Dear Sangita: My husband discovered I was having an affair, but since it happened he hasn’t mentioned it at all and is weirdly pretending like everything is the same. Every time I try to bring it up, even to apologize, he literally pretends he can’t hear me and walks away! We have to talk about it, and I know he’s probably hurt. How do I get him to open up?  — An affair not to remember? 

Dear Affair Not To Remember: Look inwards: what do you really want out of this conversation? It is his choice when and how to have this conversation, if at all — it’s the one bit of power he can claim, the one thing he can control. Unfortunately, it’s likely he’ll blow up one day if he doesn’t address it. I think you’re asking to talk about it for a reason: you want to get out of this relationship, and you want him to get mad, so that he makes the choice to break up with you. If you realized your mistake and wanted to repair the relationship, you would wait until he’s ready to talk about it. You could just walk away, but you don’t want that — you want to be able to blame him for something. You can tell yourself he didn’t pay attention to you, that you needed love, but an affair is an affair. It was your choice, and now it’s something you need to fix. 

Dear Sangita: My son has had a tough couple of months, including losing his job and struggling to get back on his feet. He’s been hinting — repeatedly — at moving back in with us. But I just cannot live with him again! I don’t want to become his caretaker again, cleaning up after him and cooking him meals. What do I do? — Growing pains

Dear Growing Pains: If your son really is down and out, I think you need to be there for him — in a different way than you have been in the past. Maybe it’s time to establish different scheduling rules and boundaries; maybe he’ll pay you rent while he stays with you. This could be an opportunity for him to grow. It’s tough out there right now for this generation. It sounds like he’s maybe a lazy kind of guy and one who took advantage of your support as a parent. This is your chance to evolve your relationship for the better.

Have a question about love, relationships or life for Sangita? Send it to [email protected] or submit it here.

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Dear Sangita: I snooped through my partner’s phone and I found something concerning. The question is: Do I go back into his phone to see if he’s still talking to people? Or do I admit to my boyfriend that I snooped and ask him straight out if he’s still using it? 

Dear Sangita: ​​I’m engaged to a married man. He was supposed to have mailed in the paperwork before he proposed to me, but I found out after that some documents were missing when he did. Was I wrong for calling off the wedding?

Dear Sangita: My New Year’s resolution is to break up with my awful boyfriend and start dating his best friend! His best friend is just a much better fit for me. Neither of us have acted on it, but I want to. How do I do this without breaking up their friendship?

We’re winding down the last weeks of summer and getting ready to welcome cooler autumn nights. Before the fall chill really sets in, there’s still time to enjoy a few festivals. Head to Toronto’s waterfront later this month for the new Water/Fall Festival and experience everything from public art installations (both on and off the water), harvest-themed food & drink markets, live music and dance performances, a sustainable makers market, and boat tours along the shoreline!

The free festival runs over two weekends (Sept 27-28 and Oct 4-5) along Queens Quay, from Bathurst Street to Bay Street, and is meant to be a celebration of creativity, culture and community for people of all ages.

Here’s what visitors can look forward to this year:

“A Lake Story” at Biidaasige Park and Sugar Beach

To kick off the inaugural festival, The Bentway presents “A Lake Story”, a bold public art performance featuring over 100 colourfully choreographed canoes being paddled across Toronto’s eastern waterfront. The two-hour performance will be visible from a range of waterfront locations, including Biidaasige Park and Sugar Beach, with 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. start times on Sept 27 and 28.

“Water Wonders” at Spadina Pier

Those strolling along the waterfront will be amazed by “Water Wonders“! The large floating art piece will feature local wildlife in vibrant colours from acclaimed 3D artist Melissa Mathieson. You’ll also learn cool facts about local wildlife and how to get involved in protecting their habitats through bright signage situated along the boardwalk (Sept 27-Oct 5).

Music Garden Concerts, Toronto Music Garden, 479 Queens Quay W

The waterfront’s Music Garden Concerts will be transformed through a series of free live music performances! Gather the fam and enjoy free daytime and evening performances enhanced by interactive lights that will turn the space into an immersive experience. Groove to acclaimed artists like Land of Talk (the event opener), Sean Jones, Begonia and Charlotte Cornfield. Performances are scheduled each day of the festival at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Street Eats Market Fall Harvest Market, HTO Park, 339 Queens Quay W

Enjoy festive food, drinks and fun at the Fall Harvest Market! Up to 40 food and drink vendors will celebrate the harvest season with culinary delights. Activities include fire pits with s’mores, a pumpkin patch, outdoor games, live DJs and more. Runs over both festival weekends: On Saturdays from noon until 10 p.m. and on Sundays from noon until 8 p.m.

During the second weekend of the festival (Oct 4-5), HTO Park will be home to “As the Flower Returns” by artist Natalie Laura King. This is a live chalk art project that visitors can help bring to life!

Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W

Throughout the festival, the waterfront’s culture epicentre will be a hub for music, dance, art and creativity. Browse through a large-scale outdoor public art exhibit hanging above Ontario Square at Harbourfront Centre! The “Copper Canopy” exhibit will focus on moments of stillness amongst the chaos of urban life, inviting visitors to stand beneath art that feels alive. The suspended grid of copper leaves reimagines the shelter of a forest canopy and responds to its surroundings, shifting with the light, winds and movement of people passing beneath (Sept 27-Nov 16).

In the Community Square at Harbourfront Centre, “Reset: Unplug. Play. Connect” is an engaging public art installation offering 30-minute immersive audio ‘playground’ experiences where participants move, listen and play together (runs daily from Sept 30-Oct 5).

Fan of the roaring twenties? Check out Gatsby Redux. This lively and interactive outdoor dance show brings The Great Gatsby and the ‘20s to life (Sept 27 and 28. Tickets are available online now).

Boat Tours at Pier 6, 145 Queens Quay W

Hop aboard Toronto Harbour Tours’ canal ship Miss Kim Simpson for a 90-minute guided Harbour and Skyline boat tour! You’ll learn fascinating stories behind the buildings and landscapes of Toronto’s Inner Harbour and discover the legacy behind the harbour’s industrial past and its transformation into places we live, work and play. Tickets are available online now. Tours take place at various times on Sept 27 and 28 and Oct 1, 4, and 5.

Sustainable Makers Market, Bathurst Quay, 585 Queens Quay W

Head to the Sustainable Makers Market for eco-friendly, one-of-a-kind finds! It’s set against the breathtaking waterfront views at Bathurst Quay and brings together artists, designers, and creative changemakers. Experience everything from natural pigment-making and circular fashion to plant swaps, art installations, and hands-on workshops. Sept 27 and 28, from noon until 5 p.m. each day.

Nuit Blanche: The Canada Malting Silos (9 Eireann Quay) and Union Station (65 Front St W)

During Nuit Blanche, check out the large-scale projection mapping installation by OOOPStudio (Italy)! It will project a dancer’s movements across the silos overnight on October 4 (from 7:30 p.m. until 7 a.m.)

Then head to Union Station. The historic transit hub will transform into Union Art Crawl: a late-night art and shopping pop-up featuring captivating art installations, DJ sets, live music, delicious food, extended retail hours and all-night giveaways! (Oct 4, 7 p.m. until midnight).

Pow Wow Dance Competition, Union Station, 65 Front St W

During the festival’s opening day, Tkaronto Open III is hosting a Pow Wow Dance Competition to celebrate Indigenous culture, beauty and resilience with performances from Indigenous dancers from across Turtle Island. The event is free and invites everyone to dance and celebrate Indigenous culture (Sept 27 from 1 p.m. until late afternoon).

Click here for the full Water/Fall Festival schedule and programming details. If you’re up for a road trip, check out these nine unique Ontario festivals this September.

Every Sept. 8, Trekkies around the world celebrate Star Trek Day, marking the 1966 premiere of the original series. And while the adventures of Kirk, Spock, Picard, and Burnham have spanned galaxies, Toronto has had a recurring role in the saga — from comic book cameos in the 1960s to modern-day sound stages.

Nathan Phillips Square Goes Intergalactic

When Toronto City Hall building opened in 1965, its space-age curves and saucer-like council chamber gave Toronto a futuristic new landmark. It didn’t take long for Star Trek creators to borrow it for alien worlds. In 1969, the building appeared in a Star Trek comic called The Ghost Planet where a ruined city still sported the unmistakable twin towers of Nathan Phillips Square. Twenty years later, City Hall surfaced again, this time on TV. In Star Trek: The Next Generation’s 1989 episode “Contagion,” the Enterprise crew discovered ancient Iconian portals — and one flashed a view of Toronto’s City Hall among its possible destinations.

Even beyond fiction, the city hall grounds has hosted the franchise: in 1991, George Takei, James Doohan, and Nichelle Nichols joined thousands of fans there to celebrate Star Trek’s 25th anniversary.

And, Toronto politics collaborating with Star Trek extends to people occupying said city hall, such as Mayor Olivia Chow, a trekkie who used to dress up in Star Trek garb with her late husband Jack Layton.

 

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A Hometown Connection: William Shatner

Toronto’s role in the Trek universe also comes through one of its most iconic actors. William Shatner, born and raised in Montreal, cut his acting teeth on Toronto stages in the 1950s. Long before he became Captain James T. Kirk, Shatner was honing his craft with the Stratford Festival and the Toronto theatre scene. His Toronto roots cement the city’s place in Trek lore.

Pinewood Toronto: The Star Trek Stage

Fast-forward to today, and Toronto isn’t just a backdrop — it’s the production home of the franchise. Since 2017, Star Trek: Discovery has been based at Pinewood Toronto Studios, where sprawling sound stages house everything from starship bridges to Federation headquarters. In 2024, one of the facilities at 225 Commissioners St. was officially renamed The Star Trek Stage to honour the city’s role in bringing modern Star Trek to life. It’s where new stories such as Star Trek: Section 31 are continuing the mission, building on a Toronto production community that includes art departments, wardrobe facilities, and workshops that could rival a Federation star base.

And, the latest instalment, Star Trek: Section 31, also featured another Toronto actor — Humberly Gonzalez.

Gonzalez says working on a Star Trek production is a right of passage for Toronto actors

“As a Canadian, it’s such a rite of passage to do Star Trek. We have Pinewood Studios, first of all. And within Pinewood Studios, we have the Star Trek stage. Everybody knows that it shoots there. So if you’re an actor or an upcoming actor in the city, you know about that and you want to be a part of it,” she says. “It’s really a showstopper, the sets, the costumes, the makeup, the prosthetics, the team, it’s such a family. It’s very niche.”

What’s Next

The Star Trek franchise celebrated Star Trek Day in style by announcing a milestone year as the franchise prepares to celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2026.

As well, there will be the premiere of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy on Paramount+, starring Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti, and the continuation of Strange New Worlds with future seasons already on deck.

It was already announced that Strange New Worlds would be filming its new season beginning later this month back on the Star Trek stage in Toronto.

Fans can also look forward to creative collaborations with LEGO, digital comics through WEBTOON, and the launch of Star Trek: Scouts, an animated YouTube series for preschoolers. Meanwhile, a scripted podcast, Star Trek: Khan, dives into the infamous villain’s backstory with Naveen Andrews in the lead role.

On this Star Trek Day, Torontonians can look up at City Hall or glance down at the waterfront studios and know: their city isn’t just part of Canada’s cultural fabric — it’s part of the final frontier.

Mae Martin seems to have done it all: stand-up comedy, a limited rom com-style series, an actual musical album, a podcast so popular it’s spawned live shows and, just last week, animal paintings in support of Doctors Without Borders that sold out in hours. But the Martin cinematic universe hasn’t crossed paths with the world of psychological thrillers — until now.

 After delighting viewers with their heartfelt, semi-autobiographical comedy Feel Good and standup special SAP, Toronto’s Martin is making a triumphant return to Netflix — but this time, with an uncharacteristically sinister psychological thriller delving into the twisted world of the troubled teen industry, titled Wayward. 

It may feel like a departure from Martin’s previous endeavours — usually self-deprecating (“My way of pointing outwards and commenting on the external world is to talk about how it affects me and to point a finger at myself and my moral failings and foibles.”); comedic, of course; and often with a hopeful bent — but they’re quick to note that Wayward, in some ways, comes from the same place as some of their other work.

“A lot of what I write is about an adult who is still processing their teens,” they say. “And I became really in interested in and fixated on the troubled teen industry after my friend came back from being away [at one of those institutions] for two years.”

To Martin, the psychological thriller element was a natural fit for the subject. “The whole concept is born from self-help cults of the 1970s and that very theatrical therapy. And the industry, at least when my friend and other friends I knew went, was just very unregulated and opaque.”

But this is Mae Martin’s show — horror or not, there’s still going to be some humour. “I feel like, if you take two teenage girl best friends, even if they were about to be executed by firing squad, they would still get the giggles.” 

Here, they pause, and deliver the one-two punch I’ve come to expect from Martin throughout our conversation: a joke, followed by something so incisive and heartfelt that you’re left reeling.

“That feeling of otherness and sense of nostalgia in my work comes from an increasing alienation from the world around us. The world that we live in doesn’t reflect our internal experience, which is that we all just want to love and be loved, and are generally nice people,” they say. “And then we live in this world where we’re inundated with such immense cruelty and darkness. I think that sense of confusion permeates a lot of my work. And maybe that’s the nostalgia for adolescence too, because when you’re a teenager, you have such a keen sense of injustice, and you’re like, how am I supposed to participate in this world?”

The show features a whole host of emerging local talent (Brandon Jay McLaren, Joshua Close, Sydney Topliffe and more), and stars Toni Collette as an unsurprisingly convincing cult leader-type, Sarah Gadon as Martin’s (who plays the police officer looking into the sinister happenings at the fictional Tall Pines Academy) pregnant wife and Patrick J. Adams as the principal perhaps knowingly funnelling troubled kids into the secretive academy. 

Before the limited series hits the small screen on Sept. 25, it’s coming to the biggest of big screens for its premiere: the Toronto International Film Festival. 

“I’m just honoured; it’s a dream come true,” Martin says of the premiere, which takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 9 and is followed by two additional screenings throughout the festival. 

It’s doubly fitting for Wayward — of which Martin is the creator, co-showrunner, executive producer and star — to have its premiere in Toronto. The comedian grew up here, getting their start at the Second City at just age 13 (and, they casually mention as an aside, babysitting for The Kids in the Hall alum Mark McKinney). But Wayward also filmed here, and Martin lights up talking about the experience.

“All the cliches are true about Canadian crews: they really just are so kind. But also, because I was thinking so much about my teens during filming it and adolescence and coming of age, to be filming on those streets where I ran around was pretty great.”

Nostalgia is a feeling that comes up a lot for Martin during our conversation, who says that they come back to their hometown of Toronto at least once a year. “I like to go by old apartments I lived in to get emo,” they joke, referencing Kensington Market, Mount Pleasant Cemetery and the Skyline Restaurant (“I like a diner!”) as other much-frequented stops when they’re back home.

Martin says there were some weird synchronicities while filming — like the sound team for the show recording at Martin’s former summer camp. “So the door of my character’s house, that creak, was the sound of the dining hall of my childhood summer camp!”

Ahead of Wayward’s Netflix release (Sept. 25), Martin says they hope this show “stays with you.”

“I hope it makes people think about their own teens and about what they would be willing to compromise in order to have acceptance or this sort of promise of utopia. Cults are always a useful metaphor for that,” they say. “I hope that it’s kind of like a weird parable, especially the last three episodes.”