Toronto should join the chorus

By Mike Layton

As Canadians, we celebrate our differences from coast to coast, but there is one important thing that we all share in common, our natural environment.

As spring blooms we are reminded of the beauty of the world around us. We reflect on the importance of the natural environment and how it nurtures and sustains us. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat. We all contribute to it, we all have an impact on it, and we all benefit from it.

There is an undeniable link between human health and environmental health. The City of Toronto recognized this long ago, and we are investing now for our future and for the future of our children.

We work hard to prevent smog days by reducing air pollution and have invested in infrastructure and programs to prevent pollution from entering our waterways because we know the damage it can cause. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that environmental contamination, including polluted air and water, causes as many as 36,000 premature deaths annually in Canada.

So why isn’t our right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and have clean soil in which to grow food protected under the law?

A hundred and ten governments around the world have recognized that their citizens have the right to a healthy environment, but not Canada.

Five provinces and territories (Quebec, Ontario, the Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) have some form of environmental rights legislation and six cities in Canada have passed environmental rights declarations, including Yellowknife, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Still, Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not explicitly recognize or address environmental rights, leaving us among the few countries that do not yet recognize the rights of its citizens to a healthy environment.

Many Canadians, including one of my personal heroes, David Suzuki, think that environmental rights should be protected under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and I agree.

That is why I put forward a motion at the May 5 meeting of city council recommending that Toronto join the chorus of cities who have passed environmental rights declarations in support of the Blue Dot campaign, an initiative of the David Suzuki Foundation and its partners.

The foundation has been working with cities across Canada to recognize the rights of their citizens to a healthy environment with the adoption of a municipal declaration of environmental rights.

My motion recognizes that all people have the right to live in a healthy environment, to breathe clean air, drink clean water, consume safe food, access nature, know about pollutants and contaminants released into the local environment, and to participate in decision-making that will affect the environment. The motion was referred to the Executive Committee for a public hearing in June.

Toronto needs to re-establish itself as a champion of environmental stewardship and the emerging low-carbon economy. We have made some progress.

Last year, I moved a motion at the Parks and Environment Committee to establish a subcommittee on climate change and recommended that Councillor Gord Perks be appointed as chair.

The Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Subcommittee had their first meeting on March 2, 2015. It was the best attended meeting of this term of council.

Public deputations went until midnight as residents and experts shared their ideas and priorities with city councillors.

The issues shared ranged from urban agriculture to clean air, and from transit to animal habitats. Further public hearings and round tables on these issues will be hosted by the subcommittee in the coming months.

A Toronto declaration of environmental rights would show support for our residents’ rights to clean air, clean water, and safe food, signalling Toronto’s continued leadership in building a healthy, sustainable city and drawing attention to the Canadian Charter’s unfortunate silence on environmental issues.

Mike Layton is a Toronto city councillor for Ward 19.

Artist was fascinated by Yorkville and hippie culture

Michael Waage was from Queens, New York. He came to Toronto in the 1960s working for a circus and loved it so much he returned. He became a street worker or social worker helping Yorkville hippies. Waage moved out to Vancouver in the early 1970s and passed away in 2006 from lung cancer. Courtesy of a private collection

By Joan Tadier

It was 1967: the year of Expo in Montreal, the Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury was in full swing. Love was in the air and flowers were in our hair. Yorkville Village was abuzz with music, hippies, Blow-Up, The Penny Farthing, The Purple Onion, the Riverboat, and much more.

Artist Albert Chiarandini rented a studio near Yonge and Bloor streets. He had arrived in Canada in 1932 at the age of 17, and enrolled at the Ontario College of Art, where he studied under the guidance of Frederic Challener, John Alfsen, and Franklin Carmichael of the Group of Seven.

The centennial anniversary of his birth is celebrated this year. Chiarandini frequented Yorkville, looking for interesting models. He was fascinated by hippies and the hippie culture, and wanted to capture their way of life on canvas. Many of them agreed to model, and he created several portraits.

Ten of these hippie portraits will be displayed together for the first time at Gallery Gevik (12 Hazelton Ave.). The paintings come from private collections, the Carrier Gallery, the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery, and the University of Ottawa.

One is owned by the City of Toronto and hangs at City Hall. Chiarandini kept a detailed list of names of the hippies he painted. From this list, with the help of Linda R. Goldman and others, names can be linked to the paintings.

Chiarandini was a versatile artist. He painted society portraits, commentary pictures, and landscapes. In 2004, nearly 200 of his paintings were donated to the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery in Sutton, by the art collector Bruce Smith.

This major collection was included in The Group of Seven Project, citing Chiarandini as “the unknown member of the Group of Seven”.

The exhibition Chiarandini: Yorkville Hippies will take place at Gallery Gevik, June 13­ to 20. There is a musical event on Saturday, June 13, 1 to 5 p.m., starring prominent musicians from 1967 Yorkville: Keith McKie, Dede Higgins, Klaas Van Graft, Sebastian Agnello, and Stan Endersby.

On Sunday, June 14, from 1 to 5 p.m. Yorkville 1960s superband Luke and The Apostles will be playing an outdoor concert. The exhibit will include photographs, 1960s memorabilia and clothing.

—With files from Linda Goldman. Joan Tadier is Albert Chiarandini’s daughter.

Avoiding the consumer trap that awaits new parents

About five years ago, the first of my friends had a child. I was viewing the periphery of this mega-industry and didn’t really appreciate what the environmental impact of having a First World baby was until I was faced with having one of my own. The industry is more hawkish than the wedding industry — convincing every parent that unless their kids have helmets to sleep in, they might spontaneously combust (I wish I was joking about the sleeping helmets, but they actually exist).

The industry has also equated spending copious amounts of money on an infant with love — not unlike De Beer’s campaign, which equates large diamonds with true love.

What was amazing to me was the sheer volume of baby stuff we are told we need — stuff that has a life cycle of at most three years (maybe five or six if siblings are involved) and it inevitably ends up in the landfill. We are already swimming in plastic waste and now encouraged to buy more products with short life spans.

My way of decreasing my personal baby footprint was to host a “wisdom party” in lieu of a baby shower. Since five of my girlfriends have their due dates around the same time as mine, I decided to invite the neighbourhood moms and grandmoms to share their bountiful baby advice with us.

In the invitation, I also asked these moms and grandmoms to bring used baby items they no longer needed.

What I found was that those who still had such things were more than happy to pass them on. A lot of used baby stuff is still in great shape, but the moms don’t know what to do with it. Gifting used items seems awkward, so a lot of things just sit there. The societal pressure of buying things new also renders a lot of the stuff to the dump. To have a request for used baby items seemed to be a welcome change.

I also learnt that there is an Annex Parents Facebook group. I joined recently and posted my need for more baby preparation items. I was able to obtain great secondhand items at a fraction of the retail price. I also kept more plastic junk from flowing into the landfill for the time being.

I don’t believe raising a child should be this much of an environmental burden.

Yes, our lifestyles are not sustainable by definition, but we shouldn’t have to add to the craziness. I’m told my perspective might change once my baby cries and I rush out and buy whatever device might give my sanity a few precious minutes of relief.

Certainly that bridge is for crossing when I get there. In the meantime, it’s great to know I live in a fantastic neighbourhood with a parents group that shares a minimal waste philosophy.

So far I have seen postings for art classes, gently used children’s items, babysitting, etc. There is no doubt it is a good resource for new parents in the area.

Going used also has benefits beyond simply saving money and keeping things out of the landfill. When it comes to baby toys, products, and clothes, many items available in Canada are manufactured for a U.S. market where it is mandated they be doused in flame-retardant chemicals. These chemicals have been shown to be both carcinogenic and neurotoxic. In other words, you don’t want your baby exposed to this stuff. Getting used items has the benefit of some of it having been washed off over time (though no guarantees). A safe alternative is to buy baby sleepwear that is made in Europe (a solution that hardly decreases your carbon footprint).

There are no easy answers to raising a kid it seems. We can only do our best. It’s great to know there are groups out there like the Annex Parents that can help even just a little bit.

Terri Chu is an engineer committed to practical environmentalism. This column is dedicated to helping the community reduce energy use, and help distinguish environmental truths from myths. Send questions, comments, and ideas for future columns to Terri at terri.chu@whyshouldicare.ca.

How to spice up the kitchen this spring

Nothing seemed more delicious to us as kids when we got in the door right after school on a cold day than hot buttered raisin bread toast lavishly sprinkled with cinnamon and white sugar with a cup of hot chocolate.

In Mexico and Guatemala, Mayans make drinks from barred chocolate specially prepared with granulated sugar and densely peppered with cinnamon. The texture is ready to mix easily with hot milk or coffee.

When I lived in Costa Rica, an agrarian paradise, I researched and wrote articles on locally grown products and I wrote about cinnamon.

I was surprised to find out that commercially grown cinnamon or “canella” is not cinnamon at all but a hybrid called cassia.

Ground cinnamon is more difficult to distinguish from ground cassia.

True cinnamon is tan in colour with a warm, sweet flavour, whereas ground cassia is a reddish brown, usually coarser in texture, with a more bitter, stronger flavour and a more aromatic bouquet. Cassia comes in peeled and unpeeled quills, as well as ground.

For health benefits, you must use true cinnamon. If you’re ready to start taking cinnamon as a natural remedy, check with a naturopath for dosages and origins.

True cinnamon is available in Toronto at various spice specialty stores. House of Spice in Kensington Market is an excellent location.

The origin countries of cinnamon are Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Ingesting cinnamon will lower cholesterol, aid in blood sugar regulation, offer yeast infection help, provide cancer prevention, and give anti-clotting and arthritis relief. It is antibacterial when added to foods. Smelling cinnamon boosts cognitive brain function. It also fights E. coli in unpasteurized juices, and it is high in the following nutrients: manganese, fibre, iron, and calcium.

The Cinnabon chain has a pretty good gimmick. They pipe their smell out into the areas outside the store doors to get you in. Their buns are very rich and dense. A bit too much sometimes for my lactose intolerance issues.

I am leaning toward the West Indian bakery these days at the Bathurst subway station to get a roll on the run. They are only $2.50 and they are huge. The bread dough is great and I can slice, toast, or freeze them.

When we went to sleepaway camp as kids, there were weekly menus.

Fridays at lunch we always had homemade “Chelsea buns”. They were so fresh and yummy — I can still smell that mess hall aroma — and so will you when you try this recipe. You can make as much of the sticky stuff as you want and you can add or subtract the cinnamon you add to taste.

Cinnamon buns

Makes 10 large ones. This is not that hard, just requires a bit of organizing.

• Easiest homemade white bread
• 1 package or 2 teaspoons dried yeast — the longest expiry date             possible
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water

Sprinkle yeast over water. Let stand 8 to 10 minutes. Stir to dissolve then add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 3/4 cup warm milk or cream to yeast mixture. Stir well.

• 3 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix these next 3 dry ingredients well. Little by little add everything together. Knead on lightly dusted board until a smooth ball forms. Round up in a large greased bowl, cover with foil, let rise till double. I use a glass bowl (about 1 1/2 hours). Punch down for a second rising. It gives a finer texture.

Sticky bit

• 1 cup brown sugar, light or dark
• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter
• 4 teaspoons finely ground cinnamon (or more if you prefer)

With a hand-held pastry cutter or food processor cut butter into sugar and cinnamon only until mealy. Place 1/3 of mixture into a greased 9 by 12 baking pan.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over and blend. Set remaining 2/3 aside. Roll white bread dough out on lightly floured board — not too thin — rectangular.

Sprinkle remaining cinnamon mixture over. You can scatter on some moist raisins and bits of peeled chopped apple, roll up jelly roll style.

Cut into about 10 pieces and place cut side up in pan leaving ample space to rise. Cover with a damp towel and let rise again about 1/2 hour. Bake at 400 degrees for around 20 minutes. Invert and cool.

Frosting

Optional frosting. When completely cool using a butter knife spread on the top.

Blend with a wooden spoon:

• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Just enough milk to spread easily over pan of rolls

Seaton Village resident Susan Oppenheim is Java Mama, an independent coffee roaster, baker, avid traveller, and activist. She is the mother of three adult children and the grandmother of three. Susan can be reached by email:?javamama. susan@gmail.com.

Portrait of Joseph Bloore, 1850. Unknown photographer.

Necropolis Cemetery (200 Winchester St.)is the final resting place of Bloore, his wife Sarah, and their daughter Susannah. Photo: Brian Burchell, Gleaner News

Joseph Bloore co-founded Village of Yorkville

By Cole Burchell

Nestled among the tall trees of Rosedale Valley lies the Necropolis Cemetery, home to the peaceful resting places of Jack Layton, William Lyon Mackenzie, and another headstone that also bears a familiar name, albeit with an additional “e.” Joseph Bloore, the namesake of the bustling street we know today as Bloor Street, helped to develop and modernize the young city of York. He created places for family and community to grow; and set a model for city-building that current developers should emulate.

Born in 1779 in Staffordshire, England, he was a Methodist who immigrated in 1811 to Canada, where he quickly became a prominent figure in early Toronto.

Bloore owned a hotel at 157 King St. E., known as the Farmers’ Arms Inn. Today the site of the hotel is home to the St. Lawrence Hall. In 1830, Bloore sold the hotel and built a brewery in the Rosedale Valley. The building was made completely of red brick and was powered by water from nearby Severn’s Creek that Bloore damned for use with the brewery. The subsequent pond was popular among local families for ice-skating. Bloore operated the brewery from 1830 to 1843 when it was bought by John Rose, a fellow brewer, and renamed the Castle Frank Brewery.

Map of Yorkville 1878. A commuter “suburb” with its own waterworks, firehall, and cemetery. Sheriff Jarvis rejected the original proposed name of Bloorville. Map by Alfred Cotterell. Courtesy Toronto Public Library – Special Collections

Bloore’s Brewery operated from 1830 to 1843. It was located beneath what is now the Sherbourne Street bridge just north of what was then First Concession Road, now Bloor Street. Watercolour by Richard Baigent (1865).

In the same year that he sold the hotel and built the brewery, Bloore founded Toronto’s first annexation and “commuter suburb” with Sheriff Jarvis: the Village of Yorkville. It was originally set to be named Bloorville, but Jarvis was opposed to this and so it became the name of the area now known for its high end shopping. The small community utilized its own waterworks, town hall, fire hall, and cemetery. That graveyard, located at the northwest corner of Yonge and Bloor streets, was known as York General Burying Ground, later Potter’s Field, and was Toronto’s first non-sectarian cemetery. There is no longer a field of course, but a plaque commemorating a field. The remains and the monuments moved to Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Necropolis Cemetery between 1851 and 1881.

Upon his retirement, Bloore bought a considerable portion of land on the north side of First Concession Road Line. This road was renamed three times: first St. Paul’s Road, then Sydenham Street, and finally Bloor Street as we know it today. It is unknown when, or why, the “e” was removed. At the time, he donated some of the land he had bought to a local church group in the area.

Joseph Bloore died on Aug. 31, 1862, at the age of 74. His physicality has been lost to the ages, although there exists an intimidating portrait of the man. In the photo, Bloore, his lips turned into a curmudgeonly sneer, stares out from huge white overexposed eyes with a piercing gaze.

So, the next time you walk down Bloor Street, remember its namesake, his piercing gaze, and his contribution to our city.

But please, add an “e”.

A tower of cubbyholes built to yesterday’s standards

By Terri Chu

Architect’s rendering of the proposed 42-storey tower for 316 Bloor St. W. Photo courtesy 316 Bloor West Developments Ltd.

I have to admit, I’m not particularly fond of the development proposal at 316 Bloor St. W. First off, one has to ask what is the point of an 18-metre height restriction when developers think a 132-metre building proposal is fine and dandy. However, I digress. I’m more concerned about the environmental impact of their plan.

It is important to note that, in general, high density living means a lower environmental footprint. This is not some mere speculation but has actually been calculated and demonstrated based on a comparison between condo and suburban living. The big driver for this decrease is transportation energy. Having learned the craft of Life Cycle Analysis from some of the best minds in the field, I will say with confidence that the math is only as good as the assumptions we make. There is no doubt that people who live within biking/walking/transit distance to where they need to go will create far fewer emissions than people who drive SUVs to the corner store. The 316 Bloor St. proposal has 535 bike parking spaces for its projected 535 units. However, what we often don’t consider is the secondary energy use.

The plan includes units ranging in size from 275 to 644 square feet. To put that into perspective, my university dorm room was not much bigger than 275 square feet. When there’s a lack of space to enjoy yourself in your own home, entertain friends, and cook food, we tend to fill those needs outside our own space. A 30-minute visit to any condo lobby in City Place will show that the majority of groceries going up in the elevators consists of prepared food in single-use disposable containers. It is hard to blame this on anyone trying to cook in a kitchen with a footprint as a big as a tea towel. Any kind of sustainability initiative on the transportation front is made moot by a mountain of Styrofoam clamshells in the back dumpster.

A tall, narrow building design increases the surface-area to volume-ratio of the building, which results in a lot of surface area from which heat is lost. The developer answered my concerns about high levels of heat loss by assuring me that the building would be compliant with Ontario’s building code … a building code that was last updated three years ago to finally include some standards put forth in the 1980s. That’s about as reassuring as knowing a vintage car meets postwar era emission standards. From a developer in one of the most populous cities in Canada, I think it’s reasonable to ask for leadership in sustainability, not code followers. The current building code will basically allow it to leak like a sieve while everyone turns on their space heaters to keep warm. Flickering lights of late already indicate that we are under severe stress on our electricity grid, and we really don’t need another energy hog to make matters worse.

I’m all for higher density living, but I’m not convinced that this project will lead to higher levels of sustainability. By merely meeting the minimum requirements of the building code and creating units that will foster a need to eat takeout, I don’t believe this development will make our community greener in the slightest.

Sustainability means we do it right and take into account how to make the space liveable, reduce carbon (including secondary effects like buying things made elsewhere), and lessen the impact on the overall neighbourhood. If young people living in cubbyholes don’t have enough space to cook and need to eat prepared food, the local businesses will adjust to their needs. It also means an increase in the availability of those products and a decrease in the availability of goods with less packaging.

Sustainability means looking at the whole picture. The development at 316 Bloor St. W. takes a view as narrow as the building itself.

Gleaner correspondent gets a different view joining a nighttime patrol of the downtown core. A fender-bender, a distressed teenager causing a disturbance at home, and a search for a an elderly man suffering from dementia represent a typical shift. Photo: Brian Burchell, Gleaner News

Ride-along reveals unique perspective on policing in Toronto

By Cole Burchell

At the start of every shift, each member of the Toronto Police Service straps on a bulletproof vest before hitting the streets for a night that could bring anything. It isn’t often that the ranks of the service approve a member of the public to ride along in one of their squad cars, which they call scouts. But, one evening last month, I was lucky enough to get such an opportunity.

I rode with Sergeant Erik Epperson in a scout through the area covered by 14 Division, which includes a wide swath of downtown between Spadina Avenue and Dufferin Street, and from the lake to the Canadian Pacific rail line at Dupont Street. In addition, the division splits Parkdale with 11 Division and patrols the south side of Queen West to the lake.

It was a slow night at 14, as Sgt. Epperson gave me a guided tour of the new station on Dovercourt Road, now only two years old. I saw cell-blocks, interrogation rooms, two floors of underground garage, a parking lot equipped with its own gas pump, and a central headquarters. The state of the art building features geothermal heating and cooling, has a living green rooftop, and can generate its own electricity for weeks if necessary. Not a suspect, complainant, detainee, or police officer, I had a vantage point not often seen by the public eye.

Subsequent to the tour, the sergeant and I proceeded to the scout. The front seat, a very comfy one at that, gave a great view of the computer system placed within every car. The computer is the brain of the car, complete with a messaging service and GPS and hundreds of other features, all for the purpose of law enforcement.

After a quick explanation of the vehicle’s technology, we pulled out of the station and were on our way. Immediately, we received a call about a collision on Lakeshore Boulevard. We arrived on the scene and checked it out; it was a classic rear-ended fender bender. After everything was settled and the cars were being hooked up to tow, we took a drive over to the garage where all restorations of police vehicles in Toronto occur. The vast space housed everything from boats to mobile command units to horse-trailers.

After we got back into the cruiser a new call appeared on the car’s computer network. It was concerning a missing person, whose age was above 60, who had wandered from her seniors’ residence and hadn’t been seen since 10 a.m. that morning.

The sergeant described to me experiences on similar calls and said that sometimes those who suffer from dementia walk in a straight line, not necessarily going anywhere. On occasion, the service receives calls for seniors who have wandered right into the lake. The computer beeped, signalling that another cruiser was taking the call after being notified by dispatch.

That night we also received notice that a mentally ill man had supposedly destroyed the contents of a home; earlier that day I had seen his parents in the station asking for assistance. We arrived at the scene and Sgt. Epperson instructed me to stay in the car while he and two other officers entered the residence. After a few suspenseful moments in the car I heard a knock on the back door and was motioned inside by another officer. I was expecting to see substantial damage to the property, but when I entered everything was in near perfect order. Sgt. Epperson motioned me around the corner, and there was a large houseplant that had been uprooted from its planter. The distressed man was put safely in the back of a scout and taken to hospital for an evaluation, and the sergeant and I continued on our shift.

In between calls, Sgt. Epperson and I engaged in a lengthy conversation regarding law enforcement, its involvement with post-secondary education, and the recent stigma surrounding police forces in North America. He told me that a vast majority of recruited officers have post-secondary education, and that there is a common misbelief that most officers join the force immediately out of high school or with only a secondary diploma. It’s usually only after pursuing other opportunities that professionals change their focus to policing.

We also talked about C-51, the Conservative government’s new anti-terror legislation.

He said that in his view, which he believes is shared by most of the police service, the bill is nothing to be afraid of if you have nothing to hide. He also explained that issues of incompetence are revealed and dealt with at the recruiting level, and aspiring officers will not be inducted if the screening manager observes immaturity and incompetence. Sgt. Epperson added that the police service reflects the city’s diversity, and has officers from hundreds of different ethnic backgrounds.

After my long night in the squad car, it became clear to me that policing is a job like any other. It’s obviously more diverse and challenging, but a job nonetheless. A common misconception is that police enjoy “busting” the public. Rather, the truth lies in that police are just doing their jobs, the same as anyone else. There is still a pile of paperwork lying on their desks at the end of the day, which in many cases is the most boring part. Riding in a scout gave me a unique perspective on policing both in Toronto and in southern Ontario, one that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

photo: Russell Lazar, Honest Ed’s

A recent sale of Honest Ed’s clever and quirky interior signs raised $2,500 for the Toronto Police Service’s 14 Division Youth Scholarship. Donor David Mirvish (right) with Gleaner publisher and scholarship coordinator Brian Burchell hold one of the signs that was auctioned off: “Free ride in a police car if you shoplift from this store”.

Make cycling safer in Toronto

By Joe Cressy and Albert Koehl

Many people fear change, even when research suggests they should welcome it. The same is true in Toronto where projects like bike lanes that promise benefits to our health, air, businesses, climate, and traffic circulation are nonetheless treated with some suspicion. This is part of the problem in the long-standing fight to make cycling safer in Toronto, including on Bloor Street in our neighbourhood. Fortunately, there is a safety net for such projects — a simple planning tool known as a “pilot” that not only shows people what a change might look like, but provides an opportunity to work out any unforseen problems.

In January of last year, the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) asked then Ward 20 Councillor Adam Vaughan for a pilot bike lane on Bloor Street. The call for a pilot was supported by all five neighbouring residents’ associations (Harbord, Seaton, Palmerston, Huron-Sussex, and Christie Pits). In fact, the installation of bike lanes on Bloor Street has been part of the ARA’s cycling policy since 2011. At a public meeting in Oct. 2012 there was overwhelming support for bike lanes, as well as other safety improvements for the many area residents who get around by bicycle.

With a new city council in place as of Dec. 2014, planning has already commenced for a pilot bike lane on Bloor Street for Apr. 2016.

The case for bike lanes on Bloor Street is fairly well-known: the route is flat and unencumbered by streetcar tracks; there is a subway beneath the road; and many people continue to cycle on Bloor Street, despite the absence of cycling safety measures. These were some of the factors that were identified in a City of Toronto report two decades ago when Bloor-Danforth was identified as an ideal east-west cycling route. Since that time the case for bike lanes on Bloor Street — and across Toronto — has only become stronger.

In a 2013-14 study by Toronto Public Health (TPH) as part of its “Healthy Canada by Design” initiative, Annex residents identified bike lanes on Bloor as their top “active transportation” priority. In a number of recent reports, TPH has made it clear that the lack of safe cycling infrastructure deprives many residents, particularly motorists, of the health benefits of this enjoyable form of exercise.

In a 2012 review of cycling deaths, Ontario’s chief coroner recommended the implementation of “Complete Streets”, namely streets that can be shared safely by all road users, particularly vulnerable ones such as cyclists and pedestrians.

An earlier study by the Clean Air Partnership found that motorists bring only 10 per cent of the business to local shops — about the same amount as cyclists (even though cyclists are relegated to the risky door zone of parked cars, or squeezed perilously close to the curb during rush hour).

The same study found that parking in Green P municipal lots could make up for most of the loss of parking on Bloor Street. (Indeed, there are also hundreds of free daytime parking spots along side streets.)

Family-oriented bike parades by Bells on Bloor along Bloor Street over each of the last seven years have drawn up to 2,000 cyclists. Perhaps more importantly, residents continue to cycle along Bloor Street, despite the absence of measures to protect them. Imagine the potential for more shoppers to the area if bike lanes were actually installed.

The gist of these studies, reports, and observations is that our community has very good reason to welcome bike lanes on Bloor Street for the safety, health, environmental, and business benefits. A pilot project is an effective planning tool to move the idea towards reality while ensuring that the best design is chosen for our community.

For many years the calls for a bike lane on Bloor Street have grown louder and louder. Many high schools students at Central Technical School and University of Toronto Schools want bike lanes for a safer ride to school. Many residents want bike lanes to alleviate congestion and support healthy lifestyles. And many businesses want bike lanes because, simply put, they are good for business.

We believe the time is now to bring bike lanes to Bloor Street. And in 2016, with the support of many throughout our community, we’re looking forward to safely cycling along Bloor Street. We hope you’ll join us on that ride.

Four island airport expansion studies underway

A C100 series Bombardier Aircraft (seen here departing Shanghai), is the model that Porter Airlines proposes to fly out of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport.

By Annemarie Brissenden

Torontonians attending an open house on Mar. 31 got their first look at what changes could result if jets were to begin flying in and out of the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (BBTCA).

PortsToronto (formerly the Toronto Port Authority) hosted the meeting to report on its Master Planning Exercise, which explored the theoretical impact the introduction of jet aircraft would have on airport vision, runways, taxiways, passenger activity, and noise, among other factors.

The results of the study indicate that air carrier slots could be increased from 202 to 242, and still remain within the estimated annual movement capacity limit detailed in the airport’s 2012 Master Plan. If hourly slots increased from 16 to 24, passengers travelling in and out of the airport would increase from 850 to 1,300, resulting in an increase from 2.7 million to 4.1 million passengers on an annual basis.

Adding jets would necessitate the relocation of a number of electronic navigational aids, and jet blast deflectors would be required at each end of the runway to mitigate the effects of jet blasts during takeoff. Ports-Toronto is also considering a road to the airport’s south field that “would tunnel under the west runway extension, providing access to potential future general aviation development and to Toronto Island when normal ferry access is unavailable”.

Some things that wouldn’t change include the length of the marine exclusion zone (although it would get slightly wider on the north and sides of its west end, and slightly wider on the south side of its east end); approach lighting from the water; and aircraft approach slopes. The study does not report on noise barriers; wind, wave, and ice considerations; or community impacts, as those areas are being reviewed under separate — yet connected — initiatives.

The Master Planning Exercise is but one of four studies that resulted from Toronto City Council’s April 2014 vote to defer making a final decision on whether to allow jets to fly in and out of the island airport. The other studies include a comprehensive environmental assessment, preliminary runway design, and a Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Plan. PortsToronto is undertaking the first three, while the City of Toronto is managing the Bathurst Quay Plan. Each study is being developed in coordination with the others, and involves extensive public consultation and engagement.

PortsToronto representatives stress that its pursuit of these studies should be not be taken as indicative of support of, or opposition to, the Porter proposal.

But Norman Di Pasquale, chair of NoJetsTO, a group opposed to the expansion of the island airport, isn’t convinced.

“[PortsToronto] is effectively declaring war on our waterfront with [its] vision of a major jet airport,” said Di Pasquale in a statement dated Mar. 31. “The expansion plans are even worse than we feared, with a doubling of passengers to 5.5 million [a] year.”

Air Canada, which from the island airport only offers flights to and from Montreal, released a statement Apr. 2 responding to PortsToronto’s planning exercise that reiterated its opposition to jets at Billy Bishop airport. The airline has campaigned for access to more slots, 85 per cent of which are held by Porter Airlines, arguing that Air Canada’s limited access to slots prevents it from serving other short-haul markets, as demanded by its customers.

“We prefer to see a growing downtown airport focused on short-haul passengers using modern turboprop aircraft, which would be more consistent with the spirit and intent of the original tripartite agreement at Billy Bishop,” stated Derek Vanstone, the company’s vice president of corporate strategy, government, and industry affairs. “Ports-Toronto’s focus on jets is not defensible, as Billy Bishop certainly can prosper and grow as a turboprop airport.”

In a follow-up statement, Di Pasquale welcomed Air Canada’s stance.

“We are glad that one of the two tenant airlines at the island airport is taking a stance against jets,” said Di Pasquale. “NoJetsTO agrees with Air Canada that jets would violate the spirit and intent of the Tripartite Agreement.”

Billy Bishop is operated under a Tripartite Agreement between the City of Toronto, PortsToronto, and the federal government. Under the terms of the agreement, all three parties must agree to any changes before they can come into effect.

For further information on the Master Planning Exercise, or any of the four studies now underway regarding the expansion of the island airport, please see: www.portstoronto. com/PortsToronto/Proposed-Extension-of-Billy-Bishop-Toronto-City-Ai.aspx.

—with files from Samina Esha

The Mirvish Village Business Improvement Area is hosting a sidewalk sale on Saturday, May 2 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Vintage wares, artist’s creations, and new merchandise will all be featured, and local restaurants will offer up their tasty bites. This year’s new roster of live music will include performances from the Combo Royal, Toby Hughes’ Jazz Band, The Big Trio, Matt Simpson, and Indie Guitarist. Remax is giving away 100 free hot dogs from 12 p.m. onward, and it’s free comic book day at The Beguiling!