Mezbauddin Mahtab's Blog, page 2

Last week I was interviewed for the television by the CBC - Canada's national broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, for a news segment on the bank interest rate decision (a rate hike). The story was aired on Wednesday January 25, 2023, the same day the Bank of Canada raised interest rates by 25 basis points.

You can watch / listen to / read about the story, including my quotes, here: 

The National (YouTube): Bank of Canada hikes interest rates again

Digital Article: Bank of Canada rai...

Let me wind the clock back twenty three years ago. We all know the horrific events that happened on that fateful day in September, and how four planes with criminals on board destroyed the lives of many people. GW Bush was the President of USA, and Chretien was PM of Canada. Chretien was a Liberal, and Bush a Republican.

Those of you who are too young to remember the times are lucky. We lived through a time where our faith was maligned every day, where charlatans like Tarek Fatah took advantage t...

 

Short answer: give lots of people money and create vote banks. Also, he has a nice smile.


In our community (Bangladeshi Canadians / South Asians), possibly 90% people here will vote Liberal. Think of why Liberals will win again (especially your vote):Make us dependent on government - Create conditions by poor economic planning, such that we will have record inflation (worst in 40 years), so that there is no choice but to hope for a handout from the government, rather than through hard workEmpowe...

 Let's talk about Bill 21.

This writer has several female relatives who wear the hijab. One of them is working in a hospital where she takes care of the most serious Covid infected patients (something she did from the start of the pandemic). Another works for the Covid response team that is in charge of identifying and dealing with flareups and infection spread. A third one works for the ministry of finance while a fourth is a teacher.

All of these strong women are not only saving lives, they are ...

Continued from Day 2 ...

It was a Sunday, and it was time to return home. But there was one thing we wanted to visit before heading back towards Toronto. 

Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre

This small railroad museum is half an hour north of the city of Greater Sudbury. The Victorian style house, built in 1916, is now home to a number of exhibits that pay tribute to the region’s rich lumber, mining and railroading heritage. 

The building also houses the museum’s gift shop, washroom f...

Continued from Day 1 ...

After having spent time in Parry Sound, we drove on to Sudbury, an hour and half drive north. Not too many know, but Sudbury is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population. By land area, it is the largest city in Ontario and the fifth largest in Canada.

Sudbury was once a major lumber center and a world leader in nickel mining. Mining and related industries dominated the economy for much of the 20th century. It is that mining history that we will take a look at, as ...

Parry Sound is a town in Ontario, Canada, approximately 2 and half hours away. We had a weekend to ourselves, and decided to visit Parry Sound, and then the mining town of Sudbury.

Parry Sound is the birthplace of hockey legend Bobby Orr, the namesake of the local community centre and the town's own Bobby Orr Hall of Fame. It also sits on the glorious Georgian Bay, which is the northeastern arm of Lake Huron, in Ontario, and home to 30,000 islands. We booked a cruise that was similar to the Thous...

In a little farm in Markham, Ontario, just north of Toronto, we found a gem.

This is Sunflower Fields of Markham. Their website is https://sunflowerfieldsofmarkham.ca/ and contact number is (416) 859-6159 .

The farm's sunflower fields were massive. There were many rows of these tall flowers, and almost all of them in perfect health. 

It was the beginning of the season, I guess, so the flowers were perky and upright. We also visited around 2 pm, so the sun was nice and high, and the weather clear, w...

 The TD Festival of South Asia is a free street festival in Gerrard India Bazaar celebrating South Asian (OK mostly Indian) culture, food, entertainment and heritage.

They close off Gerrard street for the Indian section, and even the streetcars are rerouted. It is more or less an excuse for many of the businesses here to display their wares in the street. Gerrard street (the India Bazaar section) was known back in the day (late 90s, early 2000s) as the South Asian place in Toronto. That distincti...

The Taste of the Middle East is a festival that celebrates Arabic music, culture, food, arts and heritage. 

This year the festival was held downtown Toronto, at Nathan Phillips Square.

It was a brilliant sunny day. I visited on Friday, the first day of the festival. It runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Apparently there are bigger things planned on Sunday.

Along with the sponsor tents, there were lots of other tents of various merchants. Here is Huda, a religious organization, right next to the tele...