Long before the days of Eye and Now, Toronto had an alternative culture biweekly newspaper. June 5, 1970 heralded the arrival of Guerilla. Costing 25 cents, the cover initially featured a gorilla and words of wisdom from Henry Miller. It had offices at 463 Dundas W., in the Kensington Market area, and was edited by an editorial collective that included names like Jim Brophy and Jim Christie. One of the paper's special features included providing information on how to survive as a "hippie" in the urban city, as well as contact information for newly-arrived Vietnam War deserters and draft dodgers.
A critical restaurant review of Peter Pan, on Queen Street bemoans the fact the waitress is paid 60 cents per hour and the cook $1.35 per hour. Another article points to the condition of homeless young people and the Social Planning Council’s effort to provide services for them.
Later issues and covers featured Stop the Spadina Expressway, Pollution, Corporate Greed, and an interview with John Sewell. An early review for a then 25-year-old, politically concious, singer-songwriter named Bruce Cockburn is featured. The third issue featured a full front page photo of William Kunstler, who was Bobby Seale's lawyer. Seale was then one of the leaders of the radical Black Panther Party in the U.S., who spoke to 2,000 people at Convocation Hall, U of T.
At the same time, the paper was pleading that it was broke and needed $200 to pay for its 6,000 print run. Four weeks before it had sold 3,500.
As a young , 18-year-old, broke and short-haired, no-drug "hippie" of the day that lived (existed) in Yorkville, I could go up an alley beside Crazy David’s and a basket came down and you could get 10 copies free to sell, and then go back and buy more to sell. The paper suggested that you could use the monthly to buy dope. I used it to survive. Some items of note included "FBI plans homecoming for Dodgers", the Mariposa Festival Land Factory Theatre in their earliest days.
An ad called for people to "come live with us $50-$85" a month at Rochdale College, then an infamous student residence co-op that failed and required police intervention to remove the no-pay-rent tenant squatters. Today the building is the Senator Croll senior's residence.
The paper lasted as Guerilla until June of 1973 and then became Toronto Free Press (no relation to this journal) for a few more issues late in '73.