Captain Owen Stanley (1811-1850) painted this watercolour based on drawings he made while on Sir George Back’s Arctic expedition in 1836 and 1837. He served on the HMS Terror, which almost a decade later would be lost after returning to the Arctic for the Franklin Expedition. Stanley was not part of the ill-fated voyage, having moved on to command his own ships and sail to New Zealand and Australia. The HMS Terror was found in September by the Arctic Research Foundation. The drawings are part of the University of Toronto’s Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library.

The Gleaner wishes to thank Loryl MacDonald and Maureen Morin from the University of Toronto libraries for their help in creating this year’s cover photo.

—Annemarie Brissenden/Gleaner News

READ MORE:

ARTS: HMS Terror found on greeting cards (December 2016)

ABOUT OUR COVER: A red house in winter (December 2015)

Residents decry loss of green space and heritage impacts

PHOTO BY BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANE NEWS: Uno Prii designed 666 Spadina Ave., which is listed on the city’s inventory of Heritage Properties. The property owner wants to add an 11-storey building and eight stacked townhouses on the site.

By Brian Burchell

It was billed as a community consultation, but a Nov. 29 meeting on plans to add an 11-storey mixed-use building and eight stacked townhouses to the north and south of the existing 25-storey tower at 666 Spadina Ave. was more about airing grievances than anything else. Those in attendance refused to be appeased and were critical of the proposal’s potential impacts on the heritage site and local green space.

In fact, it was a rather fractious affair.

The site is in itself an anomaly.

[pullquote]“There was a vision here in 1969, and I think it deserves respect…50 years later”—Bob Bernett, Sussex Avenue resident[/pullquote]

As City of Toronto planner Liora Freedman explained, the site’s zoning is tailored to apartment building, and exceeds the residential height limit of 12 metres. It’s believed this was approved at the time the building was built because the original application included so much green space, a hallmark of Uno Prii, the architect responsible for this and many other residential high rises in the Annex, many of which are listed the city’s Inventory of Heritage Properties.

“The 1969 site-specific zoning allowed for the building to take up 30 per cent of the site and [leave] the remaining 70 per cent [as] open space,” said Freedman, adding that the property abuts a Harbord Village Conservation District on the west side, and as such, must transition in a manner that respects that low-rise residential neighbourhood.

Yet critics argued that just because the space exits for infill doesn’t mean it should be filled.

“There was a vision here in 1969, and I think it deserves respect…50 years later,” said Sussex Avenue resident Bob Bernett. “The developer got a gift when this was first developed; he got extra height and density because he left all this green space around it. The idea that we can get rid of all this parkland now does not wash with me.”

Robert Street resident Norman Track took issue with the adequacy of the existing public infrastructure to accommodate such heavy intensification, noting that “the sanitary sewers in Toronto are of 1908 vintage and they are leaking”, and that despite “all this influx of people [there are] no new hospitals”. He also expressed concern, after the power outages the Annex has experienced this year, about the ability of the hydro network to support more growth here given that “according to Toronto Hydro itself [in April 2016] 25 per cent of its infrastructure is outdated”.

Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) acknowledged the power outages that occurred over the summer, but said they were not capacity related.

“[These were] caused by inclement weather and if you can believe it squirrels, and Hydro has prepared a report confirming this,” said Cressy. “The load capacity for downtown Toronto is not only stable but is planned for the future…. A new power station, [the Copeland Transformer Station], down at the Round House Park, is coming on line next year. It is a multi-billion-dollar facility that is designed to accommodate growth.”

The councillor reviewed the extensive “pre-application engagement” that the property owner has undertaken with respect to 666 Spadina Ave., and said the application incorporates significant changes since the last community consultation meeting.

“The plan that we ended up submitting, in response to the feedback we heard at the last consultation included increasing the set-back from [Sussex Mews] lane [from 6 to 10.5 metres], increasing the separation distance from the existing building and the new proposed building, and relocating the garbage enclosure away from the lane,” explained Mansoor Kazerouni of Page + Steele IBI Group Architects. Although the height of the mid-rise building to the south remains at 11 storeys, the application to the city exists entirely within the 45 degree solar angle required in the current planning rules.

The architect also described a provision for the privately-owned publicly accessible space on the west side of the property (the east side of Sussex Mews), which occupies 450 square metres (roughly 5,000 square feet). A glass vestibule has been added in this articulation of the proposal connecting the existing high-rise with the new 11 storey building which Kazerouni says will “be publicly accessible 24/7 and aid in wind mitigation”.

“The existing slab style building has an inherent problem with wind, since it is oriented against the prevailing wind which then must down wash around and flow around the adjacent streets or properties,” said Stephen Pollack of Theakston Environmental, which was retained by the developer to do wind studies on the property. “The proposed townhouses on the north side and stepped 11-storey building on the south side will deflect these winds.”

Several speakers were not swayed by the wind mitigation argument and decried the loss of open space that additional buildings would occupy. Or as Bernett put it, “I am sorry. If we want to deal with wind issues we can plant some coniferous trees there.”

READ MORE:

NEWS: Preventing a wall of towers (October 2016)

CHATTER: Two new rezoning applications submitted to city (September 2016)

NEWS: Tall tower before OMB, as city battles back with block study (August 2016)

NEWS: Planning for the future (May 2016)

DEVELOPINGS: Annual review reflects tension between community activism and OMB (March 2016)

Phase one to include removal of fence

COURTESY MATTHEW SWEIG/FOREST AND FIELD LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE INC.: The proposed plan for converting the unused schoolyard into a green oasis includes planters, an amphitheatre, and a path for crossing the site.

By Annemarie Brissenden

Plans are afoot to green the Annex campus of Monsignor Fraser College, but help — lots of help — is needed to raise the $300,000 it will cost to make that happen. Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustee Jo-Ann Davis (Ward 9, St. Paul’s, Toronto-Centre, Trinity-Spadina) reviewed the plan to turn the Markham Street school’s former schoolyard — currently a paved unused space surrounded by a fence — into an oasis for both students and community members alike at a community meeting late last month.

The space is a legacy of the site’s previous tenant, an elementary school that was consolidated with St. Raymond Catholic School (which in turn is to be consolidated with St. Bruno Catholic School). These days Monsignor Fraser operates as an alternative learning site, drawing students from across the city.

[pullquote]“We pride ourselves on relationship building with students, and would like to extend that out into the community”—Marcello Mancuso, principal[/pullquote]

“We pride ourselves on relationship building with students, and would like to extend that out into the community,” said the school’s principal Marcello Mancuso at the meeting. “We are hoping to engage the students, and engage the students with the community in something worthwhile.”

Working with stakeholders from the community like the Evergreen and David Suzuki foundations, Foodshare, and the St. Peter’s Parish, the board has developed a working framework.

It includes a green lawn, a path through the space, raised planters for food production, spaces to display art, a sacred space for quiet reflection, seating, and an amphitheatre. And of course, the high fence would be removed.

Jacquanline Liu, project supervisor at the TCDSB, explained that the board anticipates it will have to rehabilitate the space in three phases. In the first, the fence would be ripped out, and the amphitheatre enhanced. In the second, raised planters would be installed, as well as seating for multiple users, while in the third and final stage, an art display area would be set up, as well as a potential greenhouse, and sacred space. Doing the project in three phases increases the cost by $100,000, but the board’s representatives are skeptical they can raise enough money to do everything in one go.

Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) is an enthusiastic supporter of the plan, saying “if we get community agreement, I will work to find funding.”

“Our neighbourhood is deficient in greenspace, but if we’re going to make our neighbourhood more livable, we’re going to have to get creative,” added the councillor.

The school board has established a fundraising campaign, and has begun to apply for various grants, but it is looking for a person or organization to champion the project.

“We almost need an outside organization to take the lead because the board has a limited capacity for driving a project like this,” said Davis.

Those in attendance at the meeting were generally positive about the proposed greening, and were keen to see the fence removed, sooner rather than later.

Jennifer Hunter, president of the Seaton Village Residents’ Association, sees the potential for a community building opportunity, but acknowledged the challenges of engaging members for such an activity.

“Once the fences are gone” though, “that will generate interest.”

READ MORE:

NEWS: A $9.4-million school with a view (June 2016)

Putting the Indigenous land acknowledgement into practice

By Clarrie Feinstein

In September 2016, trustees at the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) unanimously passed a motion to include an Indigenous land acknowledgement every morning before the singing of the national anthem. Introducing the acknowledgement is part of the Aboriginal Education Committee’s (AEC) mandate to decolonize Canadian schools and recognize the colonialist construct under which the education system operates. The acknowledgement is the first step in reconciling the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups within the education system, but simply saying the acknowledgement is not enough. Teachers and staff must provide historical and current context for the acknowledgement, which has proved to be a challenging feat in numerous ways.

“The transition has not been smooth sailing,” says Barbara Anne Felschow, central coordinating principal of the AEC. “It’s a slow process but people are on board.”

[pullquote]“We want to do it in a sensitive manner that honours the community”—Cheryl Howe, principal, Huron Street PS[/pullquote]

David Ast, the curriculum assistant leader at Harbord Collegiate Institute, agrees with Felschow. “It hasn’t been smooth. Everyone is in a different place on the continuum. Many teachers didn’t learn about much when it came to Indigenous issues. There are gaps in people’s awareness of the issues at hand.”

In order to prepare TDSB educators, the AEC offers resources for teachers, staff, and students at the TDSB. A 2010 report on the Urban Aboriginal Education Pilot Project (UAEPP) titled Decolonizing Our Schools: Aboriginal Education in TDSB emphasized that Indigenous issues must be incorporated in a meaningful way, which can be achieved through in-service professional development for teaching staff.

The UAEPP provided workshops and learning opportunities for teachers and staff to help facilitate Indigenous education for educators, resulting in a sizable shift in teachers’ understanding of Indigenous people, history, and culture. However, some teachers said they felt uncomfortable with the increased responsibility of decolonizing school space with other educational commitments.

“We still experience questions on how the acknowledgement came into being from staff,” Fleschow explained. “We have people asking what is and is not included in the statement, how it has evolved, et cetera.

“Our job in the AEC is to provide the resources for teachers and staff to be properly informed in order to have the context needed to understand the complicated history of the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.”

The AEC provides accessible information on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s kindergarten to Grade 12 educational reform, which includes accurate residential school information and in-depth analysis of land and treaty acknowledgements. This gives teachers the fundamental knowledge to provide historical context and accurate information to their students. The committee also facilitates community members to speak at schools regularly in order to support a knowledge-building relationship with the schools and the Indigenous community.

At Harbord Collegiate this has been occurring for some time. Ast has coordinated workshops with various community members, artists, and elders for the past four years.

“On professional development day we had an Aboriginal speaker come in to facilitate a workshop with teachers to better understand treaties, the Indian Act, and the TRC commission,” Ast says. “The acknowledgement has put Indigenous issues on teachers’ radar. There has been interest from teachers to learn more.”

The land acknowledgement was introduced at Huron Street Public School in May 2016, and while Principal Cheryl Howe said the transition has not been difficult for teachers, the staff wants to do it right.

“We want to do it in a sensitive manner that honours the community. Teachers will take it slow because it is such a complex issue and none of my teaching staff is Indigenous. We need to reach out to the Indigenous community first.”

Huron is in the beginning stages for community outreach, which includes speaking with the AEC, inviting community members to facilitate educational workshops for staff, and updating its library with current and appropriate resources. “But there are over 500 schools in the TDSB all wanting this access,” Howe says. “It will take time.”

At Huron the acknowledgement is a stepping-stone for more teaching on Indigenous issues. Howe acknowledges the additional responsibility that is attached to teaching this material to young students. Many engage with questions ranging from “what is this?” to “what specific territory are we acknowledging?” indicating the students’ desire to be given more context on the acknowledgement.

For Grade 10 Harbord student Caleb Woolcott, the only difference in school has been the acknowledgement itself; there has been no cultural shift.

“There has been no curriculum change,” Woolcott said. “There has been no context provided on the treaties and what is actually being said when we acknowledge the land. Students don’t seem that interested, no one really pays attention to the announcements every morning.”

Woolcott attended a workshop, which discussed treaties to provide context for the land acknowledgement. So far, in his favourite subject, Grade 10 History, the curriculum has not yet covered Indigenous history. “We talked a little bit about Aboriginal involvement in the First World War. But it’s still the beginning of the year. Our teacher said there will be more taught after the winter break.”

While Woolcott has not witnessed increased student engagement regarding Indigenous issues, Felschow believes that non-Indigenous students are further ahead in their understanding of social justice and are independent learners, who self-inform. For Indigenous students, the acknowledgement provides them with a platform to be more visible and brings to the forefront their self-expression and student voice. The acknowledgement gives them a place of belonging. The goal for the TDSB is to create a space where self-identifying Aboriginal students can feel comfortable in expressing their identity.

According to Harbord’s principal, Vince Meade, there was a census conducted five years ago which indicated that Harbord had 30 to 40 students who self-identified as Aboriginal, but there is no updated information. Active engagement with the student body regarding Indigenous issues is still an ongoing process.

“There has not been a shift in the educational environment,” Meade said, “but parents adopt the acknowledgement before their meetings. We’ve had some workshops on the history of agreements and the board has implemented training sessions, which have been very informative. The work is ongoing.”

While the narrative between staff and student opinion regarding Indigenous education at Harbord does not align, Woolcott said, “The acknowledgement is more than what was done before and sheds light on the issue.”

READ MORE:

FOCUS ON EDUCATION: Building a respectful future (November 2016)

HISTORY: Honouring those who honour history (October 2016)

NEWS: U of T committee tasked with responding to Truth and Reconciliation Commission delivers interim report (August 2016)

ON THE COVER: Tracking history in the Annex (April 2016)

PHOTO BY NOELLE DEFOUR/GLEANER NEWS:

The Scott Mission at Spadina Avenue and College Street opened a free toy store for parents of the city’s neediest children. From Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, registered clients of the Mission were able to shop for a bagful of new children’s items including books, sports equipment, puzzles, and games. The Mission has also provided 2,600 grocery store gift cards, emergency groceries, children’s snowsuits, a hot Christmas meal, and a Christmas gift for every child in its camp and youth program this holiday.

—Annemarie Brissenden/Gleaner News

On Nov. 25 the Bloor Annex Business Improvement Area (whose chair also publishes this newspaper) showcased its street revitalization plans at Markham House in Mirvish Village. The plans — expected to be implemented in 2018 — include converting public rights-of-way along Bloor Street into parkettes and a renewed tree inventory on the north side of the street.

—Noelle Defour/Gleaner News

READ MORE:

NEWS: Bloor Street goes green (April 2016)

Pacifico Life (444 Bloor St. W.), a marijuana dispensary, opened its Toronto doors late last month with a mission “to educate, empower, and alleviate”. The Hamilton-based business sells many different products derived from the plant, including bath bombs, lip salves, oils, and soaps. It also dispenses the flower itself, but only for medical use. The plant is sourced from 100 growers, some as far as away as British Columbia.

Owner Tamara Hirsh, herself a user for medical reasons, is dedicated to educating people about the difference between medical and recreational use, which she doesn’t necessarily support except to alleviate pain or stress. She also stresses the heavy security measures she has in place at the store, and explains that she will only sell to customers who produce a medical licence and are over 19 (customers younger than 30 years old must provide two pieces of identification).

She acknowledges that her store may be closed by police, but says her customers are supportive.

“We’re changing people’s lives,” says Hirsh. “We may get raided, but my god it’s worth it.”

—Annemarie Brissenden with files from Noelle Defour

READ MORE:

EDITORIAL: Mayo no, marijuana maybe (June 2016)

Mirvish Village’s internationally-known comics and graphic novel retailer The Beguiling has already begun moving to its new location at 319 College St. Its sister store, Little Island Comics on Bathurst Street, will be closed. The store’s Peter Birkemoe says he expects to open the new location just before Christmas, and be fully operational by January.

It’s the second time the store has moved since it launched on Harbord Street in 1987, this time because of the impending Mirvish Village development, which will impact all retailers on Markham Street. Birkemoe says Kensington Market seemed the best spot for the store’s new location.

“We looked around the whole city, but this one seemed to fit a lot of the same customers that shop here,” he explained, adding that a lot of their clientele comes from the University of Toronto, so being closer to there will make a lot of sense. Initially the new store will have the same look and feel as its predecessor in Markham Village, but Birkemoe believes the market will have an influence on its final set up.

The store’s Facebook page notes that The Beguiling’s Boxing Week sale will proceed as usual at 601 Markham St., and pull-file customers will automatically transition to 319 College St. on Jan. 3. It will offer this service out of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival’s Page & Panel shop in the Toronto Reference Library, which will also be home to much of Little Island’s all ages material.

—Annemarie Brissenden with files from Noelle Defour

MORE how nice!:

Previously rejected police car designs! by Designed Without Public Consultation

The sincerest form of flattery! by Dow Indepols (October 2016)

A warm carbon blanket! By Hock Estique (September 2016)

A clear path! by Dot Tedline (August 2016)

Planning! by Train Waits (July 2016)

Toronto is growing. The downtown population residing south of the Canadian Pacific Rail tracks at Dupont south to the lake and from Bathurst in the west to the Don Valley Parkway to the east is presently 250,000 and by 2041 is expected to be 475,000. New condo towers that dominate the skyline south of Queen Street are just the beginning. Like a tsunami, the wave of residential development needed to accommodate this population growth will migrate quickly north to the Annex.

We are seeing the early ripples now. According to Councillor Joe Cressy “there is more development in Ward 20 than all of Scarborough and Etobicoke combined”. But unlike Scarborough and Etobicoke, we lack the large sites, brownfields, and vacant land. Our challenge in redevelopment is primarily on smaller parcels and infill.

[pullquote]“Heritage is a consideration which should not trump all other things. These designations ought not freeze-in-time properties and make spaces such as those adjacent to 666 Spadina Avenue unable to be utilized.”[/pullquote]

There is opposition of course to infill and intensification. One sees it at community consultations for Annex-area developments. More people means more pressure on infrastructure, including electrical grids, sewers, schools, and subways. Even space on the sidewalk is something that current residents legitimately worry about losing.

The impact on heritage, quite broadly defined, is a familiar part of the lexicon used by those that oppose development. Adam Vaughan, then the Councillor for Ward 20, tried to claim that the grass on the back campus of the University of Toronto had heritage value and tried to block the university from upgrading the field surface to artificial turf to allow for the Pan Am Games.

The debate over whether to allow the owners of a 25-storey apartment building at 666 Spadina Avenue to add additional buildings is heritage-themed. Those opposing the plan to build the 11 storey rental apartment building on the open space on the south end of the existing building argue that the open space is part of the heritage designation, and that much is true, but so is the fact that the “monochromatic colour scheme and the repetitive nature of the balcony elements” are also part of its heritage detail. At some point, one has to weigh preserving all things heritage against the greater good. We need rental units, we need to plan for growth and get ahead of the curve so that the growth is smart and sustainable.

Heritage is a consideration which should not trump all other things. These designations ought not freeze-in-time properties and make spaces such as those adjacent to 666 Spadina Avenue unable to be utilized. The 11-storey plan for there is reasonable. Not all development plans for the Annex are as reasonable. The 42-storey tower proposed for the corner of Madison and Bloor, now before the OMB, is out of scale with the neighbourhood and does not contribute to a liveable community.

Westbank Development’s plan to build nearly 900 residential rental units (half of which are two or more bedrooms) on the site of what is now Honest Ed’s, together with 300,000 square feet of small scale retail, is a case of true city building. In this application, heritage is largely preserved and integrated.

Another infill initiative called “laneway suites” is being advanced by Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York) and Councillor Ana Bailão (Ward 18, Davenport). They are working together to advance the dialogue around creating new neighbourhoods in the alleyways. According to a release from the councillors, laneway suites can transform underutilized spaces such as rear garages and parking pads into sensitively scaled housing. As Toronto grew rapidly from 1870 to 1930, laneways were home to workshops, lumberyards, and, yesm housing. Croft Street near College and Bathurst is one example. What’s old is new again apparently.

The need for infill and intensification is not new. It takes some creative thinking to get it right but it’s important not to draw the heritage line so broadly that it prohibits responsible growth.

READ MORE EDITORIALS:

EDITORIAL: Freeland got it done, with flair (November 2016)

EDITORIAL: Stealth rate hike may work (October 2016)

EDITORIAL: Train derailment changes the conversation (September 2016)

EDITORIAL: “An egregious breach of trust” (August 2016)

EDITORIAL: Turning the Queen Mary (July 2016)

EDITORIAL: Mayo no, marijuana maybe (June 2016)

Travels with daughter enable fresh look at community

By Mike Layton

Growing up in our neighbourhood, I thought I knew it inside and out, but I’ve spent the last year seeing it through a new set of eyes. Joined by my daughter, Phoebe, I have developed a new understanding of our community. You may have seen me with Phoebe in her carrier or stroller singing or crying as we pass. While I have lived in this community my entire life, these journeys with her have opened my eyes to a world I had not seen before.

Our community is exploding with children. Phoebe’s classes will be full and she will have no shortage of friends within walking distance from our house. This became apparent in our struggle to find childcare. While on every local wait-list since well before Phoebe was born, we only managed to secure a spot when she was 11 months old, just weeks before my partner returned to work.

[pullquote]“Phoebe and I spent sunny spring afternoons playing in our parks, hot summer evenings swimming in Christie Pits, rainy and cold days spent in one of our neighbourhood drop-in centres.”[/pullquote]

Once you find that child care space, you have to pay for it. Infant care provided by the City of Toronto is $107 a day, which amounts to $2,140 a month and over $25,000 a year. That’s more than many people spend on rent. By comparison, in Quebec, it’s just over $7 a day, which amounts to $150 a month or $1,800 a year. That means we pay $23,000 more a year in Toronto for infant care than they do in Quebec. Toronto can and should be doing better.

We do have great public services in our community. Phoebe and I spent sunny spring afternoons playing in our parks, hot summer evenings swimming in Christie Pits, rainy and cold days spent in one of our neighbourhood drop-in centres. Friday mornings are spent at the song circle at the Palmerston Library and Friday evenings at moms’ happy hour (dads invited) at a local pub. The stroller lineup for infant play circle at Artscape Shaw’s College Montrose Children’s Place is enormous, but well worth it.

It’s not just children enjoying our services. Our parks, libraries, pools, and community centres are bursting with people of all ages socializing, staying physically active, and enjoying themselves. These services are critical to a prosperous and healthy city and not all neighbourhoods have access to what we have in the downtown.

One thing that is painfully clear when you walk around our neighbourhood with a stroller is just how inaccessible our community spaces can be. While it is easy to manoeuver a stroller over a curb to avoid obstacles, this is not always possible for people with other mobility constraints.

Garbage and recycling days are often the most difficult. Even when bins are arranged properly, the width of larger bins can constrain many sidewalks and render them completely impassable for several blocks. This problem can be easily solved if those arranging the bins ensure that there is necessary space for others to use the sidewalk.

Speaking of sidewalks, as we enter the winter months we can help people use the sidewalk in front of our homes safely. Five minutes of shovelling can help improve the lives of hundreds of people as they pass your house. And trust me, it gets noticed. Be nice, clear your ice!

My family relies primarily on the TTC to get around (now that Phoebe is one, we’ll switch some trips to our bikes and get more use out of the Bloor bike lane). If you’ve ever been frustrated by a stroller taking up vital space on a busy subway, please don’t blame the parent, they are having an equally frustrating trip. Many stations still don’t have elevators making stairs a particular challenge. The new buses are great, but the older streetcars are a nightmare for dragging a stroller up and down.

These little daily challenges that I would not have noticed just a year ago, have become a serious factor in travel choices. Yes, as a parent I have options, but this brings to mind those who do not have options and are forced to spend extra hours to get around our city to ensure they have access to where they need to go. We need to do a better job in making our city accessible.

All of this is to say that my experience as a new Dad has really opened up my eyes to a completely different life in a neighbourhood that I have lived in for decades. This has been a great lesson in empathy and has reinforced for me, as an elected official, the importance of trying to see the world through the eyes of others.

Mike Layton is the Toronto City Councillor for Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina.

READ MORE BY MIKE LAYTON

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)

Favourites include carol singing, winter solstice

We asked our local representatives how they spend the holidays. Councillors Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) and Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina), Toronto District School Board Trustee Ausma Malik (Ward 10, Trinity-Spadina), and our MPP Han Dong (Trinity-Spadina) shared their favourite traditions, their proudest achievement of the year, and what they are looking forward to working on in 2017. Also, the book they’re looking forward to reading in 2017! Answers compiled by Noelle Defour.

Do you have a favourite December/holiday tradition?

Joe Cressy: Dressing up as a horse in the Kensington winter solstice parade.

Han Dong: My favourite holiday tradition is taking our family group photo each and every December!

Mike Layton: My favourite holiday tradition is the annual Christmas Eve Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto carol singing at Roy Thompson Hall. I’ve been going for a decade with my family and look forward to the beautiful music and message of love.

Ausma Malik: My favourite holiday tradition is watching It’s A Wonderful Life with my family!

What are you most proud of achieving for the community in 2016?

HD: Convincing the government to adopt my private member’s bill, the Licensing Home Inspectors Act, which calls for all home inspectors in Ontario to be regulated; securing a Go Transit Station for the residents of Liberty Village and a Smarttrack station near CityPlace; and securing funding to support the expansion and consolidation of schools in Trinity-Spadina.

ML: The Bloor Street pilot bike lane. It has been four decades in the making.

AM: Working together with parents, students, schools, and community members is how I believe we achieve success for all of us. Over the past year, I have been really proud to support our school communities in their efforts to welcome refugee families. Students have been inspiring leaders and set an example for building understanding.

JC: Getting city council to approve three safe injection sites.

What are you looking forward to working on in 2017?

ML: My daughter just turned one and she has brought so much joy to my life. I look forward to another beautiful year of watching her grow up.

AM: Schools are at the heart, and a key part, of our communities. Together, I’m looking forward to ensuring that local schools and public education in our city have the resources to help students thrive, and that public schools are hubs for the community.

JC: There are many things, but the biggest thing is continuing to work on turning the rail deck park into a reality.

HD: I’m looking forward to working on local poverty reduction initiatives with regard to affordable housing, the Ontario Place revitalization plans, the review of the Ontario Municipal Board, and making lives easier for condominium dwellers.

Is there a book you’re hoping to read during the holidays? Which one? Why?

AM: I’m looking forward to reading Ann Y.K. Choi’s book Kay’s Lucky Coin Variety. Set in Toronto, the book comes to me highly recommended.

JC: My partner Grace O’Connell’s latest novel (Be Ready for the Lightening) will be coming out in June 2017. I’m looking forward to reading the final manuscript over the holidays.

HD: The book I’m hoping I get a chance to read is a Jules Witcover book called 85 Days about the last campaign of Robert Kennedy.

ML: The only books I’ve read this past year have been baby board books with my daughter and our time together is what I look forward to most in my day.