Editorials - Oct. 10, 2025
So close, yet so far
Today, Friday, Oct. 10, is World Mental Health Day. First marked in 1992, World Mental Health Day is supported by the World Health Organization with goals of further education, awareness and advocacy.
In the first minutes of Nashville, Robert Altman’s 1975 masterpiece, Henry Gibson sings in “200 Years”, a song about the U.S.A., “...how far along we’ve come ’til now, how far we’ve got to go.” This sentiment can relate to so many scenarios, but it certainly rings true when it comes to mental health - where it can feel like one step forward, two steps back.
The way much of the western world interfaces with mental health has changed dramatically in the past few generations. Our understanding of the way our brains work and the challenges many of us face has never been higher. Furthermore, the way we now talk to one another if we’re struggling has evolved greatly; think the “Sick Not Weak” campaign.
And yet, at once, the threats to our mental health are greater than ever. We are still working to understand how technological breakthroughs like the internet, social media, the never-ending doomscroll and even AI - will challenge our mental health and the mental health of our children and grandchildren. All this at a time in which it feels, to many, as though the walls of our world are coming down around them.
The members of this editorial board do not profess to be mental health experts or medical professionals in any way, but as uncertainty reigns and we’re all challenged with the realities of being alive in 2025, make a point to check on your loved ones, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Your care and attention could mean the world to them. And, if you are struggling, know that you’re not alone and that help is available. – SL
The best of the best
On Sunday, famed author and playwright Emma Donoghue was in Blyth to watch the final performance of her The Wind Coming Over The Sea at Memorial Hall after the run had been extended a few weeks. On Monday, her book, The Paris Express, was shortlisted for The Giller Prize, perhaps Canada’s most prestigious literary award.
Much has been made of Donoghue’s Festival fandom and her eagerness to work here and you can’t blame the Festival for capitalizing on that newfound relationship at a time when Donoghue’s name has really been everywhere. However, when you really stop and think about it, Donoghue is quite the ally for the Festival to have. This is not to diminish the role that so many great artists have played for the Festival over the years, but having a bestselling author and Academy Award-nominated screenwriter say that having a play featured at the Blyth Festival is her highlight of a year in which she’s been shortlisted for the Giller Prize, that’s pretty special.
The question at the heart of the Blyth Festival project, now 51 years in, has always been how a world-class festival can survive in a village of only 1,000 and a county of only 60,000. It began modestly and has seen its fair share of ebbs and flows. It has enjoyed remarkable success and it has been pushed to the brink of closure. And yet, along the way, it has stayed true to its mandate of telling Canadian stories to its fellow Canadians. It may not be the fastest way to becoming Canada’s 77th billionaire, but it’s shown to catch the eye of some of the country’s greatest artists who see the value of hyper-local art and theatre. – SL
History disappearing
It is a sad loss for Toronto that the Imperial Pub is disappearing. Tucked near Yonge and Dundas, the Imperial has seen generations of students, writers and ordinary citizens through countless eras of change.
It is not hard to imagine Citizen founder Keith Roulston passing the Imperial Pub in the 1960s, when he was a journalism student at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute. Perhaps he stopped in for a tea or pop, or simply to observe the mix of characters that frequented the place. For students like him, the Imperial offered a glimpse of the city’s heartbeat. The Imperial was one of those increasingly-rare places that carried the texture of the city’s past. Its neon sign glowed with a kind of modest pride. It was a place where you could sit alone and not feel lonely. Now, with plans for a tall residential tower to rise where it stands, we are reminded again of Toronto’s struggle to balance growth with preservation.
Contrast that with Blyth, where the Blyth Inn continues to thrive as it approaches its 150th anniversary. The Inn has endured war, depression and changing fashions. It remains not only a place to eat or sleep, but a gathering point. Blyth is fortunate to have held onto its heritage; to have valued what earlier generations built instead of gradually letting it be swept away. Toronto has never been good at that. Its history is continually bulldozed in the name of progress. Landmarks vanish with little resistance, their replacements indistinguishable from the towers that surround them. Every demolished pub, theatre or shop erases not just architecture, but the human stories attached to it. The Imperial’s loss is a symptom of a city that mistakes development for improvement and novelty for vitality. – SBS