Regent Park Focus

Prior to the filming, the girls interviewed their families and friends about their experiences as first-generation immigrants. Most of the girls were born in Canada. Some came at an early age and can barely remember their first day in this new country. Therefore, getting to know how people feel when they first arrived, what motivated them to start a new life here and the difficulties they encountered would enable the girls to look at things from a different perspective. For the first part of the show, we created a short "draw my life" video on the story of the first-generation immigrants in Canada. The girls then discussed some of their findings from the interviewing process. It was the first time they filmed a TV show in the studio, and they were very excited. We hope that you will like it! By: Dan Cai

Regent Park Focus welcomed Toronto city councilor Kristyn Wong-Tam to our studio. We interviewed Kristyn about her experiences in politics, her career inspirations and how she copes with difficulties in life. Our host Maeashah had an interactive conversation with Kristyn and asked for her advice to young women who come from diverse cultural backgrounds and are interested in becoming politically involved. We really appreciate Kristyn for sharing her stories, and hope that our audience would gain something helpful from watching the upcoming show! By: Dan Cai

My first interview on an Interfaith Dialogue was of Jasper Bendici. He is part of the Shallow Seas (a current rock band), as well as being an active member of a Greek Orthodox Church. For the first time ever, I was actually doing what I've always wanted to do: host a tv show ! I had so much support from everyone. I received simple advice about studio interviewing technique , which greatly improved the interview. Because of my experience in front of the camera, I now feel so much more confident in speaking out. This experience of people depending on me to deliver, caused me to grow in areas I didn't even expect.    The program of Interfaith Dialogue is so important to me, because it encourages people to see above themselves and to explore the big questions every human faces. I believe our culture has suppressed these thoughts and questions. A public show that discusses different faiths, groups, and movements toward peace and understanding is immensely i...

Our newest episode of Interfaith Dialogues features our host Shantel Smith who interviews pastor David Donker from All Nations Full Gospel Church. The church was founded in 1986 by David's father and is a very diverse organization. It has members from a variety of nations including 7 different countries, 86 churches and 10,000 members. There are currently 25 ranches in Canada, Africa, Liberia, South Sudan and Jamaica. The church also runs it's own NGO which focuses on development. They depend on a strong team that gives their time and energy in many capacities.

We were please to have one of the co-founders and president of the El-Tawhid Juma Circle or also known as The Toronto Unity Mosque, Troy Jackson in our studios to discuss progressive Muslim faith and looking at the religion from a gender equal, human positive perspective. From the beginning of the interview Troy made it clear that the mosque began with the understanding that women and men are equal in all aspects of ritual practice, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender orientation or various other categorical signifiers. Together with his partners El-Farouk Khaki and Dr. Laury Silvers they have created a welcoming space for people of all faiths who would like to become more informed about Islam. They usually have between 20-50 people for Friday prayer sessions. Their is a growing movement of Muslims who would like to find a place where they feel comfortable practicing their religion. Too often people think that they must leave a part of themselves at the door of the mosqu...

As part of our continued series on faith and spirituality, we had a member of The Regent Park Community Ministry come in and discuss what they do and what they hope to accomplish with their organization. Kevin Moore, who is connected to the United Church of Canada sat down with our host Omar and had an informative discussion about faith and Christianity. The Regent Park Community Minisitry is located at 40 Oak St., which is home to the CRC (Christian Resource Centre) and hosts a community hub that provides shared spaces to community service organizations that offer a range of support such as language instruction, job training, after-school programs and drop-in groups. The ministry hosts various discussion groups, such as their coffee discussion group which brings together people of various faiths such as: Hindu, Christian and Muslim. This group in particular talks about each person's faith journey and the obstacles and joys they have faced. During nice weather the mini...

Regent Park filmed an episode of Interfaith Dialogue. This episode of interfaith dialogue was about the Muslim religion. The guest was a student who is currently taking the Chaplin program at the University of Toronto. During the interview, the topics that were touched on were: What does Chaplaincy mean to you? How do you see yourself as a Muslim? How do you practice your religion? The production team consisted of the Director (Horace) The Host (Kamal), Switcher (Joanne) and Camera (Omar, Isaac, Tyrone). dialogue

On this episode of Interfaith Dialogue, Sahar Zaidi joined me to discuss violence and abuse against Muslim women. Sahar holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Schulich School of Business, a Masters in Business Administration from the American University of Sharjah and a B.S. in Accounting from Purdue University. Sahar has worked closely with Springtide Resources, the North York Women’s Shelter and the Canadian Urban Institute. While completing her Masters, Sahar worked on several research papers looking into immigration policies and their effects on victims of abuse. In addition, she works at the Canadian Council of Muslim Women as a Project Coordinator, where she carries out government funded projects. She educated us about the differences between physical, mental/emotional, verbal, economic, and sexual abuse put on Muslim woman. We discussed that there are many stereotypes within the Muslim community that must be challenged and lastly, she let us know what people i...

It was about mid-November when I sat down to plan out a one-hour program for Radio Regent, the topic of which was to involve religion in some capacity. With the sensory rush of the holidays just gearing up and the airwaves (and internet) beginning to buzz with the annual "war on Christmas" debate, it seemed appropriate to consider just what "Christmas" means in today's Canada.   Although North American Christmas has been an ostensibly Christian holiday, many Canadians - even those who have been in Canada for generations - are not devout Christians, or Christians at all. So what do we do with a holiday that has "Christ" in its very name, and supposedly celebrates the birth of Jesus? Specifically, what do young Canadians who don't identify as Christians do when Christmas rolls around?        I sent out a couple of feelers to religious leaders in the local community, hoping for a response. Only two peop...

Today at Regent Park Focus we shot another episode of Interfaith Dialogue with special guest Patricia, a representative and healer from the Toronto Counsel Fire Native Cultural Centre in Regent Park. On the show, we discussed issues of residential schools, how it has affected the Native community and how they are currently healing. Patricia works at the Native Culture Centre as a counselor/healer to help Natives who were pulled into residential school reconnect and learn about their culture and traditions, she often helps rebuilds relationships between them and families. We had a full crew for production –  it was a good learning and informative experience for everyone. -Vina