Major Street residents band together to welcome new Canadians By Leah Borts-Kuperman At a Christmas party in 2015, ten neighbours living in Harbord Village decided to contribute $1,000 each to help Syrian refugees. The group, which would eventually call themselves the Major Street Refugee Initiative (MSRI), would go on to raise $80,000 and support a family […]

[Read more →]

A Holocaust survivor, “he had no bitterness, always looked at the good” By Ron Csillag, The Canadian Jewish News Zoltan Zimmerman, whose Zimmerman’s Discount store was among the last of the old Kensington Market shops that sold a bit of everything and was a mainstay of the cacophonous neighbourhood for more than six decades, died in […]

[Read more →]

Conservative candidate absent for climate-dominated debate By Ahmed Hagar Every candidate but the Conservative party’s Helen-Claire Tingling running to represent the constituents of the University-Rosedale riding made it to the planned all-candidates forum on October 7. The climate crisis dominated the conversation and all present agreed that implementing policy to combat it was critical, but […]

[Read more →]

In July, the Gleaner reported that once again the illegal pot dispensary operating out of 104 Harbord Street just west of Spadina had been raided by police. Jeff Brodie who claimed to be a legal residential tenant of the premises was evicted because the building was being used as an illegal cannabis store. Police erected […]

[Read more →]

Despite the public outcry city staff have still not taken steps to address the concerns of residents about the neglect of Paul Martel Park located on Madison Avenue. City councillor for University-Rosedale Mike Layton has joined the chorus of those advocating for a solution, “I have made repeated requests to parks staff to have the […]

[Read more →]

Monica Maitland, who was a student at Central Toronto Academy, has won this year’s safety scholarship from Toronto Police 14 Division. Pictured above from left is Staff Sgt. Tam Bui, Monica Maitland, and Brian Burchell, Scholarship Chair (and publisher of this newspaper). Monica overcame significant family hardships but still managed to make her community a […]

[Read more →]

Gleaner asks hopefuls 5 key questions Questions compiled by the Gleaner editorial board. Answers are edited for length and clarity. Election date is October 21, 2019. For more information on voting, please visit elections.ca.  The United Nations and the Parliament of Canada have declared that we are in a climate emergency and a tipping point […]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]

Staff unresponsive to concerns about Paul Martel Park By Juan Romero  If you are on Madison Avenue, just north of Bloor Street West, you will see on the west side of the street a place with benches and grass right behind the Spadina bus station; that place is Paul Martel Park, a spot that the city […]

[Read more →]

Annex advocacy group wants to hold city to its promise By Juan Romero The City of Toronto has approved the extension of the bike lanes on Bloor Street from Shaw Street to High Park and a local activist group is trying to make sure the project gets fulfilled. Bells on Bloor was founded back in […]

[Read more →]

Last spring, long-time Harbord Village business owner Tino Tabares learned that the building that housed his gas station, Torreira Import Auto Service, was going up for sale. With the business under threat, the neighbourhood stepped up to help, but in the end, it was not enough. The chair of Harbord Village Resident’s Association (HVRA) Gus […]

[Read more →]

[Read more →]