#toronto articles

[queen-street-news]

New Post has been published on https://bloornews.com/blog-toronto/misunderstanding-caused-bc-company-to-say-health-canada-licensed-it-to-sell-cocaine-trudeau-says/

‘Misunderstanding’ Caused BC Company to Say Health Canada Licensed It to Sell Cocaine, Trudeau Says

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it was a “misunderstanding” that caused a British Columbia-based company to say Health Canada granted it permission to produce, sell, and distribute cocaine.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media in Ottawa on Feb. 12, 2023. (Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press)

Trudeau told reporters in Winnipeg on March 3 that he was “as surprised” as B.C. Premier David Eby when he heard that the company Adastra Holdings Ltd., which produces marijuana for adult use and medical sales out of its headquarters in Langley, B.C., announced on Feb. 22 that it was permitted by Health Canada to “legally possess, produce, sell and distribute” cocaine.

The company said in a news release that it had been granted a Health Canada amendment to its controlled substance dealer’s licence on Feb. 17.

Eby first responded to the company’s statement on March 2, saying he was “astonished” that Health Canada would grant the amendment and that his government would be contacting Health Canada for answers.

“I was as surprised as the premier of British Columbia was to see that company was talking about selling cocaine on the open market or commercializing it,” Trudeau said on March 3.

“There are limited and very restricted permissions for certain pharmaceutical companies to use that substance for research purposes and for very specific narrowly prescribed medical purposes, but it is not a permission to sell it commercially or provide it on an open market.”

The prime minister said his government is actively addressing the issue.

“We are working very quickly with this company to correct their misunderstanding that their press release has caused,” he said, adding that decriminalizing the commercial sale of cocaine “is not something that this government is looking at furthering.”

Decriminalization B.C. decriminalized possession of up to 2.5 grams of certain hard drugs, including cocaine, beginning on Jan. 31 following Health Canada’s approval of three-year experimental decriminalization exemption program back in May 2022.

Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett has said that B.C.’s decriminalization plan will reduce “the stigma, the fear, and shame that keep people who use drugs silent about their use, or using alone.”

In 2022, B.C. had an average of over six people dying from drug overdoses every day, and over 11,000 people in the province have died from illicit drug overdoses since the provincial government declared a public health emergency in 2016.

Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the decriminalization policy, saying the solution to the issue of addiction is “more treatment and recovery,” rather than “more poison.”

Both Trudeau and Justice Minister David Lametti have said Ottawa has no plans for a national drug decriminalization policy.

The Canadian Press and Marnie Cathcart contributed to this report.

(Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press) Peter Wilson

[reviewed-rated]

Alberta Pastor Found Not Guilty After Being Charged for Protesting Drag Queen Story Hour at Public Library

Alberta Pastor Found Not Guilty After Being Charged for Protesting Drag Queen Story Hour at Public Library In a significant legal case that has captured public attention, an Alberta pastor who was criminally charged for protesting a Drag Queen Story Hour at a public library has been found not guilty. The decision has sparked a wave of discussion surrounding freedom of speech, religious…

[thingsreadinthedark]

Morning reads: an intriguing piece from the Toronto Star News today detailing the Justice Minister recently cut in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet shuffle.

It sounds like he was making progress. However, it also sounds like there were too many issues regarding bail reform, amongst other things, that caused him to get dropped. 🤔

Always interesting to take a closer look at the people who make up the government’s cabinet of ministers and leaders.

[toronto-credit-card-processing]

320 Permit Parking spaces removed by Brad Bradford in the Beaches

Details of City Of Toronto Transportation Services Report This staff report is about a matter that Community Council has delegated authority from City Council to make a final decision. Transportation Services is reporting on the results of the permit parking poll undertaken on Pine Crescent, Glen Ames, Long Crescent, Glen Oak Drive, Balsam Road, Pine Glen Road and Glen Stewart Crescent. As…

[dontforgetukraine]

"It is our responsibility to categorically reject any attempts to excuse or rehabilitate the Russian war crimes being committed in Ukraine, and to ensure that the suffering of Russia’s victims is neither forgotten nor minimized — it’s the very least we can do for the tens of thousands of Ukrainians whose lives they stole and destroyed."

—Kate Tsurkan, Kyiv Independent Reporter

Source: Opinion: Russian soldiers in Ukraine are ‘ordinary guys’ who commit horrific war crimes

[nottodayjustin]

April 1st 2024 best hockey tweet(s) of the day

[wmnylander]

[3416]

dom from the athletic dropped a great article today on his assessment of the leafs play style and why it's resulting in loss after loss. asking your best offensive players to lean into their defensive roles more instead of letting them do what they do best obviously won't get you where you need to be, but it's 100% more a failure with the playoff mindset and coaching than with the individual player's abilities. it was an interesting read, and i agree with so much of it. responsibility really does fall to mitch and auston in so many ways bc they have both developed their offensive and defensive games, but leaning on playing safe just isn't working. run it back with a better dcore and let them be the harlem globetrotters they normally are PLEASE.

[grainelevator]

Beavers are a keystone species that can help control areas (like California) that are affected by droughts, wildfires and floods by creating wetlands

[annieqattheperipheral]

for reference here's michael nylander's hockeydb

for my willy babes💕 here u go:

- - - - - - -

STOCKHOLM — About 35 minutes outside Stockholm sits the place that always felt most like home for William Nylander.

It is the long-time offseason home of former NHLer Michael Nylander, and it’s where the Nylander family has been congregating every summer since William Nylander was a boy.

There’s the main house, the guest house and the barn where William practically lived from the time he was old enough to hold a hockey stick. It isn’t the kind of barn where you might house cows, horses and piles of hay. It’s nicer than that, William says. There are wooden floors and, as you might expect in a household of hockey players, two hockey nets.

William and his younger brother Alex would be holed up there for hours, day after day, every summer when they were kids.

Alex would play goalie and William would fire shots. Sticks would be thrown. Fights would ensue.

“But then after the fight, no matter what happened,” Alex said, “we would be best friends again.”

Then they might step and fire pucks on the shooting ramp Michael built in the yard by the soccer nets. After that, zip the 30 seconds it took to the nearby dock for a jump in the lake. Then, a visit to the sauna.

As boys, William and Alex would often make their way over to their father’s gym, where they would watch Dad go through his offseason workouts in preparation for another NHL season.

Then, the summer would come to an end and young William, and the rest of the family, would follow Dad back to North America. Somewhere in North America.

William Nylander’s life has been forever split between two worlds and two homes.

- - - - - - -

Almost every fall, it seemed, Dad’s NHL jersey changed.

Which meant a new city, new school, new friends, new home, new minor hockey team and new hockey heroes for William (outside of Dad, of course).

William Nylander was born in Calgary while his dad was playing for the Flames. Michael was traded there from Hartford. He spent parts of five seasons with the Flames before they dealt him to Tampa Bay. Michael played only 35 games for the Lightning before another deal sent him — and the family — to Chicago.

Trades weren’t talked about in the singular, but rather, the “we.” Michael Nylander wasn’t getting traded. The Nylanders were.

William was just starting the first grade when the Blackhawks traded his dad yet again, after only nine games in the fall of 2002, to Washington. The Capitals flipped Michael to Boston not long before the 2004 trade deadline.

Michael signed with the New York Rangers not long before the 2004-05 lockout. After two seasons there, the family trekked back to Washington, where Michael signed as a free agent.

Over 17 years, Michael Nylander played for seven teams – none lasting longer than a 239-game run with the Blackhawks. He also suited up in Sweden, Switzerland, Russia and Finland, as well as minor league outposts in Rochester and Grand Rapids.

“Moving around – it’s been like that since I was born,” William said. “It’s just the way it was. And actually, every time we moved somewhere, we thought it was fun.”

Moving came to feel normal. The first week at a new school was nerve-wracking, but also familiar. So was making new friends in Chicago, Washington, and New York, the three spots that occupied most of William’s childhood.

It helped that William and Alex always had each other, along with four sisters. Alex was born in Calgary two years after William. They did everything together.

“Willy and Alex, they’re like stuck,” said Rasmus Sandin, the former Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman and a close friend of the Nylander family. “They’re together all the time.”

Alex says William is a little quieter than he is, a little less goofy, and more similar to their dad.

Thommy Nylander, Michael’s younger brother and William’s uncle, thinks William inherited his father’s mentality, among other things. Thommy trains William every summer (he’s also a chiropractor and often treats William) and said his thoroughness in preparation is very much like Michael’s.

“He’s so warm and a nice guy, but when you get to the gym, he’s very serious about working,” Thommy said. “He’s probably the best player, but he’s still doing the hours and he’s serious. He doesn’t want to waste time.”

Anders Sorensen, who coached William when he was a kid in Chicago, saw him do things that seemed beyond the comprehension for someone his age. Like the time William dropped the puck behind his own net and took off.

“What are you doing?” Sorensen asked.

“Well, we’re breaking out!” Nylander responded. “It’s a power play!”

He was unmistakably the son of an NHLer.

Michael would bring William and Alex around to the rink often. They thought it was the coolest thing imaginable, being there with Dad where actual NHL hockey was being played.

William would hop onto the ice with Alex and shoot pucks before practice. Then he would retreat, on Dad’s orders, to the ping-pong lounge. From there, they would amble over to the dressing room and inspect the sticks of their father’s teammates – stars like Tony Amonte and Doug Gilmour in Chicago or Jaromir Jagr and Peter Bondra in Washington.

When Michael played for the Rangers, the Nylanders lived for a time in Greenwich Village — about a half-hour’s walk from Madison Square Garden. William’s mother, Camilla, would walk the kids around midtown Manhattan before Michael’s games and then walk up the stairs into the arena.

The “green room” at MSG was particularly special.

“I guess it’s called a family room,” William said. “But me and my brother called it the green room. ‘We’re going to the green room!’ Go smash a Coke every period and watch the game.”

In the green room, they could sip as much Coca-Cola as they wanted.

“It’s like ‘Mom, can I have a Coke?’ ‘No. Today’s not Saturday.’ There you don’t even have to ask mom,” William said.

Their mini sticks were with them always. William and Alex didn’t need much to create a playing ground. A doorway for a goal was all it took.

That’s what made their house in Washington so thrilling: It had a big basement that was perfect for hockey. And because their dad just happened to play in the NHL, those games grew to include actual NHL players.

Fellow Swede Nicklas Backstrom visited the Nylander home for dinner frequently. Backstrom says he felt like another one of Michael’s kids. For William and Alex, Backstrom was their dad’s work colleague and also an honourary sibling.

At one Thanksgiving dinner, the Nylanders — with chef Michael doing the cooking — hosted Backstrom and his even starrier Capitals teammate, Alex Ovechkin.

Life amongst the stars was just part of the deal for William growing up. There was that one time he looked up in the elevator at MSG and saw Mario Lemieux standing across from him.

- - - - - - -

Michael taught William the game. At first, he just let William and Alex play for fun. But as they grew older and more serious about the sport, he would instruct them on how to shoot, how to skate, how to do everything on the ice. They would watch, take notes and try to do it all the same.

“Growing up, we would follow him around and stuff, but it wasn’t like he was pushing us or anything,” William said. “But once we decided that we wanted to play, he helped us out a lot and pushed us in the right way.”

Dan Houck, who coached William when he lived in Washington, saw the same thing in him that he did with all the sons of the Capitals he coached. They all seemed to come fully stocked with a certain hockey intelligence.

William saw the ice just like his dad, Thommy Nylander says.

“William was front-row to some of the most dynamic offensive talents in the NHL,” Houck said. “I think that was formidable for him in his development as a player.”

Backstrom remembers watching William and Alex both play for a local youth team. “I knew they were special players, for sure,” he said. “They were dominant.”

“I always looked up to my dad and wanted to be like my dad,” William said.

But William never played much like his dad. Michael was a pure setup man. He didn’t have William’s power as a skater or shooter.

Sorensen wonders if William, raised on all those North American rinks, had more of a shooter’s mentality than his dad, who came up in Europe, where most players think pass first.

Sorensen coached William and his dad together for Södertälje in the Swedish Hockey League when William was 16 and Michael was almost 40. They would all chuckle at signs in the rink that said explicitly: “No parents allowed on the bench.”

Not only were they on the same bench, but often the same line, with William at right wing and Michael in the middle. During one game, William pleaded with his dad: “Pass me the puck instead of hanging onto it!”

Michael wasn’t an overbearing hockey dad. He even pushed his boys to explore other sports. He did like to ask lots of questions though.

“I call him ‘Wallander’ sometimes,” Sorensen said, referring to the fictional Swedish detective, “He’s always like, ‘Why is that? What do you think about that? Why did you do it this way? Why did you do it that way?’ He’s a smart man. He’s a very smart man. He cares for his family, he cares for people around him so I’ve always got along with him great.”

As Sorensen noted, it was usually Camilla who handled a large chunk of the duties when it came to getting William to the rink.

- - - - - - -

Even as a youngster, the skill always popped with William.

Houck remembers the first time he faced William, when he was 10 and playing for the Greenwich Jr. Blues. Houck’s squad was a year older, but they still trailed by a goal late and pulled their goalie. The puck popped up and hit the stick of the “wrong” player — William Nylander. He calmly shot it down the ice into the empty net.

“Not many kids at age 10 would have the wherewithal [to do that],” Houck says. “If you miss that and it’s an icing, then the puck’s pinned in your end again.”

Sorensen remembers a select tournament in Toronto when William faced off against future NHLers like Connor McDavid, Josh Ho-Sang and Robby Fabbri. Someone came up to Sorensen and said: “This Nylander kid, he’s right up there with all those other guys.”

Michael was a little surprised when he heard about it: “They really think he’s that good?”

Houck’s primary objective when he coached Nylander was to ensure he didn’t stifle that skill. He wanted to let those gifts shine as brightly as possible, especially in key spots with the game on the line.

What sticks out most in Houck’s memory of William is how he loved the game. This wasn’t a kid who played because of his dad. It was the opposite with William, who would even sneak onto the ice with Alex’s team whenever he could.

“We always just loved hockey from the first time we ever played it,” Alex said.

- - - - - - -

William still retreats to Sweden every offseason.

“Mostly what you miss about Sweden is the family,” he said.

The Nylanders are an especially tight bunch. Michael is one of seven siblings himself. It’s not uncommon for the Nylanders to make their way to Toronto. Thommy and his older brother, Peter, came to watch in April.

In his early years with the Leafs, William was announced at home games as hailing from Calgary. That changed a couple of seasons ago. Now, when he’s introduced, it’s “from Stockholm, Sweden.”

Stockholm became home on a more permanent basis at 14 when Michael’s NHL days came to an end and when William, with Canadian and Swedish citizenship, had to decide where he would play his hockey internationally. He and Alex both opted for Sweden. That’s when he and Alex could begin to enjoy the outdoor rinks in and around Stockholm and “play and play and play and never go home” as Alex remembered it.

For a long time, William stayed with his parents when he returned to Sweden in the summer. He’s since bought an apartment in Stockholm and invited Alex to live with him in the offseason. They take William’s two dogs for walks down by the water. They hit Ciccios for dinner or Brasserie Astoria next door, or Restaurant AG for a quality steak.

William will golf five days a week with Sandin during the offseason, forever finding space for a daily nap. William and Alex might have friends over and still William will dip out for his daily nap. “We both nap a lot,” Alex said, “but you’ll never see somebody who naps more than my brother. He’ll nap 365 days of the year.”

William is still trained at home by his dad through his Playmaker92 agency.

William and Alex will usually hit the gym around 8 a.m. By 10, it’s over to the ice with a much larger group that includes Sandin and his brother, Linus, for on-ice sessions lasting an hour and a half led by Michael.

Few, if any, NHL players are trained by their former NHL-playing fathers. Michael is known to be a master of the details, creating the kind of skill drills that only a former player of his calibre could.

Another bonus of returning home to Sweden for William is the chance to eat his dad’s cooking.

Michael has been something of a foodie dating back to his playing days. He prepares “gourmet” meals with a starter, main, and dessert. (Unprompted, Backstrom mentioned Michael’s excellent food.)

Sandin remembers a particularly delicious potato pancake and says the experience of eating a Michael Nylander meal is ��like you’re going to a Michelin-star restaurant.”

That’s the thing about Sweden for William. It’s home. It’s family. It’s the place he could, and can still, always come back to. It’s the place where he’s able to find some distance from his hockey-playing life.

The days of hopscotching around North America have long been over. William has played the entirety of his career with the Leafs. Toronto has become his adopted second home. He rides the TTC to most home games these days.

He feels settled in Toronto, though, he adds with a big laugh, “With every year having a trade rumor.”

Two worlds. Two homes. Forever the life of William Nylander.

It’s how he was made.

[tiger-balm]

new minty article in the athletic

[queen-street-news]

New Post has been published on https://bloornews.com/blog-toronto/jordan-peterson-shows-bill-maher-why-justin-trudeau-is-bad/

Jordan Peterson shows Bill Maher why Justin Trudeau is BAD

[muirneach]

actually im pro toronto sceptres because now we can make art replacing their sticks with sceptres. and that is a slay

[toronto-credit-card-processing]

Mayoral Hopeful Brad Bradford Robs Beach Residents of Parking on Pine Crescent

Authorize the removal of the overnight on-street permit parking program on Pine Crescent, between Balsam Avenue and Glen Manor Road East Authorize the removal of the overnight on-street permit parking program on Pine Glen Road, between Glen Manor Drive East and Pine Crescent City Of Toronto Report Other Media Other Sites Other Sites TV Mayoral Hopeful Brad Bradford Robs Beach Residents of…

[dontforgetukraine]

TIFF: And so it continues...

Update to Russians at War Screenings Effectively immediately, TIFF is forced to pause the upcoming screenings of Russians at War on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as we have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety. While we stand firm on our statement shared yesterday, this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers. This is an unprecedented move for TIFF. As a cultural institution, we support civil discourse about and through films, including differences of opinion, and we fully support peaceful assembly. However, we have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned. This has been an incredibly difficult decision. When we select films, we’re guided by TIFF’s Mission, our Values, and our programming principles. We believe this film has earned a place in our Festival’s lineup, and we are committed to screening it when it is safe to do so. Effectively immediately, TIFF is forced to pause the upcoming screenings of Russians at War on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday as we have been made aware of significant threats to festival operations and public safety. While we stand firm on our statement shared yesterday, this decision has been made in order to ensure the safety of all festival guests, staff, and volunteers. This is an unprecedented move for TIFF. As a cultural institution, we support civil discourse about and through films, including differences of opinion, and we fully support peaceful assembly. However, we have received reports indicating potential activity in the coming days that pose significant risk; given the severity of these concerns, we cannot proceed as planned. This has been an incredibly difficult decision. When we select films, we’re guided by TIFF’s Mission, our Values, and our programming principles. We believe this film has earned a place in our Festival’s lineup, and we are committed to screening it when it is safe to do so.

While it's great this propaganda film was suspended (not cancelled), TIFF still double downed on their original stance.

What's not great is TIFF's insinuation that the supposed threats they received came from protesters and groups from the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Toronto police had this to say:

Toronto police said TIFF's decision to pause the screenings was "made independently by the event organizers and was not based on any recommendation" from police. "We were aware of the potential for protests and had planned to have officers present to ensure public safety," a police spokesperson wrote in an email. (Source)

So, it smells strongly like TIFF lied about the threats. If there were threats, they should have been reported, and when asked about it the police would hopefully be transparent enough to say they gave the recommendation.

Then there's this. My guess is they can't secure the theater from any sort of disruption, and they see protesting as a threat.

Protest outside media screening Large crowds gathered outside a Tuesday screening for media and industry members to take part in a protest organized by Ukrainian community groups and attended by officials, including Ukrainian Consul General Oleh Nikolenko. Demonstrators handed out pamphlets that criticized the film's attempts to "'humanize' the military of the aggressor country."  TIFF staff did not allow attendees to carry those pamphlets inside, though during the screening at least one woman handed them out to audience members in the theatre. Midway through the film, a man forced his way inside, shouting "You're watching a f--king propaganda film" before he was escorted out by security. (Source)

Meanwhile a statement from the producers of "Russian's at War" was released.

TIFF's decision to pause its screenings of "Russians at War" due to extreme security concerns is heartbreaking for us as filmmakers and Canadian Citizens. Our priority as producers, through this production, has been the safety and security of our courageous director, Anastasia Trofimova, despite her steadfast acceptance of these risks to make her documentary. We had assumed those risks would originate within Russia, not Canada. This is not a win for Canadians, including Ukrainian-Canadians. We condemn Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, Ukraine Ambassador to Canada Yuliya Kovaliv, Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto Oleh Nikolenko, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Senators Donna Dasko and Stanley Kutcher, MP Yvan Baker (Etobicoke Centre) MPP Christine Hogarth (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) and other political and community "leaders." Their irresponsible, dishonest, and inflammatory public statements have incited the violent hate that has led to TIFF's painful decision to pause its presentation of "Russians at War". This temporary suppression is shockingly unCanadian. We call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fully investigate this affront, from within a sovereign government, to our democratic values and a free media. We are firmly commited to giving Canada the opportunity to watch and reflect upon "Russians at War". We believe reason and truth will prevail. —The producers of "Russians at War" (Source)

Zero self-reflection, as expected.

I find it disgusting when they say "We had assumed those risks would originate within Russia, not Canada" as if what the FSB would do is equivalent to whatever could happen to them in Canada.... As if they'll be treated like how Russia treats Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, POWs, journalists, political opponents, etc... :)

"Their irresponsible, dishonest, and inflammatory public statements have incited the violent hate..."

Outrage from a people that have currently and historically been victims of Russian propaganda, aggression, racism, and imperialism is not violent hate. People pointing out the propaganda is not hate. The protests at TIFF are not hate. I don't know where the other producers are from, but they sure do play the Russian victim frame of mind well.

Also, the Ukrainian community leaders are not being dishonest, irresponsible, hateful, or inflammatory.

THE PROPAGANDA IS IN YOUR TRAILER.

The people in the film have been MARINATING in it for their ENTIRE LIVES.

---

Even though the film has been suspended, the planned protest for the first public screening will still go on. Rightly so.

UCC Toronto: On Friday, Sept 13 we will meet in front of Scotiabank Theatre at 1:30pm for a peaceful protest against TIFF's decision to screen "Russians at War". This is the first public screening of the film and the director and some of the team will be present.

But some damage has already been done.

Headline of an article by Marsha Lederman reads: "Russians at War is an exceptional documentary and needs to be seen"

I will make a separate post about this article here. I started reading it and there is a line that made me gasp and almost fall over.

To be continued...

---

Please excuse the transcription of the images. I know they make the post longer, but I'm too aware of images on tumblr not loading. :/ Also, screen readers.

[natlacentral]

'I've got to pinch myself': Paul Sun-Hyung Lee on playing Iroh in 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'

Presumably the people outside a local car dealership a couple of years ago who heard Paul Sun-Hyung Lee let out a “huge whoop” during a phone call with his agent didn't fully grasp the significance of that celebratory sound.

The Toronto actor beloved as the internet’s “Appa” thanks to “Kim’s Convenience” and a popular part of the “Star Wars” universe, too, was about to become the internet’s favourite uncle.

Lee had landed the role of Uncle Iroh in “Avatar: the Last Airbender,” Netflix’s much anticipated live-action reimagining of a well loved animated series (not to be confused with James Cameron’s “Avatar” films).

“Honestly, I have moments where I think I’ve got to pinch myself because, even as a youngster, I never would have believed that I could be a part of these things, because I never saw anybody who looked like me reflected in any of these shows,” the Korean Canadian actor said, reflecting on his roles in “Airbender” and the “Star Wars” spinoffs “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka,” in which he plays the popular Captain Carson Teva.

As Iroh in “Airbender,” Lee has stepped into the robes of another fan favourite character.

First, a bit of a primer: “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” which debuts Thursday, is about a 12-year-old boy, the “Avatar” of the title, on a quest to save the world from the rapacious Fire Nation, which has gone to war with the Earth, Water and Air peoples. Despite his youth, Avatar Aang (played by Vancouver actor Gordon Cormier) is a powerful “bender,” honing his ability to manipulate air, water, earth and fire.

Aang and his friends — Katara, a water bender (played by Indigenous Canadian Kiawentiio), and her brother, Sokka (American actor Ian Ousley) — are being hunted by fire bender Prince Zuko (American Dallas Liu), who’s accompanied by his wise and compassionate Uncle Iroh, himself a fire bender and a former Fire Nation general.

If that all sounds kind of geeky, well, that’s right up Lee’s alley.

The 51-year-old has well-established nerd bona fides as a fan of “Star Wars” and other science fiction (he shares his love of the genre on his Bitterasiandude Inc. YouTube channel). He caught up with the original “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (which aired on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008, then moved to Netflix) while he was still working on the CBC comedy “Kim’s Convenience” (2016-21), in which he played a South Korean immigrant who runs a convenience store in Toronto. 

In 2018, as new fans were discovering “Kim’s” worldwide after the series moved to Netflix, the streaming giant announced its remake of “Airbender,” setting in motion Lee's ascent into another dream role. 

“Almost immediately I got fan casted (as Iroh) by all these people on the internet,” Lee said in a Zoom interview. “I was very, very flattered, but I was doing ‘Kim’s.’”

A few years later, though, “Kim’s” had ended and Lee got an audition for what was billed as a basketball movie called “Blue Dawn,” as a coach who had come out of retirement to guide his nephew.

Although he’s “more of a baseball, hockey guy,” Lee taped the audition and then forgot about it, until a callback a couple of months later. Except now, the retired basketball coach Howard was named Iroh.

“There’s only one Iroh that I know of,” said Lee. “And so I remember thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is for “Avatar”’ … right away I got super nervous. The stakes went up and I really wanted this part.”

But, after doing a chemistry read with Liu and not hearing anything for a couple of weeks, Lee assumed he had missed out on the role, which is part of the lot of an actor … until his agent called just as Lee and his wife were about to sign a lease on a new vehicle.

“So I excused myself, leaving the salesman completely befuddled. I went outside and that’s when I learned that I landed the role. And immediately let out this huge whoop. I had forgotten that I was in a public area and there were lots of people outside, and they all suddenly looked at me and I said, ‘It’s OK. It’s good news. It’s great news.’”

There was one more hurdle to overcome, though. 

“Airbender,” which shoots in Vancouver, overlapped Lee’s schedule for “The Mandalorian,” which films in Los Angeles. And playing Iroh meant shaving off the middle part of the moustache that Lee sports as Captain Teva.

“Luckily I was able to have my cake and eat it at the same time,” said Lee. “Lucasfilm was like, ‘Oh, we’ll just build him a little fake moustache to put on while he’s shooting (“The Mandalorian”).’”

Lee isn’t certain how familiar the producers of “Airbender” were with his work on “Kim’s Convenience” — it's an established fact that “Mandalorian” producer and director Dave Filoni was a “Kim’s” fan before he cast Lee — but he considers his latest job to be another of the many blessings accruing from the CBC series.

“‘Kim’s Convenience’ was such a wonderful launching pad for my career,” Lee said. “I mean, that show was kind of my coming out party in terms of the film and TV world.”

Lee, who was born in South Korea but immigrated to Canada with his parents when still an infant, struggled to find good film and TV roles as a young actor in the 1990s and early aughts. 

After graduating from drama school at the University of Toronto, he did a lot of theatre work, but onscreen “I played a lot of doctors, a lot of store clerks, a lot of window dressing-type caricatures, not characters.”

And yet, he persisted. 

Despite not seeing himself reflected in the television he devoured as a kid and from which he developed his love of storytelling, “I thought, well, heck, if there’s nobody (else Asian) out there, maybe there’s a shot for me to get in … that was kind of foolish thinking because maybe you’re the only one because a lot of people have tried and haven’t been able to get through. But I was just too stupid and too stubborn to quit, so just kept at it.”

Now Lee hopes to provide inspiration for the young Asian actors coming up behind him.

On the set of “Airbender,” which has many Asian actors in its cast, Lee became particularly close with Liu, the 22-year-old Chinese-Indonesian-American actor playing his beloved nephew. Just as Iroh is protective of Zuko, for whom he becomes a surrogate father, Lee said he wanted to nurture Liu.

“Every chance that I got to just sort of give him little pearls of wisdom based on my experiences … I couldn’t help but want to see him succeed,” Lee said. “This kid is a superstar,” he added.

Now that Lee himself is part of two much-loved pop culture franchises, “my cup runneth over,” but he still has entries on his acting bucket list.

“Not to sound greedy, but I’d love to do ‘Star Trek’ because that's filming right in our backyard. I’d love to do a ‘Ghostbusters.’ All those geeky playgrounds I never got a chance to play in. I want to be in a rom-com. I want to be in a Western, the genres that I grew up watching …

“But I’ll take it as it comes and I’m grateful for what I have. And if this is the only thing I ever do again I will be thankful for it because a lot of people don’t get these opportunities.”