Gleaner

Serving Toronto's most liveable community with the Annex Gleaner

ON THE COVER: Snowshoes and a red sweater (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER: Snowshoes and a red sweater (Dec. 2017)

This year’s annual holiday cover comes to us courtesy of the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery of the University of Toronto’s Art Museum. Winter Woods by Walter J. Phillips (1884-1963) is a 9.5 by 11 centimetre colour woodcut that is part of the Winter Woodcuts Portfolio. Born in Engand, Phillips was a Canadian painter and printmaker who is credited with bringing the Japanese style of colour woodcut to Canada.

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Tags: Annex · Arts

NEWS: Height-ened fears (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · 2 Comments

Residents still concerned about BSUC proposal

COURTESY KPMB ARCHITECTS An artist’s rendering of the proposed redevelopment of Bloor Street United Church. The heritage aspects of the church will be restored, and a 38-storey mixed-use tower added to the church grounds.

By Geremy Bordonaro

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Tags: Annex · News

FOCUS: Radical reverend finds new home (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on FOCUS: Radical reverend finds new home (Dec. 2017)

Cheri DiNovo leaves politics for ministry at Trinity-St. Paul’s

GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS After 11 years in provincial politics, Cheri DiNovo is returning to the Annex and her ministerial roots. She performed the first legalized same-sex marriage in North America when she was a minister at Emmanuel Howard Park United Church.

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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: Celebrate the solstice with Kensington’s festival of lights (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Celebrate the solstice with Kensington’s festival of lights (Dec. 2017)

MATT JAMES/GLEANER NEWS FILE PHOTO

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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: City budget balanced on thin ice (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on CHATTER: City budget balanced on thin ice (Dec. 2017)

City Manager Peter Wallace tried again, in vain, to alert members of city council to the threat posed by hedging the city’s budget against the apparent unrelenting strength of Toronto’s real estate market. The city has enjoyed explosive growth in revenue from the land transfer tax over the last ten years, and projections for next year suggest that Toronto will get $808 million, four times what it got when the tax was first introduced.

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Tags: Annex · News

CHATTER: Cyclists prey for open doors (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Cyclists prey for open doors (Dec. 2017)

The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) of city council has been asked to help reduce the number of “doorings” — when a car door is opened into the path of an oncoming cyclist — in Toronto. Although this falls under the provincial jurisdiction of the Highway Traffic Act, one advocate believes the city needs to act.

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Tags: Annex · News

FORUM: Fairness and cleaner air (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on FORUM: Fairness and cleaner air (Dec. 2017)

A case for road tolls

By Tim Grant

Why is the idea of charging drivers for the use of roads something that provincial politicians steadfastly avoid?

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Tags: Annex · Opinion

CHATTER Deals disappear with December demolition!! (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on CHATTER Deals disappear with December demolition!! (Dec. 2017)

BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS Deals fell to the floor as the Honest Ed’s demolition continued with the dismantling of masonry, lumber, and steel. Originally divided by a city-owned alley called Honest Ed’s Way, the store’s sections were constructed very differently. Pictured here is the west annex, which was built on the houses that once stood there and featured crooked floors, because the houses were not built to the same elevations.

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Tags: General

EDITORIAL: Intolerance leading to Quebec’s decline (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Intolerance leading to Quebec’s decline (Dec. 2017)

In 1995, Quebec sought independence from Canada through a referendum, the second time since confederation. It failed by the narrowest of margins — 54,288 votes. The leader of the independence movement, the late Parti Québécois leader and premier Jacques Parizeau, upon learning the news of defeat gave a revealing and memorable speech in which he said “Battu par l’argent et le vote ethnique” (we were beat by money and the ethnic vote).

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Tags: Annex · Editorial

FORUM: Looking back on 2017 in Ward 20 (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on FORUM: Looking back on 2017 in Ward 20 (Dec. 2017)

Ensuring our communities are livable, sustainable, and equitable

By Joe Cressy

It wouldn’t surprise you that we’ve had a busy year together in Ward 20. We’ve made critical strides as we work to build our communities and a city that is more equitable and sustainable for all. We’ve worked hard on the dozens and dozens of development files that populate downtown, creating new green spaces, and building livable communities. And as we look back on another year, we have a lot to be proud of.

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Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion

YEAR IN REVIEW: Marking major anniversaries (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on YEAR IN REVIEW: Marking major anniversaries (Dec. 2017)

A celebratory year in review

GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS Ten Editions Bookstore (698 Spadina Ave.) is at the centre of tension between town and gown. Heritage Preservation Services has recommended adding the building to the city’s protected list of heritage sites, but the university wants to tear it down to make way for a new student residence at Spadina and Sussex avenues.

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Tags: Annex

ARTS: Exceptional gifts (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on ARTS: Exceptional gifts (Dec. 2017)

Arts, culture, film, and music

COURTESY BLOOR STREET CULTURE CORRIDOR Tickets for a Calypso Rose and Kobo Town show at the Royal Conservatory of Music make a great gift.

By Heather Kelly

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Tags: Annex · Arts

GREENINGS: No solutions for nobody’s problem (Dec. 2017)

December 15th, 2017 · Comments Off on GREENINGS: No solutions for nobody’s problem (Dec. 2017)

Governments must move sooner to address issues big and small

By Terri Chu

If it’s nobody’s problem, does it really need to be solved?

Scientists are once again sounding the alarm about the untenable amount of plastic in the world’s oceans. It is estimated that there will soon be more plastic in the ocean than fish. This is a problem. But whose problem is it anyway?

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Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion