Articles

Interview originally published in SAN Magazine Issue 1, July 2015

I Brought the Soul of Serbia to Toronto

“I didn’t want to emigrate to Europe because I had the feeling that we were seen as second-class citizens. I didn’t choose America either because there you would have to abandon your cultural heritage. Canada seemed to be a fortunate compromise, because it presents everyone the opportunity to nurture their own culture and language.”

Thirty four years old, determined, with an intense desire to overcome challenges and a great passion for politics. Since last June, 2019, Stephen Lecce - elected in the King-Vaughan district in the ranks of the Progressive Conservative in 2018 - has been the Minister of Education. A demanding position but one, as can be seen from his own words, he is flattered to hold. At a time when the school world is in chaos due to the strikes, rotating and non-rotating, proclaimed daily by the four teachers' trade unions, Minister Lecce took time out for the following interview with Corriere Canadese.

Serbian Heritage Museum in Windsor Ontario celebrates 33 years of service this year. The museum is of great importance to Serbian people in diaspora because it is a unique place where numerous artifacts that represent the memories of lives of Serbian people in Canada, Serbian culture, as well as customs can be found. In the biggest Serbian museum outside of Serbian borders one can find national costumes, old photographs, rare books, musical instruments, newspapers, and various documents. According to Julka Vlajić, the board member of the Serbian Heritage Museum in Canada, "the oldest exhibit in the museum is the 19th century postage stamp from the reign of King Milan and bolero jacket from 1889."

A federal carbon pollution pricing system was implemented in our province under the federal Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. The goal of the act is to tax all industrial plants that play a significant role in preserving the heat in the atmosphere. The act was first applied in January 2019 to large industrial plants that emit more than 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year. Smaller industrial plants that emit 10,000 tones to 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year had the option to choose whether they want to pay taxes based on the degree of pollution they emit. Provinces such as British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec that have applied federal carbon pollution pricing system earlier than Ontario have recorded the fastest economic growth in 2017. Drawing on past experience from three Canadian provinces, it is not unrealistic to expect that Ontario could accomplish similar success.

A public space, plaza, corridor, street, square, park, or the busiest highway can actually become the subject of our most intimate experiences and perceptions, which in fact defines our relationship with that very space. Architectural and urban frameworks name these streets based on the most diverse hierarchical and valorizational frameworks and points of view. However, sometimes we prefer to hear the simple, human stories behind the names of some city spaces.

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I woke up one morning and decided: today I will run a marathon! Right… if only it were that easy. A marathon can’t be run just like that. A race like that is neither easy nor short. However, anything is possible. Of course, not quite so spontaneously. But little by little, with practice one can get to a marathon. I had never even tried, but while I was still on the fence about it, I somehow realized that it wouldn’t be as fulfilling as I was hoping.

“Where’s the meat?” A question I’m often asked by my relatives and Serbian friends when I make a vegan dish or tell them that I mostly eat a vegetarian diet. Some say it in a mocking sort of way, some question out of curiosity, while others express worry about my health (and I get the impression they’re concerned about my sanity too!).

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Пишем ово непосредно пред саму штампу пролећног броја САН-а. Догађаји се одвијају великом брзином, а светска ситуација и наш живот мењају се не само из дана у дан, већ готово из сата у сат. Човечанство не бележи ништа слично у новијој историји. Велики шамар! Мислили смо да смо модерни, напредни, јаки, а спознали смо за свега пар седмица да можемо бити чак и збрисани са ове планете и нестати у вечној бесконачности. Епидемија корона вируса је отворила очи човечанству 21. века, насмејала му се у лице и показала сву нашу немоћ.

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