Tragedy results in memorial ride, call for greater safety

By Temi Dada

Cyclists gathered on June 20 at 6.30 p.m. to honour Dalia Chako with one final ride. Among the mourners at the ghost ride were family and friends of Chako, who was killed by a truck at Bloor and St. George streets on June 12.

Chako’s fatal accident was the sixth cycling accident in 10 days in Toronto, and highlighted bike and pedestrian safety across the city.

“I think at the end of the day as the city grows there has to be dedicated infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, [or] you won’t be able to handle the amount of traffic a large city produces. It is better to get ahead of the curve before it becomes a bigger issue than it is,” said Skylor Brummans, Chako’s son. He believes that change is paramount for the safety of cyclists in Toronto and hopes that the memorial touches people and encourages them to be more careful on the road.

For others present at the event, protected lanes are not the only thing that will bring an end to the fatal accidents. There needs to be more awareness on the road and education for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

“There is a serious divide between cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists,” said Robert Lawson, who has been a bike courier for about 15 years. “The city councillors and politicians worry about the popular vote; they’re not going to worry about the cyclist and pedestrian issue because there are more cars who pay more taxes. A designated lane is not a protected lane.”

Brummans added that “there needs to be some kind of awareness campaign to do that as well to tell people who are not familiar with it to be more aware when they open their doors or make a right turn”.

Michael Stein, a cyclist and bike technician, said that “education towards drivers is a needed thing. I have actually had a couple of discussions with drivers who have almost hit me and they didn’t understand the rules.

“They didn’t know [cyclists] are meant to be on the road, but sometimes when you explain the rules to them they understand. There should be awareness for cyclists too because there are some crazy cyclists out there as well.”

Stein, who has been a cyclist in cities like Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, said that he and his cyclist friends call cycling in Toronto “horizontal skydiving”.

He has had his fair share of bad experiences with drivers in Toronto, where a driver once used his car as a weapon to push him and his bike off the road. Experiences like that and the sudden spurt of accidents prompted him to start wearing a GoPro camera on his head while cycling.

“Over the last couple of weeks I would say [fear for safety on the road] has gotten worse,” Stein said. “I would say Toronto is the scariest city I have biked in. I don’t think the police keep drivers accountable and I don’t think they hold cyclists accountable also; there are some crazy cyclists out there as well.”

He also believes that inclusion of more protected bike lanes would help to make cyclists feel safer on the road.

The Toronto Police Service is still investigating the accident and no charges have been laid so far.

The intersection remains a memorial to Chako: flowers started appearing the day after the accident and a white ghost bike was placed in her memory near the street.

READ MORE ON CYCLING:

EDITORIAL: City staff ignore bike lanes (July 2018)

NEWS: Bike lanes (March 2018)

CHATTER: Cyclists prey for open doors (Dec. 2017)

NEWS (Nov. 2017): Pilot project becomes permanent

NEWS: Here to stay? (Oct. 2017)

FORUM: A magical new supply of parking spots (October 2017)

EDITORIAL (FALL 2017): Bike lanes, good for business

CHATTER (MARCH 2017): Preliminary data on Bloor Street pilot bike lane released

CHATTER: Ground-breaking bike lanes launch on Bloor Street (August 2016)

NEWS: Bikes blessed for another season (June 2016)

FOCUS: An early advocate for bike lanes (June 2016)

NEWS: Bike lanes for Bloor Street (May 2016)

The faster we lower speeds, the more lives we save (October 2015)

Annual general meeting includes Mirvish Village update

By Ahmed-Zaki Hagar

Future development and maintaining community green spaces were the main topics at a well-attended annual general meeting of the Palmerston Area Residents’ Association (PARA) on May 15.

Kristina Reinders, a senior urban designer with the City of Toronto, spoke about the TOcore initiative, focusing on parkland and community spaces.

TOcore — approved by Toronto City Council on May 22 — is a long-term plan to redesign the city’s downtown core aimed at preparing for the upcoming population and employment growth in the next 25 years.

As a public and private investment, TOcore aims to improve the downtown core for residents, workers, and students, ensuring that “growth positively contributes to Toronto’s downtown as a great place to live, work, learn, play, and invest”, said Reinders.

She added that the increase of high-rise buildings will result in “an [increased] need for parks”.

According to census data, downtown residents only have 5.5 square metres of parkland per resident, whereas the city average is 28 square metres per resident.

“Downtown residents have among the lowest percentage of parkland space in the city,” she said. “The land is just not available, but what is important is how we use the space that we have and that we design it in a way that is most useful for residents and employees.”

The Parks and Public Realm Plan consists of “five transformative ideas”: the core circle, great streets, the shoreline stretch, park districts, and local places. According to the plan, these ideas “establish a clear vision for the Downtown’s future urban landscape”.

Reinders said that the city has tools to pay for implementing the plan, like a bylaw amendment currently under consideration by council that would require new developments to provide more park space. In addition to what she called a “sizable capital budget”, she said that other ways of funding the project include partnerships with public and private agencies and philanthropy.

After Reinders spoke, board member Frumie Diamond presented the PARA Green Plan, which is currently in draft form. The plan will be an official green document that’s approved by the city and advocates for bylaws that support the environment.

“We want to promote…green initiatives that contribute to the wellness of our community,” Diamond said. “We need to respond to climate change because it is happening now and it is already impacting our community.”

The plan identifies public spaces — like the Palmerston Gates, Healey Willan Park, churches, and synagogues — for improving or adding green spaces.

It addressed PARA’s discussions with Westbank Projects Corp., which is redeveloping Mirvish Village, on adding park space to the new development.

“We need to make sure that the whole [Mirvish Village] project is integrated into a continuous green space,” she said.

The green plan will also include a community greening project that is still to be decided.

“There are a lot of educational opportunities to educate our neighbours and people in our community,” added Diamond.

Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) spoke with Roy Sawyer, one of PARA’s representatives of the Mirvish Village Task Group, about how construction will impact movement around the neighbourhood.

Sawyer said that progress has been made in planning for vehicle movement in the Village, including making Markham Street a one-way street and widening Lennox Street near Honest Ed’s to include a dedicated left-turn lane.

He added that the development will connect with the rest of the neighbourhood and make the streets “much more beautiful.”

“On the Palmerston [Boulevard] side of Mirvish Village, there are all these beautiful heritage houses that had lost green space behind them, that is going to be combined with park space,” Sawyer said. “That will be partially used as outdoor space for a new daycare.”

Layton said that he wants the development to not only accommodate movement but also provide the community with “a very special public space”.

To accomplish this, Layton and Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) proposed a motion to work with several city divisions, including Transportation Services, to help with planning the movement and street priorities in the development.

“It will take many years to build this development,” Layton said. “Before these 1,800 people move in and the retail opens up, we will have a significant opportunity to look at the traffic pattern, model it, and try to figure out solutions.”

Layton said that the development is currently at the site plan application phase, and that he hopes to involve the community, including PARA, and not “try to work in isolation”.

NDP scores more votes than all rivals combined

By Geremy Bordonaro

Jessica Bell of the New Democratic Party (NDP) is the first ever Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the newly formed riding of University-Rosedale. The riding, which encompasses the northern half of what was once Trinity-Spadina, includes all of the Annex.

The 2018 Ontario provincial election marks a definitive shift in the politics of the city and province as Doug Ford’s Ontario Progressive Conservatives (PC) gained a majority government with 76 seats. Kathleen Wynne’s Liberals, formerly a majority government, lost their status as a party after taking only seven seats, even though Wynne managed to hold on to her riding of Don Valley West.

Jessica Bell said she was “humbled but proud” to represent the Annex, and spoke about how much this meant to her.

“The very next day I had to start working. I walked up the steps of Queen’s Park and it felt very historic,” Bell said. “I’m going to remember that moment for the rest of my life.”

Bell received an incredibly strong 24,537 votes, nearly half of the riding’s voter turnout.

She won more votes than the Liberal, PC, and Green party candidates combined and more than twice as many votes as the runner-up.

The runner-up, Jo-Ann Davis, from the Liberal Party, got 10,898 votes, with 22 per cent of the vote, and was closely followed by Gillian Smith from the PC Party with 10,431 votes at 21 per cent. Tim Grant, representative of the Green Party, ended up with 2,652 votes, at 5 per cent.

Bell is part of a strong NDP contingent from Toronto. Most of the city’s ridings flipped from Liberal to NDP with the NDP taking two incumbent seats in Toronto-Danforth and Parkdale-High Park.

“This election was very clearly a change election,” she said. “People in Toronto did not want Doug Ford and the budget cuts that the Conservatives typically do. They overwhelmingly voted for change.”

The story in Etobicoke, Scarborough, and parts of North York is very different. In these ridings, outside of the city’s core, the PC party took hold. Prior to this election there were no Conservatives holding a seat within Toronto, yet 11 seats flipped from Liberal to PC.

In the small amount of time since the election the premier-elect has already signalled he will axe the Green Ontario Fund, which according to Gus Sinclair, former Chair of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association, has already had an effect on the community.

“The HVRA prides itself on trying to be the greenest community in Toronto,” Sinclair said. “We used that money to subsidize energy audits for people’s houses. “Now people are like ‘well geez, what do I do?’ That kind of initiative I think is essential if we believe global warming is a problem.”

Sinclair is waiting for whatever changes come in the future but is not exactly optimistic.

“I don’t know what else he is going to do. People wanted change. Change is what they’re going to get,” said Sinclair. “They may not like the change they get.”

Three of the seven remaining Liberal party strongholds are in Toronto. The ridings of Don Valley West and East, with the addition of Scarborough-Guildwood, all remained Liberal despite the party’s overall unpopularity.

READ MORE ON THE ELECTION:

ON THE COVER: The Ballot Bunch (Election Special 2018)

NEWS: Grilling potential MPPs (Election Special 2018)

EDITORIAL: The market has no moral compass (Election Special 2018)

GREENINGS: Choosing the lesser evil (Election Special 2018)

FORUM: Bold new initiatives for Ontario (Election Special 2018)

FORUM: Reducing downtown’s vehicles by 25 per cent (May 2018)

FORUM: What kind of Ontario do we want? (May 2018)

FORUM: What kind of province do we want? (March 2018)

COURTESY MARTIN REIS

Have you ever cursed the mess of mulberries on the sidewalk from mid-June through early August? Did you know these mulberries are actually delicious?

The Annex Residents’ Association hosted its second Annual Mulberry Festival on July 7 at Jean Sibelius Park. Attendees picked mulberries from trees in the neighbourhood, and participated in a tree canopy tour with Sandy Smith, a professor in the University of Toronto’s forestry department, who shared her vast knowledge of our urban forest.

One of the most beautiful gardens in the Annex also hosted visitors, and there were talks about native plant species and what grows best in our soils.

Snacks and refreshments were available — participants brought a cup for some cool lemonade as this was a waste-free affair.

—Terri Chu/Gleaner News

More how nice!

EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Election Special 2018)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (May 2018)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Spring 2018)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Mar. 2018)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: How Nice (Dec. 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON How nice! (August 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON How nice! (July 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: how nice! by blamb (June 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: TCHC (May 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: The Grand Tory (April 2017)

FORUM: Celebrating 20 years of cartoonist Brett Lamb (April 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: A second chance! by Brett Lamb 2037 (February 2017)

EDITORIAL CARTOON: Not really! It’s actually nice! by Stumpy the Subway(January 2017)

The Bloor-Borden farmers’ market returned for its 11th year on June 6.

Open every Wednesday until the middle of October, the market offers a little bit of everything to delight the tongue from berries to honey, vegetables, meat, bread, and even wine! All the fresh produce is direct from the farm to the city.

While there have been funding concerns in the past, Helen Goldlist, who chairs the Bloor-Borden Farmers’ Market Advisory Committee, says the farmers’ market has at least “three to four years left before we have to look for different funding”.

It’s an entirely volunteer-run market, and funding from BIAs and other local organizations help make up any funding shortfalls. Goldlist also suggests getting local sponsors to pay for the musicians who perform throughout the day.

The market currently gets much of its funding from its partners in Farmers’ Markets Ontario which, among other things, ensures that every farmer attending the market is certified local. The Bloor-Borden farmers’ market runs every Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m., rain or shine, in the Green P parking lot on Borden, south of Bloor Street West.

—Geremy Bordonaro/Gleaner News

Jaime Black’s REDress Project has inspired three churches along Bloor Street to show their solidarity with those seeking redress for Canada’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

In 2014, the Métis artist created an art installation at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg that featured red dresses as symbols of the missing and murdered women. Since then, the installation has grown, and Black is collecting 600 dresses by community donation that will later be installed in public spaces across Winnipeg and Canada to symbolize the “staggering number of women who are no longer with us”, according to her website, redressproject.org.

Her project has inspired many collaborators across Canada, including an art display last year at the University of Toronto’s St. George campus, and now Bloor Street United Church, Church of the Redeemer, and Trinity-St. Paul’s Church. All three have hung red dresses around their exteriors.

“As members of the church and community I think we have a duty to raise awareness on serious societal issues like this,” said Randi Helmers, who helped with the display. She’s a long-time member of the Bloor Street United Church and a theatre and visual artist.

“The 60s and 70s were the awakening of the feminist movement in the church. Part of our duty is to raise consciousness and teach people the challenges faced by urban and reserve Indigenous people. Hopefully this starts a conversation and makes people act and look to help,” said Pamela Thomson, a member of the Church of the Redeemer.

She’s a leader of the Indigenous Solidarity Working Group and the Indigenous Justice Coalition, and was influential in the collaboration between the churches.

“The idea is to raise awareness, and a basic part of any work in this area is to listen to Indigenous people and take our lead from them because we have this long history of giving solutions which were not appropriate,” said Dianne Johnson, a member of the Bloor Street United Church, who’s also a representative of the church’s Social Justice Committee and the Indigenous Rights Group.

“It is very powerful, effective, and a political statement in an artistic form,” said Helmers.

The displays started on June 4 and will most likely run till further notice. St. Paul’s Bloor Street is set to join the other three churches and add a display in August.

For more information on the National Inquiry into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, please visit mmiwg-ffada.ca.

—Annemarie Brissenden with files from Temi Dada/Gleaner News

The Church of Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields has launched a fundraising campaign to save its historic stained glass windows. One of Toronto’s oldest buildings, the Anglican church at 103 Bellevue Ave. in Kensington Market was built in 1858. The impressive stained glass windows date from 1878, and were built by one of the leading stained glass studios in Canada at the time.

Experts have assessed the state of the windows and believe the windows are in extremely poor condition due to their age, which means they are at risk of glass failure at any time.

The parish is particularly keen on preserving the window depicting Mary Magdalene, which is a stained glass piece that is valued by the church and community alike. Saint Stephens is working with Eve Guinan Design-Restoration, a prominent stained glass conservationist.

It will cost over $150,000 to save the windows. Heritage Toronto has promised $75,000, contingent upon the church raising matching funds.

Saint Stephens launched its fundraising campaign on June 1. You can make a donation through the church’s website at saintstephens.ca, or send a cheque to the church. Charitable receipts will be issued for donations over $10.

—Billy Wilner/Gleaner News

In “The Pothole”, the award-winning 150th episode Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer adopts a one mile stretch of the Arthur Burghardt Expressway after running over an abandoned sewing machine. Kramer decides to make his newly adopted section of a highway a more luxurious experience for drivers by reducing four lanes to two extra-wide ones. What results — to great comedic effect — is mass confusion and chaos and, a lesson in how not to manage a highway.

Here in the Annex, we are at risk of learning a similar lesson, though this time courtesy of city staff.

Reducing the number of car lanes on Bloor Street West between Shaw Street and Avenue Road to make way for bike lanes along the curb has been largely successful. The lanes launched as a pilot project in August 2016, and were later made permanent by Toronto City Council in November of 2017.

According to a city staff report submitted to city council’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee in October of 2017, the Bloor Street West pilot had, even by then, become the “second highest bike facility by volume in the city, improved safety for all road users, and increased customer spending at local businesses within the pilot area”. Sixty-six per cent of motorists report feeling more comfortable driving next to cyclists, 85 per cent of cyclists feel safer with the lanes in place (compared to just 3 per cent prior to the installation), and pedestrians overwhelmingly said that their experience walking along (and across) Bloor Street felt the same or safer. Collisions between motor vehicles have been reduced, perhaps because the hazard of changing lanes is no longer possible. Even with more bikes on the road, the bike/motorized collision data has not changed, which means that the effective collision rate has gone down.

So it all appears to be a win-win for all users.

But the bike lane design on Bloor Street is no panacea. Tragically, cyclist Dalia Chako was struck and killed by a right-turning truck at St. George and Bloor streets in June, one of 21 cyclists and pedestrians who have died in Toronto this year.

Her death is a reminder that the pilot design of the bike lane was never supposed to be cast in concrete. It was a test and now that the city has learned from it, there is a chance to make it better. The “build it and they will come” plan worked as there is now a street full of bikes, and the city now has a duty to protect them.

City council anticipated this when it decided to make the lanes permanent in November 2017. Council instructed the general manager of transportation services to make safety improvements in 2018: setting back parking areas to improve sight lines for all road users, better signage, and adding green area markings in conflict zones.

City staff responded by doing nothing. No improvements to the bollards, no road paint, no new signage. It’s shameful, irresponsible, and insubordinate.

So frustrated by staff inaction, local councillors Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) and Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) led a motion — passed in June — directing staff to “accelerate plans to improve separation in the Bloor Street West bike lane to enhance corridor safety” and to “immediately improve corridor safety along the bike lane route”.

While a good step forward for all road users, the bike lanes are not perfect.

We expect the city’s transportation division to be more conscious and conscientious about how the changes are affecting our streets and our safety.

Otherwise it will become yet another lesson in how not to manage a roadway.

READ MORE EDITORIALS: 

EDITORIAL: The market has no moral compass (Election Special 2018)

EDITORIAL: Lessons to be learned from Excessive Force (Spring 2018)

EDITORIAL: A social contract is a precious thing (March 2018)

EDITORIAL: Intolerance leading to Quebec’s decline (Dec. 2017)

EDITORIAL (Nov. 2017): Student safety suffers as trustees cave

EDITORIAL: Pandering to religious intolerance (October 2017)

EDITORIAL: Bike lanes, good for business (Fall 2017)

EDITORIAL: Don’t sacrifice safety for political gain (August 2017)

EDITORIAL: Thank you Mr. Asti (July 2017)

EDITORIAL: A watershed moment (June 2017)

EDITORIAL: Revoke U of T’s unchecked “licence to build” (May 2017)

EDITORIAL: Westbank’s positive precedent (April 2017)

EDITORIAL: Foreign buyers tax a necessary cliff jump (March 2017)

Residents’ associations cultivate neighbourhoods

By Mike Layton

At the Palmerston Area Residents’ Association (PARA) annual general meeting last month, I realized something. We are so lucky to have such informed, open, and dedicated neighbours. Often people, including the media, are critical of neighbourhood associations labelling them as NIMBY, meddling neighbours standing in the way of change favouring homeowners.

In my experience, this can’t be further from the truth.

Over the past several years I have relied heavily on the advice, expertise, and leadership of residents’ associations in Ward 19 and beyond.

Some are quite large, while others are only a single street. Some have bank accounts, some don’t. Some have elaborate constitutions and bylaws that govern them, while others have no rules. They hold meetings in parks, party rooms, living rooms, or bars. However they define themselves, these associations are a wealth of information and connectivity with the local community.

No, they are not elected officials. Yes, sometimes they don’t have membership that is as diverse as those who live in the community they represent. No, their views are not always shared by everyone in their community (even within their own leadership). However, none of this takes away from their value as an organizing unit, a sounding board, and a communications tool.

My office routinely calls on residents’ associations to circulate information about planning applications, laneway namings, streetscape designs, emergency shelter plans, and so on. We also request that they join steering committees, working groups, and construction liaison committees, to name a few.

Let me give you a couple examples of where I have found the input and participation of residents’ associations to be invaluable.

In 2013, I was approached by Native Child and Family Services about their plan to open a new youth facility on Bloor Street West. A minor Official Plan Amendment was necessary because the rear of the property was not zoned properly on a map. I loved the idea, but I was worried about how it, and they, would be received by the surrounding community.

So, I set up a call with the chair of the local residents’ association, Allan Reynolds, to discuss the plan and get his feedback. On that call, he explained his experience with Native Child and Family Services on another housing development in the neighbourhood and he committed his full support for the proposal. He brought the proposal back to the local residents to explain the necessity of the facility and the good reputation of the operator. When it came time for the City of Toronto to host the public meeting on the official plan amendment, it was met with unanimous support from the surrounding community.

Through the engagement with the local community association and their conversations with their members, we reduced barriers to ensure that this important facility serving Indigenous youth could open its doors.

PARA, the Harbord Village Residents’ Association, the Annex Residents’ Association, and the Seaton Village Residents’ Association organized themselves into a new working group that, over the next few years, would spend hundreds of hours across dozens of meetings to ensure that we proactively developed a vision for our community that reinforced what was great, but at the same time made accommodations for new residents and affordable housing.

The power and influence of these four residents’ associations resulted in significant changes to the Westbank Development proposal on the former Honest Ed’s site. Their leadership and willingness to engage with councillors, the city, and developers in a constructive relationship is a model for large-scale development proposals.

Finally, if you’d like a snapshot of how residents’ associations organize in modern neighbourhoods full of tall buildings, just look at the Liberty Village Residents’ Association’s (LVRA) Facebook page. You’ll find everything from people posting thoughts about development proposals to people asking for recipes, tools, or DVDs from their neighbours.

In the LVRA’s model, buildings as a whole become members and they host large events for the neighbourhood to allow people to get to know one another.

So to PARA, the OCA, Seaton Village, the Fort York Neighbourhood Association, the LVRA, and all the rest of the RAs, CAs, and ratepayers — thank you for meddling.

If you’re not currently a member of your residents’ association, or just haven’t been to a meeting in a while, join your neighbours and get active in your community.

Mike Layton is the city councillor for Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina.

READ MORE BY MIKE LAYTON:

FORUM: Provincial government is developer-friendly (Spring 2018)

FORUM: Establishing a new Indigenous Affairs Office (Nov. 2017)

FORUM: Building a better Bickford Park (Oct. 2017)

FORUM: Recognize and reconcile Canada at 150 (July 2017)

FORUM: San Francisco a model to follow (April 2017)

FORUM: Tolls, taxes, and Toronto (February 2017)

FORUM: Seeing our neighbourhood through new eyes (December 2016)

FORUM: We can do better: Dangerous summer for Toronto pedestrians and cyclists (October 2016)

FORUM: Curious story of Christie Pits pool liner ends in extended hours at Alex Duff (August 2016)

FORUM: A tribute to a friend (June 2016)

FORUM: Large problem, small solution (March 2016)

FORUM: Happy New Year from a new Dad with a new perspective (January 2016)

Environment would benefit from a system that’s not a winner takes all

Big congratulations to Jessica Bell who is now representing us in University-Rosedale at Queen’s Park.

It’s unfortunate that someone who doesn’t agree with science is calling the shots but the silver lining in the June 7 election is that we now have a Green Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) whom I presume won’t let the Greenbelt get paved over without a fight. It would have been nice to see a few more Green MPPs, but at least it’s not zero.

If ever there was a case for electoral reform, this election makes it.

[pullquote]All the environmental gains made…risk getting undone by a man who acknowledges the existence of climate change, but has doubled down on his indifference to human extinction.[/pullquote]

Doug Ford got 60 per cent of the seats with 40 per cent of the vote. This means there is no effective opposition. However much we might like individual MPPs on the other side of the legislature, there isn’t a lot they can do when the government makes a decision. We’ve handed unchecked power to a party that couldn’t handle enough math to give us a costed platform.

Despite the bloodbath, it is bewildering to me to see Liberals still defend the first past the post system. Having to negotiate with the far right for every decision is dangerous, they argue. Well, we just handed the far right absolute control with no opposition.

All the environmental gains made in the last decade and a half risk getting undone by a man who acknowledges the existence of climate change, but has doubled down on his indifference to human extinction.

The Liberals will have to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves whether retaining absolute majorities the last three elections has been worth the electoral wipeout they are about to face.

The federal Liberals should be looking at Queen’s Park and seeing this as a warning shot across the bow. It’s hard to scrap a system that hands you majority government but the cost can often be high — as we are seeing now. Nobody wanted to give away their power when a minority of votes can lead to a majority of seats.

Their short-sightedness cost them, big.

In a proportional system, we are often able to get other voices into the legislature. Outside of our own Mike Schreiner and Elizabeth May, and some colleagues in France, Mexico, Australia, and Hungary, nearly all other Green lawmakers are in countries with some kind of proportional representation. (Australia is a strange beast because senators are elected via proportional representation but members of parliament use first past the post.)

In Canada, the last federal election gave the Greens 3.5 per cent of the popular vote. Instead of getting the 12 seats that would normally represent, they were lucky enough that enough votes were concentrated in Elizabeth May’s riding to give them 1.

Conversely, the Liberals have 54 per cent of the seats with under 40 per cent of the vote.

Taking 40 per cent of the seats would have still given the Liberals a strong mandate but forced them to compromise on many issues, perhaps with the greens.

If that had happened, we might not be proud owners of a $4.5 billion pipeline.

Prime Minister Trudeau has walked back on his promise of electoral reform and if there’s anything that Premier Kathleen Wynne’s implosion can teach him, it is that popularity doesn’t last forever. We need a system that encourages parties to work together. Both our democracy and our environment would benefit from a system that isn’t winner take all.

Terri Chu is an engineer committed to practical environmentalism. This column is dedicated to helping the community reduce energy and distinguish environmental truths from myths.

READ MORE BY TERRI CHU:

GREENINGS: Choosing the lesser evil (Election Special 2018)

GREENINGS: Reduce, reuse, and then recycle (May 2018)

GREENINGS: Car-free parenting is not rare (Spring 2018)

GREENINGS: The science of board games (Mar. 2018)

GREENINGS: Driving fuelled by unseen subsidies (Jan. 2018)

GREENINGS: No solutions for nobody’s problem (Dec. 2017)

GREENINGS: Celebrate science not milestones (Nov. 2017)

GREENINGS: Down to the data (Oct. 2017)

GREENINGS: Reducing paper waste (Fall 2017)

GREENINGS: Taking tolls to the Gardiner and Don Valley Parkway (July 2017)

GREENINGS: Lessons from Madrid (June 2017)

GREENINGS: Thoughts on hitting the 400 benchmark (May 2017)

GREENINGS: Solving the food waste problem (April 2017)

GREENINGS: Kellie Leitch was right (March 2017)

Tall trees provide lots of shade for the University of Toronto faculty and students who often congregate at Bloor-Bedford Parkette. Easily accessible from St. George station or the parking lot behind the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, the park also features paved walkways and several benches. AHMED-ZAKI HAGAR/GLEANER NEWS

Annual review highlights spots for a picnic, spots for strolling, spots for playing

Our annual review of the green spaces in the Annex is one of our most popular features. This year’s inspection reveals that a local focus on green spaces has yielded parks that, for the most part, are cleaner and better maintained. There’s a definite improvement this year over last. However, some standouts remain — Paul Martel Park on Madison Avenue is woefully neglected and, given the amount of picnicking that goes on, many of our picnic tables could use some love. Watch out for part two in our next edition, and be sure to let us know what you think of our reviews or the parks themselves.

By Geremy Bordonaro, Ahmed-Zaki Hagar, and
Billie Wilner

Huron Washington Parkette

Huron Street and Washington Avenue
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Grade: B+ (last year B-)
Reason to go: Directly behind the University of Toronto Schools you will find Huron Washington Parkette, a lively park busy with people of all ages. The park includes a large, fenced-in playground with benches as well as a large empty sand area where groups of older kids can be found goofing around. Outside the fence, there are plenty of picnic tables and benches, as well as a grassy area and hill. Large parts of the park are well shaded by the many trees that have been planted around the site, but there is also no shortage of sunny areas to enjoy. Even when crowded, there’s still plenty of room for both younger kids and teenagers without them getting in each other’s way. The grass and trees are maintained well but the picnic tables are slightly cracked and not all that clean, but this did not stop people from sitting down to eat their lunch. There is a functioning water fountain, and the garbage bins, though a little dirty, seem to be regularly emptied.
Overheard: “Why does this always happen!”—teenage boy after tripping, face first, into the sand.
Fact: Earlier this year, Huron-Sussex Residents’ Association hosted a Parkette Design Charrette, where community members worked with architects to redesign the Huron-Washington Parkette.

Paul Martel Park

Madison Avenue, north of Bloor Street West
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Grade: D+ (Last year D-)
Reason to go: The Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) intended Paul Martel Park to be a volunteer-run small community green space. Unfortunately, the park does not seem to have lived up to expectations. There is a dirt trail through a garden, which includes many different plants but is poorly maintained, and the trail itself is littered with cigarettes. There are three relatively clean benches and recently emptied garbage bins. There is a sign at the front of the park explaining the history and plant life that grows there, but it seems to imply that there were plans for much more planting to occur than actually did.
Overheard: Birds chirping
Did you know: The first Ecology Park, which was located in the same spot, was founded in 1987 by the Pollution Probe Foundation.

Matt Cohen Park

393 Bloor St. W.
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Grade: C (last year: C)
Reason to go: Matt Cohen Park serves as an adequate place to take a break from work or school, but it is in no way a break from the city. The park is located at the intersection of Bloor Street West and Spadina Avenue, right next to University of Toronto Schools, and the noise level remains equal to its surroundings. Every honk, siren, and car can be heard. There is a smattering of litter and graffiti here and there, and only small patches of grass, which have been trampled down. That being said, the park does act as a solid place for students and people working in the area to sit down, socialize, or eat lunch. There is lots of seating, even more so if you count the large sculpture of dominoes found at the front of the park, on which students can be found.
Overheard: Sirens, loads of sirens.
Did you know: Part of Spadina Avenue is dedicated to Matt Cohen, who often wrote of Spadina Avenue and its impact on him and his stories.

Several large trees provide shade at the recently renovated Huron Street Playground. This popular spot for local children has a pair of tire swings and a tall climbing web.
AHMED-ZAKI HAGAR/GLEANER NEWS

Huron Street Playground

495 Huron St.
Time: 12:00
Grade: B (last year B+)
Reason to go: Huron Street Playground is a popular spot for young children to play in. With a pair of tire swings and a tall climbing web, it is a great place for parents to bring their children. There are several large trees that give shade and a little grass, as a large part of the playground is covered in brown wood chips. The apartment building nearby is undergoing renovation, which may cause loud noises for park visitors.
Overheard: The sound of construction from the nearby apartment tower as children play.
Did you know: Huron Street Playground underwent a renovation two years ago, transforming it from a park with near failing grades to its current incarnation.

Taddle Creek Park

40 Bedford St.
Time: 1:00
Grade: A (last year A+)
Reason to go: With large trees providing cool shade, this park has more adults relaxing and eating lunch than other parks. The park’s centrepiece is “The Vessel,” a tall avant-garde sculpture of a water jug by artist Ilan Sandler, which also serves as a fountain. Many people use the park to play, socialize with friends and neighbours, or relax in the spring weather. While there are several adults and children at the park, it is quieter than the Huron Street Playground, which is a short walk away. The park is well-maintained and clean, even with the number of people who visit. Despite being quite close to Bloor Street West, it is a quiet and peaceful oasis in the busy city.
Overheard: A dog barking as it returns a ball to its owner.
Did you know: The Vessel is made out of four kilometres of stainless steel rod, which is approximately the length of Taddle Creek, which stretches from the park to Lake Ontario.

Philosopher’s Walk offers a mini tour of the city’s architectural history as you traverse from area to the next. AHMED-ZAKI HAGAR/GLEANER NEWS

Philosopher’s Walk

78 Queen’s Park Cres. W.
Time: 12:30
Grade: A- (last year A)
Reason to go: Philosopher’s Walk is a scenic trail that connects Queen’s Park Crescent with Bloor Street. Located on the U of T campus, Philosopher’s Walk is a popular spot for students and faculty for a peaceful stroll or a place to relax. The trail is also a short detour from Bloor Street West to Queen’s Park. You can choose to relax underneath the shade of a tree or on the several black benches on the path. When you walk the trail, you get a sense of the city’s architectural history, from the Gothic Revival style of Trinity College to the modern Lee-Chin Crystal at the ROM. The trail is well-maintained and has several trash bins, but the ROM’s Crystal is undergoing renovation, which means the north side of the trail is very noisy.
Overheard: A guy sitting on a bench playing guitar for a friend.
Did you know: The north entrance of the trail has a plaque that commemorates Prince George and Princess Mary’s royal visit to Philosopher’s Walk in 1901.

Bickford Park has is popular with dog owners for its large open off-leash area. AHMED-ZAKI HAGAR/GLEANER NEWS

Bickford Park

468 Grace St.
Time: 2:30
Grade: A (last year A)
Reason to go: Bickford Park is a large, spacious park in Little Italy. Many joggers run down the long path that starts from Grace Street and ends at either Montrose Avenue or Harbord Street. There were picnickers under the trees, and people conversing on benches. It also has two baseball diamonds, two bocce ball courts, and a soccer field. The park is very popular with dog owners who walk their dogs in the open field or let them play in the off-leash area. Public amenities like the bathroom and drinking fountains are clean and usable. The park has a scenic view of the neighbourhood and of the CN Tower on a clear day.
Overheard: Several dogs barking as they play in the off-leash area.
Did you know: Bickford Park was named after wealthy railway contractor Edward Bickford, who owned the land until the City of Toronto bought it in 1908.

Village of Yorkville Park

115 Cumberland St.
Time: 12:30
Grade: A (last year A-)
Reason to go: Surrounded by designer stores, the park is a great place to relax during a shopping trip. It is divided into 11 sections including marshland, orchards, and a large granite outcrop that showcase Canada’s diverse landscapes and is packed at around noon, with people of all ages sitting on the benches, at picnic tables or on the granite socializing and having lunch. The park is a block away from Bay Station, making it easy to access, and there are drinking fountains available. The park is very clean and colourful, however, the amount of traffic may cause a lot of noise.
Overheard: The sound of music playing from a group of people having lunch on top of the rock.
Did you know: The Village of Yorkville Park received a Landmark Award of Excellence from the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2012 for its strong presentation of Canadian identity.

St. Alban’s Square

90 Howland Ave.
Time: 1:50
Grade: B+ (last year A)
Reason to go: St. Alban’s Square is a simple spot for strolling and relaxing. A green square with a paved sidewalk cutting through the middle, it provides a shorter path through the neighbourhood. Several trees are placed around the square, providing shade for people sitting on the benches. The park was very clean and has garbage and recycling bins. The square is next to the historic St. Alban’s Cathedral, the former owner of the park.
Overheard: A couple of kids skateboarding down the path.
Did you know: Environmental group Grassroots Albany had a beautification project of the square in 1990, which included planting a rose walk on the north fence.

Bloor-Bedford Parkette

245 Bloor St. W.
Time: 11:20
Grade: B (last year B-)
Reason to go: Located near a Tim Hortons and a Starbucks, this spot serves as an outdoor space to sit on one of the several benches and enjoy a coffee. Since it is beside the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) building, U of T students and faculty are often sitting in the area. The park has several tall trees that provide a cool shade for people sitting on the benches. You can easily access the parkette by bus or by subway at St. George station, or by car by parking in the lot of the OISE building.
Overheard: The sound of cars driving down on Bloor Street.
Did you know: The city added paved walkways to the Bloor-Bedford Parkette in 2008.

Home to some of the area’s most popular events including the Open Tuning Festival and the Annex Residents’ Association’s annual corn roast, Jean Sibelius Square has a lot of space and a little bit of everything for everyone. AHMED-ZAKI HAGAR/GLEANER NEWS

Jean Sibelius Square

50 Kendal Ave.
Time: 1:30
Grade: B+ (last year B+)
Reason to go: Jean Sibelius Square has a bit of everything, a playground for children, picnic tables for friends and family to relax, and space to go for a stroll. The park was relatively clean and also has public bathrooms and fountains, making it a great pit stop for a jog in the neighbourhood. Jean Sibelius also has Bike Share for people who want to rent a bike to cycle around the neighbourhood.
Overheard: Children yelling as they play on the jungle gym.
Did you know: The square hosts a variety of popular events, including the Open Tuning Festival and the Annex Residents’ Association’s annual corn roast.

READ MORE

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Parks on the fringe (AUGUST 2017)

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Open spaces in the heart of the Annex (July 2017)

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Survey reveals significant upgrades (June 2017)

GRADING OUR GREENSPACE: Meet our parks supervisor (August 2016)

Part two of our 2016 parks review (July 2016)

PART ONE: Green sanctuaries in the heart of the city (June 2016)

Grading our Greenspace (2015)