Roller derby will bounce back, skates are already hitting the track: Hogtown edition

As pandemic-related restrictions loosen, many people across Ontario and beyond hope to lace up their roller skates and hit the roller derby track again. This series of articles will check in with teams as they prepare for some action in 2022-23. This time, Hogtown Roller Derby’s Emily Fowler, whom some people in the derby community might know better as Holly de Havilland, shares an update on the rebound of roller derby in Toronto, or if you prefer, Hogtown.

Roller derby will bounce back, skates are already hitting the track: Guelph edition

As pandemic-related restrictions loosen, many people across Ontario and beyond are hoping they can lace up their roller skates and hit the roller derby track again. This series of articles will check in with teams as they prepare for some action in 2022-23. This time, Royal City Roller Derby’s Steph Ziegler, whom some people in the derby community might know better as Sleeping Brutey, shares an update on the rebound of roller derby in Guelph.

Drug User Liberation Front saves lives by distributing clean meth, cocaine and heroin

This is the first feature in a three-part series diving into aspects of the opioid pandemic, the overdose crisis, whatever you wish to call it. It is a public health crisis which became exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Canada’s Public Health database, there was a 95 percent increase in apparent opioid toxicity deaths from April 2020 to March 2021,  with a total of 7,224 deaths, compared to 3,711 deaths from April 2019 to March 2020. Since then, deaths have remained high.

These statistics were published in March 2022 and only went as far as September 2021, but by that point, 5,368 apparent opioid toxicity deaths had occurred. This is approximately 20 deaths per day. For a similar timeframe in the years before the pandemic, there were between 7 in 2016 and 12 in 2018 deaths per day.

Debate digs into mental health, education and hate affecting marginalized Ontarians

On May 26, over 30 organizations collaborated as Queer Vote Ontario to host a provincial debate on issues facing the 2SLGBTQI+ community and other marginalized groups of Ontarians. The None of the Above Party, NDP, Green Party and Liberals thought the event was worthy of acknowledgement and participation.
The Ontario Party, the New Blue Party and the Progressive Conservative Party chose not to participate in a discussion of the needs of equity-seeking communities.

This is the first of two articles covering the debate. The election is on June 2. Woodstein Media intends to help people make informed choices at the polls.

Queer Vote Ontario debate promotes discussion of issues facing marginalized communities

Issues facing the Queer, equity-deserving and marginalized communities in the Ontario election will be the focus of a debate being hosted on May 26.

Updated the list of participants as of May 24 at 5:30 pm.

The following candidates are participating: Green Party of Ontario candidate for Nippising, Sean McClocklin, Ontario Liberal Party candidate for Willowdale, Paul Saguil, NDP candidate for Toronto Centre, Kristyn Wong-Tam, and None of the Above Party candidate for Mississauga-Streetsville Greg Vezina.

Roller derby will bounce back, skates are already hitting the track: Ottawa edition

As pandemic-related restrictions loosen, many people across Southern Ontario and beyond are hoping they can lace up their roller skates and hit the roller derby track again. This series of articles will check in with teams as they prepare for some action in 2022. This time, sharing the progress of their league are Ottawa Roller Derby’s Bethany Vowles-Hartree and Alyx Gardner, who some people in the derby community might know as  RapunzHell #666 and Coco Flannel, respectively.