritz because of an unusual control system that was designed in Ontario but whose designers have since passed away. 'They are few and far between. Limited tech support and no documentation whatsoever to guide us,' said Bogdan Rus, the company's vice president of operations. 'It's a tricky situation,' he said. As for the other elevator, it was damaged in the fire, and he's waiting for the owners, Terrace Wood Apartments, to work through insurance complications related to the fire. An entirely new elevator system can cost between $200,000 and $300,000, he said. Rus said he was able to fix one elevator a few hours after CTV News visited on Friday. He shared some videos of the control room and the functioning system. Terrace Woods Apartments does wish to fix the other elevator but is hamstrung to some extent as the fire that damaged the elevator began in the unit of a tenant who didn't have insurance, said Ravi Sivalingam, the owner's representative. 'We are genuinely empathetic to the situation, and we don't want to frustrate our tenants, but our hands are tied as to what the elevator company can do to get the parts to restore the second elevator,' he said. The area's MPP, Tom Rakocevic, said he believes this situation is indicative of a failure of a provincial inspection regime that was called out in a provincial auditor-general's report in 2018. MPP Tom Rakocevic MPP Tom Rakocevic speaks with a woman at an apartment building in North York. (Jon Woodward) 'It's been seven years since, and it's happening not just here but across the city,' Rakocevic said. Ontario's elevator watchdog, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority, said owners of residential elevators are required to report outages that last more than 48 hours. Those figures show an increase from 28 a month in June 2022- May 2023 to 29 a month in 2023-2024 and 34 a month in 2024-2025. 'As reporting requirements are only a few years old, it's not clear if there are more outages or the reporting has improved. Also, please note that these numbers do not account for any increases in the total number of residential elevators installed in the province,' wrote TSSA spokesperson Alexandra Campbell. O'Brien said elevators are generally safe, and if you are stuck in one, stay calm and don't try to escape, which can lead to a much more dangerous situation, he said. 'Do not try and self-rescue,' he said. 'There's usually a bell or a phone system, and they're usually monitored by a security officer on scene. Just remain calm. If you're feeling a little hot in there, sit down, we will get to you,' he said.
CTV News
4 hours ago
- CTV News
‘It doesn't get back your history': Denare Beach rebuilding after devastating wildfire
WATCH: The mayor of Denare Beach says the long road to rebuilding has begun, but first the burned debris needs to be dealt with properly. Hundreds of Denare Beach residents are tired, frustrated and devastated by the ordeal of the last month. This week, locals returned to the place where their homes once stood. And while the road to rebuilding is long and arduous, residents say they feel much better now that they're back home. Some residents have called Denare Beach home for decades. '1948, my dad was a commercial fisherman and trapper up around Reindeer Lake,' said Gerry Angell, who says only seven families lived in the community when he first moved. 'I became school-aged, so they moved down here, and I've been here since 1948, that's 77 years.' While Angell says his home was spared, he's heard too many stories of neighbours returning to find piles of rubble. 'It's just sad, it's heartbreaking,' said Angell. 'I was just talking to a friend of mine who lost his wife to cancer a few months ago, and now he lost his home and he lost all his memories and pictures and everything else. It's devastating.' Gerry Angell Gerry Angell, Denare Beach resident since 1948, when the community had just seven families. (John Flatters/CTV News) In spite of all the destruction, the first thing on everyone's mind was the safety of those who stayed behind to try and save the community. 'We got all of our guys out of here, and that was definitely the priority of everybody,' said Jen Hysert, who lost her home to the fire. 'And to see a community lose 300 of 413 houses and every single person here saying that was the most important thing to us that our guys were safe. I don't know what it's like in a bigger centre, but we knew all of them, and they were either a friend or a relative or a neighbour or a friend of a friend.' While the damage was hard to comprehend, locals say returning home was a weight off their shoulders. 'This is what is left of my home,' said Hysert. 'And yet this feels better being here than the lost, sick feeling you were left with, with no supports for a month, living outside of here.' 'I equate it to like having a wake,' said Kari Lentowicz, who also lost her home in the fire. 'I always need that closure, and when I go to a wake, you get to see the person who's passed. And it gives you an opportunity to make it real and then move forward and grieve.' Kari Lentowicz Denare Beach resident Kari Lentowicz stands outside the site of her home destroyed in the wildfire. (John Flatters/CTV News) Lentowicz says finding a little peace on her dock was the best thing she could do when she returned home. 'I got out of the truck and heard the loons calling,' she said. 'Made my way down to the dock eventually and just looked out. And the reason I'm here is still here. The reason I settled here is absolutely, 100 per cent here.' Now the mayor of Denare Beach says the long road to rebuilding has begun. But it's going to take time for the burned debris to be dealt with properly. 'That comes with rules,' said Carl Lentowicz, mayor of Denare Beach. 'And like a lot of stuff, nobody's ever handled that before in that capacity. So there's going to be a learning curve. As far as what I see personally is there are many venues of damage and concern to be dealt with, and each one has a myriad of things that you have to do.' Denare Beach (John Flatters/CTV News) And once the wreckage is dealt with, the process of dealing with insurance begins. But residents like Lentowicz say that won't do much to replace the things you can't replace. 'Insurance does not pay for your sense of security,' she said. 'It doesn't buy back your traditional practices. It doesn't buy back all the things that you grew up with. The memories, the photos, those are priceless. Insurance is there, yeah, to help us build another house. But it doesn't get back your history.' But in spite of the mounting challenge of rebuilding, residents are confident in their ability to get back to normal. 'We had a real good thing going here, still do,' said Angell. 'But that has to be rebuilt.' 'Our little village will do what it does best to come together, support each other and rebuild together,' said mayor Lentowicz. 'We're all in this together.'
