Laura Kenins

Over the years, freelancers have had more and more company in precarious employment of all varieties. But even as the Ontario government erodes labour protections and as the federal election approaches, there’s reason for hope.

With employment activists working in communities to build better jobs and workers in several app-based jobs voting to unionize, precarious workers in Ontario are developing a better awareness of their situation and working together to change it.

Few Canadians relish doing their taxes, but for low-income workers classified as independent contractors, the process can be particularly frustrating — and costly.
The practice of classifying workers who are de facto employees as independent contractors has crept into more and more industries over the past 20 years, says Deena Ladd of the Workers’ Action Centre in Toronto. Cleaners, truck drivers, couriers, construction workers, door-to-door salespeople, bank staff, and even restaurant worker...

Nova Scotia: land of sailboats, lighthouses and Maud Lewis's charming paintings of cats and oxen. At least, that's what comes to mind for many. The provincial tourism and culture departments, major art institutions and the 2016 film Maudie would have you believe a similarly quaint, simplified story about Lewis herself: that despite poverty and physical disabilities, the outsider artist painted happy, colourful images to sell to tourists from the roadside shack where she lived with her husband.

Cold weather, long nights, snow-covered bike lanes and drivers who seem to think cyclists go into hibernation come October — for the growing contingent of Canadian riders who cycle through the winter, there's no shortage of potential hazards on the road.
But while much of the winter biking advice out there focuses on investing in expensive gear, there's more to safety than a pricey trip to a sportswear store. We talked to cycling experts for their top tips on safe winter riding.

Most commonly, accessibility is an afterthought in the arts — if it's a thought at all. But producers in disability arts are working to make access part of the performance.
In Crip Shorts — part of the Cripping the Arts conference and festival in Toronto this month — the performers and producer have tried to build in access for audiences with an array of accessibility requirements.

Twitter’s (and Toronto’s) famous bike cop shares why he handed in his badge to help cyclists. The rise in deadly encounters between drivers and cyclists had Toronto Police parking enforcement officer Kyle Ashley so worried that he made headlines in 2017 when he took to Twitter to call out vehicles—often delivery trucks—that were parked in bicycle lanes, forcing cyclists to make often unsafe merges into busy traffic. Today, Ashley is a full-time bicycle advocate.

When Smyth began drawing comics as a student at the Ontario College of Art in the mid-1980s, it was “a very small scene, mostly male-dominated, of course, especially in Toronto with the holy triumvirate of Chester [Brown], Joe [Matt], and Seth.” From the beginning, Smyth balanced her comics with her work as a painter. “Even my earliest shows, I would make zines to sell. So I would have an art show but make a mini-zine to sell, because people might not be able to afford a painting, but they could afford a zine.”

Samantha Cutrara, an historian, educator, and curriculum specialist at York University, has been awarded the 2018 Frances E. Russell Grant. The $1,000 grant is presented by the Canadian section of the International Board on Books for Young People. Cutrara will use the grant to continue her research into how Canadian history is portrayed in children’s graphic novels.

Opera and comics might not seem like a natural pairing, but for creators Cecil Castellucci and André Ristic, it's an easy fit. The comic book writer and composer are both well-versed in cross-disciplinary projects, and Hockey Noir is their second comic-themed opera together, where Castellucci wrote the libretto and Ristic the music.

Here’s how to spread the love on your big day—it’s as easy as saying, “I do”
The dress. The rings. The invitations. The D.J. The bouquets. The open bar. And that’s only the beginning (don’t even get us started on the bombonieres).The average Canadian wedding can set a couple back by $30,000—small wonder some couples are celebrating by giving back. Take the world’s most famous newlyweds Harry and Meghan, who asked guests to give to the charities they support in lieu of gifts.
“Weddings tend to...

Just over a year after closing its former Mirvish Village location, Toronto children’s comic bookstore Little Island Comics has a new home. The kid-focused offshoot of the comic shop the Beguiling shut its doors at the end of 2016 when redevelopment of the Honest Ed’s site and the surrounding block began and both stores were forced out of their original locations.

The first edition of the Calgary Canzine fair is celebrating the city's flourishing small press community

Most anglophone children across Canada learn French at school with little immediate opportunity to use it, while francophone children frequently have the same experience with English. What's a kid to do? Enter Grilled Cheese magazine, a bilingual magazine that uses a host of French and English-speaking artists and writers to bring articles, games and activities to children nationwide in both official languages.

While the field of disability arts is growing, few curators and writers are talking about where it meets the concept of aging. Bodies in Translation: Aging and Creativity is an exhibition at Halifax's Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery that takes this intersection as a premise.

Montreal illustrator Elise Gravel has illustrated dozens of children's books, but with her latest, the goal is to get other people to draw. If Found...Please Return To Elise Gravel offers a peek into Gravel's sketchbook full of monsters, animals, microbes and farting vegetables, with drawing prompts and tips for young illustrators.