Politician’s tale of son she gave up

Churley, right, with son Billy she gave up for adoption. Churely's daughter Astra.

Marilyn Churley relives son’s adoption in tell-all book
Former NDP pol helped create laws so it’s easier to reunite post adoption
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally published April 28/07 for Town Crier.)

In her first interview about her upcoming book, Marilyn Churley speaks about her personal journey of being a teen mother and re-uniting with the son she gave up for adoption in 1968.
The as-yet untitled book, which is scheduled to be released sometime this year by McClelland & Stewart, is a story about the former Toronto-Danforth MPP’s personal journey to find her son and about her political journey to make it easier for birth mothers and their adopted children to reconnect.
To understand Churley’s story, you have to journey back nearly 40 years. Churley, who was raised in Happy Valley, Labrador was attending university in Ottawa when she became pregnant at age 18.

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Using the city services you pay for

Many city services are free or subsidized by taxpayers’ dollars
Why not use the programs you pay to provide
By Kris Scheuer
(Column originally published March 19 for Town Crier.)

With the city poised to increase taxes and user fees in these tough economic times, why not take advantage of all the free and subsidized public programs you already pay for.
You can do more than borrow books and movies for free at Toronto’s 99 library branches.
There are free adult literacy programs at nine branches including the Don Mills Library where tutors will work one on one with people over 16 to improve basic reading, math and writing. Call 416-395-5555 for more info. 
Computer literacy is also important when so much information is accessible via the Internet these days. The Toronto Reference Library, just north of Yonge and Bloor Sts., is one of 14 locations that offer individual tutorials. Call 416-393-7209 for other locations.