February 4th, 2022 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Business owner/former Tibetan refugee helps new refugees (Jan. 2022)
From left: Phurbu’s daughter Tsering Dolkar, Phurbu Tsering, and Alana Meier. NICOLE STOFFMAN/GLEANER NEWS
Phurbu Tsering donated $2,000 worth of hats, mittens and shawls to the Christie Refugee Welcome Centre (CRWC), at 43 Christie St. on December 9th. The owner of Tibetan Paper and Handicraft at 609B Bloor St. W. did so just in time for winter, International Human Rights Day, and the 32nd anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s receiving the Nobel Peace Prize on Dec 10, 1989.
“Because I was a refugee, I understand the hardships they go through,” said Tsering, who came to Canada from Tibet 21 years ago. “I know this is a wonderful country, and they will be received very well.”
Fifty hats and mittens made of Himalayan and New Zealand Wool, as well as 25 yak wool shawls, will help keep the centre’s clients warm.
“For many families, this is their first snow,” said Alana Meier, donor relations coordinator. “this level of warmth will be really appreciated.”
The CRWC is an emergency shelter that welcomes 300 homeless refugee claimants from war-torn countries every year.
—Nicole Stoffman/Gleaner News
Comments Off on CHATTER: Business owner/former Tibetan refugee helps new refugees (Jan. 2022)Tags:Annex · News
February 4th, 2022 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Ford stalls, families suffer (Jan. 2022)
Under the questionable leadership of Premier Doug Ford, Ontario is now the only province in Canada which has not signed onto the federally funded daycare plan that would see fees cut to $10 per day per child by 2025. The federal formula would give Ontario $10.2 billion over five years which is its per capita share. But Ford says that’s not enough and Ontario deserves more than other jurisdictions.
The new national Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC) program originated as an election promise, a key plank in the federal Liberal party platform, in the last election. The plan is budgeted to spend $30 billion over five years.
The federal government is clearly flustered with Ford as it is so close to achieving a nationwide goal and our premier is playing the spoiler. Every province and territory except Ontario have found a way to make this laudable national program work within their respective frameworks. Karina Gould, the federal minister for Families, Children and Social Development said the federal government sent a term paper to provinces and territories ten months ago asking for a strategy to reduce fees and create child-care spaces – but has yet to hear back from Ontario.
It appears that the Ontario government, ever mindful of its requirement to hold a general election by June, would like to hold our province’s parents and children hostage for a while longer so he can try and claim a victory lap as near to the election date as possible. It’s all about him.
The need for affordable, accessible, quality child-care has been around for a very long time, but two years of pandemic shut downs have made this need even more obvious. Parents working from home have struggled to simultaneously keep their jobs and care for their children. Women have by far borne the brunt of these burdens as our economy still functions on the basis of a massive wage gap, with women earning roughly 89 cents for every dollar earned by men, and the cost of child-care is quite simply, prohibitive. The federal government estimates that at least 16,000 women left the job market because of the pandemic, many to care for their children.
Daycare costs range from $450/month in Winnipeg to about $1,600/month in Toronto. That’s the median, many pay much more if they are lucky enough to find a space. For lower income families, affordable child-care would make a massive difference, allowing both parents to enter the workforce.
Indeed, according to Armine Yalnizyan, an economist at the Atkinson Fellow on the Future of Workers, getting more women into the work force will help the economy overall, “it’s a domino effect.”
The Province of Ontario has argued it is entitled to more money than other provinces because it has full-time kindergarten and it wants the federal government to assume the cost of that too.
“I can’t figure why Minister Lecce [Ontario’s education minister] and Doug Ford think that this child-care money should help the provincial government’s bottom line instead of a family’s bottom line,” said NDP Leader Andrea Horwath. Ontario’s Coalition for Better Child Care agreed that the funding sought to offset existing provincial programs is misguided, “the money is for lowering child-care fees [to $10 per day], not for giving Ontario a cookie!”
February 4th, 2022 · Comments Off on FORUM: Many achievements despite the pandemic (Jan. 2022)
Government must be proactive to protect cyclists, pedestrians
By Mike Layton
Moving into 2022, and as hard as things are right now, I am incredibly grateful to represent a community that is full of people who work so hard to take care of their families, their neighbours, and everyone in our city. As I write this, I know that many of you are facing the stress of another hard winter season with rising COVID-19 cases and frequently changing plans when we were all really looking forward to time in the New Year with loved ones after another long year.
COURTESY MIKE LAYTON
I want to extend a huge thanks to all the city staff and healthcare workers who are right now working through difficult circumstances to run vaccine clinics and help keep us safe. If you have not already booked a booster shot, please considering doing so as quickly as possible.
At the council level, I want to thank all of you who have helped advocate for a more equitable city this past year. We have made huge changes in Toronto.
The sheer number of improvements makes it hard to list, but my personal highlights include a made-in-Toronto climate action plan that commits to net zero by 2040, a huge expansion of affordable housing across the city (including hundreds of units in our ward), a vacant unit tax to target dwellings left sitting empty to begin this year, a massive expansion of permanent bike lanes across all major routes in our ward, a number of park renewals finished or wrapping up across Ward 11 including Art Eggleton Park and Joseph Burr Tyrrell Playground.
These achievements are something to be proud of, but 2022 will be no time to rest and we must keep pushing the City of Toronto and the mayor to continue to build a better city. That particularly means keeping pressure on Doug Ford to deliver on expanded access to rapid tests and vaccines in the immediate. It means keeping up the fight with Doug Ford to make him sign a deal with the federal government for universal and affordable childcare for all families. Neither of these pieces can wait and are key to a strong economic recovery.
I want wish you moments of peace this winter, and a renewed spirit for 2022. There’s so much to do going forward, and I am honoured to work with all of you to get it done.
Mike Layton is city councillor for Ward 11, University–Rosedale.
February 4th, 2022 · Comments Off on FORUM: Omicron demands leadership, not indecision (Jan. 2022)
Ontario suffers while Ford dithers
By Jessica Bell
As the Omicron wave overwhelms Ontario, University-Rosedale residents are facing big challenges. Parents are wracked with the decision over whether to send their children to school. Hospitals are near capacity. You can’t get a PCR test. Surgeries are being canceled. Demand at food banks is at record levels, driven by rising poverty, job loss and inflation. The science is rapidly evolving, people are exhausted, and there is no public consensus on how to proceed.
This is the time for leadership. Government has a responsibility to make choices that are both tough and wise – for the public good. There are no easy answers.
Here’s our take on the big issues we’re hearing from constituents.
Schools and daycaresshould open safely
Ontario’s two million parents and one million children have endured some of the world’s longest school shutdowns, placing unbelievable strain on our kids’ learning and mental health, and parents’ ability to work.
Education is a human right. It is a shocking indictment of Premier Ford’s priorities that schools remained closed while critical measures that effectively control COVID-19 spread – like paid sick days, effective and properly enforced workplace safety measures, and vaccine mandates – were not implemented.
The Conservatives have had over 600 days to make schools as safe as possible, but their response has been cheap, reactive and confusing. Ford hoarded federal money earmarked for education, and just cut another $500 million from the school budget this year. Some school boards are still waiting for their HEPA filters – fortunately Toronto schools have received theirs’. Class sizes are the largest they’ve ever been. It took weeks of advocacy for education workers to be fast-tracked for booster shots, and it is simply astonishing that the government is doing away with public testing and reporting of COVID-19 in schools and daycares.
We must move mountains to keep schools open and make them as safe as possible. We are calling for school vaccine clinics, vaccine mandates for education workers, smaller class sizes, proper tracking and reporting of COVID-19 cases, free rapid tests for the school and daycare community, improved ventilation, N95 masks for all workers, and support for teachers and staff to help address critical learning gaps caused by previous shutdowns. The measures we take today will prepare us for future waves so we are less likely to be presented with an urgent no-win crisis situation like we’re in today.
Our hospitals are struggling
Despite Omicron being less virulent than the Delta variant, hospitals are near capacity, and staffing shortages are impacting care. Ontario has paused many surgeries, including cancer and heart surgeries. Tragically, people will die.
Staffing issues can and should be addressed by increasing pay for front-line health care workers, and that starts with repealing Bill 124, which capped wage increases for public sector workers to one percent. I also fully support the government’s decision to allow internationally trained nurses to work in Ontario’s hospitals. This should have happened years ago.
The best thing you can do to stop overcrowding in hospitals is to get your vaccine and your booster as soon as you are eligible. Vaccines are very effective at preventing people from severe illness, hospitalization and death, and vaccines are safe.
Small business needs our help
Every time I walk by Kensington, Bloor, Dundas and College, I see another empty storefront with a “for lease” sign in the window. Many businesses, especially restaurants and tourist businesses, are struggling and going under because they’ve done the right thing and followed public health guidelines.
To help small businesses survive the economic sacrifice they have made, it is our duty to provide help. Along with government financial assistance, we are also calling for a reinstatement of the commercial eviction ban, which was lifted in January. In response to our pressure, the Ontario government has announced another round of funding for small businesses that have lost income. Our office is able to help eligible small businesses access this program.
February 4th, 2022 · Comments Off on GREENINGS: The disproportionate impact of inflation (Jan. 2022)
Examining the interconnectivity of consumption, labour, and the environment
By Terri Chu
The richest among us earned record profits during another COVID-19 year while the poorest among us are risking their lives in understaffed service jobs.
Is it any wonder that there’s a general labour shortage? Inflation is being blamed, in part, on this labour shortage and it is hitting the food business particularly hard. Let’s take a moment to think about how this relates to climate change.
We are used to being a highly wasteful society. In the last half century, we have introduced more and more single use items into our lives.
We have an expectation of cheap food. Historically, about a third of labour went into producing and acquiring food. I am guessing most people reading this paper spend nothing near a third of our incomes on food in a year.
Food prices have not inflated in line with other things for a variety of reasons, though we are likely to see this change. In the second half of the 20th century, crop yields around the world increased dramatically due in large part to petrochemical use. This has come at the cost of both water and soil contamination.
Growing more than we need has kept prices low, but they have come at a tremendous cost. That cost has been largely hidden to consumers, who have come to expect cheap food delivered to their doorsteps for next to nothing.
However, we have normalized food being cheap. This leads to two more issues to discuss: cheap labour and material waste.
There’s no polite way of look at the issue of cheap labour. Cheap labour is made possible by racism.
In the 1990s, mediocre food at Kelseys cost about half of what my family could afford to charge at our Chinese restaurant.
We had a really nice, fancy, clean place that was in no way inferior to the mid-tier brand names.
The expectation that ethnic food be cheap persists to this day. The labour of minorities was never worth more than a pittance in the eyes of the ruling elite.
Thankfully for my generation, public education has leveled this playing field. As we become educated, get better jobs and leave the lower end labour behind, the ethnic majority is no longer willing to let themselves be abused and has left this undervalued sector of the economy behind them.
Now let’s consider the materials that our food comes in when we get take out.
Pumping oil from the ground, using its by-products to make a container, delivering that container, and throwing it out is somehow viewed as less labour intensive than bringing back containers and washing them.
I am more than confident that nobody who reads these columns needs me to spell out how environmentally destructive this practice is, especially when we now know that plastic recycling is nothing but a sham.
Cheap materials have been another area where we replaced labour, requiring even fewer people to do the same job.
We are used to being a highly wasteful society. In the last half century, we have introduced more and more single use items into our lives.
The milkman who delivered milk in glass bottles and took away the empties to refill no longer exists. They have been replaced with 4L plastic bags that ultimately clog up our landfills and waterways.
As we transition away from fossil fuels, we will see further increases in material costs and hopefully, a shift back to reusing.
As climate change decimates our established growing regions, it will take time to adjust our agricultural practices.
The increase in food prices will hopefully decrease food waste, but I am not hopeful we have learnt any lessons from our monocultural ways.
The dependency on fossil fuels and petrochemicals has come at a very high cost to water quality and human health.
Valuing one’s labour does not necessarily have to come at an increased cost if only the CEOs were willing to take lower salaries and profits.
A $2/hour wage increase for front line staff causes us to collectively clutch pearls at what it will do to consumer prices, but rarely do they question the impact of a $4M pay package, as received by the head of Canada’s largest grocer.
February 4th, 2022 · Comments Off on ARTS: Getting on line with the Japan Foundation (Jan. 2022)
An artistic movement to counter Omicron: beauty, simplicity, constraint
The Japan Foundation boasts over one hundred woodblock prints by Horoshige, depicting Tokyo in the 1850s. Enjoy the meticulous sophistication of these prints when the gallery reopens. The Foundation is located on the 3rd floor of the Hudson’s Bay Centre on Bloor Street. (Pictured: Flower, 1857). COURTESY THE JAPAN FOUNDATION
By Meribeth Deen
Five, seven, five.
Three lines of writing, each with a precise number of syllables in each; and there we have the critical constraints that define haiku.
In sixteenth century Japan, the beginnings of renga poems, which were hundreds of stanzas long, broke off into their own form. The century following brought peace, artistic flourishing, and a master of this new form. Thanks to Basho, haiku became a widely accepted form of artistic expression.
Over the centuries, poets have routinely broken the rules of haiku. The International Convention on World Haiku in 1999 stated that seasonal words are not necessary in “global” haiku, and that the content of the poems would not be independent from the cultural backgrounds of the poets.
The one tenet of this form that remains firmly intact is simplicity, which is why haiku is such a popular way to introduce children to the world of poetry.
A world of dew, And within every dewdrop, A world of struggle.
—Kobayashi Issa
The Japan Foundation (2 Bloor St. East) is currently closed until further notice, but is still operating online. One opportunity it is promoting this month is the 17th World Children’s Haiku Contest. Entrants (under the age of 15) are asked to use the form to express their memories with an overarching theme of “towns,” and to draw or paint a piece of art to accompany their poem.
Submission to the contest is free, and its deadline is February 28.
The Foundation is also promoting registration for JF Standard” term 2 online language classes, which can be taken from anywhere in Canada. Central to this philosophy of language education is the idea that in a global society, cross-cultural communication can lead to mutual understanding among peoples. Classes focus on competencies such as reading a short, rehearsed statement, such as proposing a toast, to presenting a complex topic to an audience unfamiliar with that topic.
And while the Foundation’s print library remains closed, they are still offering e-books and audiobooks in both Japanese and English.
If you are looking for some visual inspiration for young poets in your life, look up the work of Utagawa Hiroshige, whose wood-block prints were featured in the Japan Foundation’s gallery prior to shutdown (and may still be there when it opens up again).
These prints, first published in the late 1800s, are “serene, poetic expressions” of the artists’ hometown, Tokyo.
Whether or not you (or your child) embark on the art of haiku, these images will remind you to seek out the beauty of nature in your own metropolis.
Comments Off on ARTS: Getting on line with the Japan Foundation (Jan. 2022)Tags:Annex · Arts
Artist Brian Killin finds inspiration in everyday Canadian life, both rural and urban. His favorite subjects include; a late-night shinny hockey game, a fresh snowfall in northern Ontario, the hustling urban landscape of downtown Toronto, and the peaceful beaches of Prince Edward Island. The breadth of his subject matter is an exploration of Canadian identity. Brian models his artwork after the great Canadian artists, Cornelius Krieghoff and Ken Danby. He has shown his artwork over the past thirty years throughout Toronto.
December 17th, 2021 · Comments Off on NEWS: A tribute to Edward Leman (Dec. 2021)
Modest yet forceful ARA volunteer left his mark
Never a NIMBY, Edward worked hard to persuade developers to work with the community and make adjustments and improvements to their proposals.
COURTESY THE ANNEX RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION
By David Harrison
Edward Leman gave more time and expertise to protect the Annex community than any other volunteer director in the modern era of the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA).
Educated as an architect, Leman switched his allegiance early on to urban planning and international development, establishing his consulting firm, Chreod, in 1985.
The biography posted on the company website records an impressive body of international work in development policy and risk analysis.
Leman’s typical aversion to self-promotion means that the website biography is sorely out of date and incomplete. His services were sought across the planet from Chicago to Ho Chi Minh City, from Seattle to Shanghai, from Vancouver to East Java.
He was at heart a modest man who valued family and home above all. And we had the great good fortune that he called the Annex home.
Leman brought all his experience and skills to his role as Co-Chair of our Planning and Development committee.
He held this position for almost 10 years and was able to build a superb group of other like-minded professionals (architects, lawyers and planners) and community leaders to create what has surely become a gold standard for other associations.
A long-time renter at 50 Prince Arthur, he lived and worked there at different times in his life both as a young man and as an adult.
He put to rest the notion that only homeowners can have a proprietary interest in the future of their community.
His aim with the ARA was to ensure that the Annex remained a livable community, and, in between his work that took him to such faraway places as China, Mongolia or Nepal, this occupied ever more time than he likely anticipated.
Never a NIMBY, Leman worked hard to persuade developers to work with us and make adjustments and improvements to their proposals.
This was never easy work but Leman devised the “Working Group” approach which often found the ARA, the city and developers sitting together and making compromises towards a better plan.
Leman’s approach was so successful that it was adopted by other communities.
We were able to make many significant improvements to development plans. The Bloor Street United development would be an excellent example as would the rejection of the proposal at 64 Prince Arthur.
Naturally, success is never guaranteed but even with the testiest of developers Leman kept prodding.
There are, at present, some 30 development proposals in play affecting the Annex, and Leman built remarkable software to keep track of these so they are available for all of us to review.
It is not apparent who of us now will have the skills to carry on maintaining this sophisticated software.
The work he started is not finished and others will take the baton.
Clearly, 145 St. George looms largest and soonest in proposals to be assuaged.
Our bench strength will be able to continue the work he began but will sorely miss his unique skills and insights that always ensured a more interesting point of view.
We offer our sincerest condolences to his wife Dilys and their two daughters.
David Harrison is the former chair of the Annex Resident’s Association.
Comments Off on NEWS: A tribute to Edward Leman (Dec. 2021)Tags:Annex · News
December 17th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Tango mesmerizes crowd (Dec. 2021)
Solidaridad Strings performed their first live concert to a sold-out audience on Nov. 14. From left: Aparna Halpé and Suhashini Arulanandam (violin), Esme Allen-Creighton (viola), Valeria Matzner (vocals), Adriana Arcilla Tascón (viola), Heyni Solera (bandoneon), Sybil Shanahan (cello), Shannon Wojewoda (double bass). COURTESY MICHAEL WOJEWODA
The string ensemble of Orquesta Solidaridad Tango, a new all-women tango orchestra, performed their first live concert to a sold-out audience at 918 Bathurst on November 14th. The physically-distanced crowd gave the musicians two standing ovations after enjoying an evening of contemporary and classic tango music. It is a style infused with longing and mystery.
A highlight of the programme was “On the TTC with Troilo,” an original composition by Annex resident Aparna Halpé, co-founder and lead violinist. The song is about her experience of being stuck on the TTC on her way to a milonga, tango’s social dance.
Tango was born in the 1880s in the dance halls and brothels of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Orquesta Solidaridad Tango was founded in December 2020 by violinist Aparna Halpé, formerly of the Sri Lanka Philharmonic, to celebrate the diversity of women in tango, and to create great tango in Canada. Members of this all-women collective come from diverse backgrounds.
Halpé also had a growing frustration with the treatment of women in tango ensembles.
“Heyni Solera [co-founder] and I were talking about this one evening,” said Halpé. “And she suggested that I channel my frustration into creating an actual ensemble. The thought was terrifying at the start, but here we are!”
Orquesta Solidaridad Tango has already won a $50,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts to produce music videos on their YouTube channel. They will have two albums out in 2022, the first of which will feature original compositions by Halpé, “which touch on our collective experiences during the pandemic.”
They have been invited to play in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. They hope to hit the road soon to share their music and their story..
—Nicole Stoffman/Gleaner News
Comments Off on CHATTER: Tango mesmerizes crowd (Dec. 2021)Tags:Annex · News
December 17th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Ford rolls dice with 413 (Dec. 2021)
The currently ruling Progressive Conservative party of Ontario is looking ahead six months – and strategizing at how to win an election despite a long line of mishaps behind them. They’ll be looking to win support in the 905, and they’ll use wedge issues to get it. A 59 kilometre highway we don’t need is one of the big ones, and the party is already painting Premier Doug Ford as the only leader “that will say yes to growth in the GTA.”
Highway 413 is a proposed four to six lane highway that would connect highway 400 in Vaughan in the east to the Mississauga-Brampton border where highway 407 and highway 401 intersect. The Ford government has not included any cost estimates for the highway in their fall economic outlook, but the previous Liberal government pegged the price at more than $6 billion before abandoning the idea.
According to an expert panel brought together by the Liberal government, Hwy. 413 would reduce travel times by no more than 30 seconds. Ford’s promise of a 30-minute time savings in commute time is an implausible claim given that the route is roughly the same distance as what’s available on existing highways, so achieving that time savings would require that vehicles travel at 180 km/h on the 413.
Ford likes to say that anyone opposed to his plan is just “a downtown activist from Toronto, who thinks people should hop on their bicycle.” While it may be true that downtown activists may want to hear initiatives more aligned with 21st century realities, Ford’s spectacle falls apart when we learn that municipal councils in Mississauga, Vaughan, Halton Hills, and Halton Region are on record opposing the highway proposal. All have called for a federal environmental assessment before it gets the green light. The noted “downtown activist,” Bonnie Crombie, mayor of Mississauga, said “the proposed highway will have a disastrous impact on the environment, encourage residential sprawl, and increase our dependence on cars.”
The 905 mayors get it. They live with the reality of urban sprawl. They appreciate the phenomenon of induced demand, which has been known to researchers since the 1920s. An example is the Katy Freeway in Houston Texas which was expanded in 2011 to make a 26-lane road which did indeed make commute times quicker. However, by 2014 commute times were taking even longer than in 2011. Expanding the highway incentivized car travel and caused new subdivisions to be built. The Ford government has refused to discuss the impact of induced demand if their plan comes to fruition.
The aforementioned environmental assessment will need to deal with the myriad of ecological impacts on watersheds and wildlife if the highway is built. Ford is planning to pave over 400 acres of the Greenbelt, plus 2,000 acres of farmland, 6 km of forest, and cut a wide swath through the Nashville Conservation Area. According to a letter filed by Ecojustice with the federal government, species at risk which could meet their end due to the proposal include migratory birds such as the Chimney Swift, Bank Swallow, Barn Swallow, Bobolink, Eastern Meadowlark, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Loggerhead Shrike, Wood Thrush and Grasshopper Sparrow. No terrestrial wildlife surveys have been prepared for the location and no mitigation measures have been proposed for the protection of these species. It is also anticipated that the Redside Dace, an already endangered species of fish, could be extirpated from its natural habitat should the project proceed.
Ford’s sudden love for a new highway is not well conceived, it is a desperate attempt to stay in power by dangling the shiny object of a quick commute to 905 residents whose votes he needs. But highway 413 is a bad idea for all of us.
