New facility to include childcare spaces By Annemarie Brissenden Local Catholic elementary school students will soon have a new school with a view. The Ontario government has announced that it will spend $9.4 million on a new school to be built where St. Raymond Catholic School currently sits on Barton Avenue, overlooking Christie Pits. The […]

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Minister of Transport questioned on diverting dangerous goods By Annemarie Brissenden If residents at the well-attended town hall on rail safety were looking for the federal government to commit to diverting railway tracks out of dense urban neighbourhoods, they came away disappointed. [pullquote] “We are not actively looking at relocating rail outside of Toronto”—Marc Garneau, […]

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Supporters aim to protect neighbourhood’s unique character By Geremy Bordonaro Even in a city known for its distinctive neighbourhoods, it remains unique. In this bustling centre, small shops, from grocery and thrift stores to restaurants, line the streets alongside hip boutiques that cater to the savviest of customers. Nary a car drives down the street, […]

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Open Tuning festival returns to Seaton Village June 11 By Annemarie Brissenden It’s only been six months since Samantha Wynter got her instrument, but she’s already playing her first music festival. “I got a guitar this Christmas, and Amelia taught me how to play,” explains Wynter, who together with Amelia Murphy-Beaudoin will perform as Heart […]

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Plan to transform underutilized space [pullquote]“This is a major greening initiative for the neighbourhood”—Jonathan Da Silva, Bloor-Annex BIA[/pullquote] By Annemarie Brissenden Bloor Street West is about to get a whole lot greener, and it’s all thanks to the trees. Currently confined to box planters, Bloor Street’s trees are suffering. The concrete boxes — sometimes known […]

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Pharmacy drugstore chain says it will respect building’s heritage [pullquote]“This will be a relief to the neighbourhood”—Sue Dexter, HVRA[/pullquote] By Annemarie Brissenden After one last weekend-long blowout, the doors of the Brunswick House closed for good, leaving the neighbourhood eagerly anticipating the site’s next, presumably quieter and more agreeable, incarnation. “Identifying a new tenant is […]

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City to break ground later this year By Annemarie Brissenden Do you prefer a tetherball over a maypole? Would you scramble up a high ropy climber, or cling with glee to a lower rotating one? Would you rather sit on a log, dig through a sandbox, or watch the world go by from your perch […]

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Transforming neighbourhoods into open air galleries By Annemarie Brissenden The 416 Project, an ambitious city-wide guerrilla art installation, is set to hit the Annex in the coming weeks. Canadian artist Jorge Molina is installing 416 six inch by six inch canvases on wooden utility poles in 35 neighbourhoods across Toronto. Each canvas depicts what Molina […]

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Galleries & Studios Hop returns to Markham Street April 23 and 24   By Annemarie Brissenden A Lithuanian pioneer of avant-garde photography will be in the spotlight during the Mirvish Village Galleries & Studios Spring Gallery Hop later this month. Still relatively unknown in North America, Vitas Luckus (1943-87) was a Soviet-era photographer whose work […]

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Several local galleries are participating in this year’s Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, now in its 20th year. The largest photography event in the world, the festival features 1500 artists in 200 exhibitions across the Greater Toronto Area. Mark your ballot on May 17 at 918 Bathurst for The Dark Room 5.0, which will feature a […]

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Play starring R.H. Thomson opens at Tarragon By Annemarie Brissenden “Who are you, again?” asks Edouard, the family patriarch at the centre of You Will Remember Me, now playing at the Tarragon Theatre until April 10. It’s a much repeated, at times humorous, refrain that serves not only as a reminder of the dementia that […]

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Cancelled car tax could have made up difference for Toronto By Annemarie Brissenden The City of Toronto’s proposed tax-supported operating budget for 2016 rings in at just over $10 billion, but what’s remarkable is what it doesn’t include. Among the things it doesn’t include are much-needed Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) money, $25 per capita […]

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