Toronto Clarion
Index Page

The Toronto Clarion was an alternative newspaper published in Toronto from 1976 to 1985. The group of people who founded the paper originally constituted themselves as Western Gap Communications Cooperative Ltd. (named after the gap between Toronto Island and the mainland which lay at the foot of Bathurst Street, a few blocks from the Clarion’s office). Later the business name was changed to Toronto Clarion Publishing Ltd.

A tabloid-sized newspaper, The Clarion orginally published every two weeks; from 1980 on it came out once a month. Billing itself as an independent progressive paper, the Clarion announced when it launched that it would “give an insight into news the three major dailies in the city either gloss over, distort or completely ignore”.

Feature articles ranged from social topics such as local feminist activities, rent control, city planning, and food cooperatives, to issues such as unionization, boycotts, and censorship. Entertainment items such as restaurant and music reviews also appeared regularly.

The Clarion was sold for 10 cents initially, and distributed primarily through its street newspaper boxes. It was supported by Clarion Typesetting, subscribers, donors, fundraising events, and advertising. Important decisions were made by a majority vote of the members of the cooperative.

Writers, editors, cartoonists, typesetters and photographers who worked for the Toronto Clarion include:
Gene Allen, Marilyn Burnett, Buzz Burza, Tom Corbett, Ulli Diemer, Gerry Dunn, Diana Fancher, Elaine Farragher, Francis Fuca, Ann Hanson, Carolyn Kendrick, David Kidd, Tom McLaughlin, Alan Meisner, Fred Mooney, Marg Anne Morrison, Norman Rogers, Oscar Rogers, Virginia Smith, Carl Stieren, Rhonda Sussman, Sue Vohanka, Tom Walkom, Paul Weinberg, Ted Whittaker, Ken Wyman.

The Connexions Archive has 104 individual copies of the Clarion, which have all been scanned and can be accessed as PDFs (see below). We would welcome donations of missing issues to complete the collection. Contact us here


Related reading:
The Clarion: Toronto’s new community paper
Toronto Clarion Wikipedia article



Date Volume No. PDF
October 15, 1976 Volume 1, Number 1 PDF
November 1, 1976 Volume 1, Number 2 PDF
November 15, 1976 Volume 1, Number 3 PDF
November 29, 1976 Volume 1, Number 4 PDF
December 13, 1976 Volume 1, Number 5 PDF
January 10, 1977 Volume 1, Number 6 PDF
January 25, 1977 Volume 1, Number 7 PDF
February 9, 1977 Volume 1, Number 8 PDF
February 23, 1977 Volume 1, Number 9 PDF
March 9, 1977 Volume 1, Number 10 PDF
March 23, 1977 Volume 1, Number 11 PDF
June 1, 1977 Volume 1, Number 12 PDF
June 22, 1977 Volume 1, Number 13 PDF
July 27, 1977 Volume 1, Number 14 PDF
August 24, 1977 Volume 1, Number 15 PDF
October 26, 1977 Volume 2, Number 1 PDF
November 23, 1977 Volume 2, Number 2 PDF
December 7, 1977 Volume 2, Number 3 PDF
December 21, 1977 Volume 2, Number 4 PDF
January 4, 1977 Volume 2, Number 5 PDF
February 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 6 PDF
March 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 7 PDF
April 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 8 PDF
May 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 9 PDF
June 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 10 PDF
August 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 11 PDF
September 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 12 PDF
October 1, 1978 Volume 2, Number 13 PDF
November 1, 1978 Volume 3, Number 1 PDF
December 1, 1978 Volume 3, Number 2 PDF
February 1, 1979 Volume 3, Number 3 PDF
February 15, 1979 Volume 3, Number 4 PDF
March 7, 1979 Volume 3, Number 5 PDF
March 21, 1979 Volume 3, Number 6 PDF
April 4, 1979 Volume 3, Number 7 PDF
April 18, 1979 Volume 3, Number 8 PDF
May 2, 1979 Volume 3, Number 9 PDF
May 16, 1979 Volume 3, Number 10 PDF
May 30, 1979 Volume 3, Number 11 PDF
June 13, 1979 Volume 3, Number 12 PDF
June 27, 1979 Volume 3, Number 13 PDF
July 11, 1979 Volume 3, Number 14 PDF
July 25, 1979 Volume 3, Number 15 PDF
August 22, 1979 Volume 3, Number 17 PDF
September 5, 1979 Volume 3, Number 18 PDF
September 19, 1979 Volume 3, Number 19 PDF
October 3, 1979 Volume 3, Number 20 PDF
October 17, 1979 Volume 4, Number 1 PDF
October 31, 1979 Volume 4, Number 2 PDF
November 14, 1979 Volume 4, Number 3 PDF
November 28, 1979 Volume 4, Number 4 PDF
December 4, 1979 Volume 4, Number 5 PDF
January 9, 1980 Volume 4, Number 7 PDF
January 23, 1980 Volume 4, Number 8 PDF
February 6, 1980 Volume 4, Number 9 PDF
February 20, 1980 Volume 4, Number 10 PDF
March 5, 1980 Volume 4, Number 11 PDF
March 19, 1980 Volume 4, Number 12 PDF
June 25, 1980 Volume 4, Number 19-20 PDF
September 1, 1980 Volume 4, Number 21 PDF
October 17, 1980 Volume 5, Number 1 PDF
November 14, 1980 Volume 5, Number 2 PDF
December 12, 1980 Volume 5, Number 3 PDF
February 14, 1981 Volume 5, Number 5 PDF
March 13, 1981 Volume 5, Number 6 PDF
April 10, 1981 Volume 5, Number 7 PDF
June 5, 1981 Volume 5, Number 9 PDF
July 10, 1981 Volume 5, Number 10 PDF
September 18, 1981 Volume 5, Number 11 PDF
October 9, 1981 Volume 6, Number 1 PDF
November 6, 1981 Volume 6, Number 2 PDF
December 11, 1981 Volume 6, Number 3 PDF
January 15, 1982 Volume 6, Number 4 PDF
February 12, 1982 Volume 6, Number 5 PDF
March 12, 1982 Volume 6, Number 6 PDF
April 9, 1982 Volume 6, Number 7 PDF
May 7, 1982 Volume 6, Number 8 PDF
June 4, 1982 Volume 6, Number 9 PDF
July 2, 1982 Volume 6, Number 10 PDF
September 3, 1982 Volume 6, Number 11 PDF
October 8, 1982 Volume 7, Number 1 PDF
November 5, 1982 Volume 7, Number 2 PDF
December 3, 1982 Volume 7, Number 3 PDF
January 15, 1983 Volume 7, Number 4 PDF
February 12, 1983 Volume 7, Number 5 PDF
March 12, 1983 Volume 7, Number 6 PDF
May 6, 1983 Volume 7, Number 8 PDF
June 1, 1983 Volume 7, Number 9 PDF
July 1, 1983 Volume 7, Number 10 PDF
September 1, 1983 Volume 7, Number 11 PDF
November 1, 1983 Volume 8, Number 2 PDF
December 1, 1983 Volume 8, Number 3 PDF
January 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 4 PDF
February 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 5 PDF
March 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 6 PDF
April 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 7 PDF
May 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 8 PDF
June 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 9 PDF
July 1, 1984 Volume 8. Number 10 PDF
September 1, 1984 Volume 8, Number 11 PDF
October 1, 1984 Volume 9, Number 1 PDF
December 1, 1984 Volume 9, Number 3 PDF
January 1, 1985 Volume 9, Number 4 PDF
November 1, 1984 Volume 10, Number 2 PDF