Toronto Life - April 2017

how fentanyl ruined my life p.
70
Comedian Lilly Singh and the
star-making power of YouTube P.80
the coolest blue jays gear p.98
Who lives where in the citys
t
ritziest condo tower P.40
re o e
e 2017 a
h
w
t
Featuring plus
snack bars, the best
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Th
ts
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o
a
p r
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20
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Close your eyes.
Say to yourself, Toronto.
What do you see?
Perhaps hot dogs dripping mustard at

Sunnyside Park as shrieking gulls circle, on
alert for stray crumbs. A crackling rainbow
of leaves kicked up on Philosophers Walk.
An opening day with more snowballs in the
air to track than baseballs.
Your city is vivid and alive in the imaginations

of those you trust to create it. Like you, we
imagine places that do more than shelter us.
Inspired by the priceless memories of who we
are and what weve all shared. Which is why
we choose to dream your dreams. Share your
hopeful hearts. We too insist on places that
summon us to come together and, at the same
time, allow us to be the best of ourselves.
Putting the people of this city first means we

create communities for you, our neighbours.
Our extended family. Our Toronto.
April 2017
Vol. 51 No. 4
My first
YouTube
video got
70 views.
I was amazed.
I didnt even
think I knew
70 people
Lilly Singh, p. 80
20 | the conversation features navigator

93 | Great Spaces A dark
26 | editors letter 49 | Where to Eat Now and quirky Annex house
The big food trends of 2017? Wood-fired grilling, transformed into a light-
this city vintage diners, chic veganism, Filipino home filled ode to minimalism
29 | The Moment A house cooking and five-star comfort food to calm our 97 | Best Dressed The
sells for a million over Trump-strained nerves By Mark Pupo aesthetic inspirations of
asking, and the city just rapperslashfashion
shrugsbusiness as usual 70 | Disgraced aficionado Kardinal Offishall
30 | Q&A Airbnb super- I was an ER doctor with a perfect life: gorgeous wife, 98 | Roundup Our head-to-toe
lobbyist Alex Dagg on her guide to unofficial Blue Jays
three amazing kids, waterfront house. Then I got
powers of persuasion fashions
32 | Ego Meter Whats making
hooked on fentanyl and lost it all By Darryl Gebien 100 | Property Ladder From
and shaking the citys self- condo to townhouse to
80 | Lilly Singh Goes to Hollywood
image cottage-country lake house
34 | Camera The months
She was working a dead-end job at a call centre, 102 | The Chase One womans
best parties trying to figure out what to do with her life, when search for affordable real
38 | Cost of Living What she posted her first YouTube video. Now, shes estate ends in a bargain
Torontonians make and how raking in $7.5 million (U.S.) a year. Inside the fixer-upper
they spend it dizzying world of Torontos accidental megastar
40 | Society Watch Who lives By Emily Landau culture
where at the Four Seasons, 105 | The top things to see, do,
the citys ritziest condo tower hear and read this month
42 | The Audit A penny-by-
penny reckoning of Torontos 116 | memoir
spending habits My husband and I planned to
44 | The Upstart Torontos on the cover: photograph by Dave Gillespie adopt a toddler. We came
boldest innovators and what home with a 17-year-old girl
theyre making By Aviva Zukerman Schure
46 | Urban Diplomat Advice toronto life is published by toronto life publishing co. ltd. all rights reserved.
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14 toronto life April 2017

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the conversation
Terror Track that Aaron did, but fundamental- your point of viewgot both camps in
Lauren McKeons deeply reported ism was likely one of the few a froth. Lets start with his fans:
profile of Aaron Driver, the small-town ways he could square the trage-
kid turned suicide bomber, unearthed dies in his life with his belief in a Needed course @ U of T:
details about his childhood that had higher power. We need to con- how to deal respectfully with
never before been published. Reader tinue to teach our children to the self-proclaimed social justice
reaction was smart and sensitive. think critically. warriors. This is a left-wing
FrancusAurelius, torontolife.com lynch mob against this professor.
Lauren McKeons piece on Barry Dennison, Facebook
Aaron Driver was riveting. Disenfranchised with undiag-
Everyone wants to know how nosed vulnerabilities: that is the We need more Petersons
radicalization happens; weve all target audience of radicalization. people in academia who are more
hypothesized and were often That is why totalitarians push so than armchair scholars, who
quick to judge the parents. This hard to disenfranchise popula- personally engage in current
article provided some of the tions by alienating societies. debatable issues.
insight we need to gain better Allison Lee-Clay, Facebook Jessie To, Facebook
understanding.
Society desperately needs They recruit like bike gangs: Jason McBrides piece on Jordan
specialists who have the skills to target disenfranchised, alienated Peterson was exceptionally
get through to these very young, males, offer them a family or thoughtful. I had the same
tragically scarred souls, and to brotherhood, and make them do response as the author toward the
de-radicalize those who have your dirty work. Snakes. gender pronoun requestjust call
fallen down the rabbit hole. We Mick McCarthy, Facebook people by the names they request
need to unite globally and devote and forget the rest. I wish Jordan
more research dollars to this had not become entangled in gen-
worthy cause. der name-making. But mandatory
Elina Guttenberg training for unconscious biases is
a whole different kettle of fish,
The first section of this story will and I think it has been lost in the
tear your heart out. Nothing is gender brouhaha. Jordan is tak-
ever as simple as it appears. ing a very important stand on the
@zchamu, Twitter issue of political correctness, the
hollowness of imposed niceness
Lauren McKeons article shows The Peterson Principle and the resultant catastrophes.
what happens when you raise Our profile of U of Ts rabble-rousing Hes a deep thinker, but he also
someone to believe in ideologies professor, Jordan Petersonwhos carries the navet of the stereo-
blindly. Obviously most religious either a heroic defender of free speech typical academic.
people will not go down the road or a trans-phobic bigot, depending on Patricia Dawn Spence

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The ConversaTion
I see a lot of hate for a man for

taking a stand for something he
believes in. So what if he wont
identify a gender as they or
them? Dont crucify a guy with-
out knowing the man himself.
Nicholas Donaldson, Facebook
Doesnt seem like a bad guy but

is unfortunately emboldening bad
guys. The repulsiveness of his
largest backers may turn people
off of his central message, which
seems to be that language should
be used to communicate ideas
rather than suppress them.
Greg Stealth, Facebook
And now the foes

466 Eglinton Ave. W. 416-545-1845 Flagship Store
60 Bloor St. West Ive heard this guy defend his
2536 Bayview Ave 416-444-8485
(On Bay St.) point in detail on a couple of dif-
Brookeld Place 416-861-1516 416-964-7070 ferent podcasts, and he is crazy as
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a loon. He equates identity politics
Richmond-Adelaide Centre 416-363-3029 josephson.ca
with a concerted Maoist effort to
use language as a weapon to insid-
iously infect our ideology with the
precepts of communism.
Hugh Gee, Facebook
Hey, news flash: when youre

insisting there are only two gen-
ders, youre trans-phobic. Proba-
bly should take that sensitivity/
inclusivity training.
Jasmine Tea, Facebook
I wonder how hed feel if all his

students called him Skippy? Stop
wasting space on this dustfart.
Shane Cameron, Facebook
Let our experienced team help

Downsizing Decluttering Moving Home Clear-Out
Vicky Riley Keyes, President, Red Coats Moving Solutions
Overshare
Nothing riles Torontonians quite like
Call for a Complimentary real estate. Our February feature on the
Consultation 416-920-1317 brave new world of home co-ownership
info@redcoatsmoving.com (i.e., friends pooling their finances to
www.redcoatsmoving.com break into the market together) got
comment threads flowing. In one cor-
ner, the cynics, who said things like

Advertising Feature
3 Investing Lessons from 2016

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can help take the guesswork out of investing in uncertain times.
1 Put the odds in your favour by

knowing what you dont know 2 When in a hole, stop digging
3 Focus on long-term themes
not short-term noise
In 2016, the U.S. election and Brexit This levelheaded strategy is difficult The day to day events that
highlighted just how uncertain the to execute but can be critical to dominate investment news are like
world can beand how market successful investing. waves crashing onto the beach;
expectations can be wrong. When unique, absorbingand ultimately
positioning their portfolios for these In every investors experience there inconsequential. Most investors
types of macroeconomic events, it is a point when a stock you like will would be better off focusing
is important for investors to realize start to deteriorate. Our learning is: their attention on understanding
what it is that they actually know. dont immediately start chasing. the longer-term driversthe
When a stock is coming down in investment tidesthan trying
Here are three principles to price, it is doing so because the to predict the impact of todays
consider: market, made up of a collective of events that will hardly matter in
thousands of individuals, is saying ten years. Increased knowledge of
1. Bet when you have an edge.
the price should be lower. Now, the tides can help investors better
2. Diversify otherwise. there are times when the market is understand the true nature of the
wrong and your previous viewpoint risks in their portfolios and the
3. Realize that most of the time
could be right; but, often, the companies in which they invest.
you dont have an edge.
market is telling you something.
In investing, it is not enough to be Something you may not yet know. For example, several important
rightyou also want an edge. An themes took root in the last year:
edge occurs when you have an we saw policymakers publicly
insight that is different from the acknowledge that we are reaching
collective view of the market. It the limits of the effectiveness of
happens when you have information monetary policy; governments
that gives you confidence that the around the world have shown
odds displayed in the market are interest in using fiscal policy to
wrong. At Mawer, we systematically stimulate growth and redistribute
seek to act on an edge by buying wealth; and a rising tide of populism
wealth-creating companies, run and anti-globalization sentiment
by excellent management teams, has spread through western
priced at a discount to their nations. These developments may
intrinsic values. have meaningful consequences to
the investor.
The inherent complexity of macro
events often make them and their Prudent investors are focused
consequences difficult, if not on tides, not waves. They seek to
impossible, to predict in advance. understand the long-term themes
When we dont believe we have any so that they can better identify the
special information on the way an companies that should be wealth-
event will unfold or the impact it will creating over the long-run.
have, we know that making a one-
way bet is not an advisable strategy.
In these cases, it is most prudent As fundamental investors, our
to diversify. With diversification, natural instinct is to presume that
you hold assets that should we know the story on a stock.
perform differently under different After all, weve likely spent hours of
scenarios. Using this strategy, you analysis trying to understand it.
have not positioned yourself for But when a stock begins to
one outcome only; it requires giving deteriorate, our lesson over time
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The ConversaTion
worst idea ever, rather rent, this

will not end well, and
SUPPORT OUR The dog in this latest @torontolife

hipsterlandia home-sharing article
CITY OF ART looks like it needs rescuing.

@GerritD, Twitter
Sounds like a nightmare. If some-

Help us shape one blows up over a $50 bill from
a bright, bold, Home Depot, imagine the tensions
when someone wants to sell.
brilliant Elizabeth Salagan, Facebook
city of arts. Yeah, I wouldnt really call this
beating the system. No, not even
close to that. I would call it play-
ing within a system thats entirely
stacked against most people.
Adam Lockett, Facebook
Donate today: I think these situations will

become explosive, as people are
not as tolerant or patient as they
TORONTO RTSFOUNDATION.ORG/DONATE used to be, and too many are just
photo of: Iryna Gordon, photo by Levent Erutku
looking out for themselves.
Ryan Guthrie, Facebook
In the other corner, the idealists
I am all about thisand have

tons of global precedents for stuff
like this, too.
Cass Alves, Facebook
I dont think this would work for

everyone, but, for the right people,
it seems like perfection.
Matthew Cutler, Facebook
I house-share with a married

couple, and, after two years, its
still working out great.
Erika Palakovic, Facebook
Anyone want to go in on a house

together?
@jshmuel, Twitter
Oops!
Apologies to Lisa ODonoghue and Julie
Ford of Brightlane, who were misidenti-
fied in a February issue caption. We
also had Brightlanes address wrong.
Its at 545 King Street West, not 544.
Please email your comments to letters@torontolife.com,

or mail them to Letters, Toronto Life, 111 Queen St. E.,
Ste. 320, Toronto, Ont. M5C 1S2. All comments may be
edited for accuracy, length and clarity.

2017
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EDITORS LETTER
Random Acts of Peacemaking

Back in 2015, following a series of anti-Semitic
incidents in Europe, a group of young Norwegian
Muslims decided to take a stand against the
violence and express their solidarity with Oslos
Jews. At sundown on a Saturday, the end of the
Jewish Sabbath, more than a thousand people,
mostly Muslims, held hands in a circle around the
citys main synagogue in a powerful gesture that
made headlines around the world. They called
their demonstration a ring of peace.
Coming up
The Oslo event left a strong impression xenophobia that is sweeping the globe are A profile of bulldog Blue Jays slugger
on Yael Splansky, the senior rabbi at leading to an unexpected coalition between Josh Donaldson; a look at Torontos
Torontos biggest Reform congregation, Jews and Muslims (jokingly called MuJews) post-Trump brain gain; and a ranking
Holy Blossom. In late January, when and many symbolic acts of unity, like the of the citys best fried chicken sandwiches.
Alexandre Bissonnette entered a mosque ring of peace. Plus, the rise of the micro-condo.
in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, killing six men and A January photo from OHare Interna-
injuring 19 others, Rabbi Splansky remem- tional Airport of two men standing side Stay in touch
bered the Muslims of Oslo. by side protesting Trumps immigration Sign up for our weekly newsletters
She had an idea: her synagogue already banone a kippah-wearing Jewish father at torontolife.com/newsletters
had a relationship with Imdadul Islamic with his son on his shoulders, the other a
Centre near Jane and Finch, where Holy Muslim father with his daughter on his The Hunt: The latest on the crazy
Blossom students had gone to learn about shoulderswent viral. The two men have real estate market
Islam. So she offered to come with a few since become friends. Best Bets: Your cheat sheet to
congregants to form their own ring of peace When 180 gravestones were toppled at Torontos best events
on the first Friday prayer after the Quebec a Jewish cemetery outside of St. Louis in The Informer: Our roundup of the
terrorist attack. She spread the word, and, February, two Muslims launched an online weeks top stories
by Thursday night, dozens of Jewish orga- crowdfunding campaign for money to The Dish: The scoop on the hottest
nizations and churches were rounding up repair and restore the stones. In three restaurants, bars and food shops
members to show their support at mosques hours, they had raised $20,000. Donations The Goods: The citys fashion trends,
in Scarborough, Rexdale, Oakvilleall have since reached $120,000. shop openings and more
over the GTA. During the same month, Toronto Jews
On that Friday, 250 people joined hands rushed to condemn an anti-Muslim dem- Best Restaurants app
with Rabbi Splansky in a ring of peace onstration that took place outside a down- Now available free from the App Store
around Imdadul as Muslims entered. To town mosque, and Toronto Muslims or at torontolife.com/bestrestaurants
her great surprise, she was invited into the similarly issued statements against the
congregation to address the men after prayer. anti-Semitic hate notes left outside Jewish Digital edition
She wrapped her scarf around her head, homes in Willowdale. Print subscribers, your subscription
offered condolences to the community and These powerful, media-friendly ges- includes free access to the monthly
expressed a commitment to fight to protect tures of support and solidarity are the digital magazine. Download the app
the freedoms that we enjoy in Canada. She unexpected silver lining to all the divisive- from your digital newsstand, locate
was the first woman and the first Jew ever ness in the news. They illustrate how I have a print subscription in-app,
invited to address the congregation. passionate people of different faiths are and follow the prompts. Non-
photograph by christopher wahl
In a global context, tensions between about safeguarding the religious freedoms subscribers can purchase an annual
Jews and Muslims have never been higher. afforded citizens in Canada and the U.S. digital subscription for $17.99.
In Israel, the idea of the two-state solution And theyre enough to make even a diehard
has been dying a quiet death for decades, cynic feel a glimmer of hope.
leading to a toxic hostility that frequently
erupts into violence. Theres no sign of a Sarah Fulford
resolution in the foreseeable future. And Email: editor@torontolife.com
yet the Trump presidency and the tide of Twitter: @sarah_ fulford

One style icon
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Hotels are Ego Meter ......... p. 32
Camera ............ p. 34
afraid of
Cost of Living.... p. 38
competition
Society Watch ... p. 40
Airbnbs The Urban
Alex Dagg, p. 30 Diplomat ........ p. 46
Real estate
Madness
liSted at
$1.2m
Sold for
$2.3m
the moment
photographs courtesy of sohail mansor
Bubble Trouble?
Torontos logic-defying real estate market just got crazier
Sold over asking: in Toronto, its a phrase so common it hardly it for $27,000 in 1967. In a year or two, perhaps $2.3 million will
means anything. But 5 Norden Crescent was no run-of-the-mill seem like a deal; the average price of a detached GTA home in
budget breaker. In February, the quaint 1,500-square-foot January 2017 was 26 per cent higher than it was the same month
Don Mills house was listed for $1.2 million. Nine days and 31 offers last year, and prices have shown few signs of slowing. The bubble
later, it went for $2.3 million. Still not shocked? The owners bought hasnt burst yet, but its probably best to take cover.
April 2017 toronto life 29

Q&A
thousand candidates. Why do you think
they chose you?
Im not sure. I have a background as a
union organizer and I was a lead negoti-
Air Bud ator for the NHL Players Association.

Im no stranger to advocacy.
Airbnb Canadas super-lobbyist Alex Dagg has a single How did your experience at the NHL
objective: to get the mayor and city council on board with prepare you for this gig?
the popular home-sharing platform. That might be tricky I learned how to negotiate. Im a good
listener and an effective communicator.
by m a l c ol m joh n st on
Are you a yeller? A stormer-outer?
As Airbnb Canadas director of public apartments on Airbnb instead Im not a yeller. And Ive had people
policy, you need to persuade govern- of renting them convention- storm out on me. I like to think Im very
ment bigwigs that Airbnb is a good ally, which reduces supply straightforward.
thing. Lets hear your pitch. and drives up the prices.
Airbnb allows tourists to experience Is that a fair criticism? As a union organizer, you repre-
Toronto and homeowners to monetize I dont think so. Last sented hotel workers in labour
their most valuable asset, providing a fall, we found there talks. How does it feel to oppose
lifeline for thousands of families. were only 760 Airbnb those you once defended?
hosts in Toronto who I see both jobs as advocacy,
The Airbnb file will go to executive earned more on our representing average
committee in June. Have you presented platform than they Canadians who are trying
your arguments to Mayor Tory yet? would have by to make ends meet.
Weve had conversations with various renting conven-
councillors and the mayors staff, but tionally. Have any of your former
not yet the mayor. colleagues confronted
Given the crisis you about changing
Airbnb eats away at the hotel industrys of affordable teams?
profits without having to adhere to the housing in this Weve been in the same
same bylaws or pay the same taxes. city, dont room. A lot of their
Dont hotel stakeholders have a case? you think the emotionality comes from
Theyre afraid of competition. Theres 760 units you misunderstanding and fear
plenty of room for all of us. Plus, hotels mention have an of change.
are businesses: they have restaurants, a effect on rental
gym, a concierge. An Airbnb host who prices? Your companys next big
rents out his home? Thats residential. I think the effect thing is called Airbnb Trips,
is minimal. which offers unique hosted
Using a house to make money sounds experiences all over the
pretty commercial to me. Everyones great fear world. Whats your favou-
Council may decide as much. But we are about putting their rite of the options so far?
willing to be subject to the proposed house on Airbnb is rent- You can have a tour of
four per cent hotel tax. Essentially, if an ing to party animals, Nelson Mandelas prison
Airbnb currently costs $100, it would drug dealers or scam cell in South Africa, given
then cost $104. artists. There was one by his guard. That would
rental in the Woodbine be amazing.
So you just tax the guests? Corridor recently that
Wed do the engineering on our plat- ended with tactical offi- The pressure is on to
form to remit the four per cent for the cers arriving with guns get Airbnb regulated.
hosts. Its how hotels do it. We think its drawn. How rare are those But, if youre suc-
fair and appropriate. experiences? cessful, are you
Extremely. In Canada, the out of a job?
How much revenue could that generate property damage incidence Well, Canada is a
for the city?
photograph by erin leydon
rate on our platform is big country, so Ill

From Airbnb? Maybe $2 million a year. 0.01 per cent. And if youre a probably just move
problematic host or guest, we on to the next one.
A recent report by the Canadian Centre remove you from the platform.
for Policy Alternatives suggests Airbnb This interview has
exacerbates Torontos affordable I understand you won this been edited for
housing crisis, as people put their job from a pool of nearly a clarity and length.

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Ego Meter Whats making and shaking
the citys self-image
Meanwhile, an
episode of Girls
features the line: We
ego cant all be perfect,
boost okay? ... We cant all
be Justin Trudeau.
The NHL names

Mitch Marner
Rookie of the Durham cop Jarrod Singh responds
Monththe third to a 911 call about a fight, finds a
Leaf to earn the music video shoot instead and goes GQ gushes over Drake takes home a pair of
honour in four viral when he shows off his slick Brampton MPP Grammys for Hotline Bling just
months. dance moves. Jagmeet Singh, a few days after being named the
the incredibly bestselling musician of 2016.
well-dressed
rising star in
Canadian
politics.
Higher-ed
Brampton
research firm
soul star
QS calls Toronto
Alessia
a great city for
Cara nails
students
her debut
11th best in
Saturday
the world, to
Night Live
photographs: latte courtesy of run and gun coffee; cara, trudeau, jagmeet singh, drake by getty images; union station by istock
be exact.
performance.
+
-
START Tru-doh!
White House END
Tweeters slam Toronto press secretary
caf Run and Gun Coffee Sean Spicer calls A car gets stuck in
for its disrespectful the PM Joe the Union Station
Tupac latte, which has Trudeau. streetcar tunnel
five shots of espresso and (again). The driver
bullet holes in the foam. says he was
following his GPS.
At $146 a month,
the Metropass is
the worlds fifth- on the same day a
priciest transit pass, Ryerson University report
according to a report says Toronto is not truly
by moving company a sanctuary city.
Movinga. (If only we
had the worlds fifth-
best transit.) An angry band of
protesters calls for a
ban on Islam outside
a downtown mosque
ego
bruise
it happened last month: a loose chronology

introducing
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Camera The months
best parties
Education
minister
Mitzie
Hunter
Contemporary Persians
Exhibition Reception Kuwaiti royal Sheikha
Feb. 2, Aga Khan Museum. The Paula Al-Sabah and
most poignant moment from art collector
Mohammed Afkhami
this art shows launch: when
Toronto Region collector Mohammed Afkhami
Board of Trade Dinner read a letter of gratitude from
Mayor Feb. 9, MTCC. Quips about
John an Iranian artist in the U.S.
Tory road tolls were plentiful, who couldnt attend because
which might explain why of Trumps travel ban.
Wynne mysteriously van-
ished before dinner. Tory
left, too, to tend to a
TCHC building fire, but
later returned. George
Cope scored points for
praising Toronto in his
Bespectacled keynote, but the room
broadcaster wasnt fond of at least one
Stephen LeDrew
of his ideas: taxing Netflix. Aga Khan
Museum U.K. consul
director general Kevin
Henry Kim McGurgan
Premier
Bell honcho Kathleen Motionball
George Cope Wynne founders Mark,
Paul and Sean
Etherington Motionball
Feb. 3, Liberty Grand.
The Special Olympics fund-
photographs by george pimentel. reporting by jean grant and vibhu gairola

raiser raked in $250,000
(including $7,000 from an
auctioned-off guitar signed
by the two living Beatles).
The Etherington bros
staged a Tony Robbins
Ed Lives Cocktail Gala esque pep talk to The Last
Former MP
Feb. 23, Honest Eds. Philanthropist of the Mohicans theme
Olivia Chow Inclusivity was the theme of Bill Young song, but Madison Tevlins
a bittersweet farewell bash performance of Uptown
Two FM
Kiss or three
host
for Honest Eds. In true Eds line title
Devo Browntk Funk stole the show.
fashion, it was eclectic: roller
skaters whooshed through
the crowds, a boho klezmer
band played live music, and
the room was full of zany
pop-up art. The stores sign
painter, Douglas Kerr,
churned out custom plac-
Centre for
Social ards for some guests. When
Innovation a fight almost broke out for Senator YouTube R&B
CEO Tonya Salma sensation heartthrob
one, someone said, Thats Madison Tevlin Karl Wolf
Surman Ataullahjan
not very inclusive of you!

CASA LOMA STEAKHOUSE
PRESENTED BY
Musical Chairs
An intimate soire featuring a
13-course dinner, a bathtub full
of bubbly and a playlist that had
guests dancing in their seats
In February, Toronto Life hosted a dinner

in partnership with Sonos, the home sound
system company, at the Beaches residence
of publisher Ken Hunt. Franco Stalteri,
the founder of the CB Wine Program and
dinner series Charlies Burgers, curated PATRICK KRISS & THE TEAM FROM ALO
the experience. Chef Patrick Kriss of Alo
and the Cheese Boutiques Afrim Pristine
came on board to compose 13 courses.
As guests arrived, they were ushered
into the living room, where a claw-foot
bathtub had been filled with ice and
dozens of bottles of champagne. A
bartender served cocktails while guests
JIM EMILSON & NIV FICHMAN
added songs by Toronto artists to a custom
Spotify playlist.
Dinner kicked off with a quartet of
amuse-bouchesgougres, foie gras,
stuffed quail eggs and caviar souffl.
Guests grooved to an eclectic mix of Metric,
Crystal Castles, Drake and The Weeknd,
and started dancing in their seats when
Let Your Backbone Slide by Maestro
Fresh-Wes came over the sound system.
The meal continued with caviar served
with a cauliflower pure, citrus-cured
tuna, foie gras terrine with trumpet
mushrooms, and Alos famous pain au lait
with homemade butter. Then it moved on
TORONTO LIFE EDITOR HEIDI LOWRY & TORONTO LIFE
to more substantial fare, including duck SARAH FULFORD ISABELLE THILLOU PUBLISHER KEN HUNT
breast with cherry pure and beef cap with
winter truffles.
Afrim Pristine then presented a
Twilight Beemster made to his demanding
specifications, a Loire Valley chevre that
had been aged in his own cheese cave and
Bleu dElizabeth from Quebec, which was
served with a tableside grating of pure
maple sugar.
The evening ended with three desserts
plus grappa, rye, and coffee from local
roaster Barocco Coffee Company.
For more pictures from the evening visit:

torontolife.com/sonosdinner HOLLY KNOWLES
SONOS PLAY:1 BRAD WISHEN, MOEZ KASSAM, COREY COTT AFRIM PRISTINE
LIA BRUSCHETTA
& SABRINA CARR
SONOS PLAYBAR
PATRICK KRISS &

KATHERINE SCOTT DAVE BIDINI & JENNIFER EMILSON NOREEN HAMID FRANCO STALTERI
Cost of Living What Torontonians make and how they spend it
We came to Canada for the experience.

Were not ready to settle down
What they spend in a month What they bought in a Week
ophlie Courtial, 27 Rent $1,550. They moved to Toronto from Wine A chardonnay from California and a
Valence, a small city in southeast France, shiraz from South Africa: $35.
What She DoeS last February and bounced between Cheese foR a dinneR paRty $15. We ate
Marketing specialist
short-term sublets and Airbnbs before cheese every day in France, but we cant do
What She makeS finding a place at Queen and Dufferin. that here because its five times the price.
CostUmes foR a themed paRty $25.
photograph by erin leydon. reporting by kat shermack
$48,000 a year We came because we wanted the

experience, says Ophlie. Were not gifts foR family in fRanCe Clothes from
ready to settle down. American Eagle: $240. Its such a typical
loC boget, 28 Utilities $80. North American brand. We dont have it
What he DoeS CaR insURanCe and gas $360. Ophlie back home.
Account manager at a firm drives to work in Woodbridge. Loc bikes movie tiCkets Allied with Brad Pitt
that facilitates grants or takes transit. and Marion Cotillard: $15. It was half-
Cellphone For Loc: $60. Ophlies is price Tuesday.
What he makeS
$43,000 a year covered by her work. takeoUt Burgers and fries from Kitson
inteRnet and Cable $40. and Co.: $31. In France, taxes are
Where they live
gRoCeRies $200. included in the price, and we dont leave
A one-bedroom apartment in netflix $10. tips. We had to get used to paying $15 for a
Parkdale $10 burger.

Society Watch
Suite Dreams Toronto condo dwellers have no shortage of buildings to choose from. But, for the citys
Who lives where at the wealthiest Internet moguls, old-money heirs and crazy-rich execs, few are as alluring
Four Seasons Residences as Yorkvilles Four Seasons, a sleek two-tower complex with sprawling suites, private
elevators and an on-site brasserie run by Daniel Boulud. Here, a peek inside one of the
by st e v e k u pf e r m a n citys priciest condosand what some residents paid to get in.
The entire 55th floor is one 9,000-square- Philanthropist sheldon

foot penthousethe most expensive condo $28M inwentash, the namesake of
unit
ever sold in Canada. Its also currently a U of Ts faculty of social work,
bargaining chip in a high-stakes divorce owns a 50th-floor suite with
between its owners: online advertising tycoon his wife, lynn factoR.
RobeRt oesteRlund and his estranged They hired luxe designer
wife, saRah PuRsglove, who furnished $7.6M Brian Gluckstein to outfit the
unit 4,500-square-foot space.
it with gold-leaf ceilings and a $12,000
taxidermied lion.
$6.6M
$5.8M unit Israeli-Canadian
unit
Rogers CFO anthony bajillionaire and
staffieRi owns a PokerStars co-founder
3,500-square-foot unit isai scheinbeRg
on the 48th floor with shares a 3,500-square-
two balconies. foot suite on the
52nd floor with his
wife, Dora.
$4.5M
unit
Postmedia emperor
Paul godfRey bought
$4M
Maple Leafs head coach unit
this 3,500-square-foot
Mike babcock has a
unit on the 47th floor in
scenic view of the
April 2013.
Rosedale Ravine from his
2,600-square-foot suite
on the 46th floor.
Luxury realtor elise $4.6M
unit
kalles snapped up a
posh suite for herself: a
3,500-square-foot space
photographs: godfrey by erin leydon; kalles, babcock, bronfman by getty images

$3.2M
on the 45th floor. unit
Big-shot Angolan banker
lvaRo sobRinho has
a 2,500-square-foot
place on the 34th floor.
$4.3M He tried to sell it for
unit $4.1 million in September,
Department store heir but there were no takers.
John cRaig eaton ii
owns a unit on the
39th floor.
$7.7M Liquor fortune heir and
units
film studio overlord
$3.1M Paul bRonfMan
unit
purchased a $3.83-million
haRold niMan suite on the 25th floor in
big-ticket divorce September 2013, bought
lawyer (see Sarah the unit next door a few
Pursglove)has a months later, then got a
suite on the permit to combine them
36thfloor. into a superunit.

The Audit An appraisal of the
month in money
$0
Property taxes paid by the Colonnade, a luxury
shopping complex in Yorkville, due to a 66-year-
old arrangement between the city and U of Ts
Victoria University, which owns the land.
$9.34
Price of a four-pack of Henderson
Brewings The End of Honesty beer, a
themed lager brewed with sugar pur-
chased at Honest Eds.
$90
Amount that the average homeowners annual property taxes will increase this year,
thanks to a 3.3 per cent hike in the 2017 budget. (Unless you own the Colonnade.)
$4,000
Number printed on one womans Presto receipt after a
$40 transaction, due to a technical glitch that flubbed a
couple of decimal places. Her card wasnt charged.
$14,000
Amount, in cash, found in a shopping bag left aboard a TTC bus. The
photographs: colonnade by getty images; beer via youtube; tv by istock; go train courtesy of transit toronto
driver contacted the police, and they returned the money to its owner.
LANVIN
ISAIA
NEIL BARRETT
$100,000
Amount, in cash, found in an old TV at a recycling
THE GIGI plant in Barrie. Staff contacted the police, and they
returned the money to its owner, whod used the
LARDINI TV as a hiding spot.
$1,200,000
ZEGNA COUTURE
PAUL SMITH
ASPESI Value of the endoscopy and colonoscopy equipment that three thieves recently
stole from Toronto Western Hospital. At press time, they, and the pilfered
HERNO scopes, remained at large.
$4,000,000
LIDFORT SHOES
Total amount that GO Transit has refunded

to passengers since 2014. The authority
reimburses fares if its the cause of a
train being delayed 15 minutes or more
153 Cumberland Street something thats occurred nearly 12,000 times over the past three years.
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The Upstart
Torontos boldest innovators explain what
theyre making and how it works
how iT works:
Its an air-trucking system, like a Tesla of
the sky. We go into inaccessible places,
such as landlocked African countries and
Canadas North, with resources that
enable local entrepreneurs to connect to
the rest of the world.
Jay Godsall
eureka momenT:
Founder and CEO of Solar Ship, which
In high school, I mowed the lawns of a few
builds helium-filled hybrid aircrafts that fly
embassies in Ottawa. Once, at a lunch
vital cargo to remote areas
at Burundis embassy, I got into a friendly
COMPANY HQ: adelaide and sherbourne, argument about whether it was more
and a hangar in brantford difficult to transport things to Africas
fOuNded: 2006 landlocked areas or to Northern Canada.
eMPlOYees: 50 Thats what kicked it off. I studied the topic
and eventually founded Solar Ship.
Tech jargon you use Too much:

Vectored thrust
how much you spenT iniTially:
$300,000. We had to build a mini- Tech jargon you haTe:
prototype and a wind tunnel to test it.
A lot of professors and students from
Disruptive technology
U of T volunteered their time to
help us get started. coolesT Thing in
your office:
your Turning poinT: One of the
Building a relationship with the City of guys in our The besT advice
you've received:
Brantford and the RCAF there, and get- entrepreneurship
ting a facility where we could build a program is an artist. Youre only in
proper aircraft. Before that, wed get up Three of his one business: the
at 3 a.m. and assemble our aircrafts in muralsof Canadas trust business.
photographs: godsall, mural courtesy of solar ship; ibrahim by getty images

farmers fields. That was just ludicrous. North, Africa and Never be frugal
Chinaare on
your big-Time backers: our wall.
about your
Our catalytic investors were the efforts to build
entrepreneur Scott Griffin, as well as trust with
philanthropists John and Sally Horsfall people.
Eaton. Zenair and Liu Ruopeng, the Elon
GET TAKE OUT Musk of China, have also invested.
589 COLLEGE ST currenT company valuaTion:
(416) 588-6006 More than $50 million
your Tech
The worsT advice
you've received:
role model:
Mo Ibrahim. Focus on
app you canT if you He introduced the business plans
ORDER DELIVERY live wiThouT:
Google Earth.
werenT running
a sTarT-up:
cellphone to Africa. and numbers
PIZZERIALIBRETTO.COM I would be first, then build
really rich from trust with
investing in other people.
entrepreneurs.

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At Lavelle, the opportunities for a good time are
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Urban
Diplomat
My American cousin is a rabid Trump supporter. Almost
every morning, I wake up to another one of his pro-Donald,
anti-immigrant tirades on Facebook. My wife, who was
born in Sudan, is also his Facebook friend, and a few of his
rants have really upset her. Wed unfriend the guy, but we
dont want to stir up any family drama: well see him at a
wedding this summer and every Christmas until the end of
time. What should we do?
Donald Ducking, Port Union
Thankfully, Facebook figured out long pany beanbag chairs. The success of
ago that youre not going to be inter- the Google-esque creative workplace
ested in each and every baby picture/ model depends on staff who arent
cat video/political diatribe posted by feckless layabouts, so set some limits
your 600 friends. If you dont want to on playtime, reward the achievers and
unfriend this wannabe Breitbart corre- be prepared to sack the deadwood if
spondent, you and your wife can sim- they dont step up.
ply unfollow his posts, and theyll stop
appearing in your feedno public dis- Dear Urban Diplomat,
play of disaffection necessary. But I identify as genderqueer. Ive asked
youre not likely to get through four my friends to refer to me using neutral
years of holiday fam jams without butt- pronouns (my preference: they, them),
ing heads with your cousin, so be pre- but one of them just isnt getting ithe
pared to be the Bernie to his Bannon if regularly misgenders me. Im not sure
it comes down to it. whether hes absent-minded or trying
to make a point. Either way, it makes
Dear Urban Diplomat, me feel uncomfortable and disregarded,
I recently got a job managing a young and I find myself avoiding him.
development team at a start-up, and the Got any suggestions?
office is awesome: we have catered Mistaken Identity, Dovercourt Park
lunches, a nap lounge, a games room
pretty much everything short of a slide. Its taken most of the world millennia
Problem is, the perks are getting in the to start accepting alternative gender
way of actual work. Every time I try to definitions, so cut your friend a bit of
book a meeting, my team seems to be slack for not catching on right away.
playing Ping-Pong or getting an in- Next time he uses the wrong pronoun,
office massage. How do I tell them to firmly tell him how you feel without
grow up and get to it? Or am I just in accusing him of doing it intentionally.
the wrong office? If hes receptive and agrees to try, be
All Work No Play, King West patient as the two of you adjust, and
gently correct him when he slips up.
Cracking down on office fun will make But, if he dismisses you or outright
your brogrammer subordinates blue refuses, its time to friend-dump him.
and maybe even less productive. If the guy wont change a few words out
Recent studies have shown that brief of deference to you, chances are he
breaks, like 10-minute power naps or cant be counted on for support when
jam sessions, can boost focus, memory you need it either.
and problem-solving skills. That said,
it sounds like your employees are tak- Send your questions to the Urban Diplomat
ing one too many siestas on the com- at urbandiplomat@torontolife.com

WHERE TO EAT
by
m a r k pupo 2017 photogr a ph y by
dav e gille spie
Caniss roast duck

with sunchoke and
wheat berry
THE TOp 20 NEW R EsTAuR A NTs

It s stILL EARLY, but 2017 is already setting a breakneck pace for restaurant trends.
Among our citys current obsessions: wood-fired grilling, preserved vintage diners, restaurants
that double as bouncer-guarded nightclubs, chic veganism, Filipino home cooking, and a
comfort food renaissance to calm our trump-strained nerves. But my favourite phenomenon of
the moment is the sudden surplus of small, excellent chef-run restaurants. these places, includ-
ing my number one restaurant of the year, are personal, intimate and authenticexactly what
we need in a time of alternative facts. the following pages are my recommendations for where to
eat in 2017. Despite everything, its turning into a pretty great year.

Where to eAt 2017
TOUGH TABLE
Youll need to keep those
elbows tucked while dig-
ging into the bone-in lamb
shank and lemon potatoes:
the cozy room has only six
tables for 12 diners. Every-
one else? Start jockeying
1
for one of the 16 bar stools.
No.
Brothers Food & Wine

1 2 4 0 B ay S t . , 416 - 8 0 4 - 6 0 6 6
The ciT y s besT new resTaur anT is so nondescript as to be

invisible. Occupying a former greasy spoon thats cheek-to-cheek
with Bay Station, the entire place is no bigger than a railroad car.
Christopher White and Jonathan Nicolau, the bearded, bearish
guys in charge, didnt bother to announce the November opening
with a big social media campaign. They seemed to hope the curi-
ous would wander in, note the jug of wildflowers in the window
and the double fridge packed with phenomenal wines, like what
they see and never want to leave.
Im now a regular at Brothers, and, every time I visit, theres
something more incredible to eat. Ive loved the beef carpaccio
layered with charred radicchio and pine nuts; the roasted half
Cornish hen on a bed of creamed savoy cabbage and chestnuts;
the gnocchi, somehow both dense and downy, hiding nuggets
of pecorino and nutty mushrooms; the seared hunks of veal

sweetbreads under a wig of frise; and the
slow-roasted shank of a Niagara lamb, with
tangy fennel and briny capers.
White and Nicolau are longtime friends
who only look like brothers. They chose
the restaurant name because it sounded
unpretentious and instantly classic. The
two began planning their own place while
working at Terroni, one of the citys more
dependable talent pools. In the intervening
years, White did stints at the always-
excellent Dandylion while Nicolau cooked
1. Beef carpaccio with charred at Bar Raval and Bar Isabel, as well as
radicchio, toasted pine nuts St. John, the London restaurant that
and olive oil inspired a generation of Fergus Henderson
2. Brothers co-owners followers to embrace seasonal and nose-
Christopher White and
to-tail cooking. I detect all of those influ-
Jonathan Nicolau, who are
friends, not siblings ences on Nicolaus no-frills menu, which
3. Citrus yogurt cake with sea changes daily and is a cheat sheet to his
buckthorn berries favourite suppliers and farmers.
4. Persimmon rounds, charred This year, weve seen a lot of chefs open
escarole and shavings of small restaurants where they can cook
Ontario ewes milk cheese whatever they like. Brothers is the most
evolvedthe leader of the pack. While
Nicolau works the ovens, White greets
1
guests, remembering every face. He starts
you off with crusty sourdough and a glass
of wine, perhaps from a small biodynamic
operation that has been run by the same
family for four centuries and caught the
eye of house sommelier Courtney Stebbings.
Theyre preoccupied with building a rep-
ertoire, not with doing whatevers trending.
Nicolau transports diners to Burgundy, to
California, to Macedonia and to London.
Then the Bloor line rumbles underfoot,
and youre back home.
For the first months, he baked one
dessert: a lemony semolina pound cake
with a dollop of cream and tart sea buck-
thorn. Its simple, delicious and perfect. As
the city grows taller and more impersonal,
we need more Brothers.
2 3
Month 2013 toronto life 51

4
2
No. Bene. He opened DomaKorean for sous vide and glazes with honey, delicate
cutting boardlast fall. Cooking modern cucumber granita, microgreens, springy
Korean, Kim is clearly inspired by David and translucent noodles of konjac jelly,
Changs Momofuku but also by the high and matchstick pearan update of Susur
priests of French cuisine, and even more Lees famous Singapore slaw. One dessert,
by his own childhood in Seoul. He releases his take on a lemon meringue pie, combines
a new menu each month. You can order mugwort ice cream, artfully torn chunks
Doma la carte or try everything for $65 a person, of eggy sponge cake and a wodge of yuzu
which is an unbelievable bargain. meringue. Get a table now, so you can say
5 0 C C l i nto n S t . , 416 - 5 51-15 5 0 During my last visit, dinner started you were there when he made his debut.
with a steamed bun, sticky and squid-ink
1. Sweet potato foam and sweet potato chip
Lets hope Doma survives the curse of black, stuffed with caramelized onions topped with red bean pure
50C. The Little Italy address is a revolv- and mushrooms. Eight courses followed, 2. Steamed tofu with a chestnut pure
ing door of restaurantsit was previously each prettier than the last. My favourite 3. Roasted cauliflower with quinoa and
home to Backwoods Smokehouse and was the strip loin, which he marinates in a soy-yuzu glaze
Whisky Bar, Red Sauce and, most missed soybean paste, wraps in pickled perilla 4. Grilled octopus with konjac jelly and pear
of all, Acadia (which was also retooled leaves and sides with cubes of scalloped 5. Duck breast and duck confit dumplings
6. Poached lobster on lobster bisque
several times). potatoes and creamed kale. Tied for 7. Pork belly with celeriac and soy-chili
The new owner, Paul Kim, is an a close second are his duck two ways (a gastrique
unknown who worked the line at GTA golf seared breast and duck confit dumplings), 8. A selection of petit fours
clubs and apprenticed at Buca and Nota and a salad of octopus tentacle he cooks 9. Bread pudding with crme anglaise
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
52 toronto life Month 2013

WHERE To EaT 2017
PIZZA PICK
Piano Pianos Bitters pizza
3
is, hands down, the citys
best. Its perfectly blistered No.
and topped with fior di
latte, parmesan, dandelion
greens, kale, garlic, chili
flakes and lemon.
piano piano
8 8 H a rb o r d S t . , 416 - 9 2 9 -7 7 8 8
I wasnt the only one who felt a pang when

Splendido closed. It was, for 20-plus years,
where we went to be spoiled rotten by our
most god-like chefs. Two words: champagne
cart. And I wasnt the only one who cringed
when word got out that chef-owner Victor
Barry was replacing the storied room with
a family-friendly pizza jointthere would,
he said, be a kids menu.
But Piano Piano turned out to be some-
thing much more ambitious. There is pizza,
its truemy pick for the finest in the city,
with dough made from heritage wheat and
exquisite toppings (oozing fior di latte,
well-aged parm, dandelion greens, nduja
so spicy youll become a fire-breather, and
other delectable options). Then there are
Barrys luxe pastaspumpkin-stuffed
agnolotti, springy cavatelli with oyster
mushrooms, a sensational carbonaraas
well as fancy cuts (bone-in veal chops,
18-ounce rib-eyes) you wont find at your
average red-sauce spot. Traces of Splendido
live on in the caesar salad, which Barry
elevates into something sublime, combin-
ing grilled wedges of romaine, roasted pork
belly and fresh white anchovy. Its Italian
grandmother cookingif your nonna knew
her way around a five-star kitchen.

WHeRe TO eaT 2017
4
No.
A FETCHING FISH
La Bananes Eurobass
en Crote is the dish
most likely to make
you ask the server,
what did they order?
Each fish is latticed in la banane
golden pastry, then
finished with a yuzu 2 2 7 O s s i n g to n Ave . , 416 - 5 51- 6 2 6 3
beurre blanc.
Brandon olsens fried chicken was the

star of the menu during his time at Bar
Isabel, and it was why we stalked him at
festivals and pop-ups. So you should know:
he doesnt fry birds at La Banane, but you
should still breach the yellow door. Hes
showing us his polished, Francophile
white-linens-and-amuse-bouche side.
Not that La Banane is another rote bistro.
Its a lot more funlike a year-round New
Years Eve dinner party with flapper-era
cocktails in fluted glasses, an ice-bed raw
bar and a disco soundtrack. No surprise,
perhaps, that the same guy who executed
so many consistently crunchy thighs also
crafts the citys finest example of a pt en
crote, with golden pastry encasing peppery
duck-pork stuffing and a cap of wine gele.
He serves it with moutarde violettea
throwback technique of sweetening grainy
mustard with grape must and clove. Julia
Child would approve of how he finishes his
creamy crab and paella gratin in the crus-
taceans shell, how he intensifies the plush-
ness of raw scallop with garlicky buttermilk
and leek oil, and how he achieves that
extremely rare thing: a correct omelette
crisp exterior, nearly custardy within, timed
to the microsecond. An omelette for dinner
is one of the more peculiarly French tradi-
tionsreally, another excuse to order caviar
(for an extra $80). Although La Banane is
terrific, well have to wait and see if it catches
on like Olsens original poultry feat.

5
chef Jeff Kang worked at Bosk, the res-
No.
taurant at the Shangri-La, where every
plate is photogenic but not always excit-
ing to eat. At Canis, his first headlining
act, he proves hes the real deal. Take how
he layers strips of cured trout with wafers
of pickled cucumber and radish on a pool
canis of horseradish-infused cream, marrying
the briny and the tart, the lusciously soft
74 6 Q ue e n S t . W. , 416 - 2 0 3 - 3 3 17 and the crunchy. The composition reminded
me of ocean waves or the most glorious
1970s woven wall art.
Kang says hes aiming to help define
Canadian cuisine. Hes taken notes from
the new Nordic movement and the tenets
of locavorism. He advocates a hushed
minimalismwhich puts him in a league
with Dandylion, Boralia and Actinolite
most visible in the grey walls, grey-aproned
servers and unadorned wood panelling.
But lets not over-intellectualize. Ill go
back for the whole-roasted duck, its skin
a burnished gold; a salad of pickled beets
and goats milk ricotta; and braised lamb
shoulder under a blanket of parti-coloured
DUCK TALES
Caniss signature duck carrot and daikon rounds. And Ill return
for two is dry-aged on for a milk chocolate mousse, buckwheat
hay for two weeks ice cream and shards of meringue. Kang
before being cooked wants to remind us of glaciers, though
sous vide for three
what glacier tastes this sweet?
hours, dramatically
scored, then roasted to
a state of juicy, crack-
ling beauty.
1. Chef Jeff
Kang, ex of the
Shangri-Las Bosk
2. Albacore tuna
with chunks of
radish and an herb
emulsion
1 2

WHERE TO EAT 2017
DUTCH DGUSTATION
The gut-busting rijsttafel
1 feast at Noorden, for groups
6
of six or more, includes
20-plus dishesand a hefty
No. helping of potatoes and rice
for good measure.
nOORdEn
2 1 10 Yo n ge S t . , 416 - 4 8 8 - 2 1 10
Jennifer Gittins and Michael van den

Winkel have cornered the (admittedly
small) Toronto market for Dutch-Indonesian
cuisine. The kitchen of Little Sister, their
midtown bar, turns out stunningly complex
Indonesian stews and skewered meats.
Across Yonge, they recently replaced
Quince, a niceif genericbistro, with 2
Noorden, which has a more emphatically and smoky bacon). One forkful will fill you
Dutch, potato-driven menu that forays into up for a week. This is drinking food, best
Southeast Asia. accompanied by a gin cocktail (the bar offers
I recommend going with a group of 50-plus varieties). I killed a budding cold
friendsno low-carb dieters allowedand with an Angry Dutchman, which combines
sharing everything on the menu, especially Bols Genever, elderflower liqueur and an
the bitterballen (potato croquettes with hot over-generous dose of
mustard), ribs glazed with sambal, grilled chili water. And Im 1. The former
cabbage (more sambal, plus the heat of presently taking names Quince bistro,
now a Dutch-Indo
rendang oil), ribbons of squash carpaccio for a rijsttafela book- destination
with candied pepitas and micro-cubes of ahead 23-dish feast 2. Jennifer Gittins
beet (for a light breather), and a stamppot of rice, meat and, yes, and Michael
(a mashed-potato boat filled with gravy potatoes. van den Winkel

7
No. When youre not in the mood for a 14-hour
flight to Buenos Aires, youd do well at this
handsome series of art deco rooms on the
southeast corner of the Saks-Bay complex.
Anthony Walsh, O&Bs top chef, got his
inspiration, and his empanada recipe, from
his Argentinian mother-in-law, Elena
lea Arevalo. South American cuisine is an
experiment for a man synonymous with
176 Yo n ge S t . , 416 - 5 0 7- 3 3 7 8
expense-account tasting menus, though
theres no mistaking the O&B polish: plush
banquettes, deep wine list, servers always
at your command without hovering. The
cooking, however, is bright and relaxed.
Must-haves are a dish of salt cod, pickled
red onion, deep-fried cumin-dusted chick-
peas, fresh fava beans and cilantro scooped
up on toasts (they call it a salad, which
undersells the awesome textures), and the
roasted rabbit on an extraordinarily fla-
vourful bed of rice cooked with tomatoes
and snails. Those empa-
1. The standout
nadas, with sweet pas-
roasted rabbit
try encasing peppery 2. Walsh and
ground beef, slices of executive chef Julie
egg and plump black Marteleira
olives, live up to all 3. Leas savoury
the hype. empanadas
1 2
A ROOM REBORN
This light-filled, art
deco dining room
was once a humdrum
Hudsons Bay atrium.
The O&B restaurant
group made the rooms
striking central pillar
the centrepiece for the
hexagonal bar.

WHERE TO EAT 2017
8
No. Ive been a Jonathan Poon fanboy for and a heavy blanket of shaved parmesan.
years, following him from Chantecler to The pizza isnt up there with Piano Pianos,
Bar Fancy. Now, he and fellow Bar Fancier but its still great, especially the variation
Jesse Fader have conquered Ossington with on a Hawaiian with mortadella in place of
a hipster pizza-and-pasta joint that would ham. The chefs make an extra-creamy
be insufferable if it werent so terrifically caesar salad topped with what turns
good. Among the 2017 hipster crimes: the out to be No Name potato stickstoo clever
supERpOinT jagged neon signage, the 80s rawk by half, but surprisingly tasty. In the fall,
soundtrack, the anti-gourmet wink-wink they made a wonder-
18 4 O s s i n g to n Av e . , 416 - 519 - 6 9 9 6 menu items (shrimp spring rolls) and the fully simple salad of
sheer number of patrons in tuques. But ripe Ontario tomatoes, 1. The wardrobe-
inspiring
the food: wow. The reason I go back so canned peaches and Hawaiian pie
often, despite the tuques, is the pastain burrata. Reservations 2. Jonathan Poon,
particular, a reginette in a red sauce are scarce, so plan 90s pizzeria
overloaded with slow-cooked beef cheek ahead. nostalgist
PIE PERFECTIONISM
Chef Jesse Fader took
more than 100 tries to
perfect his dough
recipe: half high-gluten
flour and half Italian
00 flour, cold fer-
mented for 24 hours,
topped and finished in
a Vulcan deck oven.
9
No.
adamson barbecue
176 Wic k s te e d Ave . , 6 47- 5 5 9 - 2 0 8 0
BarBecue makes people do extreme

thingslike take a weekly pilgrimage
to an East York industrial park and
line up hours before the door opens
for Lone Starstyle stuff thats as
authentic as it gets this far north.
Adam Skelly, who co-owns the
smokehouse with his girlfriend,
Alison Hunt, uses wood-fuelled
smokers and hand-slices brisket by
the pound. For the ultimate experi-
ence, order the Texas Trinityits
intended to feed two but can easily
satisfy four. Skelly fills an aluminum
cafeteria tray with half a pound of
brisket, half a pound of ribs, your
choice of sausage, sides like a creamy
potato salad with red pepper and
scallion, baked beans, plus fixings
(pickles, onion and house-made white
bread for soaking up precious drip-
pings). The most appropriate bever-
age to wash all that down is Big Red,
a Texas brand of cream soda that
Skelly, clearly an expert in extreme
foods, imports himself.

WHERE TO EAT 2017 A PAEAN TO PAELLA
Awais rendition can
be called paella with a
straight face, even
minus the shellfish. Its
an umami bomb of
black arborio and wild
rice, mushrooms, truf-
fles and huitlacoche.
10
No. a vegetarian restaurantthe Persian
carpet wall hangings, Joni Mitchell and
tisane selection are dead giveawayseven
the most hard-core meathead will suc-
cumb to Isbergs ravioli stuffed with
braised artichokes; his flatbreads black-
ened from a wood-fired oven and loaded
AWAi with cherry tomatoes, their fruitiness
intensified by a complex herb mixture
2 2 7 7 B lo o r S t . W. , 6 47- 6 4 3 - 3 1 3 2 that includes floral, Quebec-sourced
sweetfern, alder tip and juniper; his
Vegetarians, once consigned to the salad crisp-fried baby eggplant with creamy
section of the menu, have a lot to be thank- insides brought into relief by a zesty
ful for. Plant-based restaurants recently chermoula; and his black arborio and
spread roots around the city, and even wild rice paella, with a funky trio of 2
erstwhile foie gras worshippers like Nota oyster mushrooms, black truffles and
Benes David Lee have all but sworn off huitlacoche, plus a scattering of puffed
animal products. My pick of the crop is rice for extra texture. He offers salads,
the new west-end home of Nathan Isberg, too, including one dazzler with candy-like
formerly of the Atlantic. Hes one of our overnight-roasted apple, quick-pickled
most cerebral chefs. His every plate is a onion and various
1. Wood-fired cocas
dissertation on the culture and evolution shoots and sprouts,
with fire-braised
of taste. That makes him sound like a but it doesnt feel like cherry tomatoes
bore, but hes truly an incredible cook. a return to the salad 2. Ex-Atlantic chef
While theres no mistaking that Awai is days of the past. Nathan Isberg

11
No.
maple leaf tavern

9 5 5 G e r r a r d S t . E . , 416 - 4 6 5 - 0 9 5 5
The secreT To This place isnt the million dollars sunk into
the century-old buildings restoration, or the potency of the
double Manhattan, which is so popular its on tap. Its not the
old-timey jumbo shrimp cocktails or the all-star cooking team
(though theyre greatpulled from spots like the Spoke Club,
Scaramouche and the Saint). The secret is the kitchens built-
in wood-fired grill with racks raised and lowered by custom
pulleys. Wood-grilled everything is as trendy as it gets this
year, and any restaurant would be lucky to have this set-up.
Executive chef Jesse Vallins grills veggies and whole potatoes,
whole fish, he-man tomahawk chops, mutton and rib-eye.
The smoky, charred outcome is like campfire cooking, only
far better.
12
No.
montgomerys
9 9 6 Q ue e n S t . W. , 6 47-74 8 - 4 416
T h e f i r s T s i g n s arent promising: a
rickety door leading into a fluorescent-lit
antechamber, the odour of vinegar thick
in the air, and a cave-like dining room of
industrial carpeting and mismatched teak.
You could be in a church soup kitchen, not
one of the most-anticipated restaurants of
the year. Guy Rawlings first grabbed atten-
tion during his stint at Dundas Wests
Brockton General, where he made magic
1
from humble ingredients. He left to help
manage Bar Isabel, among other gigs, and
his fans waited five long years for him to to brush on a salmon collar, repurposes
return to a stove. At Montgomerys (its the leftover whey from cultured cheese in a
family name of his wife, Kim), hes pre- vegetable dish and smokes the mustard
occupied with pickled veg and air-cured that accompanies a goose cretonpays off.
meats, and the result is one of the most Once youve joined Rawlingss cult, all
peculiar and fascinating menus around. is heavenly.
Supersour fermented cabbages and roots
serve as a snack. He douses slices of field
tomatoes in a hot sauce, and yet a sprinkling
1. The dimly lit dining room, brightened with
of dried mint is what catches you off candlesand a unicorn
guard. His fixation on the labour-intensive 2. Quick-pickled celery, salt-roasted celeriac, 2
and handmadehe brews his own vinegar Italian parsley and sunflower aoli

Experience contemporary Iranian art and enjoy
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WhErE To EaT 2017
1 2
13
people who Keep TraCK of these things all agree that Filipino 1. Turon with ube ice
No. food is currently the trendiest. Toronto, with its large Filipino cream is a sweet way
population and ambitious second-gen chefs, can take some credit to end a meal at Lasa
2. The counter-
for this. Its the ultimate fusion cuisine, melding the spiciness of service restaurant is
India, the shrimp pastebased dishes of Malaysia and the predi- a casual follow-up
lections of China (rice and spring rolls figure prominently) with to Lamesa
souvenirs from hundreds of years of contact with traders and
colonists. This midtown spot, my favourite of the new wave, is a spinoff of Queen Wests
lasa Lamesa, which introduced downtowners to home-cooking classics usually found in
6 3 4 S t . C l a i r Av e . W. , 6 47- 3 4 3 -1 1 10 outer-GTA strip-mall eateries. Come for a lunch of skewered pork (tangy from a mari-
nade of ginger, soy and 7-Up); squash and bok choy poached in a coconut-miso broth;
lumpia Shanghai (ground porkstuffed spring rolls); oxtail stew fragrant with garlic
and peanut sauce; rice served with deep-fried tofu and a fried duck egg; and, in the
summer months, halo-halo, a Day-Glo dessert of shaved ice, flan and taro ice cream.
14
No. Ive heard gossIp that Grant
van Gameren, the relentlessly
successful chef behind Bar
Raval and Bar Isabel, has no
less than a dozen new business
concepts in the works. Maybe
its Bunyan-esque hyperbole,
harrys charbroil but it squares with the past year,
when he opened three: the
16 0 S pr i n g hu r s t Ave . , 416 - 5 3 2 - 2 9 0 8 mescal-centric El Rey (No. 17
on this list), a cocktail bar called
Pretty Ugly and this spot, a
takeover of an ancient Parkdale diner. He left the look intact, including the
patchwork linoleum floors, smoky-mirrored walls and tabletop jukeboxes
(last updated circa Beat It). The short-order menu, however, has been
van Gameren-ized. Be sure to get the burger with a green chorizo patty, its
heat slightly tempered by a sweet tomatillo relish. Im also a fan of the skirt
steak on a bun, which is especially good dipped in a bowl of gravy (by request),
and the Miami-style ribs, which are sweet, tender and paired with a tart
green sauce. Nearly everything comes with chunky fries. Theyre crispy and
addictive, though Id try to save room for a dessert special like cherry
crumble with vanilla ice cream. Experience Harrys while you can: it sits
Theres nothing plain about
next to a now-closed No Frills and one of the neighbourhoods last-surviving
Harrys Plain Jane burger
parking lotsin other words, prime condo territory.

WHErE To EaT 2017
1. The 90-seat
dining room
one of four distinct
seating areas in
the sprawling
King West space
2. Chef Steve
Gonzalezs
signature arroz
chaufa
15
No.
ardo
2 4 3 K i n g S t . E . , 6 47- 3 47- 8 9 3 0
There s a rule dating back

2
many decades that family-run
2
Italian restaurants require
black-and-white photos of
16
1950s street urchins, a Sinatra Chef sTeve Gonzalezs great-
No.
soundtrack and at least one est invention is a riff on the
bumbling server from a Fawlty Peruvian fried rice dish arroz
Towers casting. But few of them chaufa. He serves his in a
have a chef-owner like Roberto heated stone bibimbap bowl
Marotta. Hes as dashing as a and adds duck confit, squeaky-
Fellini star and a sophisticated baro fresh edamame and tobiko,
4 8 5 K i n g S t . W. , 416 - 3 6 3 - 8 3 8 8
interpreter of Sicilian classics, then stirs it all together with
which translates to piping-hot egg and enough chili to let you
arancini as big as goose eggs, 3 know he isnt messing around. Id easily scrape away at the
beautifully charred and tender rice grains caramelized on the bowls surface all night on my
octopus with caponata, couscous and mus- 1. Spaghetti with own. But, like ValdezGonzalezs last King West spot, which
sels with Moroccan spices, and lighter- fresh sardines closed to make way for a condo towerBaro is designed for
than-light gnocchi in a supercreamy mush- 2. Chef Roberto partying, with its sharing plates of ponzu-spiked hamachi
room sauce. The only proper way to end Marotta ceviche and beef empanadas (both commendable), and its long
3. Chocolate mousse
the night is with a thimble of bitter amaro, (very, very long) list of tequilas. Theres even a secret lounge
with biscotti and
and a candied orange and fresh ricotta shaved-ice coffee on the second floor thats only accessible with a password that
cannolione of the citys best. changes daily. Im content with my crunchy rice.

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WHERE TO EAT 2017
17
No. The off-menu
High Rolla ramen,
with shrimp,
Chinese sausage
and pickled egg
El REy
2 A Ke n s i n g to n Av e . , no p h o ne
Grant van Gamerens mescal

bar in Kensington has a short
menu thats unlike our other
Mexican options. The kitchen
is run by Kate Chomyshyn and
Julio Guajardo, who start the
day grinding corn for the
incomparably fresh tortillas
used for cheese quesadillas and tostadas 1. The view from El
topped with short ribs and a richer-than- Rays Kensington
Midas mole. Most of the seats are outside Avenue patio
on the patio. Theres no better spot to share 2. Skewers of grilled
beef heart with
skewers of Peruvian-style beef hearts and
chimichurri
chimichurri, oysters with house-made
hot sauces, and a flight (or several) of
premium mescal.
18
Whenever I felt a cold coming
No.
on this winter, Id head to
Craig Wongs new Chinatown
restauranthis comeback after
Patois, his Chinese-Jamaican
fusion spot, was destroyed
jAckpOT cHickEn in a block fire. His chicken,
3 1 8 S p a d i n a Av e . , 416 -7 9 2 - 8 6 2 8
poached Hainanese-style in a
winter melon broth and served
on a bed of schmaltz-fried rice along with a bowl of chicken
broth and (more) winter melon soup, is the closest thing to a
curative. Less healthful, but well worth it, are appetizers
like deep-fried tempura broccoli dressed with Kewpie mayo,
shrimp potstickers enhanced with Japanese curry paste, and
chips of crisped chicken skin painted with house-dehydrated
sriracha sauce.

Authentic ingredients. Inspired taste.
From the bustling street markets of Southeast Asia.
HAND VEGAN GLUTEN

CRAFTED FRIENDLY FREE
WHERE TO FIND US Yonge & Finch (SUMMER 2017) Scarborough Town Centre (WINTER 2017)
Square One York University (SUMMER 2017) Royal Bank Plaza (2018)
Ryerson University SLC Sheppard Centre (2018)
Queen & Spadina Bathurst & College (2018) THEBASILBOX.COM
WHere To eaT 2017
Traditional steak frites

on a pool of bordelaise
19
No.
menami
5 4 6 9 Yo n ge S t . , 416 - 2 2 9 - 6 1 9 1
AfTer A few Too many years of

geeking out on ramen, Ive
decided Im really an udon guy,
especially if Im in the vicinity
of this (way, way) uptown iza-
kaya. The chef, Hwan Jeong,
pulls his noodles fresh on prem-
ises in a climate-controlled room.
20
His menu lists 18-plus varieties, The prize for ugliesT restau-
No.
from the fairly conventional rant exterior goes to Anthony
(udon with spicy pork, and udon Roses newest location, his
with dried shrimp and seaweed) fourth in a handful of Dupont
to the slightly freaky (udon blocks. (Midtowners dont
coated with black sesame pure seem to mind his monopoly.)
such that it resembles worms, bar begonia But behind the grey stucco
2 5 2 D up o nt S t . , 6 47- 3 5 2 - 3 3 3 7
and udon baked with shrimp, and greenhouse windows is a
scallops and bacon in an approx- handsome room of marble-top
imation of a mac and cheese tables, bistro chairs and an impressively stocked bar overseen
tasty in small doses). My go-to by the Toronto Temperance Society cocktail wizard Oliver
2
is the kake: room-temp noodles Stern. To eat, there are breezily assured renditions of bistro
in a chilled broth with a gener- standards: endive and shallot vinaigrette, mussels steamed in
ous grating of ginger and green onion. Its 1. MeNamis hand- white wine, steak frites with a pool of bordelaise, and snacky
the best way to appreciate the chewiness pulled udon noodles bites like gougres and roasted veg to dip in aoli. As at Roses
and springiness of the fresh noodles. I swear, 2. An uptown respite other spots, Bar Begonia doesnt take reservations, which is a
from ramen
youll be so mesmerized, you wont notice pain when youre stuck waiting outside, knowing the view
youre slurping cold soup. inside is so much better.

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I was a young ER doctor
with a perfect life: gorgeous
wife, three kids and a
beautiful waterfront house.
Then I got hooked on

fentanyl and lost it all
by d a r r y l g e b i e n
a s t o l d t o k at h e r i n e l a i d l a w | p h o t o g r a p h by c h r i s t o p h e r w a h l
to med school at the University of Queensland in Australia and
did my residency in emergency medicine in Michigan.
In 2007, I visited my parents on vacation in Florida. I slept
on the couch and, during the night, I displaced the disc in my
back. The pain was much stronger than what Id experienced
in high school. My mother, who had prescriptions for her own
back issuesshed slipped on wet stairs a few years before I was
borngave me a powerful opioid called Dilaudid to soothe it. I
knew I liked it too much. The back pain melted away, but so did
everything else. It was like taking a happy pill. I immediately
felt calm, relaxed, brighter and more wakeful than usual. Later
that month, I sprained my thumb playing hockey. I went to the
hospital, where the doctor asked me if I wanted codeine-based
I was just a Tylenol 3s or oxycodone-based Percocet. I chose the latter. I

knew Percs were the stronger of the two and I wanted to know
just how strong. The feeling was greatsimilar to how Id
year old when

felt on Dilaudid that morning in Florida. My first bottle of
Percocets30 tiny white pillslasted about a year.
In 2008, following stints as a cruise-ship doctor and an air-
ambulance physician, I landed an ER job in Saint John, New
I had my first
Brunswick. At the bar one night, I met a blond girl named Katie,
a personal support worker at a pain clinic. I was taken by her
eyes, a light bluish-grey Id never seen before. It took me a
couple of tries, but, eventually, she agreed to go out with me. In
experience
February 2009, I moved back to Toronto to take a job as an ER
doctor at the York Central Hospital, and Katie and her two-year-
old daughter soon followed. They rented an apartment at Bathurst
and Steeles, and began settling into a routine.
with opioids.
I found a new doctor in Toronto who prescribed me another
30 Percocets for my back, and I started taking them more often.
After a few weeks, the pain subsided, and I stopped using them,
but I stashed the extras, maybe half the bottle, in my medicine
cabinet. One Friday night, some buddies came over for a few
I was born with a hiatal hernia, which constricted my esopha- beers and some PlayStation golf, and I popped a few Percocets.
gus and caused me to reflux like crazy. I couldnt keep breast It wasnt some big decision, but, in hindsight, I realize that was
milk down and I became malnourished, tiny and weak. One the moment I crossed the line. It was the first time I took them
night, my parents, Gayle and Morty Gebien, rushed me to the purely recreationally. They gave me a fuzzy, happy feeling I
hospital. I was dehydrated and spitting up everything they tried couldnt access any other way. Soon, I was dipping into my
to get me to eat or drink. The doctors told my parents to prepare bottle once every few weeksif Katie and I were going camping
themselves for the possibility that I wouldnt live through the with friends or if I needed a boost of energy to play with Katies
night. They brought me into surgery and gave me morphine for daughter after a long shift. She couldnt tell when I was high
the pain. Maybe thats where it all began. and, at first, neither could Katie. The following year, in early
Ive always had a difficult time coping with stress. I sucked 2011, we learned that Katie was pregnant with a boy and we
my thumb until I was eight years old. I started smoking at age bought a five-bedroom stone house at Bathurst and Sheppard.
14 and never stopped. In high school, I was a pothead, and so My parents lived a short drive away and were proud grand-
were most of my friends. I dropped acid and did ecstasy a hand- parents. They were over at least once a week, but my mom and
ful of times. Academically, I was apathetic, skipping class often Katie didnt get along. Katie felt they were too involved in her
and bringing home terrible report cards. One day, when I was daughters lifethey werent biologically related, after all. My
17, I went golfing with friends. When I got home, my back began mom would get upset if Katies daughter didnt call her on her
to ache, a dull pain like a hand wrapping around my spine and birthday. A series of slights, real and imagined, between my
squeezing it tight. I didnt know it then, but I had a herniated mother and Katie culminated in an exchange of profanity-laden
disc. I lay down on the floor of my bedroom, and it felt like my emails. I became the rope in a vicious tug-of-war. My mother
vertebrae were shifting beneath me. Eventually, the sensation would tell me to assert myself and be a man. Katie would say
passed, and I got up. I wasnt standing up for her. Eventually, Katie asked me to choose
The next year, I started volunteering at a hospital in Richmond between her and my parents. I was dedicated to making my life
Hill, folding blankets, mopping floors and stocking shelves. Thats with Katie work, so I told my parents that they werent welcome
when I first considered becoming a doctor. I studied science at the at the house anymore. Shortly after that, Katie and I flew to Las
University of Toronto Scarborough, but my grades werent strong Vegas to get married. A little more than a year later, she gave
enough to get me into medical school, so I moved to Montreal and birth to our second child together, a girl. My parents werent
did a masters in molecular biology at McGill. After that, I went there for the birth, which broke my heart.

Above, the author with his wife and kids on his Gayle Gebien, above, gave her son a few
wedding night in 2012. At right, with his son at fentanyl patches for his back pain. He took them
school in September 2013 home and Googled How to smoke fentanyl
Over time, I began to rely on the was wrong, but I popped a Percocet
pills not just to help my back pain
but also to cope emotionally. Initially, I made and immediately felt relieved. I
wondered if I had been experiencing
I went to my doctor every couple of
months, then once a month and then $300,000 a year withdrawal symptoms, but I felt
ashamed even considering it. I dealt
every couple of weeks. He recom- with patients every day and didnt see
mended that I exercise, lose weight and owned a myself as one. Throughout my career
and see a physiotherapist, but he as a doctor, I was trained to believe I
always filled my prescription. He boat and a Lexus was infallible. As far back as medical
never told me it was too much. school, we were told that, no matter
In August 2012, I got a job as an SUV, but my what, you dont call in sick; you show
emergency room doctor at the up. So, even though I knew I was in
Royal Victoria Regional Health
Centre in Barrie. Katie and I bought
marriage was in trouble, I didnt ask for help.
As the months went on, I continued
a spectacular five-bedroom house
on the waterfront, at the end of a
free fall using. That May, I was visiting my
folks when I started having with-
cul-de-sac. We had a dock and a drawal symptoms. I asked my mom
boat. I was making roughly $300,000 for a few fentanyl patches and she
a year. I bought Katie a Lexus SUV, obliged, thinking that I just needed
which we eventually traded in for relief for my back pain. She had a
an Audi Q7. But our marriage was deteriorating. We were argu- prescription for the opioid, which is up to a hundred times more
ing all the timeabout my family, about my parenting. Id powerful than morphine. The intensely potent drug is usually
reprimand her daughter for misbehaving, and Katie would doled out in surgery or given to patients with chronic pain who
undermine me, saying, Daddys just had a bad day. Katie had have built up a tolerance to other opioids. The transparent
also noticed my drug use, which had gone from two pills a day squares, which at the time looked a little like clear Band-Aids,
to as many as eight. We fought about it at least once a week. She contained two layers: one with the slow-release drug and one
wanted me to get help, but I always refused. Seeking help would thats skin adhesive. I slapped one on my back and stashed the
have meant two things: one, admitting that I had a problem; and others for later.
two, admitting that I was no longer in control. The pills helped About a week later, I got home after a long shift and typed,
me get through my days, and I wasnt ready to let that go. Some- How to smoke fentanyl into Google. My kids were with their
times I slept in my car to avoid another fight. nanny at the park near our house. I went to the garage and cut
a patch into one-centimetre squares. I lined each piece up on a
larger square of tin foil, then I held the lighter under the first
piece, watched the puff of smoke come up and inhaled. The sweet
The first time it occurred to smell of burnt plastic filled my nose and travelled deep into my
lungs. It was as if I were being pushed by a powerful but gentle
me that I might have a drug problem, I was standing next to a wave. Calm washed over me. My anxiety and fear were gone. I
lumber pile in Rona, waiting for my contractor to pick out slowly lowered myself backward into a chair. I was higher than
aluminum framing for our basement renovation. I felt irritation Id ever been. Imagine a surge of confidence kicking in, a worldly
wash over me, totally unprovoked. I couldnt figure out what reassurance that all of your problems will just dissolve. A soft

happiness sets in, then a creativity spike. You feel totally alert, I wanted to believe that I was like any other doting dadI took
more awake and sharper than ever. Everything around you my kids to the beach in the summer, dunking the little ones in
feels warmer. Now, imagine those sensations happening within the water and wading hand in hand with the eldest. I took them
a few milliseconds of each other. And thats what its like to apple-picking in the fall and tobogganing in the winter. The
smoke fentanyl. I sat there, eyes glazed, staring out at the street only difference was that, 15 times a day, Id head to the basement
for 20 minutes. I was in heaven. to smoke up. That I was high around my kids is one of the hard-
A drug like fentanyl doesnt inject your body with new feelings; est things for me to forgive of myself.
it borrows from the ones you already have. When the high starts That summer, my cravings were ruthless, and I had no
to wear off, the positive sensations retreat and the negative ones legitimate access to patches. I knew I couldnt write prescrip-
become amplified. And addicts have no shortage of negative tions in my own name, so I came up with a plan: I began to
emotions. A dark cloud descends upon your brain. You become write prescriptions for Katie, then Id go to the pharmacy to
scared, anxious, agitated. The warmth rolls away and leaves you pick them up. But I didnt want pharmacists getting suspicious
in cold sweats, shivering. Self-loathing kicks in, followed by guilt, of Katie, so I began to recruit other pretend patients. I had
fear, sadness, paranoia. Coming down off that first rush, my body become friendly with one of the contractors renovating our
began to ache. All I could focus on was escaping those feelings basement. At one point, I asked him: Can you do me a favour?
as quickly as possible, and the only I explained that I needed someone to
solution was to smoke again. And pick up my fentanyl and that I could
againeach iteration sinking me supply him with Percocet if he agreed,
deeper into dependency. From that which he did. Id write two prescrip-
day on, I smoked fentanyl at least six I acquired tions in his name: one for fentanyl and
times a day and sometimes as many one for Percocet. Hed get them both
as 15 times. 445 patches of filled and keep the Percs. One night,
The scariest part was that, as a my supply was dry and I was going
doctor, I knew exactly what I was
getting into, and I didnt care. Fen-
fentanyl with through withdrawal. Katie and I were
arguing, and I left the house. I got in
tanyl is one of the most dangerous
opioids on the market. It can be
fraudulent a taxi and went into town. I was
so desperate that I began going from
smoked, injected or dissolved under
your tongue. The federal health min-
prescriptions taxi to taxi, knocking on windows
and asking strangers, Are you inter-
ister, Jane Philpott, has called
Canadas opioid problem a national
and was ested in doing a swap? I can get you
Percocet, but I need you to pick up
public health crisis. In Ontario,
162 people died of fentanyl overdoses smoking up some fentanyl for me. The first three
werent interested. The fourth was.
in 2015. In B.C., 332 people died in
the first nine months of 2016. 15 times a day From August to October, I also
cajoled two assistants and a nurse into
Doctors are part of the problem. giving me painkillers from the hospi-
One of the most common complaints tal. I never offered to pay them; I just
we get from patients is that we under- told them I was in a lot of pain and
treat chronic pain. And, because pain couldnt write prescriptions in my own
is subjective and difficult to diagnose, name. I put them in a terrible position
we tend to take patients word for it when they say theyre in pain. and I minimized the stakes. Oh, its not a big deal, I said. They
Late last year, the College of Physicians and Surgeons announced saw I was hurting and agreed. (They were later fired for it.) Over
it was investigating 86 doctors for prescribing daily opioid dos- 16 months, I acquired 445 patches of fentanyl with fraudulent
ages that wildly exceeded national guidelines. One patient was prescriptions, smoking about a patch a day.
prescribed the equivalent of 150 Tylenol 3s per day. Some of those At home, my relationship with Katie was in tatters. Instead
cases occur because patients undergoing cancer treatment or of offering support, Katie would yell at me, and I would yell back
living with multiple sclerosis may need very high dosages. But, or retreat in silence. Youre smoking again, she would shout
in other cases, like mine, theres rampant abuse of the system. when she caught me going downstairs. She threatened to leave.
She called me a junkie.
I never smoked before work. But I did wear a patch to stave
off withdrawal symptoms. Twice I had to leave work because
When I think about it now, my cravings were too intense to keep going. I lost more than
30 pounds, my cheeks were sunken and I became irritable and
Im disgusted that I kept drugs in the same house as my children. jittery. Once, a colleague asked me if I was okay. I told her there
At first, I locked up my patches in my toolbox in the garage. were problems at home and left it at that. She didnt ask again.
Later, I would smoke in the shower stall in our basement and My mom had noticed my ragged state and, unbeknownst to
hide my fentanyl under the sink behind the pipes. I convinced me, called and told the hospital I might have a drug problem.
myself that, by taking those precautions, I was being a respon- My supervisor and the hospitals chief of staff called me into a
sible father. I was high-functioning, but, still, my kids were meeting and asked me if I had any problems they should be
getting a stoned daddy, even if they were too young to realize it. aware of. I lied. I said that things were rocky with Katie but,

otherwise, no. They gave me pamphlets on addiction and men- He agreed to give me another two milligrams of Suboxone to
tal health, and I went back to work. stave off my withdrawal. I knew that would only delay the
I decided to change tactics. For the next four months, I forged inevitable, but, at that point, I didnt careI was so desperate I
prescriptions from other doctors in my own name. Id go to the considered throwing myself in front of a bus. My body felt like
pharmacy and sweet-talk the staffit was usually the same it was disintegrating. Lifting a spoon to my mouth was tiring;
guyinto not faxing my prescription over to the hospital. Phar- walking up a ramp left me winded. The next day, I thought I
macists hate to bother busy doctors, and I played on that. Every was progressing, but, 32 hours later, I was still in the throes of
time I went to get one filled, I threatened everything: my job, withdrawal. I lay down on the hospital bed in my room to take
my family, my freedom. I didnt care. a nap. When I woke up four hours later, the weakness was gone,
One Sunday in November 2014, the pharmacist was too busy my limbs had uncurled and my gait returned to normal. The
administering flu shots to speak to me and faxed the prescrip- week from hell was over.
tion. I could have tried harder to intervene, but, for some reason, On my 14th day in rehab, Katie brought the kids to visit. She
I didnt. My endless scheming had worn me down. The doctor told them that I was sick, and they assumed Homewood was a
who happened to pick it up in the ER was the same doctor whose regular hospital. Ill never forget my son asking why I wasnt
signature Id forged on the script, which requested a dozen coming home with them that day.
patches. I didnt know it then, but the doctor reported me to my My return from rehab was strange. Katie was exhausted from
supervisor. After 20 minutes of ner- caring for the kids by herself for five
vously waiting, I was waved over by weeks, and we were soon back to our
the pharmacist. Weve run out of sup- bickering. I was sleeping on the couch
plies, actually, she said. She gave me and I was still on leave from my job, so
what she claimed were her last few my days were empty.
patches, and I went home none the Theres a grieving process that comes
wiser. Two days later, the chief of emer- with addiction, and I was grieving the
gency and the chief of staff greeted me loss of my drug of choice. The cycles of
in the doctors change room. They told shame, self-loathing, rationalization and
me that they knew about the false pre- apathy returned. So I did what I always
scriptions, that the pharmacy had called did to cope: I wrote a prescription for
the police and that I couldnt workId fentanyl using one of my old prescription
be going on unofficial leave without pads. I didnt realize the police were
pay, and my medical licence would be monitoring me.
suspended. I was scared shitless. The Within a week, I was back to getting
shame of being caught in a tangle of lies high 15 times a day. On the morning of
was overwhelming. I was afraid for my January 4, I lost track of how much Id
family, afraid Id lose my job, afraid of smoked. I overdosed and collapsed in
what other people would say. I should my basement shower stall. My face was
have felt lucky to be aliveat that point a putrid shade of green, drool was drib-
I was a bag of skin and bonesbut I Gebien wrote his own prescriptions, forging bling down my chin and my dry tongue
just felt dizzying fear for the future. his colleagues signatures and hoping the was hanging from my open mouth. I
And yet, on top of all that was an unex- pharmacists wouldnt double-check was barely breathing when Katie walked
pected wave of relief. My life had just in. She had seen me high many times
come crashing down; at least I couldnt before, and she could spot the telltale
deny it anymore. bursts of energy, hoarse voice and constricted pupils, but that
I was arrested at home. Police charged me with three counts day was different. Id been downstairs for longer than usual,
of forgery and gave me a notice to appear in court. Three days and she hadnt seen my face like that before. I remember her
later, I went to Homewood Health Centre in Guelph, a facility screams tearing through the fog in my head. Im calling an
recommended to me by a psychiatrist at my hospital, for five ambulance, she cried. I jolted awake, flailing my arms as my
weeks. My parents covered the $10,000 bill. There, the doctors paraphernalia went flying. I gasped for breath a few times, head
decided I should go into a rapid wean, a process intended to lolling, then lunged for the toilet and vomited. I thought you
produce intense withdrawal and, with it, a deterrent to using were dead, she said. I told her I didnt need an ambulance and,
drugs again. First, doctors gave me Suboxone, a pill used to get eventually, she stopped insisting, worn down from so many
addicts off opiates. The drug satisfies some of the bodys narcotic arguments. A few hours later, I was back in the stall lighting
cravings but doesnt get you high. Coming off the Suboxone was up another patch.
vicious, as my endorphin levels plummeted and my brain began
to rewire itself. I thought I was going to die. When I tried to
walk, my body curled inward, neck down, arms tight to my
chest, in a position known in rehab as the Suboxone shuffle. My
ears were ringing. My body temperature began to swing like
At 7 a.m. on January 19, 2015,
crazy: one moment Id soothe my chills in a hot shower and the 10 officers from the Barrie drug crimes unit showed up at my
next Id be running aimlessly outside, rubbing snow on my face. front door. If I have a rock bottom, I hit it that day. I woke to my
I remember telling the doctor that I couldnt handle the pain. three dogs barking and peered out the window to see the cops

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on the front steps. I opened the door in my underwear. Sorry Three months later, on November 2, 2015, my 45th birthday,
to do this, but your life is never going to be the same, one of I got a call from my dad telling me that my mom had died. Hed
them said to me. I asked for a minute to put the dogs out in the found her in bed, non-responsive, wearing three 50-milligram
backyard, and the officer agreed. Another went upstairs to tell fentanyl patches that we think she applied by accident. Her
Katie she would be arrested, too, wrongly thinking she was usual dose was a 25-milligram patch. It was the worst day of
involved. They let me put my clothes on and have a cigarette in my life. I redoubled my efforts to stay clean. I checked out of
the garage. They handcuffed me as we were walking outside, Vitanova and moved back into my fathers condo. I slept on
so that my kids wouldnt see if they came downstairs. I was the couch and have continued to for the past two years. I
taken to the police station and charged with 72 counts of FaceTime with my kids every couple of days, but it feels like
traffickingfor compelling the pharmacist to supply drugs no way to be a father. Im on social assistance and help my dad
under false pretensesplus six counts of forging prescriptions. with rent when I canhis pension isnt enough to support both
From January 19 to February 5, I was in jail at the North of us. Our Barrie home sold shortly after my moms death, and
Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene awaiting my bail I gave most of the money to Katie, knowing that I might not be
hearing. I was despondent. There was a stairwell on the second working much in the next few years. I run a flooring company
storey that overlooked the units concrete floor, and I figured with an old friend to make extra cash. And Im still drug-free.
that if I jumped headfirst I would But my body hasnt fully recovered:
die. I told one guy Id made friends my short-term memory is spotty, I
with about my plan, and he pulled have hearing loss in my right ear and,
me aside. Wait a second, mother- for the first time in my life, I suffer
fucker, he said. Youve got your
wife, your kids. Thats the most In jail, I was from panic attacks. I apologized to the
City of Barrie for betraying the trust
selfish thing you could do. I went
back to my cell. I hadnt been using despondent. of its residents. And Ive done some
outreach work, speaking to officials
long enough after my first stint in at the Ontario Ministry of Health and
rehab to go through acute with- I figured that Toronto Public Health about how to
drawal again, but I had the munch- tackle the opioid epidemic.
ies like crazy, a sign of early recov- if I jumped In April 2016, I filed for bankruptcy.
ery. I had an appetite so ferocious Katie sent divorce papers a few months
Id chug the syrup that came with headfirst from later. I had been hoping wed find a way
our French toast in the morning. to make it as a couple, but I understood.
My cellmate let me eat some of his
snacks, tooRice Krispies Treats,
the second In February, my biological kids came
to stay with me for a week. I got to see
ketchup chips, Twix bars.
With the help of my parents, I
storey onto the my sonnow five years oldskate for
the first time; my little girl, whos four,
made the $80,000 bail, but one of the
conditions was that I live with my
concrete floor was so excited with the Hatchimal we
picked out at ToysRUs that she carried
mom and dad at their Yonge and
Sheppard condo. I went home briefly
I would die the box around with her everywhere
and showered me with hugs. I didnt
to collect my things. Katie wanted a explain what was going onI just said
stable environment for the kids, Id talk to them soon. Theyre too young
so she moved them back to New to understand what happened. I worry
Brunswick 10 days later. I was dev- about what theyll think of me when
astated but didnt have a choice. In they do find out. I hope they can be
April, I enrolled in Renascent, a clinic at Spadina and Bloor, for proud of my recovery, but that day is a long way away.
my second stint in rehab, this one covered by OHIP. I stayed for In December 2016, I pleaded guilty, and, as part of the deal,
four weeks. During my daily walks in the neighbourhood, every Katies charges were finally dropped. Im awaiting my sentence.
time I saw a homeless person, Id think to myself that I was closer The Crown wants me locked up for eight years; my lawyer is
to becoming one of them than I was prepared to admit. I was arguing for house arrest. Most likely, the judge will settle on a
nearly out of money, my marriage was probably over and my multi-year prison term. My dad has early-stage Alzheimers, and
network of friends had dwindled. I was initially represented by Im concerned about how hell cope while Im gone. I worry con-
Marie Henein and Danielle Robitaille, the lawyers who represented stantly about Katie and our kids, too. Im embarrassed that my
former attorney general Michael Bryant and CBC host Jian life has become a cautionary tale, but Im thankful that I got
Ghomeshi. I put the first payment of $35,000 on a line of credit caught. Had I not been arrested, Im certain Id be dead right now.
but changed lawyers shortly after. I was still paying the mortgage When I get out, I will have to face the College of Physicians
on our home in Barrie and couldnt keep up with their retainer. and Surgeons discipline committee, as is standard in cases like
In August, I walked into the Vitanova Foundation recovery mine. My medical licence is currently suspended, and theyll
centre in Woodbridge, another government-funded facility, not probably revoke it entirely. If they dont, I plan to practise again,
knowing how long I would be there. The centre offered a free rehab ideally in the area of addiction. I became a doctor so that I could
program and dorm-style residence, and, as the weeks passed, I help people. I messed up my life, but I can still help others avoid
felt my strength and clarity returning. the same fate.

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80 toronto life Month 2017
Lilly Singh
Goes to
Hollywood She was an ordinary kid from
Scarborough working a dead-end job.
Then she posted a short confessional
on YouTube and became a global
celebrity almost overnight.
InsIde the dIzzyIng world of
torontos accIdental megastar
By Emily landau
PhotograPhy By Emma mcintyrE
hair styling by rene cortez. makeup by ashley joy beck. styling by sara acevedo
two years ago, at age 26, Lilly Singh moved out of

her parents home in Markham and bought a $1.5-million
Spanish-style house in the plush Los Angeles neighbourhood
of Hancock Park. Since then, shes been living out a shimmery
La La Land fantasy. She owns a Tesla Model S, the same car
Matt Damon and Will Smith drive. In conversation, she casually
name-drops friends like Selena (Gomez, who often pops up in
Singhs Instagram feed) and Dwayne (The Rock Johnson,
whose teen daughter she takes for ice cream). In January, before
the Peoples Choice Awards, I watched a herd of stylists con-
verge on Singh, spackling her face, bronzing her shoulders
and affixing mink eyelash extensions. After four hours, she
emerged in a liquid-gold dress and glitter-flecked heels, trying
to memorize the names of the designers for the red carpet.

Dress by Nicole Miller, shoes by Stuart
Weitzman, she recited at least 20 times,
her voice betraying the nerves of a starlet
headed to her first big awards show.
Except Singh isnt a typical Hollywood
starletor at least not the kind were used
to. Instead of appearing in films and on TV,
Singh made her fortune by writing, direct-
ing and starring in YouTube videos. She
works under the self-congratulatory alias of
Superwoman (she licensed the trademark
from DC Comics) and holds more than
11 million subscribers in her thrall. Every
Monday and Thursday, Singh uploads a new
video; collectively, theyve had more than
1 billion views.
Her persona is that of a scrappy tom-
boy: she wears backward trucker hats and
baggy flannel shirts, gripes about tampons
and makeup, and acts out dont-you-hate-
it-when moments with Animaniac energy.
She riffs about her Punjabi parents and the
challenge of finding the right foundation to
match her skin tone. And she specializes in
Seinfeldian sketches about problems that
afflict all teenage girls. In one of her cre-
ations, she rattles off the litany of problems
that come with having long hair (Singhs
unicorn mane goes down to her thighs): she
has to wrap her hair around her neck like
a scarf while using the toilet so it doesnt
cascade into the bowl, she discovers dozens
of hidden bobby pins in her bun and she
whips her tresses so hard she has to wear
a neck brace. Other sketches catalogue all
the reasons Singh hates bras, the types of
crushes she gets and why exams are annoy-
Almost out of nowhere, Lilly Singh

ing. She often plays three or four characters in one video, and
sometimes her observational comedy veers into minstrelsy,
especially when she adopts campy Indian accents and cos-
tumes to portray fictional versions of her strict parents.
To the adult eye, Singhs comedy can seem bush league, her has become the reigning avatar of
millennial girl power
sketches occasionally cringe-inducing, her platitudes callow.
(You are going to succeed because the world is waiting for
what you have to offer! she once cheered.) But Singh doesnt
care about adult eyes. She has calibrated every video to appeal
to the covetable teen demographic. Between fart jokes, she
spouts aphorisms about positivity, empowerment and self-love. when parents ignore grocery expiration dates. By intuiting what
Shes as wholesome as Taylor Swift with streetwise chutzpah, a her audience is thinkingno matter how banalshe makes
motivational speaker disguised as a comedian. And almost out them feel heard, validating teenage emotions in an ever-more-
of nowhere, she has become the reigning avatar of millennial alienating world. The intimacy of the platform helps, too: on
girl power. YouTube, there are no middlemen, executives or handlers. Singh
Many of the worlds biggest female celebrities position them- has earned trust by communing with her viewers directly.
selves as untouchable deities: Swift has her famously exclusive Her teen-whispering powers work on YouTube in a way they
squad, the Kardashians flaunt their personal jet, and Beyonc couldnt in any other medium. In the past few years, the plat-
dresses up like a fertility goddess at every opportunity. Singh form has emerged as the preferred video source among the 13 to
has steered herself in the opposite direction, building her brand 24 demographic. In a recent study of American teens, 85 per cent
on inclusiveness and empathy. She lays bare her imperfections, of participants named YouTube as their number one choice
filming the clothes piled on her bedroom floor and zooming in for video, with Netflix and cable coming in second and third.
on her zits and stray facial hairs. She has a canny ability to make Most respondents said they check out YouTube as soon as they
teens feel as though shes reading their minds when she com- wake up, and continue watching off and on late into the night.
plains about the indignity of menstruation and how gross it is YouTubes dominance is largely based on utility: its content is

Mrs. Dressup
Lilly Singhs over-
the-top alter egos
have become almost THE MOM THE DAD THE AUNT
as famous as she is. A guiltmonger who carps about A strict, preening loudmouth who A dim-witted relative who claims that
Singhs choices in boys and clothes thinks he always knows best her grandson invented Facebook
Here, six of her
favourite characters
THE KID THE JERK THE BIMBO

A messy brat Singh uses to justify A suburban sleazebag who brags A vapid princess who mainlines
why she doesnt plan to procreate about his sexual conquests tequila and spends hours taking selfies
free, accessible and ample. And, while the production values cheerful titles from Singhs fellow YouTube starsa cookbook
are evolving by the minute, the platform still retains an indie by the chef Hannah Hart (2.5 million subscribers), a self-help
spirit. The personalities tap into a plaintive desire for authen- book by the comedian Grace Helbig (3 million subscribers), a
ticity: many of them play versions of themselves, speak directly coming-of-age memoir by the LGBT activist Tyler Oakley
to the camera and, like Singh, offer some form of inspira- (8 million subscribers). Singh owns a plaque that reads What
tional pablum. Millennials now purge their emotions through would Beyonc do? and a bottle of Mot encrusted with the
YouTube the same way Gen X-ers did with Judy Blume novels. word BAWSE in rhinestones. She got her friend, a YouTube star
It can be a lucrative formula. Last year, Forbes pegged Singh named Mr. Kate who creates DIY home decor videos, to design
as the highest-paid woman on YouTube and the platforms her bedroom in a burlesque colour scheme of fuchsia, purple
third-highest earner overall, estimating her 2016 earnings and yellow, with lyrics from Bob Marleys Three Little Birds
at $7.5 million (U.S.). (When I asked Singh if the number was hand-scripted in giant calligraphy on the wall behind the head-
accurate, she played dumb, claiming she had no idea how much board. Shes putting the final touches on a production studio
she made.) She has leveraged her YouTube fame into a multi- with three-point lighting, soundproofing and a green screen for
pronged empire, bagging sponsorship deals with brands like CGI. The room is painted in My Little Pony pastels, and the
Coke and Toyota. You can buy Superwoman-branded T-shirts, words Hustle Harder are written on the wall.
hoodies and trucker hats on her website. In 2015, she capitalized Singhs house has four bedrooms, and, for about half of the
on her massive fan base and embarked on a worldwide comedy year, one of them is occupied by her best friend, Kanwer Singh
tour, selling out stadiums in Mumbai, Sydney and Singapore. (no relation), who goes by the YouTube moniker Humble the
And her coterie of famous friends keeps growing: her videos Poet. Humble is a 35-year-old former Rexdale elementary school
have featured Ariana Grande, Seth Rogen and James Franco. teacher who earned minor YouTube fame for his rap-inflected
She just released a hybrid memoir and self-help book called spoken word poetry in the late 2000s, before Lilly even joined the
How to Be a Bawseslang for bossin which she counsels her platform. She emailed him to collaborate in 2011, soon after she
acolytes to believe in themselves and reach for greatness. The started her YouTube career, and, over the years, hes become her
chapters are titled with directives like Schedule Inspiration, sidekick. Lilly, whos single, insists their relationship is platonic,
Be Unapologetically Yourself and Be Nice to People. but she brings Humble as her date to every Hollywood party,
In the golden age of Hollywood, celebrity was a top-down and they frequently appear in each others videos. They have a
operation: cigar-chomping studio suits would discover their brother-sister vibe: he scolds her for not eating well enough and
muses at the drugstore, mould them into stars and unleash teases her about her hyper-focused work ethic.
them on the world. Singh spent years as a teen transmitting Her favourite souvenir from back home is a large piece by the
her videos directly from her bedroom in Markham to millions artist Inkquisitive that features soulful illustrations of Drake
of teenagers bedrooms around the world, building her name drawn overtop the CN Tower. Singh, like any law-abiding
before Hollywood took notice. She became a star in reverse. Torontonian, is a devout Drake fan. She finally got the opportu-
nity to meet him last September, backstage at his concert in L.A.
In the Instagram photo, Singh wore a 416 trucker hat, closed her
eyes and clasped her hands in mock prayer, while Drake made
photographs via youtube
LiLLy SinghS houSe looks like the set of a Disney Channel his signature 6 hand signal. Me and a sweeter Toronto ting that
series. In the centre of the kitchen is a vintage popcorn machine has the world in her palm, he wrote in the caption.
covered in rainbow stripes and the Superwoman logo. The When I walked into Singhs living room on the day of the
armchairs are marigold yellow, and theres a hoverboard in the Peoples Choice Awards, I heard her voice before I saw her face.
corner. The shelves are stacked with Shopaholic books (I can Yoooooooo, she bellowed as she thumped down the stairs
read each one in a day, gushes Singh), as well as relentlessly makeup-free in a shiny black basketball jersey and tearaways.

Whos this person whos gonna see me looking all gross? Markham, though she insisted on staying at her high school,
Singh speaks with a distinctively slangy Scarberian argot, Lester B. Pearson C.I. in Scarborough. It was around that time
exuding the same cocksure charisma that you see in her videos. that Singh discovered bhangra, the elaborately costumed, beat-
She possesses a cartoon beauty, with giant eyes that look like a heavy Punjabi dance form that closes out every Bollywood
Snapchat filter and elastic, expressive features that are ideally musical. In 2006, when she started studying psychology at York
suited to Internet vaudeville. When she sits, she leans forward, University, she became president of her bhangra club. Soon,
shifting her shoulders and splaying her legs like a manspreader the group was hired to dance at Indian weddings, and Singh
on the subway. I ask her if shes looking forward to the awards, was spending more time choreographing shows and design-
and she closes her eyes and nods reverently. I find awards ing marketing materials than studying. Her parents had so far
shows so inspiring, she says. Even Singhs tattoos align with exhibited saintly tolerance for her predilections, but, when it
her Oprah-lite brand: she has One Love scripted conspicu- came to dancing in public, they balked. My parents said, No,
ously over her collarbone, and the Punjabi words Nirbhao girls cant dance at peoples weddings. It doesnt look good,
(without fear) and Nirvair (without hate) on the insides of she recalls. We butted heads. Ultimately, they just let me do it,
her wrists. because I was going to do it anyway.
Most of her videos begin the same way: Whaddup! Its your As she inched toward graduation, her parents pressured
girrrrrrrrrl Superwoman! she hollers, then flashes a compli- her to get her masters of science, just as her sister had done.
cated hand-signal S thats meant to replicate the Superwoman (Tina now runs an occupational therapy practice.) But Singh
logo. Insiders know the S has a double meaning: its also a com- had realized school wasnt for her. I was really good at it, she
mon symbol for Scarborough, where Singh spent the bulk of says, but I hated the idea of living this linear lifetake classes,
her childhood. go to grad school, get a job. After graduating in 2010, she took
a soul-crushing job working the phones at a collections agency.
It was horrendous. People swore at me all day long, she says.
I was really good at school, but I

Singh found herself in a desperate funk. I didnt get out of bed
for days, she says. I didnt go anywhere or see anybody. The
Singhs are Sikh, and, even though they are not devout, Lilly
hated the idea of a linear lifetake suddenly found the idea of religion reassuring. She spent two
or three hours a day at the Gursikh Sabha, a baroquely fur-
classes, go to grad school, get a job

nished temple in Scarborough. I would volunteer in the din-
ing hall, wash dishes, clean the floors. I was always the only kid
with a whole bunch of elderly people.
One day during that aimless year, Singh was at home surfing
YouTube when she stumbled upon a video by Jenna Marbles,
Singh has lived out the classic second-generation Canadian a 24-year-old former bartender from New York with lavender-
success story. Both her father, Sukhwinder, and her mother, streaked hair. Marbles, whose real name is Jenna Mourey, had
Malwinder, grew up in the Punjabi region of India, where they recently started her own YouTube channel, where she offered
were paired in an arranged marriage. Sukhwinder came to sexed-up satire spoofing the Paris Hilton generation. Her
Canada in 1972 and found jobs as a factory worker, cab driver and videos had titles like Sluts on Halloween, People That Piss
furniture salesman, finally earning enough money for his wife Me Off at the Gym and What Bitches Wear at the Airport.
to immigrate here in 1981. He still has pictures of himself pos- She was a YouTube frontierswoman, one of the first people to
ing next to his first refrigerator. That was really exciting for him, attract an audience with her personality, rather than with gam-
Lilly says. Malwinder worked at a company that produced CDs ing tips or sports clips. One of Marbles first videos, How to
and cassettes. Eventually, Sukhwinder acquired leases for 11 gas Trick People Into Thinking Youre Good Looking, racked up
stations around the GTA, and, by the early 80s, the couple had 5.3 million views in its first week, a milestone in those antedi-
bought a home in Malvern. Their elder daughter, Tina, was born luvian days. After I saw her video, I fell down a rabbit hole,
in 1982; Lilly followed six years later. Singh says. I didnt realize that you could create that kind of
Singh has been honing her tomboy shtick since she was a content on YouTube.
kid. In Grade 3, she developed a pathological obsession with The next day, Singh, then 22, recorded her first YouTube
The Rock, back when he was still a wrestler. She kept a life-size video. It bore no resemblance to the manic sketches she does
cut-out of him in her bedroom, plastered her walls with posters now. The clip was a piece of earnest spoken word poetry about
and dressed up as him at a school fashion show. Shed get up at her connection to her temple, encouraging more young peo-
5 a.m. to watch Monday Night Raw episodes that shed taped the ple to spend time volunteering in spiritual places. She shared
night before. If they ever announced my name over the PA sys- the clip on Facebook and watched it rack up 70 views. I was
tem at school, theyd call me Lilly The Rock Singh, she says. amazed. I didnt even think I knew 70 people, she says. But it
Singhs unslakable thirst for attention led her toward a series was really awkward and bad. So bad, in fact, that Singh even-
of jazz-hand theatrical pursuits. Her sister recalls that, when tually took it down, claiming it no longer aligned with her faith.
Lilly was eight, she would carry around camcorders for days, She believes in God, but adheres to no formal religion.
recording her every move, reciting monologues, acting out As she got more comfortable in front of the camera, she set
skitsbasically, what she does now. Shed perform hip hop about establishing her brand of self-deprecating observational
routines for her sister and friends. Every other kid in school comedy, which at first catered specifically to second-generation
wanted to be a doctor, an engineer, a scientist, and my parents South Asian teens. Her early videos taught viewers how to wrap
were like, Oh, of course, our daughter wants to be a rapper. a Sikh turban, riffed on why brown girls like white guys and
When Singh was 16, her parents upsized to a new house in introduced viewers to her parentsshe played her father as a

Selfie Esteem
Singhs L.A. life has become
an endless stream of
celebrity encounters
dwAyne the rock Johnson
michelle oBAmA
drAke
zAc efron
AdAm devine
Jimmy fAllon
Jos BAutistA
hilAry duff
mAlAlA yousAfzAi
chris hAdfield
photographs via instagram/@iisuperwomanii
shAwn mendes
russell peters

phArrell williAms
belligerent disciplinarian with a poofy wig and charcoal beard, earn a few hundred dollars a year. Most of them will never make
and her mother as a controlling busybody in glasses and a a living off of YouTube, let alone experience the gilded life of Lilly
chunni. In between shooting skits and working a series of dead- Singh. The big guns, especially those in Singhs echelon, can
end jobs, she learned how to light her videos, what kind of cam- attract as much as three to five dollars per thousand views after
era equipment to use, how to make graphics and sound effects YouTube takes its cut. So a video that earns five million views, as
and she found most of this on YouTube how-to channels. Singhs often do, can shake out to a net revenue of $25,000 (U.S.).
Within six months, she had more than a thousand subscrib- She posts 100-odd videos a year, which can mean about
ers. Gradually, her funk lifted. She claims the response to her $2.5 million (U.S.) in YouTube revenue alone.
YouTube videos helped alleviate her sadness, though its hard Advertisers have figured out that online video is one of the
to know how much of that is self-mythologizing. best ways to tap into a younger demographic. And while digital
By 2011, Singh had amassed several thousand subscrib- competitors like Facebook Live, Snapchat and Instagram are
ers, and other YouTubers took notice. A creator named Allen catching up, YouTube continues to dominate. On Facebook,
Buckle, who went by Fluffee Talks, reached out to Singh and youre scrolling past a video in a newsy environment thats
asked her to meet at his home. Buckle was a 24-year-old come- cheek by jowl with updates from everyone else in your life,
dian from Toronto who wore a black beanie and aggregated says Andrea Ching, the chief marketing officer of the online
bizarro news stories from around the globe. At the time, he video analytics firm OpenSlate. On YouTube, youve selected
had about 500,000 subscribers. She sat in his living room and a piece of content and youre ready to engage with it.
sipped a glass of water. So, what do you do? she asked. I do The vast untapped revenue potential has spawned a cot-
YouTube. I bought this house with money from making vid- tage industry of YouTube professionals. There are analysts,
eos, he replied nonchalantly. I was blown away, she recalls.
I had no idea people could make a living posting videos.
Some videos earn up to $25,000.

The visit changed her life. Singh marched into her par-
ents bedroom and told them she didnt want to go to grad
schoolshe was going to be a YouTube star instead. They were
skeptical, but, as usual, relented to their daughters whims.
Sukhwinder struck a deal: he gave her a year to focus on her Multiply that by 100 uploads a year,
and Singh has a seven-figure income
YouTube career while living under his roof. If she wasnt mak-
ing a living by then, he told her shed have to go back to school.
Singh readily agreed and got to work formalizing her brand.
She committed to a regular posting schedule and bought her
first professional camera: a Canon T3i DSLR she found at a
Best Buy Boxing Day sale for $699. Id never spent that much like Ching and her team at OpenSlate, who crunch YouTube
money on anything before, she says. Her popularity was viewership data to advise brands on where their money is
spreading rapidly throughout the South Asian community. best spent. YouTube talent scouts watch hours of video per
People would stop her at the grocery store, at the mall, at the day, investigating which incipient stars are getting the most
movies and ask: Youre that girl who makes YouTube videos, likes and comments, and grappling with other companies
right? By the time she hit her dads deadline in 2012, she had to see who can sign them first. Sarah Weichel, an indepen-
100,000 followers, and he agreed to let her keep going. Within dent manager who represents Singh and several varsity-level
two years, shed hit the one million mark. YouTubers, wanted to work with musicians when she came to
Hollywood five years ago. When she interviewed at a talent
management agency called The Collective, they told her they
werent hiring music reps, but she could sign onto their bur-
youtube officially launched in early 2005 but didnt geoning digital YouTube team, which, at the time, consisted of
start raking in serious revenue until Google bought it nearly two just three agents. Since then, The Collective shut down their
years later. The sites new corporate overlords embarked on an music-management arm entirely to focus on digital talent.
aggressive campaign that allowed both the platform and its top A phalanx of digital ad sales firms have emerged to help
content creators to generate funds. Advertisers would negotiate brands maximize their reach. These companies sign individ-
with YouTube, then YouTube would typically take 45 per cent of ual channels and use their clients collective power to leverage
the ad revenue and let creators pocket the rest. At first, the com- more sales. A firm that manages 2,000 channels amasses bil-
pany selected which users would be able to monetize their accounts. lions of views every month, which is a considerable bargain-
Most people had to wait months or years before they were chosen, ing chip when negotiating with brands. Many of these com-
but Singh got an email from the YouTube brass after she posted panies also negotiate sponsorship deals and branded video
her third video, a guide to help brown guys decode the behaviour collaborations on top of the pre-roll advertising. Theyll pro-
of brown girls. For the next couple of years, she says she made vide analytics, helping creators build their audiences. Theyll
about $100 per month from her videos. even offer studio space and production assistance. YouTubers
In 2012, YouTube enabled any user to activate advertising. who belong to the same networks give the appearance of a high
Since then, the number of ad-supported YouTube channels school clique, popping up in each others videos and promoting
has ballooned from roughly 10,000 to more than three million. each others channels.
Last year, the company grossed $5.6 billion (U.S.) in ad revenue. Singh has always had a meticulous vision for her YouTube
Advertisers pay a set rate for every thousand views. Seismic channel. If you gave her an idea, shed process it through the
success is exceedingly rare. Many usersthe hobbyists, whose tiny computer in her brain, and then shed say, Nope, thats not
views are in the thousands rather than the millionsmight only relatable, explains her friend Humble. She spent years poring

over analytics, figuring out which posts were going viral and LILLY, LILLY, while Shah Rukh Khan was onstage with me,
which ones were flopping. She read every comment to see what Singh says, still in disbelief. I felt sick for the rest of the night. I
fans were responding to. And yet, in 2014, when she had about was shaking. I didnt know how to deal with it.
three million followers, she realized that she was no longer able Over the next year, Singh rapidly accelerated from star to
to cultivate the Superwoman brand on her own. If she wanted superstar. She got calls to collaborate with Hollywood celebri-
to scale her business, shed need to bring in some experts. ties like Selena Gomez and the rapper Jay Sean. As she realized
Singh signed with Sarah Weichel at The Collective when the how diverse her followers were, she began to distance herself
company was transitioning from a management agency to an from the South Asianspecific humour, focusing instead on
ad sales firm. What really spoke to me about Lilly was how issues that affect all teens. I dont want to just make content
hard she wanted to work, says Weichel. Here was this girl, for Indian people. Im all about universal themes. Were all
fresh off the plane from Toronto, and the first thing she said to humans. We all fight with our parents. We all have relation-
me was, I want world domination. I laughed at her. Within ships that fail.
a few months, Weichel set up her own indie talent firmshe In 2015, Singh decided she wanted to go on a stadium
continues to serve as Singhs manager, handling her creative tour and meet her fans. She dreamed of a Broadway-calibre
endeavours, while The Collective, which has renamed itself as
Studio 71, represents her sales interests.
As Singhs popularity snowballed on YouTube, she attended
dozens of public events and VidCon expos, which allowed
her to keep expanding her fan base and rake in cash from
appearance fees and merchandise sales. People asked me to
host dance competitions, then they asked me to promote their
events. Eventually, it was like, Hey, can you wear our T-shirt?
she says. When Singh registered her business, her accountant
didnt understand what she did. Hes like, Why are you get-
ting money from YouTube?
(She has since hired a new
accountant.)
The extent of Singhs fame
sunk in on a trip to Mumbai
in 2014 for YouTube FanFest,
a concert-style event featuring
dozens of popular YouTubers.
It was her first time overseas. spectacle, with elaborate costume changes, video projections
Once shed checked into her and bhangra dancers. It would be a high-octane variety show,
hotel, she got a call from the with Singh rapping, dancing and doing sketch comedy.
events producer, explaining Weichel shopped the tour to dozens of promoters, but none
that the daughter of Bollywood of them wanted to substantially invest. Most people didnt
star Shah Rukh Khan, the understand the vision. There was a disconnect between tra-
highest-grossing movie star ditional entertainment and the digital audience, Weichel
in the world, was a fan, and he explains. Then she realized that Singh could finance the tour
wanted her to visit his house. the same way she did everything else: on YouTube. I knew
Singh thought it was a prank. that promoters might not have significantly bought into Lillys
My response was literally, singh with fellOw yOutuber thing on the stage, but they certainly were going to invest in
Dude, shut up. Stop wasting humble the pOet At the Lillys thing on the screen, she says. She and Singh conceived
peOples chOice AwArds
my time, she says. Then, of a backstage documentary chronicling the creation of the
(AbOve), And with her
Shah Rukh got on the phone. I pArents, sukhwinder And tour. At the time, YouTube was debuting YouTube Red, a paid
was like, Cancel everything. mAlwinder (right), At the subscription service that would stream content. They bought
Khan lives in an enor- l.A. premiere Of her film the film and promised to spend a fortune on marketing. When
mous home called Mannat, Singh toured Asia, Australia and Europe later that year, she
which looks like an antebellum plantation on the outside and sold out most of her dates.
Versailles on the inside. Every day, hundreds of fans line up She has teamed up with Coca-Cola, creating promotional
at the gates, hoping to spot Khan, who often waves from the content on her channel. Coke flew her to the Rio Olympics last
balcony like the queen. When I got there, I heard shrieks and year to film sponsored videos. She has also partnered with TD,
screams. I thought, Oh my god, people snuck through the gate, Skittles, Toyota and the cosmetics brand Smashbox, which
Singh recalls. But it turned out to be his 12-year-old daughter named a deep-red lip colour Bawse in her honour. Last
photographs by getty images
screaming for her. Before Singh left Mannat, Khan gave her one year, she joined forces with YouTube for an ad campaign that
of his monogrammed blazers. I want your dad character to ran on buses and billboards, including a 20-footer in Times
wear this in one of your videos, he said. Square. Depending on the deal, Singh might appear in ads for
Later that night, Singh performed for 2,000 screeching teens a product, plug it in her videos, wear branded merchandise or
at YouTube FanFest. Khan made an appearance there, too. let the company advertise at one of her events.
While he was revving up the crowd, Singh walked onstage Until recently, Singh was still living in her childhood home
behind him, and the audience lost it. They chanted, LILLY, in Markham. It was really hard to make videos. I never felt

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create a resilient city. Start a charitable Fund and
help Toronto grow strong.
Contact Aneil Gokhale:
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agokhale@torontofoundation.ca
like the space was my own, she says. I couldnt film after write fan fiction imagining romances between her and other
10 p.m., because my parents would go to sleep. By 2015, she stars. There are devotional Instagram accounts, fan websites
was flying to L.A. for meetings and events at least twice a and YouTube videos about her YouTube videos. When her fol-
month. That year, Singh packed up her bedroom and rented an lowers meet her in person, they often burst into tears.
apartment in L.A. before purchasing her home. When I first The only thing standing in the way of Singhs quest for
lived on my own, I had to ask my mom how to do laundry and world domination is timing: theres only so long a grown
pay bills. It was terrifying, she says. She still adheres to her woman can dress in teen drag and complain about high school
Monday and Thursday YouTube schedule, but she no longer cliques before her audience decides shes too old to understand
wings it the day she postsshe now writes her sketches in them, before another role modelsomeone fresher, funnier,
advance and pre-tapes segments. She also employs assistants youngerusurps her fiefdom. As Singhs fans grow up, she
to help her produce and edit the films. intends to grow with them. Her current plan is to branch into
Every day, Singh seems to hit a new fame milestone. In acting: last year, she appeared in the comedy Bad Moms, and
2016, she nearly doubled her subscribers, palled around with she has attended several auditionsand callbacksfor pilot
Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show and visited Michelle Obama season. Yet, no matter what kind of success she achieves as an
at the White House to discuss a philanthropic campaign Singh actor, Singh has pledged that she wont abandon her YouTube
is running to eradicate girl-on-girl bullying. When Lilly was fans. The platform, once perceived as a stepladder toward tra-
a teenager, she used to say she was going to be on Ellen one ditional Hollywood fame, has become a respectable medium in
day, says her sister. Thats pretty much the only thing she its own right.
hasnt done. If there was ever a place to prove YouTubes legitimacy, it
was at the Peoples Choice Awards, where Singh sashayed
down the red carpet with a veterans grace, hand on her cocked
hip, flashing the occasional peace sign. This is so awesome,
LiLLy SinghS fanS call themselves Team Super, or because its from the people, she gushed in her acceptance
Unicorns, because of Singhs obsession with the mythical horned speech for Favorite YouTube Star. This is for Team Super. At
beasts. Their dedication is boundless. Each of her videos is the ceremony, she sat three rows from the stage, within spitting
accompanied by hundreds of comments from her groupies. distance of Tom Hanks, Justin Timberlake and The Rock. Dur-
Heyy lilly I love you so much, you are an inspiration for me and ing commercial breaks, she schmoozed with members of the
help me to get up every single day! Why is she SO pretty!?!?!?!?! girl group Fifth Harmony and Quantico star Priyanka Chopra.
I wish I was as pretty as her! No matter what face she ever does And when the awards were over, she went home, put on her PJs
she will be beautiful! Like and comment if you agree!! They and recorded a new YouTube video. b

Youll want to
sit down for this.
The Madness of George III,
plus 10 other plays to
sweep you off your feet.
2017
Playbill
Tom McCamus. Design: Key Gordon
Me and My Girl
Saint Joan
Dracula
1837: The Farmers Revolt
Androcles and the Lion
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The Madness of George III
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G r e at S pa c e S
Forlorn, Reborn
photographs by revelateur studio
Rather than buy a new place, a young

couple turn their quirky, charming Annex
house into a light-filled sanctuary
by pe t e r s a lt sm a n Turn
The page
for more

2
When Anisa and Ben Cubitt, an elemen-

tary school teacher and a hedge fund
manager, bought their Palmerston
Boulevard home almost a decade ago,
they loved that the house had character.
But, as they added two kids to their
family, quirks that once seemed charm-
ing became inconvenient. The main
floor was a warren of dark rooms, and 1
the upstairs, which had once been used
as a doctors office, consisted of a long,
forbidding hallway that branched off
into tiny, impractical spaces. Three
years ago, they called in some experts:
Cathy Garrido at Altius Architecture to
reconfigure the space, and designer
Arriz Hassam to finish and help fur-
nish it. The process took two and a half
years. For 14 months, they moved out
and rented nearby. They often say the
rule of thumb for renovating is that it
will take twice as long and cost twice as
much as youre originally told, says
Ben. And that was almost exactly true
with us. The couple says theyd hesitate
before doing a full-scale renovation
again, but theyre thrilled with the
results. Without expanding the foot-
print of the house, they opened it up
and made it feel larger, more fluid and
much more efficient (with the help of
built-in cabinets everywhere). The
Annex area was always their dream
neighbourhoodthey love that its 9
walkable, bikable and full of old-school
appeal. Post-reno, the Cubittsnow
with a four-year-old and a seven-
year-oldare living in their dream
house, too.

1 Anisa ordered the
leather couch from
Australia after seeing
it on Pinterest.
Much of the other
furnitureincluding
the living room
3 chairis from Mjlk.
2 The couple
5 installed a retract-
able screen above
the fireplace and a
high-definition
projector across
the room.
3 The whole back

wall of the main floor
is windows.
4
4 Ben and Anisa
kept the houses
original footprint
so that they could
preserve the size of
the backyard.
5 The cabinetry is
white oak.
6 The master
bedroom was once
two small rooms.
Ben and Anisa
6 punched out the
dormer at the back
and took down walls
to make it an open,
airy space.
7 The rug in the

8 master bedrooms
sitting area is from
Imperial Rug on
King Street East.
8 All the millwork,

including these oak
slats, was done by
Harvest Home.
9 Anisa stole
the floor tiles in
the master
bathroom from
Hassams master
bathroom (he has
7 the same ones).
illustration by aleksandar janicijevic April 2017 toronto life 95

THE
MOSAIC
INSTITUTE
1
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Prince was also a huge fan.
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The Canadian rapper with a penchant
for big, bold accessories 3. He prefers a chunky
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six-foot-four, a small
For Kardinal Offishall, no outfit is complete without a watch looks weird.
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palling around with the PMas he did last November black-on-black sneakers,
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follows this style rule: he picks one unique item that are a versatile wardrobe
staple. $215. Footlocker.ca.
elevates his outfit from ordinary to outstanding. You can
portrait by vanessa heins
cheat, he says. You can be wearing a white T-shirt and 5. Offishalls fountain
a pair of jeans, and as soon as you put on a great pair of of youth is Bevels
shoes or an amazing hat, it becomes something else. aftershave balm. He says
friends regularly remark
Heres how to get his look. that he looks younger than
5 any 40-year-old they know.
Photographed at Call and Response on Queen West. $14.95 (U.S.). Getbevel.com.

jacket of all trades The limited-edition Roots bomber
TOP GEAR
features chenille cresting and leather sleeves. $588. Roots.com.
shiRT shOw
Three twists on the The new fan uniforms
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Theres a subtle CN Tower

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$30. Wavesapparel.com.
The Button Machines unisex

roundup baseball tee is slim, cute and
phonetically correct. $39.
Blue crush
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Rooting for the home team

has never been more stylish.
Our head-to-toe guide to
Jays-themed fashion
by c a i t l i n agn e w
For every hat sold, a

Torontonian in need will get
a free meal. $35.
Thankyoutoronto.com.
Ace gets a Minecrafty makeover
on this luxuriously soft sweatshirt,
designed by the prolific Toronto
street artist BirdO. $42.
Wavesapparel.com.
Two sisters designed this

elegant yet cheeky heart
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Brimzofficial.com.
Joe Carter loyalists will adore
Bird in the hand Dooney & Bourkes satchel is made of scuff- this vintage logo tee.
proof coated cotton with luxe leather accents. $340. Dooney.com. $45. Thesportgallery.com.

Paint It Blue
For Jays disciples who BABY BLUES
want to wear their fandom Because its never too
on their faces early to jump on the
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Viking-haired slugger Josh Donaldson

gets an adorable homage. $23.60.
500 Level, etsy.ca.
bottoms up A little Don Lipstick. $21. Long-lasting nail Eyeshadow. V for Volume
Cherry inspo is the fastest Maccosmetics.ca. lacquer. $13.75. $10. NYX, mascara. $12.50.
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Loudmouthgolf.com.
A true-blue pacifier will keep babies

placated through extra innings.
$9.99 for two. Jaysshop.ca.
Barb Baetz, a grandma in Strathroy,

badges of honour Home Is Where the Dome Is patch. $6. makes these tiny, toasty flannel-
Buttonmachine.bigcartel.com. Cufflinks (made from Jays baseballs). lined moccasins. $25. Rose n Lily
$260. Thesportgallery.com. Enamel pin. $10.95. Queeniescards.com. Creationz, etsy.ca.
photograph: bautista by getty images
Flipping
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Joey Flippin Bats T-shirt. Bat Flip iPhone case. Bautista enamel pin set.
$35.25. Freshbrewedtees.com. $36.60. Flightn9ne.com. $13. Squid-lords.com.

Daryl Oliver and
Andrew Parr
property ladder
The Prodigals
A party-loving couple get
serious about real estate
and reap the rewards
by jo sh de h a a s
Daryl Oliver, a 46-year-old Air Canada

flight attendant, and his husband,
Andrew Parr, the 55-year-old CEO of
the College of Naturopaths of Ontario,
met in a bar on Church Street in 1992.
Before long, they were building a
management consultancy together and
taking lavish vacations in Cancn and
Mykonos, a perk of Daryls job. All the
hard work (and equally hard partying)
1st buy
left them with little time or inclination
PurchaseD lake shore boulevard
to invest in real estate. fOr West (near Park lawn)
In 2001, they were happily renting
$333k Daryl and Andrew loved this
two-bedroom units
a condo in a building in Etobicoke in 2001
1,200-square-foot floor plan
when they saw a two-bedroom on the and Lake Ontario views
15th floor listed for sale. They pounced. sOlD fOr but not the buildings leaky
They loved the placeuntil special $439k sewage system.
in 2011
assessments to fix a leaky sewage
system landed in their mailbox. The
experience soured them on condos, but
they couldnt afford a house.
Andrew took a higher-paying job,
2nd buy
and they began aggressively paying
PurchaseD elm Grove (near Queen
down their mortgage. By 2010, they fOr and Dufferin)
were ready to move, but prices were $798k They were leery of the Hells
climbing faster than they could save. in 2011 Angels clubhouse down the
street but ended up buying this
Their real estate agent suggested a townhouse for $10,000 under
townhouse in Parkdale. Initially, Daryl sOlD fOr asking. The bikers parties were
and Andrew recoiled at the idea of $1.162m noisy but mercifully brief.
in 2016
another condo (this one steps from a
Hells Angels hangout), but the neigh-
bourhood was rapidly improving, and
the unit looked and felt like a house.
They bought the place and, five
years later, decided to cash in. With
the proceeds, they purchased land
near Haliburton, where theyre build-
3rd buy
ing a chalet that will one day be their
salerno lake
retirement home. (near haliburton)
lanD With $486,000 in cash and a
PurchaseD
portrait by erin leydon
$450,000 mortgage, they were

fOr
The bOTTOm line: A decade of able to build a chalet in cottage
financial focus and price appreciation $230k country. Theres a master suite
helped Daryl and Andrew save in 2015 on the main floor for when
almost $500,000 for a home that theyre too old to climb stairs.
could see them through the rest of
their lives.

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The Chase
The Accidental Buyer

steakhouse and seafood
She thought she might buy a house someday.

Someday arrived sooner than expected
by gr a h a m s l augh t e r
The buyer: Wylie Burke, the 41-year-old director of the

learning institute at Hincks-Dellcrest Centre, a childrens
mental health facility in Toronto.
The story: Wylie had been living in a one-bedroom apart-

ment in High Park for five years, paying $1,120 per month in
rent, when she started to think about buying. She figured a
condo would best suit her single-income budget, but her sis-
ter, who owns two investment properties, insisted that a
Elegance. Grace. Passion. house was a better purchase. As an experiment, Wylie
agreed to a one-day search near the Bloorcourt area, where
Voted Best Group Functions & her family lives. Her plan was to look at five properties and
Best Steak - Dine.TO later see what they sold for. She wasnt going to make any
offers, but, for the purpose of the experiment, she set a bud-
2179 Dundas St. E. Mississauga get of $650,000. Shed need help with her mortgage pay-
905.625.1137
ments, so a separate basement apartment was a must.
www.lacastile.com
Subscriber
Services
DIGITAL EDITION FREE
FOR PRINT SUBSCRIBERS
Your Toronto Life print subscription now includes
free access to the Toronto Life and FASHION digital
editions. In your digital newsstand store search Dennis Avenue (near Eglinton Norman Avenue (near St. Clair
toronto life and fashion magazine, download/open OPTION and Weston). Listed at OPTION and Caledonia). Listed at
the apps and follow the prompts.
1 2
$599,000, sold for $701,000. $599,900, sold for $633,800.
SUBSCRIPTION EXPIRY
To nd out when your current subscription expires,
Wylie was taken with the first property This three-bedroom semi was closer to
check the mailing label. she saw: a detached house with three Bloor West, and it had a rental unit in the
BILLING AND RENEWAL NOTICE bedrooms. It was recently renovated, basementalbeit one with a strong mouldy
Invoice and renewal notices are printed one week but she wanted a place she could fix up smell. The sellers were taking bids the next
before they are mailed to you. With delivery time,
its possible that your payment or renewal order will
herself. It didnt help that this one was in day. Even if Wylie had wanted to make an
cross in the mail with our invoice or renewal notice. Mount Dennis, a long way away from her offer, there would have been no time for her
FRAGRANCE-FREE ISSUES
target neighbourhood. to bring in an inspector.
Some issues of Toronto Life Magazine include perfume
strips. If you prefer to receive your copy of the Brad Street (near Dundas and Dupont).
magazine without perfume strips, please write to us The Listed for $699,000, sold for $688,000.
at the address listed below.
Buy
The houses Wylie liked were either too
MAIL PREFERENCE
On occasion, subscriber names and addresses are remote or too expensive. Then she saw an unusual
made available to carefully screened companies listing: a two-bedroom semi that had been on and
whose products or services we feel may be of interest
to readers. To be excluded from these mailings, off the market for two months. The wallpaper was
contact us via one of the following: jaundiced from tobacco smoke, the floors had a
portrait by erin leydon
email circ@torontolife.com
slant and the roof had been shoddily repaired. Wylie
phone 416-364-4433 hired an inspector, who said that fixing the place
mail toronto life magazine, p.o. box 825, wouldnt be that costly. She bought the house for
station main, markham, on l3p 8c8
privacy policy torontolife.com/privacy-policy $11,000 under asking and sunk $30,000 into renova-
tions. She has since moved in and is expecting her
first tenants in the spring.

Our Mints
take you
there.
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Visit us at Passport2017.ca
or download the free app.
Available now.
This project was made possible in part

by the Government of Canada.
The Handmaids the top
Tale is things to
ominously see, do, hear
prescient and read this
p. 106 month
photograph by laura gilpin/amon carter museum of american art
1
A sweeping ode to one of
modernisms late greats
The AGO follows its Lawren Harris showcase with another blockbuster dedicated to
a 20th-century icon: Georgia OKeeffe. The landmark exhibition chronicles her evo-
lution from little-known abstract expressionist to the so-called Mother of American
Modernism through 100 works in her trademark styles: undulating blooms, sun-
Art | Georgia OKeeffe bleached animal skulls, geometric skyscrapers and flowing New Mexico landscapes.
April 22 to July 30, AGO It also provides a glimpse into OKeeffes personal life through a series of black-and-
white portraits taken by her husband, the photographer Alfred Stieglitz.

4
A politically
charged roots
rock record
2 A soothsaying novel on the small screen music

Swimming in Strange
Waters
TV | The Handmaids Tale | Premieres April 26, Hulu The Wooden Sky
Nevado RecoRds
Two weeks into Donald Trumps presidency, The Handmaids Tale shot to the top of Amazons April 7
bestsellers list. Margaret Atwoods dystopian opus is now more than 30 years old, but, these days,
it seems ominously prescient: fundamentalist Christians seize control of the U.S. government,
strip women of their rights, exile minorities and prompt more than a few people to flee to Canada. Since their debut album
Of course, the books sudden second wind has a little something to do with a Super Bowl ad for 10 years ago, The Wooden
this TV adaptation. Mad Mens Elisabeth Moss stars as Offred, a rebellious concubine who Sky has proven to be the
photographs: the handmaids tale courtesy of hulu; crash by michael cooper; the wooden sky courtesy of the wooden sky
stumbles into a resistance movement after an illicit affair, while Samira Wiley (Orange is the New finest folk-rock act in town.
Black), Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls) and Yvonne Strahovski (Dexter) round out the cast. The band should have no
trouble hanging onto that
title with Swimming in
Strange Waters, a vibrant
3
blend of high-energy indie,
A devastating blue-eyed soul and solemn
one-woman play acoustic numbers. Beneath
layers of swirling organs,
TheATre | Crash chunky guitars and crisp
April 26 to 29, Young Centre for the Performing Arts percussion, theres some
serious subject matter:
Pamela Mala Sinhas harrowing solo front man Gavin Gardiner
show shook Torontos theatre scene quivers about refugees,
like a land mine when it debuted in Keystone XL and familial
2012, the year it took home a Dora scars caused by his abusive
Award for best new play. In it, she grandfather.
combines confessional theatre,
tortured dance steps and projections
to tell the story of an unnamed
woman stumbling through
the aftermath of being raped
by an intruder in her
Montreal apartment.
Ten years after the attack,
shes still grappling
with guilt and shame
when the memory
emerges during her
fathers funeral.

5 A small world after all
TheATre | 887 | April 7 to 16, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts
Robert Lepage is a giant of French-Canadian

theatreliterally so in this imaginative one-man
show. He wanders around intricately detailed minia-
tures of 1960s Quebec City, including a scale model of
887 Murray Avenue, the apartment building where
he grew up, which opens like a book to reveal the
private lives of its tiny residents. Lepage invites audi-
ences to enter his own story, recalling vignettes from
his childhood: his grandmothers dementia, a public
poetry reading, a family death. Its a magical, multi-
layered look at the seeds of one mans identity.
This months must-read books

American War When You Find Out the Roughneck
by Omar El akkad World Is Against You by JEff lEmirE
March 28, by kElly OxfOrd April 18,
Penguin Random House Little Sister April 18, HarperCollins The Last Neanderthal Simon and Schuster
by barbara GOwdy by ClairE CamErOn
A spookily resonant April 18, HarperCollins The Edmontonian April 29, When hes not draw-
novel about America mom has parlayed her Penguin Random House ing X-Men comics for
on the brink of a Gowdy writes neo- Twitter superstardom Marvel, Lemire cre-
second civil war, Gothic psychodrama into real-world success: Cameron has a knack ates gritty graphic
El Akkads gripping like no other Canadian. her first book was a for harrowing survival novels. His latest,
tale is set at the end Her first novel in a New York Times best- sagas. This one flashes Roughneck, is a dose of
of this century. As the decade is the spectral seller, and Seth Rogen between two timelines: blue-collar Canadiana
plague-ridden North tale of a rep-cinema is producing her new 40,000 years in the about a grizzled ex
and South engage in owner from Toronto screenplay. Her latest past, as a teenage hockey player who
a vicious battle over who finds herself collection of essayson Neanderthal girl reconnects with his
photograph: 887 by rick labb
fossil fuels, one young slipping into another pop culture, parent- struggles through troubled sister in a
woman rises up to persons consciousness ing and life in Los wintry barrens; and the remote northern
lead the southern after a thunderstorm Angelesis equal parts present day, when an Ontario hunting camp.
resistance. like Being John Malkovich, plaintive melancholy archaeologist discovers
with a literary twist. and caustic wit. her bones.

7
A time machine
to Torontos
immigrant past
ArT
Becoming canadian
in ToronTo
March 25 to July 15,

Market Gallery
Toronto has always

been a destination
for immigrants and
exiles, from European
settlers and escaped
American slaves to
Syrian refugees and
Trump dodgers. This
exhibitionpart of the
citys sesquicentennial
Union Station, 1910.
celebrationstells the Toronto experienced a surge
story of new Canadians of immigration from eastern
from all over the globe and southern Europe just
through video footage, before WWI.
oral histories, historical

artifacts, letters and
archival photographs.
Here, a few of our
favourite images from
the show.
Danforth Avenue, 1930.

The Greco family ran an Italian
food store on the Danforth.
Sample price: 15 cents for a
High Park, 1919. This shot of
basket of apples.
the Chinese-Canadian Boy
Scouts was taken just before
the government clamped
down on Chinese immigration.

Caribana, 1967. Torontos
Caribbean community
considered the first Caribana
parade a gift to Canada for
its centennial year.
ONeil playground, 1914.

European children
practised folk dances in
public playgrounds to
preserve their culture.
Location unknown, 1957.

playground, lodging house from city of toronto archives; caribana
Hungarian immigrants
by getty images; hungarian immigrants from archives of ontario
arrived wearing ID tags. The

diaspora grew after the
countrys 1956 revolution.
park from library and archives
canada; danforth avenue, oneil
photographs: union station, high
Terauley Street lodging

house, 1913. Six Polish men
shared this room in the Ward,
a densely populated immigrant
neighbourhood downtown.

8
The TsOs take on
a kids lit classic
FAMily
The Hockey Sweater
April 29, Roy Thomson Hall
Youre a Qubcois child in

1946. You love the Montreal
Canadiens, idolize Maurice
Richard and, like all your
friends, hope to receive a Habs
jersey with his number on it
for Christmas. Instead, under
the tree, you find a sweater
with the blue-and-white logo
9
of those hated rivals, the
Toronto Maple Leafs. Since
1979, Roch Carriers story
has become shorthand for
Canadian childhood. Backed
by the Toronto Symphony
Orchestra, Carrier himself
narrates a new musical A shape-shifting wall of sound
adaptation, featuring a
Music | PJ Harvey | April 13, Massey Hall
wistful, specially commis-
sioned score by Hamiltons
Abigail Richardson-Schulte. A listener could be forgiven for thinking PJ Harveys dozen albums were recorded
by as many different musicians. Over the past 25 years, the chameleonic English
songwriter has pumped out entire LPs of 90s grunge, sombre piano ballads and
obscure electronica, hitting every sound on the spectrum between Patti Smiths
protest rock and Bjrks eccentric experiments. Her latest incarnation: political
provocateur. The apocalyptic 2016 album, The Hope Six Demolition Project, features
bleated refrains like Theyre gonna put a Walmart here. Such theatrics extend to
the stage, where Harvey clads herself in elaborate feather getups and cycles
between saxophone, guitar and vocals.
10 Hot Docs hottest tickets

photographs: the hockey sweater, pj harvey by getty images
MOvies | Hot Docs Festival 3. Nobody Speak:

April 27 to May 7, Bloor Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema Trials of the Free Press
For all his famous fights in
1. Bill Nye: Science Guy 2. Gilbert the ring, Hulk Hogan scored
You loved him in sixth-grade He was Iago in Aladdin, the his most brutal victory in a
science class, but is there Aflac Duck and that guy who courtroom, when his lawsuit
room for a bow-tied Science told an aristocrats joke like no led to Gawker Medias disso-
Guy in your adult life? In this other. But do you really know lution. Nobody Speak dissects
documentary, Bill Nye tries Gilbert Gottfried? This candid Hogans role as a pawn of
to carve out a more grown- film documents the screechy- Silicon Valley billionaire
up niche by taking on voiced comedians new life as Peter Thiel, who funded the
creationists and climate a husband and father after case, and warns of wealths
change deniers. 45 years in show business. censoring power.

PHOTO A scene from BLACK CODE, Courtesy of Mongrel Media.
March 29 April 6 Tickets on sale NOW at tiff.net/humanrightswatch

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH is one of the worlds leading independent organizations
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@HRWCanada #HRWFF Human Rights Watch Canada
Film Festival Co-Presented by

Presenting Chair
11
12 the secret stories of an
east-end sari shop
thEAtrE | Little Pretty and the Exceptional
April 6 to 30, Factory Theatre
An album
for the end of No playwright has documented Indo-Canadian life
the world more astutely than Anusree Roy, the powerhouse
behind Pyaasa, Brothel #9 and Sultans of the Street.
Her newest work follows Simran and Jasmeet, two
sisters preparing to open a sari shop on Gerrard
Street with their overprotective father. The venture
photographs: timber timbre by caroline desilets; little pretty and the exceptional courtesy of factory theatre; anne courtesy of cbc; messianic revelations courtesy of the amici chamber ensemble
awakens the familys dormant demonsnamely,

their mothers suicideand demolishes taboos
around mental health in the South Asian diaspora.
MUSIC
Sincerely, Future
Pollution
Timber Timbre
Arts & CrAfts
April 7
Timber Timbres lo-fi

rock is like the surreal
soundtrack to a
Lynchian dream: it
14
chugs slowly, pairing
sinister lyrics with even
spookier melodies.
Recording in a chateau
on the outskirts of Songs from inside
Paris, the Canadian a POW camp
trio channelled their
unease about the new MUSIC
world disorder into Messianic Revelations
their dystopian record, April 30, Mazzoleni Concert Hall
Sincerely, Future
Pollution, a dark, synth- Messianic Revelations refers
heavy effort crowned not only to the spiritual
by singer Taylor Kirks minimalism of Estonian com-
deep croon. The poser Arvo Prt but also to the
13 A new dose of the pride of P.E.I.

apocalypse has never surname of French composer
sounded so good. Olivier Messiaen. Theyre a
good pairing: the quiet rapture
of Prts Spiegel im Spiegel
tV | Anne | Premieres March 19, CBC (Mirror in the Mirror) nicely
contrasts the eight movements
Given TVs recent reboot frenzy (see: Fuller House, Twin of Messiaens craggy but ulti-
Peaks, Star Trek), it was only a matter of time before CBC mately hopeful Quartet for the
wrung a little more life out of Anne of Green Gables. The new End of Time. He wrote the piece
series goes back to the very beginning of Lucy Maud inside a German POW camp
Montgomerys stories, when an orphan girl from P.E.I. is during WWII. With the help
mistakenly sent to live with an aging brother and sister. of other prisoners and even
Sprightly newcomer Amybeth McNulty beat out 1,800 girls their captors, they performed
to star as the 13-year-old who changes the lives of everyone it for inmates and guards on a
around her with her boundless imagination. cold night in January 1941.

Thank you to our
2017 CFC Annual Gala &
Auction sponsors, donors
and guests.
Your generous support enables the Canadian
John Tory, Mayor of Toronto;
Film Centre to invest in and inspire the next Kayla Diamond, singer-songwriter (Slaight Music)
Christina Jennings, Chair, Board of Directors,
CFC and Chairman and CEO, Shaftesbury; generation of world-class content creators
and Slawko Klymkiw, CEO, CFC
and entrepreneurs in the screen-based
entertainment industry.
Annie Murphy and Kimberly Laferriere, Gary Slaight, CEO and President of Slaight Communications
CFC Actors Conservatory alumnae Inc., Michael Friisdahl, President and CEO, Maple Leaf Sports &
Entertainment; and Randy Lennox, President,
Broadcasting and Content, Bell Media
PRIME FOCUS TECHNOLOGIES
AUTOMOTIVE SPONSOR
OFFICIAL MAGAZINE
OFFICIAL ENTERTAINMENT
SPECIAL THANKS TO
The singer-songwriters from the Slaight Music Residency:
Aimee Bessada, Rebecca Everett, Chris Reineck, Laura Barrett and
Michael Peter Olsen; Kayla Diamond (Slaight Music);
and guest auctioneer Stephen Ranger.
15 The citys buzziest soul singer
Music | Charlotte Day Wilson | April 19 and 20, Mod Club
With apologies to Drake and Rihanna, the best 2016 song

called Work belonged to another Torontonian: Charlotte Day
Wilson. The sexy organ-driven track is the centrepiece of
Wilsons debut EP, CDW, a soulful R&B effort thats quickly
turned her into one of the citys most sought-after musical
exports. Apple used her music in an iPhone commercial,
Netflix put a song in their series Grace and Frankie, and L.A.
indie rockers Local Natives took her on tour. In these back-to-
back homecoming gigs, shell simmer through her sparse
repertoire and give fans a taste of whats next.
18
photographs: charlotte day wilson courtesy of charlotte day wilson; louis riel courtesy of the coc; true crime courtesy of crows theatre; bach courtesy of tafelmusik
An intergenerational
classical concert
Music
Bach: Keeping It in the Family
April 5 to 9, Trinity-St. Pauls Centre
JSB fathered 20 children
16 between two wives, and its

no surprise at least a few of
them took after their dad.
An ultra-canadian This concert includes work by
operatic opus the better known of the gang:
Carl Philipp Emanuel, whose
OperA quirky symphonies took
17
Louis Riel an adventurous approach to
March 25 to May 13, Four Seasons structure, and Wilhelm
Centre for the Performing Arts Friedemann, who hewed
more closely to Bachs baroque
Canadian composer Harry counterpoint. Theres also an
Somerss opera returns orchestral suite by C. P. E.s
a half-century after its A rockers stage debut godfather, Georg Philipp
premiere to mark Canadas Telemann. Appropriately, the
150th anniversary. It docu- TheATre | True Crime | April 4 to 15, Crows Theatre father-daughter team of oboist
ments the life, trial and Alfredo Bernardini and
execution of Louis Riel, the Torquil Campbell, the front man of local indie violinist Cecilia Bernardini
charismatic (and possibly band Stars, swaps his songbook for a script in tackle the program.
mad) Mtis leader who his first play, True Crime. Accompanied by a
championed Manitobas guitarist, he plays 30 different characters, many
French and Indigenous of them aliases of Christian Karl Gerhartsreiter, a
people. Famed baritones real-life German swindler who moved to the U.S.
Russell Braun (Riel) and and posed as an aristocrat, physicist and art
James Westman (John A. collector. Gerhartsreiter also murdered a man in
Macdonald) are well-matched California and married a woman whom hed
nemeses, backed by an convinced that he was a Rockefeller. The charade
Indigenous assembly, in a collapsed in 2008, when he kidnapped his
libretto that includes French, daughter and was sentenced to life in prison.
English and Michif, the
Mtis language.

memoir
Teen Spirit
My husband and I had always planned to adopt a toddler.
Instead, we came home with a 17-year-old girl
by av i va z u k e r m a n s c h u r e
My husband, Peter, and I married in 1995. We had an informal stuffing their pocketsand faceswith sweets. Turns out, candy
agreement that wed have two biological children, then adopt two is a universal language.
more, but life didnt work out that way. Instead, I had four babies After that, she stayed with us every weekend for a month. She
in nine years. Our big family was exhausting, exhilarating and was reserved, but we knew she was interested because she kept
expensive, and I loved (almost) every minute of it. But, when our saying yes: yes to weekend visits, yes to help with her homework,
youngest son turned three, I realized it was time to plunge into yes to a road trip to Ottawa. We texted constantly. Because of the
my adoption dream or let go of it altogether. language barrier, our early chats were mostly strings of emojis:
People called us crazywe had four rambunctious boys under happy faces, dogs, cats. At night, she stayed up with Peter and
the age of 11 and we planned to adopt a toddlerbut we were me, and painted our nails with nail art. Whenever she left, our
determined. When we discovered wed be at the bottom of a five- house felt empty.
year waiting list for international adoption, we tried the Adoption In October, she told us she wanted to be our daughter. CAS
Resource Exchange. Its an event hosted by the Ministry of hired an interpreter who could explain the full legal process, right
Children and Youth Services. Childrens Aid down to whether she wanted to call us Mom
Society workers from across the province gather and Dad. (She did.) A couple of months later,
to try to find homes for hard-to-place kids: sibling we celebrated Hanukkah, and I finally realized
groups, children with disabilities, teens. Its how much we meant to her. When she arrived
heartbreaking. There are files and files of children for dinner, she brought presents for all of us. She
who will likely never get placed. bought pencil cases and notebooks for her broth-
I believe family is a basic human right, and ers, and she got me a necklace with two silver
visiting the exchange clinched it for me. I charms: a little girl and a heart. I burst into tears.
thought, Why not adopt a teen? We could provide She moved in full time on January 25, 2013,
a teenager with love and opportunities. Plus: when she was 17. We transformed her room,
no toilet training! No schlepping a stroller all painting the walls yellow and plastering them
over the city! One of my sons once asked me For Hanukkah, with giant flower-shaped stickers. It was bright,
why I wanted to adopt. Mom, he said, our cheery and so quintessentially teen girl. She was
family is crazy and loud and annoying, right?
my daughter ecstatic to have a room that was hers.
Why make it even more crazy, loud and annoy- bought me a Its amazing to live with someone who has
ing? But I knew that, if I could give a kid a chosen to be part of your family. There are
chance at a family, I had to try. necklace with roughly 6,500 kids in foster care in Ontario,
One evening, we got an email from our case- two silver and the year we found our daughter, only three
worker. It read like something off a dating app: other kids over the age of 16 were adopted. But
teen newcomer from Asia, likes school and charms: a little adopting an older child is incredibly rewarding.
playing piano, seeks family. She was 16much
older than wed ever imagined. This teen would
girl and a heart. We got our dog, Kora, after our daughter moved
in so we could build new experiences as a fam-
benefit from a very nurturing, loving mom who I burst into tears ily. We introduced her to skiing. And, not long
is demonstrative with affection, the note read. after we adopted her, she chose to convert to
A few weeks later, we met with her adoption Judaism. The whole thing was her idea. She
worker and foster mom, who told us how resourceful and creative went through a Reform conversionshes so small that I thought
the girl was, and how she dreamed of attending university to shed drown in the mikveh.
study art. I thought, This could be our daughter. I remember one morning, soon after she moved in, I woke up
We met her at FunWalk, an annual fundraiser for the Adoption and her room was empty. I thought, Thats it. Shes gone. I bolted
Council of Ontario in Riverdale Park. I was incredibly nervous. through the house, thinking she had run away. I found her in the
I wanted her to want our family as much as we wanted her. She basement doing homeworkshe hadnt wanted to wake us. I
was tiny and adorable, not even five feet tall and less than dont worry like that anymore. Shes finishing her first year at
100 pounds, dressed in leggings and an oversized hoodie. I talked OCADU while still living at home with us. And it feels as though
and talked and talkedand she nodded a lot. She didnt speak shes always been here.
much English then, but she bonded with my sons over a mutual
love of candy. The FunWalk is like an old-timey fair: every time Aviva Zukerman Schure works for the Adoption Council of Ontario.
you play a game, you get candy. They went from booth to booth, Email submissions to memoir@torontolife.com

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