Toronto’s Parentbooks, closing after nearly 35 years, was an international destination and community touchstone
When Patti Kirk opened Parentbooks in downtown Toronto in 1986, she didn’t imagine that the bookstore would become a cornerstone of resources and support for special-needs parents. But now, as the store closes after nearly 35 years in operation at the end of January, the final weeks of business have been marked by tears – from both customers and staff.
“We’ve had people at the door picking up their final orders crying, and we’ve had moments where we’ve had feedback online from customers or phone messages, and we’ve been crying,” Kirk says. “It’s a huge life change, but it’s also such a big loss to the community.”
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As we mark the fiftieth anniversary of the report by the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada, we reflect on its significance and note that, when it comes to gender equity, the struggle continues.
On December 7, 1970, a report was tabled in the House of Commons that the media called “a bomb, already primed and ticking.”
The 488-page document was loaded with research and insights that would prove very dangerous indeed a threat to a Canada in which men blindly benefited from the unpaid labour of their wives at home, a society in which legal restrictions kept women from enjoying their recently enshrined human rights.