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LAROCHELLE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-08-20 published
Carl BEAM, Artist 1943-2005
Outspoken and fearless Ojibway master of collage left a body of work that did justice to the complexities of aboriginal identity in Canada. He made photography a staple of his art and infused it with his own experiences
By Sarah MILROY, Saturday, August 20, 2005, Page S11
A few weeks ago, when Carl BEAM's son-in-law Mark LAROCHELLE stood in the M'chigeeng community centre on Manitoulin Island to eulogize his father-in-law, he had a simple message: "I only had the opportunity to know Carl for seven years, but one of the things that I learned from him was to never be afraid to say what needed to be said."
Outspoken, articulate, passionate, defiant and occasionally cantankerous, Mr. BEAM leaves a huge hole in the Canadian cultural landscape. An Ojibway artist who made a lot of smoke and fire with his art and his statements about the Canadian art scene, he helped to create space for himself and for other first nations artists across the country, creating a body of work that did justice to the complexities of aboriginal identity in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Honoured this year with a Governor-General's Award for the Visual Arts, Mr. BEAM had been the subject of many exhibitions both at home and abroad, and his work resides in the collections of virtually every museum of scale in Canada.
Carl BEAM ended up in M'chigeeng, and he began his life there, too, though in those days it was called West Bay. Born the eldest of nine children, he scarcely knew his white father, Edward COOPER he died as a soldier during the Second World -- but his maternal grandfather, Domenic MIGWANS, took a strong hand in his upbringing. A powerful man in the community, he recognized the young boy's intelligence and drive. "They knew that it would be Carl's destiny to face the white world," says his wife, Ann BEAM (who is also an artist), so they elected to send him to Garnier Residential School in Spanish, Ontario, on the north shore of Lake Huron.
It proved to be both a privilege -- given the education he received (he was a very gifted student) -- and a curse. This forced period of assimilation into white, Christian culture was a dark chapter in his life that he was forever reluctant to discuss.
After this, Mr. BEAM landed a series of labouring jobs in the north, from firefighting to working in the Wawa steel mill. Only in his late 20s did he focus his ambitions on a career in art, attending first the Kootenay School of Art, then the University of Victoria and on to graduate studies at the University of Alberta. Of his decision to turn to art-making, Ann BEAM says: "He used to tell me that he just couldn't hold it off any longer."
Through his education, his world opened up through exposure to the works of contemporary artists such as Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg. He absorbed their photo-transfer techniques and, like them, made found photography a staple of his art. Unlike them, he infused it with autobiography. "He put the personal and family stuff in," says Ann, "so that people could feel the humanness of his [aboriginal] subjects, so that they couldn't be abstracted."
As well, Mr. BEAM learned from the example of aboriginal artists such as the late Fritz Scholder, a Luiseno artist from the American Southwest. "Carl wanted to write his final graduate dissertation on Scholder, but the department said there was not enough material on the artist to make the subject qualify for study," recalls Ann. "That was it for Carl. He was out of there."
During these early years, Mr. BEAM had fathered five children with his first wife, Rejeanne ARCHAMBAULT, but the relationship collapsed. He met Ann in Toronto in 1979. The pair decamped to the American Southwest for a few years and spent a lot of time in the Pueblo community, developing what would be a lifelong interest in pottery. Later, they wound up in Peterborough, Ontario, where from 1983 to 1992 Mr. BEAM began to participate in the Canadian museum scene. His involvement in a number of seminal shows cemented his growing reputation: Altered Egos at Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art (1984) Cross-Cultural Views at the National Gallery of Canada (a pioneering 1986 exhibition themed on resistance that combined non-native artists such as Hans Haacke and Jamelie Hassan with native artists such as Jane Ash Poitras and Robert Houle); Beyond History at the Vancouver Art Gallery (1989); Indigena at the Canadian Museum of Civilization (1992); and Land, Spirit, Power (also at the National Gallery, in 1992).
The National Gallery's acquisition of his painting The North American Iceberg in 1986 was an important moment for Mr. BEAM, signifying, for him, his successful penetration of hostile cultural territory previously occupied by only white artists. "It was not a donation. It was a purchase," remembers Ann, "and that made all the difference." The painting posited a rebuttal to a concurrent exhibition of Italian and German contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Ontario named the European Iceberg.
Says Diana NEMIROFF, then the National Gallery of Canada's curator of contemporary art and now the director of Carleton University Art Gallery: "Carl has a sense of humour, but he also had the sharp, critical sense that there was another Iceberg buried that we weren't paying attention to, and it involved battles, conquest, uneasy cohabitation." The acquisition represented a breakthrough. Says Ms. NEMIROFF: "It signalled the gallery's intention to look seriously at a whole generation of native artists who were dealing with aboriginal cultural issues in an absolutely contemporary way."
The BEAMs lived in Peterborough until their return to Manitoulin Island in 1992, settling finally into an adobe house they built with their own hands.
The art Mr. BEAM made along the way constitutes one of the great cultural documents of our changing political landscape. There's his Columbus Suite (1989-1990), a group of 12 etchings that responded to the quincentennial of the landing of the explorer on North American soil. (The series is currently being exhibited in a small, honorary exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario.)
On Mr. BEAM's love of visual collage, Ms. NEMIROFF says: "Collage allowed him to make subjective leaps between bodies of knowledge that had always been kept separate."
Thus, he gives us the chiselled raptor-like profile of Abraham Lincoln above a row of black ravens (symbols of transformation). Sitting Bull and Einstein are pictured stacked atop one another. Various Ways to Travel in North America couples a space rocket preparing for liftoff with a scene of aboriginal ritual dance two views of celestial travel, joined at the seam.
A subsequent series, also created in response to the quincentennial, was Burying the Ruler. In it, you see the artist holding the simple measuring instrument, then the same instrument buried from view.
"The reference was to the Renaissance idea of man as the measure of all things," says first nations artist and curator Gerald McMASTER, who frequently worked with Mr. BEAM over the years. By man, of course, they meant European man. "Indians were invented in 1492," Mr. McMASTER continues. "Carl made work to contest that European view," commenting on the environmental and humanitarian implications of such rigid modes of rational thought. Instead of the straight ruler, Mr. BEAM proposed the triangle and the circle.
A later series, Great Whale of Our Being (2002), imagined the whale as a metaphor for all mankind in our moment of ecological peril, presenting the magnificent creature dismembered and violated, and also whole, free and powerfully alive in its natural element. Before his death, says Ann, he was working on a series called Crossroads, riffing on the Robert Johnson blues classic as a way of considering his own hybrid place between cultures.
It was this sort of complexity that fuelled his art. Powerfully particular in his cultural point of view as an aboriginal, Carl BEAM railed against the racial ghettoization of his art. "My work is not made for Indian people, but for thinking people," he wrote. "In the global and evolutionary scheme, the difference between people is negligible."
Carl Edward Migwans BEAM was born in West Bay, Ontario, on May 24, 1943. He died in M'chigeeng (formerly West Bay) on July 30, 2005, of complications arising from diabetes. He was 62.
He is survived by his wife, Ann, and by their daughter Anong and by four children from a previous marriage: Clinton, Laila, Carl Jr. and Jennifer. He also leaves his mother, Barbara Migwans BEAM, and siblings Lina, Leonard, Tom, Linda, Joan, Norma, Theresa, Loretta, and Marjorie, plus 11 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his daughter Veronica.
A memorial service will be held at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, 25 Caroline St. N., Waterloo, Ontario, on September 18, at 2 p.m.
From November 28 to January 29, 2006, the Carlton University Art Gallery will mount a Carl BEAM retrospective.

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LAROCHELLE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-12-11 published
BAXTER, Hilda Mary (formerly WALKEM, née HORAN)
Peacefully, with her family by her side, at Stevenson Memorial Hospital Alliston, on Friday, December 9th, 2005. Hilda (nee HORAN,) of Alliston, beloved wife of the late Laverne (Bud) BAXTER and Walter WALKEM. Loving mother of Darlene BAXTER, the late Jack, Ted and his wife Marilyn, Paul and his wife Patsy, and Marie and her husband Gates LAROCHELLE. Sadly missed by her grandchildren Brian (Lisa), Robert, Jeffrey, Gregory, Joyce (Jamie), Ross, and her great-grandchildren Meghan, Emma and Samuel. Dear sister of Albert and Martin HORAN. Resting at Rod Abrams Funeral Home, 1666 Tottenham Road, Tottenham, 905-936-3477, on Sunday, December 11th, 2005 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial will be held in St. James Church, Colgan, 1: 30 p.m. Monday, December 12th, 2005, followed by cremation. Donations in Hilda's memory to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family.

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LAROCK o@ca.on.grey_county.owen_sound.the_sun_times 2005-07-06 published
LAROCK, Beatrice (née O'HARA)
Peacefully at the Grey Bruce Health Services in Owen Sound on Monday, July 4th, 2005. In her 91st year, Beatrice LAROCK (nee O'HARA,) the beloved wife of the late Howard W. LAROCK. Loving mother of Phillip CARTER and his wife Linda, Darrell ROBINSON, Natasha ROBINSON and her fiance Christian DANYCHUCK. Great-grandmother of Logan. Predeceased by her son Ron CARTER. Friends called at the Breckenridge-Ashcroft Funeral Home on Tuesday evening from 7: 00 to 9:00 p.m. A funeral service will be conducted at the funeral home at 11: 00 a.m. Interment in Greenwood Cemetery. As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations to the charity of your choice would be appreciated by the family.
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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-01-04 published
LAROCQUE, Marcel
In loving memory of my husband Marcel who passed away four years ago today, January 4, 2001.
Always with us in our hearts and memory.
Always loved by wife Cathy and family.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-02-26 published
LANGFORD, Patrick William Brian
Suddenly at Strathroy-Middlesex General Hospital, on Thursday, February 24th, 2005, Patrick William Brian LANGFORD of Mt. Brydges at the young age of 54. Beloved husband and friend of Debbie ROSS. Dear father of Patrick V. LANGFORD and Andrew LANGFORD (Nancy BRESAR.) Brother to Patricia and husband Bob SIMPSON of Leamington, Darlene HENRY, Sandy and husband Al FINLEY, Karen and husband Peter PURDY, Debbie and husband Paul MILLER, Mike LANGFORD and wife Nancy all of London. Survived by sisters-in-law, Ruthanne, Deanna, Brenda, Virginia LANGFORD and brother-in-law George HENRY. Predeceased by his parents Alvin "Joe" and Esther Ann (PROCTOR) LANGFORD and by his brothers, Bill, Bob, George (Red), Larry and Ronald. Patrick was a part of two other families and will be sadly missed by Gordon ROSS and his family as well as by his good friend Shawn LAROCQUE and his family all of London. Visitation will be held on Sunday from 2: 00-4:00 and 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Westview Funeral Chapel, 709 Wonderland Road North (2 blocks north of Oxford), where the funeral and committal services will be conducted on Monday, February 28th, 2005 at 1: 00 p.m. Cremation to follow. Memorial contributions to the London Health Sciences Foundation-Cancer Centre, Heart and Stroke Foundation or the Lupus Foundation of Ontario would be greatly appreciated by the family.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-04-06 published
GILES, Rita (LAROCQUE)
At her residence on Tuesday, April 5, 2005 Rita (LAROCQUE,) dear wife of Ralph GILES, in her 79th year. Loved mother of Mary-Louise HITCHON (Scott), Kelly GENEREAX (Gary), Rebecca BRALEY (Michael), William GILES (Rose) and Stephen GILES (Tanya.) Dear sister of Veronica LEO (Peter,) Corinne ESTEY, and Jeannette LAROCQUE. Beloved grandmother of 10 grandchildren. Visitors will be received at John T. Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo Street at King Street, on Thursday from 2: 30-4:30 and 7-9 o'clock. Funeral Mass at Saint John the Devine Church, 390 Baseline Road East, on Friday morning at 10 o'clock. Interment in St. Peter's Cemetery. Prayers Thursday evening at 8 o'clock. Donations to Palliative Care Team of Victorian Order of Nurses would be appreciated.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-08-03 published
LAROCQUE, Guy Amable
Passed away suddenly at home on Monday, August 1, 2005 in his 75th year. Beloved husband of the late Claire. Loving father of Lynne and Lise LAROCQUE. Proud grandfather of Dietrich. Guy is survived by his brothers Armand (Marie) and Patrick (Stella), his sisters Adrienne ANGLEHART (late Clovis) and Gilberte STACKHOUSE (Bob) all of London and Saint Thomas. Predeceased by his sister Therese and his brother Paul. Guy is also survived by many nieces and nephews. Friends may call at the Arthur Funeral Home and Cremation Centre (492 Wellington East, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario 705-759-2522) on Thursday, August 4, 2005 from 6-9 p.m. Funeral mass from Precious Blood Cathedral on Friday, August 5, 2005 at 11 a.m. Rt. Rev. Monsignor Bernard J. BURNS officiating. Interment Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Memorial donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated by the family. www.arthurfuneralhome.com

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-08-10 published
LAMOTHE, Leonard Joseph (April 8th 1933-August 7th 2005)
In his 73rd year passed away peacefully after a lengthy struggle with cancer, his family was by his side. Predeceased by his wife Edna and his father Arthur. Survived by his mother Donalda LECLAIR and his fiance May KERR. Also survived by his loving daughters Carol MOLLER (Jim), Donelda POCOCK (Jim), Lorna LAROCQUE (Kerry), Penny GAZELL (Glen.) A private family internment to be held at Elmdale Memorial Park Cemetery in Saint Thomas. A wake to be held on Thursday, August 11, 2005 at the Victory Branch Legion on Oakland St. in East London. Private from 2: 00-4:00, it will open to Legion Friends from 4: 00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to Prostate Cancer Awareness. Additional details found in notice of Monday's paper.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-09-07 published
ROUSSY, Bernadette (LAROCQUE)
Peacefully at London Health Science Centre, University Campus on Monday, September 5, 2005. Bernadette (LAROCQUE) ROUSSY of London, Ontario in her 90th year. Beloved wife of the late Noe ROUSSY. Dear mother of Sylvienne VILLENEUVE and her husband Romeo of Montreal, Québec, Frederic ROUSSY and Irene ROUSSY both of London. Dear sister of Malvina THEBERGE of Montreal, Québec. Loving grandmother of Harry, Roxanne, Marc and Pierre-Normand VILLENEUVE. Also loved by her great-grandchildren Jean-Francois, Brienna, Marie-Helene Faucher, Julie and Chanel ROLLET. Also missed by her many nieces and nephews. Friends will be received from 10: 00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 9, 2005 at the A. Millard George Funeral Home, 60 Ridout Street S, London (433-5184) followed by a procession to St. Joseph Catholic Church, 89 Charles Street, London where a Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11: 30 a.m. Interment in St. Peter's Cemetery. Donations to London Health Science Centre, University Hospital would be appreciated by the family. Online condolences accepted at www.amgeorgefh.on.ca

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-09-09 published
VAREY, Madeliene T. (BECCAREA)
At London Health Sciences Centre Victoria Campus on Wednesday September 7, 2005, Madeliene T. (BECCAREA,) dear wife of the late Kenneth Norman VAREY (predeceased 1990.) Loving mother of Marlene EAGAN and her husband Charles of Aylmer, Quebec. Dear grandmother of Maureen BENSON, Paul, Edmund, Conrad, Mark and Colleen EAGAN and Monica LAROCQUE. Also survived by 15 great grandchildren. Predeceased by her brothers Edward, Anthony and John and her sisters Mary, Betty, Annie and Margaret. Visitors will be received at John T. Donohue Funeral Home, 362 Waterloo Street at King Street, on Monday morning from 10: 30 o'clock until the time of the funeral service at 11 o'clock. Entombment in Holy Family Mausoleum, St. Peter's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations to a favorite charity would be appreciated.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-09-16 published
WHITE/WHYTE, Richard J.M.
Peacefully at Lambton Meadowview Villa Nursing Home, Petrolia on Thursday, September 15, 2005. Richard J.M. WHITE/WHYTE of Strathroy in his 74th year. Cherished and loved through 29 years of marriage to Janey May. Loving father of Richard Glen WHITE/WHYTE and his wife Carolyn, Debbie Sue SPENCER and her husband Allen, Marie Lyn HALL and her husband Peter, Diane Carol TROWBRIDGE and her husband Timothy and Georgetta Jane HILL and her friend Jamie. His loving pets Buster and Boots will join him in Heaven. Dear grandfather of Wayne ALLEN and his wife Lena, Mark James WHITE/WHYTE and his friend Debbie, Cody Allen WAYNE, Candace May LYN, Shane Douglas George SPENCER, William Christopher and his friend Alicia, Daniel Richard LAROCQUE, Adam Louis, Sasha Nicole, Nicolas David, Cory Michael TROWBRIDGE, Amanda Justine Marie, Samantha Lee, Joshua David HILL and great-grandfather of Austin and Audrey WHITE/WHYTE. Also survived by his sisters: Iris LAMBERT and Joyce FOREMAN, foster sisters: Nina OGLIVE and Marie WALSH (2005,) foster brother Wayne and sisters-in-law Joanne JEWELL and Rose MUSGRAVE. Will be sadly missed by Friends Ralph and Linda HUSKY and Ted and Barbara GLOEMBISKI. Many nieces and nephews. Visitation at the Denning Bros. Funeral Home, Strathroy on Monday, September 19 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. where funeral service will be held on Tuesday, September 20 at 1: 30 p.m. with Dr. Brian McKENZIE officiating. Interment in Strathroy Cemetery. Donations to the Lambton Meadowview Gardens or the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family. A tree will be planted as a living memorial to Richard.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-10-31 published
KING, Herbert " Bert"
Passed away peacefully on Friday, October 28, 2005 in his 94th year. Bert was born and raised in Cardiff, Wales before emigrating to Canada at age 17. An adventurer, trapper and avid fisherman, Bert resided in northern Ontario for many years where he founded O-Pee-Chee Lake Lodge at Marten River (near Temagami). Bert lived at Red Oak Park near Aylmer from 1984 until May of 2004. He wintered in Florida for 26 years and never missed his annual spring fishing trip up north. Bert was a Canadian Legion member for 56 years and a founding member of the "Whats About You" fishing club. Most recently Bert resided at Terrace Lodge Home for Seniors where he was cared for by the most wonderful staff. Bert lived a long, healthy, interesting and varied life but one that was not without its challenges. His secret? A positive attitude, lots of hot tea and No mayonnaise ever! Bert will be sadly missed by daughters Julie KING of Calgary and Jo Anne MITCHELL and husband Jim of Woodstock and by his grandchildren Karen, Bruce and Heather great grandchildren Blake and Emma and his brothers/sisters-in-law and their families. He is survived by sisters Patty and Sheila and brother Mickey all of Cardiff, Wales and by many nieces and nephews. Bert is pre-deceased by his wife Simone (née LAROCQUE) and by sisters Betty and Sally and brothers Alec and Patrick. Cremation has taken place. A celebration of Bert's life will be held at Hillside Funeral Home, 362 Airport Rd., North Bay on Saturday, November 5, 2005 at 11: 00 a.m. Interment of ashes will follow at the Saint Mary's Cemetery beside his beloved wife Simone. Memorial donations to Terrace Lodge Auxiliary or the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated. On-line condolences at www.kebbelfuneralhome.com

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-01-16 published
LOW/LOWE/LOUGH, David A.
(Long time Member and President of the Oakville Chapter of Civitan International) David passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, January 15th, 2005, in his 61st year. Beloved husband of Henryka (KRECH.) Loved father of Michael (Laura DONNELLY- LOW/LOWE/LOUGH) and Jason (Christine O'MARA.) Grandfather of Peyton, James David, Jamie and Taylor. Predeceased by parents Reginald and Julia (LAROCQUE) LOW/LOWE/LOUGH. Brother of Elaine MacKINNON (Ken) of Port Alberni, British Columbia, and Jane LOW/LOWE/LOUGH, Toronto, Ontario. Uncle of Kevin MacKINNON, London, Ontario, and Kim GINN of Katy, Texas. David was actively involved in the community and many fundraising ventures. Visitation will be held at the Kopriva Taylor Community Funeral Home, 64 Lakeshore Road West, Oakville (905-844-2600) from 7-9 p.m. Monday. Funeral Mass 11 a.m. Tuesday, January 18, 2005 at St. Michael's Parish, 181 Sewell Drive, Oakville. For those who wish, memorial donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated. E-mail condolences may be sent to kopriva@eol.ca; please place LOW/LOWE/LOUGH on the subject line.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-02-07 published
KENNEDY, Michelle Genevieve (née LAROCQUE)
Suddenly at her residence in Hastings on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2005 in her 34th year. Beloved daughter of David and Marilyn LAROCQUE of Cobourg. Loving sister of Shane LAROCQUE of Cobourg. Dear granddaughter of Rene and Alice LAROCQUE and Shirley HEALEY and the late Fred HEALEY. Michelle will be remembered by her aunts and uncles, cousins and many Friends. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, February 9th, 2005, in St. Michael's Church, Cobourg at 10 a.m. If desired, donations may be made to the charity of your choice. Condolences received at www.maccoubrey.com

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-10-07 published
DONALDSON, Ada▼ Janette▼ (née DAVIDSON)
At the Cornwall Community Hospital on Tuesday, October 4, 2005. She was 82. Left to mourn are her loving husband of 61 years, Charles L. DONALDSON, her children Peter DONALDSON (Colette▼) of Notre Dame de L'Ile Perrot, Dr. Elizabeth Libby AMOS (Doug▼) of Reno, Arizona her grandchildren, Lance (Marie SOLEIL,) Tanya (Dan MAITLAND), Jennifer LAROCQUE (Stanley), Devon AMOS, and Caroline and Nicholas MAYNE and 2 great-grandchildren Abigale and Noa. Cremation. A memorial service will be held in the chapel of the M. John Sullivan Funeral Home, 341 Pitt Street (across from city hall) date and time to be announced. As expressions of sympathy memorial donations to the Alzheimer Society would be appreciated by the family.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-11-21 published
GLISTA, Catherine " Katrina" (née GIBSON)
Peacefully, at her home in Grimsby, with her family by her side, on Saturday, November 19, 2005, at the age of 67 years. Beloved wife of the late Norman GLISTA (January 2004.) Loved mother of Jeannine GLASSFORD and her husband Rod of Seattle, Washington, Vivian LAROCQUE and her husband Andrew of Dundas, and Malina BUHAGIAR and her husband Angelo of Grimsby. Loving Granma of Jackson, Giorgia, Madeleine, Riana and Mia. Cherished daughter of Mary and the late Joseph GIBSON of Toronto. Dear sister of Tanny GIBSON and his wife Beth of Toronto, Peter GIBSON of Oakville, Fran RAYMOND and her husband Glenn of Mississauga, sister-in-law of Barb GIBSON of Streetsville, Joseph GLESTA and his wife Velma of Bronte, Henry GLISTA and his wife Flavia of St. Catharines and Marina GLISTA of Mississauga. Visitation at Stonehouse-Whitcomb Funeral Home, 11 Mountain Street, Grimsby, on Wednesday 3-5 and 7-9 p.m., where Funeral Prayers will be held on Thursday, November 24, 2005 at 11 a.m. Private interment. If desired, expressions of sympathy to the Canadian Cancer Society would be sincerely appreciated by the family.

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LAROCQUE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-12-21 published
DONALDSON, Janette▲ Ada▲ (née DAVIDSON)
At the Cornwall Community Hospital, on Tuesday, October 4, 2005. She was 82. Left to mourn are her husband Charles, her children Peter DONALDSON (Colette▲) of Notre Dame de L'Ile Perrot, Elizabeth AMOS (Doug▲) of Reno, Arizona, her grandchildren Lance (Marie SOLIEL), Tanya (Dan MAITLAND), Jennifer LAROCQUE (Stanley) and Devon, and 2 great-grandchildren Abigale and Noa. Cremation. Friends may call at the M. John Sullivan Funeral Home, 341 Pitt Street (across from City Hall), Cornwall, on Saturday from 9 a.m. until time of service. Memorial Service Saturday, December 24, 2005 in the Chapel of the funeral home at 10 a.m., Pastor Peter HINCKE of St. Matthew's Lutheran Church officiating. Asexpressions of sympathy, memorial donations to the charity of your choice would be appreciated by the family.

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LARONDE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-10-04 published
O'GRADY, Catherine
Passed away peacefully with her family by her side on Sunday, October 2, 2005 after a courageous battle with cancer. Catherine leaves her loving husband Doug BLACK, daughter Sara, stepson Jason, her sisters and brothers Sharon HOWARD (Clive,) Terry (Rhonda), Mary, Mark LARONDE (Lori) and Peter LARONDE. Catherine also leaves many cherished nieces and nephews. Catherine will be greatly missed by her family, dear Friends and many colleagues from over the years. Catherine's happiest times were spent with those she loved at her cottage, at home, and in her garden. Visitation will be held at the "Scarborough Chapel" of McDougall and Brown, 2900 Kingston Road, (east of St. Clair Ave. E.) on Wednesday, October 5 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church, 16 Lockwood Road, (west of Woodbine Ave., on the north side of Queen St. East) on Thursday, October 6 at 12 p.m. Cremation to follow. As expressions of sympathy, donations made to the Toronto General Hospital would be appreciated.

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LARONE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-02-23 published
DOHERTY, Richard Ernest
Suddenly in Huntsville on Tuesday, February 22, 2005 in his 20th year; loving son of Cathy DOHERTY of Shelburne and Martin and Wendy of Orangeville; dear brother of Tiffany (Paul), Nathan and Grant (Nicole); cherished uncle of Lucas and Mackenzie; grand_son of William and Shirley LARONE; predeceased by his grandparents Richard and Mary DOHERTY and Ernest and Irene HUNTER. Richard will be sadly missed by many other relatives and Friends. Richard was currently following his passion as an apprentice chef at Deerhurst Resort, Huntsville and a Ski Instructor at Hidden Valley Resort, Huntsville. The family will receive Friends at the Dods & McNair Funeral Home and Chapel, 21 First Street, Orangeville on Friday, February 25, 2005 from 2: 00-4:00 p.m. and 7:00-9:00 p.m. Funeral service will be held in the chapel on Saturday, February 26, 2005 at 11: 00 a.m. Interment to follow at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Orangeville. Donations in memory of Richard may be made to Canadore College Endowment Memorial or the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Orangeville). (Condolences may be offered to the family at www.dodsandmcnair.com)

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LAROQUE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-04-29 published
EAGLESON, Diane Louise
It is with sadness the family of Diane Louise EAGLESON announce her passing on April 27, 2005, at the Palliative Care Unit, Parkwood Hospital. Born July 14, 1952, she was a devoted daughter of Marguerite (TWEDDLE) EAGLESON and the late Ralph EAGLESON (1982.) Loving sister of Marion (Ken) LAROQUE and Douglas (Sue) EAGLESON. Proud aunt of Sheila and Owen LAROQUE, Jean, Tim and Emma EAGLESON. Fondly remembered by many loyal, caring Friends. Diane received her B.Sc. Pharmacy Degree in 1975 and her M.B.A. in 1985 and she worked in several area pharmacies. She retired in 2002 to begin her final journey which was an inspiration to all. Resting at the T. Stephenson and son Funeral Home, Ailsa Craig where the Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, April 30th, at 2 p.m. with Reverend Kate BALLAGH- STEEPER officiating. Interment Nairn Cemetery. Visitation 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Friday. Memorial donations may be made to the Palliative Care Unit in care of Parkwood Hospital Foundation. A tree will be planted in memory of Diane EAGLESON.

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LAROSE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-02-10 published
STANTON, Margaret
Peacefully at Kensington Village on Monday, February 7, 2005, with her family at her side, Margaret STANTON passed away in her 79th year. Beloved wife of Jack. Loving mother of Lynn BOYCE (Stan), Jack STANTON Jr. (Shirley), Nancy LAROSE (Brian), Leslie WEBSTER (Rowland), Linda ROMIJN (John), and Georgina NOBLETT (Roger). Dear grandma of 16 grandchildren and predeceased by Tammy-Lynn and Ralph ROMIJN. Also 11 great-grandchildren. Dear sister of Mary BEAUDETT and predeceased by Joe and Olive. The family will receive Friends and relatives at Forest Lawn Memorial Chapel, 1997 Dundas Street East (at Wavell), London, for visitation on Friday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm. Funeral service will be on Saturday, February 12, 2005 at 2 pm. Margaret and Jack enjoyed the activities offered by the Activation and Volunteer services at Kensington Village, therefore in lieu of flowers, donations to the Kensington Village, c/o: Lynda McNabb-Director of Activation and Volunteer Services, 1340 Huron Street, London, Ontario N5V 3R3 would be gratefully appreciated. Please sign the Book of Condolence at www.obituariestoday.com. Arrangements entrusted to Memorial Funeral Home 452-3770.

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LAROSE o@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-12-11 published
BRENNAN, Nancy Louise
Peacefully, after a brief illness, at Windsor Regional Hospital, Metropolitan Campus, on Friday December 9, 2005. Nancy Louise BRENNAN, of Wheatley, formerly of London, in her 67th year. Beloved wife of Ray POST. Loving mother of Cindy (Randy) LAROSE, Johnny BRENNAN, Ricky and Randy (Stephanie) McGONEGAL, and step-mother of Heather (Len) STRUYK, Ronnie (Karen) POST and Cherilyn (Kurt) WACHHAUS, and grandmother of Brandon, Stephanie, Angela, Marissa, Tyler and Cierra Marie. Dear sister of Brenda, Marlene, Rick and Larry. Predeceased by brother Jimmy and sisters Betty Lou and Judy. Friends will be received at the Evans Funeral Home, 648 Hamilton Road (1 block east of Egerton), on Monday December 12, 2005, from 12-1 p.m. Funeral Service will follow in the Evans Chapel at 1: 00 p.m. Cremation and interment in Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens. Donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family. Online condolences can be expressed at www.evansfh.ca Evans Funeral Home, (519) 451-9350. A tree will be planted as a living memorial to Nancy.

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LAROSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-04-26 published
LAROSE, Cindy
Peacefully after a lengthy illness at Peel Memorial Hospital, Brampton, on Sunday, April 24th, 2005, at the age of 50. Dearly beloved wife of Clarence. Loving mother of Stacey and Shannon. Loved daughter of Frank HELLEWELL and the late Dorothy, step-daughter of Beatrice. Dear sister of Bob HELLEWELL and his wife Coby. Sadly missed by her relatives and Friends. Resting at the Ward Funeral Home "Brampton Chapel," 52 Main Street South (Hwy. 10), Brampton, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Tuesday, April 26. Service in the chapel Wednesday, April 27 at 11 a.m. Interment Chapel Hills Memorial Gardens, Stoney Creek. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated by the family.

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LAROSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-08-08 published
SMITH, Gladys May LaRose
Died peacefully at Bracebridge Villa on Saturday, August 6, 2005 in her 93rd year. Predeceased by her husband Edgar "Carson" SMITH (1994.) She will be deeply missed by her dear Friends Marg CAMPBELL (daughters Penny and Sue and family) and Olive MARTIN (son John and family) and by her nieces Doreen MacDONALD (Inglis,) Joan DUNN (George,) Marjorie DUTRIZAC and nephews Bev SMITH (Pat) and Albert SMITH (Joan) and their families. Glad taught us all what a great great Aunt can be. She loved her "Girls" and their families - Sue and Penny; Carolyn, Marilyn, and Michael Anne Marta, Lauren and Michelle; Raegan and Morgan whose "the little ones" brought her joy with every visit - Madison, Keaton, Carter, Trinity and Shay. Glad never really knew her father or her LaRose brothers Albert, Edward, Thomas and Frank. She truly enjoyed getting to know her brother Gordon LAROSE over the last few years. The family wishes to thank all of the staff at Bracebridge Villa (particularly Judy, Margrit and Sue) for their Friendship, their loving care and extraordinary compassion. Glad truly died "at home", as the Villa had become her home. Cremation has taken place. A memorial service will take place at a later date at the Smith family plot in Glen Orchard. Memorial donations may be made to "The Wall Looks Back", Township of Muskoka Lakes, P.O. Box 129, Port Carling, Ontario P0B 1J0 - a community celebration of the history of Muskoka and the lakes that Glad loved. Arrangements entrusted to Reynolds Funeral Home "Turner Chapel", Bracebridge (877-806-2257). Messages of sympathy may be e-mailed to condolences@reynoldsfuneral.com or mam@muskoka.com "Que sera sera"

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LAROSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-10-22 published
DOYLE, Margaret Jenette
Peacefully at Bethany Lodge West, Toronto on Wednesday, October 19, 2005. Margaret, beloved sister of Evelyn CORCORAN and the late Shirley LAROSE and Robert GRAY/GREY. Loving aunt of Donna, Gary, Bill and Danny. She will be loving remembered by the rest of her family and Friends, especially those at Bethany Lodge. A Memorial Service will be held at a later date. For information call Dixon-Garland Funeral Home, 905-294-2030.

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LAROSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-11-21 published
WARFE, William A., P.Eng.
(Retired civil engineer; Government of Canada)
Suddenly at his home in Portland, Ontario, on Saturday, November 19, 2005. William Arthur WARFE in his 79th year. Beloved husband of Norma COTTON. Loved father of Sue-Ellen KOLAR and Paul WARFE, both of Mississauga, Virginia (Michael) LAROSE of Petawawa, Chris of Gatineau, Gregory of Navan and David WARFE of Kingston. Dear brother of the late Margaret HILTON. Also survived by eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Friends may pay their respects at the Blair and son Funeral Home, Smiths Falls, on Wednesday, November 23rd from 2 to 5 p.m. In remembrance donations to the University of Ottawa Heart Institute or the Heart and Stroke Foundation would be appreciated. Blair and son Funeral Home, Smiths Falls, 1-613-283-2800. Condolences to: condolences@blairandson.com

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LAROSE o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-12-31 published
A loving mother's son
Andre BURNETT's five half-siblings all grew into the adults their mother hoped they would
So how did her sixth child end up on the most-wanted list and then in the morgue?
By Jim RANKIN, Staff Reporter, Page A22
Andre BURNETT began life as an independent boy, raised by a loving mother in a poor neighbourhood. At some point, for reasons this city must reckon with, he decided to live by the gun. He was murdered September 10 -- becoming Toronto's 54th homicide victim of the year, and the 36th to be killed by a gun.
His tall, thin frame was draped over a chair, and beneath the brim of a baseball cap, the lucky man's eyes were further obscured by wraparound sunglasses.
He had a criminal record for drug and firearms offences. Not reflected on that record was the fact he'd been accused (but not convicted) of pulling the trigger a couple of times in his 24 years. He'd also, in July 2003, taken a police hollow-point bullet between the shoulder blades, just left of his spine.
Although his left arm, damaged by that police shooting, would take time to heal, that was all in Andre BURNETT's past. He considered himself lucky. He could have found himself in jail -- or not sitting there at all.
On that day this past June when BURNETT sat down for an interview a lawyer to his left, and mother to his right -- there was big hope that his luck would continue.
"I'm going to get a place, my own place, with my girl," BURNETT said. "Stay out of trouble."
He also planned to stay away from Jane and Finch, the neighbourhood where he grew up, was schooled, and had made Friends and enemies.
Three months later, there were funeral plans. "He was slaughtered," says his mom, Cecile CASE HOLDER, in her late 50s.
Andre Malik BURNETT left behind a son, 6, a daughter, 4, and the mother of his children.
In a city hurting from a spate of other gun-and-gang-related killings this year, mostly of young black men, and numb from the shooting death this week of 15-year-old Jane CREBA caught in crossfire while holiday shopping, BURNETT's life and death also leaves behind a list of post-mortem questions.
Perhaps the most instructive is the question of how his four half-brothers and a half-sister grew into the adults CASE HOLDER had hoped they would, and her sixth child ended up in the morgue?
It is Black youth that is unemployed in excessive numbers, it is Black students who are being inappropriately streamed in schools, it is Black kids who are disproportionately dropping out, it is housing communities with large concentrations of Black residents where the sense of vulnerability and disadvantage is most acute, it is Black employees, professional and non-professional, on whom the doors of upward equity slam shut. Just as the soothing balm of "multiculturalism" cannot mask racism, so racism cannot mask its primary target -- Stephen Lewis, Report on Racism in Ontario, 1992
Under circumstances that are the subject of a Toronto Police Service homicide investigation, BURNETT, having just served a 60-day stint in jail for breaching parole conditions, wound up back home the afternoon of Saturday, September 10.
It's believed he was driven to Jane St. and Driftwood Ave., not far from his childhood home, his mother says. What is certain is that he was killed around 3 p.m. Witnesses: heard a loud argument, followed by gunfire. BURNETT was reportedly hit by eight bullets. He collapsed on a footbridge. He was, according to police, unarmed.
BURNETT was no angel when he left this world, and to that his mother attests. But on May 27, 1981, born at Toronto General Hospital, he began as one.
Cecile CASE HOLDER had come to Canada from Jamaica in the late 1970s, leaving behind four sons and a daughter from a previous marriage, with the hope of establishing a new home for them in Toronto. With the birth of Andre in 1981, fathered by a man CASE HOLDER likens to a "bad accident" who had very little to do with her son's life, she was done with having children.
Baby Andre, however, "was very sweet. He was my last of six."
BURNETT spent the first five years of his life growing up in an apartment near Bathurst St. and Lawrence Ave. W. -- a predominantly Jewish neighbourhood where one cannot walk a block without finding a bagel shop, and, today, bungalows are being torn down to make way for the occasional monster home.
He wasn't to go near the stove in their apartment, but on Saturdays, when CASE HOLDER was not working, her young son would show up at her bedside with a cup of tea.
"Here, mommy, is your tea," he would say.
"Sometimes he'd drink half of it before he got up there," says CASE HOLDER. "He was very independent. He would go to his drawer and, in the summer, take out a matching shorts and top. In the wintertime, he would match his clothes."
CASE HOLDER worked for a car parts manufacturer, and by 1985, had waded through the bureaucratic red tape required to sponsor her five children from Jamaica. They joined her in the two-bedroom apartment CASE HOLDER had been sharing with her youngest, and the elder five enrolled in local schools. The apartment would not do for long.
It was clear she had to move, but couldn't afford the rent for the kind of space she needed in that neighbourhood.
"So I went and I applied for the Metro Housing, and that's how I end up in Jane and Finch," says CASE HOLDER. " Didn't know I was going into the lion's den."
This reality of huge housing projects creating what many called "communities in distress" has to be dealt with. They're often under-serviced, and a persuasive case can be made for better transportation, for a Community College campus, for a thriving community centre, for some kind of outdoor recreational space. The list goes on. It all has relevance. -- Stephen Lewis, 1992 report
It may have been only a few kilometres away, but the move to Toronto Community Housing Corp., subsidized housing on Shoreham Dr., east of Jane St. and north of Finch Ave. W., might as well have been to another planet. A very small and concentrated one. Bordered by Black Creek Pioneer Village immediately to the north, and York University to the east, the low-rise brick buildings are home to some of the city's least well off, and historically, a place where gunfire is not unexpected.
In other areas of Jane and Finch, however, gunfire is not expected at all. And this is what Jane-Finch ratepayers not living in the pockets of public housing most susceptible to drug dealing, gangs and associated violence have taken great pains over the years to point out.
All that likely would have been lost on little Andre. He started school at Shoreham Public School, where he quickly fell in love with his kindergarten teacher. His siblings, however, continued to go to school in their old neighbourhood, where they had the kind of role models outside the family young Andre would find in short supply.
"All the older kids were seeing around them was positive things," says CASE HOLDER. " Andre was the baby who started school in the Jane and Finch area."
From the beginning, CASE HOLDER says she didn't like what she was seeing in the new area, and for that reason kept her children on a tight leash. There were curfews, and strict rules. "I started to observe how people live, and their kids running around. I was tough on my kids," she says, recalling one instance where she delivered a walloping to her daughter, at the time an A-student who was starting to cut school. "I busted her behind."
CASE HOLDER tried her best to ensure her work hours didn't interfere with her job of raising six children on her own, but when her youngest was 8 or 9, she took up a new job from midnight to 8 a.m. cleaning luxury boxes at the newly opened SkyDome.
On her very first shift, the police came calling to her townhome. CASE HOLDER says they were looking for a neighbour who had sold cocaine to an undercover officer, but ended up arresting one of Andre's half-brothers. During the nighttime raid, police searched the house with guns drawn, including Andre's room, while he was in bed.
"My house was like five hurricanes passed through it," she says. "They didn't even apologize," she says, "and later they arrested the guy who they wanted."
The charges against her son were eventually dismissed, but the raid left her youngest with an indelible impression of police, and white people. Young Andre soon began seeing a therapist, who happened to be white. His mother remembers he was wary. "The white people are bad," she recalls him saying, "because, why would they put a gun into my head?"
Of all Jamaican children under 19 years of age, 62.7 percent live in lone parent families, as do 54.8 percent of children who are African and Black and 52.1 percent of children from "other Caribbean nations." In these three groups, respectively, 64.5, 63.2, and 57.8 percent of children are below the poverty line Ethno-Racial Inequality in Toronto: Analysis of the 1996 Census, by Michael Ornstein, 2000
When Andre BURNETT was in his mid-teens, CASE HOLDER discovered a gun outside their townhome. That, she says, was "the reason why I took my baby and left Jane and Finch one morning."
She moved right out of Canada, to a city in the northeastern U.S., where she lives to this day and works as a caregiver in a hospital. She enrolled BURNETT in a high school there, but he soon was asking to go home, back to Toronto, to finish his schooling.
Another reason he wanted to go home, says his mother, was tight security at his new high school. He didn't like getting wanded every day. He didn't feel the school was safe. CASE HOLDER, deciding he was old enough at 17 to make his own decisions, let him go home to Jane and Finch.
While violent crime in Toronto has been declining, young people's involvement in, and victimization by crime has been trending upwards over the past eight years. The number of youth is projected to grow by 21 per cent in five years -- Toronto's Vital Signs 2005: The City's Annual Check-up
BURNETT initially moved in with a girlfriend of CASE HOLDER's, then with one of his half-brothers. He had arrived back home with thoughts of going to York University, as one of his brothers had. He was bright, into computers, and also looking at a possible career in music, says his mother.
"He liked to write music. He wanted to be a record producer," she says. "He had some stuff that he wrote, but I don't know where they are, and most of the things that he used to write was against, like, the brutality of police. He used to write heavy stuff, like Tupac Shakur."
CASE HOLDER admits she doted on her youngest, particularly after the others had left home. "The other kids used to say I spoil him, but he was the only one that I had to support. So he used to wear Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, stuff like that.
"Then he started wearing black, and clothes that I didn't like to see him in. He started wearing his pants down, and when I see him I would tell him, 'Pull your pants up.'"
At some point, the independent young boy CASE HOLDER had raised became a follower. Just when, she is not sure, but says her son's life changed some time after he went back home and enrolled at Westview Centennial Secondary School, southwest of Jane and Finch.
"That was the doom. That's when all hell broke loose," she says, blaming the school and poor choices in Friends for what followed. (A vice-principal there, responding to a Star inquiry about BURNETT's days, said senior staff had moved on, and there was little she could say other than he had attended the school.)
With the birth of a son, BURNETT became a father before his 20th birthday. He and his girlfriend later had a daughter as well, and the two grandchildren remain an important part of CASE HOLDER's life. She would come back to Toronto to visit, but she no longer had a strong hold on her son. She did try, though.
She remembers one occasion when the half-brother BURNETT had been staying with called her to say he had taken to coming home at 4 a.m. "And so I asked my son to drive him over to me. I remember very clearly, I was in the kitchen, and (Andre) was talking to me, and I had a mop like that in the corner, and I pulled him up and I beat him, and was beating his ass with the mop.
"And he was, like, 'Mommy, Mommy.' He would never say a word to make me upset. He would never, no matter what I do, and I would rap him, and he would never open his mouth.
"He was never a disrespectful child, never."
He started racking up an adult criminal record, which included drug and firearms offences. He was also fingered in a 2002 non-fatal shooting but later saw charges dropped because of identification problems. In connection with that shooting, he made the Toronto Crime Stoppers 10-most-wanted list.
By then, he looked little like the boy CASE HOLDER had raised. Nor like the young man wearing the red gown in his middle-school graduation picture. In one particular police mugshot, he wears a beard. His eyes look dead.
On July 10, 2003, in a police operation aimed at flushing out a wanted gunman in a park near Jane St. and Driftwood Ave., BURNETT was shot once in the back by police, who alleged BURNETT had fired first. Police found a 9 mm handgun at the scene, but, following a thorough search of the area by the province's civilian Special Investigations Unit, no forensic evidence was found to indicate the gun had been fired that night -- no residue, no shell and no bullet could be found. The Special Investigations Unit found the shooting to be justified, and cleared the two officers who opened fire of any wrongdoing.
BURNETT, badly wounded by the police bullet, found himself charged with attempting to kill the two officers.
One dramatic reversal in policy concerned the equity policies enacted by the Liberal and New Democratic Party governments. The Conservatives shut down an Anti-Racism Secretariat created by the New Democratic Party, and its counterpart in the Ministry of Education, abandoned policies aimed at increasing gender equity in administrative posts in education, and deleted references to pro-equity goals -- Stephen E. Anderson and Sonia Ben Jaafar, Policy Trends in Ontario Education, 2003
On most days, Winston LAROSE of the Jane-Finch Concerned Citizens Organization can be found in a cluttered second-floor office at Yorkgate Mall, a rejuvenated shopping centre on the northwest corner of Jane and Finch. Over the years, LAROSE, a trained psychiatric nurse, has watched and lived the hurt of young black men in the neighbourhood.
He never knew BURNETT, but he knows the story.
"Somewhere along the line, we have failed them as a society," says LAROSE. "We are a particularly impoverished area, in terms of social, cultural values and economics and the whole thing. Single mothers raising children, without the means to do it properly, absent fathers, inadequate material things in the home, hardly can pay the rent, distressed mother, Children's Aid having ready access to their children, police officers coming and knocking on the doors.
"It's not treated in the same way as a kid who goes to Upper Canada College, for instance. They're growing up in different worlds."
Generally, he says, this has all translated into a loss of a proper sense of self-esteem and humanity.
"What's been critically important for our community has been the devaluation of social life -- all together, the devaluation of our sense of humanity. I think it's stepped away from strong traditional values that are critical to developing human beings that respect each other."
Those who choose to pull the trigger and take a life, he says, are detached from that reality. "All that happens is an emotional response to, 'You're wearing my colours,' and bam, you're gone."
Extra police alone, as has been pointed out by many this past year in Toronto, is not the answer, he says. "All we're going to have is like Harlem in the old days, or Chicago, where police with guns are patrolling certain neighbourhoods and other neighbourhoods don't have that experience, and this is where we're heading right now."
The warning signs have been long been there, he points out, dating back decades, and perhaps most ominously as laid out in Stephen Lewis's 1992 report on anti-black racism in Ontario, which was ordered up by Bob Rae, the New Democratic Party premier of the day, following the "Yonge St. riots" that stemmed from the verdict in the police beating case of motorist Rodney King in Los Angeles.
Things have not much improved in Ontario, says LAROSE, who cites funding decisions made during the years of the Mike Harris Progressive Conservative government as one of the root causes behind the trouble many of Toronto's most impoverished youth, and black youth in particular, are in today.
"What he did is he restructured schools, and the schools in this area suffered from that. It reduced the number of teachers in the schools. It removed the schools from the domains of the community itself, where they had access, ready access for things like after-school programs, recreational programs and activities.
"A lot of community activities were conducted in those schools and people literally saw those schools as being some place where they could go. That's gone.
"There's kind of a general disrespect for the black community at large that seems to be acceptable," says LAROSE. " That is still very much in existence, and we need to do something to alter that, to change that.
"It has to start with the children we have right now, that are at the age of 5 and 6 and 7," he says -- and then pauses.
"Many of these kids that are committing all these murders, these are Harris's children, because they were 5 and 6 years old (in 1995), and these were the kids that got neglected."
Following the police shooting, BURNETT spent most of his recovery in jail, where he remained until this past summer, when the most serious charges against him were suddenly dropped after one of the two police officers he was accused of trying to kill, on the eve of BURNETT's trial, changed his story. In a last-minute deal, BURNETT pleaded guilty to possessing the handgun, and walked out of court a free man.
Upon his release from jail, CASE HOLDER noticed changes in her son. His head, in her words, wasn't "right." Still, he was a lucky man, and talked of settling down and perhaps getting back to his education. When he came to the Star to tell his story, he did it with the intention of filing a potential lawsuit against police. He said little, but claimed he never had a gun the night police shot him.
Despite the subsequent launch of an internal police investigation into police testimony and note-taking in the case, the two officers were lauded for their actions the night BURNETT was shot by police. The officers received their awards at police headquarters September 20. By then, Andre BURNETT had been dead for all of 10 days, having been gunned down near his old home, becoming Toronto's 54th homicide victim of the year.
There is no indication BURNETT was in a gang. Nor have police indicated what they think might be a motive for his killing.
To this day, his mother is incensed that police would hand out an award so close to his death. But she is hopeful that she will one day attend the trial of whoever took her son's life.
She says she has an idea who did it -- "Friends," she says, from his high school days. And she blames them, and the old neighbourhood, for his demise. She makes no specific mention of any government policy. BURNETT was 14 in 1995 when the Harris government ushered in its Common Sense Revolution platform. All of his older half-brothers and half-sister, the closest of whom was 21 at the time, were out of the secondary school system by then.
Today, one of his half-brothers is an accountant, studying journalism. Another is an Ontario government worker. The remaining two are a house painter and a self-employed electronics technician. BURNETT's half-sister is a bank supervisor.
Andre BURNETT went home this summer, and lies buried in the most expensive coffin his family could afford.
"I know he's in a better place. You should see him. He looked so peaceful," she says. "The funeral home did a good job by him. It was like the day I gave birth to him. He was that perfect child."

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