Premiering Tuesday!
Did you love the Vinyl Café or The News from Lake Wobegon?
Then you’ll feel at home in Mirror Falls, Tod’s original podcast series about a Canadian town with decent people, complicated pasts, and a mystery hiding in plain sight.
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by Tod Maffin
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Canada’s first taxi company was started by a man who used to be someone’s property.
In 1837, in Toronto, Thornton Blackburn built a red and yellow horse-drawn cab. It could carry four passengers and a driver.
But the real journey Thornton offered wasn’t about getting from King Street to Queen. It was from bondage to freedom.
He was born into slavery in America. Sold at the age of three. As a young adult, he escaped from Kentucky but was caught in Detroit, and thrown into jail. But the people of Detroit — free Black citizens — rose up. They stormed the jail.
T O D B I T
The fight over their arrest in Detroit in 1833 sparked what historians call the city’s first race riot. Afterward, Black residents were forced to post bonds, pushing many to leave for Canada.
Thornton made it out and crossed the river into Canada. When the Michigan governor asked for Canada to send him back, the answer was “No, we do not return human beings to chains.”
That decision made Canada the last stop on the Underground Railroad.
Broken promises
That’s our history. At least, that’s who we’ve always said we were. The people who give safe harbour when the world look away.
So, what happens when the people fleeing persecution aren’t running from 19th-century slave catchers, but from 21st-century lawmakers?
Right now, across the border, there are states where trans Americans can’t access healthcare and can’t safely walk around in public. Teachers can’t say the word “gender.” Doctors threatened. Parents criminalized for supporting their own kids.
Back then, they called it “fugitive slave laws.” Today, they call it “family protection acts.” Nicer stationery, same cruelty.
We, in Canada, once took a stand and said: we will not return a person to a place where their very being is a crime. That principle wasn’t supposed to expire. It wasn’t meant for one kind of person or one kind of oppression. It was meant for anyone who needs sanctuary.
We brag about being the terminus of the Underground Railroad. But are we still a terminus — or just a museum exhibit?
The treaty we should break
You’d think, given our history, that we’d be opening our doors again. But we can’t, or won’t, because of the Safe Third Country Agreement, a treaty that says if someone comes to Canada from the United States, they can’t claim refugee status here. Because, on paper, the U.S. is considered safe. Or at least it was when that paper was drawn up.
Right now, our border is a wall, not a refuge.
The Agreement has to change. Or be broken. If the U.S. is going to break trade agreements with us, ignore environmental deals, shred defence contracts whenever it suits them, then we sure as hell can break one treaty in the name of human rights.
So don’t just nod along. Call your MP. Email them. Tell them you want a Canada that still stands for something.
Say something now, before history writes this chapter without us.
Trivia
Which animal sound is believed to have been used by Underground Railroad conductors, particularly Harriet Tubman, as a coded signal to indicate it was safe to travel?
— 30 —
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The Weekly Poll
Last Week:
What You Missed This Week
The Good News ❤
Two Maritimers turn lifelong friendship into a life-saving gift: A Nova Scotia woman recently donated a kidney to her best friend after she faced kidney failure, giving her a new lease on life and hoping to inspire others to become live donors.
Winnipeg’s Whistling Wind, an organization supporting male youth in overcoming addictions and trauma, runs a weekly “Wind Walkers” group that walks Selkirk Avenue and Main Street at night, handing out food and warm clothing to those in need.
From Oakville to the Oscars: Students from Sheridan College’s animation program in Oakville, Ont., are celebrating two Oscar-nominated films by graduates, KPop Demon Hunters, directed by Maggie Kang, and Elio, directed by Domee Shi, both of which earned nominations for Best Animated Feature at the 98th Academy Awards.
KPop Demon Hunters was also nominated for best original song for Golden.
Missing B.C. rock found… in California?: Last fall, Squamish climbers were shocked when their beloved granite rock used for balance and grip practice ✨vanished✨. This week, it was spotted in Bishop, Calif., wearing a “Canadian drinking toque,” and plans are underway to return the 32-kg boulder to its home.
Trade Tea 🫖
Vegas is down bad: Las Vegas is rolling out the welcome mat for Canadians… literally at par. Several downtown hotels are now accepting the Canadian dollar at par as part of a new program to lure back northern tourists.
Steakholders rejoice: China is lifting its ban on Canadian beef exports for the first time since 2021, with shipments set to resume next week, reopening a market that was once Canada’s fourth-largest and providing a boost for producers.
Hard pass: A new poll shows most Americans are against U.S. expansion, including making Canada the 51st state or taking over Greenland.
Canadian crossings at the Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan border have dropped nearly 24% in the past year, leaving the town missing its northern customers.
The First Peoples 🪶
Cree-owned taxi offers more than rides: Regan Gamble’s Edmonton-based service, SheDrives, provides safe transportation and companion support for Indigenous women, including survivors of domestic violence, helping them get to appointments, court, or errands.
Niagara Falls is welcoming hundreds of Kashechewan First Nation residents after a damaged water treatment plant forced a weeks-long evacuation, with 1,700 expected in the city and others relocating to Timmins, Kapuskasing, and Kingston.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport’s renovated international connections facility now greets visitors with Mi’kmaw art, including an eight-metre-wide star mosaic, artwork on six pillars, and 14 hanging drums, celebrating the territory and culture.
Sports! 🏒
A 10-year-old from O'Leary, P.E.I., got his Make-A-Wish dream last week, meeting his hockey heroes Sidney Crosby and Ryan Graves, and watching a Pittsburgh Penguins game with his mom and cousin.
Another W for Canada: Stars of the LGBTQ+ Canadian hockey romance Heated Rivalry, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, have been named Olympic torchbearers for the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February.
Vancouver Canucks fans were already buzzing after ending an 11-game losing streak, but the loudest cheer came when Mississauga’s Robbie Graham-Kuntz, who plays “Kip” on Heated Rivalry, appeared on the Jumbotron wearing a custom Canucks pride jersey during the team’s ninth annual Pride Night.
‘Holy Grail’ of hockey cards hits Ontario auction: A century-old collection of 51 cards from the 1924–25 Champ’s Cigarettes set, one of Canada’s most coveted tobacco issues, is now up for auction in New Hamburg, Ont.
Winnipeg’s all-girls Falcons football team, made up of players mostly from Sagkeeng First Nation, just received a $25,000 grant from NFL Canada, one of only three teams picked from more than 500 submissions.
Hometown drip > LeBron James: For the fourth year in a row, Toronto Raptors star Scottie Barnes has the best-selling NBA jersey in Canada, topping players like Stephen Curry, Luka Dončić, and LeBron James.
Across Canada 📍
Who needs Toronto money: A new report names Saskatoon the best city in Canada to raise a family, with low cost of living and investments in public safety.
A skier near Lake Louise in Banff National Park triggered a Size 2 avalanche, getting buried up to their waist and losing both skis, but thankfully Parks Canada says they were otherwise uninjured.
Ontario dominates Forbes’ 2026 Best Canadian Employers list, with nearly half of the country’s top 100 workplaces headquartered in the province.
Ice, ice… bubble🎵: A video from Banff National Park is going viral after capturing a skater forming an air bubble beneath the ice of Lake Minnewanka.
The Calgary Zoo’s beloved penguin walk returned for its 14th year, with king penguins waddling the zoo paths in their finest “suits.”
Burning Man, but make it Canadian: Alton, Ontario is hosting the 16th annual Fire and Ice Festival later this month, a two-day winter celebration featuring skating on the millpond, artisan markets, food trucks, live ice sculpting, and the Big Burn finale where a massive sculpture is set ablaze.
Canada’s Market This Week
Royal Bank | |
TD Bank | |
Enbridge | |
ScotiaBank | |
Bank of Montreal | |
CP Rail | |
Shopify | |
Canadian Tire | |
Loblaws | |
Tim Hortons (RBI) | |
Dollarama | |
Rogers |