When I was young, time was slow. I remember being so impatient and desperate for time to pass. I wanted to — if I only could’ve — step clear over days, weeks, years, but now, as a less-young man, I see the wizzing of time and I think, Hey! Slow down!
How has it been a year already?
This year has not ended at all how I’d have liked it to, but who would have figured we’d get a plague? We may be at home and bored, or working and anxious, we may be loving or hating this situation, but whatever the case, it’s not what any of us expected. Still, I am very proud of the work that The Ontarion has been able to accomplish both before and during the plague — work that you, dear reader, should take credit for.
Over the last year, we have seen wonderful support from readers, writers, artists, and community members. You all are the reason we do this work and the reason we are able to.
I want to thank everyone who contributed to the newspaper: all of our writers, columnists, and contributors; everyone who was patient with me when I was slow to respond to their emails; everyone who trusted me to help them edit their work. Each of you took a risk by sharing work — and believe me, I understand how hard that can be — but you were brave enough to be vulnerable and I am honoured to have been able to publish you.
I would also like to thank the team at The Ontarion: Larissa, Alex the photographer, Jessica, Prabhleen, Jacquie, Leah, Allan, Aaron, Lorrie, and Patrick. Each of them has done outstanding work, truly. You have all impressed me and I have learned so much from every one of you. I would have loved to have taken you all out for beers or soda pops… but unfortunately, you know, plague.
The Ontarion is and has always aimed to be a platform for new talent and new voices, so if you are reading this and you are uncertain about whether there is room for you and your voice, or perspective, or art on our inky pages, please understand that there is. We have tried our best to serve and support our communities, and as we go into the summer and an uncertain fall, we hope to see more new contributors and new talent, we hope to continue to push ourselves and grow, and we hope that you — all you who are interested — will get involved. There is plenty of room for you.
We will continue to publish content online through the summer and we will resume our print production schedule when we can (damn plague), but for now, if you want to get involved please let us know. Our summer editorial team is always ready to hear pitches and work with you to tell the stories you want to tell.
Which brings me to Ellyse.
It is my great pleasure to introduce the Editor-in-Chief for 2020–2021, Ellyse McGarr.
Ellyse is a journalist living in Guelph. She completed her BA at U of G, and afterwards, she spent a year teaching in South Korea where, she told me, her passions for exploration, the connections between people, and storytelling all took off. She recently graduated from the Contemporary Journalism program at Centennial College where she worked on some truly amazing projects, and we are very excited to have her taking up the editor’s red pen.
I have worked with Ellyse for the last few weeks, doing training and planning for the coming year, and in that time she has consistently proven herself to be sharp, critical, insightful and honest. She asks questions and listens patiently. She has a keen eye and she’s open to learning. While she may be coming into this role during a, well, plague-y time, I am not worried in the slightest.
I wish her and you all a very successful year, and I can’t wait to see what stories you come out with next!
Pitch your ideas to Ellyse at emcgarr@theontarion.com.
It’s been a pleasure!
With so much love,
Kevin Connery,
Editor-In-Chief
