The Halton District School Board says the staff member has been removed from the classroom as police investigate the alleged incident.
- An Ontario father alleges his seven-year-old non-verbal autistic daughter was kicked in the stomach by an Early Childhood Educator at her Milton school.
- He reported the incident to police and shared a video online, prompting other parents to come forward with similar concerns.
- The Halton District School Board says the staff member has been reassigned pending an investigation, and protocols involving CAS and police were followed.
- Advocates say incidents involving abuse against Black and neurodivergent children are rising and are calling for accountability and systemic changes.
An Ontario father is speaking out and calling for justice after his seven-year-old non-verbal, autistic daughter was allegedly kicked in the stomach by an educator at school.
Granville Mayers says he was notified of the incident last week when his daughter’s principal at Viola Desmond Public School in Milton called him and said his daughter had been kicked in the stomach by an Early Childhood Educator.
“They’re telling me a little boy witnessed the incident, and he did the right thing, and went and told the principal or his staff,” Mayers tells Now Toronto.
Mayers says learning of the assault was “a nightmare.”
“Especially knowing your child is non-verbal, wouldn’t even understand what that means. She might think it’s a game. She doesn’t understand what being kicked by an adult would even mean,” he said.
Mayers says he immediately took the situation into his own hands and called the police. Afterwards, he also documented what happened in a now-viral video, which he says has led other parents from the same school to come forward with similar incidents.
“Kids are getting assaulted on the buses, maybe sometimes by other students. They get made fun of every day, but so many things happen and then they kind of just brush it off,” he said. “Where’s the trust?”
In a statement to Now Toronto, the Halton District School Board says it is aware of the incident and that, for any concerns involving the safety of students, the board works with the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) and police.
“When this concern was brought forward, school administration immediately followed these established protocols. This matter has also been referred to the HDSB’s Human Resources Department and is being addressed through the appropriate processes,” the statement said.
The school board says the staff member has been assigned home pending the investigation.
Now Toronto also reached out to Halton Police, who say it is too early to provide any updates or information related to the investigation.
A letter was also sent out to students and staff from the school’s principal about the alleged assault; however, Mayers says he did not receive the email.
Communications Manager of Parents of Black Children (PoBC), Shannon Liverpool, says the organization has been in contact with both Mayers and the school board regarding the case, and says reported incidents involving abuse are rising among Black children.
“We have seen 57 per cent of our cases involve neurodivergent babies, and a lot of them have to do with abuse, a lot of them have to do with racial harm. And I know a lot of people wonder, why do we keep saying racial harm? Because if this wasn’t a black child, would it still happen?,” she says.
Liverpool says PoBC is calling for immediate action to be taken, including the suspension of the ECE’s license.
“She should not be around children period. As far as we’re concerned, our first priority is making sure that vulnerable children are no longer allowed around educators,” she said.
She says the organization is also calling for an investigation into all educators at the school due to the repeated allegations. She adds that legal action will also be pursued.
“We want to make sure that nobody feels comfortable to ever do this again,” she said.
Granville says justice will also include the installation of cameras in classrooms, especially in sensory rooms and anywhere there are nonverbal children. He’s also calling on other parents to speak up when needed.
“This is for your child. Do everything that you have to do for their safety, and don’t be afraid of anything,” he said.
The Tragically Hip Musical heads to Kingston, cast album in the works
‘It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken’ will then go to Montreal in May 2027.
What to know
- It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken will play Kingston from Oct. 22 to Nov. 8 after runs in Hamilton and Montreal.
- Five-time Grammy-winning producer Steve Berlin will produce the musical’s cast recording at The Tragically Hip’s Bathouse studio in Ontario.
- The production tells an original story about an Iraqi refugee in Canada and uses Tragically Hip songs to shape mood and emotion rather than retell the band’s history.
- Producers say the show will eventually tour more cities across Canada, including Toronto, following strong audience demand.
The Tragically Hip musical, It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken, continues its course throughout Canada, and will eventually move onto the band’s hometown later this year.
The story, which tells the fictional story of exiled Iraqi journalist Waleed who settles in Canada as a refugee where he meets Kate, a local record shop owner, just wrapped at Hamilton’s Theatre Aquarius. Its next stop is Montreal on May 9 through 30 at Sylvan Adams Theatre, before arriving in the band’s hometown of Kingston from Oct. 22 until Nov. 8.
No plans for Toronto just yet, but Michael Rubinoff — producer of the new musical with David and Hannah Mirvish — told Now it will get here “eventually.”
Inside the impact of The Tragically Hip
The Hip is one of Canada’s biggest and most beloved rock bands, releasing 14 studio albums over its 33-year career, winning 17 Juno Awards, and earning a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, and induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Their charismatic singer Gord Downie, whose poetic lyrics often dug into Canadian stories, identity and landscapes, died in 2017 of brain cancer.
“Every performance, watching lifelong Hip fans and traditional theatregoers unite into one audience has been extraordinary,” Rubinoff told Now. “Hearing people exit the theatre proclaiming they are the country’s newest Hip fans is a beautiful reminder of this music’s timeless power. As a long-time fan, I set out to honour the band’s iconic music and champion a deeply Canadian, yet universal, story.”
Rubinoff, the originating producer of Come From Away, the most successful Canadian musical in history and the longest-running Canadian musical on Broadway, said he’s excited that It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken next goes to Kingston, “which is intertwined with the legacy of the band. We know it will be electric and a stop unlike any other on this journey.”
The Tragically Hip — Downie, guitarists Paul Langlois and Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair, and drummer Johnny Fay — met as students in Kingston, and steadily grew from playing local bars and pubs to headlining arenas across Canada with songs that became as significant to our cultural identity as hockey and maple syrup, or, as Waleed discovers of his new home, a “double double” and snow.
“The demand for the show has been significant, and we will eventually share it right across the country, including Toronto and beyond,” Rubinoff added. “We’re only at the beginning of this Canadian cultural moment.”
A reimagination of timeless Canadian-made hits
The book was written by Iraqi-born Ahmed Moneka and American-born playwright Jesse LaVercombe, both immigrants.
To be clear, It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken — named after a song on the 2002 album In Violet Light — is not a production based on the history of The Tragically Hip, nor it is a “jukebox musical,” a type of a stage production that uses the song lyrics to tell the story.
Rather, the show uses The Hip’s hits, such as “Courage,” “New Orleans Is Sinking,” “Poets,” “Bobcaygeon,” “At The Hundredth Meridian,” “Grace, Too,” “Ahead by a Century,” and title song to emphasize the mood of a scene.
In a couple of instances, the lyrics work more literally, such as “Cordelia,” the name of Kate’s mom and the record shop, and “Bobcaygeon,” when the couple escape to a wintery cabin and observe the constellation.
Fortunately, musical director Richard Evans does not turn the beloved songs into show tunes.
Bob Foster did orchestrations and music supervision, and Levon Ichkhanian composed the middle eastern music that is woven throughout the score, connecting the two worlds, as Waleed learns about Canadian culture and community, while struggling with being so far away from his homeland and family.
Directed by Mary Francis Moore and choreographed by Marc Kimelman, the cast includes the two lead actors, Ali Momen (Waleed) and Talia Schlanger (Kate), narrator Karim Butt (Sam), and supporting actors Tahirih Vejdani (Didi/Badria), Brandon McGibbon (Jonathon), Rebecca Auerbach (Abigail), Sameer Cash (Fadi) and Kevin McLachlan (Lucas).
The onstage band is comprised of Evans (music director, keyboards), Lindsay Clark (keyboard / acoustic guitar), Aubrey Dale (drums, percussion), David Gray (guitar), Jon Maharaj (bass), Dobrochna Zubek (cello) and Adam Diderrich (violin).
The Tragically Hip’s manager Jake Gold tells Now that five-time Grammy producer and Los Lobos sax player/keyboards Steve Berlin, also his client, and producer The Hip’s 1998 album, Phantom Power and 2000’s Music @ Work, will produce the cast recording. They will lay down the bedtracks at The Hip’s The Bathouse Recording Studio in Bath, Ont., starting the second week of June, and the vocals at a studio in Toronto. Universal Music Canada will release the soundtrack.
The Hip’s Baker and Gord’s brother Mike Downie, who directed the band’s award-winning four-part documentary series No Dress Rehearsal, have both seen it. To have them “emotionally connect with the show, and offer their positive feedback is the fulfillment of a dream,” said Rubinoff. The rest of The Hip will likely see it in Kingston.
10 years since the ‘Man Machine Poem’ farewell tour
In other Hip news, to commemorate the band’s final tour a decade ago, Live July 22 – August 20, 2016, comes out Aug. 21, on 2 CDs and three LPs. The album takes performances from the 15 shows on the Man Machine Poem Tour, mixed and mastered in Dolby Atmos by their longtime engineer Mark Vreeken. “Fifty-Mission Cap” from Edmonton and “Locked In The Trunk Of A Car” from Kingston are available now.
The following night, August 22, CBC will rebroadcast The Tragically Hip: A National Celebration, ad-free, at 7 p.m. local time, on CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBC Radio and CBC Music’s YouTube page. (7:30 p.m. in Newfoundland).
On June 22, Kawartha Dairy — founded in Bobcaygeon, Ontario in 1937 — will release the bespoke flavour The Tragically Chip, described as “a delicious blend of maple whisky flavoured ice cream, with dark chocolatey chunks and a rich black cherry ripple.” A portion of sales goes to Breakfast Club of Canada. The limited-edition ice cream will be available in select grocery stores (No Frills, Loblaws, Giant Tiger) and Kawartha Dairy shops, including the one in Toronto at 888 Danforth Avenue.
Also, catch The Hip’s Paul Langlois live at Nathan Phillips Square June 6 for Together Festival, a free all-day music and wellness event benefitting Toronto Healthcare. The bill also includes Feist, Alessia Cara, and Broken Social Scene. The singer-guitarist’s fourth solo album is Smooth Rock Falls.
Drake breaks Michael Jackson’s Billboard record as fans debate comparison with King of Pop
Toronto superstar Drake shattered another Billboard record after earning his 14th No. 1 single, surpassing Michael Jackson.
Drake has fans talking after surpassing Michael Jackson as the solo male artist with the most No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100.
After decades in the top spot, Michael Jackson has been dethroned as the solo male artist with the most No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 by none other than Drake.
The local rapper’s song “Janice STFU” entered at the top of the chart this week, with Billboard reporting that this is the 14th track of Drake’s to top the list in his career.
When it comes to the artist with the most songs to have made it on the Hot 100 list in their career, Drizzy already topped the list, but his latest projects have upped that number from an impressive 362 to a whopping 402. This also makes Drake the first artist in history to surpass 400 total entries on the chart.
He also made history by having 42 songs make it on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart, with the platform reporting this as record-setting for the most concurrent entries in one week.
This comes after he made huge waves by dropping three albums in one night earlier this month. The trio of albums, Iceman, Habibti and Maid of Honour, snagged the top three spots on the Billboard Chart dated May 30, which was released today. This makes him the first artist to hold the top three albums on the Billboard 200 in the same week.
When it comes to the top 5 acts with at least 10 No. 1s on the Billboard 200, The Beatles top the list with 19, followed by Drake and Taylor Swift, with 15 respectively, Jay-Z with 14 entries, followed by Eminem, Future, Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, and Ye (formerly Kanye West) with 11 each, while Elvis Presley rounds out the list with 10 projects.
Following the record-breaking feat, Drizzy took to social media to mark the moment.
“Neck broke from carrying the chain,” he posted to Instagram alongside a graphic showing Michael Jackson with blue straightback cornrows.
“Back broke from carrying the game,” he continued. “Records broken carry on my name.”
“Carry on carry on.”
Meanwhile, fans are weighing in on the post.
“How sick would it be if MJ was alive bro and ya’ll WAS TO COLLAB!!!! Would of been dope for the culture,” NBA shooting coach Chris Matthews commented on Instagram.
“It’s that ICEMAN season!” Another fan commented.
“Michael is a great guiding light and cautionary tale. His gift was that he could feel humanity deeply enough to translate collective pain into music. But over time his own suffering got tangled with that same pain,” Toronto sexologist Shan Boodram said under the post.
“So when Michael sang about injustice, paranoia, betrayal, being hunted, misunderstood, watched, it felt like both: ‘Look what they do to humanity’ and ‘Look what they did to me.’”
She continued to call that overlap powerful, but dangerous.
“[Because] without boundaries Michael felt so much of humanity that eventually the suffering seemed to consume him. An artist’s great struggle is to reflect the darkness of Earth without descending into it.”
Meanwhile, some people feel the comparison does not hold up.
“MJ did all that without social media,” one person said on Instagram. “Nothing Drake can do would be near him.”
“Drake is not even close to MJ,” another person shared
