[PHOTO] Daffodils in the rain outside the ROM Crystal

Daffodils in the rain outside the ROM Crystal
Originally uploaded by rfmcdpei

The first flowers of spring, the daffodils, are all wilting, but I've this photo, at least, to continue to remind me of the advent of warm wet warm spring.

[LINK] Yonge Street

I'd like to think lpetrazickis for linking to James Bow's multi-part travelogue describing his trip up Yonge Street. Bow sums up his project's mission succinctly.

For years, Torontonians have celebrated the fact that their main commercial street, Yonge Street, was listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the longest street in the world. The record may be inaccurate (and is no longer recognized by Guiness), but there is no doubting Yonge Street's cultural and historical significance to the City of Toronto and its northern suburbs. Here you will find a full, illustrated travalogue describing my journey up the first section of this street -- the "true" Yonge Street, stretching from Lake Ontario to Bradford, and no further. It may be only 56 kilometres, but it's an impressive journey nonetheless.

[LINK] "McGuinty urges protesters not to carry Tamil Tiger flag"

It's worth noting that in the wake of Sunday's protests by Tamil-Canadians, protests which included the blocking of the Gardiner Expressway by a crowd that included small children, Torontonians are starting to become unimpressed.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has urged protesters not to carry the Tamil Tiger flag at their protests, as plans emerged for another mass protest to centre on Queen's Park tomorrow.

“I don't think that helps their case,” Mr. McGuinty said of the red flag featuring a tiger and crossed rifles.

There is a right way and a wrong way for the Tamil community to express their concerns about what is happening in Sri Lanka, the premier said.

“You can't block highways,” he said. “You endanger others and you endanger yourselves. You are welcome to the front lawn of Queen's Park at any time.”

[. . .]

The protesters prominently wave flags of the secessionist movement Tamil Eelam. The flag was the emblem of the Tigers until 1990, and still evokes that organization.

The Canadian government declared the Tigers a terrorist group in 2006.

But the Toronto protesters stand by the Tigers, calling them ‘freedom fighters' and insisting the Tigers are the only hope of Tamils caught in the northern Sri Lanka battle zone. Amid the repeated chants calling for a ceasefire and government action, protesters declare Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as “our national leader, our glorious leader.”

I caught up with the protest at Spadina and Dundas, in the heart of Toronto's largest Chinatown, on that day. I'll do a blog post, with photos, as soon as I can download the photos from my camera.