It's five years ago this December (2005) since we shot Salvation in Toronto. Since then I've moved here from St. John's, and it was more than a little strange to find myself living in Cabbagetown, just a few blocks away from where we shot the film, in the city's hard- knocks central. Driving about in the steadily falling snow yesterday stirred up thoughts and feelings about the characters I met then, people with less than nothing to brighten their lives in a dazzlingly rich city.

 

Living in the economically and ethnically diverse east end of Toronto brings daily contact with people on the street and in a way, now that I'm actually living in the big city, it's even more of a challenge to find compassion for people living on the margins of society. You can get fed up and annoyed with the constant request for spare change.

 

Sometimes you want to shout 'Smarten up! Pull yourself together! Get a job! I work hard for my money! Find another corner and stop bugging me!' But this is the point that Dion Oxford at the Gateway Shelter stressed time and again - many of the poorest and most marginal of our fellow human beings are often the hardest to love and to care for. If they were charming and self-sufficient individuals with healthy minds and bodies, well they'd be out shopping with the rest of us, returning to their cozy flats to decorate the Christmas tree and busily planning a smart little supper-party for the weekend.

 

Last Christmas, sadly burdened with shopping bags and waiting at the light at the corner of Yonge and Bay, I was shocked by the sight of an old man in rags lying on the street, his face literally blue. For a moment I was angry, not at society, but at him! For God's sake why doesn't he go to a shelter instead of assaulting my emotions with his desperate plight? I walked on by, like everyone else, and then came to my senses. I took 20 dollars out of my pocket - hardly a lot considering my shopping bags and the fact I had just spent a ridiculous amount of money on lunch. I went back and gave him the money but insisted he go to a shelter before he froze to death. He staggered up from the ground, absolutely stunned - both by the 20 dollar bill and the fact that I was speaking to him. God knows what happened to him, but maybe if I hadn't made Salvation and listened to the workers describe why they dedicate their lives to helping people unable to help themselves, maybe I would have just kept walking. So that's reason enough for me for the film.

 

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