This canoe at Christie Pits Park serves as a planter for milkweed, essential for the survival of monarch butterflies. It is also a source of nectar for bees and other pollinators. COURTESY JODE ROBERTS, DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION

COURTESY JODE ROBERTS, DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION

Tired canoes re-purposed as pollinator point

By Samina Esha

On July 18, Homegrown National Park, a David Suzuki Foundation project, hosted their second successful year of a community Canoe Garden after last year’s effort to enhance Toronto’s green space.

The goal of the project is to fill canoe planters with native plants that are friendly for bees, insects, and birds to help with the pollinating process.

“My son helped plant one of the first canoes. So he has this deep connection to this canoe and the plants at Christie Pits. Every time we are down there he has to go and check it,” said Jode Roberts of the David Suzuki Foundation.

In 2014 the project was expanded into neighbourhoods throughout the Garrison Creek corridor, and it has recruited about two dozen trainees called Homegrown park rangers, who live, work, and play in their prospective areas.

“We connect them with different groups and encourage them to focus on the issues they are interested in. Then we let them loose while supporting them with their projects,” said Roberts.

Spearheaded by Parkdale resident and Homegrown ranger Aidan Dahlin Nolan, along with the David Suzuki Foundation, the project aims to see canoe planters installed in a number of city parks, including Christie Pits, Trinity Bellwoods, Little Norway, Bickford Park, and Stanley Park. Inspired by authors Richard Louv and Douglas Tallamy, the team embarked on a mission to establish the world’s first Homegrown National Park.

Dahlin Nolan got the idea about canoes and green space while he was camping with friends at the Algonquin Park.

“I started pitching different ideas to Ph.D. programs until I joined the David Suzuki Foundation,” said Dahlin ­Nolan, who is project lead for Community Canoe and a Ph.D. student at York University. “The community really came forward for the Stanley Park Canoe. The plants we planted are suitable for bees and butterflies and other pollinating insects, and each canoe has a canoe captain who is a member of the community and is responsible for watering and weeding. So, there is someone always looking after them.”

Last summer the group fundraised 5,000 dollars over 20 days to buy used canoes and plants for the garden. And this summer they are continuing this process with schools and parks. The crowd-funded project to turn Toronto into Canada’s first Homegrown National Park was the first step to changing our ever-busy everyday grey life in this urban city.

All of the canoes so far have been through the old route of Garrison Creek and next year the group aims to remind Torontonians about the routes of other old river paths. However, finding these canoes can be hard.

“When canoes are busted people usually just send them out to landfills so there is a scarcity of retired canoes. We usually get most of them from donation or buy fixer uppers from Kijiji so the money raised is mostly used for planting. I currently have three canoes sitting in my back yard,” said Roberts.

Roberts also mentioned that the David Suzuki Foundation is constantly coming up with different projects. “We encourage and welcome people to go to the davidsuzuki.org/homegrown website where all of our different activities are listed. Some of these projects include planting pollinator gardens at school yards and parks hosting educational events regarding the environment, and generally encouraging people to get connected with nature,” said Roberts.

Teamed with neighbourhoods, volunteers, and experienced park rangers with diverse backgrounds, the project aims to bring residents, businesses, and institutions together to plant native trees and grow gardens. It challenges people to connect to nature.

“In the long term a canoe is just an element we can add to the parks or different green spaces including front yards, back yards, streets, rooftops, alleyways, and all the bits between them. It is the first step towards a more pollinator friendly green space,” said Roberts.

The second annual Homegrown Park Crawl is a celebratory event that brought participants through four city parks along Toronto’s former Garrison Creek. Renowned broadcaster, author and scientist David Suzuki joined the parade organized by his foundation. NEILAND BRISSENDEN/GLEANER NEWS

When the Sonic Boom record store moves out this October, a Bad Boys Superstore will move in. The 12,000-square-foot space is located on the corner of Bathurst and Bloor and is part of the Honest Ed’s building complex. The plan was announced on July 20 during Honest Ed’s 66th anniversary celebration; David Mirvish presided at the event, which featured free T-shirt giveaways, free lunch, and a family magic show. Mirvish said he was “proud to reveal the partnership with Blayne and Mel Lastman of Bad Boys.” Like Honest Ed’s, Bad Boys will offer discount prices on its merchandise. “We thought putting [both stores] side by side would be a great shopping experience,” Mirvish said. “Bad Boys intends to continue for many many years.” Honest Ed’s will still be closing its doors on Dec. 31, 2016. “I didn’t want to say good-bye in two weeks the way retail stores usually do, so we’ve taken three years to say good-bye and we have a long life here still,” Mirvish said. The Honest Ed’s site is slated for redevelopment by Westbank Properties of Vancouver. Head of advertising at Honest Ed’s, Franca Longobardi, is pleased with the partnership and the turnout at the celebration. Every year is full of familiar faces and new customers of Honest Ed’s. “I think it’s exciting, I’ve been here such a long time and it hurts me that we have to leave one day, and the fact that Bad Boys is coming in is giving me hope that I’m going to be around for a couple more years,” Longobardi said. Blayne Lastman of Bad Boys says this partnership is worthwhile. “With the Honest Ed’s name and the Bad Boys name, finally after 60 years in the making it was a great deal.” The Annex can look forward to discount prices on brand name furniture, electronics, and appliances until Dec. 31, 2016.

—Chantilly Post/Gleaner News

Trinity-Spadina (Ward 20) welcomed new city councillor Ceta Ramkhalawansingh this past July.

Long-serving city councillor Adam Vaughan resigned this spring for a successful run in a federal by-election in Trinity-Spadina. He is now the new member of parliament for the riding. Ramkhalawansingh was appointed by city council on an interim basis until the municipal election this fall.

Nothing but kind words have been said about her appointment by local residents’ associations.

Having been connected to Ward 20 for over four decades, Ceta has activated for issues throughout the spectrum from the establishment of a feminist studies program at the University of Toronto to minimizing the barriers faced by immigrant families with the Toronto school system. “[Ceta] knows the ropes,” says Tim Grant, chair of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association. “We are very pleased to have her.” “[Having] worked with Ceta over the years in her position with the Grange Resident’s Association, [we] admire her tenacity and dedication towards civic issues,” says David Harrison, chair of the Annex Residents’ Association, which was in support of her appointment. Ramkhalawansingh’s involvement within the community is evident, and the mark she has left is undeniable. She recently completed an almost 30-year career as a city staffer where she retired as Toronto’s diversity manager.

Ramkhalawansingh has no plans to seek the seat in the October 27th election.

—Meron Asefaw/Gleaner News

Iacobucci calls for a shift to a “zero deaths” police culture

By Brian Burchell

It’s been just over a year since Sammy Yatim was shot and killed by Toronto police on a TTC streetcar on Dundas Street.

Constable James Forcillo of Toronto Police Service (TPS) 14 Division was charged just 30 days after the shooting by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) with second-degree murder.

At the same time, Police Chief Bill Blair commissioned a review of the force’s use of force by police specifically in cases involving emotionally disturbed persons. Blair asked former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci for a review that focused on service-wide issues and how to make the force more effective in such encounters with the public.

This move by Blair is an unusual step which underscored a sense that the issues at hand go well beyond the specific circumstances of the Yatim shooting, but it also allowed Blair to show that a transparent and arm’s-length assessment was needed of TPS policy and procedures in such circumstances.

Justice Iacobucci released his eighty-four recommendations under nine broad topics on July 24, 2014.

The retired supreme court justice was not hesitant to observe that there needs to be a change in police culture, as well as more specialized training, increased availability of special intervention teams, the equipment of front line officers with body cameras, an increased use and an assessment of conducted-energy-weapons (or tasers as they are commonly known), more selective police recruitment strategies, and regular assessments of the mental health of police officers themselves; perhaps outside of his mandate, Iacobucci also made recommendations about the intersection of the mental health care system in Ontario and the role of the Toronto police.

Chief Blair welcomed the recommendations and he vowed at the press conference in remarks about the report that “this will not gather dust, but momentum.”

Gary Pieters, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, welcomed the report: “What we would like to see is that this report gets into the hands of every single rank and file officer. We want to see that the recommendations, and the steps to make those recommendations reality in the daily work of policing, are embedded into the culture of these officers.”

According to the report, the TPS is dispatched to approximately 20,000 calls for service annually to “persons-in-crisis”, and about 8,000 of these events involve apprehensions under the Mental Health Act. Of these encounters, between 2002 and 2012, five have resulted in “emotionally disturbed persons” being fatally shot.

The data supplied by the TPS did not include 2013 and therefore does not include the shooting of Sammy Yatim.

In the TPS only supervisors carry tasers as an alternative to the more lethal weapon of a service revolver.

The taser proved to be utterly useless in the case of the shooting, as a sergeant arriving late to the scene demonstrated by choosing, perhaps inexplicably, to use it on Yatim after he had been shot nine times by Constable Forcillo.

Peter Rosenthal, a social justice lawyer, responded to questions from the Gleaner about the report and specifically about the suggestion of increased access to tasers for front-line officers. “In general, I welcome the Iacobucci Report. Its recommendations about de-escalation are excellent, and that is the crucial reform that is required to lessen police killings.”

Rosenthal was critical of the report’s recommendations around taser usage, especially since tasers are not the weapons that should be used when the person that police are facing has a weapon.

“The recommendation to increase taser use, even in a limited way, is unfortunate in my view. Many officers currently have tasers. The training is NOT to use a taser if someone has a weapon. This is because a taser is not adequate as an alternative to a firearm. The reason is clear: a taser is not reliable enough to ensure protection if a suspect presents an immediate threat of serious injury or death. Tasers are not effective unless both darts land properly, and it is very difficult to aim tasers, especially if the target is in motion (as the target can move substantially during the time the darts fly through the air). Thus increased availability of tasers will mean many people will be victims of taser use (as has happened even with the present restricted taser use) and it will not lessen police killings.”

The director of communications for the Toronto police, Mark Pugash, also responded to questions from the Gleaner about the report, specifically about the next steps and what has changed in the force since the shooting of Yatim: “The recommendations have not been costed. Keep in mind that the Iacobucci report also touches on bodies other than the TPS. Chief Blair has created an external advisory committee and made clear the sense of urgency he feels with respect to implementing the recommendations. The Iacobucci report was commissioned in the aftermath of the shooting, to examine our training, policy, procedures, equipment, supervision. It has come back with 84 recommendations. We have started the process of implementation.”

Pugash urged that people recognize “the shooting of Sammy Yatim by a Toronto police officer last year was one percent of a much larger picture, and the report helps us see all the rest.”

Vaughan’s vacancy creates competition

By Madeline Smith

Ward 20 is one of the toughest races in this year’s municipal election. Without an incumbent, the ward has attracted a huge selection of candidates—the most city council hopefuls in all the ward races— with 22 currently in the running.

Running from Dupont Street to the waterfront, Ward 20 is bounded by University Avenue to the east and Bathurst Street to the west, with the northernmost part of the ward stretching west beyond Bathurst Street to Christie Street.

Former city councillor Adam Vaughan held the Ward 20 seat for nearly two terms after being elected in 2006. But he resigned in June to run in a federal by-election, which he won. Ceta Ramkhalawansingh was named his interim replacement in July, but she is not running for re-election, leaving the seat truly up for grabs.

Determining the best approach to new development is the most prevalent and contentious issue throughout Ward 20.

Many of the communities are concerned with preserving the original character of their core neighbourhoods and avoiding intensification of residential areas. “Part of the problem is that most of Ward 20 is zoned as downtown,” Harbord Village Residents’ Association (HVRA) chair Tim Grant says. “Therefore, when developers are looking at a map, they think, ‘Why can’t we put a 40-storey building at Spadina and College?’ But buildings like that would overwhelm the nearby neighbourhoods.” The approval of a 24-storey residence building at 245 College St. for U of T students is one such building, which the HVRA and the Grange Community Association both opposed.

Development that leads to gentrification is also seen as problematic in some Ward 20 neighbourhoods.

In Kensington Market, residents mobilized to protest plans to build a Loblaws store, and they most recently fought against plans to build a big-box retail complex with a Walmart. Kensington Market resident Dominique Russell says the issues in her neighbourhood point to Toronto’s overall development challenges. “All the issues that face Toronto are really writ large in Kensington Market,” she says, noting the trends of longtime residents being pushed out by unaffordable housing and increasing gentrification driven by developers bringing chain stores to main streets. “A true mixed income neighbourhood is becoming less and less of a reality.”

Robert Lunney, Director of Condo Relations for the Toronto Entertainment District Residents’ Association, is also in favour of mixed-use proposals—something not always on the table at first—in a neighbourhood where 18 condo buildings are currently in development. “We coexist well with the people who work in the offices here. The residents want to come out on the street to go to restaurants and use the public spaces, and people who work in those buildings want to live close by, so the property values increase.”

Making room for pedestrians, cyclists, streetcars, and cars alike on Ward 20’s main streets is a challenge. Brian Burchell, chair of the Bloor Annex BIA and publisher of the Annex Gleaner, says the stretch of Bloor Street between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street is especially dangerous for cyclists. “We want to slow the street down. The cars that come through on Bloor Street are not necessarily our customers — they’re commuters,” he says.

“There’s a tension between city building and community building. Maintaining main street business tracts is important to both goals. We may need fewer cars on Bloor and more transit options.” In the southern part of the ward, Lunney says King Street is “a mess,” and echoes Burchell’s hope that commuter traffic travelling through the neighbourhood can be significantly slowed down or diverted elsewhere.

There is a lack of green space in Ward 20, which is also a concern linked to development—once completed, new condo buildings will increase the ward’s dog population despite the lack of space to exercise them.

The need for green space is a major factor in the battle over the planned redevelopment of the Central Technical School field.

Perhaps Joe Cressy likely has the best name recognition in Ward 20 out of the 22 candidates on the ballot. He has already been campaigning in the Trinity-Spadina community for months, after running unsuccessfully for the NDP in the federal by-election for Olivia Chow’s seat — which he lost to former Ward 20 city councillor Adam Vaughan. He has aligned himself with Ward 19 incumbent Mike Layton as well as with Chow’s mayoral campaign.

Terri Chu is an engineer and community activist from the Annex, and authors a monthly column for the Annex Gleaner. She is the founder of Why Should I Care?, a non-profit group that hosts meetings to discuss political issues and encourages citizens to get involved in community affairs.

While this is Chu’s first time running for political office, she has the support of former councillor Adam Vaughan’s campaign team, and four Ward 20 candidates dropped out of the race and endorsed her in the days leading up to the nomination deadline.

Candidate Graham Hollings is an ESL teacher and community activist from Kensington Market. He is best known for his work with the group Friends of Kensington Market and their successful campaign against development company RioCan’s plan to build a big-box retail development, including a Walmart store, next to Kensington Market.

Hollings’s platform focuses on promoting mixed-use development and overhauling transit and cycling infrastructure.

Anshul Kapoor worked as a digital communications specialist for Rogers before entering the Toronto political scene as the founder of the organization No Jets T.O., which gave him a platform to speak out against the expansion of Toronto’s Island Airport. He believes introducing jets at the airport will jeopardize the revitalization of the waterfront.

Annex Residents’ Association board member and environmental lawyer Albert Koehel works for a non-profit environmental law organization and is a 25-year resident of the Annex. He is a founder of Bells on Bloor, an event that calls for better safety for residents and cyclists.

Koehel also advocates to protect migratory birds from collisions with windows of downtown high-rises and has won precedent-setting cases against landlords under the Environmental Protectional Act and Species at Risk Act.

Among the aforementioned notable candidates is Sarah Thomson. Thomson entered the Ward 20 race less than a week before the nomination deadline after abandoning her mayoral campaign. She also previously ran for mayor in 2010 and campaigned for a provincial seat for the Liberal party in 2011. Thomson has earned significant media attention in the past for what some consider to be publicity stunts, which include claiming to have the Rob Ford “crack video,” only to release a promotion for her transit plan instead.

A full list of candidates is available by ward at app.toronto.ca/vote/ wardList.do.

A rich treasure of design and history awaits

This is the second, and final part, of this year’s of this year’s Grading our Greenspace, our annual parks review, writers visited twelve local parks to rate them on a variety of factors, including amenities, cleanliness, and ambience. Do you agree with our assessment? Send us your thoughts to gleanerpub@gmail.com.

George Ben Park

Ossington Avenue, just north of

Dundas Street West

Time: 2:00 pm

Grade: C (Last year C)

Reason to go: Being a part of St. Luke Catholic School makes George Ben Park not too much of a park. Equipped with three benches, garbage cans, and a field—which the school uses also—this park would be ideal for any field sports or sprints, which frequently occur. Along the field are newly planted trees which over time will bring nice shade to the open space. There is also a baseball diamond that could use some updating and the grass could also do with some maintenance. Across the park on the east side is a fully equipped playground if the field gets boring.

Overheard: Children playing at the park across the road

Fact: George Ben sits on top of what was known as Garrison Creek.

An oasis of wild flowers and vegetable plots awaits visitors to this green space shielded from College Street noise by the Lilian Smith Library.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

Lillian Smith

Corner of Huron and Spadina, behind the library

Time: 12:00 pm

Grade: B

Reason to go: Lillian Smith Community Garden is a peaceful sidebar from the busy streets of College and Spadina. Filled with all kinds of wild flowers and vegetables, this community garden is lush and in full bloom. Located directly behind the library, it would be a great place to grab a book and enjoy a nice read. The park is divided up into separate plots where individuals can choose what they want to plant.

Overheard: Young men chatting over lunch

Fact: This community garden is named after Lillian H. Smith, who increased children’s services throughout Toronto.

Glasgow Parkette

11 Glasgow St.

Time: 12:15 pm

Grade: C-

Reason to go: By day, this park would be ideal for a busy street hideaway as it is situated in Glasgow alley off Spadina. There is a bench and a minor grass lounge area, which is all this small park has to offer. A few steps across the alley are the back doors of people’s houses, which cuts down on the ambience, and the park would not be safe once it gets dark because it is in an alley and a bit hidden from the busy streets.

Overheard: Construction from Spadina

Fact: The water fountain is broken, and looks like it has been untouched for a while.

This is a solemn place. A memorial to many who died during the pe- riod of the War of 1812. Still the park is a free flowing green space worth a stroll.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

Victoria Memorial Park

Bathurst and Wellington streets

Time: 12:30 pm

Grade: B (Last year A)

Reason to go: Being in the middle of the city, this park offers both the sounds of birds chirping loudly and cars driving by. It seems to be the spot for the condo-living dogs to run around in a space larger than their homes. The grass could definitely use some maintenance with the weeds almost taking over. The garbage bins are located at the outer sides of the park, which is why there is a handful of garbage left on benches. On the west side is a playground for the families that also occupy the park and have a rest while taking their toddlers for a stroll. In the middle is a statue of an older soldier that goes unnamed, but brings the together as a whole with original gravestones located at the east end of the park.

Overheard: Dog owners whistling to their dogs

Fact: Victoria Memorial Park was once a military cemetery created in the late eighteenth century.

Clarence Square

Spadina Avenue and Wellington Street

Time: 3:00 pm

Grade: C (Last year: N/A)

Reason to go: As a prime example of an inner city park, Clarence Square offers spacious benches and an off leash dog area. Lying between Spadina and Blue Jays Way makes for a busy environment that is mainly used for the hustle and flow of employees on break or going to and from work. There are a few garbage bins, but they appear to not be used judging from the amount of garbage all over the park.

Overheard: Dogs barking, birds chirping, traffic, and a man snoring

Fact: Across the road is Le Neuf Café, perfect for grabbing a coffee and croissant to enjoy in the square.

The live mini-steam train is worth the visit in Roundhouse park, bring a child to justify your visit, or just indulge yourself in the history of this great space.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

Roundhouse Park

Corner of Lower Simcoe Street and Bremmer Boulevard, near the Gardiner Expressway

Time: 3:30 pm

Grade: A (Last year A)

Reason to go: This fun and spacious park is located in the midst of Toronto’s tourist attractions such as the CN Tower, Ripley’s Aquarium, and the Rogers Center. The park was created in 1997 and has a live mini steam railway running through it. There are a few benches and great areas to snap some photos of the old building that still remains. The walkway throughout the park can take you to the Railway Museum and the Steam Whistle Brewery.

Overheard: The mini trains driving on tracks

Fact: Roundhouse is 17 acres large and was formerly the Railway Lands.

A beautifully executed arbour provides just the right amount of a sense of enclosure and is complimented by pavers with matching curvature.
BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS

St. Andrew’s Playground

450 Adelaide St. W.

Time: 2:00

Grade: B (last year **)

Reason to go: What makes this park a great place to lounge is the beautiful long curved arbour that sits in the centre, but being an inner city park there will always be some sort of graffiti or tagging, and in this case some tags are on the gazebo. Nonetheless, it provides great shade and relaxation. St. Andrew’s Playground has a small playground, dog off-leash area, many benches, and areas shaded by the variety of trees. The park seems to be maintained regularly with no signs of extensive litter and an overall cleanliness. As it is located directly off Adelaide Street West, one is easily a part of the rush hours in the city, but this doesn’t take away from the natural ambience of the park.

Overheard: “Jack, just let the birds eat.”

Fact: Neighbouring the park on the corner of Brant and Adelaide streets is Brant Street Café, a well-spoken-of diner with all kinds of great home-cooked dishes.

Lisgar Park

60 Lisgar St.

Time: 1:00

Grade: N/A (last year **)

Reason to go: Lisgar Park is currently under renovation with the major focus being on creating a more community friendly venue for the Queen West neighbourhood. New amenities will include sculptural seating, canopy trees, planting areas, and art poles made of timber from an industrial building adjacent to the park. These poles will provide

light to the upgraded venue, maintain event power, and stand as an event/art foundation. Date of completion is set for 2016.

Overheard: Trucks and construction.

Fact: Lisgar Park is located on a former, early 1900s warehouse site.

Canoe Landing Park

95 Fort York Boulevard (nearest intersection Spadina Avenue/Fort York Boulevard)

Time: 6:00 pm

Grade: B+ (last year n/a)

Reason to go: Opened in 2009, Canoe Landing Park in the Harbourfront neighbourhood is eight acres of privately constructed parkland which offers a great deal of creatively designed green space for residents “trapped” between the train tracks to the north and the Gardiner Expressway to the south.

A berm built at the south end supports a large red canoe, designed by artist Douglas Coupland, and from this vantage point one can see Lake Ontario over the Gardiner. Soil excavated from the foundations of neighbouring condos was used to construct the berm. Other displays of work by Coupland include some fishing bobbers between which water shoots out of the decking sporadically to the delight of children.

The park features an artificial surface being used at the time of the review for a pick-up soccer game, porta-potties, lots of green space, and a beaver dam artificial water feature that is not functioning. The artificial surface is surrounded by the Terry Fox Miracle Mile – two laps equals one mile.

Fact: The park is the result of Concord CityPlace developments and is unique at many levels not least of which is that it is a “private” park, intensively used by the public.

Suggestions for improvement: This park scores high for design, but suffers from lack of maintenance of the green spaces, and the impressive beaver dam water feature should be made functional.

Ex-candidate for federal seat eyes city seat

By Joe Cressy

Toronto is a great city. Survey after survey ranks Toronto amongst the top cities in the world.  And we have much to be proud of: unique and engaged neighbourhoods; a diverse population; financial and innovation hubs; a thriving arts and cultural industry; and green spaces that rival those anywhere in the world.

And yet, and yet … there are so many problems still to be resolved: gridlock, ageing infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, high youth unemployment, and the challenges of preserving a healthy environment.

Sadly, during the four years of Rob Ford’s tenure as mayor, none of these problems have been tackled with any consistency. Instead, Toronto’s reputation has been sullied and we have been forced to fight against short-sighted ideas like downtown casinos, cuts to valuable services, and jets at the island airport.

It’s time to re-engage our communities in tackling our big issues, and to invest in city-building once again.

One of the exciting things about local government is the ability to incubate new ideas, pilot new projects, and make changes that directly affect people’s lives.  If you can see it, smell it, touch it, or feel it, it’s municipal. And it’s why I’m running for city council: I want to work with our community to make changes now. Here are just three examples:

Transit.  We can get our city moving again by investing real dollars from real government commitments into buses, street cars, and light rail transit. But, it’s got to be done based on research and expert advice – not political calculations and slogans. In downtown Toronto 41% of residents walk or bicycle to work, 34% take public transit, and only 25% drive. In our downtown communities, we can reduce congestion not by building more roads, but by investing in pedestrian and cycling lanes that are safer and more convenient.

Affordable housing. That shouldn’t be a dream but, right now, it feels that way. The average house price is over $1 million. The average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,700/month. And, according to Statistics Canada, 45% of Toronto adults aged 20-29 live with their parents, many because they cannot afford to move out. What can we do? Well, we can continue the transformation of public housing like the Alexandra Park revitalization project. And we can make sure that new developments have affordable housing included.

Environment. Yes, Rob Ford and Stephen Harper have their heads in the sand around climate change. But, in our local neighbourhoods, we have already experienced the effects of a changing environment, and the Annex Residents’ Association has already acted to improve the situation. Their TreesPlease program works to survey, protect, and expand Toronto’s tree canopy thereby providing more shade, removing industrial emissions from the air, and increasing property values. This is a win-win situation, improving our environment and beautifying our neighbourhoods in the process.

Three problems. Three good ideas to start solving the problems. And always ones that involve local residents.

Like many of you, I’m proud to live in Toronto. I’m also proud to live in downtown Toronto. Together, we can tackle the big issues at the neighbourhood level. It will take political will, an engaged and supportive community, good ideas around generating revenue, and a commitment to invest in our city again.

As residents and citizens — not just consumers and taxpayers — we are all participants.  We all have a role to play in shaping and building our city.

So, let’s get started. Let’s build our city again.

Joe Cressy is a candidate for city council in Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina. He is a former senior advisor at the Stephen Lewis Foundation. He lives in the Annex with his wife, Nina.

This canoe at Dewson Street Publc School functions as a planter for milkweed, essential for the survival of monarch butterflies and is a great nectar source for bees and other pollinators. Students at the school planted the garden. COURTESY JODE ROBERTS, DAVID SUZUKI FOUNDATION

Tired canoes re-purposed as pollinator point

By Samina Esha

On July 18, Homegrown National Park, a David Suzuki Foundation project, hosted their second successful year of a community Canoe Garden after last year’s effort to enhance Toronto’s green space.

The goal of the project is to fill canoe planters with native plants that are friendly for bees, insects, and birds to help with the pollinating process.

“My son helped plant one of the first canoes. So he has this deep connection to this canoe and the plants at Christie Pits. Every time we are down there he has to go and check it,” said Jode Roberts of the David Suzuki Foundation.

In 2014 the project was expanded into neighbourhoods throughout the Garrison Creek corridor, and it has recruited about two dozen trainees called Homegrown park rangers, who live, work, and play in their prospective areas.

“We connect them with different groups and encourage them to focus on the issues they are interested in. Then we let them loose while supporting them with their projects,” said Roberts.

Spearheaded by Parkdale resident and Homegrown ranger Aidan Dahlin Nolan, along with the David Suzuki Foundation, the project aims to see canoe planters installed in a number of city parks, including Christie Pits, Trinity Bellwoods, Little Norway, Bickford Park, and Stanley Park. Inspired by authors Richard Louv and Douglas Tallamy, the team embarked on a mission to establish the world’s first Homegrown National Park.

Dahlin Nolan got the idea about canoes and green space while he was camping with friends at the Algonquin Park.

“I started pitching different ideas to Ph.D. programs until I joined the David Suzuki Foundation,” said Nolan, who is project lead for Community Canoe and a Ph.D. student at York University. “The community really came forward for the Stanley Park Canoe. The plants we planted are suitable for bees and butterflies and other pollinating insects, and each canoe has a canoe captain who is a member of the community and is responsible for watering and weeding. So, there is someone always looking after them.”

Last summer the group fundraised 5,000 dollars over 20 days to buy used canoes and plants for the garden. And this summer they are continuing this process with schools and parks. The crowd-funded project to turn Toronto into Canada’s first Homegrown National Park was the first step to changing our ever-busy everyday grey life in this urban city.

All of the canoes so far have been through the old route of Garrison Creek and next year the group aims to remind Torontonians about the routes of other old river paths. However, finding these canoes can be hard.

“When canoes are busted people usually just send them out to landfills so there is a scarcity of retired canoes. We usually get most of them from donation or buy fixer uppers from Kijiji so the money raised is mostly used for planting. I currently have three canoes sitting in my back yard,” said Roberts.

Roberts also mentioned that the David Suzuki Foundation is constantly coming up with different projects. “We encourage and welcome people to go to the davidsuzuki.org/homegrown website where all of our different activities are listed. Some of these projects include planting pollinator gardens at school yard and parks hosting educational events regarding the environment, and generally encouraging people to get connected with nature,” said Roberts.

Teamed with neighbourhoods, volunteers, and experienced park rangers with diverse backgrounds, the project aims to bring residents, businesses, and institutions together to plant native trees and grow gardens. It challenges people to connect to nature.

“In the long term a canoe is just an element we can add to the parks or different green spaces including front yards, back yards, streets, rooftops, alleyways, and all the bits between them. It is the first step towards a more pollinator friendly green space,” said Roberts.

Iacobucci calls for a shift to a “zero deaths” police culture

By Brian Burchell

It’s been just over a year since Sammy Yetim was shot and killed by Toronto police on a TTC streetcar on Dundas Street.

Constable James Forcillio of Toronto Police Service (TPS) 14 Division was charged just 30 days after the shooting by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) with second-degree murder.

At the same time, Police Chief Bill Blair commissioned a review of the force’s use of force by police specifically in cases involving emotionally disturbed persons. Blair asked former Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci for a review that focused on service-wide issues and how to make the force more effective in such encounters with the public.

This move by Blair is an unusual step which underscored a sense that the issues at hand go well beyond the specific circumstances of the Yetim shooting, but it also allowed to Blair to show that a transparent and arms length assessment was needed of TPS policy and procedures in such circumstances.

Justice Iacobucci released his eighty-four recommendations under nine broad topics on July 24, 2014.

The retired supreme court justice was not hesitant to observe that there needs to be a change in police culture, as well as more specialized training, increased availability of special intervention teams, the equipment of front line officers with body cameras, an increased use and an assessment of conducted-energy-weapons (or tasers as they are commonly known), more selective police recruitment strategies, and regular assessments of the mental health of police officers themselves; perhaps outside of his mandate, Iacobucci also made recommendations about the intersection of the mental health care system in Ontario and the role of the Toronto police.

Chief Blair welcomed the recommendations and he vowed at the press conference in remarks about the report that “this will not gather dust, but momentum.”

Gary Pieters, president of the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, welcomed the report: “What we would like to see is that this report gets into the hands of every single rank and file officer. We want to see that the recommendations, and the steps to make those recommendations reality in the daily work of policing, are embedded into the culture of these officers.”

According to the report, the TPS is dispatched to approximately 20,000 calls for service annually to “persons-in-crisis”, and about 8,000 of these events involve apprehensions under the Mental Health Act. Of these encounters, between 2002 and 2012, five have resulted in “emotionally disturbed persons” being fatally shot.

The data supplied by the TPS did not include 2013 and therefore does not include the shooting of Sammy Yetim.

In the TPS only supervisors carry tasers as an alternative to the more lethal weapon of a service revolver.

The taser proved to be utterly useless in the case of the Yetim shooting, as a sergeant arriving late to the scene demonstrated by choosing, perhaps inexplicably, to use it on Yetim after he had been shot nine times by Constable Forcillo.

Peter Rosenthal, a social justice lawyer, responded to questions from the Gleaner about the report and specifically about the suggestion of increased access to tasers for front-line officers. “In general, I welcome the Iacobucci Report.  Its recommendations about de-escalation are excellent, and that is the crucial reform that is required to lessen police killings.”

Rosenthal was critical of the report’s recommendations around taser usage, especially since tasers are not the weapons that should be used when the person that police are facing has a weapon.

“The recommendation to increase taser use, even in a limited way, is unfortunate in my view. Many officers currently have tasers. The training is NOT to use a taser if someone has a weapon. This is because a taser is not adequate as an alternative to a firearm. The reason is clear: a taser is not reliable enough to ensure protection if a suspect presents an immediate threat of serious injury or death. Tasers are not effective unless both darts land properly, and it is very difficult to aim tasers, especially if the target is in motion (as the target can move substantially during the time the darts fly through the air). Thus increased availability of tasers will mean many people will be victims of taser use (as has happened even with the present restricted taser use) and it will not lessen police killings.”

The director of communications for the Toronto police, Mark Pugash, also responded to questions from the Gleaner about the report, specifically about the next steps and what has changed in the force since the shooting of Yetim: “The recommendations have not been costed. Keep in mind that the Iacobucci report also touches on bodies other than the TPS. Chief Blair has created an external advisory committee and made clear the sense of urgency he feels with respect to implementing the recommendations. The Iacobucci report was commissioned in the aftermath of the Yetim shooting, to examine our training, policy, procedures, equipment, supervision. It has come back with 84 recommendations. We have started the process of implementation.”

Pugash urged that people recognize “the shooting of Sammy Yetim by a Toronto police officer last year was one percent of a much larger picture, and the report helps us see all the rest.”