Filed under: Afro-Canadian, Religion | Tags: Afro-Canadian, Audi A6S, black, BMW 7 Series, canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Canadian Council of Christian Charities, christian, evangelical, Florida, Gospel, Jane and Finch, Lexus RX 330, Mercedes-Benz CLK 320, Ontario, Paul Melnichuk, pentecostal, Pentecostalism, Porsche Cayenne, Prayer Palace, the Melnichuks, Tim Melnichuk, Tom Melnichuk, Toronto
A Star investigation into Toronto’s Prayer Palace congregation finds that despite the members’ dutiful tithing, the church spends little on charitable projects.
After worshipping at the Prayer Palace this morning, Hyacinthe Houghron will, as she does every second Sunday, stuff her tired green minivan with a small feast: six coolers of homemade soup, a mountain of sandwiches, cakes and sweets.
Loaded down with second-hand clothes pulled from the ceiling-high piles in her hair salon, she’ll give out the goods to homeless people on downtown Toronto’s grittiest streets.
Missions like this aren’t cheap for people like her and other volunteers at the church. “We’re poor folks,” says Houghron, describing the majority of the 3,000-strong congregation who attend the spaceship-shaped church at Hwy. 400 and Finch Ave.
The hairdresser scrapes together $600 of her own money each month to keep up the program because the Prayer Palace – one of Canada’s largest evangelical churches – stopped running it five years ago. Other charitable works, like a promised orphanage in Brazil, either dried up or never materialized.
Meanwhile, the three white pastors – Paul Melnichuk and his 40-year-old twin sons, Tim and Tom – lead lavish lives in contrast to the mainly working-class black families that make up the bulk of the church.
Between them, the pastors have amassed a real estate fortune worth about $12 million. Each owns a multi-million-dollar country estate north of Toronto (Tim’s is worth as much as $5.5 million), they share a Florida vacation villa, and the pastors and their wives drive luxurious cars – among them a Porsche Cayenne SUV, a Lexus RX 330 SUV and a Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 convertible.
Congregants are largely unaware of the pastors’ extravagant lifestyles.
Filed under: Issues, Politics | Tags: Anglo-Saxon, canada, canadian, Chart of Rights, Conservative, freedom, Immigration, Liberal, Multiculturalism, Pierre Trudeau, Trudeau
Why do many Conservatives, not all, hate the Charter of Rights, Multiculturalism and Immigration in Canada? Why does the Charter of Rights make them feel that it is a flawed justice system? Why does the world multiculturalism ante up thoughts of destroying “their” culture? What is the fear about immigration? However, I had to take a look at history to realize that what they actually hated was the loss of power to control the lives of others; using discrimination, prejudice and ignorance as a way to dominate.
In essence, in Canada the courts aren’t above parliament. This is generally, a lie being pushed by people who think Canadians are not bright enough to know better. Parliament makes laws and those laws are limited by the constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If somebody believes that a law exceeds the limits put in place by the Constitution and Charter, they can challenge it in court. The Supreme Court of Canada has the final word on whether a law actually breaks the Charter or not, but most laws are struck down at the provincial level and the government doesn’t challenge the provincial courts on it. If the courts strike down a law, the government then has the option of rewriting the law so that it abides by the Charter.
That law is there to protect minorities against what is known as the tyranny of the majority. If the Charter of Rights did not exist, then I guess it would be fine for the majority of Anglo-Saxon Canadians to continue to discriminate against any one group of individuals. There is a need to limit the powers of majority in order to keep democracy from becoming something it should not be.
Multiculturalism is a way to recognition of the many, vast cultures that built, and continue to build, this country. It is amazing that so-called Canadians love to say that other cultures are eroding the Canadian culture. Please tell me, what is the Canadian culture anyway? Are Anglo-Saxons so much better than other cultures? Have we forgotten all of the groups that made of Canada anyway? Have we forgotten the history of Canada, which is based on a group of people that came to a place that was not their own? Also, remember that many things that we call Canadian are actually the essence of other cultures.
Lastly, check out the last names in your area and the meals you eat. All sorts of groups brought their foods and customs with them; slowly integrating them into Canada’s greater culture. There is nothing wrong with immigration; since it made the country we now call Canada. Those against it essentially live in a world of ignorance and fear. Somehow, they were better than any other culture that comes to Canada. There is so much unwarranted fear around the issues of immigration. In the end, many immigrants today still thank Pierre E. Trudeau for their chance to enjoy Canada. So it is no wonder why there is such a move for immigrants to vote for Liberals or NDP candidates during elections. Not to say that there are not minority groups that vote for conservatives. Those who do are generally either fiscal or religious conservatives. I am generally fiscally conservative myself, but I guess I would be labelled progressive. The problem is the baggage that comes along with conservative style parties. In addition, the Conservatives like to play to the religious side on issues to morality, albeit history has shown that many conservative types themselves were prejudice and immoral, in that fashion, themselves.
Canada will go on and change for the better. There is nothing anyone can do to stop that change. Learn and adapt. Learn about others, as they come and are forced to learn about you. Just because someone does not look like you, eat your food and think like you does not mean we cannot live together. We can all be Canadian, from different strips. We do not have to live in fear. This is one planet, and we are all in it together.
By: Torontomatic
Filed under: Environment, News | Tags: Arista Homes, canada, dalton mcguinty, Durham, greenbelt, Oak Ridges Moraine, Ontario, Pickering, Seaton, Silvio DeGasperis, TAAC Construction
The Superior Court has ordered two companies associated with developer Silvio DeGasperis to pay the province $702,000 in legal costs, saying they used the false cloak of environmental concern to try to bully the province into allowing development on their own Greenbelt-designated land.n a stiff rebuke to what it called “a vexatious and egregious example of abuse of the process,” the court ruled the companies must pay nearly all of the $761,000 the province claimed in costs.
It is possibly the largest such judgment ever awarded to a government in Canada.
“The conduct of the applicants in bringing this lengthy, complex and expensive application before this court as a tactic in the ongoing war (with the province) … falls well within (the meaning of) reprehensible, scandalous or outrageous conduct,” the judges said, repeating observations made at the close of the legal battle in June.
The issue revolved around a controversial land swap between developers and the province that would preserve environmentally sensitive lands on the Oak Ridges Moraine in exchange for the Seaton lands in North Pickering.
But when the Dalton McGuinty government introduced the Greenbelt – a protected strip of land stretching around the Golden Horseshoe – 400 hectares of DeGasperis’s own land in Pickering went from prime real estate to a no-build zone.
DeGasperis launched a series of costly legal challenges against the provincial plan for Seaton, which envisions a unique community of 15 compact neighbourhoods bordering forests and streams.
He tried to argue that his lands were better suited for development than Seaton, in a legal battle he has said cost him almost $5 million.
The judges said the DeGasperis-related companies, which tried to argue their lands were less environmentally sensitive than those the province chose for development, in fact had “no interest in the environmental assessment of the Seaton Lands.”
“Their sole motive for bringing the application was to frustrate, disrupt and delay the Land Exchange as a further step in their ongoing war with the Province and their attempts to harass and intimidate the province into permitting development on their lands adjoining the Seaton Lands,” the judges wrote.
DeGasperis’s TAAC Construction is one of the GTA’s top construction servicing companies, with its housing arm, Arista Homes, among the top 10 homebuilders. He employs 850 and has told industry insiders his companies gross about $650 million a year.
Filed under: Issues | Tags: black, canada, ethnic, fear, intolerance, racism
Fear and intolerance, in some ways, is still true today in Canada. We are not as tolerance as we think? We claim that we are tolerant; however I bet that we are actually driven by fear. Let’s not get bent out of shape now! We get so ‘defensive’ when someone says “you are ignorant” or maybe “intolerant”. However, maybe we should just ask “are you scared”? We are a great multicultural society that tolerates all backgrounds. What we really see is a community, like many others, that is changing. People tend to fear change. We label what we ‘think’ we know and actually know nothing about it. Canada is a free and democratic country, but “are we afraid”? There is no shame in it. At least it’s a start to the discussion. If we value freedom, then let’s talk. However, if we value ‘fear’ then by all means only allow everything that only looks and feel like Canada, whatever that might be.
We do not have to look too far back to a time when African-Canadians were looked upon as a ‘lower classes’ or even ‘in-human’, to some. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but it’s true! How about how Canadian Sikhs and the discrimination they faced? How about Chinese-Canadians and their treatment in Canadian society, from our past? How about the Irish? And let’s not forget Jewish Canadians, along with others who have and still face discrimination today. We must endeavour to not be ignorant of other cultures that come to enrich Canada. On the same foot, immigrants must try to assimilate to Canadian society. Personally I never really liked the various enclaves of ethnic groups in the G.T.A; however, that problem is more linked to multiculturalism. We will leave that talk for another day, because there are pros and cons to this type of setup. I believe in integration and education, so that no one group is marginalized.
If we continue down this path I fear that we will tear apart, as a country. Just because someone, who does not look like us, moves into a community, it does not mean we have to move out. We are Canadians of many colours. We can learn from one another and discuss our opinions freely; not in fear.
By: Torontomatic
Filed under: Issues | Tags: Afro-Canadian, American, canada, Chinese-Canadian, ethnic, GTA, racism, South-Asian, Toronto
I think I am still lamenting over the fact that Ontario, or shall I say the outskirts of Toronto, is a bit more prejudice then I thought. What am I referring to you ask? Well, it’s the comments I have heard lately and from others during this provincial election. It seems that the faith-based funding issue and the amount of “ethnic” candidates are bringing out the worst in people. Or should I say that it really has always been there? Imagine why would an Afro-Canadian, Chinese-Canadian, South-Asian or any other so called ethnic minority even think that they are allowed to run for office. This is not my Canada and it does not look like me. Our for-fathers built….Shall I go on? I have always thought that Canada is a bit more racist and intolerant then we like to believe. We like to say that Canada is not like the American experience, however I wonder who is more racist, prejudice and intolerant?
My parents are immigrants, but I grew up in Canada from birth. So am I Canadian? I think so, just as much as the person who somehow believes that it is theirs. In my experience ignorant and bigoted individuals in Toronto tend to “smile” with you and say that they like you. They may even pat you on the back and say “you are so great, you are a good person”. They would never say a mean thing to you directly; however behind your back they say some of the most awful things. I cannot use that language on this blog, but in such a diverse area such as Toronto, I am sure you can imagine it. I have even heard of individuals not voting for particular candidates because of their colour or ethnic background. So how tolerant are we? As tolerant as the peameal bacon on our plate for breakfast! I guess we are tolerant because we do not hang people from trees. So that makes us so much better then everyone else, especially American right? We can hold our heads high and say “everyone should be like us”. But I wonder are the people that make racist and ignorant remarks simply afraid? Do they now feel “threatened” because they are now considered the minority? Ironic isn’t it!
We are all shaped by our environment. Hatred is something that we learn and it is only education that can change and reshape us into a better society. We need to learn about other cultures, if we are to become a better Canada. We are all not born racists. However, when a group of people feel that they are better then others, what happens? I guess over the years these individuals have become so used to their ways that they cannot see out of the box. They feel that the immigrant should somehow conform to the Canadian way, whatever that is. We are Canadians of many colours and we can learn from one another. Maybe we can spread a little Canada to the rest of the world? “Canada does not only belong to those who sailed here first. It actually belongs to those who were here first”. Better yet, I think colorless cans of paint are on sale this weekend. We should all pick up some!
By: Torontomatic
