september 2011
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Toronto's Downtown NewspaperTRANSCRIPT
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September 2011 Vol. XIV No. 9140,000 readers from Liberty to Riverside-Leslieville, Toronto Islands to Bloor140,000 readers from Liberty to Riverside-Leslieville, Toronto Islands to Bloor
FREE
By Kimberly Spice
Downtown residents and businessowners are referring to develop-ment companies as “the Klondike
Boys” as their machines tear up theneighbourhood to make way for profit-rearing condominiums.
Approximately 40 residents from thenorth end of the Downtown Yonge St.neighbourhood attended a city-organizedcommunity meeting at St. Basil’sChurch on Aug. 24 to discuss thechanges in their area.
Residents are not opposed to peoplemoving into the neighbourhood—butthey are concerned about developers,along with the city, ignoring their pleasfor community upgrades and the possi-ble extinction of the small businessesthat make the street unique.
To offset the surge in condo construc-tion, people living in the Yonge-Wellesley-Church corridor and adjacentareas want improvements to a neigh-bourhood that has remained mostly dor-mant for more than a decade. Their wishlist includes more parks, green space,wider sidewalks, bike lanes and chil-dren’s play areas.
“There are maybe 30,000 people mov-ing in,” stated one area resident. “Wewant recreational facilities, culturalspace, parks and community services
Cityplacegroup wantssafer roadssoonerBy Steve Kee
With the rapid growth of newcondominium developmentsjoining the City Place commu-
nity, issues of traffic flow, driving pat-terns and pedestrian safety are amongkey considerations of area residents.
City Place Residents Association(CRA) president Dean Maher is con-cerned. “We are seeing issues aroundparking, traffic and there is a simmeringof frustration amongst our residents.” Hewent on to say, “We live here, we knowthe area and we want to be part of thesolutions.”
Expert input on those solutions couldcome from right within the ranks of theCRA’s membership.
Member Chris Pereira is a graduate ofRyerson’s school of urban and regionalplanning. He has put his education togood use by working with AdamVaughan’s office to find ways to improvethe appearance and safety of laneways inWard 20. He’s also providing valuableinsight and ideas as CRA’s vice presidentof neighbourhood planning.
“I’d like to see a great emphasis ontraffic calming along Fort York andBremner boulevards,” Pereira notes.“This is an area of concern due to thehigh amount of both pedestrian andvehicular traffic using the street, espe-cially at Spadina. One of the options weare studying is raised intersections,which act like speed bumps and providegreater visi-
Change andtaxes loomfor YongeSt. shops,residents
Wong-Tamproposesrevival andpreservation
Developer retracts Church-Gloucester condo plansBy Michael Schwartz
Signs outside one ofToronto’s most controver-sial developments have
been taken down now thatdeveloper Church 18 Holdingshas withdrawn the plans it sub-mitted for the redevelopment ofthe corner of Church and
Gloucester.The city’s community plan-
ners received notification of thewithdrawal in mid-August via aletter from Goodmans LLP, thelaw firm representing Church 18Holdings.
Controversy surrounded thisdevelopment from its incep-tion.
The proposal would havenecessitated demolition of twolisted and one unlisted heritageproperties (596 Church, 69Gloucester, and 584 Church,respectively), and partial reten-tion (“facadism”) of two morelisted heritage properties (592Church and 67 Gloucester). A25-storey mixed-use building
hosting retail premises and 193residential units would havereplaced the historical build-ings, one of which dates back to1873. It would also have topped75 metres in a zone with a 12-metre maximum height.
The decision by Church 18Holdings cannot be considered ahasty one—it wrote to the des-
ignated town planner WillieMacrae back in February thisyear, stating that it was “in theprocess of considering thefuture direction for these appli-cations.” The “back to the draw-ing board” mentality was recon-firmed in the Aug. 19 letter,where Goodmans LLP detailed
continued page 6 continued page 7
continued page 6
Control ofDon Landsat stakeBy Anthony Marcusa
What appears to some to be a planby the mayor to take control ofthe Port Lands emerged in a city
staff report released on Aug. 26.Cindy Wilkey, chair of the West Don
Lands Committee, offered, “We’veknown since April that Mayor Fordexpressed his interest in the area, talk-ing about a ‘wow’ factor, which to himmeans a mall, a ferris wheel, and a foot-ball stadium.”
The Toronto Port Lands Company(TPLC), formerly Toronto EconomicDevelopment Corporation (TEDCO),would take control of the east har-bourfront area away from WaterfrontToronto, a group that works in tandemwith the municipal, provincial, and fed-eral governments.
Waterfront Toronto has spent $19 mil-lion for an environmental assessment ofthe area and years studying the area andimplementing a long-term plan for rede-velopment, the future of which is nowuncertain.
“They’ve quietly taken steps to slowdown the approval of the assessment andhand over 100 acres of land to a compa-ny that does leasing,” added Wilkey.“It’s crude—to think that they are goingto do a better job than hundreds ofexperts working through WaterfrontToronto over the years.”
The report outlines that TPLC has$550,000 to plan for the waterfront, asubs tantially lesser amount that thatinvested by Waterfront Toronto. Noexact vision of the Port Lands was out-lined, and continued page 2
Gerrard St. E. resident and Canadian Opera Company ensemble member SimoneOsborne is on stage this month playing Gilda, the doomed daughter of the title characterin Rigoletto. Hear the soprano as she debuts the role on stage at the Four Seasons Centrefor the Performing Arts from Sept. 29 to Oct. 22. Visit www.coc.ca for details.
By Dennis Hanagan
The newest Downtown councillorhas a plan to save Yonge St.’s her-itage buildings and at the same
time spur landlords to upgrade theirproperties to improve the street’sappearance and boost its vigour.
Ward 27 Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tamconsulted local business, communityand institutional leaders after she wasdisheartened at the loss by fire of thehistoric Empress Hotel at 335 Yonge St.in January.
“I knew that it was time for this signif-icant street … to once again become acity priority,” she wrote in a reportcalled Yonge St. Planning—authored byKPMG Architects and GreenbergConsultants—that came out of the con-sultations.
Part of the plan to revitalize the streetcalls for the preservation of its heritagebuildings.
The Bulletin interviewed Wong-Tamabout the report.
“The heritage built form in Toronto isvery important. [Historic buildings] arethe cultural aspects and the historicalfootprints of a civilization. If we don’tstep up to protect what we have then wecould potentially lose them,” she said.
The report says seven heritage struc-tures from 340 to 395 Yonge St. are sim-ply “listed” for preservation but don’thave the full legal protection of “desig-nated” status that saves them from demo-lition.
Those structures continued page 8
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September 2011 2 www.thebulletin.ca
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the report concedes thatuntil a business planexists, the fundingrequirements areunknown. It is anticipatedthat TPLC would seek pri-vate retailers to invest inspace and help create avast waterfront mall.
Wilkey is urging thoseconcerned to vocalizetheir opposition at thecity’s executive commit-tee meeting on Sept. 6while the report is beingconsidered. Citizens canalso call the mayor direct-ly, send an email to theexecutive committee, andwrite to council as well.
“This is not DougFord’s waterfront,” saidWilkey of the Etobicokecouncilor who has beenoutspoken in both hiscriticism of Waterfront
Toronto and his desire tobuild in NFL stadium onthe lakeshore. “We aretalking about a vision forbuilding in the biggestcity in Canada.”
“It’s the public’s water-front, and I think peopleare gearing up for a cam-paign to try to convincethe council that this issimply a very bad idea.”
Public input possible on Sept. 6
Starting on the firstday of class, all ele-mentary schools in
the Toronto CatholicDistrict school board willimplement an “appropri-ate dress code” of anycombination of navy blueand white. Visitwww.tcdsb.org/csac/dresscode.htm for more infor-mation.
School bluesOn Aug. 9 Shadowland Theatre began a six-dayrun of Hansel and Gretel—A Case Study in theunique background setting of Toronto Island.
The spectacle combined the Grimm fairytale, themusic of Brecht & Weill’s Threepenny Opera and theinsights of Sigmund Freud in this darkly humorousjourney into the deep woods, complete with maskedcharacters, shadow puppetry, music, song and 15stilt-dancing children.—D.H.
Matthew MacDonald played Hansel, Parkdale actressAngela Loft played raven, and Lilly Flawn of Toronto Islandplayed Gretel.
From the left are Avik Mukherjee of Parkdale, Merle Harleyof Toronto Island, Arber Makri of Harbord Village, andGenady Gavleshov of Church and Wellesley. Seated isDavid Rutherford of Toronto Island.
From the left are Toronto Island residents Anne Barber,Brad Harley (who played Sigmund Freud), and WillaBourne. Barber and designer Harley are co-artistic direc-tors of Shadowland Theatre.
On Aug. 19 reservists from Moss Park Armouryand HMCS York were on hand at the CNE'sCanadian Forces Exhibit to talk to visitors
about the work soldiers and sailors do. Children hada chance to climb into military vehicles, try on a 25-pound radio communications backpack, and test theiragility on an obstacle course.—D.H.
Pte. Saif Ghanim, Cpl. Suzie Halasz, 2nd Lt. ScottNewlands, Capt. Ben Lee, Master Seaman Osman Rizui,and Act Sub-Lt. Katie Walaszczyk.
On Aug. 17, Market Lane children got their ownsneak peek of entertainers at this year’sScotiabank Buskerfest along with free hot-
dogs and drinks. The four-day Buskerfest on FrontSt. in the St. LawrenceNeighbourhood raisesawareness and funds forepilepsy and is thelargest festival of its kindin North America.—D.H.
Corrina Perkovich andPenelope. They’re daugh-ter and granddaughter ofthe St. Lawrence’s BIA’sBob Kemp.
New web site for CPLC
51 Division’s Community Police LiaisonCommittee has launched its first web site atcplc-51division.blogspot.com. The site was
designed by CPLC member Henry Hong. To suggestcontent or to learn more about the committee, attendits monthly meeting on Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at 51Division headquarters at 51 Parliament St.
Trees wanted: pickers
Not Far From The Tree is a local non-for profitfruit picking organization that gleans ediblefruit from privately-owned trees throughout
the city. The harvest is split between the tree owner,the picker volunteers, and food banks.
Fruit tree owners can still register for a fall 2011harvest by visiting www.notfarfromthetree.org andclick on “get involved.”
The group is hosting a fall festival called CityCider on Sept. 18 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the SpadinaMuseum. $5 admission includes museum entry.
from page 1
Even with its ultra-modern appearance Ireally like the new
entrance to St. LawrenceMarket, with its conven-ient automatic doors, itsspanking-new tile floors,its low contemporarywooden ceiling- and newelevator; plus, as a nod tothe past, a fantastic his-toric photo display.
The new entrance thatopened this past July isactually the fifth rework-ing of one of the oldestbuildings in the city: theformal onetime lobby ofToronto’s Second CityHall (Toronto’s First CityHall was nothing morethan a few cramped roomsabove the Market on KingStreet where St. LawrenceHall now stands).
Back in 1844, on thethen-edge of Lake Ontariobefore the old harbour wasfilled in, architect HenryBowyer Joseph Lanebegan work on a new anddesperately needed cityhall that was to house adramat i c-y et -p ract i calnew council chamber,municipal offices, a clocktower, police station andjail.
There was also to be anopulent gas-lit walnut-paneled foyer lined withportraits of municipalleaders and city land-
scapes and, at the centreof this new lobby, a stun-ning oak spiral staircase.
The staircase led up tothe second floor where,facing Front St. , themayor had his office. Atthe rear overlooking theharbour was the new coun-cil chamber.
A third floor held thepublic gallery wherewomen were permitted tosit looking down over theproceedings. In the base-ment were a police sta-tion, courtroom and jailwhere in the days beforeprison reform men werechained to the massivestone wall that’s still evi-dent today.
During a storm, watermaking its way down toLake Ontario would floodthe jail and the helplessmen shackled to the wallwould drown, or at thevery least, hang kneedeep in all the contami-nated debris that waswashing in.
By 1890 Toronto wasbooming and with itspopulation at almost300,000 it was time onceagain to build yet anothercity hall. It’s knowntoday as Old City Hallwith its iconic clocktower dominating the cor-ner of Queen and BayStreets.
The construction of thenew city hall by architectE.J. Lennox took 10years and was for a time
the largestmunicipal build-ing in the world.The question thenwas: What to dowith the old oneon Front Street?
In 1899 JohnSiddal, the archi-
tect chosen to build thenew St. Lawrence Marketon the site of the formercity hall rather than com-pletely demolish it, decid-ed to keep its centre blockbut do away with the eastand west wings.
He removed the clocktower and gutted its once-opulent lobby right downto the bare brick, makingit a more practical entry-way into what was then avery modern market.
Siddall then built acolossal shed to house thenew market with enor-mous iron trusses to holdup a massive new roof thatcompletely engulfed theremains of the old cityhall.
He then raised the for-mer council chamber floorto allow more height overthe new main entrance.
When the new St.Lawrence Market wasfinally finished in 1902 ittook up almost three acresof floor space, hosted twogigantic buildings withan enormous glass andsteel canopy (which last-ed until 1954) spanningFront Street connectingthe new North and SouthMarkets, making it one ofthe largest building proj-ects in Canada at thattime.
Siddall’s North Marketwas demolished in 1967and replaced with the onewe have today, a.k.a. theFarmers Market, itself to
be replaced soon.Beginning in 1977 the
present South St.Lawrence Market wasvastly improved with newroof sheathing (thoughits gigantic iron trussesare still original), apoured concrete floorreplacing an earlier wood-en one, air conditioningand a larger lobby.
It was also during thistime that the remains ofthe old city hall aban-doned decades earlier andsitting empty as a ghost-ly whitewashed emptyshell overlooking theinterior of the market wascleaned and restored and isnow home to the MarketGallery.
I’m a fan of St.Lawrence Market’s mod-ern new entrance becauselike the Market itself(founded in 1803 on thenorthwest corner of Frontand Jarvis) has once againadapted with the times.Hence it is still with us inone form or another whenso much of our history hasbeen wiped completelyand utterly off the map.
* * *Join me for my annual
Thanksgiving Day FallColours bus tour with buf-fet dinner at the Old Mill& my Christmas Light &Bus tour Dec. 10. Also my weekend jaunts
to New York April 20,2012 and Chicago May18, 2012. Visit TheBulletin’s websitewww.thebulletin.ca forordering details on my newbooks compiling the last12 years of my Bulletinhistory columns.
For details the above atwww.brucebelltours.ca orcall me at 647-393-8687.
[email protected] • www.adornmentsonqueen.com
338 Queen Street East @ Parliament416 955 4791 Tu-Fr 11-7, S&S 9-5
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September 2011 3www.thebulletin.ca
Our Market is historic but timely
Construction of the South Market showing the former city hall.
themarket
gallery
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The Esplanade Invitational 3on 3 basketball tournamentwas held on Aug. 27. 116players, 18 youth teamsand 12 “open” divisionteams competed in theevent. Ridge Kazumba(above, age 14) destroyedthe field in the 3 point con-test.—Matt Raizenne
SLNA meeting scheduled
The September meeting of the St. LawrenceNeighbourhood Association (SLNA) will beheld on Sept. 27 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the OWN
Building, 115 The Esplanade. Delegates’ meetingsare open to all interested local residents. The agendawill be posted at www.slna.ca a few days before themeeting.
Artists blend at library
Local artists Catherine Tammaro, IngeVanderneulen and Clayton Langstaff have com-bined forces for a show at the Parliament
branch of the Toronto Public Library at 269 GerrardSt. in September. The opening reception will be onSept. 17 from 1 to 3 p.m.
Pot luck for planters
The first meeting of the Riverdale HorticulturalSociety will be held on Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. at816 Logan Ave. Members and guests are wel-
come for this awards night with potluck supper.Also, Frank Kershaw will show some of his
favourite slidesof gardens around the world..
MPP contenders to spar
The Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Associationand the York Quay Neighbourhood Associationare sponsoring an all candidates’ meeting on
Sept. 21st from 7 to 9 p.m. at the HarbourfrontCommunity Centre, 267 Queens Quay West.Moderator Alice Norton will lead the MPP candidatesin discussion of local issues.
Army reservist and Downtown resident Jamieson Murraypauses to listen for the enemy during a week-long exer-cise at the Canadian Manoeuvre Warfare Training Centreat Wainwright, Alberta. A sergeant and Battle Schoolinstructor in Toronto’s Queen’s Own Rifles, Murray hasjust returned from his second tour in Afghanistan.Wainwright's training centre uses laser munitions to sim-ulate all aspects of combat, preparing soldiers for thechallenges they are likely to encounter in operations over-seas.
corporal
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epartmentof
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defence
Next supper talk by Hume
The Toronto Dollar Supper Club will meet onSept 19. at 5:30 p.m. for dinner and a speechby architecture critic and urban issues colum-
nist Christopher Hume. Reserve seats for the dinnerby e-mailing [email protected] or bycalling (416) 361-0466.
The club meets at the Hot House Cafe at the cornerof Church and Front streets. The cost is $30 TorontoDollars and includes taxes and gratuities. TorontoDollars are available at the event.
King-Spadina topic of meeting
Two proposed developments in the King-Spadina neighbourhood top the agenda of ameeting organized by Adam Vaughan on Sept.
7 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Metro Hall, 55 John St., Room309. The proposals for 353 Adelaide St. W. (at thesouthwest corner of Adelaide and Charlotte streets)and 122-124 Peter St. (west side, south of RichmondSt. W.) will be discussed.
Plans for 15-33 Mercer St. and 24 Mercer St. willbe discussed on Sept. 12 from 7 to 9 p.m. in the samemeeting room.
Clubhouse preservation talk
The Riverdale Historical Society will present atalk on the preservation, restoration and reno-vation of the St. Matthew’s lawn bowling club
clubhouse on Sept. 20 at 6 p.m. at the RiverdalePublic Library, 370 Broadview Ave. at Gerrard.Architects Ian McGillivray and Allan Killin will par-ticipate in the discussion. Admission is $5 for non-members. Annual memberships are $10 and areavailable at the event. Visit www.riverdalehistori-calsociety.com for more information.
Cabbagetown festival dates
This year’s Cabbagetown Festival will takeplace from Sept. 8 to 11. Events include theparade, pub crawl, fall harvest festival, garage
sales, and walking tours. For a full event schedule,visit www.cabbagetownfestival.org.
Do we really want alarge shoppingmall and the
world’s largest Ferriswheel on our unique andvaluable waterfront? Thisis what we will get if wefollow the intentions ofour Mayor Rob Ford, andhis mouth, his olderbrother and suburban citycouncillor Doug Ford.
They want to sell city-owned land south of thepresent Keating Channelof the Don River as itempties into the harbour.Out the window will bethrown existing, well-studied and forward-look-ing Waterfront Torontoplans for the Port Lands,carefully crafted with pub-lic input through a mazeof governmentalapprovals at a cost of mil-lions.
(See these plans on thewebsite www.waterfron-toronto.ca/explore_pro-jects2/lower_don_lands)
This type of unwarrant-ed political interferencein a complex, on-goingpublic process involvingthree levels of govern-ment, is not new. In2004, the then federal
Liberal MP of Toronto-Danforth, Dennis Mills,suggested a casino andother unwelcome facili-ties on the Port Lands. Hehad suddenly beenappointed advisor to thenPrime Minister PaulMartin shortly before anelection to counteract thepopularity of his oppo-nent, Jack Layton.
Mills failed both withhis plans and his elec-tion. In the case today ofRob and Doug Ford, how-ever, we are not so fortu-nate. They will remain inpower for another threeyears.
The Ford brothers wanttheir closed administra-tion, not the public-mind-ed, innovative WaterfrontToronto organization, tobe in charge of city-ownedland development. Theywant this to be donethrough an existing cityagency, the Toronto PortLands Company (TPLC).To that end, they want tofully reorganize andexpand the powers of theTPLC so it will do theirbidding. Their blatant aimis to privatize city prop-erty.
The Ford administrationclaims private interestscan develop land moreefficiently and quicklythan public authorities.But what type of develop-ment and how quickly?Let us remember that themighty OntarioMunicipal Board some
years ago, after a drawn-out hearing, decidedagainst a proposed HomeDepot superstore onwaterfront land. Alsomore time-consuming andexpensive environmentalassessments of the Fordplans will delay action.
Waterfront Toronto’sexisting plans for themouth of the Don River isa renaturalized, dividedestuary providing park-land and cleansing of thewater of the Don. The widedispersal of the riverwaters provides the neces-sary flood protection forthe entire Port Lands.
The Ford brothers’ plan,however, must keep a sin-gle, narrow, pollutedchannel in order to con-solidate a large plot ofland for their shoppingmall with parking andother features of their sub-urban vision. Their planrequires expensive floodprotection measures. Liketheir ill-conceived and sofar unsuccessful proposalto build a new city subwaywith private money, theywant private developersto pay the high costs offlood protection andinfrastructure. In return,the developers will ofcourse want the valuablecity land virtually forfree.
The Ford brothersrevealed their intentionsin a just-released city hallmemo on Aug. 26. Theyare now rushing their
ideas to their powerfulExecutive Committee forfull council debate lessthan three weeks later. Nopublic input is provided.The exercise is a rawattempt to push through aplan to derail all previousand valuable work ofWaterfront Toronto forcity land on the PortLands. Today’s actions onthe waterfront will bewith us for at least a centu-
ry. Let us get itright.You cancontact themayor and all citycouncillors auto-matically in onego on this issueby emailing yourcomments [email protected] ask your message beforwarded to all of them.And you can make a depu-tation to the Executive
Committee Sept. 6 by fol-lowing instructions onthe city websitewww.toronto.ca.
It has been a terrible year for losses of greatToronto citizens. First there was PaulOberman (left), the revered Toronto devel-
oper and restorer of historic sites who per-ished in a plane crash March 7. Then we lostJack Layton who so influenced the public dia-logue that he was given a state funeral andpublicly mourned by most of the country.
So now, rightly, the city will seek to memo-rialize these fallen benefactors. Usually that isdone by naming some public places in theirhonour. Sometimes it involves renaming anexisting place.
There is a move afoot to rename MarketStreet Paul Oberman Way. Until his death hewas actively redeveloping the decaying, his-toric west side of that street with his usualsensitivity to our heritage.
Paul was a preserver of his city’s history, not
a replacer of it. The last thing he would likelywant to happen to Market Street is for it to berenamed.
As a developer, Paul restored the glory tosome of Toronto’s most outstanding historicstructures. He was the antithesis of the grab-bucks developer. His redevelopments of her-
itage sites combined the insightful touch of ahistorian with a warm builder’s pragmatismthat ensured their continuance.
It is usually fine to rename something withno historic significance. But it dishonours ourhistory to abandon historic names. MarketStreet is where Paul Oberman sought to pre-serve or restore as much as possible in whatwas, sadly, the last project of his life. Surelythat includes its name.
Jack would certainly feel the same aboutabandoning an historic name. There is a moveby Brad Meneses of the York QuayNeighbourhood Assn. to remember Jack bynaming for him the park beneath the soon-to-be demolished York off-ramp of the Gardiner.There may also be other suitable new placesin Toronto. It makes sense to name new proj-ects after newly lost civic heroes.
September 2011 4 www.thebulletin.ca
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Don’t dishonour history to honour current heroes
Act now to save our waterfront from the Fords
HarvorStig
Dog days onCherry Beach
Well a large part ofCherry Beach isnow a fenced-off
paradise for dogs andtheir owners!
Now how about givingsome attention to theswimming area forhumans?Luckily, thewater quality is excellent,there are plenty of life-guards and the vista is asight for sore eyes. Butthere are some obstaclesdiscouraging anyone try-ing to enter the water for acool swim.
The sand needs regulargrooming and the shore-line is often strewn withdebris. And if you try towalk in for a dip, youencounter rocks andbricks that make walkingpainful. A couple of sug-gestions:
1. Crush those brickswith a steamroller and addsoil and sand to the shoreto provide at least onegood entry point.
2. Extend a woodendock or boardwalk fivemetres into the water forpublic use (the lifeguardshave their own dock).
Cherry Beach is a gemthat jus t needs a littlepolishing
Jim Dalziel
Letter
COMING THIS FALL
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Jack Layton’s power-ful deathbed appeal toCanadians, “Love is
better than anger, hope isbetter than fear, optimismis better than despair, solet us be loving, hopeful,and optimistic” may notbe enough to convinceStephen Harper’sConservatives to thinkagain about the OmnibusCrime Bill which it prom-ises to introduce and passthrough Parliament thisFall.
Parts of this bill wereconsidered briefly in thepast year (but neverapproved) so there’s gen-eral knowledge of whatthe bill will do. It promis-es to put more youngoffenders in jail, particu-
larly for minor drugcrimes including posses-sion of marijuana; endhouse arrest and otherways in which courts candivert people from jails;and impose mandatoryminimum sentencesincluding for many drugoffences.
The evidence is over-whelming that if fullyimplemented, this legis-lation will substantiallyincrease the costs to thepublic of incarceration,and it will also increase—rather than decrease—theamount of crime thatoccurs in Canada. It willalso cause wreckage inmany young lives. Whywould a group of electedrepresentatives ever pro-
pose legislation that hasthese undesirable conse-quences?
Conservative Partyspokesmen have neveroffered convincing rea-sons.
But the answers comefrom experience in theUnited States. In the early1980s President RonaldReagan introduced legis-lation under the rubric Waron Drugs. It addressed theissues of crime, drugs andwelfare in a way that toldso-called “hard-workingpeople” they would nolonger have to deal withthose people who weregetting a “free ride” fromthe criminal justice sys-tem or the welfare system,people who deserved
nothing from society.The message and the
legislation was a subtleway of referring to race asthe dividing line since thecriminals and welfareabusers were unspokenlythose with dark skins. Itwas a racially coded mes-sage combined with arelentless emphasis onthe increase in crime—anincrease that was notreflected in the data pro-duced by law enforcementofficials—and inflamma-tory language about crackcocaine and welfarequeens. Presidents GeorgeBush Sr. and Bill Clintonfollowed the same legisla-tive paths.
The result for all threepoliticians was electoralsuccess, as well as a sub-stantial increase in therate of imprisonment ofblack men in the U.S. ,even though all datashows that on a per-capitabasis, rates of criminalacts (particularly thoseinvolving drugs) arehigher in the white com-munity than in the black.
The leaders of theConservative Party know
from Americanexperience theimplicit mes-sage in the leg-islation andthat it willattract politicalsupport from aselect group oflower-income voters.Those most directlyimpacted will be youngblack men and youngAboriginals—the verypeople police now target.
In Toronto you are threetimes as likely to bestopped by police if youare black rather thanwhite; three times as like-ly, having been stopped,to be arrested if you areblack; and three times aslikely to be held on strictbail terms if you areblack.
Data from other citiesshow that youngAboriginals are six timesas likely to suffer theseconsequences. TheOmnibus Crime Billimplies that police arecorrect in such racial prej-udice and the legislationwill lead them to do evenmore racial profiling—
even though studies con-sistently show that mem-bers of the black commu-nity are more law abidingthan members of whitecommunities.
It is insidious to thinkour political leaders wouldever deliberatelyimprison people of cer-tain races in order toattract votes.
No wonder there is nogovernment leader whocan offer a reasonableexplanation for this leg-islation: they know thatto discuss the bill’s realracial purpose would beinflammatory.
In Jack’s memory, thislegislation needs to beconfronted with love,hope and optimism – andthen it needs to be repudi-ated.
John Sewell is a formerMayor of Toronto.
At the end of summerI look back at aseries of local
street festivals. Theseevents showcaseToronto—one of theworld’s most multiculturalcities.
They also demonstratethe strength of our neigh-bourhoods that contributeto our enviable ranking asone of the top five mostlivable cities in theworld. Sincere thanksgoes out to all those whomake the festivals hap-pen. Caribbean Carnival,Taste of the Danforth andBuskerfest brought outalmost 3 million people.These activities are wide-ly supported and createmany jobs.
Best of all they are goodtimes and life affirming tothe consumer. What agreat way to stimulate theeconomy.
The economy is scaringeveryone; the monetarysystem seems to be bipo-lar.
The older generationcan’t find a safe place toput their life savings.Seniors and money man-agers trying to generatean income from invest-ments must now takegreater risks to find ameaningful return. Sopeople who should feelfinancially secure, don’t.
Unemployment num-bers are the real indicatorof a healthy or sicknation.
We all need to be mean-ingfully involved insomething. Working ful-fils a psychological need,but just fearing job losscan undermine it. Is gold a
new currency? Should we
force the govern-ment to banshort selling onbank stocks orrein in theexchange-tradedfunds momentarybuying and selling?
The financial industrylooks like a whack-a-mole carnival game.Those on the inside say itis more like casinogames.
Many of the games arenew investment vehicleswith complex rulesknown only to the casi-no. They call them deriva-tives.
The casino never losesmoney on any game. Inour Great Recession thegovernment bailed out thebanks that never lose.Bankers who backed aPonzi scheme didn’t go tojail.
Powerful people at thetop of the economic pyra-mid run the casino econo-my and they stick togeth-er. I have been resistingthis assessment as it fallsinto the dreary realm ofconspiracy theorists.
Still, I worry about peo-ple having jobs.
Throughout history thenumber one employer wasagriculture. You could be asubsistent farmer or be alandlord with serfs.Agriculture was replacedas the number oneemployer by manufactur-ing in the industrial revo-lution. Manufacturing isbeing automated andshipped offshore bymultinational corpora-tions. The second place is
now called “services”rather than “servants” andis a growing sector. Weprefer having jobs donefor us by people who arehighly specialized.
What if one third of usbecame employed inentertaining the other twothirds? This seems fittingas we move from theindustrial revolution tothe age of communica-tions.
Dining in a restaurant isas much for entertainmentvalue as for the food. Ismy TV cable installer notin the entertainment busi-ness?
Our neighbourhoodstreet festivals are enter-tainment and communitybuilding as well.Entertainment productsare not just tunes, TV andmovies.
Your pursuit of happi-ness, amusement or ahobby is generating aneconomy. We must fightthe guilty pleasure of thisnew age and enjoy beingentertained.
September 2011 5www.thebulletin.ca
The new economy of fun
JoHn Sewell
Harper takes a racist stance with law ‘n order Act
There are strong rea-sons the old citycouncil got bush-
whacked by voters whoelected a new bunch led bya guy many consider aPhilistine at best and atworst a crook who’d selloff many of the city’sassets to his businessbuddies and bring ruin tous all.
Miller, though he’dbeen a councillor foryears, once he was mayorhe didn’t really seem toknow how things workedat city hall. Busy with hishair, perhaps, he was ledby his belt by senior citystaff. And with outrightpro-unionists comprisinga cabal of Downtowncouncillors backingMiller, staff had a lock oncity hall.
That’s not good forunions because when theirpolitical employersbecome their lackeys,deals are struck that out-rage taxpayers and turnthem against unions thatmainly comprise what’sleft of our middle class.
I’ve mentioned beforehow I got called on thecarpet (not one thatMiller’s pre-electionbroom swept beneath) bya councillor for writingabout an outrageous dealthat lets city workers tryout a job with another
government for up to ayear with the right ofreturn should things notwork out. That can create ayearlong hole in thestaffing of the agency theunion worker abandoned.Totally against the publicinterest.
Even worse for the pub-lic interest is the wrong-ful practice of lobbying.That’s where corporateinterests seduce council-lors and staff into buyingwhat they’re selling. Theopportunities for graftand corruption are rife. YetMiller legitimized theshameful business andspent $1 million toinstall a registry ratherthan outright prohibitinglobbyists stalking andpitching city governmentoperatives. A registrydoes nothing to preventabuses by lobbyists.
There’s now some grow-ing buyers’ remorse fromvoters who thought RobFord would end the gravytrain instead of creatingnew ones for corpora-tions. There are perhapsplenty of ancillary opera-tions at city hall thatdon’t require a city depart-ment to perform and canbe done cheaper —maybeeven better—using out-side contractors. They areequivalent, say, to cityhall having it’s own cater-
ing department to feedcelebrity visitors, staffand councillors. Not thatit does.
Miller’s downfall wasnot only his ignorance ofhow city hall worked anddependence on staff andothers, but also his self-ish dream to create a grandDavid Miller Legacy(DML) at the expense ofthe core responsibilitiesof governing.
Abetted by his cabal ofcouncil followers helaunched an oft-denied waragainst automobiles toadvance the DML. Trafficgridlock, unrepaired roadsand suicidal bicycle laneson clogged streets set themood. Key to the strategywas to overwhelm publictransit so the DML corner-stone, Transit City, wouldhave everyone riding bil-lions of dollars worth ofnew rails.
And thus the BlondBroom Bearer would havehis legacy riding far intohistory.
To that end the city,once known for itsgroomed parks and impec-cably clean streets,became overgrown andt r a s h - r i d d e n .Infrastructure, a funda-mental obligation of gov-ernment, was ignored forthe glitter of DML andvarious “green” schemes.
True, much blame goesto the swineherd ofOntario Tories, led by theabominable Mike Harriswho amalgamated the cityin an obvious effort todestroy it. Nonetheless,Miller could have reversedmuch of that harm,despite the torturousdownloading a secondneo-con premier, DaltonMcGuinty, continued toinflict. Miller could havedivided the conglomeratedcity into its formermunicipalities, let thoseportions of council returnto their former municipalbuildings, and taken muchof the sting from amalga-mation.
Instead he acted to makeDowntown look likeScarborough with hiswrong-headed contractingof unified-look “street fur-niture” everywhere. Andhe sought to unify munic-ipal regulations ratherthan taking the muchcheaper step of letting theformer municipalitiesretain them.
It was perhaps anotherbit of hubris that con-tributed to his continuingto treat this ungovernableconglomeration of sub-urbs with Downtown asone unified city. He mightbe seen as less a mayorand more like the old situ-ation where a civil ser-
vant (PaulGodfrey) served asMetro Torontochairman, electedby the municipalmayors.
Many car-haterson city counciltravel all over bycar (taxis). In approvingthe water display atSherbourne and QueensQuay, the city and localMillerite Councillor PamMcConnell allowed forsouth-bound traffic onlyon the portion ofSherbourne south of LakeShore Blvd. That annoy-ance has directly hurtlocal businesses in St.Lawrence and beyond,including the CorktownEsso Station on the cor-ner of Sherbourne andFront where tourists andlocals driving on QueensQuay once drove up andgassed up.
Ford certainly wouldn’thave countenanced that ifhe were in power when theplans were drawn. And hewould have listened to thestation’s owners and triedto help, which is morethan McConnell hasdone, according to anowner.
As an Etobicoke coun-cillor, Robbie used to beaccessible to everyone: Adecent, sensitive guy. Hewould take day and night
calls on his cellphone anddo his damnedest to helpcitizens no matter whatwards they lived in.
He now, however, isinaccessible to nearlyeveryone. He wronglyshuts out Toronto Starreporters, which just addsto the sense of despairmany now feel, includingmany supporters. Heought to quit doing thatright away.
He mustn’t succumb tothe DML curse which heinitiated with hisbenighted subwayscheme. And he’s got toquit thinking the cityshould run as a business.
It’s not a business. Itcan’t run like one.Businesses aren’t chari-ties or government serv-ices. They must chargewhat the market will bear,not what’s fair or just.
Businesses are madepossible by the commonstaxpayers provide:streets, electricity, firedepartments, etc. Theyhave no business runningany part of the commonsfor their additional profit.
Is Rob Ford riding down Miller’s road to disgrace?
Dennis Hanagan
Queen West residentEllen Rengerscycles to work on
the controversial TrinityBellwoods Park bike pathbecause she feels unsaferiding on the main streetswith cars.
Last month, TheBulletin reported Friendsof Trinity Bellwoods Parkwanted commuter cyclistsout of the park because ofthe high volume of pedes-trians who use the greenspace.
But Rengers, a visitingnurse who cycles to herDowntown patients, saysshe doesn’t feel safecycling on Dundas andQueen. “It’s not safe for
me. There’s so much traf-fic.”
She’d like to see bikelanes on Dundas andQueen that have a physi-cal barrier to separatebikes and cars. She’sfamiliar with barriers likethis as they are used in hernative Holland.
“You’ll notice howmuch safer it (a barrier) is.A line on the road is notgoing to give me safety.If there was good cyclinginfrastructure on Dundasor Queen I wouldn’t haveto take this route throughthe park,” says Rengers.
Cyclist and ward 19bike union co-leader HerbVan den Dool sees ironyin the lack of bike lanes
on Dundas, Queen, King,College and Bloor.
He says the sectionsouth of Bloor betweenBathurst and Lansdowne“has one of the highestshares of bike com-muters” in the entire city.He says 10 to 20 per centof commuters in this sec-tion are cyclists.
“It’s ironic there’s hard-ly any bike lanes on anyof the streets, especiallythe east-west streets,”says Van den Dool.
He’s suggested makingpathways for cyclists totravel both ways onstreets that are designatedone-way for cars, likealong Argyle andRobinson. They would be
called contra-lanes.But ward 19 city coun-
cilor Mike Layton hastold The Bulletin thatcyclists come under theHighway Traffic Act andtherefore must travel inthe same direction as carson one-way streets.
To that, Rengersresponds that the citymust get with the times.She points out that onsome one-way streets inHolland cyclists areallowed to travel bothways. She says laws andbylaws must change overtime “as societychanges.”
In the meantime bothRengers and Van den Doolwant cyclists to be
respectful of pedestriansas they bike throughTrinity Bellwoods Park.
“Cyclists would like tofacilitate cycling throughthe park in a polite andcourteous manner,” says
Van den Dool.Rengers realizes she
shares the park withpedestrians. “I really slowdown when I go throughthe park which I don’tmind at all.”
Seph, a Parkdale resident and grade 8 student attendingHoly Family Catholic School, was recently recognized atthe end of year celebration of the Merry Go RoundChildren’s Foundation forbeing one of the top achievingstudents on the program thisyear. He was selected frommore than 200 students toreceive a $1,000 RESP schol-arship, that was generouslyprovided by G. ScottPaterson, vice chairman,JumpTV (also located on Kingand Spadina). The charitybased in downtown Toronto(King and Spadina) that pro-vides financially disadvan-taged kids with brand-newcomputers, computer trainingas well as Toronto PoliceService mentorship.By Anthony Marcusa
Local author Koom Kankesan has written what maybe the first full-length work of fiction about Tamil
immigrants living in Canada.The 35-year-old writer, teacher,
and 3-year Downtown resident is theauthor of The Panic Button, a novel-la about a fractured Sri Lankan fami-ly that make their way to Ontario tobuild a new life.
“Many people have asked, but it’snot really based on my life,” saysKankesan from his apartment atRichmond and Victoria. “In thestory, the father stays in Sri Lankafor 25 years after his family leaves.”
Kankesan, a Tamil who came with his family as ayoungster to settle in Scarborough in the late ‘80s, wasoften inspired by other writers, but rarely found anyTamil literature. After studying at Concordia inMontreal, he decided to fill the void.
“I’ve always written about my culture, it’s a part ofmy life,” says Kankesan. “Certainly there are moreTamils and more writing now, but growing up I couldn’tfind much.”
“I have strong feelings, and so I felt compelled towrite about my culture,” Kankesan continues, addingthat he was was both surprised and saddened when helearned that his book was the first to tackle the Tamil-Canadian immigrant experience.
Inspired by the works of famed Indian author R.K.Narayan, as well as noted comic book writer AlanMoore (who gives a stirring recommendation on ThePanic Button), Kankesan attempts to write in a veryfrank and honest way.
“Narayan changed my life,” says Kankesan. “I recog-nized what he was writing, I saw myself and my familyin his works—and the best part, he was able to befunny.”
Upon returning to Sri Lanka for a trip in 2001,Kankesan had hoped to meet with Narayan. As fatewould have it, Narayan died the day Kankesan’s planelanded.
The Panic Button in its current form was shortenedfrom an earlier, unpublished piece—but there may bemore to come.
“I hope it does well, I am thinking about a sequel,”Kankesan concludes. “Something bigger, longer, andmore grand.”
Church 18 Holdings’intentions: “Our client iswithdrawing these appli-cations, without prejudiceto its ability to submitnew applications in thefuture.”
While further proposalsfrom Church 18 Holdings,controversial or not, can-not be ruled out, it is clearthat this scale of develop-ment will be unlikely onthe Church/Gloucestersite.
One key player inopposing the develop-ment is the Church-Wellesley NeighbourhoodAssociation. Macraeadvised the group of thewithdrawal of the plans in
writing on Aug. 19. Hethanked the associationfor “your patience, hardwork and dedication to theneighbourhood.”
He was also somewhatenthusiastic in his ownannouncement of thewithdrawal. For him, itwas “good news for aFriday afternoon.”
bility for pedestrianscrossing at intersec-tions.”
Pedestrian safety is amajor concern of theCRA. Raised intersec-tions put an emphasis onpedestrians, which wouldfit with City Place, whereclose to 80% of residentsdo not commute by car toand from work.
Fort York Blvd. willalso soon be opened up toBathurst St. , bringing
even more traffic into theneighbourhood. With twoschools, a communitycentre, daycare, and a pub-lic library being builtalong Fort York Blvd. ,managing both pedestrianand vehicular traffic nowis important and—theCRA believes—the timeis right to do it while theroads are still being built.
Given the location ofthe City Place communi-ty, residents also face agrowing problem of street
parking. Residents ofGrand Trunk Cresc. havecomplained to the CRA,saying visitors to the AirCanada Centre make thestreet a congestive night-mare on event nights.Visitors will just park onthe street illegally andaccept the fine becausethe price of parkingaround the arena for gameevents is so steep.“Making Grand TrunkCresc. a tow-away zonewill be enough of a deter-rent to keep the peace inthe neighbourhood,” said
Maher.Parking issues have
also plagued residents of15 Fort York Blvd., wherea new Fox and Fiddlerestaurant—coupled withthe removal of no-park-ing signs—has made thestreet a virtual free-for-allfor those looking for freeparking. According toMaher, “we can expectthere will be some freeparking in the communi-ty. But it is vital there isparking enforcement soresidents and guests to thecommunity are not takingadvantage of the situa-tion.”
Cityplace traffic problemsfrom page 1
from page 1
Cancelled development
Ryerson’s Vietnamese Student Association dancegroup will perform on Sept. 17 as part ofHarbourfront Centre’s Tet Trung Thu: Mid-
Autumn Festival. The day-long festival is co-producedby the Vietnamese Women’s Association of Toronto.Visit www.vwat.org for more information.
Local dancers at fall festival
First-hand inspiration setsscene in Tamil-Canadian tale
Kankesan hopes to write a sequel to his first novella.
Cyclists use paths for safety, bike union counters
$1000 awarded by local charity
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September 2011 6 www.thebulletin.ca
and I want to see a plan forall of that. I’ve only livedin this community forfive years and I haven’tseen one more blade ofgrass in the whole area.Why don’t you fix whatwe’ve got before you keepbuilding?”
Business owners lookforward to more customersas people move into thecondominiums—if theycan stay in business. Theyfear that developments
moving into the area areseen as an improvementand this will force com-mercial assessments—andtaxes—to rise.
John Anderson ofMorningstar Furniture, a
long-time Yonge St. busi-ness owner, pointed outthat his taxes have risen9% each year over the pastsix years—going from$32,000 per year up to$60,000. He fears another
increase will force manyindependents to closetheir doors permanently.
“Any of those who havehad experience with MVA(market value assessment)means that we just quadru-pled or five timesimproved the values of allthe surrounding stores,which means that all of usmerchants and owners onYonge St., are looking ata 400 to 500% increase inour taxes. Maybe thedevelopers are aware of itbecause it will kill thestreet,” Anderson calcu-lates. “This is what I see
happening.”Area residents and busi-
ness owners are passion-ate that they are notignored while developersmove in and change thelandscape of the area andthey are united in preserv-ing what makes YongeSt., one of a kind.
“What are unique are thesmall shops,” one gentle-man stated. “We have todo what we can to preservethe small shops, other-wise people like[Anderson] and the peoplehe was talking about areall going to be gone andwhat ever is left that isunique about Yonge St., isgoing to be gone and thedevelopers don’t careabout that.”
Information aboutdevelopments in thenorth Yonge St. area canbe found through theChurch WellesleyN e i g h b o u r h o o dAssociation web site atwww.cwna.ca or atwww.kristynwongtam.ca.
Yonge St.residentsfrom page 1
Government Site Partners Government Programming Partners Corporate Site PartnersLead Summer Partner
DANCE NextSteps 2011/12 Harbourfront Centre’s globally inspireddance series NextSteps launches its6th season on Sept. 22. The line-upincludes the best companies fromToronto and across Canada includingProArteDanza, Toronto Dance Theatre,Ballet Creole and others. Buy a FlexPass and save up to 50%!harbourfontcentre.com/nextsteps
FOOD/FAMILY Hot & Spicy FoodFestival presented bySept. 2–5 | FREEThe summer’s premier food festival isback and bigger than ever! Four savourydays packed with a full menu of culinaryarts, music, film, demos and dance.harbourfrontcentre.com/summer
MUSIC Summer Music in the GardenThrough Sept. 18 | Toronto Music Garden(475 Queens Quay West) | FREEEnjoy free concerts of classical andtraditional music from around theworld. Most Thursdays at 7pm andSundays at 4pm.
235 Queens Quay W. Toronto, ON Info: 416-973-4000 harbourfrontcentre.com
St. LAWRENCE MARKET Event calendar for September!
Every Saturday we enjoy a talk from local historian Bruce Bell, and
cook up delicious new recipes in the kitchen.
When? Every Saturday 9 - 10 a.m Where? The Miele Gallery at
The Market Kitchen (west mezzanine of the South Market).
Cooking Classes We have a full line up of cooking programs in September. To see all classes being offered visit stlawrencemarket.com
Sept 10 Knife Skills 101 Interactive demo 1 – 3 p.m. $50/personSept 28 Paella Hands-on 6 – 8 p.m. $50/personSept 30 Tapas party and shopping tour Hands-on 6 – 9 p.m. $85/person
To register, call us at 416.860.0727 or email [email protected]
Attendance is free!
September 2011 7www.thebulletin.ca
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Jennifer Atkinson
After a year offundraising andseveral trips to
Nicaragua, Front andChurch street residentJessica Chaikowsky cutthe ribbon on the schoolto honour the life and sac-rifice of fallen Canadianaid worker Shirley Case.
As reported in theDecember 2010 edition ofThe Bulletin, ShirleyCase was shot down bythe Taliban in Kabul inAugust 2008 after a lifeserving others. Withprojects in Indonesia,Chad, and here in Canada,“Shirley did more in her30 years than most of uscan even contemplate,”Chaikowsky says. “Wewanted to do somethingto celebrate her life andcontinue her legacy ofhelping others. The expe-rience for all of us waslife-changing.”
The Toronto team ofShirley’s Superninjas—along with Shirley’s fam-ily—successfully raisedenough funds to complete
the four-room school-house and will now beworking to build a secondschool in partnershipwith Canadian grassrootscharity SchoolBOX.Many of the Toronto-based group made the tripto Monte Olivo in north-west Nicaragua to workside-by-side with thecommunity carryingbricks, mixing cement,and hand-twisting therebar to build the struc-turally sound school.
Co-operation betweenthe ministry of educationand community leadersensures a sustainableproject. Continued sup-port from SchoolBOX isprovided so the childrenhave the school suppliesto regularly attend class-es, something many fami-
lies can’t afford to pro-vide.
Work on the secondShirley Case School isscheduled to begin earlyin 2012. For more infor-mation on how to getinvolved, please visitwww.schoolbox.ca/shirl-eycase.
Concerned residents and business owners from Yonge St. packed the room on Aug. 24.
School building campaign a success for local group
By John Bessai
Pr o d u c e r ,Harbourfront resi-dent and novice
lawyer Harry Cherniak istreading the TIFF red car-pet this year as he debutshis short film Pathwaysat the festival.
This is the second TIFFshort film submissionfor Cherniak’s produc-tion company InfloFilms, which he operatesalong with writer-direc-tor Dusty Mancinelli.The team’s first filmSoap aired on CBC’sCanadian Reflections andwas recently licensed to astation covering Russiaand the Baltic States.
At its core, Pathwaysexplores the question ofwhether violence begetviolence: the story isreal and raw, with strik-ing visuals.
As the producer,Cherniak was involvedin everything from work-ing with Mancinelli todevelop the script, to
getting the fundingorganized, to scoutingand securing the loca-tions, hiring the crewand casting the actors.
One challenge wasfinding railway trackwhere a cargo train wouldlikely come by withineach hour. Since the railcompanies don’t releasetheir schedules to thepublic, finding out cargotrain schedules was noteasy. Surprisingly,Cherniak found that thereare many people whospend their time onlinesharing informationabout cargo trains andarmed with inside infor-mation, Mancinelli andCherniak spent a wholeday location scoutingand train watching.
Pathways will be play-ing as part of Short CutsCanada Program #6 at theBell Lightbox #2 onSept. 14 at 5:30 p.m. andSept. 15 at 1 p.m. Checkout www.inflofilms.comor “like” www.face-book.com/inflofilms.
‘Raw’ short debuts at TIFF
The Gooderhamand Worts neigh-bourhood associ-
ation is celebrating itstenth anniversary thisyear with a street saleon Sept. 17 from 9a.m. 2:30 pm at Trinityand Mill streets.Shoppers can enjoy abarbecue from 11:30a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saletables will include newand old treasures. E-mail [email protected] to rent space.
GWNA marksdecade withsale, BBQ
Downtown resident andactor Derek Kwan will beappearing in the upcom-ing world premiere of theplay A Fool’s Life byJapanese-Canadian the-atre company AhuriTheatre, at the TheatreCentre at 1087 Queen St.W. from Sept. 30 to Oct.8. For information, visitwww.ahuritheatre.com.
Unique runon IslandBy Jordan Hill
Sept. 18 will markthe 13th anniver-sary of the
Toronto Island TerryFox Run. This run isheld in memory ofIsland resident andlong-time Terry FoxRun volunteer TerryMetcalfe. Metcalfe wasan avid “Terry Foxer”and established a TerryFox run at the localIsland Public School.Sadly, she passed awayin March 1998 due tolung cancer at the ageof 44.
Inspired by her dedi-cation, Metalfe’s sis-ters Marie and Jennifercreated the Island run inher memory. The run isa unique run comparedto many other runsites, as there are nocars to interrupt thepeaceful 2K and 5K to10K routes alongwhich participants arefree to run, walk, blade,bike—the run routetakes the participantsfrom one end of theIsland to the other,starting at Wards,reaching down toHanlan’s and loopingback to Ward’s.
The run starts at 10a.m. at Ward’s IslandA s s o c i a t i o nClubhouse, with regis-tration opening up at8:45 a.m.
E-mail [email protected] formore information.
Open housefor seniors’theatre prog.
Act II Studio is hold-ing its autumn informa-tion day on Sept. 9from 10:30 a.m. untilnoon at POD 250,Jorgenson Hall, 2ndfloor, 380 Victoria St.the nearest subwaystop for this locationis College St.
The studio is a cre-ative drama centre andtheatre program forolder adults (50 plus)run by Ryerson’s con-tinuing educationschool. Founded in1988, the studio isknown internationallyas a leader in older adultcreative education.
For information, call(416) 979-5000 ext.6297 or [email protected].
are Thornton-SmithBuilding, Richard S.Williams Block, HoratioBoultbee Shop, JohnWanless Building, AlfredWalton Shops, JohnMcBean Building, and theGerrard Building.
Wong-Tam wants themgiven “designated” sta-tus. “We are going tomove toward giving fulldesignation to thoseproperties so that way wecan protect them.”
Part of the solution topreserve heritage build-ings lies in giving YongeSt. landlords an incentiveto invest in their proper-ties and keep them prop-erly maintained and ingood condition.
But Wong-Tam sayslandlords have lackedsuch an incentive becausefor the past 10 years thecity has offered them novision for their street’sfuture. That creates uncer-
tainty for landlords sothey hesitate to invest—not just in heritage build-ings but in properties ofall types and ages.
“What property ownersare saying to me is if theydon’t feel comfortable andsecure that their street andtheir investment have afuture then they’re a lotless likely to invest inthe upkeep of their build-ings,” says Wong-Tam.
“So we want to givethem a plan, a certaintyand the confidence toinvest.” That way says
Wong-Tam “they’re goingto become good stewardsof the street.”
Wong-Tam wants to getYonge’s revitalizationstarted by focusing on thestretch between Dundasand Gerrard, possiblywith a pilot project nextsummer that would usebollards or street furnitureto widen the sidewalks onweekends.
The councillor has widesupport for her plan with-in city hall and from thecommunity. RyersonUniversity, for one, she
says plays “an absolutelycrucial” part in the planbecause of its size and theproliferation of its stu-dents that traverse Yonge.
Another importantmember on board is theDowntown Yonge BIA.Executive director JamesRobinson sees the overallcommunity as having“come together with avision.”
He says the plan“makes heritage animportant part of thefuture development of thestreet.
It provides a vision forkeeping that heritageaspect but also allowingfor height and density tobe done in a very respect-ful way.”
Another person show-ing interest in the plan isRob Ford, says Wong-Tam.
She gave him an hour-long briefing in which hesuggested the plan hadpros and cons but in theend “he said anythingthat’s pro business hewould be in support of. Igot some green lights togo ahead.”
The report makes sever-
al recommendations:first, levels higher thanheritage buildings mustbe setback.
Also, a second entranceand exit at the Dundassubway station should bebuilt. Street lightingunique to Yonge should bedeveloped, and largeretailers should be keptabove or below grade. Inaddition, restaurantsshould encourage outdoor
seating.The report also propos-
es that the district attractquality high-tech retail-ers, which is a first step inmaking Downtown Yongemore available to innova-tive and green businesses.Live performance venuesshould be restored as well,while increasing the fre-quency of street eventssuch as night markets andfarmer’s markets.
from page 1
Wong-Tam is asking planners to balance the needs ofbusiness against the benefits of heritage preservation alongthe Yonge St. corridor, above, along with the local BIA.
Report callsfor streetscapeimprovements
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September 2011 8 www.thebulletin.ca
Dennis Hanagan
Some people groan atthe approach ofSeptember and the
thought summer has cometo an end. But not JeromeBrown of St. Jamestown.He can’t wait for it to gethere. That’s because the21-year-old standing at 6’4” has been drafted by theNational BasketballLeague of Canada andtraining camp starts Sept.15.
If the former Central
Tech student gets the finalokay at camp he’ll jointhe Mill Rats bas-ketball team inSt. John, NewBrunswick whenregular seasonstarts in October.He’ll have com-petition from twoother players atcamp, but Brownisn’t worried.
“I still have to passtraining camp, but thatshouldn’t be a problem,”says Brown.
Brown likes to work outin the gym at his nearby
W e l l e s l e yC o m m u n i t yCentre where hedoesn’t mindhelping otherplayers developtheir skills.“They ask me tohelp them, so Ihelp them.”
He’s been playing sinceage 10 but his interest inbasketball didn’t reallystart until he attendedEastern Commerce after
he switched to that schoolfrom Central.
“I started getting reallyserious when I got toEastern,” says Brown.But pressed for furtherexplanation he givescredit to his parents.
“It’s in my genes. Mymom played. My dadplayed. I just started lov-ing the game.”
The point guard andshooting guard was draft-ed in mid-August aftershowing his skills in try-outs at Seneca College.
“I’m quick, strong, ath-letic, a good handler withthe ball. I can shoot mid-
range and I’m good ondefense,” says Brown ashe thoughtfully lists hisstrengths.
But even though heknew what he was capableof it still took proddingfrom his friends to gethim to attend the tryouts.“They just kept pushingme, pushing me a lot. Afriend told me ‘go for it.It’s a great opportunityfor you and your family.’”
Brown’s mom Janice isglad for her son’s accom-plishments and hopes towatch him play when histeam faces those inOttawa and Oshawa. “I’m
proud of him. He’s mov-ing forward in his life andhis future. I always sup-port Jerome in what hewants to do.” His sisterCherika feels the sameway. “He’s living his life.He’s doing what he wants.I’m happy for him.”
Brown hopes to eventu-ally join the NationalBasketball Association.Looking even furtherdown the road he pondersthe idea of becoming abasketball coach.
But that’s still a longway off. “Right now I’mlooking forward to theseason,” he says.
Homegrown hoops star has high hopes