March 5th, 2021 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Legislated dignity for the greater good (Feb. 2021)
COVID-19 case counts are way down from the peaks seen in January, and in response the economy is opening up in many places. However, Toronto’s Chief Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Dr. Eileen de Villa, and Peel’s MOH Dr. Lawrence Loh, have asked the province to continue lockdowns, stating their fear that the worst is yet to come. They also each advocate for mandatory paid sick days to encourage the symptomatic to stay home and stop the spread.
Loh and de Villa are anticipating the impact of COVID-19 variants from Britain, South Africa, and Brazil. In Germany, the number of cases caused by variants went from six to 22 per cent in two weeks, almost doubling every week. This has started happening here, too. According to Dr. Peter Juni, Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table director, the variants are doubling every eight days in Ontario. The variants also happen to spread faster, have higher rates of hospitalization and may be more deadly. This growth is happening behind the mask of falling case counts. As Loh put it, we are “looking at a mirage, the numbers are a mirage.”
The tension between the desire to open the economy and the need to keep people safe has some questioning the distinction between the two. Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, whose region of Peel has been among the hardest hit in the country, argues reopening the economy “won’t work if it’s under threat, and the variants are a threat.”
While we’ve seen limits on how non-essential businesses (restaurants, bars, and retail) can function, factories, warehouses and distribution centres have continued to operate as per usual. According to Dr. Loh, in a study conducted in Peel on 7,874 people who tested positive for COVID-19, almost 2,000 of them went to work with symptoms. Eighty of those people even went to work after a positive diagnosis.
They could’ve just stayed home, if only they had sick leave. Only 42 per cent of Canadians have access to paid sick leave. Only 10 per cent of low-wage and frontline workers have this benefit. Until Doug Ford eliminated them in 2019, workers in Ontario had two whole days of paid emergency leave. These are the people Ford calls “heroes.” These heroes are like everyone else lacking access to paid sick leave. At any sign of illness they are faced with an impossible decision of either staying home or paying rent and possibly infecting co-workers.
The federal government stepped up with its own sick day program called the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB). That benefit offers a maximum of $900 of support over two weeks, though its target is individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19. While it’s a welcome support it is cumbersome and insufficient, amounting to less than a minimum wage benefit that comes weeks later.
Besides, this doesn’t change the fact that employment standards are solely Ontario’s responsibility under the constitution.
As Unifor President Jerry Dias put it so eloquently in a recent Globe and Mail op-ed piece “We can shut all the restaurants we want, force every retailer to switch to curbside pickup and fine people for hugging their neighbours, but until we get serious about paid sick days, there will be no way out of this pandemic.”
No business wants to go first and offer paid sick days when others are holding out. Sick days need to be legislated, for the sake of our population’s health – if not the economy’s.
March 5th, 2021 · Comments Off on FORUM: To curb COVID-19, Ontario must protect workers (Feb. 2021)
Ontario lags behind other jurisdictions
By Jessica Bell
I am concerned the Ford government is opening the economy too fast, setting the stage for another round of illness, preventable death, overwhelmed hospitals and lockdowns. We must make decisions based on what’s best for our public health. When we reopen, we must reopen carefully and slowly, with safety first and foremost in mind. We must make Ontario’s workplaces more safe.
Recently, our office received a call from a resident that I’m going to call Sam. Sam had a complaint about her employer, Starbucks. Sam didn’t want to go to work because a colleague had COVID-19, and Sam felt she wasn’t being provided with proper PPE to protect herself. Sam was too scared to go public because she didn’t want to be fired. Sam eventually caught COVID-19.
Ontario’s laws do not adequately help Sam and the thousands of lower wage, precarious, and frontline workers like her.
It has always been important to raise the wages, benefits and working conditions of lower wage workers, and this pandemic has made it all the more urgent because COVID-19 is spreading at work. Data collected by Peel Health shows the extent of the problem. Peel Health found that sixty-six per cent of confirmed community outbreaks in Peel reported between September and December 2020 occurred at work.
Here are four things that I am asking the Ontario government to do that will help workers and curb the spread of COVID-19 at work.
In Ontario, the majority of lower income workers do not have paid sick days. This forces people to make the impossible choice of going to work with symptoms because they can’t afford to pay their rent or buy food if they don’t. People are going to work sick. One in four COVID-19 cases identified through contact tracing by Peel Health were individuals who had gone to work with symptoms.
My colleague, MPP Peggy Sattler, has introduced a bill called “Stay At Home if You Are Sick” which, if passed, will require employers to provide workers with seven paid sick days a year, and an extra 14 days if there is a pandemic. Doug Ford needs to stop abdicating his responsibility to provide protection to workers and say yes to the bill immediately.
Second, measures to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace, such as physical distancing and the mandatory wearing of masks, need to be properly enforced. The Ontario government has done a halfhearted job of enforcing the rules, only ramping up inspections in recent weeks. And what is also shocking to learn is that the vast majority of workplaces that are found to have been breaking the rules are not being fined. They should be.
To further bolster workplace safety rules, all workplace outbreaks across Ontario should be publicized. Only Toronto has agreed to make workplace outbreaks public, and their reporting has so far been weak.
Finally, workers should also have the right to refuse unsafe work. Many Ontario workers have been trying to refuse work due to COVID-19 fears — but the government isn’t letting them. The Ontario Labour Relations Board, which resolves disputes between employers and employees, has denied nearly all requests by workers to refuse unsafe work because of COVID-19. That is not a sign of a government that cares enough about worker safety.
With the arrival of variants, this pandemic could be reaching a new and more dangerous stage. It is paramount that we listen to public health and take meaningful steps to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. These steps will not just help us save lives now, but they will help make Ontario’s economy more fair for the people we are grateful for every single day: the minimum wage worker, the front line worker, the essential worker, the people like Sam.
Worried about your workplace safety and want advice? Call the Workers Action Centre hotline (416) 531-0778 or visit their website. You can also call our office at 416 535-7206.
March 5th, 2021 · Comments Off on FORUM: Defund police gains traction (Feb. 2021)
Pilot projects underway to fashion a better approach
By Mike Layton
By voting to fund the Community Crisis Support Service pilot this month, city council took the first step towards systemic change in how we approach 911 emergency response calls. This five year pilot will create a mental health primary first responder team that will answer mental health crisis calls in key areas of our city.
The more I‘ve learned from experts and advocates, the more it is clear that we have lost sight of how we show compassion to people in crisis, and that a huge number of 911 calls would be better responded to by mental health workers, social workers or other trained professionals whose job it is to be able to help people in crisis and experiencing trauma in non-violent situations.
Last summer, there was a sense of urgency with community calls to defund the police. We all felt it.
Despite a global pandemic, Toronto, and the world, protested against the status quo in policing. That status quo includes persistent and systemic racism against Black and Indigenous people with consequences that are often deadly. While many of us took the time to reflect on this, there is still a lack of clarity around calls to “defund the police.”
Re-investing money from police budgets into alternate forms of community safety are of paramount importance for our communities because the number of fatal interactions continue unabated.
Consider the following recent list of fatalities;
D’Andre Campbell (fatally shot by Brampton police in his own home, 2020).
Chantall Moore (fatally shot by police in Edmunston, NB, 2020).
Ejaz Ahmed Choudry (fatally shot by police after his family called the non-emergency help line in Mississauga, 2020).
Rodney Levi (fatally shot by police in New Brunswick, 2020).
Stewart Kevin Andrews (fatally shot by police in Winnipeg, 2020).
Jason Collins (fatally shot by police in Winnipeg, 2020).
Eishia Hudson (fatally shot by police in Winnipeg, 2020).
Caleb Tubila Njoko (fell from balcony during interaction with police, London ON, 2020).
Regis Korchinski-Paquet (fell from balcony during interaction with police, Toronto, 2019).
We cannot continue to look away, and allow this list to keep growing.
Three of the pilots will be implemented in areas where calls for people in crisis are the highest in Toronto;
Northwest Toronto (Wards Etobicoke North, Etobicoke Centre, York Centre and Humber River-Black Creek)
Northeast Toronto (Wards Scarborough Southwest, Scarborough Centre, Scarborough-Agincourt, Scarborough North, Scarborough-Guildwood and Scarborough-Rouge Park)
Downtown East (Wards Spadina-Fort York and Toronto Centre)
A fourth pilot will serve Indigenous communities, recognizing the history of Indigenous peoples and their negative experiences with policing. This pilot will be Indigenous-led and co-developed with Indigenous communities.
All four pilots are set to work with health care providers, including community health centres and not-for-profit organizations, that provide mental health and substance use services. This is meant to ensure that anti-oppressive, user-centred care continues after the initial intervention.
The pilots aim to create multidisciplinary teams of crisis workers with training in mental health and crisis intervention, de-escalation, situational awareness, and field training, prior to the pilots’ launch in 2022.
The team design is based on a set of guiding principles that were created and compiled through community consultations and a round table in late 2020.
The consultations were directly focused on amplifying the voices of Indigenous, Black and 2SLGBTQ+ communities as well as those with lived experience of substance use, mental health challenges, human trafficking, and gender-based violence, as well as racialized youth, newcomers, undocumented Torontonians, the Black Francophone community and those with lived experience of poverty and homelessness.
Mental health service providers, frontline workers from organizations that deal with mental health in the justice system, frontline emergency responders, hospital staff and those who work with the homeless/precariously housed, were also considered as key stakeholders.
Those who will eventually be chosen as part of the team will be incorporating a harm-reduction and trauma-informed approach in all aspects of the service. The service will also be grounded in the needs of the service-user, which will hopefully work to ensure accountability to service users’ voices and outcomes by establishing clear pathways for complaints and issues to come directly from those who will be most affected by the service.
My greatest concern is in making sure that we invest enough money so that this model succeeds as an alternative emergency response, and not just another mental health response program. I would like to take this time to thank all those who reached out to my office, and city staff for their hard work on this issue. Transformative change is never easy, but you can count on me to continue to push for a better future for our city.
As always, my staff and I are here to assist in any way we can. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office by email Councillor_Layton@toronto.ca or call 416-392-4009 to let us know your questions and concerns.
Mike Layton is the city councillor for Ward 11, University—Rosedale.
March 5th, 2021 · Comments Off on ARTS: Annex is still film set central (Feb. 2021)
Strict COVID-19 protocols being followed
Rebecca Breeds, as the heroic Clarice Starling, and her fellow FBI Agents after catching a killer on Walmer Road in the TV series Clarice. COURTESY MGM TELEVISION AND CBS STUDIOS
By Nicole Stoffman
Our beloved Annex stood in for Baltimore when the CBS/MGM TV pilot Clarice took over Walmer Road for three days in October.
Nineties-era Baltimore Police cars, two ambulances, and news trucks labeled “Evening News/Channel 6,” “Breaking News Live Nightly!/Channel 12,” and “News at 5,” lined the street. A location production assistant gingerly sprayed all the vehicles with water because, “everything looks better wet.”
As curious Annexonians looked on, an army of KN95 and surgical double-mask-wearing crew members crafted the following scene:
FBI agent Clarice Starling has just intercepted an attempted murder at 100 “Somersby St.” The victim, an intrepid journalist investigating a murderous conspiracy implicating Big Pharma, is then wheeled out on a stretcher into the twinkling, leafy street, as Starling faces a barrage of journalists who demand to know if the serial murderer has been caught.
Will Starling reveal they only caught a hired assassin that night, and the real villain is corporate greed? You’ll have to tune in the first episode, The Silence is Over on CBS All Access or GlobalTV.com to find out.
Starring Australian actress Rebecca Breeds (Pretty Little Liars, The Originals) the Clarice series focuses on the bravery and psychology of the title character, originally played by Jodie Foster in the 1991 Academy award-winning film Silence of the Lambs. This year marks the films’ 30th anniversary.
“The overarching story is Clarice and her ability to go into her internal dark space, look at who and why these murders where committed, see outside the facts,” said line producer and longtime Annex resident, Paula Devonshire. “The heart of the story is her connecting with these women and taking these deaths to heart and making it her mission to find justice for them.”
Producer Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek: Discovery, Hawaii Five-0) told the Hollywood Reporter that he considers Clarice one of the great heroines of recent film history, a woman working in a man’s world, and succeeding against all odds. “It’s very much Clarice’s time,” he said.
The production team looked far and wide before director Maja Vrvilo (Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, Magnm P.I.) fell in love with 100 Walmer Rd. Devonshire notes that the Annex, with its small streets, and residents who aren’t fond of losing their parking, poses a challenge for film crews. The film company is responsible for finding suitable parking alternatives.
Location manager Malcolm McCulloch had to go door to door, lobbying residents to allow the back to back overnight shoots, which went off without a hitch.
“They were filming all night, but I slept right through it,” said Arthur Ripstein, whose house is attached to the interior location where the gruesome attempted murder scene unfolded.
The Toronto film and television industry spent a record-breaking 2.2 billion in 2019, and is off to an extremely strong start in 2021, according to the Film and Entertainment Industries unit of Economic Development & Culture, at the City of Toronto.
Despite shutting down between May and June due to the pandemic, the industry came roaring back in July. There have been 23 productions shooting in Toronto since October.
It is a welcome source of revenue to shuttered event venues and empty office buildings, whose employees are now working from home. Clarice, for example, shot at Casa Loma, and the Canada Life building, normally a working office building off limits to film crews, said Devonshire.
The screen industry also employs over 30,000 Torontonians. The Annex is always been a particularly creative neighbourhood, with University-Rosedale being home to 2,500 screen industry workers.
In recognition of the disruption they cause, film crews who come to the Annex typically make a generous donation to the Annex Residents’ Association. This year, the ARA donated $1,000 from Precious Productions, the company shooting the Clarice series, to the Avenue Road Food Bank.
“I am very much supportive of allowing film companies to film in the Annex,” said former ARA Treasurer, Louis Florence.
But despite the many benefits the industry continues to bring even in an emergency lockdown (actors only unmask for takes in the presence of a skeleton crew), Clarice could not return to the Annex for Episode 3, due to the objections of a few residents.
As a screen industry location, the Annex is prized for its historical homes and its open green spaces. “This is a popular look for commercials that include walk and talk scenes and require a well-established and lively neighbourhood backdrop,” the spokesperson from the Film and Entertainment Industries unit of Economic Development & Culture at the City of Toronto told the Gleaner in an email.
Current and recent high profile television series that have shot in the Annex include; Suits, Designated Survivor, Taken, In the Dark, Locke and Key, and Workin’ Moms.“I did a series a few years ago called People of Earth and we shot down at Clinton’s,” recalls Devonshire, who exemplifies the abundant creativity in our neighbourhood.
A member of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte First Nation, Devonshire’s own production company, Devonshire Productions, is gearing up to shoot the feature film Stellar, this summer. The film tells the poetic story of a man and a woman “connecting through their hesitancy to touch,” set against Indigenous symbolism rooted in the geology of Sudbury.
Her 2017 feature film Indian Horse, a film adaptation of the novel by Ojibwe author Richard Wagamese, won 19 film festival awards. It tells the story of a residential school survivor turned professional hockey player, who must eventually confront his traumatic past through traditional healing.
Comments Off on ARTS: Annex is still film set central (Feb. 2021)Tags:Annex · Arts
January 27th, 2021 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER: While the students are away, the fox will play (Jan. 2021)
In a particularly Canadian version of Fox News, this furry friend boldly struts around the partially shuttered University of Toronto campus. Pat Mullen, who works at University College, snapped this shot as the fox approached as if to question his reason for being at work. PAT MULLEN/GLEANER NEWS
Comments Off on ON THE COVER: While the students are away, the fox will play (Jan. 2021)Tags:General
Former ARA Chair, Metro and City Councillor Ila Bossons passes at 83
By Nicole Stoffman
When big decisions hang in the balance at city hall, councillors often form predictable coalitions along the political spectrum. Ila Bossons was one councillor who bucked that trend. “The middle way is the best way,” the independent candidate declared in 1988, during her successful campaign to become Metro Councillor for the new ward of Midtown, which included the Annex.
COURTESY JOHN BOSSONS
This philosophy characterized her four terms as a Metro and city councillor from 1988-2000, during which she took strong positions on divisive issues from panhandling to property tax increases. More than once, she was one of a small minority of councillors who voted against what she called “glory projects” like the National Trade Centre and Toronto’s two Olympic bids. She argued money would be better spent on fixing roads and investing in housing, schools and hospitals.
Ila Bossons died of a stroke on November 30, at the age of 83. Born in 1937 in Freiburg, Germany, she met her husband, John, while they were both at the University of Pittsburg where she was studying languages and sociology. They moved to Toronto in 1966, where John became a professor in the Economics department at the University of Toronto.
Bossons was Chair of the Annex Resident’s Association from 1984-87, while a resident of Elgin Avenue.
“That was how she got into politics, through becoming concerned about what was happening in the Annex as a result of development pressures,” explained John Bossons.
Ila Bossons did not answer to interest groups in her pursuit of enhancing Toronto’s liveability. As one of only three councillors who voted against the building of the National Trade Centre she noted, “I didn’t feel the pressure of the unions, but obviously others did.”
On the issue of turning Toronto’s sewage into fertilizer, she challenged environmentalists who were concerned about its toxicity, arguing that it would have been tested before being used. “We’re really trying to do something that’s environmentally safe, and all we get is hysteria,” Bossons said at the time.
“Her philosophy was to take the best from both sides, and not get deflected by ideology,” explained John Bossons, her husband of 56 years. “That was her basic attitude toward problems.”
The fight against market value reassessment (MVA) in the early 90s was a big problem Bossons faced in her political career. The majority of homeowners in the Yorkville and Annex neighbourhoods she represented as councillor for Midtown would have seen their property taxes go up, some by as much as 45%. The provincial legislation proposed that property values, not updated since the 50s, be assessed at 1988 levels. Bossons’ vigorous campaign against MVA out of concern for its impact on seniors and small businesses helped to get it introduced more gradually.
In response to the proliferation of aggressive panhandling and “squeegee kids” in the late 90s, Bossons proposed a by-law, modelled after one in Vancouver, that would ban approaching a stopped car to panhandle, or any panhandling near a bank branch, subway, ATM machine, or liquor store. The Toronto Star named it “Bossons’ Bylaw,” and called it mean-spirited and unconstitutional. Emotional letters poured in on both sides, with some thanking Bossons for “reclaiming the streets for all of us.” Though defeated at the city level, The Safe Streets Act was passed by the Province the following year. It was much narrower in scope than “Bossons’ Bylaw,” banning only aggressive panhandling. Belonging to what she called the “middle portion of council,” may have given Bossons the freedom to take on this contentious issue.
Ila Bossons’ interests lay in city-wide issues. As Chair of the Metro Works Committee, Bossons backed practical solutions to waste disposal, arguing that central composting and incineration were strategies that could be used responsibly in Toronto as they are used in Western Europe, the U.S. and the U.K.
“Ila Bossons was at the vanguard of the waste diversion and recycling movement in the 1990s,” recalled Mike Chopowick, CEO of the Ontario Waste Management Association. “Her efforts helped set the stage for the progress we’ve achieved since then. As of today, the City of Toronto now collects approximately 160,000 tonnes of organic food waste a year and processes the large majority of it within city limits. Councillor Bossons’ leadership and dedication to waste management issues will no doubt be a lasting legacy.”
Councillor Bossons was an activist who fought to ensure that Toronto’s boom was thoughtfully managed. “She was certainly a consensus builder,” recalls Chopowick. “And just very genuinely caring for her city and its citizens.”
Ila Bossons cycled to work every day, foregoing the chauffeured vehicles available to Metro councillors. An early advocate of bike lanes, she was instrumental in having the first ones installed along the Bloor Street Viaduct. “Let me tell you, it was the difference between terror and safety,” said neighbour Eric Jackson.
She had a lifelong interest in nature, and served on the Toronto Conservation Authority Board for 14 years, from 1989-2003.
“One of Ila’s passions during her 10+ years on TRCA’s watershed advisory boards was advocating for sustainable and responsible use of our water resources, in both our urban and rural communities,” recalled Ms. Jennifer Innis, TRCA Board Chair.
Ila Bossons leaves her husband, John, son Miles, and brother Walter Haeberle. A celebration of life will follow in late spring.
January 27th, 2021 · Comments Off on NEWS: Carrying on a legacy (Jan. 2021)
Bringing chess to life after Chess Institute of Canada founder’s passing
Every June, when the Bloor Annex BIA closed the street for a festival, the Chess Institute would set-up their giant chess board with life-sized pieces. It was a very popular feature for attendees. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
By Tanya Ielyseieva
2020 was a good year for chess: the player base at chess.com increased by 66%, and one of the most popular TV series of the year was about a young woman stealthily moving players on a checkered board. Too bad Ted Winick didn’t see it. The chess enthusiast and co-founder of the Chess Institute of Canada, located at 459A Bloor Street W., believed that the game offered a chance to learn critically important life lessons and that kids of all backgrounds should get a chance to play.
“Learning how to be patient. Learning how to take responsibility for your actions, learning to think before you act, these are the things Ted believed you could learn from chess,” says Keith Denning, an instructor at the Institute. “In the early days, he even had a school janitor come up to him one time and say, ‘Hey, you’re that chess guy, right? I have to thank you because since the chess program has started the lunchroom is much cleaner.’”
Winick founded the Chess Institute and the Spirit of Math with the support of his wife, Heidi. He died in May 2019, and she died in August, 2020. Both institutions stay true to the values and standards Winick instilled in them.
“Ted was a real force of nature,” says Denning. “At the age of 70, even when he was in the hospital, he had more energy than most people half his age who were perfectly healthy. He was just continually working on things. And it’s certainly been difficult without him. Of course, everybody is determined to live up to his vision for the organization and bring it forward.”
Denning adds that COVID-19 has added to the challenge.
“I’ve been teaching online since March and it’s been difficult for the kids, however, they are handling it very well. Occasionally someone will say something like, ‘Don’t you wish that COVID had never happened?’ Of course, that’s true. But I always see smiling, happy, engaged kids who seem to be able to deal with what is getting thrown at them,” says Denning. “I would like to think, at least in part, it has to do with the sorts of values that we’re encouraging through chess.”
Currently, both the Chess Institute and the Annex Chess Club offer online chess classes, workshops, tournaments, and camps. The Annex Chess Club meets every Monday evening online. The chess classes are mainly focused on students between kindergarten and Grade 8. However, the Annex Chess Club also offers online courses for adults.
“That’s been fantastic, in a lot of ways. Ted’s dream was that it would be the Chess Institute of Canada. And we’ve been making moves that way over the last couple of years. We have had programs outside of Toronto. But now we have students all across the country. We run regular chess tournaments for kids that attract kids from as far away as Prince Rupert, Halifax, and all points in between.
I think Ted would be pleased with what we’ve managed to do in a very difficult, weird time,” Denning said.
To honour Ted Winick’s legacy, the Chess Institute of Canada is planning to hold annual chess tournaments in his name once in-person gatherings are possible again.
January 27th, 2021 · Comments Off on DEVELOPINGS: Developments at your doorstep (Jan. 2021)
New builds abound around the Annex
The construction of new residential towers has continued unabated in the Annex despite the pandemic. The Gleaner is distributed to homes between College Street, Dupont Street, Avenue Road and Christie Street. Fourteen development sites, at various stages of completion, currently exist within these boundaries. With one confirmed exception – Mirvish Village – these are each condominium developments with high price tags. In the next one to three years the population of the Annex will increase considerably. Here is what to expect.
By Mary An, with files from Kyrsten Mieras and Tanya Ielyseieva.
New building plan clears hurdles at Committee of Adjustment
View, looking East from Madison Avenue, of the soon to be constructed Estonian Cultural Centre. The proposal has widespread support from the residents’ association and the city alike. COURTESY ALAR KONGATS
Residents and shoppers alike were surprised to see the Green P parking lot on Madison Avenue close in early January. The city had been leasing the space for Green P but that lease was not renewed by the property owners who also own the adjacent 11 Madison Ave. The owners plan to begin construction soon on the International Estonian Centre, a cultural and community space. In July of 2016, the Gleaner did a feature on that pending development. We include it again here as a reminder.
Site on Madison Avenue to be converted from Green P parking lot to the Estonian Cultural Centre. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
BY JUAN ROMERO
The Committee of Adjustment at the City of Toronto and the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) have approved the latest changes proposed for the New Estonian Cultural Centre. The new centre, to be located in the Annex, will replace the current building, located on Broadview Avenue.
The Estonian Centre’s project committee had submitted eight minor changes to the design of the building. These changes, which included adjustments to the building’s height and parking, were well received by neighbours.
“In the latest proposal we liked the design and we were in favour of the changes. We think it will be really beneficial for the Estonian community,” says Sandra Shaul, the chair and director of the ARA.
The three-storey building will be located on Madison Avenue, where the Green P parking is located, which is very close to the Estonian Tartu College.
The new centre will be used by the Estonian Credit Union, the Estonian Choir, and Estonian schools and it will be occasionally rented out to third parties as well. Public events such as Estonian events and celebrations will also take place there.
Despite wide approval for the development of the centre, the Estonian Vice-Consul in Toronto, Tom Heinsoo, says the community is divided on the project.
“Some people in the community thought it would be better to spend the money on the existing house on Broadview and renovate the current building,” says Heinsoo, who adds that he is in favour of the creation of a new centre. “I do think the majority of people realize that it wouldn’t be financially logical to renovate the old building since it would cost a small fortune to bring it up to modern standards.”
According to the Estonian Centre’s due diligence report, the Madison Avenue project is set to cost approximately $25 million.
Construction is scheduled to begin in January [2021].
January 27th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: A new green space within the Annex (Jan. 2021)
As part of the 5-km long Green Line project, a new park is propose at Dupont Street and Davenport Avenue. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
A new park is coming to Macpherson Avenue as a part of the city’s Green Line project. Macpherson Avenue Park will be located at Macpherson Avenue and Davenport Road, down the street from Jay Macpherson Parkette. This park is a part of a bigger project proposed by the city called the Green Line project which, according to the city, would “transform a currently in-use electric transmission corridor into a five km-long connected park and open space.” This new park will be the first of three new parks to be initiated for their Green Line project.
As the city explains it, the Green Line project will be a “linear park system in an active hydro-electric corridor that will connect neighbourhoods and expand the broader open space network in midtown and west Toronto.”
The city held a virtual public meeting in November for Macpherson Avenue park where they were able to work with citizens and gain their input on this project. Macpherson Avenue Park has been proposed to have adult exercise equipment, an Indigenous garden with diverse plants along with Indigenous place-keeping markers within a sculpture and markings on the pavement for historical design. They are also implementing enough open space to ensure the park would have “outdoor classroom flexibility.”
Macpherson Avenue Park will be the first new park to be implemented within this project. Currently, the city is still designing the concept of the park, and plans to start construction in the spring of 2022.
January 27th, 2021 · Comments Off on CHATTER: Huron St. Playground going leash-free (Jan. 2021)
300 square metres of off-leash freedom is being implemented on the West side of the park. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
The Annex has just three designated off-leash dog park areas: Bickford Park, Ramsden Park, and Vermont Square Park. A 2018 motion to add a fourth off-leash area (OLA) in the neighbourhood is now underway at Huron Street Playground. Located just northwest of Bloor Street West and St. George Street, the park currently has a few playground structures including a rope climber, a sandbox, a swing set, and a small rock-climbing structure.
According to Jaclyn Carlisle, Senior Communications Coordinator with the City of Toronto, they plan to add a new fence, accessible benches, artificial turf along with mulch surfacing around the trees, and a water fountain with a dog bowl. The OLA will take up 300 square metres of the park on its west side, and will be open throughout regular park hours.
Generally, all owners and dogs are welcomed at any OLA, but there are different amenities in the OLAs labelled by the city; commercial dog-walker areas, specific fenced areas, and small dog areas.
Ramsden Park will be an example of a small dog area for dogs under 20 pounds. There will also be a general fenced area for dogs to run around in. The OLA addition to Huron Street Playground will have a commercial dog walker area, meaning professional dog walkers will be welcome at this OLA. More information on what type of amenities are included in any OLA is on the City of Toronto website. Walkers and owners can also get fined $365 if dogs are unleashed outside of OLAs.
According to the city’s website, the project’s current state is within the design development stage, and they plan to start construction on the park in the summer of 2021.
