Britain’s Daily Mail reported this week of Stephen Hawking’s complaint and decision to leave Cambridge University after 50 years and immigrate to Ontario, Canada. As reported in this paper, Hawking’s dissatisfaction comes from the government budget cuts towards research centers of the university.

A spokesperson of Hawking immediately stated that this is only a short trip to Ontario for the Summer time. So it turns out that it was only a rumor started by the report. The point is that it shows Ontario would be an ideal place for even this great scientist should he want to say goodbye to Cambridge for good.

And now on to events in our own city of Toronto. By the invite of the Iranian Student Association at the University of Toronto, Dr. Hamid Dabashi, professor at Columbia University will be giving a talk on Friday March the 12th. It will take place at the University of Toronto and it will cover topics such as the recent Green Movement in Iran and what the future holds in this regard.

Though there are no direct relations between this event and the rumor about Dr. Hawking, we can still conclude that Ontario is a place with true potential that is taken seriously by all citizens of the world.

Another event to unfold in Toronto is a new art exhibition to present paintings, photography, music and other display art. It has been organized by a team of more than 30 Iranian artists in Toronto.

Iranian numbers haven’t reached 150,000 in Ontario yet, but we still witness a tremendous increase in the number of organized events, shows, concerts and nights of music and poetry compared to just a few years ago. We certainly hope to see even more increase in the numbers of such events. But more importantly, we hope to see a significant improvement in the quality of these events.

It’s worth mentioning that many Iranian artists think too highly of themselves simply because they have completed some projects in the community. This is a flawed narcissistic perspective that has embed itself in the minds of some of our community members. We should more often compare our works to the world class shows and events that take place in Toronto and Ontario on a daily basis and in doing that we can ensure the improvement in the quality of our projects.

Ontario is yours to discover!