January 31st, 2020 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: Bat crazy (Jan. 2020)
The government that decimated the Endangered Species Act is now in the business of protecting bats. At least that’s what Ontario’s Minister of Environment, Jeff Yurek, claimed when he revoked the approval of the Nation Rise wind farm project on December 4. As costs pile up, so do the false premises that come with the Ford regime’s attack on green energy.
Let’s begin with the bats.
Minister Yurek is concerned that the blades of the 29 planned turbines at Nation Rise (16 of which were already partially built by early December) would be detrimental to nearby hoary bats and endangered little brown bats. EDP Renewables, the company behind the project, says the permitting provisions for bats went beyond industry standards and provincial requirements, including the monitoring of bird and bat deaths and additional measures if the kill rate exceeded 10 bats per turbine annually.
Meanwhile, recent changes to Ontario’s Endangered Species Act will allow developers and municipalities to pay a fee rather than take precautions to protect species at risk. These changes, which flow from the omnibus Bill 108, also give more power for the government to override ecological concerns and “temporarily suspend” protections for habitats and any of the 243 species in Ontario that are currently considered at risk. Green leader Mike Schreiner called it a “pay to slay” provision which “green lights the destruction of species and their habitat. The act is worthless if deep-pocketed companies can just pay to ignore it.”
Ian Arthur, the NDP’s environment critic, said, “Considering that this is the government that gutted the Endangered Species Act very recently, I am incredibly skeptical that bats are truly the priority for this minister.”
The changes to the act also allow the province to suspend the protections to species at risk if they are not at risk elsewhere. The grey fox, now classified as threatened, and any other flora or fauna in similar circumstances, would see protections scrapped providing their population is common elsewhere in North America. The species is distinguished from the more common red fox because of its unique colouring, its bushy tail, and the fact it can climb trees. Though it is classified as “threatened” here in Ontario it is not in the United States, therefore its protection from habitat protection here will lapse.
“The health of species elsewhere should not give Ontario permission to exterminate them locally,” said Schreiner, who accused the Conservative government of breaking with previous Tory administrations of Bill Davis and Mike Harris which protected the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges Moraine, respectively.
Now on to the business case for this, and other cancellations of green energy projects.
The NDP said the cancellation could cost Ontario at least $200 million, on top of the $231 million the government expects to pay for the demolition of another large wind farm in Prince Edward County. There is no “business case” for these cancellations and these rash actions only make a mockery of Ford’s claim that Ontario “is open for business”. Thomas Timmins, head of the energy sector group at the Toronto-based Gowling WLG law firm, said the fate of these wind farms has worried pension funds and other major investors in energy projects. “Anything that appears arbitrary coming from government makes them nervous,” he said.
These are not the actions of a conservative cause, this is reckless conduct which fails to respect the ecology, the economy, and the electorate. No one for a moment believes that Minister Yurek or Premier Ford give a hoot about the little brown bats or have even bothered to learn about them. This is all about tearing down what the last government did, no matter what the consequence.
January 31st, 2020 · Comments Off on FORUM: Build a more livable city, together (Jan. 2020)
Bike lanes, affordable housing, parkettes, and road safety
By Mike Layton
I want to begin by wishing everyone a happy 2020 and a wonderful start to the new year. I am renewed in my commitment to working closely with you all to build a more livable and equitable city, and I want to thank the many residents who have been volunteering their time to better our ward.
This year, I am resolved to expand on existing projects that directly affect our day to day lives. We need to continue working on the creation of deeply affordable housing, the Bloor bike lane expansion, strengthening our parks, preserving our ravines, and accelerating Transform TO with new actions and targets.
Pedestrian fatalities are preventable and I know there is so much more we can do to effect change.
Locally, 2020 will bring with it the completion of the construction plans for the Bloor Street Watermain Replacement, Road Re-Surfacing and Street Revitalization Project. With the Bloor bike lanes officially confirmed as a permanent part of the landscape, this stretch will serve as the basis for the upcoming expansion of the lanes to the east and west.
Alongside the completion of sidewalk reconstruction and the replacement of the 142-year-old water main, the parkettes have been a great example of the good that can come from strong community collaboration.
I want to thank the Bloor Annex BIA for their unique vision and dedication towards growing our city’s green spaces through the design of the area’s new parkettes: Howland Street Parkette, Brunswick Street Parkette, Major Street Parkette, and Robert Street Parkette
The revitalization has been an intensive community process, and not without its surprises — one of which has been the unearthing of a 1.5-billion-year-old boulder. The 2,000 kg boulder, which I was told travelled via iceberg to the Annex from Georgian Bay approximately 15,000 years ago, has now become an interesting and unexpected feature of the pollinator planting area at the Howland Street Parkette.
Another local change for 2020 will be moving forward with the Automated Speed Enforcement Camera installation under the Vision Zero plan. Vision Zero is always top of mind for me. I have worked to fast-track implementation of safety measures related to the plan, and believe strongly in lower speed limits. Pedestrian fatalities are preventable and I know there is so much more we can do to effect change.
The upcoming enforcement system uses a camera and a speed measurement device to detect and capture images of vehicles travelling in excess of the posted speed limit. The images will be reviewed by Provincial Offence Officers with tickets being issued to the owner of the vehicle, regardless of who was driving. Penalties will be fines with no demerit points issued. One of the first installation spots within Ward 11 will be locally on Huron Street between Bernard Avenue and Lowther Avenue. It was selected using a data-driven process, with spots around the city being rotated every 3 to 6 months.
As always, you can contact me with your questions or concerns at councillor_layton@toronto.ca or by calling 416-392-4009.
Mike Layton is city councillor, Ward 11 University-Rosedale.
January 31st, 2020 · Comments Off on GREENINGS: Emergency climate calls to city met with busy signal (Jan. 2020)
City is caught flat-footed as alarm bells ring
By Terri Chu
I was mildly optimistic when Toronto City Council officially declared a “Climate Emergency”, in October, 2019. How naïve I was to think that an “emergency” meant that something might actually happen. The situation appears to me as though teenagers are dialing 911 and screaming in terror into the phone while the operator on the other end says: Please hold, your call is important to us.
The Annex Residents’ Association hosted a TransformTO community consultation in November. While the city facilitator fielded questions about what policies residents would go for, the majority in the room just angrily pleaded: Just do anything. We’re tired of watching you do nothing. We don’t care. Do anything! We don’t need perfect policies, we just need the kind of action required in an emergency.
The car industry is that dead-beat uncle with a drinking problem that keeps asking us to subsidize its failing “business”.
Currently, 53% of Toronto’s capital budget is still getting blown on a single elevated road. Toronto transit is facing yet another fare hike. It’s like the city doesn’t understand basic supply and demand economics. It already costs a family of 2 adults and 2 teenagers over $20 to take transit for Saturday morning brunch. That same family can get in the car they already own, splurge maybe a $1 in gas (probably less), and drop $4 on parking. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out which mode of transport a family with the ability to do basic arithmetic will choose.
Are we actually in an emergency? We’re still holding on the line waiting for someone, anyone, to pick up the phone!
A hundred and fifteen thousand cars per day use the Gardiner Expressway. Nearly 15 times that number of people use the TTC yet the Transit Commission barely gets double the capital budget we are giving to a single road. Are we angry? Damn straight we are angry. We scream about not having enough money. The money is there. We’ve just chosen to spend it on the wrong things. Rather than buying milk and bread, we drop the monthly budget on three bottles of single malt scotch. Then we scream at the kids for eating too much.
The car industry is that dead-beat uncle with a drinking problem that keeps asking us to subsidize its failing “business”. The money we drop on the Gardiner is enough to give the city 50,000 km of bike lanes.
The car industry needs to shrink. No amount of catering public policy to drive their sales will change their long-term prospects. Break out of it. Get that uncle the help he needs rather than feed his addiction. The longer we drag it out, the more we all suffer.
The lack of moral courage of this city council is appalling. Even from the progressive wing, strong positions are hard to take because of the need for re-election. We are well past the time for term-limits. People who have been on council for the last 30 years should not still be sitting there making decisions like they were back when we won the World Series.
Rather than raising TTC fares, the city could have chosen to raise surface parking rates to bring an hour of parking in line with two or three people taking transit. The city could have chosen to raise the vehicle registration tax. The city could raise the cost of the large garbage bins, rather than the small ones. The city has the power to enact an infinite number of policies that actually start to address this very real climate change emergency.
The kids are waiting impatiently on the line, but the mayor won’t take the call. He’s punting to the next mayor because re-election is more important than a livable future for the next generation.
Terri Chu is an engineer committed to practical environmentalism. This column is dedicated to helping the community reduce energy use, and help distinguish environmental truths from myths. Send questions, comments, and ideas for future columns to Terri at terri.chu@whyshouldicare.ca.
January 31st, 2020 · Comments Off on LIFE: Unsung heroes of Uni-Rose feted (Jan. 2020)
MPP Bell hosts community appreciation celebration
Multi-generational activists Roy Bateman, Malina Fritz-Schwarts (on behalf of Allie Rougeot), Betty Robinson, and Zoe Keary-Matzner with MPP Jessica Bell. NICOLE STOFFMAN/GLEANER NEWS
By Nicole Stoffman
A ninety-seven-year-old named Betty Robinson and a thirteen-year-old named Zoe Keary-Matzner have more in common than you might think. Both are residents of the University-Rosedale riding, both are a little headstrong, and both have been recognized for the impact they are defiantly trying to make.
An annual Community Celebration at the Cecil Community Centre honoured Robinson, Keary-Matzner, and a host of other local activists for their work with a Middle Eastern-style buffet catered by the Free Times Café and a live jazz performance by Alex Seredenko. MPP Jessica Bell spoke about the issues each honoree is fighting for. Each one then joined Ms. Bell onstage to receive their certificate of recognition to sustained applause.
“It’s a very decent and community-minded thing to do to eat dinner together and recognize these people are unsung heroes,” said Bell. “The people we are recognizing tonight don’t get quoted in the Toronto Star. They are the people that make a difference in their own small and special way.”
Robinson is currently the only remaining tenant at Davenhill Senior Living. All other residents moved out after a numbered company purchased the building that housed the seniors’ home and began to remove care services such as nursing and meals. Still able to live independently, Mrs. Robinson has hired her own caregivers and is visited daily by her daughter, Dianne.
MPP Bell, who is now fighting on Robinson’s behalf, explains what’s at stake.
“Private retirement homes should not be able to force residents out without a formal eviction process by suddenly cutting off the vital services that these seniors rely upon and pay for,” she says.
If Robinson and Bell get their way, care services will be included in the Residential Tenancies Act.
The case also prompted Bell and her office to educate Davenhill residents about how eviction works in Ontario. A tenant can be evicted only if it is authorized by a hearing at the Landlord and Tenant Board. In the meantime, Davenhill has signed an ongoing tenancy agreement with Mrs. Robinson.
Zoe Keary-Matzner is one of seven applicants suing the Government of Ontario for weakening the province’s climate targets, claiming their Charter Rights to life, liberty, and security of the person are being violated.
“If we take action, it will set an example for other places around the world to take action as well,” explains Zoe.
Miss Keary-Matzner’s case is backed by Ecojustice in response to the Ford Government’s revised 2030 climate target under the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, 2018.
The case aims to compel Ontario to set a Greenhouse Gas Emissions reduction target in line with what science says will limit global warming to 1.5C by mid-century. This could mean raising Ontario’s new GHG reduction target of 30% below 2005 levels by 2030 to 45% below 2010 levels by 2030, as the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has suggested.
Ecojustice is not, however, asking for a specific percentage when it comes to a revised emissions target in Ontario.
Miss Keary-Matzner, along with Allie Rougeot and Roy Bateman, were recognized for their climate action leadership. These youth are among the very first to participate in the monthly Fridays for Future climate rallies at Queen’s Park, which have grown from hundreds to thousands in the space of a year. From the youngest to the most senior, our riding’s activists have shown tremendous courage. The Community Celebration was an opportunity to take a moment to honour the work that has been done. With five times more nominees than could be recognized, it surely won’t be the last.
Correction
An earlier version incorrectly identified Ms. Bell as MP Bell instead of MPP Bell. The Gleaner regrets the error.
Comments Off on LIFE: Unsung heroes of Uni-Rose feted (Jan. 2020)Tags:Annex · Life
January 31st, 2020 · Comments Off on ARTS: Commit to culture in 2020 (Jan. 2020)
A myriad of activities meet the new year in the Arts Corridor
The African oxpecker consumes the blood of its host. Featured in the ROM’s Bloodsucker exhibition. Courtesy the Royal Ontario Museum
By Meribeth Deen
How about making the most of the city’s culture as a resolution for 2020?
It’s easy, too. All you need to do is make your way up to Bloor Street and pop into any one of the many galleries, music venues, cinemas, museums, and cultural centres that make up the Bloor St. Culture Corridor. This month, there’s lots to hear, touch, see, and learn.
Bring the kids (ages 7 – 14) down to the Gardiner Museum (111 Queeen’s Park) to get their hands dirty and learn ceramics from a professional artist for Saturday morning kids clay classes. Adult classes are also ongoing.
Head to the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at U of T to get the big-picture story of CanLit. There are many names to know in the CanLit scene beyond Atwood, Ondaatje, Gallant, and Davies.
The writers were and are supported by a host of editors, publishers, illustrators, marketers, and book sellers.
Drawing on the rich archival material in the library (including the first draft of A Handmaid’s Tale) this exhibition explores the diverse community that shaped CanLit.
For a shot of colour, head to Galerie Pierre Léon (at the Alliance Française, 24 Spadina Rd.) to see the work of Laurianne Simon in the exhibit, The Parrot’s Intrigue.
Simon has been painting birds since 2012, and says that “for a long time now, my paintings of birds, more specifically of fighting cocks and parrots, have been a metaphor for the artist. More recently, I have come to realize that they are perhaps more a metaphor for human beings.”
Learn about the diversity of nature’s vampires as well as the myths, legends, and pop culture they have inspired at the ROM’s Bloodsuckers: Legends to Leeches exhibit on until March 22.
You’ll get to know the vampire bat, who exclusively feeds on the blood of birds and mammals, and on occasion, humans.
They cut the skin using razor-sharp teeth, lapping up blood from the wound.
You’ll get some rare images of the human practice of bloodletting, and get to dive in deep on blood-related topics at talks running on various evenings until the exhibition closes in March.
On January 25, head to 918 Bathurst to celebrate the release of Anishinaabe experimental-electronic producer Ziibiwan’s debut album Giizis, featuring Phedre and Melody McKiver.
Ziibwan is a genre-hopping producer who experiments with hip hop, triphop, R&B and more.
He was nominated for the Best New Artist award and best instrumental category for his album, Time Limits. Tickets are available online.
And why not head to HotDocs, where this month you can get your fill of bio-docs at the Game Changer Series which is sure to inspire with the stories of Malcom X, Edward Said, Susan Sontag, and more.
Comments Off on ARTS: Commit to culture in 2020 (Jan. 2020)Tags:Annex · Arts
Artist Robert Cram spots as Sanscon Construction employees carefully place the first granite bench at the Robert Street Parkette. NEILAND BRISSENDEN/BLOOR ANNEX BIA
Originally published in October of 2016 in anticipation of the granite installations in the Bloor Street Parkettes.
By Geremy Bordonaro
Humans have been moving stones to create monuments since at least prehistoric times, an act that is taking on a very local incarnation, thanks to the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area, which is installing four parkettes along Bloor Street between Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street.
Placed at the rights-of-way at Howland Avenue, Brunswick Avenue, Major Street, and Robert Street respectively, the parkettes will provide many user-friendly amenities like a water bottle refilling station and stone seating made of granite sourced from Quebec quarries.
Part art installation, part seating structure, the granite is meant to bring a more human aspect to the landscape, explained Robert Cram of DTAH, the Toronto-based architecture firm responsible for the design of the parkettes.
“This concept was based on something that we, as humans, have been doing for a long time,” Cram said. “We’ve been taking stones from places and carrying them to other places to create these communal, interesting spots where people can gather.”
A Quebec quarry worker marks granite destined to become part seating, part art installation in four parkettes set to launch on Bloor Street in 2018. COURTESY ROBERT CRAM
The granite stones, reclaimed off-cuts, weigh upwards of 10,000 pounds and are 2 to 4 feet tall. Cuts to the rocks for seating are specifically being carved with care by Cram.
“The concept for sculpting the stone came from [Isamu] Noguchi, the Group of Seven, and other people who have done these simple techniques into stone,” said the designer, whose design will give each stone “a beautiful modern look that will complement the history of the layers the stone already has”.
Brian Burchell, chair of the BIA (who also publishes this paper), is spearheading the $1.8-million street revitalization plan that includes the parkettes project, said he believes “they will soften the area, creating spaces that are relaxing and non-commercial; an oasis in a very busy landscape.
“You might think it’s unusual that the chair of the business association is advocating for non-commercial spaces but it’s exactly what we need to make the space more human.”
“From a park point of view, [the goal is] to have an integrated public art landscape, not something plunked down in the site, [but] something that becomes part of the site, [and] something that will work at all different times of the year,” said James Roche, a partner at DTAH, which has worked with other BIAs on similar projects.
“Increasingly, Bloor Street is becoming a destination and we want to make that experience as enjoyable as possible,” said Burchell.
“I fully imagine seeing people meeting at these parkettes and them being a place where people can have respite from the completely commercial nature of the street.”
“What’s interesting is the scale of the project,” added Roche. “It’s almost like it’s going to be one of those things where someday someone wakes up and says ‘Wow, this is quite the transformation.’”
In the end, Cram believes that these parkettes will give a sense of connectivity unlike anywhere else in the city.
“When you walk down Bloor [Street], there will be this continual language to it. When you go through, the Annex will have this kind of personal aesthetic that will feed into [its] image.”
December 9th, 2019 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER (Dec. 2019)
Women Walking in Lane (Watercolour) by Jim Prince from his collection Toronto Winter Themes is featured on our cover this issue.
From his biography: “Jim Prince’s paintings received critical attention right from the start. Shortly after completing art school in Toronto in 1954, Jim exhibited on several occasions at the Art Gallery of Ontario with the Ontario Society of Artisits and the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour. One of Jim’s paintings during this period was purchased by J. Hirshhorn, and is now in the permanent collection at The Hirshhorn Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. More recently Jim had the honour of being one of the artists chosen by the American Watercolor Society for its 133rd Annual International Exhibition in New York City.”
To purchase a print e-mail: jimprinceart@yahoo.com or for more information visit jimprinceart.wordpress.com.
December 9th, 2019 · Comments Off on NEWS: OCAD students design bike rings (Dec. 2019)
Traditional and contemporary pieces win competition
OCAD student Che Huang kneels next to his winning bike ring design for Bloor Annex BIA parkettes. KHYRSTEN MIERAS/GLEANER NEWS
By Khyrsten Mieras
New bike racks are being added to the Annex’s urban landscape after OCAD announced the winners of its design contest in mid-November.
As part of the Bloor Street Revitalization Project, students in two OCAD classes took part in a competition last year to design bike racks for the Bloor Annex area. The two winners, Che Huang and Hadas Green, are both third-year students in the industrial design program at the university. They worked in collaboration with the Bloor Annex BIA, the City of Toronto, and architects DTAH to make their unique designs.
Huang created a leaf design that highlights the neighbourhood’s green spaces with simple, modern, and functional elements. The majority of these racks were recently installed at several parkettes along Bloor Street West, including the Major Street parkette.
“When I set out to start the project, I was inspired by nature mostly,” said Huang. “I refined the shape of the leaf down to angles and it became a more geometric form. I really wanted to set out to make something that was mass-producible and would be cheap to make and would be using the existing infrastructure.”
OCAD student Hadas Green with her lamp post bike ring in front of Trinity-St. Paul’s Church. KHYRSTEN MIERAS/GLEANER NEWS
Green designed a more traditional bike rack that is based on a lamp post and made of corten steel. The design is reminiscent of Toronto’s historical culture and was inspired by the city’s historical lighting standards and the Annex in the 1900s. It will be installed at Trinity St. Paul’s United Church to complement the building’s historic architecture.
“With my bike ring, it was really important to me that it captures the whole character of the area,” said Green. “The fact that it’s a bike rack and it’s kind of two dimensional and rustic…captures both the modern aesthetic and then also the history.”
A small jury of stakeholders including BIA, the revitalization committee, and DTAH judged the designs on their security, installation, and aesthetic appeal.
Brian Burchell, chair of the Bloor Annex BIA (and publisher of this newspaper), has led the Bloor Street Revitalization Project and says that the bike rings will bring economic benefits to the neighbourhood by giving cyclists a place to lock their bikes so they can stop and shop.
“It was pure luck that we learned that there [was] a class of students at OCAD that wanted to participate in a competition to make bike rings that are suitable to our specific environment and our vision of the Annex,” said Burchell. “We were just so fortunate to have all those young, creative minds come up with ideas in that competition and we’re grateful for all those who made the effort to submit a design, and we’re especially grateful to the winning designers.”
The OCAD student-designed racks will be located in the new parkettes and on some side streets, while the city-standard “post and ring” designs will continue to occupy Bloor Street sidewalks.
December 9th, 2019 · Comments Off on NEWS: New mural for Major (Dec. 2019)
Parkette location chosen to celebrate Bloor’s rich offerings
Initial concept of mural design by Daniela Rocha for the Major Street parkette (rear, east-face of Sleep Country location) pending for May of 2020. COURTESY DANIELA ROCHA
By Khyrsten Mieras
The Bloor Annex BIA is expanding its Bloor Street Revitalization Project with the addition of a new mural to showcase the neighbourhood’s rich offering of culture and diversity.
In August, the BIA sent a request looking for mural proposals from local artists to design and paint a mural on the façade at 459 Bloor St. W. in the Major Street parkette. They chose Daniela Rocha, an OCAD graduate and muralist who lives in the Annex, to undertake the project.
“The Annex is one of the most popular neighbourhoods in the city, so to me it’s a really great honour to paint it,” said Rocha. “I just feel very excited about it because it’s going to be a very cool mural and I think it’s very different from what the murals are here in the city.”
Rocha’s mural captures many of the distinct landmarks and characteristics in the Bloor Annex community. Her design includes Trinity St. Paul’s United Church, bike lanes on Bloor, a totem pole for the Native Canadian Centre, Lee’s Palace, and a camera to represent Hot Docs Cinema. It also combines images of flying books from BMV, artists’ materials from Midoco, tools from Wiener’s Home Hardware, drinks from local bars, cuisine from the area, neighbourhood animals, and plants and trees to portray the nature of the Annex.
“I was inspired by the Annex in general, mostly the stores or just the restaurants that have been there for a long time,” said Rocha. “I’m originally from Colombia and came to Toronto back in 2007 and the Annex has been the neighbourhood that I’ve always been to, so I wanted to just portray the things that I’ve seen since then.”
Artists needed their ideas to meet four criteria in order to be considered for the project: they needed to take inspiration from cultural establishments, entertainment venues, and art in Bloor Annex; they needed to incorporate the community’s future, contain colourful and positive imagery, and not be overly intricate or simplistic.
Rocha’s piece highlighted all of these aspects with an emphasis on colour.
“I wanted to have a very colourful piece because for me colour is really important. I think that, especially right now during winter, everything becomes really grey and there’s not much sun, so my work is very distinctive because of the colour.”
Twenty-one local artists submitted their designs for the competition. The jury, made up of representatives from the BIA’s board and business members as well as cultural centres in the neighbourhood, chose the winning mural by rating each submission and narrowing them down to five. The group reviewed those five together before coming to a final decision.
Ellie Hayden, the previous project administrator for the Bloor Annex Revitalization project, helped to organize the contest and submissions.
“I’ve orchestrated mural projects for other BIAs and this was by far the biggest response I’ve seen,” Hayden wrote in an email to the Gleaner. “What was even cooler was how many of the artists had connections to the Annex neighbourhood. I think it speaks to the creative nature of this community and how invested people are in making it a welcoming place.”
The mural is expected to be completed next spring with the help of funding from the City of Toronto that was extended until the end of May 2020.
December 9th, 2019 · Comments Off on NEWS: ARA climate plan hits home (Dec. 2019)
TransformTO consultation held to discuss city’s climate plan
Teri Chu of the ARA has launched Plate Share, a free dining-ware program for local parties. KHYRSTEN MIERAS/GLEANER NEWS
By Khyrsten Mieras
The City of Toronto and the Annex Residents’ Association’s (ARA) Parks, Trees and Environment Committee held the latest TransformTO community consultation at the Bata Shoe Museum on November 4.
Along with local communities, the city is holding several public conversations this fall to discuss what actions need to be taken to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Toronto. The Annex consultation gave its residents the opportunity to share their ideas for environmental strategies and ways to make the city greener.
The event was presented by Terri Chu, the chair of the Parks Committee, and Sarah Rodrigues, a senior environmental planner from the city’s Environment and Energy division. It was followed by a conversation with community members to discuss TransformTO, what they like and dislike about it, and suggestions to improve it.
Adopted in 2017, TransformTO is the city’s climate action strategy. The plan sets out long-term, low-carbon goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 while still benefiting the quality of life for residents. Currently, the city is preparing a TransformTO implementation plan for steps it should take by 2023 to further reduce its emissions.
“The City of Toronto has already faced the impacts of climate change through extreme weather,” said Rodrigues. “So, it’s an important conversation to understand how we can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change but also realize how we can include co-benefits: how we can advance social equity, improve health, [and] support the creation of local jobs while we reduce emissions.”
The ARA’s Parks, Trees and Environment Committee, formerly the Parks, Trees Committee, was recently renamed to highlight its new focus on the environment.
The volunteer committee is involved in several environmental programs that benefit the Annex community. One of its main projects is a tree replacement effort, which will introduce a subsidized tree replacement program in 2020. It has also launched Plate Share, a free dining-ware lending program for parties that reduces single use plastics in the community.
“We try to reduce the GHG emissions on a local level and we do what we can within the community to try to tackle other challenges like flood resiliency, air pollution, and so on,” said Chu.
Community members in attendance at the Annex consultation meeting voiced their concerns about the city’s lack of environmental action and seeming lack of urgency to move forward. With the city’s declaration of a climate emergency in October 2019, members agreed that Toronto needs to do more to prevent irreparable damage in the future.
“I think the city has a long way to go. I would really like to know what’s implementable now versus what the dreams are and what people will accept,” said Chu. “It’s ambitious in some ways but not enough in others and the bottom line is we really need to get people on board and be willing to adapt their lifestyles. Pretending that we can do it with substitutions is not going to cut it.”
Community members offered many suggestions to help the city improve its environmental framework for transportation: lower or free transit costs, higher parking costs, improved sidewalks, a specific plan to reduce cars, and prioritizing pedestrians, bikers, and public transit ahead of roads.
For other areas of the environment, members called for stronger grass roots education, especially in schools and through city-wide advertisements. They also recommended carbon tax rationing at individual and community levels, mandatory environmental standards, stronger leadership from Mayor John Tory, and a war cabinet to enforce quick action. These climate conversations will continue at more community consultations taking part across the city in November to shape TransformTO with the help of local residents. The final TransformTO implementation plan for 2021 to 2023 will be presented to council early next year.
