Image by Cristian S. Aluas

As one of the many Canadian cities experiencing financial problems, Sonya Konzak reviews Toronto's continuous attempts to architect prominent policy solutions.

Close your eyes and picture the following scenario: tear gas rolling down a deserted main street; hundreds, if not thousands, of police dressed in riot gear marching in formation; snipers taking positions behind tombstones in a commandeered cemetery; F16s and attack helicopters are roaring overhead. Scary right? This is the force that was brought to bear in Montebello on August 20th. The threat?

Demonstrators protesting the secretive high level meetings taking place in the nearby resort far behind guarded barbed wire fences.

It was four years ago when Morgan Whitfield's train pulled into the main station of Mumbai and two tall, singing  Hijras in saffron saris came aboard. The two entertainers sang for coins in deep but trilling voices. Their dancing was agressive, but feminine. Their costumes and makeup was theatrical but pretty. They weren't women. They weren't men. They were another category altogether Hijras. Check out Whitfield's first hand experience with India's third gender, as she argues that the political ritualization of sex for Hijras work to benefit their cause of garnishing human rights.