Alejandro Vivar spent much of his youth and early adulthood involved in Toronto's drug trade, eventually serving the equivalent of 16 years in prison. Today, he works as a tourism and travel coach, helps others build online businesses, and hopes to begin mentoring at-risk youth in the community he grew up in.

Alejandro grew up in Toronto's Christie Pitts neighbourhood in a stable, hardworking family, but was drawn into the drug trade as a teenager. He was acquitted of first-degree murder as a young man, tried briefly to leave the life behind, and ultimately built a large drug operation before an extended police investigation led to his arrest and sentencing. During his time in prison, he found therapy, public speaking, and fitness, later launching a community fitness program in his old neighbourhood. He speaks candidly about the choices that shaped his path, the toll those years took, and why he believes earlier support and mentorship could change outcomes for young people today.

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AT 19, HARVEY BROWNSTONE told his parents he was gay. They cut him off completely, financially and emotionally. He went from a comfortable home to stealing food from wedding receptions to survive. Nineteen years later, he became one of the youngest judges in Canadian history, and Canada's first openly gay judge.

Harvey Brownstone practiced law for 12 years before being appointed to the bench at 38. He served as a judge for 26 years across Toronto and Niagara, including a stretch as senior administrative justice, before leaving to build a media career that now reaches 10 million viewers a week through Harvey Brownstone Interviews. He is the author of Without Prejudice, and his life story is now being adapted into a film starring David Arquette and David Mazuz.

He explains:
◼ How being cut off by his parents at 19 led to poverty, and what kept him from spiraling into addiction or hopelessness
◼ Why he fought the Ontario Lottery Corporation after a man who owed $35,000 in child support won a $14 million jackpot and sent it overseas to avoid paying
◼ Why he believes family court and the correctional system are fundamentally broken, and why almost no other judges will say so publicly
◼ What happened when he tried to modernize his own courtroom, and why his Chief Justice personally ordered him to stop
◼ Why he thinks judges are systematically discouraged from speaking out, even after retirement
◼ His take on the Jordan decision, court scheduling failures, and why drug treatment courts are underused in Canada

📍 WITHOUT PREJUDICE:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Without-Prejudice-Life-Gay-Judge/dp/1770418784
Indigo: https://www.indigo.ca/products/without-prejudice-my-life-as-a-gay-judge

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Cassandra Harvey is a survivor of human trafficking turned advocate and aspiring criminal defence lawyer. Raised by a mother who struggled with addiction from a young age, she entered the foster care system as a child and aged out of it as a teenager. She was trafficked by three different men over the following years before finally getting out with the help of a lawyer, a detective, and a support group. She now shares her story publicly and advocates for a side of the conversation that rarely gets airtime: addressing why men become traffickers in the first place.

She explains:
◼ How she grew up caring for a mother struggling with addiction and entered the foster care system as a child
◼ How grooming can begin early, and why it can come from someone barely older than the person being targeted
◼ Why she didn't recognize what was happening to her as trafficking until years after it started
◼ What a trauma bond is and why it can keep someone tied to the person harming them
◼ Why she believes preventing trafficking requires addressing the exploitation that often shapes the men who become traffickers
◼ What finally got her out, and why she's now applying to law school to become a criminal defense lawyer

If you or someone you know may be experiencing exploitation or trafficking, the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline is available at 1-833-900-1010.

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