MetroNews x Canoe Heads for Kids

Toronto
6 Wednesday, May 13, 2015
EDUCATION
Strikes
illegal:
Boards
Three Ontario school boards
where high school teachers
have been on strike for weeks,
affecting more than 70,000 students, are asking for the job
actions to be declared illegal.
In Durham Region, where
secondary teachers are into
their fourth week on strike,
the board said it “strongly believes’’ it is unlawful.
The boards believe the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation is staging local
strikes on central issues. That is
not allowed under a bargaining
system the Liberal government
introduced last year. It separates local and central negotiating, with issues such as money
and class sizes being discussed
at the provincial table.
The Durham District School
Board, east of Toronto, the
Rainbow District School Board,
in the Sudbury area, and the
Peel District School Board, west
of Toronto, are filing a joint application to the Ontario Labour
Relations Board, asking it to
declare the strikes unlawful.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canoeing for a good cause
FUNDRAISER
May 30 event
helps kids go
to camps for
fun, new skills
Gilbert
Ngabo
Metro | Toronto
More than 100 Torontonians
are gearing up to strap canoes
and kayaks to their backs, walk
15 kilometres on the downtown waterfront and come
back paddling.
Their mission: making sure
kids from underprivileged families don’t miss out on summer
camping.
“These are kids who
wouldn’t otherwise have those
recreational opportunities,”
said Kate Horton, executive
director of Amici Camping
Charity, which runs the Canoe Heads for Kids fundraiser.
Through community organizations, the group identifies
the needy youngsters aged
five to 17, and raises funds
to dispatch them through 35
partnering summer camps
across Ontario. At least 250
kids from the GTA and across
the province experience summer camp each year through
this program.
It’s an opportunity for these
kids to learn leadership skills,
community engagement, cultural and social behaviour as
well as learning to live and
cope well with others, she said.
“It’s really amazing to see
how kids grow and boost their
confidence through these
camps,” she said.
“At the end of it all, they feel
like if they have survived in a
tent for two weeks, they can
take on anything, either university or any
other
life challenges.”
The program also develops
a continuing relationship with
the kids’ families, and allows
them to return to
camp through
the same support program
for
a
chance
to hammer down skills they
learned earlier, added Horton.
Most of the people who
participate in the canoeing
fundraiser are former campers themselves, who are passionate about the cause and
have known the importance
of camping, prompting them
to help those who can’t afford
it, she said.
About 130 people have
signed up for this year’s
event, which takes place
May 30.
Participants will walk
west from Harbourfront
Canoe and Kayak Centre
to the Humber
River. They then put their canoes in the water and paddle
back to the original spot, completing what looks like “a fun
parade” of canoeing through
d o w n - town, said Horton.
Last year the
campaign raised
$140,000.
Participants paddle on the waterfront during last year’s Canoe
Heads for Kids event. CONTRIBUTED/AMICI CAMPING CHARITY
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