PHOTO BY GEREMY BORDONARO: The Kensington Market Refugee Project, a private group of concerned residents working in partnership with St. Stephen-in-the-Fields, held a neighbourhood block party on Sept. 7 to help raise $50,000 to sponsor a Syrian refugee family and help them settle in Canada. The market, which is home to the city’s first road mural, will also come alive with jazz, when the first Kensington Market Jazz Festival launches Sept. 16 to 18.

READ MORE:

NEWS: Building community over fattoush (June 2016)

NEWS: A warm welcome for new arrivals (January 2016)

EDITORIAL (DECEMBER 2015): Embrace Refugees

NEWS: Groups raise funds for refugees (December 2015)

NEWS: Churches raise funds for refugees (November 2015)

TDSB repair backlog reflects critical state of infrastructure

By Annemarie Brissenden

With both the federal and provincial governments making significant investments in public infrastructure, the Ministry of Education’s release of information detailing the maintenance backlog in Ontario raises a serious question: are we doing all that we can to maintain our buildings once they are built? The evidence suggests that we are not, and that our penchant for funding new infrastructure while ignoring our existing capital assets is ringing in a very high cost.

Consider that of the nine Ward 10 elementary schools that fall in the Gleaner’s coverage area, six are in critical condition, two are in poor condition, and only one is in even fair condition. All three secondary schools (Central Technical School, Harbord Collegiate Institute, and West End Alternative School) are at the critical level. Many of the elementary school buildings date to the 1950s and 1960s, while both Central Tech and Harbord are over 100 years old.

Reflecting data from 2011 to 2015, a school’s individual FCI is a percentage that is calculated by dividing the total cost of repairs by the cost of rebuilding the school. The higher the FCI, the more repairs the school requires. Schools with an FCI of 65 or greater are considered to be in critical condition.

[pullquote]“Increasingly Ontario parents are noticing the state of disrepair and thinking about the impact on their children”—Krysta Wylie, co-founder, Fix our Schools[/pullquote]

While both the Ministry of Education and the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) stress that such a rating does not mean a school is unsafe for students, it is troubling to wade through the long catalog of repairs, which includes everything from roofing and mechanical work to field restoration, listed starkly in black and white.

“Increasingly Ontario parents are noticing the state of disrepair and thinking about the impact on their children,” said Krista Wylie. She’s a co-founder of Fix our Schools, which was started 25 years ago by TDSB parents whose children all attended old schools with maintenance backlogs.

In June, the province announced it would increase those resources and address the backlog by spending an additional $1.1 billion (on top of a previously announced $1.5 billion) over the next two years on repairing schools throughout Ontario.

In an email, a ministry spokesperson characterized it as a “historic investment” representing “the government’s largest ever investment in school renewal”. It will enable “school boards to repair roofs, update HVAC units, and modernize electrical and plumbing systems”.

“Our government is doing its part to address this issue positively,” said Han Dong (MPP, Trinity-Spadina), whose children attend a local public school. He added that nine schools in his riding, including Harbord and Central Tech, will be getting funds for repairs.

Of the total $2.6 billion announced by the province, though, just under $580 million will be directed to TDSB schools, which collectively have a repair backlog that amounts to $3.6 billion.

“We’re a way off from addressing the backlog,” noted Wylie.

For Ausma Malik (TDSB Ward 10, Trinity-Spadina) it’s a two-fold problem: in addition to receiving adequate resources to make necessary repairs, the board needs “consistent and predictable funding” to maintain its buildings in a state of good repair.

That should amount to $1.4 billion a year, according to the 2015 annual report by the auditor general, who reported that “actual annual funding on a school year basis over the last five years is $150 million a year, increasing to $250 million.”

Wylie believes “the province has done a great job of holding the school board accountable” for budget shortfalls leading to things like a maintenance backlog, even though, in actual fact, it holds all the power.

“The province has relied on ‘right-sizing’ the school system, and painted that as a reason for disrepair,” explained Wylie.

Indeed, Dong points to right-sizing — consolidating and selling schools that are under-capacity and using the proceeds to fund capital repairs, such as in the recently announced merger of the Catholic school board’s St. Raymond and St. Bruno schools — as a way to manage the repair backlog effectively.

“Part of the solution is to look at how we reallocate resources,” said the local MPP. “Schools and day care spaces have to be adjusted given population shift.”

Yet, in a city where green space is at a premium and public schools are as much a hub for recreation as they are for learning, closing schools, even those with low enrolment, is very difficult. Communities push back, supported by councillors who are keen to keep public buildings in public hands. Add this to the unlikely prospect of getting market value for its sites, and it becomes clear why the TDSB often continues to operate schools that are under capacity, even at huge expense.

There’s also the matter of the age of the bulk of its buildings.

While the average age of schools in the province is 38, Toronto’s schools average out at 60 years, with some crumbling in at 100. Such older buildings, the ones that require the most repair and maintenance, have suffered the most from years of chronic underfunding.

As the auditor general’s report highlights, it’s a state of affairs that reflects the province infrastructure pool as a whole. As the second-largest item on Ontario’s statement of financial position, the province’s tangible capital assets are decidedly aging ones. And, so far, little is being done to ensure this portfolio will provide a solid foundation well into the future.

“The government plans to devote two-thirds of its infrastructure spending over the next 10 years to building new assets and one-third to maintaining and renewing existing properties — even though its own analysis indicated it should be the other way around,” wrote the auditor general in her report.

Or as Wylie put it, “it’s more sexy politically for the provincial government to spend money on programs that are way more interesting than a leaky roof.”

READ MORE:

FROM THE ARCHIVES: A look back at one attempt to lease a local school (September 2016)

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

TDSB reverses Essex Junior and Senior Public School decision after community uproar

PHOTO BY CLARA FEINSTEIN: The TDSB’s July 2005 attempt to lease Essex Jr. and Sr. Public School (above) backfired in the face of public outcry.

This July 2005 article chronicling the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) decision to reverse its plan to lease an empty building at Essex Junior and Senior Public School reflects the challenges faced by municipal school boards that attempt to fund repair and maintenance costs by capitalizing excess space. Today, Essex is in critical condition with an FCI of 87.91.

By Christine Lumley

It only took a month for community members to shout down a TDSB decision to lease an empty building on Essex Junior and Senior Public School property to the Lycée Français de Toronto, a private institution.

The building, linked to the school’s main site by an enclosed bridge and used to house Hawthorne II Bilingual Alternative School Jr., has stood empty since the Conservative provincial government’s funding formula forced Essex and Hawthorne to operate under the same roof.

“It’s good that the neighbourhoods will have much more input in what happens to these buildings now. It will also set new patterns for discussions of public space in other wards,” said local trustee Chris Bolton (Ward 10, Trinity-Spadina) of the decision. He said he plans to chair a committee to examine space issues in the ward and determine how best to make use of the empty buildings.

“I want to be clear it’s not about the Lycée, per se,” said parent Jean Rajotte at a June 1 meeting on the issue, “but it’s sad to lose a public space that has been funded by the public for decades because of money problems. It would be great if we could find a more creative solution.”

Cassie Bell, whose four children attend Hawthorne, said the school had to turn away potential students this past September. She’s worried Hawthorne II will have to move if Essex needs more space in the future.

[pullquote]“It’s sad to lose a public space that has been funded by the public for decades because of money problems”—Jean Rajotte, parent[/pullquote]

But the TDSB has compiled statistics showing the percentage of children aged five to 14 in Ward 10 has dropped 16.2 per cent since 1996. Twenty years ago, Essex had an all-time population high of 1,200 students. Now the two schools combined have 592 students, a decline the board attributes to escalating housing prices.

Indeed, when Hawthorne on Essex supervisor Elif Sommezocak suggested the extra space could be used to expand her currently full daycare centre, Sheila Penny, the TDSB’s executive superintendent for facilities services, replied that the Essex-Hawthorne II site is only 71 per cent utilized and space for the daycare could be found within its walls.

Other ideas for the space include having an artist in residence, leasing it as a constituency office, or using it for the TDSB’s teacher training programs. If the TDSB could not find a use for the space, however, many community members said they would prefer to see the building opened for public use.

It costs the TDSB $116,000 annually to maintain the empty building. If the TDSB leased the building, “the board could use that money to replace eight boilers in eight schools and replace windows in two schools per year,” noted Penny, adding, “with the money spent maintaining the empty building we could have hired two new janitors every year.”

The TDSB has been trying to lease the building for the past five years, as part of its policy to aggressively pursue potential tenants for empty buildings to generate revenue to support capital programs throughout the city. It began talking with the Lycée Français after failing to find a public sector organization for the building.

Penny pointed out that after the mayor’s office identified the neediest areas for the city (the Jane Street, Finch Avenue, south Etobicoke, and Scarborough neighbourhoods), the TDSB began to focus on spending its resources in those areas. Additionally, the study demonstrated the old City of Toronto’s needs are largely met.

“It was also an eye opener for me,” said trustee Patrick Rutledge (Ward 22, Scarborough) after the meeting, “that so many people in the old City of Toronto, where progressive thinking was always pointed to as a source of great pride, were in fact very parochial in their sentiments. People seemed very reluctant to see the system-wide impact of decisions.”

READ MORE

NEWS (SEPTEMBER 2016): Provincial investment falls short

Potential disaster averted

By Brian Burchell

Two Canadian Pacific freight trains collided on August 21 sending two locomotives and several rail cars off the tracks just north of Dupont Street near Howland Avenue. The trains were going in opposite directions and one clipped the tail end of the other as it failed to execute a safe pass.

Though 1,100 litres of diesel fuel leaked into the surrounding rail bed, later recovered, no freight or hazardous material was released from the cargo cars. This event is widely seen as a wake-up call by Annex residents long anxious about their proximity to trains carrying hazardous materials right by their doorsteps.

The issue of rail safety has become more urgent since the July 2013 derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, which killed 47 residents. That train was hauling crude oil in rail cars that just days earlier had passed through the Annex.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has started an investigation into the incident. According to its website the investigative process includes three phases: field (where wreckage is examined and witnesses are interviewed), analysis (where the evidence is examined), and finally formal reporting.

[pullquote]“In 2009, 500 cars of crude oil were shipped compared to 140,000 car loads in 2013.”[/pullquote]

The investigation, said TSB spokesperson Eric Collard, is still at the field phase and it was not possible to predict when it will conclude. However, “if anything comes out of the investigation that is pertinent or urgent we will issue safety notices to the appropriate authorities ahead of the final report”.

This gives little comfort to local city councillor Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), whose ward includes the derailment site. He wants the railway system management regulations overhauled, and alternative routes considered for transporting dangerous goods.

“I hope it is a wake-up call,” said Cressy. “For too long our local communities along the [rail] corridor have been calling for stronger [safety] measures, and while we have a receptive federal government that has taken initial steps they are not substantive or quick enough.”

“We take all rail incidents very seriously and are closely monitoring the situation involving the derailment of CP trains on the North Toronto Subdivision,” wrote Transport Minister Marc Garneau in an email. “We will cooperate fully with the [TSB]’s investigation and will not hesitate to take appropriate action should any regulatory infractions be found.”

University-Rosedale Member of Parliament Chrystia Freeland, whose riding includes the site of the derailment, advised the Gleaner through her constituency office that “my family home where I live with my husband and three children, is right next door to the rail corridor. We can see the tracks from our front window, so this is really personal for me.

“That’s why I am focused on listening to the concerns of constituents right now and I would like to take those concerns back to Ottawa and bring that real personal perspective to the rail safety conversation.”

Henry Wiercinski, vice-chair of the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) and its spokesperson on rail safety issues, explained that he was not surprised by the derailment. “With railways it’s not a question of ‘if’ but when and where a derailment will happen,” said Wiercinski. “That’s not to say people should be running around in hysterics; these are low-probability high-consequence events.”

The ARA has been instrumental in establishing an organization called Rail Safety First, a coalition of residents’ associations and business improvement areas that advocate for safe, transparent, and accountable rail. It promotes the safer transportation of dangerous goods, more robustly built tanker cars, and the diversion of dangerous cargo away from urban areas.

“Let’s face it,” said Wiercinski, “accidents happen, and the derailment of dangerous goods in a densely populated urban area is far more severe.”

Statistics from the TSB website show that main track derailments across the country are down year-to-date from 58 in 2015 to 34 in 2016, with the year-to-date average over the preceding five years standing at 61. So far in 2016 there have been no occurrences where dangerous goods have been released as a result of a derailment.

Although derailments are decreasing, the amount of crude oil being shipped has increased significantly.

Consider, explained Wiercinski, that in 2009, 500 cars of crude oil were shipped compared to 140,000 car loads in 2013.

He added that there is a big difference between what was being shipped when the rail tracks were first built and what is being shipped now. “Back in the day the rail line carried grain, freight, coal, and beaver pelts and now it carries chlorine, propane, crude oil, and ethanol.

“We can’t just keep whistling past the graveyard and pretend it could not happen here, or think it will happen someplace else; well that’s not okay.”

READ MORE:

EDITORIAL: Train derailment changes the conversation (September 2016)

ON THE COVER: Dupont rail derailment (August 2016)

NEWS: Rail safety focus of town hall (May 2016)

FORUM: Where do your LPC, NDP, and GPC candidates stand? (September 2015)

NEWS: Inaction frustrates residents (May 2015)

NEWS: Risky Rails? (February 2015)

Program matches residents with native trees

PHOTO COURTESY MICHAEL LOW: This old burr oak tree on Spadina Road reflects Toronto’s aging tree canopy. The Toronto Park and Trees Foundation is working to distribute trees throughout the city so that the urban forest will continue to thrive well into the future.

By Summer Reid

A campaign aimed at increasing the city’s tree canopy from 28 to 40 per cent is coming to the Annex this fall.

Part of the Every Tree Counts campaign, Tree for Me matches residents of Toronto with a native tree suitable for their desired planting area. Under the program 109 trees have been given out since its launching with a successful pilot event in May.

“Our goal is to increase plantings on private land by providing residents with a free, native tree and the resources to ensure it is planted and cared for correctly,” said Margo Mullin, community engagement coordinator of the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation (TPTF) in an email.

Tree for Me’s community outreach begins this fall, but the organization plans to run events each spring and fall in several communities across the City of Toronto. This year it is targeting the Annex, Parkdale, Rockcliffe-Smythe, Junction, and Riverdale communities. Its goal is to distribute 75 to 100 trees per event, culminating in a total of 400 new ones planted across Toronto in October. It’s also a great opportunity for community associations to educate residents about the importance of preserving and planting trees as well as build capacity for tree planting and care programs.

“As the program grows, we hope to have community groups reach out to us and apply to host their own Tree for Me events,” wrote Mullin, who said that the TPTF is initially working with community associations that already have the capacity to host its tree distribution program.

According to the Annex Residents’ Association (ARA) website, maple trees make up about 30 per cent of the Annex trees. There are approximately 10 different types of maple, though the non-native and invasive Norway maple or Acer platanoides makes up 42 per cent of the canopy. If the Norway, which grows aggressively fast and overcrowds the native trees like the sugar maple, continues to outnumber local trees, there will be no more maple syrup.

It’s one of the many reasons that the TPTF is focused on planting native trees, which are characterized as species that grew in southern Ontario before European settlement. They require less maintenance: since they do not need extra water, they are typically drought resistant, and, since they are acclimatized to the local insect population, they do not need any pesticide spraying.

Native trees, such the sugar maple, also limit the chances of non-native species invading our local ecosystem.

Many trees in Toronto are being damaged by urban development, the expansion of city infrastructure, and the day-to-day activities of Torontonians.

Some threats to our urban forest are over-fertilization, contamination of de-icing salt, drought, not enough sunlight, poor soil quality, damage from lawn equipment, improper pruning, trunk wounds, and severed roots from construction.

“We have to get people to think about maintaining that tree canopy,” said Terri Chu, an ARA member who also writes for The Annex Gleaner. “We have a lot of trees in this neighbourhood and they will be hitting end of life very soon, so we’re going to be getting a lot of bare spots if we don’t start planting now.”

Trees are critical to a neighbourhood’s health. They provide wide-ranging benefits and environmental services such as energy conservation, soil protection, the preservation of wildlife habitat, storm water management, filtration of water and air, and storage of carbon.

Neighbourhood trees also lower household energy consumption by cooling temperatures from 10 to 50 per cent, provide $28.3 million in ecological services every year, and can increase property values by as much as 20 per cent.

Residents who would like to receive a free tree for their property from the TPTF are asked to participate in a 20- to 30-minute tree planting and care workshop before receiving a tree. Every participant will leave with information packages containing more details about the specific tree species and a review of the planting and care techniques taught at the workshop. Tree recipients are encouraged to keep in touch with the TPTF and chronicle how their tree is doing by sharing photos and stories on social media.

Click to register for a free tree. Tree pick-ups have been scheduled for Oct. 5 between 3 to 7 p.m. at the Bloor-Borden Farmers’ Market.

READ MORE:

NEWS: Farmers’ market thriving but under threat due to declining provincial dollars (August 2016)

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

FOCUS: Urban Elms (September 2015)

By Summer Reid

St. Peter’s Church invites Annex residents to its annual Fall Fair event to support its Winter Welcome Table outreach program. Winter Welcome Table assists the homeless by offering hospitality and a warm evening meal.

The fair, which has grown significantly since it started out as a small community event, features food, great books, chances to win fun prizes, a flea market, and exciting entertainment.

The event will take place on Oct. 1 from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Oct. 2 from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at St. Peter’s Church (840 Bathurst St.) in the auditorium and on the grounds.

PHOTO BY SUMMER REID/GLEANER NEWS: The city’s first road mural was installed late last month on Baldwin Street in Kensington Market. Part of the StreetARToronto Road Mural program, the mural is the result of a collaboration between artists and the Kensington Market BIA. The mural was painted using latex paint, which is made to withstand weather elements and foot traffic for six to nine months. The City of Toronto launched the pilot project after a proposal to legalize road murals did not pass Toronto City Council. Four additional murals will be installed throughout the city under the project by the end of October.
—Summer Reid/Gleaner News

READ MORE:

ARTS: Bringing art to the people (April 2016)

FORUM: Untapped potential: Animating our local laneways (February 2016) by Joe Cressy

NEWS: Incubating micro-retail: Laneways untapped realm of urban design (December 2015) by Annemarie Brissenden

NEWS: Graffiti artist Erica Balon creates mural on Bloor Street West (July 2015) by Justine Ricketts

ARTS: A new side to graffiti (April 2012) by Jelena Subotic

By Summer Reid

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) has requested the public’s assistance in investigating a sexual assault that occurred on Sept. 5.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., a man sexually assaulted a woman after entering her home in the College Street and Ossington Avenue area. Last seen walking northbound on Ossington Avenue towards College Street, the man is described as white, unshaven, with short dark hair and wearing a dark shirt and jeans. He is believed to be 5 feet 8 inches to 6 feet tall with a thin build and in his mid- to late-20s. Anyone with information is asked to contact the TPS at 416-808-7474 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.

By Annemarie Brissenden

Applications to rezone an area at Spadina and Sussex avenues as well as 666 Spadina Ave. have been received by City Planning and are available online.

The first application is by the University of Toronto, which seeks to build a student residence on the site. The owners of the apartment building at 666 Spadina Ave. are seeking an amendment, according to the city’s planning website, “to allow the addition of an 11-storey mixed use building with a total of 128 rental residential apartments on the south side of the property and eight stacked townhouses on the north side of the property.

The proposal retains the existing 25-storey apartment building, and parking is proposed within the existing underground parking structure. The site is a heritage property.” The Gleaner will follow up on both applications in a coming issue.

READ MORE:

NEWS: Planning for the future (May 2016)

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

NEWS: Residence casts long shadow (February 2015)

The August 21 twin train derailment on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) line at Dupont Street is a reminder of just how much of a potential disaster is ticking away on our doorstep. It adds urgency to what is no longer a theoretical conversation.

The two CPR freight trains failed to execute a safe pass of one another when heading in opposite directions. Two westbound locomotives came off the tracks along with several of the rail cars from the eastbound train that were hit behind the engines. What if those cars were carrying hazardous material? What if that material was released and combusted, what is the loss of life predicted? What would be the property damage?

This issue of rail safety has long been a concern for area residents as trains became longer and the cargo they carry increasingly hazardous in nature. No one consulted Annex residents, or residents in any city or town in the country for that matter, as the materials on these trains shifted from logs, coal, and grain into stuff that explodes like ethanol, propane, and volatile crude oil.

[pullquote]We need to be mindful of the danger in our midst and to mitigate against it with greater urgency[/pullquote]

Just about every day we hear about public hearings, disputes, and protests about this pipeline and that pipeline, and the many regulatory hurdles any proposal must overcome before anything comes to pass. But with train transport they did it in an almost as-of-right fashion.

In 1979, not that long ago, a CPR train derailment in Mississauga caused rail cars carrying propane to rupture and, when combined with substances including chlorine and caustic soda leaked from other cars, the mixture exploded into a fireball that shot 5,000 feet in the air.

Over 200,000 residents were relocated in the largest peacetime evacuation in history until 2005 when New Orleans was cleared in response to Hurricane Katrina. Surprisingly, there was no loss of life associated with the Mississauga incident. Mississauga is a much more populous place today and if one were to apply that accident as a template over today’s Mississauga the results likely would be different.

The 2013 rail disaster at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, has more resonance for us as it is more recent, involved the loss of 47 lives, and devastated a small town. Moreover, what is chilling is the fact that those rail cars carrying the bakken crude oil that proved to be so volatile came through the Annex on the CPR line only days earlier.

It’s helpful to be reminded that main line rail derailments are down overall across the country, and that things are getting incrementally better. Despite this, we need to be mindful of the danger in our midst and to mitigate against it with greater urgency.

It’s a difficult thing managing risk as risk is everywhere of course and it’s all relative but somehow the juxtaposition of the Lac-Mégantic disaster and the recent Dupont Street derailment has changed the perception of risk assessment. The August 21 Annex derailment reminds us that accidents will happen. No amount of additional training, improved infrastructure, or system changes is going to change that fact. Re-routing trains carrying hazardous material around major urban centres mitigates that risk since the consequences of an accident are predictably less.

Our local Member of Parliament, Chrystia Freeland, who is also the Minister of International Trade, campaigned on rail safety — both a local and national issue — during the recent election. She brings a personal perspective to the federal level, as the home that she shares with her husband and three children looks out over these very tracks. It may be time for her to walk the walk on this issue from her seat at the cabinet table.

READ MORE:

NEWS: Trains in the night (September 2016)

ON THE COVER: Dupont rail derailment (August 2016)

NEWS: Rail safety focus of town hall (May 2016)

FORUM: Where do your LPC, NDP, and GPC candidates stand? (September 2015)

NEWS: Inaction frustrates residents (May 2015)

NEWS: Risky Rails? (February 2015)

Building up will allow us to create the sizable park downtown needs

By Joe Cressy

A central park in downtown Toronto. It’s an old idea whose time has come. Now, all we need is a little creativity, political will, and a commitment from Toronto City Council to invest significant money to make it happen. Let’s get it done.

Last month I was pleased to join Mayor Tory in announcing our intention to deck the rail corridor between Bathurst Street and Blue Jays Way to build a new 21-acre signature park. That’s the size of Christie Pits. Or, put another way, 16 full-size football fields.

This will be a new central park for all of Toronto.

Now, why is such a new signature park in downtown Toronto needed? Well, it starts with livability. Public spaces — parks and community facilities — make our neighbourhoods livable. For residents and families in downtown, parkland is not only critical, it is desperately needed.

Over the next 25 years the population of downtown Toronto is expected to double to nearly 500,000 people. And in the local neighbourhood where Rail Deck Park will be located, the population has already grown from 945 people in 1996 to 50,000 residents today. Those are simply astounding numbers. Unfortunately, the development of new parkland has not kept pace with this growth.

[pullquote]Decking the rail corridor, just like building the new Bentway Park under the Gardiner, is the type of thinking we need.[/pullquote]

The reality for many downtown residents, especially those living in condo towers, is that the park becomes your backyard. The local community centre becomes your play room. It’s these public spaces that make our neighbourhoods livable and our city great.

It should be stated explicitly that a new central park in downtown will not be just for downtowners. It will be a new central destination for all of Toronto.

Now decking the rail corridor — literally building a structure in the air for a park — will not be easy, but it is possible. Cities around the world have proven that it can be done. Millennium Park in Chicago, Federation Square in Melbourne, and Hudson Yards in New York have already shown us the way.

As our city continues to grow, we have to be more creative about how we create public spaces and parks. There simply are not 21 acres of land waiting to be bought or assembled in downtown Toronto. The only way we can create new signature public spaces is by thinking outside the box. Decking the rail corridor, just like building the new Bentway Park under the Gardiner, is the type of new thinking we need.

Since I announced our Rail Deck Park plan last month the overwhelming response has been positive, but also understandably skeptical. How much will it cost? Will it happen in my lifetime? Will city council really vote to spend significant money for a park in downtown? These questions have been asked again and again.

Let’s be clear, building this park will require a significant investment, but in the context of the cost of land in downtown Toronto, it is an effective use of public funds. The City of Toronto collects funds from developers to acquire parkland. These funds — under Section 42 of the Planning Act — can only be spent on one thing, buying parkland. In downtown Toronto the going cost of one acre of land is in the $50 to $70 million range. By purchasing the air rights over the rail corridor and building above it, we can significantly reduce that per acre cost. Moreover, it allows us to develop the type of large signature park we need.

That’s not to say this is cheap. Anything but. But for too long big ideas in Toronto have fallen on the floor of a nickel and diming city hall. In this case, Mayor Tory and I have teamed up to make this project a reality. Together, we intend to build the political support at city hall and funding support from the provincial and federal governments to make it happen.

Rail Deck Park won’t happen overnight. It will take years. But it is bold. It is ambitious. And it is exactly the type of big thinking Toronto is ready for.

Rail Deck Park is about planning for the future needs of our city. Let’s get it done.

Joe Cressy is the councillor for Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina.

READ MORE

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

NEWS: City seeking street greening opportunities (February 2016)

READ MORE BY JOE CRESSY:

FORUM: Building a livable city (July 2016)

FORUM: Bike lanes on Bloor Street (May 2016)

FORUM: Untapped potential (February 2016)

Supporting an open society by embracing global trade and immigration

By Chrystia Freeland

When it comes to issues of trade, we are living in a complicated time. In many countries in the western industrialized world there is a tremendous popular backlash against international trade and immigration. We are not immune to these forces in Canada, but we do have a strong national cross-party consensus around what we call the open society: a diverse multicultural society that is open to immigration and plugged into the global economy.

So how did we get to that consensus and what can we do to maintain it?

For our government, this consensus actually starts with economic policy at home.

Our first priority is to support our middle class and the people who are striving to join it, because we believe that a strong and prosperous middle class is the key to supporting the open society.

What have we done about it?

[pullquote]We pay a lot of attention to embracing and integrating all those who settle here.[/pullquote]

We introduced a new tax-free benefit paid to Canadian families with children, the Canada Child Benefit. The Canada Child Benefit is targeted to provide more tax-free help to families who need it, and it’s generous enough to provide a guaranteed annual income for Canada’s most in-need children.

We also cut taxes on middle class incomes, and we paid for that by increasing taxes on top earners; we know income inequality is real and we think it’s the job of government to lean against it. And we made changes to the Canada Pension Plan that will significantly increase the retirement incomes of middle class Canadians in the future.

For me this focus on supporting the middle class is directly connected to the two pillars of the open society: being open to the global economy and being open to immigrants and immigration. More than 50 per cent of people living in our city are foreign born, and our immigration policy enjoys a lot of public support.

Why is that?

In Canada, we pay a lot of attention to embracing and integrating all those who settle here. A central part of that process is a policy that was put in place by Pierre Elliot Trudeau: the policy of multiculturalism. We believe that our diversity is our strength. We’re not strong in spite of our diversity; we’re stronger because of it.

Being open to the global economy, the other pillar of an open society, means building a trade policy that is centred around supporting middle class jobs and incomes. It’s also vitally important for us to understand there are legitimate reasons why people might be concerned about trade agreements and to focus on addressing those concerns.

One way we’re doing that is by focusing a lot of our trade policy on small- and medium-sized businesses. The technology-driven globalized economy makes it possible for even very small companies to be part of the global economy from day one, and it’s important that we build agreements and trading relationships that communicate and embrace that reality.

We also need to address the very legitimate concerns that people have around the ability of democratically-elected governments to regulate areas like labour rights, the environment, and the public sector.

The Canadian and European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a new approach that targets those very areas by enshrining the rights of governments to regulate, and makes arbitration more transparent and independent. That’s a big part of what makes CETA a better, more progressive trade agreement.

In 1945 an Austrian immigrant to the United Kingdom named Karl Popper warned that: “If we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against the onslaught of the intolerant, then the tolerant will be destroyed and tolerance with them.”

I believe that while history doesn’t repeat itself, it does rhyme. Once again, the open society is under threat, and those of us who believe in it must work together in its defence.

We, as Canadians, with a really strong partnership between government, business, and civil society, can remain an open society at home and be a very powerful and welcome voice for it around the world.

Chrystia Freeland is the Minister of International Trade and the Member of Parliament for University-Rosedale.

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