New executive director underscores board’s equity focus

By Clarrie Feinstein

Parents at last month’s Toronto District School Board (TDSB)?ward council meeting leveraged a meet-and-greet with the new director of education into an opportunity to question him about the lack of resources at their children’s schools. Dr. John Malloy was at the Oct. 24 meeting at the invitation of Ausma Malik (TDSB Ward 10, Trinity-Spadina) to introduce the board’s new structure and its four new learning centres.

The audience patiently sat through Malloy’s presentation before angrily launching questions.

[pullquote]“We must ask these difficult and personal questions in order to better our education system”—John Malloy, TDSB[/pullquote]

The Huron Street Junior Public School’s ward representative — who did not wish to be named — said the school has only a few computers left after the others were aged out because they were so old they weren’t compatible with the board’s system.

“We’re at a road block,” said the representative. “We have parents that can provide their kids with laptops. But does that give our school an advantage over others where parents can’t afford these necessities? If we can’t privately fund them, will my kids come out of school being behind in technological skills?”

Huron’s annual school budget amounts to approximately $68,000, which includes a $3,402 technology allocation. School budgets are largely determined by enrolment.

Huron, for example, has an enrolment of 404 students and receives $96.50 per student. It also receives per pupil money for the library and the office, a base school allotment, and supplements for special education and learning opportunities. However, the school, which dates back to the 1880s, is in a building that was erected in 1958, and maintenance absorbs a large part of the budget.

Although Malloy urged the Huron representative to speak to the school’s superintendent about the computers, he did note that the TDSB does not have the money to provide new computers for every school. That’s why individual schools are left to solve the problem, sometimes by raising money or by seeking donations to get new computers.

Perhaps ironically, one of the mandates behind the board’s reorganization into four learning centres is to “ensure that all students across the TDSB have equitable access to programs and services”.

The board is at the start of an ambitious three-year plan aimed at ensuring that all students have access to the same high quality of education, no matter which school they attend or their background.

“The goal is to engage with our own bias and barriers and ask, whose voices are heard most?” explained Malloy. “How is this affecting our learning environments? We must ask these difficult and personal questions in order to better our education system as staff and parents.”

Established in September, the centres will help individual schools access specific resources, support classroom teachers, allow staff to be more responsive to their students’ educational needs, and ensure that all students have equal access to programs and services. Each learning centre will be led by an executive superintendent, who in turn will be supported by seven superintendents. Every school in the board will feed into a centre, characterized by the TDSB as “hubs where staff can collaborate and share resources”. Superintendents of education Mike Gallagher and Mary-Jane McNamara are responsible for the schools in Trinity-Spadina, all of which feed into Learning Centre 4, led by executive superintendent Sandy Spyropoulos. All three educators were at the meeting, and expressed their excitement at embarking on the new school year with this forward-thinking strategy.

Malloy said that he believes the learning centres will improve student achievement and well-being by making the board more responsive to the individual needs of Toronto’s diverse communities.

“There needs to be an internal focus, there should be local ownership of the learning,” he said. “Ministry requirements need to be fulfilled, but what about the unique, individual needs of each school?”

READ MORE:

NEWS: Provincial investment falls short (September 2016)

COURTESY RICHARD LONGLEY: The Harbord Village Residents’ Association and the Harbord Street Business Improvement Area celebrated their tenth annual Harbord Street Pumpkin Festival on Nov. 1. Featuring hot cider, a silent auction, and, of course, many glowing pumpkins, it drew crowds to Harbord Street between Spadina Avenue to Borden Street.

READ MORE:

NEWS: Harbord Street to become pumpkin patch (October 2015)

NEWS: Lit pumpkins lined Harbord Street (November 2013)

Draw attention to what really matters

By Terri Chu

Sometimes I wonder why, knowing what we know about climate change, there are people who continue to buy things they don’t really need for the sake of it. We have our share of green businesses in the Annex, but that doesn’t make us immune from replacing our perfectly functioning phones with newer ones, or falling for the latest fashion trends (none of which are sustainable).

The media, be it mainstream or what we like to call “social media”, plays such a big role in how we view the world and what we think is important. As I flip through my own social media feed, the sad reality sinks in of why measures to protect the environment have failed over the years.

[pullquote]“Witnessing the Standing Rock protest and how we, as a society, are responding to it leaves me with a pit of hopelessness.”[/pullquote]

In one social media circle, Toronto moms are engaged in an asinine debate over the safety of our fluoridated and chlorinated municipal drinking water. In happy-land, some mothers believe they are doing their babies’ future a favour by buying them distilled water in single use disposable plastic for fear of exposing them to a chemical proven to reduce cavities. Further down the feed, photos and videos are popping up about the standoff between the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and heavily armed agents. The contrast between environmental concerns and realities could not be starker.

Two groups of people worried about their health and environment, yet one is facing a real threat while the other is worried their kids might not get enough cavities. No doubt both groups have the best interest of their children in mind, but what each group is concerned about could not be more different. This contrast epitomizes why we’ve failed to protect the environment despite knowing about climate change for decades.

The Standing Rock Sioux are galvanizing international support for their fight against the 1,885-kilometre North Dakota Pipeline, whose proposed route travels under the Missouri River, the tribe’s main source of drinking water.

Their concerns were never taken seriously, the media has barely acknowledged that they are fighting to protect something as basic as drinking water, yet ample air time is dedicated to causes like “could this life saving vaccine actually be responsible for a condition that medical science has already conclusively proved it isn’t?”

Witnessing the Standing Rock protest and how we, as a society, are responding to it leaves me with a pit of hopelessness. How can we possibly find the political will to deal with our environmental problems when the drinking water for an entire group of people, living, breathing human beings, is treated so nonchalantly while non-problems get the royal click bait treatment?

We are no different north of the border.

Now that Attawapiskat is out of the news, has the water situation there improved? Have we spared a thought for it? It seems one thing we have in common with our neighbours to the south is how abhorrently we treat First Nations people.

It’s probably too much to ask that the media presents real news and moves beyond “this year’s hottest Christmas toys” to report on the depressing realities of how climate change and pollution is already affecting people. This should not be relegated to the fringe news sites. Keep Attawapiskat in the news until the situation changes. Report on the water crisis. Unless environmental realities are at the forefront, those who don’t see it in our day-to-day lives will continue to ignore the issues.

An environmental activist once told me about his son, who asked “when is all this bad stuff with climate change going to happen?” Even he didn’t know it was already happening. I used to think it was the politicians who had the greatest impact on environmental policy, but now I realize it’s the media overlords.

If there’s one thing we can do, it is to annoy the heck out of our friends and share every piece of depressing environmental news we can every single day. Make the issues relevant and keep them at the tip of public consciousness. Unless the issues are actually understood, having governments take action that might be even remotely unpopular will be too much to hope for.

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

READ MORE GREENINGS BY TERRI CHU: 

The school of the future (July 2016)

Taking action on climate change (June 2016)

Cloth diapers have gone from burden of the poor to luxury of the rich in one generation (May 2016)

Provide help or stand aside (April 2016)

Don’t fall prey to marketing (March 2016)

PHOTO BY NEILAND/BRISSENDEN: Gleaner art director Neiland Brissenden’s annual chronicle of Nuit Blanche returns this month. In an installation at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), Jody Naderi and John Fillwalk combined art and app to create The Firefly Effect.

This month’s issue includes a story on how the City of Toronto designated the stretch of Bloor Street that includes the RCM as a cultural corridor just as the conservatory received some much needed debt relief, as well as stories on the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre’s newly reopened accessible pool, and how citizen cyclists marked new bike lanes by ringing bells on Bloor Street.

Forestry activists call on province for support

PICTURE COURTESY ©ERIN MACDONALD/LEAF: Volunteers tend to LEAF’s Urban Forest Demonstration Garden at the Markham Road entrance of Bathurst subway station.

By Clarrie Feinstein

After paradise was paved over this summer at a North York building site, an organization dedicated to preserving the city’s urban forest hosted a September meeting to discuss how citizens can help enforce Toronto’s tree bylaws. The clearing of 40 trees, including a 150-year-old linden tree, to make way for condominium units was top of mind for many of the approximately 60 people in attendance at the meeting.

“We were very aware of the confusion and frustration that the public felt, which is why we hosted the event,” said Janet McKay, the executive director of Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (LEAF). “We need to reduce the frustrations and clarify what the bylaws can and cannot do.”

Supervisor Mark Ventresca and manager Arthur Beauregard of the City of Toronto’s Urban Forestry division led the discussion on the city’s tree bylaws and explained its tree protection policies.

A city permit is required to remove any tree that is greater than 30 centimetres in diameter. If approval is granted, the removal is monitored, and steps are taken to ensure a new tree is planted in its place. Most tree removals occur in construction zones, and 90 per cent of applications relating to building sites are approved.

If trees are not removed during construction, the builders must install a protective fence around each individual tree. Should a site not comply, a maximum fine per tree of $10,000 would be assessed by the city.

Even unhealthy trees are subject to the approval process.

Beauregard and Ventresca, who said their motto is “all trees are good”, will protect trees until it’s proven that a tree will be a serious safety risk. Even if it is home to an invasive species but still healthy, a tree will not be approved for removal.

The city has made significant progress in regulating tree removals since 2011, stressed Ventresca, who added that there has been a 2.5 per cent increase in tree removal permits over the last eight years.

But Tim Grant, chair of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association (HVRA), said the bylaws still aren’t strong enough.

“We’re losing canopy to pavement,” said Grant. “The violations that occur are routine because there is a lack of enforcement, which then makes people not fear any penalty charges.”

Although most HVRA residents are sensitive to protecting and growing the city’s tree canopy, Grant has witnessed tree bylaw violations in the area. Some years ago, he saw the death of a mature Norway maple in the neighbourhood after homeowners installed flagstones around the tree, strangling its roots in only 12 inches of soil. It’s been four years since the homeowners were told to replace the tree, and still nothing has been done.

“That’s the real trouble,” Grant said, “there is no follow-up. The process is unclear and the policy is not enforced. No one feels the long-term repercussions, but we will soon if we keep treating our trees in this manner.

“By cutting down that maple, there is reduced canopy coverage and privacy. That will have an impact. The lack of species diversity is a huge problem we are currently facing — older trees are nearing the end of their lifetimes.”

Other imminent threats to the tree canopy include invasive forest insects and continuing challenges related to managing invasive plant species, in addition to the uncertain related climate change effects.

The most pressing threat, however, is Toronto’s intensification and rapid development, which is placing increased pressure on the city’s green space and trees.

“Trees should be managed like assets,” said McKay. “If people were to incorporate protecting and maintaining an urban forest like an asset then people are more likely to invest in the maintenance of it.”

According to Every Tree Counts: A Portrait of Toronto’s Urban Forest, trees provide numerous benefits to the city that more than make up for the cost of their upkeep: reduced energy use from heating and cooling of residential buildings, improved air quality, and the absorption of carbon emissions.

All of which makes caring for the urban forest more urgent than ever before.

Yet a report released by the Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition (GIOC) — an alliance of business, not-for-profit, community groups and local governments working to promote green infrastructure across the province — demands that provincial and federal governments provide meaningful support to help municipalities manage their urban forests as assets.

With 444 municipalities in Ontario, creating a green infrastructure and policy plan from scratch is a task many communities do not have the resources to complete. Even Toronto, which has developed the nation’s leading urban forestry protection plan, only has 40 staff working citywide and very limited resourcing.

“It puts a strain on what we can actually accomplish,” said Ventresca. “We simply do not have enough people and therefore our time is limited.”

He wants to build on Toronto’s first ever Strategic Forest Management Plan, which was approved by Toronto City Council in 2013. It targets increasing the city’s tree canopy cover from 28 to 40 per cent by 2050.

“It’s a lofty goal,” McKay said, “but at least the city has a plan. Now, it’s how can we make this a multilevel government plan.”

READ MORE:

NEWS: Help grow the urban forest (September 2016)

NEWS: Bloor Street goes green (April 2016)

City seeking street greening opportunities: Harbord Village plan targets laneways, parkettes (February 2016)

FOCUS: Urban Elms (September 2015)

Annual Nuit Blanche photo essay returns

Gleaner art director Neiland Brissenden’s annual chronicle of Nuit Blanche returns this month. Previously featured on the newspaper’s Twitter feed, Brissenden’s photo essay highlights installations that interacted with the audience to celebrate some of our neighbourhood’s most loved faces and spaces. —Annemarie Brissenden/Gleaner News

Beloved idols returned to Mirvish Village as the Plywood Collective painted a mural outside Markham House.

Small lit houses, luminous lightboxes, and a disproportionate music box featured in Maison/Home by Claude Miceli and Jean-Christian Knaff inside Markham House.

A tin can phone sculpture connected viewers with the work and each other in the interactive Conversational Partner by Allie Brenner and Laura Snider in the Honest Ed’s parking lot.

Made of natural cotton by artist Gloria Stein, River: The Shroud of Buczacz, was a 16 foot by 24 foot topographically accurate scale model of the site in Poland where 1500 Jews were murdered during the course of one night in early spring 1943. Stein’s father, then but a small child, managed to survive the massacre, but the poisoned river would feature in the nightmares of the Holocaust that would haunt him for the rest of his life. The shroud both concealed and revealed as it reminded the viewer of the story’s saddest relic, that “many parts of our precious earth are still being poisoned with the blood of innocent victims”.

Crowds wait to enter Cushion: An Interactive Media Womb by F_RMLab at the Bata Shoe Museum. The installation replaced the “buzz of the city” with “a space of reflection”, as visitors interacted with “friendly beings” in an “atmosphere created by touch, light, and sound”.

City designates Bloor Street a cultural corridor

PICTURE BY SUMMER REID/GLEANER NEWS: The province has forgiven a significant portion of its loan to the Royal Conservatory of Music.

By Annemarie Brissenden, Brian Burchell, and Liivi Sandy

Toronto City Council designated the 1.5-kilometre stretch along Bloor Street from Bay to Bathurst streets as a cultural corridor last month, just as the province forgave a significant portion of a loan it had granted to one of the arts organizations that make up the group that had formed to seek the coveted official designation. It’s the first successful application initiated by such a group; past designations have been largely driven by city staff.

Formed nearly three years ago, the Bloor Street Cultural Partnership is a loose informal promotional consortium made up of 19 arts organizations located on and near Bloor Street like the Royal Ontario Museum, the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), the Miles Nadal JCC, and the Native Canadian Cultural Centre.

According to Heather Kelly, the founder and director of the partnership, the organizations collectively host three million patrons and generate more than $629.5 million in economic impact annually, as well as employ 5,500 people.

“This designation is a milestone in recognizing that we live in such a culturally rich area,” said Kelly.

Although the corridor designation doesn’t come with any city funding, Norm Kelly (Ward 40, Scarborough-Agincourt), who spoke at the Economic Development and Culture Committee meeting in support of the designation, suggested the corridor not be shy about asking for financial support from the city.

Indeed, the RCM might be the first to come knocking.

Reports surfaced last month that the province had released the music institution from its obligation to repay a portion of its outstanding debt to the province.

“The RCM is an employer, a gathering place, and a place to learn. I’m pleased that we were able to reach an agreement that will ensure the RCM will be able to benefit our musicians and future generations,” said Han Dong (MPP, Trinity-Spadina), who confirmed that a deal had been made but was unable to talk specifics.

The conservatory was one of the first high-profile arts institutions to benefit from a broadening in eligibility for loans from Infrastructure Ontario (IO) in 2007.

“The Royal Conservatory of Music was made an eligible borrower through an Order in Council (OIC), under a section of the Act that allows the government to specify other activities in which IO may engage based on Cabinet approval,” wrote the provincial Auditor General in her 2014 annual report. “The expansion of the Loans Program to the broader-public and not-for-profit sectors has given borrowers who previously may not have had an external credit rating access to affordable financing through the province’s high credit rating and low cost of capital.”

The RCM took out the loan to meet costs related to the construction of the Telus Centre for Performance and Learning. Completed in 2009, the project included a renovation of the historical Ihnatowycz Hall, as well as Mazzoleni Concert Hall and Koerner Hall, which is known for its superb acoustics and regularly hosts international artists at its performance space. Over 500,000 people benefit from the conservatory’s facilities annually, making it an integral part of the province’s and city’s cultural sector.

Neither IO nor the RCM would speak publicly about the details of the agreement, displaying a troubling lack of transparency. It’s particularly surprising given how hard the conservatory has publicly lobbied the province for debt relief, claiming that its loan payments were threatening its ability to provide a full range of programming.

The conservatory had expected to augment the loan with revenue from donations; however, as the Ontario Auditor General wrote in her 2014 report, fundraising has “fallen below expectations”.

Although the RCM would not release copies of its audited statements, mandatory filings with the Canada Revenue Agency put the loan principal at $52 million as of September 2016, and suggest the conservatory paid $4.5 million in 2015 to service its debt.

“Our government understands the importance of Ontario’s culture sector and is proud to provide strategic support to drive cultural innovation, create jobs, and grow our economy,” wrote Katrina Kim, press secretary to Bob Chiarelli (MPP, Ottawa West-Nepean) and the Minister of Infrastructure, in an email.

RCM president Peter Simon is also refusing to talk about the deal and how recent announcements of major donations to the RCM might relate, if at all. On Oct. 5, it announced two donations of more than $5 million, from Michael and Sonja Koerner and James and Louise Temerty. Michael Koerner is the institution’s chancellor, while James Temerty is one of its four directors.

“The culture sector is very important to my riding and to me personally,” said Dong. “[The RCM] is Canada’s largest music and arts education institution. [It] not only benefits the country and the province, but [also] plays a very significant role in Trinity-Spadina.”

—with files from Noelle Defour

READ MORE:

FORUM: Creating growth through the arts (January 2016)

New pool is a model for inclusivity and accessibility

PHOTO BY SUMMER REID/GLEANER NEWS: The MNJCC’s new universally accessible pool (full story on page 1) now features an entrance ramp. The community centre at Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue is now fully compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, which aims to make the province fully accessible for people with disabilities by 2025.

By Summer Reid

The Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (MNJCC) reopened its Freddie Shore Aquatic Centre last month, after an extensive renovation to make the saltwater pool universally accessible.

“This means that everybody, with dignity, can get into [and out of] the pool on their own terms,” said executive director Ellen T. Cole at the pool’s official reopening.

[pullquote]“Pools are an awesome inclusive space if the barriers are removed”—Liviya Mendelsohn, manager, MNJCC[/pullquote]

Adam Purdy, a Paralympic and ParaPan medalist in swimming, explained that making swimming pools universally accessible enables everyone to learn how to swim, a basic skill, no matter their limitation.

“A universal design is very important because it does represent some of the ideas and mindsets of the people who are running those facilities and places,” added the swimmer.

For Liviya Mendelsohn, the MNJCC’s manager of accessibility and inclusion, “pools are about community.

“Pools are about people who share an interest in swimming, getting together, and coming together based on that interest and not on ability. Pools are an awesome inclusive space if the barriers are removed.”

Making the pool universally accessible is but the latest step in the MNJCC’s quest to become fully compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Made law in 2005, the aim of the act is to make Ontario fully accessible for people with disabilities by 2025.

“We have set ourselves a standard to be the role model for accessibility and inclusion in the downtown,” said Cole.

Mendelsohn explained that the MNJCC has focused on making its programs accessible, integrated, and financially accessible for anybody facing barriers.

“We have two advisory committees…made up of people with disabilities and [their] allies, and they advise us on our programming,” she said.

“With the right supports, anybody can attend anything.”

PICTURE BY GEREMY BORDONARO/GLEANER NEWS
Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) was among the speakers at a late September Bells on Bloor event celebrating the installation of bike lanes between Shaw Street and Avenue Road. Organizers characterized the communal ride during which cyclists — including activist Albert Koehl, Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina), Gideon Forman from the David Suzuki Foundation, and Jared Kolb from Cycle Toronto — rode a ring around Bloor Street, Sherbourne Street, and Queen’s Park Crescent, as a victory lap. For further information on Bells on Bloor, please visit www.bellsonbloor.org. —Annemarie Brissenden

READ MORE:

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)

Early brewer the basis for Bloor Street’s name (May 2015)

The Harbord Village Residents’ Association (HVRA) mourned the passing of long-time board member Steve Klein, who passed away last month after a struggle with lymphoma. He loved travelling with his family and had a strong relationship with his daughter.

Klein joined the HVRA board in early 2009, bringing new ideas with his quiet but solid presence, continually pushing the association to remain responsible to its members and take on the challenges within the neighbourhood. He donated many volunteer hours to the HVRA, most recently helping to redesign its website, as well as organize the annual pumpkin festival. This popular event is run in conjunction with the Harbord Street BIA and returns to Harbord Street between Spadina Avenue and Borden Street on Nov. 1 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

—Noelle Defour/Gleaner News

READ MORE:

CHATTER: Pumpkin festival (November 2015)

The Kensington Hospice recently celebrated its fifth anniversary of providing palliative care in the Annex. One of the seven health services provided by the Kensington Health Centre, the hospice has 10 beds and provides end-of-life care that not only meets the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of its patients, but also supports a patient’s friends and family.

“All kinds of care, physical care was the largest, but also the care from the nurses were very helpful for her,” said the friend of one patient who preferred to remain anonymous. “The nurses even helped me sometimes; we’d have little conversations and I realized that the little conversations helped me to come to terms with what was going on.”

The non-profit health centre welcomes charitable gifts, with donations being used to improve the facilities, acquire new equipment, as well as fund research and enhancement programs. In addition to the hospice, the health centre provides long-term and community care, a screening clinic, ophthalmology services, and runs the Eye Bank of Ontario.

—Noelle Defour/Gleaner News

Just after 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 20, 66-year-old criminal defence lawyer J. Randall Barrs was leaving his office at 23 Bedford Rd. when he was shot multiple times by a man dressed as a construction worker. The alleged shooter, whom the Toronto Police Service has identified as 51-year-old Grayson Delong, was under surveillance by Halton Regional Police following his release on bail due to his suspected connection to a break-in in Peel Region. One plainclothes officer rushed towards Delong, who was attempting to drive away in a car with stolen plates. The officer shot at Delong, who was treated at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre for serious injuries before appearing in court, where he agreed to remain in jail pending the outcome of his 15 charges relating to the shooting.

The Special Investigations Unit is investigating the shooting, and Delong is scheduled to appear back in court on Oct. 31.

—Summer Reid/Gleaner News