Deluce gestures warmly towards his office where to the left of his uncluttered desk rests a pile of framed portraits that chronicle his roots and achievements in the aviation industry. Despite their significance, they emit an unpretentious display as they rest on the floor stacked against the walls.

He’s particularly amused by Mr. Porter in the room, a playful figure of the company mascot fashioned with leftover parts and pieces from Bombardier. The model was a gift from the aircraft company when it delivered Porter’s 20th Dash 8 Q400 turboprop back in 2010. In an advertising world saturated with puppies and bunnies, the raccoon seems an unlikely choice to represent a corporate brand, but Deluce applauds the curious creature for its persistent personality. “I think we have a lot of individuals who can be equally thought of as Mr., Mrs. or Miss Porter within our organization. I think they are quite determined, and they manage to find ways around the little challenges or speed bumps … they seem to come out on top in achieving the end-result.”

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Born to aviation parents in a family of nine children, the Deluce name has been a fixture in the industry for more than five decades. Deluce’s father, Stanley Deluce, was a Hawker Hurricane fighter pilot for the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II before launching White River Air Services. The company eventually purchased Austin Airways, one of the oldest airlines in Canada to connect people to remote communities before its interest was sold to Air Canada in 1986. The family patriarch also broke new ground when he established air-ambulance jet service in Ontario. Deluce nostalgically selects a frame of his father from his collection, where the family patriarch is dressed in a tuxedo for his induction into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 2008.

As former executive of the family business Air Ontario (which was sold to Air Canada), Deluce is well aware of the trajectory new entrants endure in a sky monopolized by travel juggernauts and unpredictable fuel prices. Six years after Deluce resigned as its CEO, Canada 3000 took an unexpected nosedive due to a decrease in passengers in a post 9-11 world. Other airlines stuck in the rut of the shaky airline scene include Skyservice Airlines and Roots Air, a start-up that closed the same year it opened.

Internalizing the unrelenting qualities of his company’s furry face, Deluce has steered the regional airline of Porter through some difficult terrain. Long before the financial meltdown of 2008-2009, a strategic yet controversial bridge that would connect passengers to the island airport was proposed by the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), but later cancelled by the city after former mayor David Miller, who opposed the project to preserve Toronto Harbour, was elected in 2003. “The bridge not going ahead probably helped us in the end. It allowed us more time to put together a stronger management team, and to probably attract significantly stronger financing … It took us a couple more years to get ready and to do the alternative plan, but things happen for a reason, and we really haven’t look back,” says Deluce, who received an undisclosed amount of compensation after settling a lawsuit against the city of Toronto and the Canadian Federal Government. Privately owned Porter, which has suspended an initial public offering, is waiting for an appropriate market and financing requirement to go public.

After the bridge setback, Deluce turned towards improving access to the airport, which resulted in two new ferries financed by the TPA. The romantic route to the airport arrives every 15 minutes and takes 90 seconds to reach the island airport, where there are two departure lounges. As early as next year, construction on a $45-million pedestrian-only tunnel proposed by the TPA will commence. “Sometimes you’re given a lemon, and sometimes you have to turn it into lemonade,” he says. However shy and polite in his manners and conversation, Deluce is not one to be miscalculated when it comes to getting what he wants.

Since its inception, Deluce has shrewdly readied his course against major competitors such as Air Canada and WestJet, tightly controlling Porter’s breathing space in a climate stifled with volatility. “He’s setting out to run a very successful airline,” comments Joseph R. D’Cruz, a professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. In the same year that Porter Airlines launched, Air Canada was ejected from the island airport by the Deluce-owned Regco Holdings Inc. (now Porter Aviation Holdings), which purchased the terminal being used by Air Canada Jazz. This allowed Porter total domination at Billy Bishop – up until now. After an enduring court battle, Air Canada returned to the island earlier this year, operating 30 takeoff/landing slots compared to Porter’s 172. But Deluce doesn’t mind having his enemies closer: as the landlord of the airport’s operating bases, Air Canada has to pay him terminal fees. “Air Canada really played into Deluce’s hands because it treated the airport very poorly. Porter actually rescued the airport from bankruptcy. Firstly, [Porter] bought the terminal buildings from the airport, which improved the airport’s cash flow, and secondly, it signed a long-term, very favourable contract with the airport. Air Canada brought those problems onto itself because it refused to sign a long-term contract,” says D’Cruz, who doesn’t foresee Air Canada’s presence as a major threat to Porter.

Apart from the challenges, the licensed pilot, whose description of flying parallels his business approach, remains an optimistic leader. “It’s actually quite pleasant popping through the cloud and have nothing but sunshine up above.”

To date, Porter has flown over five million passengers in its short history, with more than 200,000 of its passengers originating from Toronto’s 905 area code. This year marks the fifth anniversary for the regional airline, whose number of employees has significantly risen from 200 to 1,300 since its first scheduled flight to Ottawa in 2006. Catering to a monied, corporate crowd, Porter will have attained its 26th  fuel-efficient Bombardier turboprop by the end of this year. It is also considering increasing its five U.S. destinations to include Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., and introduce packaged vacations in 2012. The low-cost airline currently travels to 13 major Canadian cities, including Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins – areas that were hard to get to affordably before Porter came along. “I think that defines our success – the fact that we regularly now carry in excess of 200,000 passengers per month, whereas our predecessor, Air Canada, when they were here at this airport in their last 12 months of operating from Toronto City Airport, they only carried – now I’m not talking about a month now but in their last 12 months – they only carried about 20,000 passengers. In a single month we are now carrying better than 10 times what they carried in a full year.” Air Canada continues to be the nation’s largest airline, with air transport to over 180 destinations.

Sometimes good things can come in small packages. The compact airline delivers an all-round pleasurable experience for its time-sensitive business travellers, with free bottled water and soft drinks, specialty coffee, muffins and sandwiches in its lounges. Onboard service includes complimentary beer and wine served in glassware as you sit back on leather seats with extra legroom. “It’s a different experience when you come here, maybe it’s a bit shorter for a person to get to [Toronto] Pearson [International Airport], but it’s a much more complicated experience,” relates Deluce.  The early days of flying are further evoked with flight attendants fitted in retro outfits and pillbox hats – a look recently emphasized with the explosive popularity of the TV series Pan Am.

Deluce acknowledges that a strong business plan and financial backing were key factors to confronting the tumultuous airline industry, as well as adhering to the company foundation blocks of “speed, convenience and service.” His son Michael Deluce is Porter’s chief commercial officer, part of a seasoned management of over 70.

While service and business savvy have contributed immensely to the success of Porter Airlines, Deluce’s origins play an integral role. Deluce recalls his first memory on a plane: sitting on a cushion on a seat next to his father, who would allow him to fly while the plane was in flight. Aviation was in his blood long before earning his wings as a commercial pilot or signing off on corporate deals. “There’s lots of things I’ll never forget about him,” says Deluce of his mentor. “I think that the basic business philosophy in terms of treating individuals the way you would want to be treated yourself – that’s probably something that I can remember him always sort of using as a basic guiding principal in terms of how he dealt with individuals in a fair manner. And I think we try to do that here, too.”
www.flyporter.com

England’s London Underground, widely referred to as the Tube, is the oldest of its kind and the busiest in Europe after Moscow and Paris. Much like the octopus of the New York City Subway, the sophistication of the Tube services hundreds of stations across England’s Greater London Area, albeit in a cleaner fashion. Its world-class transit network is the second largest in the world, and like an old, lumbering friend, screeches to a halt for underground visits with Big Ben and St. Paul.

My journey begins on Earl’s Court Road in the royal borough of Chelsea and Kensington, where before her engagement to Prince Charles, Princess Diana took residence. Director Alfred Hitchcock and Freddie Mercury of British rock band Queen also lived in the posh community, home to the famous concert venue Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre. The narrow European thoroughfare is sandwiched between Internet hubs, banks, restaurants, quaint cafes and a flurry of French whistling through the streets. It’s been months since the London Riots, the city now restored to its safe and friendly nature.

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Inside Earl’s Court Station, I purchase a convenient and affordable smartcard that can be reloaded at any transit station in the city. The Oyster pass can also be used on the London Bus, but after a few bumpy rides, I prefer the iconic double-decker – equipped with the city’s overabundance of CCTV cameras – from an admiring distance. Down a flight of stairs and onto the navy coded Piccadilly line platform, I board the train moments after it barrels to a stop. All the seats are taken. Of what I can decipher, a Parisian couple discusses dinner options for the evening – Le Gavroche or Pied à Terre – they just can’t decide – and a trio of Italian girls drool over the shopping on Kensington High Street, which happens to be my first stop.

An unsurprising mix of British and American stores line the main shopping district, which I end up preferring for its quiet, hipster scene over the spectacle of Oxford Circus. Here, shoppers spill in and out of Selfridges, House of Fraser, Top Shop and Primark, a popular low-cost clothing outlet with runway knock-offs. Recently opened in the eastern side of the city where the 2012 London Olympics will take place, Europe’s biggest shopping centre, the Westfield Stratford City Mall, teems with curiosity seekers.

Back on the Tube, I exit at Knightsbridge, where Chanel and Burberry beckon me to enter Harrods. Founded in the 1800s, the globally renowned department store offers the ultimate in luxury shopping and a gourmet food shop where you can feast on sushi and imported cheese. Like a time machine, the train rushes towards the past at South Kensington station, where the grand architecture of the Natural History Museum is enough to skip its interiors. But I cannot not indulge in my interest of dinosaurs. Outside, on the other side of me, a couple metres away, buses and cars leave the space of a nose hair between their flanks and scurrying pedestrians. A stairwell walks underground to a crowded platform, and the ancient artifacts take a distant backseat to what’s waiting at the London Bridge tube station on the Jubilee line. Set across a high-level walkway above the River Thames, the Tower Bridge is the most famous in the world with reason. The suspended masterpiece is an ode to magnificent engineering and a page taken from a fairytale. A backdrop of blue sky and puffy clouds frame the bridge into a postcard, prompting a flash of cameras. Down towards Fish Street Hill, I adjust my eyesight upwards for the Monument Tower, a soaring symbol of the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Keeping time just a few stops away off the station of Westminster is the Big Ben, whose bells have sung through the central location of Westminster for close to 200 years. Majestic in daylight but more so at night, the clock tower’s gleam of gold sets a sheen of romance across the reach of the Thames. All of this is magnified with a ride on the colossal London Eye ferris wheel. I stay grounded by walking past the Houses of Parliament towards the quiet aura of Westminster Abbey. This generation’s royal wedding is still a topic of intrigue, with tourists forming a long, winding lineup to visit the gothic church and its buried monarchs. The adjacent gift shop sells mugs, pens, key chains and teapots emblazoned with the faces of Prince William and Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

I travel west through St. James Park to where the newlyweds had their first kiss broadcasted to the world: the royal, sprawling Buckingham Palace. It’s late morning, and I watch the dark, lustrous manes of horses trot towards its façade for the ceremonial changing of the guard. Even though you can’t see her, you feel the presence of the Queen Mother, and I can’t help but stand a bit taller. Early next year, the Palace will celebrate her ascension with the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. Tearing my eyes away, I follow the pigeons to Trafalgar Square, London’s political epicentre and heart of sculptural splendour. Families and couples mill about the beauty, and it becomes clear, even through the rain, that the quietly European city of London rivals some of the world’s best metropolises. My journey concludes with the endless reach of the London Tube, which delivers me to Heathrow Airport, my final stop.

Within moments, a rapturous applause announces the arrival of Kim Cattrall, who at 55, is no less radiant than when she first began acting as a teenager. She joins the evening’s “In Conversation With … Kim Cattrall” host and CBC senior business correspondent Amanda Lang onstage to partake in a tribute to her career co-presented by TIFF and the Canadian Film Centre. The crowd is soon eating from the palm of her manicured hands. “I can’t believe we’re going to do this in such a short amount of time – I’ve had such a long, long career,” she says with a laugh. “And I remember every single moment.” Through conversation, photographs and film clips, the career of Cattrall moves between the lines of a girl motivated by theatre and a woman looking to free herself from her sex symbol status.

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For Cattrall, a door in the room of her life first opened when her great aunt took her to see As You Like It. “I think it happened when I was 10. That’s when I got the tingling for it,” says the British-born, Canadian-raised actress. The Shakespearean classic certainly inspired a thespian calling in Cattrall, who recently concluded her Toronto run of Noël Coward’s Private Lives at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. She readily admits to being covered in stage makeup to mask the bruises she’s acquired playing Amanda, a role considered a departure from the insatiable Samantha Jones of Sex and the City. “Actors find their voice in film. I always had a voice in theatre,” says the classically trained stage actress. The Richard Eyre revival of the romantic comedy was a hit at The Vaudeville Theatre in London, and is now playing at New York’s Broadway theatre.

Dressed demurely in a black sheath dress and turquoise pumps, Cattrall looks down and squints her eyes bashfully after a clip from the 1980s romantic comedy Mannequin has her dream girl character, Emmy, sashaying across a gleaming department store in clothes that reveal her younger figure. While a tinge of proud sadness settles across her face, Cattrall effervesces with the kind of confidence that can only be achieved through age and experience. “A lot of things go through your mind … your youth, the fashion, it’s bittersweet.”

The conversation between Cattrall and Lang unfolds effortlessly over the hour, carried by Cattrall’s earliest forays into acting. After leaving Canada to live in New York on her own at 16, she was cast in Otto Preminger’s Rosebud. Other films include Porky’s and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. But her film career never mired her passion for the stage, having starred in theatrical productions over the years that include Anton Chekhov’s Wild Honey. “Acting was about community – not stardom,” says Cattrall, who describes herself as an introvert hiding behind her characters.

While a part of her misses playing the role of such a bold character in the Sex and the City series and its corresponding movies, Cattrall hopes to break free from the perception that her talent doesn’t get deeper than the designer-wearing, man-eating part that shot her to stardom. The versatile actress recently peeled off the haute couture and makeup and gained weight for her performance in Meet Monica Velour, where she plays a veteran porn star living in a trailer. “The role frightened me,” says Cattrall. “It was the underbelly of sexuality … and I wanted to explore that. My objective was to give Monica dignity.”

Among the private moments of her life, Cattrall recalls a night in Toronto from her past, where she was co-starring in a movie with Jack Lemmon. “I asked him, how do you get longevity? And he answered: ‘Continue to take things that scare you and challenge you.’ And I think that’s been the secret for me.”

Most people would go on to become a doctor after getting a double degree in microbiology and biochemistry, but as you’ll soon discover, Kaplan is not like most people. Instead, the University of Toronto graduate decided to turn his talents as a caricaturist into a career and hit the Yellow Brick Road in pursuit of pursuing the celebrities he grew up celebrating. His affinity for the famous began at adolescence, when a young Kaplan would sit in front of a bunny-eared television set and draw portraits of his favourite stars from Hollywood Squares, The Brady Bunch and The Lucy Show. “I think sometimes things are innate, I mean who tells a seven-year-old to start sketching Charlie Chaplin or Lucille Ball?” says Kaplan, who began studying and corresponding with legendary caricaturist to the stars, Al Hirschfeld. “I thought, ‘I want to be like him, I want to do what he does.’ That’s when I started to draw caricatures a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot, like all the time!”

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Kaplan began pitching his cartoons to local newspapers and was almost immediately syndicated in Canada. As his success snowballed, he proceeded to push his “Where are they Now” column to nearly 60 newspapers in the U.S. that picked it up. His idea to send cartoons directly to celebrities was probably one of his greatest. “You never know what’s going to happen, so if you don’t try anything, nothing will happen,” says Kaplan, who had to resort to phone books and mail in a pre-dot-com era. When he started getting positive feedback and thank-you letters from people like George Michael, John Travolta and Quentin Tarantino, Kaplan became captivated. One instance of gratitude particularly rings a bell: “I answered the phone and someone said, ‘Please hold for Bono.’ I was like, ‘what!?’”

Eventually it got to a point where Kaplan wanted the people he sketched on paper to come to life. He wanted to meet them face-to-face. He started pitching TV concepts to production companies and eventually, Totally Tracked Down got picked up in 2010. “I was pitching it as a producer and they said, ‘Well, why don’t you host it?’” So the offbeat, spikey haired, self-proclaimed “nut bar” from Woodbridge set out to Los Angeles to track down stars like Seinfeld’s Estelle Harris and The Brady Bunch’s Christopher Knight. Sometimes he’d have to jump through hoops and harass family and friends, while other times he’d just happen to be at the right place at the right time. “You have to think positive and you attract positivity. Here I am, I have this affinity towards celebrities, and I bump into them,” says Kaplan, which was the case when he spotted Lindsay Lohan outside the Beverley Hills Hotel on one of his days off. “I saw her walk in and followed her … the whole time we were talking she held my hand, she never let go of my hand once and she always looked me right in the eyes, sweet as can be.” Totally Tracked Down was cancelled when a new production company came in, but Kaplan was consoled when his show was posthumously nominated for a Gemini award.

When Kaplan looks back on his career, he’s proud of the decisions he’s made. His cartoons are still published between 400 – 500 times a year in various North American newspapers, and his mind permeates with new show concepts he hopes to create. As for his time spent studying sciences in university? He would never erase those years; it’s there that he fell in love with his wife of 21 years, Frances. The couple has three children. “Follow your heart, that’s the first thing. Do whatever you want in life because if you do what you want you’ll be successful because you’re happy.”

www.marshallarts.ca

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Mom’s Reconstructed Chili
1 tbsp canola oil, preferably expeller-pressed
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1 lb ground soy burger alternative
2 tbsp cumin
1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika, optional
1/2 tbsp dried red chili flakes
1 12 ounce can light beer, at room temperature
1 1/2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 14 – 15-ounce cans chili hot beans with can juices, preferably organic
2 14 – 15-ounce cans pinto beans, preferably organic, drained
2 14 – 15-ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, preferably organic
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fat-free saltines or cornbread for serving, optional
Hot pepper sauce, for serving, optional

1.  In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat and when hot, sauté the onion and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground soy and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up the soy further and encourage even cooking. Add the cumin, chili powder, paprika, and chili flakes and continue to cook, stirring, until the spices are slightly toasted and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
2.  Using a wooden spoon to prevent sticking, stir in half of the beer and the soy sauce. Add the rest of the beer and stir to mix.
3.  Add the chili hot beans, pinto beans, tomatoes, and 1 cup of water and mix well. Add the bay leaves and oregano and stir to mix.
4.  Bring the chili to a low boil over medium-high heat and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so until the stew is well blended. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes, until the flavours blend. Stir the chili occasionally during cooking. Adjust the heat up or down to maintain a simmer. Serve hot, with crumbled saltines or cornbread, and some extra hot sauce, if desired.

SP: As Canadians and co-writers of I’m Here (A Song for Canada), what emotions are you feeling?

CK: It is romantic. I get to do something special for the country with my husband. Raine and I have really gone through this life and career and kind of paralleled our artist lives together and separately, so to me [the song], is really authentic, lovely … a challenge to have together.

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SP: Chantal, what has Raine taught you about music?

CK: Raine has taught me not to be impulsive. Because he is by nature more of a critical thinker than I am, and I am more to act on emotion. That is the nature of my personality and that tends to sort of slip into the studio, as well as the writing process. Raine will be a little bit more effective by you know, thinking about it longer, reflecting a bit more. He will also implement something ironically more theoretical than me – even though I’m classically trained. He’s helped me get better and better as a writer and as a musician.

SP: Your turn, Raine.

RM: This isn’t a cop-out, but, pretty much the same thing. Because what happens when you are working with someone else or writing for someone else, I find it much easier to be that person that is kind of pushing. When you are writing on your own – not that I get lazy, but I do – it’s pretty easy just to be in the moment and think, ‘you know what, that felt great, sounds amazing, done.’ But it usually isn’t. So Chantal, she fills that same need. That’s why our partnership as writers is so amazing, because we are able to have it start from a seed that is really pure and genuine; it is never forced.

SP: Have you ever seen insanity where you later saw creativity?

CK: Some of the things that I think we have both written about, separately, together, has come from chaos. There is no manual for life, and our relationships derive from worlds colliding, whether it’s from your own parents or the relationships you make in school that might last a lifetime. We are all sort of from our own little planets and the stories come from those relationships, and all of a sudden you have these stories of life. I think that everything is that strange, organized chaos that we all live. I can look at so many of the songs that have designed my life and my career, – or just the songs that I have loved – if you find out the story of them, they come from a place of disarray or adversity … There is strangely an incredible beauty and creativity that will come from a lot of ugliness in life, things that you would not invite into your life, you know?

RM: I don’t know if I’ve ever written a song when I’m just feeling happy and sitting around just enjoying life.

SP: Is there an experience that has affected your songwriting?

CK: I lost a friend of mine to suicide and I, in my own family, have had a lot of adversity. There is a member of my family who has struggled with emotional, mental, behavioural addictions, and that has really defined a lot of my life and who I am. And I think, while it has been a really tragic thing to witness and be a part of, it has also shaped a lot of compassion and understanding and insight I have in life and people … I lost my cousin who was my best friend and she was only 36 when she left her two and four-year-old children behind. These are just three examples of what has made me tick as a human being, every single day.

SP: When was the moment that you decided to dedicate yourself to philanthropy?

RM: I think it was because of the people. I joined Amnesty [International] and Green Peace when I was growing up, and coming out of Peter Gayville concerts I learned about those things, from U2 as well and REM … those bands who were socially conscious back then. But you know, when we got a chance to meet and travel with Samantha Nutt from War Child Canada – first trip we did Iraq – you kind of see the inner workings of a very grassroots Canadian [non-governmental organization] and it’s like, it was the beginning and the end of us searching out any other NGOs because that relationship, the fact that it is so transparent and Canadian, and you get to know all the people that work there and see all the programs first-hand. The program we started in Darfur (Sudan) is still up and running, one of the few that stayed around, even though the awareness has kind of dropped on Darfur, obviously genocide really hasn’t.

SP: As a public figure, do you feel you have the responsibility to give back?

RM: I don’t, personally. I think as Canadians we kind of do. It’s kind of this intangible. When you think of Canada, it’s always had more of that in our blood and social fabric than other countries.

CK: When you become an artist of relevance, all of a sudden, wow, the requests come in: ‘Hey Raine, hey Our Lady Peace, do this’; ‘Hey Chantal, can you come out and help us?’ Nobody has to say yes. You don’t have to, there is not a law … But for me, I was fascinated and engaged from the moment my career began and again, a really defining moment [was] Samantha Nutt coming up to me at MuchMusic when I had just started and had my first couple of songs. She presented herself and her school and her beauty and her interest in healing to me and for me, gave me an opportunity to manifest all that skill set that had been implemented from when I was very little. So, you know for some people it’s just yeah, I’ll show up and it’s natural. But I believe it’s something that comes from a whole lifetime of experience.

SP: What do you hope to teach your children?

CK: I hope being a model, because it’s not something you can say, it’s who you are and the trip you take, and it’s the knowledge you share with them day-to-day that will create that compassion or not. I can’t tell them to do it, I have to be doing it. For us, that’s what we do.

SP: Do any of your kids (Rowan Michael, 7; Lucca Jon, 6; Salvador (Sal) Daniel, 3; display musical talent?

RM: They all take music lessons … they have a teacher.

CK: I do a lot of work with them in the music room though, and then try to kind of, like, forge through with their teacher, you know. Their teacher brings in his own kind of curriculum and then I say, ‘Well hey, they are really interested in this song of Raine’s right know and so we kind of work with him. They do singing, piano; they write songs already. Our children are writing songs. I wasn’t writing songs at this age so it’s actually incredibly inspiring and exciting to watch.

RM: It’s important to note that our expectations are nothing further than that they have music as a vice or tool. It will be, I think, a lot cheaper than Prozac in the end. We’re not trying to start a little band or anything like that – it’s just something I think they will value throughout their lives.

SP: Were your parents involved in music?

RM: My dad loved Elvis, so I, you know, when I think about music, to me when I was growing up it was watching old Elvis movies.

CK: My family was very musical. In the old farm house of my father’s, there was a 100-year-old piano and we’d gather around it – all the 60 cousins because my dad comes from a family of 12 kids – and we’d always play the piano … My grandparents played the piano, they played the violin and the harmonica together. It was very normal for me to sit on my grandpa’s lap while he played the violin … I feel like Raine and I are this incredible manifestation of my grandparents playing music together … They were great players, and I think it probably very impacted me as a kid.

SP: Raine, how do you respond when people label your music as cryptic and poetic?

CK: I agree, I’m always saying, ‘What is that about, honey?’

RM: I think it is just a reflection of my personality, I am definitely more introverted and analytical … In some form, I think it gives my songs longer shelf life … it is not just put out there for you. I think with a lot of the songs I grew up loving, I didn’t know exactly what they were talking about and you could make it feel like it was integrated into your life and taken on as your own thing, you know. A lot of pop music just lays it all out there and you kind of know what it is and you either like it or you don’t and you can be over it once the song is over.

SP: Who’s is your favourite artist or a song that you like?

RM: Probably “The Unforgettable Fire” by U2. I always thought that, even if you look at the record as a whole, that was one of the defining records for me growing up. Because it just had this colour to it and this majesty but I really didn’t know what it was about. I just took these moments that kind of related to me, you know.

CK: Umm, a favourite song, You know what, that is a really tough one for me. In this moment, I am going to say umm, how about…how about “Gypsy” by Fleetwood Mac I don’t know why I am saying that, it is a favourite song of mine, it moves me, it’s a bit dark, the instrumentation, the production, Stevie Nicks, you know its one of those songs. It has a lot of meaning to me, because my cousin introduced me to Fleetwood Mac before she passed.

SP: What’s your day-to-day life like?

CK: Raine?

RM: The truth is, music kind of is every day of our lives. We are working on so many different projects, we are always working on our own projects – right now we’re three quarters of the way done through an Our Lady Peace record, my solo record is pretty much done, Chantal is thinking about doing a new record, she’s [done a live symphony record] and an HBO [Canada documentary]. And all these other projects that we are developing and writing songs for other people, it kind of is always music in a way.

CK: But then, where the kids are concerned … now from the mother (laughs).

RM: It’s important to know we work at home

CK: Oh my god, yes.

RM: Whenever we’re in the studio it’s not like we’re in downtown L.A. or someplace up north in Toronto, we are at home and our kids have total access to us.

Apart from selecting baby names and paint chips for the nursery, women in Canada have choices when it comes to where, how and who will deliver their little one. But with more babies being born, a maternal health-care crisis looms due to a shortage of delivering doctors and a slowly growing number of midwives.

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Sanna’s decision on a midwife-assisted pregnancy reflects the burgeoning interest of Canadian women who are considering the alternative birthing experience. While Sanna – as well as other women – expressed initial hesitancy in embracing the practice, others like her are pushing past the archaic perceptions of a practice that smoothly transitions women into motherhood while relieving pressure off delivering doctors and obstetricians. “More women are hearing about midwifery, are knowing that it’s an option,” says Kara Brockington, who received a bachelor of health sciences in midwifery degree in 2004. “I would say seven years ago [that] I wasn’t seeing that quite often. A woman would come to us in her second pregnancy and she would say, ‘I didn’t know I could have a midwife.’” Brockington is employed at Midwives of York Region in Newmarket, which has hospital privileges at South Lake Regional Health Centre. In February of this year, the clinic expanded into Vaughan with Family Care Midwives, which services women in Woodbridge, Thornhill, Richmond Hill, Concord, King City and Oak Ridges. The practice, which has hospital privileges at York Central Hospital, is open to helping women in other areas as well.

According to The Canadian Perinatal Surveillance System’s Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey (MES) 2006 – 2007, 71.1 per cent of women praised their labour and birth experience with a midwife as a positive experience. “It was always, ‘here are your options, this is your pregnancy, this is your birth.’ My midwives would check with me before proceeding with everything. I felt in control of my situation,” says Sanna.

Midwives are recognized health-care professionals that provide primary care to low-risk healthy women during pregnancy, labour and birth with a personal and attentive approach. Once a family physician confirms a pregnancy, one can contact a midwifery practice that services her area to schedule prenatal appointments at its clinic, just as you would do with a doctor. No referral from a general practitioner is needed. Conducting care in groups of two, midwives are trained in spontaneous vaginal deliveries. They stay by your side for the duration of your delivery – sometimes up to 24 hours. A midwife’s post-partum care brings many benefits to a tired mom, with home visits up to six weeks after delivery. “I would see them every couple weeks and the last four weeks every week, and they were with me the whole delivery,” recalls Sanna. “It’s nice, too, because instead of getting nurses that are changing shifts, I had my two best friends there, my midwives, that I had known for nine months. I had my friends there that were going to help me through this and they knew what they were doing.”

Every two years, midwives must re-certify in CPR, neo-natal resuscitation, post-partum hemorrhaging, breached deliveries, and other emergency skills. If a complication or emergency caesarian-section is needed, transfer of care to a delivering physician or OB/GYN is immediately arranged. Registered midwives also provide pregnant women with the same tests that doctors order, like genetic screening and ultrasounds. They can prescribe various medications, and some are now able to administer an epidural if you so choose to have it. Midwives are considered colleagues by medical doctors, and have hospital privileges, allowing an expectant woman to decide between an at-home or hospital birth. However, those unfamiliar with the practice may circulate uninformed views of midwifery, which include untrained labour coaches using aromatic oils during at-home births. “The demand for midwifery has spread through word-of-mouth … but there are myths out there,” says Lisa Weston, a midwife and president-elect of the Association of Ontario Midwives. “A lot of people think you have to pay for midwifery care. Clients say, ‘when I tell people the kind of care I got and that you came and did home visits and that someone was available for me all the time by pager, they asked me how much I had to pay for it. They were amazed when I said they didn’t.’” In 1994, Ontario became the first province in Canada to regulate and support midwifery. The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care fully funds midwifery services.

According to a Statistics Canada report, there were 377,886 live births across the nation in 2008. A disparity between the rising number of births and available human resources in Canada is placing a strain on our maternal care system, with demands to quality care outweighing supply. The Canadian Institute for Health Information says that in 2009, there were 1,767 OB/GYNs in Canada, with 704 practising in Ontario. The majority of expectant mothers in this nation receive prenatal care from an obstetrician, gynecologist or family physician. A 2008 report by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) says that overburdened obstetricians (who prefer to practice in populated urban cities) deliver about 80 per cent of babies in this country, making the need for obstetrical care urgent in a climate where women become pregnant later on in life and/or have pre-existing conditions.

Low-risk, healthy women can be placed under the primary care of midwives, who deliver about three to four per cent, or about 45 babies each per year. There are close to 1,000 registered midwives across Canada, of which 528 reside in Ontario, says a representative from the Canadian Association of Midwives. This low number, coupled with the hands-on approach of a midwife, results in long waiting lists at midwifery clinics. Appointments with a midwife are often 45 minutes long, filling the silent gap left with brief appointments by beleaguered OB/GYNs. Solving the shortage of maternal care in Canada is critical.

A joined force of obstetrician-gynecologists, family physicians, registered nurses and midwives is required to advance women’s health, advises Dr. André Lalonde, executive vice president of the SOGC. “The problem we are having with health care right now is that everybody is in kind of their own area in their little box; everybody has their own separate practice. What needs to improve in Canada is to break down these barriers. People should be working in groups; you should be able to go to a prenatal office where you have midwives and doctors working in the same office.” The efforts of the SOGC include a 2003 policy statement entitled the “National Birthing Strategy and the Multidisciplinary Collaborative Primary Maternity Care Project” in 2006, which urges a collaborative approach between maternal health-care professionals. Goals to increase the availability and quality of maternity services for all Canadian women include reducing key barriers so that a collaborative approach can be fulfilled.

If you’re one of hundreds of thousands of women pregnant in Canada each year, you’ll know that the excitement of having a baby goes hand-in-hand with providing quality care for baby and you. “A pregnant woman has a lot of choices in Canada,” says Dr. Lalonde. “She can contact a family physician, she can contact a midwife, she can contact an obstetrician. I think the three professions in Canada provide essential services for women – they are [all] very competent.”

www.midwivesofyorkregion.com
www.sogc.org

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Five years into his retirement, Agassi is now officially part of tennis history, having been inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame and the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame in July 2011. “I fell in love with tennis far too late in my life, but the reason that I have everything that I hold dear is because of how much tennis has loved me back,” said Agassi during his induction ceremony speech in Newport, Rhode Island. “I’ve grown up in front of you. You’ve seen my highs, my lows, I didn’t always live carefully. I didn’t always pay tennis the respect it deserved,” continued the 41-year-old, who met his wife, German tennis legend and fellow Hall of Famer Steffi Graff, at a tournament. The couple shares two children, Jaden Gil, 9, and Jaz Elle, 7.

The famous face of tennis will also be one of four tennis greats to take part in the inaugural Rogers Legends Cup this August at the Rexall Centre. He will be joined by former peers John McEnroe, Michael Chang and Jim Courier. “It’s a great way to stay connected with people I spent a lot of time with over the years and come up there to Toronto and be able to sort of play, hopefully well enough, to create a little nostalgia,” said Agassi in a recent news conference. “Everything about the Canadian Open [now the Rogers Cup] fit my game. I love the surface, I love the court speed,” said Agassi, who in 14 visits to Canada won three titles. “Agassi is still one of the top drawing players in the world, even though he is retired,” says Karl Hale, the tournament director for the Rogers Cup in Toronto. “Our fans really wanted to see him … the feedback has been absolutely tremendous … ticket sales have gotten much better than in 2009 when we had the women here last.” A former player and coach, Hale caught his first glimpse of Agassi when he participated in the same tournament as him decades ago. “He was the young up-and-coming star that everyone was watching and looking out for. Even back then, everybody knew he would be something special, which obviously he turned out to be.” This year, Canadian tennis breaks ground as a combined televised event, with the ladies tournament in Toronto and the men’s tournament at Montreal’s Uniprix Stadium to be aired simultaneously.

Lovers of the sport still can’t shake just how right it felt when Agassi recaptured the glory of his No. 1 days in 2003 as the world’s oldest (33 years old) top ranked seed. Nor can they fail to overlook the highlights of a glorious career that continues to be remembered by die-hards and gives budding players a forum to study upon. “I watched many, many of his matches and he was very inspirational to me,” says Canadian Milos Raonic, the nation’s first to reach a career-high rank of No. 25. The 20-year-old sensation from Thornhill, Ont. won’t be participating in this year’s Rogers Cup due to hip surgery to correct an on-court injury, but remains encouraged when I tell him how Agassi, who underwent wrist surgery and suffered from sciatica during his career, recently praised his game by telling me that he has, “Everything it takes to be at the top of the world.” A flattered Raonic reciprocates the feeling. “I really appreciate him saying such kind things about my game, especially someone of his stature that played some great tennis and won so many Grand Slams and achieved so many great things in tennis. It’s motivating – it makes me want to get on the floor and want to do the right work to get better and to achieve those levels and hopefully be as good as he thinks I can be. I think it’s something special when you hear these kind of great comments from the guys you watched and you grew up hoping to be like so much.” Raonic also reminisces about Agassi’s legendary battles with arch-nemesis Pete Sampras, American greats that sparked the sport with the energy of competition. Today’s tennis has Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Spain’s Rafael (Rafa) Nadal as their replacements, with Hale paralleling Agassi’s aggressive baseline style, strong service return and flair to the latter. Who can forget the final of the U.S. Open in 2002 – the final final between one of the most intense rivalries in tennis history. Sampras is one side of the grid, geared to thrash his classic serve. Agassi leans forward with a tightly strung Prince, the baseline genius ready to scorch through his opponent’s most deadly weapon. Fans grip their seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium, eager for a fifth set, to take the game’s best server against the game’s best service returner to a battle past midnight, one last time. A final win for a retiring Sampras leaves an era of golden men’s tennis not seen since the days of Bjorn Borg-John McEnroe-Jimmy Connors to the history books.

With his own story to tell, Agassi revealed the pendulum of emotion he endured while swaying from rock bottom – his 1995 loss to Sampras at the U.S. Open was his hardest psychological hit – to his victorious culmination in perhaps one of the best sports autobiographies around, Open (Random House of Canada Limited, 2009). With the help of Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer, Agassi pens shocking personal confessions, such as his loveless marriage to actress Brooke Shields and lying to tennis officials about his use of crystal meth. The book moves like an all-court player, with Agassi’s painstaking photographic memory detailing his swift return to the top in 1995, the year he proclaims to be the ‘Summer of Revenge,’ after falling from No. 1 to No. 141 and reading rancorous remarks from Boris Becker in the newspaper.

Hailing from a city where anything is possible, the native of Las Vegas struggled with self-induced angst and a devotion to perfectionism before he acknowledged his potential. Turning pro at 16, Agassi was a natural since his infant days, swatting tennis balls in his crib with a paddle his father taped to his hands. Determined to shape his youngest child into a No. 1 tennis champ, the elder Agassi had his seven-year-old son working on his game on a tennis court in the family backyard with a terrifying ball machine Agassi nicknamed the ‘dragon.’ He rebelled before he rose, especially when he was sent away to a famed tennis academy he describes “a prison,” at age 13. While his tennis tightened, his marks tumbled, and he dropped out of school with an eighth grade education. He wanted to quit tennis right from the beginning, but as most reluctant heroes, came undone with thoughts of the bigger picture, acute to the idea that there was a reason for him to stay committed to the sport, to become a legend. “… Something in my gut, some deep unseen muscle, won’t let me,” writes Agassi in the first chapter of his book. “I hate tennis, hate it with all my heart, and still I keep playing, keep hitting all morning, and all afternoon, because I have no choice. No matter how much I want to stop, I don’t. I keep begging myself to stop, and I keep playing, and this gap, this contradiction between what I want to do and what I actually do, feels like the core of my life.” Before winning the Australian Open in 1995, a now-bald Agassi had his hair shaved off – a cathartic release of his personal demons.

As stirring as his career might have been, the unstrung hero of tennis is now considered one of the greatest philanthropists in sports. Instead of cashing in on his prize money and endorsement deal cheques to blend into the landscape of a city shaking with excitement, Agassi chose to give back what tennis gave him by providing a platform of edification for kids to realize their own potential. Receiving the ATP Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in 1995 for his efforts in helping disadvantaged youths was just the beginning. He went on to establish the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation in 1994, which has raised millions for at-risk youths in southern Nevada. The man who once reinvented the game of tennis in the 90s now attempts to reform the American school system, debuting a much-needed charter school called the Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in the suburbs of Las Vegas in 2001.The school is a model of hope, and Agassi wants 75 more schools just like it in the near future. “I think it’s important to all of us, it’s our future … Personally, I found my feeling, a powerful void of lack of education in my life … I felt very overmatched, I felt very overwhelmed by the cultures, travelling the world. I was lucky to fall back on tennis. I really looked at my life and, where would I be if it wasn’t for tennis. Unfortunately, so many children don’t have the opportunity of falling back as a professional athlete, it’s very rare that that achievement happens. So where do these kids end up? … We are failing to educate them; it’s a huge consequence for society,” says Agassi, who dedicates about 70 to 80 per cent of his time towards the school. Before thanking the sport that has given him everything – his wife and kids and the meaning of life – Agassi’s efforts in affecting change were addressed by a sprightly Simone Ruffin, the first valedictorian at Agassi Prep, referring to him as a ‘hometown hero’ before introducing Agassi to the crowd at the Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony. A legend off and on the court, Agassi went on to explain that, “Tennis is a lonely sport, probably the most lonely. You’re out there with no team, no coach and no place to hide. That’s why tennis players not only talk to themselves, but answer. And yet all that loneliness eventually teaches you to stand alone.” His role model is Nelson Mandela.

Agassi is the first man to capture four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal. His wins include Wimbledon, 1992, the U.S. Open, 1994 (he was unseeded at the time), the Australian Open, 1995 (his best year); the French Open, 1999, where he captured the crowd at Roland Garros after a heated five-setter against a determined Andrei Medvedev. His Olympic win, which gives him a Career Golden Slam, came in 1996. “I was flattered with every win, I was surprised with almost all my wins, whether they be a match or tournament, so again, I always felt tennis and winning at this sport was a bi-product of doing a lot of things right,” says Agassi about his method of approach to preparing for Rogers Cup and other major tournaments.  In total, Agassi attained eight Grand Slam singles championships and 17 ATP Master Series tournament wins. But when you ask Agassi to single out an achievement, the athlete measures his success not with the weight of his trophies but with lifting a psychological and physical dumbbell that pushed his endurance to the peak of glory. “I wouldn’t cite one tournament, one trophy or one medal. I’d say I am most proud of the fact that I worked the hardest I could have worked … I didn’t take shortcuts,” he wrote in an email interview in 2008.

During his 2006 curtain call tournament in The City That Never Sleeps – fitting for an athlete that dreamed while awake – his expressive eyes revealed something lacking in the arena of sport: the human element. The former enfant terrible of tennis delivered an endearing speech, bow and signature double-handed kiss to the four corners of the world, for his fans and the game that parented his adolescence. The Hall of Famer is now all grown up. “It’s no accident that tennis uses the language of life: service, advantage, break, fault, love; the lessons of tennis are the lessons of maturity.”

www.andreagassi.com

For Rogers Cup Presented by National Bank schedule and tickets, go to www.lovemeansnothing.ca

The Toronto-born journalist is most known for making waves as an on-air personality, asking the questions we all want the answers to, without having the courage to ask them ourselves.

It’s mid-morning and Di Battista scans the dailies, sweats out a workout and dives into research before going live at 3 p.m. “The best part of my job is that I leave here every day …  and get to, you know, explore all these great stories in the city.” As host of CBC’s popular afternoon drive program Here and Now, Di Battista accompanies drivers home with fresh takes on local and world news.

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A famous face on the Toronto scene, she, along with other renowned personalities, was a casualty to the cuts Rogers Communications Inc. made to Citytv last year, where she spent 26 years of her career. “Someone gave me some really good advice after I was let go and it was, ‘you know, there’s a reason someone wanted you in the first place, and that, they can never take away from you, and someone else will want that, too.’” Ever the optimistic, Di Battista was determined to move forward. Her aggressive networking landed her the radio gig at CBC this year. When she’s off the clock at 6 p.m., she explores her passions: reading, gardening, travelling and cooking her favourite meal of risotto with porcini mushrooms for her family.

When she’s not doing what she does best, Di Battista enjoys the best of Toronto, like shopping at Yoka and dining at her favourite restaurants Vivetha and Green Dragon. “Not only do we have great neighbourhoods, we have people who are really passionate about their neighbourhood, and I think also our diversity and our tolerance for each other is really special.”
www.cbc.ca/hereandnowtoronto

The Vitanova Foundation is a former private residence-turned-rehabilitation centre based on a client-centred treatment philosophy. I walk through double doors and take a seat on a green couch in the foyer to meet Franca Carella, the monarch of a not-for-profit corporation that has helped to rebuild the lives of individuals and families shattered by substance abuse for more than two decades. As I wait for her visitors to subside, I hear babbles of water from where I’m perched, across a winding staircase that descends upon an indoor pool. I can see the milky blue water running to the edge, where thick black letters spell ‘Deep End.’ But the words are upside down, meant to be read for those on the other side, those who have hit rock bottom and have yet to – either from shame or denial – be buoyed from murky waters.

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Mother Teresa habitually spoke of how humanity suffers from loneliness, how humankind will clutch at straws, searching for reasons to feel optimistic when there is no hope to be found. “I couldn’t tell you any good things about myself, I thought my life was going to end,” says a Vitanova client who asks for anonymity. Well on the road to recovery, it was his use and distribution of psychedelic drugs that brought him to his knees and up the stairs to Vitanova, much to the content of his mother. His life soon turned around, he says, he now has ambitions. “I was starting to get things back at Vitanova. I don’t feel so alone when I’m out there.” Past clients have gone on to fulfill dream careers, from lawyers and accountants to plumbers and mechanics. A second chance at life is what Vitanova stands for, and it’s here that isolation drowns.

The walls of Franca’s office are covered with plaques and photos that leave new frames resting on chairs. Her eyes are weary yet kind, a beacon of hope in a room where much sorrow has transformed into happiness. “I always had faith in God, I always felt there were green pastures somewhere. And there’s purpose for our life or else we would be dead, why would we be alive, just to hold things for ourselves? This is what I don’t understand,” says Franca. You begin to not understand it either, and question your lack of contribution to a societal problem that takes a toll on our families, hospitals and prisons. According to a report by the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry in 2007, 11 per cent of Canadians struggle with drug or alcohol abuse. The report estimates that in 2002, Canada spent $23 billion on alcohol and illicit drug use and misuse, including costs of direct health care and law enforcement.

It was during the end of the ‘80s when Franca discovered the need for a substance abuse centre in the community. At the time, she was running VitaSana, a local magazine reporting on family and community health issues. She received hundreds of letters from parents, desperate to save their drug-dependent children. In their voices, she heard her calling. “Franca’s vocation is motivated by her deep desire to help people,” says Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua. “As individuals, we are not measured by our status or title but our ability to serve and our willingness to give of ourselves for a higher calling, a higher purpose, like the one she has committed herself to through her work with the Vitanova Foundation. She has been gifted with the great ability to serve, and as a result, has touched the lives of thousands of people in a very meaningful and positive way … through the power of trust, respect and compassion, and driven by a spirit of generosity, she has built an organization that offers a new beginning to many individuals who are seeking hope.” The mayor agreed to be the honorary chair at this year’s annual Vitanova fundraiser, where Franca hopes to raise $200,000.

A trained nurse, Franca travelled to over 40 rehabilitation centres across North America and Europe, studying their practices and incorporating the most effective therapeutic components she found for her program at Vitanova, which asks that individuals recognize their addiction to be a symptom of what is behind the drug or alcohol use.  It was in Italy where she met with Vincenzo Muccioli, founder of San Patrignano, one of the world’s leading drug rehabilitation centres. She asked him how she too could make Vitanova a world-class centre. Muccioli, who passed away in 1995, asked her, ‘how do you love these people you take in?’ Franca immediately responded, ‘I love them right next to my own children.’ Muccioli turned to her and said, ‘You have to extend the love you have for your children and then you’ll make it,’ recalls Franca. She asked her five children how she could possibly do this, and her eldest responded, ‘Mom, your heart is big enough, there’s room for them, too.”

Today, Vitanova offers a full-time day program and a shelter with 30 beds. Its core program is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care; the shelter survives off donations. Aware of the stigma attached to substance abuse, Franca can only hope that the community looks beyond donating to typical causes so that her centre can treat more clients. “Our key to success is that we don’t just give counselling, we do a full-time program for as long as the individual needs.

We don’t just work with the drug addiction, we work with the entire human being and we work with his or her family. We try to bring the family back together again,” says Franca. Currently, there are 80 clients receiving treatment from Vitanova, and Franca needs to help more. “I can feel their pain, I carry that pain, I take it home with me. I want a solution. I want that pain to end and for them to start a normal life and take charge of their emotions.” I look to Franca and ask her why she’s dedicated her life to this mission, why she has yet to retire at age 76. She speaks low but her words are loud. “Some people say that I’m either making a lot of money or that I’m crazy and they ask, ‘why do I do it?’ And my response is, why don’t you?”

When Franca was a young girl, pain accompanied her every step. She was born into a wealthy family in 1935 until communism occupied the then-Italian city of Zara (now Zadar, Croatia) she lived in. She endured the death of her father, a noble, and lived long days in concentration and refugee camps. Her childhood turned her into the caregiver she is today. “I don’t need an elaborate life like the one I was born in. Or maybe because I was born in an elaborate life and lived in a castle before the Communists took it, maybe because I had everything and I realized that when my father died he didn’t take anything with him and he left nothing for us because the Communists took everything.” Though the scars of that experience continue to haunt her, she is a fond believer in forgiveness, a teaching of Catholicism.

Religion has and continues to play a critical role in Franca’s life. But you don’t have to be of a particular faith to discover greener pastures at Vitanova, you simply just have to believe. “When clients come here they live with love, they are amazed when they are here. They don’t understand what’s come over them. After two or three days they ask, what’s happening to me? I feel safe. I believe there is something here that I can’t even explain.”

To donate or volunteer, go to www.vitanova.ca
Join the Vitanova Foundation on November 27th, 2011 for its annual fundraising gala, Celebration of Life.