All I'm hearing are cutbacks from what was originally promised, classic bait and switch. No volleyball court, reduced school facilities, etc. If you count hot air from KESKUS, the facility has expanded 10 fold though.

Mina väga kiidan Trudeau. On väga tubli PM olnud ja tõenäoliselt jääbki ametisse. Pole mingit põhjust teda asendada ja kui oleks, kes tema aseks tuleks, Polievre?? See oleks nali.

There they go again…the Friends spreading gossip, rumour, and misinformation. Time for a new playbook guys. As for the majority of us toronto estos, fantastic news on the grant. Deeply grateful to the KESKUS leadership team for all their hard work and committment. The vast majority of us are with you!

This Keskus project is not a sustainability plan for the Toronto Estonian community but instead for the Northern Birch Credit Union. The Credit Union has now been able to move from a low traffic residual area to a high traffic main street address in Toronto. Even the old Estonian House management is not running this Keskus project. It is the Credit Union running the affairs. Rumour has it that the Keskus project does not even have a building permit in place since the TTC has not given the green light to build upon their tunnels yet. Funny how transparency has been discarded in this "Oh so popular project."

Happy to cheer for keskus, thank you very much. Donated as well. Hope you did too. There is a beautiful new era beginning for all Estonians of the diaspora. Thank you for your participation.

Ok so lets review: keskus will have a cafe, art gallery, place for folks to congregate. Only thing youre really losing is a shooting gallery. And if you really want that just head into Greektown at 3am.

I don't think anyone wants it to fail, some are just upset that we didn't keep the Esto House where it was.

That said, there is something disturbing about the Toronto Esto society which makes me envy those in New York and Chicago - there is something about the way we do things here that it very off-putting to people that move here from Estonia to the point where there are are huge number of such Estos here who want nothing to do with our organizations, and the only Estos they hang out with are others that have moved here from Estonia. The opposite is true in New York and Chicago where newcomers are welcomed, integrated, happy to be involved and making massive contributions.

This makes me sad. Less and less Estonian is being spoken in the Toronto Estonian community as time goes by while this tremendous resource of people from Estonia is being wasted. Why are things so different in New York and Chicago? That's a rhetorical question food for thought for anyone that cares.

The reason estos from Estonia are turned off by Canadian estos comes down to how they are received. There is a high degree of arrogance among Canadian estos. I myself have heard many claim there would not be an Eesti if it wasn’t for them (ironic considering these words are spoken predominantly by those who do t even know Estonian themselves). They regard themselves as more Estonian that the actual people born and raised in VABA EESTI and have come here. Simple as that. In the US communities kodueestlased are welcomed as a connection to the Isamaa. They are encouraged to help up learn more. To help us connect. This is why the communities in Washington, New York, LA, and Chicago are thriving. Newcomers are treated as valued additions to the community, rather than as a lesser form of Estonian.

Diplomaat, I agree 100% and you said it perfectly! Especially your last sentence - Newcomers are treated as valued additions to the community, rather than as a lesser form of Estonian.

That's exactly the way it is. I've for example heard one leading figure in our community say that the stronger ones escaped from Eesti and the weaker ones stayed behind (just one example, there are many others). Embarrassing and shameful, what a waste.