J U N E 2018
Leaside Life visit leasidelife.com
No. 73
NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED!
DON VALLEY WEST SHOWDOWN!
What does it mean for Leasiders? Pg. 28 INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
MATT MCKENZIE OUR MAN AT KIJIJI • PG. 12
HOW DOES THE NEW MINIMUM WAGE AFFECT OUR BUSINESSES? • PG. 22
NEIGHBOURHOOD EARTH DAY CLEANUPS! • PG. 30
PLUS: SPLASHWORKS CREATIVE TECH PG. 8 • THE SECOND-HAND ECONOMY PG. 13 • • TENNIS ANYONE? PG. 25 • LEASIDE HIGH REUNION PLANS PG. 34 • AND MUCH MORE!!
RELIEF LINE NORTH GETS ACTIVE
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Leaside Life • June 2018
by GEOFF KETTEL
900 Don Mills Road (at Barber Greene Blvd )
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Relief Line? That’s the rapid transit project intended to provide an alternative to the Line 1 Yonge Subway, originally part of former Mayor Miller’s Transit City plan, but derailed by another former Mayor calling for “subways, subways, subways (and savings)!” Moving beyond past missteps, there is now serious planning both on the Relief Line South from downtown to Danforth Ave., and a northerly extension from Pape and Danforth, with the goal of connecting to existing/future rapid transit, Line 5: Eglinton and Line 4: Sheppard. The Relief Line North Project Team is working to identify the route alignment and station locations and beginning conceptual design. The proposed route under Transit City was from Pape to Overlea Blvd. and up Don Mills Rd. This time around, a number of alternative
routes are being looked at, including: Bayview, Leslie, and Victoria Park, as well as Pape/Overlea/Don Mills Rd. The Bayview route would intersect with the Eglinton line at Laird. If this route were chosen, Laird would become a real transit “hub,” not just a stop on the Eglinton line as currently envisaged. Does Leaside want this? Have your say. You can participate in the online survey at www.relieflinenorth. ca/get-involved/engagement-opportunities. ■
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Published once a month in Leaside,Toronto ON, by FH Publishing Inc., 1444 Dupont St., Unit 11A, M6P 4H3 416-504-8047 Circulation 10,000 to every door in M4G PUBLISHER: Lorna Krawchuk EDITOR: Jane W. Auster GRAPHIC DESIGN: Robin Dickie ADVERTISING: Karli Vezina leasidelifepublishing@gmail.com ph. 647-978-4487 or 416-504-8047
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CELEBRATION OF 1ST AIRMAIL AT LEASIDE PUB The first Canadian airmail arrived from Montreal at The Leaside Aerodrome on June 24, 1918. Come celebrate the 100th anniversary at the Leaside Pub, 190 Laird Drive, Saturday, June 30, 2018. We expect representatives from local and national government, Canada Post, The Royal Canadian Air Force, aviation associations, heritage associations and other interested parties. We’d also like to contact locals whose relatives may have lived in Leaside at the time and/or historians who have stories to tell about the airport and its comings and goings, as a training ground for RAF pilots and as a field where many celebrities landed. The Climax Jazz Band will perform its usual end-of-month Saturday session and the Canadian Forces’ Sweetheart Dorothy Rose (95 years’ young), will sing songs from the era. ■ Contact Chris Daniels, Climax Jazz Band (416) 483-6345 dnlschrschrs@netscape.net.
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Leaside Life • June 2018
Leaside Life
4
LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Serendipity played a big part in Angela Lam’s becoming a Leasider, in 2015. The first instance was her mother deciding to move from Victoria to Toronto (Willowdale) when Angela was nine. When the time came for university, she chose McGill because “it was a chance to get out of the city,” and “they offered me a full scholarship.” While her double major was in Economics and Political Science, near the end of her last year a friend mentioned that he was going to sit for the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and why didn’t she, too? She did and was quite surprised by how well she did. A budding law student was born. Angela had a boyfriend in Montreal, so she chose law school at Queen’s as it was two hours from home and two hours from Montreal. She completed her J.D. in 2005 and returned to Toronto to complete her articles in 2006. And here is where the serendip-
Ages 4 -18
Lorna Krawchuk Publisher Leaside Life
ity comes in. Her driving route to downtown from Willowdale was via Bayview, where she noticed a law firm, Stainton & Murray, as she slowed down in traffic. After she decided to quit her job and break up a 10-year relationship, she began looking for a new job and a new start. Two days later, she saw an advertisement that Stainton & Murray was hiring. John Murray hired her, even though his main business was estates and trusts, and she had little experience in this specialty. She originally only planned to stay a few years and move on. That didn’t happen. She became the principal lawyer in 2008, with the firm name now being Stainton,
JOHN PERIETEANU
Leaside Life • June 2018
Kismet brought lawyer Angela Lam to Leaside
Murray & Lam. She and her husband, John Perieteanu, met through an online dating site, but as they were getting to know each other, John happened to mention his favourite teacher in elementary school was Mr. Smith.
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Leaside Life • June 2018
Quite the surprise, as it turned out that they had both been taught by the same Mr. Smith at the same school, had lived three blocks apart, yet had never met. They married on September 18, 2010, and are now the parents of two daughters, 6 and 3. After maternity and paternity leave, both daughters were in daycare at ABC Academy on Bayview, as it was close to work for Angela, but the family was still living in Willowdale. As the commuting time increased, they decided that since they spent so much time in Leaside already, with children and with friends, it would be a good idea to live here too. And that’s how they’ve become a Leaside family. ■
LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
Ndecision – Leaside’s band of brothers I have a fairly strict stance against using Drake lyrics in any aspect of my daily life, but just this once, I may have to draw upon his poetry. As he once mused, “I swear sports and music are so synonymous, ’cause we wanna be them and they wanna be us.” In this case, sports and music have drawn together two generations of Leasiders into a band of greatness. In 2006, while on duty as parent supervisors at their sons’ hockey camp north of the city, three dads gathered on the camp beach at 4 a.m. with guitars, and realized they shared a lot more than their kids’ interest in sports. The dads, who all had kids playing in Leaside hockey, returned to the city and within a short period of time started playing together on a more regular basis. The band of three soon became a band of seven, including more Leaside hockey dads and two friends from outside the neighbourhood. The music was fairly typical “dad” music. A bit of Beach Boys,
Susan Scandiffio Columnist
interspersed with a little old rock. We all know the type. Ndecision, a name, which as one could guess, resulted from an inability to settle on any other band name, includes Sandy McBride, Peter Tallis, Dave Howard, Dave McCauley, John Mason, Dave
SANDY MCBRIDE
Leaside Life • June 2018
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Porter, and Mark Vanderhelm. What started as an early morning beach shindig soon became a frequent gathering of the guys in McBride’s basement. It’s home to every piece of musical equipment imaginable and is a perfect mix of equipment along with comfy seating for pondering songs to include in their repertoire.
NDECISION, Page 31
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Dear Editor: When I first saw the article titled “There’s more than business at the Leaside Business Park” I was expecting a nice article about the park. Instead I found a rather unflattering portrayal of the Park as a place of litter and neglected properties. I think this is far from the truth. The Leaside Business Park Association (LBPA) is represented by more than 50 member companies, who take pride in their businesses and their properties. There are primarily three parts of the article that I would comment on. Firstly, there is the mention of litter on “the fence and grassy area on the north side of Wicksteed along the fence” and “the south side along the Smart Centre and Home Depot”. These are eyesores for everyone. But the first is an empty lot that is owned by Smart Centres and as stated the retail mall is also owned by Smart Centres. They have chosen to not join the LBPA. The LBPA has called and asked them in the past that they clean this up. We have now called them again and they have promised to clean up both their property as well as along Commercial Rd and Wicksteed Ave. Secondly, the article continues by saying “The litter continues eastbound with coffee cups, water bottles, etc on the roadside and business properties, and extends to Beth Nealson and Overlea”. This would then include the entire park. That is simply not the case. The businesses in the Park go to great lengths to keep their properties and surrounding areas clean. It is unfortunate that this article was written just after the snow had melted, when much garbage becomes visible, and before the City of Toronto Clean-up day. Many businesses actively participate on this day to clean up surrounding properties, including the ravine along Beth Nealson and Leonard Linton Park which runs between Research Boulevard and that is between Vanderhoof Avenue, both of which are City owned properties. Finally, there is an implication that raw sewage could overflow and flow into the Don River system. This was a concern many years ago, but now with separate sanitary and storm
sewers this is no longer an issue. This is still of great concern in many residential parts of the City though, including Lawrence Park, where funds have now been allocated to redo this system. Now that summer is finally here I think you will find the Park is a clean and safe place for both businesses and visitors. Dag Enhorning, Director and Past President of the LBPA Re: Leaside Litterati Each month I look forward to receiving a next edition of Leaside Life and thank you for all the hard work everyone puts into this publication. I usually read with interest Cheryl Vanderburg’s reports of her efforts with respect to Trace Manes Park. I face the Leonard Linton park and am disgusted with the amount of trash left by the roadside, in the gutters and in the park itself. My husband and I cleaned up approximately 10 grocery bags of garbage and recycling one weekend last year and this barely touched the garbage in the area surrounding the park. I was disturbed by Heather Matthews’ letter in last month’s edition. While I do believe that the individuals employed by the City Parks department should be cleaning up the parks when they attend at the properties for whatever reason, however to say “we should be leaning heavily on the Parks Dept.” in my opinion is not correct. We should be leaning heavily on individuals being responsible for their own garbage and making sure that it is placed in the proper location and not just tossed away for someone else to pick it up, be it a Parks Dept. worker or Cheryl or any other individual. Unfortunately, because I live on the edge of the Industrial Park, it seems like people believe that they can just dump their garbage wherever they want with no consequences. Currently, at the corner of Research Road and Brentcliffe there is a large amount of carpeting, garbage bags, and other waste dumped. Elsewhere along Research Road closer to Leonard Linton park there are numerous areas where garbage has been dumped as well as other roads in the Business Park. Despite my reporting these issues to the City through 311 the garbage doesn’t get picked up and more and more keeps getting added. I am a resident of a condominium LETTERS, Page 18
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Leaside Life • June 2018
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LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET A NEIGHBOURHOOD BUSINESS
Splashworks – taking gaming to new heights
Leaside Life • June 2018
by TALBOT BOGGS Jennifer Crisanti’s initial interest in finding office space in Leaside 20 years ago was so she could walk to work and because it was handy to the TTC for the company’s employees. Splashworks, the digital marketing and content development company that she and two other partners own, has continued to grow, and Leaside has taken on an even more important role in the company’s development than just being a convenient location. Splashworks originally located at 150 Laird but later moved to an adjacent building at 146 Laird and into a 1,500 sq. ft. office where Crisanti, Samir Elmasry and Rob Collinet have been busy creating online and mobile games for young girls for such gaming industry giants as Nickelodeon, American Girl, Mattel and Hasbro. During their years in business they developed a series of celebrity-themed games for the Game Show Network. With the introduction of Apple’s iPhone, Splashworks started developing mobile games and apps. One of its most successful, Camp Lakebottom: Protect The Flag, has had more than one million downloads, many of them from Latin America. For the last 10 years the company has launched more than 47 games for American Girl featur-
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young girls’ market was extremely beneficial in helping it recently create its own line of multicultural dolls for girls called Hearts for Hearts Girls. “We stand out as one of the few digital companies with an expertise in that space,” Crisanti says. “We believe we can set a new standard for digital content and lead the way in creating more meaningful experiences for young girls in tomorrow’s apps.” Crisanti believes the company’s relationship and synergy with Leaside brings a special value and sensibility to the new brand. The company recruits children and parents from the area to participate in test marketing and focus groups for its products and programs. “Not only is Leaside a great place to have a business because of its convenience, great food establishments ing its popular historical and conand other amenities, it’s also a real temporary characters. family community, which is what “We were the first company to our work is all about – enhancing develop mobile apps for American digital experiences for young girls,” Girl (AG), guiding them through Crisanti says. “Being in Leaside the process and even setting up brings a sensibility to our brand their app store,” Crisanti says that is different because parents and proudly. “This experience not only kids from the local schools and area has allowed us to become familiar are having an input into what we with AG’s characters, stories and do and bring to market. The more values, it has given us a deep familwe can integrate with the commuiarity with their target audience of nity, the more effectively we can do girls aged six to 12.” what we do and bring value to Splashwork’s knowledge of the our customers.” ■ Above screen shots from the Hearts for Hearts Girls mobile game. Below: Splashworks’ co-founders Jennifer Crisanti and Samir Elmasry.
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LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS
by LORNA KRAWCHUK Jennifer Valliere is someone with the rare ability of being able to pay attention to many things at once, all while looking calm and collected. She is a lawyer, working at a firm large enough that she is able to devote her working day to what she loves – practising family law. And as of July 1, she will be the president of the Rotary Club of Toronto-Leaside for the next two years. She and her fiancé are planning their wedding for September 2. The 25th anniversary of the Rotary Corn Roast at Trace Manes Park, for which she bears some responsibility as president, is two weeks later on September 16. Whew! Leaside is fortunate that when she and her fiancé were looking to buy a house in 2015, their main criterion was that it be midtown – so the commute to her office at Yonge and Sheppard or downtown
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Leaside Life • June 2018
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wouldn’t take too long. It was sheer luck that the house they found was on a friendly block of houses on Eglinton, in Leaside. She credits her special neighbours, who made them very welcome to “the strip,” for “getting [her] sucked into the community” and wanting to give back locally. Rotary was her choice of service club, and TorontoLeaside in particular, because of the many local projects they support, especially in Thorncliffe. This club is relatively small, with only a few women members at this time and a number of members who are now retired but still interested in providing service. It surprised her when she joined that “being with like-minded individuals, friendships evolved even with these differences.” Jennifer grew up in Richmond Hill, got her BA at York with a double major in philosophy and criminology. Her next stop was the University of Ottawa for law school. Although her father is French Canadian, her Japanese mother doesn’t speak French, and Jennifer isn’t bilingual, so her studies were in the English stream. She interned at the Family Law Information Centre where she really enjoyed being able “to do good and help people” as part of her job. Back in Toronto articling, she took up family law and civil litigation – the civil litigation just in case family law didn’t turn out to be her strong suit. But in fact, it did, and she now specializes in family law. Come out to the Corn Roast on Sept. 16 to meet the local Rotary Club’s newest president. ■
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LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS According to Kijiji’s Second-Hand Economy Index for 2018, 85% of Canadians participated in the second-hand economy last year, earning an average of $1,134 and saving $825. A major player in this booming sector is Leaside’s own Matt McKenzie, the general manager of Kijiji Canada, the leading classifieds site here. Matt got his start as an entrepreneur and technology expert with two jobs in the late 1990s. After earning his degree in economics at Western, he operated the Moped Shack, renting mopeds to tourists at Harbourfront in 1998. Then after years of working part-time at the Merchant of Tennis on Bayview, he was approached by the owners, Pam and Rob Horwood, in 1999 to build their ecommerce website. Matt was fascinated by the idea of “bridging technology with business” and found a post-graduate course that would combine the two at Edinburgh Napier University when he was visiting a friend playing hockey there. With his new MSc, Matt landed two jobs back home as product manager at Nestlé and Celestica. Next, he took his interest in “leveraging technology to solve business challenges” to MSN for nine years, before joining Kijiji as general manager in 2015. Matt was excited to join Kijiji because the Canadian operation is run here in Toronto so he has the autonomy to respond to the needs of Canadians in terms of products, design, development, customer service and support. “Since the classifieds platform resonates with Canadians,” Matt says he is happy “to be able to address the specific needs of Canadians with our products in order to impact their daily lives.” The proof of Kijiji’s success is in the numbers: 17 million unique visitors a month and an average of 7 million ads at any given time. The site is ranked number one for autos, services, pets, and real estate, and number two for jobs. Popular items are children’s gear, toys and furniture, while more unusual items include livestock and tractors. One important reason for Kijiji’s popularity, Matt says, is “the emphasis placed on trust and safety through the use of seller profiles so that participants no longer feel like strangers.” This element of trustworthiness helps to create a new sense of com-
Janis Fertuck Columnist
Moffat stove to match the décor of their country home. Not only did they find one on Kijiji, but the owner delivered it to Caledon for them. It is also a strong sense of community that has kept Matt and Selene in Leaside. They met in Grade 7 at Bessborough, and have chosen to
MCKENZIE FAMILY
Leaside Life • June 2018
Matt McKenzie, our man at Kijiji
Above: The McKenzie family l-r: Ella, Selene, Matt, Everly and Maija. Below: The girls in front of the Kijiji Van, a replica of the A-Team vehicle. munity among the participants. Matt’s wife, Selene Wilkinson, agrees: “People want to see who gets their treasures and don’t want them ending up as landfill.” There are many stories of Kijiji users who feel the same way, such as Bennington’s David and Barbara Payne, who needed a replacement for an old
raise their three daughters, Maija,10, Ella, 7, and Everly, 4, in the “great neighbourhood for kids” where they were so happy themselves. Today the family enjoys all of Leaside’s attractions: the parks, nature trails, library, dance classes, their old friends and, of course, new connections made through Kijiji. ■
John D. Rockefeller thought it was essential to well-ordered living. Calvin Coolidge, perhaps the least memorable American president, thought this virtue should be sought not because it builds wealth but because it builds character. Samuel Johnson, the creator of Britain’s first dictionary, believed that “without it, none could be rich; with it, none would be poor.” What were they talking about? Thrift. Frugality. Prudence. Also known as the universal human urge to grab a bargain. The difference now is that the old-fashioned virtues have become fashionable again. Frugality is In. Thrift has become Hip, especially among millennial consumers. One of the most popular manifestations is Kijiji.ca, the madein-Canada site that links bargain hunters with buyers and turns your old junk into somebody else’s fabulous treasure. You can list almost anything on Kijiji for free but what shows up a lot in spring, when minds lightly turn to thoughts of a new wardrobe, is designer clothing and accessories at bargain-basement prices. The second-hand business is booming, according to Matthew McKenzie, the general manager of Kijiji and a Leaside resident. (See our profile of Matthew McKenzie on the opposite page.) “People love finding good value,” he says, “and they recognize how the second-hand economy can deliver it on both sides of buy-andsell transactions. “We’re seeing that come to life in the way they shop, as Canadians exchanged more second-hand items than ever in 2017,” he added. Bricks and mortar thrift is big, too Thrifty shopping has all kinds of customers, not just the ones in need, or those who want to be green, but consumers who want to find a good deal. Another Leaside outpost of the new “thrift is hip” mentality is Extoggery, an upscale consignment shop which has been on Brentcliffe Road for more than 20 years. “We are a destination for many because of our constant supply of designer quality goods at reasonable prices,” says owner Anna
ANNA CLARKE
by KEN MALLETT
Extoggery Clarke. “In the past few years there has been a steady increase in the consignment trade, both with items being consigned and with second hand goods being purchased,” she added. “People today seem to be better at letting go of things they no longer need or want. Most items are no older than two to three years, leading to happy clients who have purchased quality goods at reasonable prices,” Clarke continued. “Sales continue to be very strong,
with year-over-year increases consistent with our target range of 8-14%.” While Kijiji just links buyers and sellers online, Extoggery is a bricksand-mortar retail outlet where staff have to examine, value and catalogue each item before displaying goods for sale. Extoggery has been in business since 1939 at several locations throughout the city. Anna Clarke purchased the company about four years ago after working there for 18 years. “We have a large number of clients who consign items as a result of our long history in the city, many of whom have been clients and customers for at least 30 years,” she says. Fashion may change daily. But the universal urge to get a good deal, the bargain-hunter in all of us, rarely changes, so the Leaside entrepreneurs who scratch that itch will continue to thrive. Give a cheer for thrift. Tell us about your biggest second-hand find in Leaside. Write to leasidelife@gmail.com. ■
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Leaside Life • June 2018
Frugal fashion – thrift is alive and well in Leaside
“No more pencils, no more books…” I remember the feeling so well. Sitting in the classroom at Bessborough Public School in early June, dreaming of summer vacation. The weeks never dragged more slowly than when the sun was out, the temperature was high, and we were wearing shorts and T-shirts to school. Yes, those final school days in June crawled by in what seemed like geological time. Unless my memory is as hazy as the summer heat rising off the schoolyard pavement, I don’t think Bessborough was air-conditioned in those halcyon days. I have a vivid memory from the very warm June we had in 1968. I remember sitting in my Grade 3 class working on yet another in a seemingly endless cascade of math worksheets, streaming sweat from the heat and my arithmetic-addled head. (Yes, I agree. I don’t think I look that old either. Thank you for noticing.) All I could think of was breaking free of Bessborough’s bonds for two whole months of blessed summer vacation. And I will never forget that giddy sensation when the hands of the clock finally made it to 2:30,
Terry Fallis Columnist
SHUTTERSTOCK
Leaside Life • June 2018
14
the traditional early departure time on the last day of school – almost as if the teachers simply could not make it all the way to the traditional 3:30 quitting time on that final day. Our report cards were handed out when finally the bell rang. We rushed from the classroom reciting
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what we considered at the time to be a very creative and clever little ditty: “No more pencils. No more books. No more teachers’ dirty looks.” Brilliant. Provocative. Original. Yes, we thought we’d invented the timeless chant. I think our mother and father were just as eager for the school year to end as we were so we could get out of town. Even though we lived but four blocks from Bessborough, I well recall our parents picking my twin brother Tim and me up from school that last day in June 1968. The family station wagon was already packed to the gunwales for the long drive to the cottage to start our summer. No need to delay our escape. We’ll leave right from school! They must have been just desperate to escape the city to fetch us directly from school when we lived so close. I guess they wanted to leave nothing to chance. I mean, who knows what could have happened in our 10-minute walk from Bessborough to the old homestead at Parkhurst and Donegall. Or perhaps they wanted to better the odds that our report cards actually made it into their hands. That was the year our teacher admitted to our parents that she couldn’t tell Tim and me apart in the classroom (or anywhere else) and so had given us identical grades. Mom and Dad were not amused. I was offended, too, given my advanced faculties and my brother’s well-documented deficits. Then, bliss. We’d spend the entire summer at the cottage with our mother, while Dad joined us on weekends. We’d spend the day on the dock, in the water, aboard a boat or in the woods. For three weeks in July, Tim and I would then be packed off to a remote island in the southwest arm of Lake Temagami for summer camp. It was idyllic. At that age, we’re simply not equipped to understand that we’d never again be quite as carefree. But strangely, when the summer wound down, and September beckoned, we were always excited to get back to school. Not so much for the book reports, math quizzes, and scale models of the solar system, but just to reconnect with the school friends who’d been away all summer just as we had. It usually took until about 2:00 p.m. on that first day back to Bessborough after Labour Day before we started dreaming about the next summer vacation. And the cycle began anew. ■
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Making the case for working from home in Leaside Statistics Canada’s only report on the topic (2010), based on the General Social Survey data (2008), reported that 11.2% of Canadian employees and 60% of self-employed workers are able to enjoy a very short commute (humour intended) because they work from home. Incidentally, Statistics Canada reported that the average Toronto commuter spends 34 minutes per commute, and nearly 20% spent over an hour each way, just to get to work – the longest daily commute in Canada (2016 census). Bringing this closer to home (pun intended), no data specifically pertaining to Leaside or even Toronto could be obtained. However, using insights provided from the report, we can at least attempt to make an educated guess about the presence of this phenomenon in the ’hood. What are the characteristics of employees who work from home? They live in urban areas, are professionals and managers, they’re university graduates, and they have personal incomes greater than $60k (in 2008 dollars). Sound familiar? I would suggest that, based on these GREETING CARDS • STAMPS
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Leaside Life • June 2018
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characteristics, Leaside may have a much higher proportion of people working from home than the reported Canadian average. Why should we care? Because, no matter what order you find yourself trying to prioritize – self, family, work and community – many of us feel overcommitted and distressed. In my opinion, one possible way to ease the load is to work from home. If you’re not already enjoying the benefits of doing so, perhaps you can. If you are in a position to do, I feel it is a viable solution that can get you a step closer to better managing all four facets of life in a meaningful way – a way that is good for your personal well-being, our community, and Leaside’s local economic development. Here is the thinking behind my enthusiasm for this idea. Balancing self, family, work and community To begin, we can expect the number of jobs and/or residents to grow to 12,000 in the vicinity of each of our shiny new Eglinton Crosstown stations. This means that our commutes will get worse. On the positive side, this means that there will be plenty of new business opportunities up for grabs for the enterprising self-employed and local businesses. Further, by living and working in Leaside, you might not have thought how that would impact our community and potentially your involvement in it. For example, if you’re buying lunch or entertaining clients in someone else’s neighbourhood, then the possibility of any residual benefits flowing directly back into ours is remote. Not to mention the fact that by spending more daytime hours here you may meet individuals you normally would not, thus
strengthening your ties within the community. If you haven’t already thought about a home-based business to take advantage of this potential windfall, then why not? There couldn’t be a better time to do so. The city’s preliminary neighbourhood census profile (2016) lists a total population of 16,828 for LeasideBennington. Relative to the city rate, we have disproportionately more children living here. Without a caregiver, this requires at least one talented parent to put a career on hold for the good of the family. Establishing a home-based business or convincing your employer to allow you to telecommute may pay big dividends by putting some balance back into your life. I would trade an hour of commute time for an extra hour per day with our children every time. Further, our ‘Gen-Y’ or ‘millennial’ population may actually prefer to work from home. In just a few years this group of individuals will become the largest cohort in our workforce. In a 2014 study, The Conference Board of Canada reported that 70% of this often misunderstood, hyperconnected, uber-social generation would be more satisfied with work if they could do it remotely using cloud software. The time has come for a Leaside HOME-BIA There are many reasons to suggest that Leaside is home to a disproportionately large number of people who work from home with that number expected to grow. The types of value-creating jobs and the technology that supports them are those that might not have existed just few years ago. Many are very well suited to be home-based. Just think – a growing army of new ‘mompreneurs,’ ‘dadpreneurs,’ and ‘maturepreneurs’ all taking advantage of the moment and the lifestyle benefits. It is a well-known statistic that over 50% of all employment jobs in Canada come from firms with fewer than four employees (i.e. many self-employed). Wouldn’t it make sense to offer this unheralded group within our community some form of organized support? I’m sure you’re well aware of the Bayview-Leaside BIA and the Leaside Business Park Association. With support from the city, these member-driven organizations implement programs that work to create a thriving, competitive, and safe business environments in their defined areas.
WORK AT HOME, continued As our 18 years at ST. ANSELM’S SCHOOL
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draw to an end, we would like to say a massive
THANK YOU to the incredible teachers, the amazing support staff, the wonderful families, and the entire community. We are so fortunate and grateful to have been on this journey with you ALL.
Leaside Life • June 2018
But what about those of us who conduct our business from home? In this regard, I would like to float the idea of Leaside’s first Home-BIA. Yes, a self-help support group for the increasing number of us Leasiders working from home. The Leaside Home-BIA would provide a collaborative forum to develop opportunities through networking with like-minded individuals with complementary expertise, a venue to learn about new technologies and other beneficial home business-oriented tools, create shared buying power and mutually beneficial advocacy. A Leaside Home-BIA could be a game changer, a group whose economic and community engagement would make a significant and growing contribution to Leaside. Do you work from home? Are you thinking about starting a homebased business? Would you join the Leaside Home-BIA? Let us know at leasidelife@gmail.com. Leasider Glenn Asano is a partner and principal consultant for the strategy and business development practice at Centred Performance. He is also an Instructor at Ryerson University. ■
Letters...
Leaside Life • June 2018
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From Page 7
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building, and unfortunately, it is not just people on the outside who don’t act responsibly with respect to their garbage, but people on the inside don’t respect their fellow tenants or the property in which they live. With respect to Phil Penney’s letter in the same issue, I too have approached Jon Burnside’s office with respect to getting some garbage receptacles placed on Vanderhoof Avenue at the bus stops. In this regard I was informed by Mr. Burnside’s office staff “It usually takes around 8-10 months to get those approved and implemented.... In regards to the timeframes for the garbage, unfortunately, this is directly tied to the contract the City made with the makers & distributers of the garbage bins. They are effectively free, but we have a limited number of them available every year. In the long run it is a positive balance for the City, but it does take a bit longer to get these approved and installed.” Garbage and recycling issues are a country-wide problem and we all need to pitch in to do something about changing the mentality of people who continue to dispose of their trash in inappropriate ways. Mary MacIntyre Re: Tilting at windmills As sagas go, your ongoing series featuring Leaside Life’s knight-errant columnists tilting at the windmills of housing aesthetics leaves much to be desired: not the least of which is the fact that few lives will turn on whether their jousts end in favour of brick façades over stucco or the Tudor style over the International. Surely our very own Don Quixotes seek a far worthier adversary? If so, might I suggest the defence of Leaside’s endangered stock of detached bungalows against the monoptic giants of “teardown and markup” market forces. Victory against this worthy opponent will preserve one of the last vestiges of starter homes in the neighbourhood and ensure the survival of more manageable homes for those needing to downsize. There’s honour and virtue to be found in abundance in this battle. Plus, the gory details of the scars and blood-letting sustained will make for a much more thrilling read. Julian Jones
those people and know many in my building who pick up litter to help keep Bayview and our apartment lawn and sidewalks clean. Glad to have my say. Gloria Beatty Re: Bitcoin comes to Leaside In answer to the question put by Mr. Asano: “Do I think the idea of a Leaside Dollar is worth exploring?”...“Yes”, as the alternative (he) left to “more adventurous” investors. It offers neophytes like me an opportunity to participate safely in a blockchain platform. I feel a need to learn about that, and the scale appeals for risk management reasons. I’d spend only as much as I can afford to lose - not just for the experience, but also “yes” for all the reasons mentioned in Glenn’s highly informative article. I expect more pioneering spirits than I would jump in wholeheartedly, with the desired outcome(s). One caveat: perhaps “Leaside” Dollars might be encouraged as an informal moniker, rather than officially, so as not to sully our good name when fraud occurs. Count me in (or should I say, “deal me in”?), (Alias) Randolph ■
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Leaside Life • June 2018
Re: Letter from Phil Penney I am feeling very upset after reading a published letter by the above. I am dismayed you would have printed such a letter that degrades those of us who live in apartment buildings. To quote the writer, he says, “I wonder whether people who don’t own their own homes are as invested in their community as those of who do.” I live in Garden Court Apartments, and according to the writer I have been made to feel that perhaps I am an unworthy resident because I don’t own my own home. In fact, my veteran husband and I did own our own home until he had a stroke and was transported to Sunnybrook Veterans Centre for four years until sadly he passed away in 2015. I had to sell our lovely home in Barrie so I could get an apartment to be near him and help feed and care for him at the hospital. Most of us at Garden Court Apartments who are mostly elderly have owned our own home, if not more than one, over our lifetimes and have spent our lives caring for our communities and helping keep our surroundings clean. I am one of
20 REETS
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Leaside Life • June 2018
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IDE F LEAS
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by JEANNE HOPKINS Field Avenue, as Jane Pitfield has written, refers to the field on which Bessborough Public School now stands. But the name also reflects some of Leaside’s earliest history. In 1912, the Canadian Northern Railway (CNO) started buying up great swaths of land with the intention of building a model railway town similar to their Port Mann and Mount Royal Park towns in British Columbia and Quebec. To that end they hired renowned landscape architect Frederick Todd, town planner for Montreal, to create this model town, meant to be the new Rosedale of Toronto on the open fields alongside the railway’s industrial areas. The residential lots were to be wide and deep, adorned with trees and spacious lawns.
Field of Dreams By August, 1912, the CNO built in the area of the farms that reached north of Eglinton Avenue between Bayview Avenue and Leslie Street on the Don Valley on 1,000 acres. Most farms were 100 or 50 acres each owned by the Atkinson, Pugsley, Hunt, Allen and Murray families. Dr. Norman Allen had come from England and
walked up Bayview Avenue (a dirt road) from the town of York (Toronto). A relative, Dr. Jack Allen, became a landscape gar-
dener and later served as a reeve of East York in 1958. William Atkinson settled on a farm from 1871 to 1909 on the east side of Bayview Avenue. The Hunt families also settled on farms on Bayview Avenue and worshipped at St. John’s Church York Mills on Yonge Street, while another descendant, Leslie Hunt, was a president of Wycliffe College in Toronto. Later, many descendants of the Lea family came to the area and built even larger homes than those under the original CNO plan. Variations of the Lea family names adorn many streets in the Town of Leaside – including Leacrest, Parklea and Donlea. Jeanne Hopkins spent most of her life in the historic Henry Farm community of North York. She realized her passion for local history in the Canadiana department of the North York Public Library, where she worked for 27 years. She is the author of many articles and five books of local history. ■
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Minimum wage, maximum pain? Leaside businesses weigh in on Bill 148
KARLI VEZINA
Leaside Life • June 2018
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by KARLI VEZINA From the time she became Ontario’s Premier in 2013, Kathleen Wynne was set on raising the minimum wage. From 2014 to 2107, the minimum wage increase ranged annually between 15¢ and 75¢, which didn’t seem to impact many businesses. But 2018 was a game-changer with the introduction of Bill 148, otherwise known as the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act 2017. Perhaps the most controversial part of Bill 148 was the minimum wage increase of $2.40, with an additional dollar increase set for January 2019. Compared to past moderate increases, this was projected to be a big hit for some. Why did Ontario suddenly get a 20% minimum wage hike after years of small incremental changes? Minister of Labour Kevin Flynn told the CBC in December, “The last time we looked at the Employment Standards Act or the
Labour Relations Act was in the 1990s. Think about how the world of work has changed for people since then. We knew regulations had to keep up.” Labour Minister Flynn said the workplace changes were planned months in advance, and only after consulting experts, employees and business owners. But David Owen, owner of Toronto fish market De La Mer, felt there was “little to no consultation with the business community on how to implement this successfully.” As a constituent who has respectfully asked to meet with Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne on the issue, “an actual response” to those concerns would’ve been appreciated but was not received, he says. Owen rose from minimum wage jobs in his early days so he knows what it’s like to strive for a decent living. In 2017, he was already paying his staff above minimum wage, but it wasn’t $14 an hour. He
said this 20% wage hike in January was “a lot at once,” but he also sees why it’s good for the employees. His major concern is with the media. “There seems to be the perception that there is a lot of room to absorb this pay increase without raising prices,” he said, but that’s not the case for many merchants in Leaside. “It’s stressful,” he added, “because you have to make choices about things like trimming hours, raising prices or a combination of both. You have to do something.” Aram Gabrielian, owner of the Armenian restaurant Mayrik on Bayview Ave., agrees. “It’s hard in situations like this because one of two things happen. You’re going to start cutting hours or you pass the increase to the customer.” For Mayrik, the latter was not an option. “Being a restaurant that opened 10 months ago, we can’t introduce price increases.” Now that some time has passed, he said, “overall hourly trimming has been minimal.”
Owen noticed an increase in supplier rates as of 2018 but he understands it’s part of the growing pains of our province. “I think price adjustments would’ve been more gradual, had they slowed it down a bit. It’s been spun that prices shouldn’t have to increase, but a better-informed discussion in the media before the change came into effect would’ve been more helpful.” Gabrielian has also seen an increase in vendor pricing. “Towards the end of last year, we got a few letters from suppliers saying, ‘to keep quality high and continue our level of service, you will be noticing some price increases.’” He said it’s the cost of business and it’s not worth changing vendors. “If you’re satisfied with the quality of the company’s level of service, you just have to absorb those price hikes. This business is built on relationships.” Nicole Angellotti, owner of Lit Espresso Bar on Bayview, said they raised their prices for the first time in three years because of the large wage increase. Despite placing a sign in their shop explaining the increase, she said, “I think it came as a small shock to some and I’m sure we lost a few customers because of the increase. We did this so we didn’t have to do anything that would greatly affect our staff, like having to trim hours or let anyone go. The increase was mostly a result of all our suppliers who raised their prices as well. Both at once was just a little too much to handle.” Are the kids alright? Like Lit, many Leaside businesses employ students under 18. The Royal Bank of Canada’s December 2017 Provincial Economics Report predicted the wage hike would put “modest upward pressure on the provincial unemployment rate – especially for younger workers – and lead to a reduction in work hours.” When a local business goes from paying minors $10.90 an hour to $13.15 for the same quality of work, it must make some employers wonder if they wouldn’t get better value for their dollar in choosing to hire an adult for an additional 85¢. David MacDonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, told the CBC last August that he saw this pattern when minimum wages rose in other provinces. It happened, people panicked, but when the dust settled, MacDonald said, “there weren’t any major job losses.”
Andy Elder owns the meat shop Grilltime on Laird Drive. Being a small business with fewer than 10 staff, Elder says they know their employees so well that “we know their families too.” He believes you have to pay well to keep good people and that’s why he was already paying above the new minimum wage when January 2018 came around. For Grilltime, payroll was not affected. For Elder, it was his food costs that increased as vendors hiked their prices in January. He said Grilltime tries to support local vendors as much as possible regardless of the increase, but he’s noticed the change in the cost of operations and how it’s influenced his bottom line. Overall, it seems the majority of Leaside merchants agree with Lit’s Angellotti. “We are very supportive of the minimum wage hike, we want to see everyone earning a fair wage. We think there is still work that needs to be done…that the hike could have been spread out a bit more, like a gradual hike to help small businesses like ourselves cope with the impact.” There is no doubt that Ontario needs to keep up with the Consumer Price Index,
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Leaside Life • June 2018
BILL 148, continued
but it seems for many businesses, the province is trying to run before asking those on the ground how to walk. ■ Opposite page: Clockwise from top left: David Owen of de la mer, Aram Gabrielian of Mayrik, Nicole Angellotti of Lit and Andy Elder of Grilltime.
Leaside Life • June 2018
“Monarch butterflies could disappear.” “Bats headed for extinction.” “Rusty patch bumble bee now an endangered species.” Headlines like these opened our eyes to just how little we know about pollinators and the serious state many are in. These tiny and often unseen heroes of the plant world are responsible for healthy eco systems, a third of our food supply and plant products like fibres, dyes, essential oils, medicines and spices. But they’ve been robbed of their natural habitat, poisoned by pesticides (neonicotinoids), fed junk food from non-native species, malnourished by mono-culture and struggle with the extremes of climate change. Of all the environmental issues today, this one has touched the hearts and minds of gardeners. Everyone wants to help, but few know where to start. Many concerned and dedicated people are now showing us that there are things we can do to fix this problem and it all starts in our own yards. One of those dedicated people is Toronto’s very own Monarch
The Leaside Gardener: Debora Kuchme Columnist
Crusader, Carol Pasternak. She will join the Leaside Garden Society on Thursday, June 14, to show how to attract butterflies to your garden. “It is my hope that the raising of monarch butterflies will be your gateway into the natural world around you, and that by loving it, you will preserve it.” Her words say it all. The Canadian Wildlife Federation put their concerns into action too when they partnered with Medallion Plants. Together they developed five different plant kits of customized neonic-free pollinator plants designed to bring bees, butterflies and birds to your garden. What a perfect Father’s Day gift. They’re available right now, at Davenport Garden Centre on Bayview Ave., where you’ll find
Magical Gardens of Leaside Annual Garden Tour Visit distinctive Leaside neighbourhood gardens in the heart of the city Discover. Delight. Dream.
Saturday, June 16, 11am-4pm Rain or Shine Passports can be purchased at selected local merchants (see website for list) or on day of tour at Leaside Public Library
Tour info visit www.leasidegardensociety.org
the Blooms for Busy Bee Kit, the Hummingbird kit and the Pollinator plant pack for Monarchs. Speaking of Monarchs, did you know Toronto is looking to become a Monarch-friendly city and is now the first Bee City in Canada? The green metallic sweat bee known as Agapostemon virescens is now our official bee. There’s still more we can do right here in Leaside. As I pass by Trace
Manes Park, I can’t help imagining a big drift of wildflowers. The David Suzuki Foundation must have been thinking the same way when it created the Butterflyway Project. This is a citizen-led movement that grows corridors of habitats for bees and butterflies throughout neighbourhoods in parks, school grounds, daycare centres…almost anywhere. We focus on only a handful of these tiny and often unseen heroes of the plant world known as pollinators but there are literally thousands. Any insect or animal that transfers pollen from the male anther to the female stigma on a flowering plant is a pollinator. How about helping to turn Leaside into the pollinator paradise of Toronto? You’re bound to get a real buzz from your efforts. ■
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Leaside is blooming, but is it buzzing?
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Love is in the air in Leaside: tennis anyone? Many of us can recall, as kids, the first spring day when our bikes came out and we raced around the neighbourhood thrilled with the freedom and joy of adventure. Today it seems many people get the same thrill when they grab their racquet and head to the Leaside Tennis Club, just as soon as the ice is off the courts. The Leaside Tennis Club began as two humble courts created in 1944 by Matt Sayliss and his neighbours Norm Lamport, Al Ogg and Norm Ramsey. The club was founded officially in 1948 and according to its charter, granted in 1968, its aim was “to encourage, foster and promote the game of tennis.” Today’s club with six courts sandwiched between Trace Manes Park and the Library hosts many member events appealing to a variety of ages and skill levels. Lessons, team league play, tournaments, a junior carnival, watching Wimbledon with strawberries and cream, welcoming special guests like Milos Raonic, who visited in 2017, Friday Night Lights’ round
House League Captain Jim Robertson spring and 96 members playing every Wednesday, scheduling requires some fancy foot work. As Jim Robertson, a House League captain says, “cap-
SUZANNE PARK
VP and Director of House League Tony Saunders with volunteer John Drummond. robin social play with instruction and the ever popular House League are all big draws. Although the 2018 tennis season got off to a slow start with an ice storm and then torrential rain, House League finally started the first week of May. House League is one of the Club’s most popular events – and growing. With 160 members signing up this
tains need to juggle many variables including skill level, who can play early at 6 p.m., who prefers later games at 9 p.m. and members’ availability between May and September.” Like all the events at the club, House League is organized and run by volunteers: an equal mix of women and men, with husband and wife Barbara and Eric Shapiro as co-captains. A number of dedicated members have
volunteered for years. Like Tony Saunders, who has been the VP and director of House League for six years. “Implementing a few simple changes like encouraging volunteers to be co-captains sharing the scheduling load, occasionally scheduling mixed courts (men and women partners) rather than every week and providing opportunities for skill development at Friday Night Lights’ round robins contributes to House League running very smoothly,” he comments. Another stellar volunteer is John Drummond. He was a newcomer to tennis when he joined in 2003 at the urging of Peter McMurtry, the organizer of ‘The Grumpy Men’ group. “I joined House League to strengthen my game and meet other members and it worked,” he says. "Last year I accepted the role of convener to assist with balancing the teams and ensure that things run smoothly. You’ll find me at the courts every Wednesday from 5:45 p.m. until after 10 p.m.” To learn more about Leaside Tennis Club, visit leasidetennis.org. ■
Call, email or drop into our office! 1536 Bayview Avenue 416-483-4444 info@bonniebyford.com
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Leaside Life • June 2018
by SUZANNE PARK
Laird in Focus promises bike lanes for Leaside
Leaside Life • June 2018
By HOLLY REID When cycling around Leaside you quickly realize that while we are blessed with some quiet residential streets, there is a definite lack of connected cycling infrastructure designed for safe travel. Laird in Focus, the City of Toronto’s planning framework for Laird Dr. and the lands to the east and south of Eglinton Ave., north of Vanderhoof Ave. and west of Aerodome Cres., proposes to change that. The study, which will provide planning guidelines for new development in the area, has been in the works since 2016. After several community consultations and revisions, the proposal is expected to be presented to City Council for approval before the summer break. Along with the City’s 10-year Cycling Network Plan and EGLINTONconnects, Laird in Focus includes safer cycling options
for travelling in, around, and through the Leaside neighbourhood. Separated bike lanes on Laird. Boulevard trails on Vanderhoof. Families and recreational riders will enjoy a dedicated trail to connect them with the West Don River Trail system. Commuters will find connected cycling infrastructure linking them with East York and North Toronto. Those who want to build
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cycling into their transportation mix will have more options and greater convenience. As the map illustrates, Laird in Focus calls for separated cycle tracks on Laird and a multi-use boulevard trail on Vanderhoof combined with a new traffic signal at the intersection of Vanderhoof and Laird for safe and convenient access. Cycling infrastructure, including separated bike lanes and cycle tracks, forms part of the movement system throughout Leaside. More connections and greater safety What’s so great about this plan? Better connections for cyclists. Toronto cyclists are well acquainted with the “bike lane to nowhere” – we have one on Moore Avenue, west of Bayview. The proposed cycle tracks on Laird will provide the connection between planned bike lanes on Millwood Rd. and the Leaside Bridge from the 10-year Cycling Network Plan, and proposed cycle tracks on Eglinton as part of EGLINTONconnects. For Leasiders, this means being able to use our residential streets to access bike lanes for travel north and south on Laird, over to Mount Pleasant and Yonge to Eglinton, and to Thorncliffe Park and East York via Vanderhoof and Millwood. Another bonus of the plan is enhanced safety. The Laird in Focus planning framework calls for both cycle tracks and an off-road trail. Multiple studies have shown that people will incorporate cycling into their transportation plans when they feel safe. Holly Reid is a recreational road rider and cycling commuter who has lived and worked in Leaside for 30 years. An advocate for safe cycling, she writes the Ask a Cyclist column for Cycle Toronto (cycleto.ca). ■
*Cycle tracks are bike lanes with a physical barrier between the cyclist and motorized vehicle traffic. In Toronto, you can find them on Sherbourne, Bloor, Queen’s Park, Adelaide, and Richmond. These lanes separate you from traffic in a variety of ways, including raised concrete curbs, planters, on-street parking and flexible posts. Boulevard trails are located on the boulevard, providing two-way travel on foot, bike, roller blades, skateboards or scooters.
SOURCE: LAIRD IN FOCUS APRIL 23, 2018 PRESENTATION. CITY OF TORONTO
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ON JUNE 7 RE-ELECT
I am running again to be your MPP and Premier because I know we can continue to build a fairer, better Ontario. In the past few years, our government has delivered:
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KAT H LEEN WY N NE
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Responses have been edited for space where necessary. Full answers can be found on our website at
Leaside Life • June 2018
leasidelife.com
ELECTION 2018 QUESTIONS Schools in Leaside area are currently aging and facing over-crowded classrooms and given the pending intensification because of development along Eglinton, the problem will only increase. Do you intend to allow the TDSB to collect Education Development Charges?
What are your plans to maintain or improve class sizes and the quality of education?
How does your party plan to protect the environment, limit the effects of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario? Will you help protect the Greenbelt?
The Ontario PC Party has raised concerns in the past over school funding issues and at the heart of the issue is that school boards are cash-strapped and although the government finally decided to listen and announced infrastructure spending in the last budget, it still falls short. We believe that the solution can be found through a better utilization of taxpayer money rather than contributions from developers.
Educating our children is the most important job in the world. Ontario needs to be a leader in the quality of education we give our children. When only half of our Grade 6 students are meeting the provincial standard in math, it is clear there is a problem. An Ontario PC government would revisit curricular documents in all core subject areas and make changes that ensure that our kids are being provided with the building blocks they need to succeed.
We strongly believe that the government has a responsibility to protect the environment, but we believe this can be done while respecting taxpayer money. The Ontario PCs have been very clear that we would dismantle the Wynne Liberals’ cap-and-trade cash grab and replace it with a model that reduces emissions in Ontario, cuts taxes, and protects our economy. The Green Energy Act has been a disaster. The PCs are committed unequivocally - to maintaining the Greenbelt as is, in its entirety. We can continue to create affordable housing across the GTA while protecting our green space and our prime agricultural land.
We understand the need to support school boards in urban areas facing rapid intensification in planning for student accommodation. That is why we will be beginning a comprehensive engagement with intensifying urban areas in Fall 2018 on the planning and design challenges faced by school boards and municipalities. In the interim, we also understand that property purchases in intensifying urban areas can carry significant costs. To address this, we will be increasing the amount of funding available to school boards from $60M to $100M in 2018-19 to purchase new land where the sites are not eligible to be purchased with education development charges.
Under our plan, new funding will go to support 2,000 additional teachers and education workers, including: An additional 450 guidance teachers in Grade 7 and 8 will help students make a successful academic transition to high school and engage in career pathway planning. An additional 600 staff forming multidisciplinary teams of social workers, psychologists, behavioural specialists and speech-language pathologists and resources to eliminate the waitlists for special education assessments, while an additional 500 Education Assistants will mean more support for our highest needs students. An additional 400 mental health workers will ensure support exists in every high school across the province.
We believe the best way to combat climate change is by placing a price on pollution and investing in projects that make life better for Ontario residents. We worked with partners to implement a cap and trade system that caps the greenhouse gas pollution businesses can emit. This system provides businesses with the flexibility to choose how they will meet the cap, whether it be through upgrading to cleaner technology or purchasing carbon credits. The majority of people agree that to keep our communities livable we cannot pave every square inch of farm/wetlands in Ontario. We created the largest permanent greenbelt anywhere that protects nearly 2 million acres of valuable land and water. It’s essential this area stay protected to ensure that we protect our natural water sources, so Ontarians have clean water for future generations.
The Liberals and the Conservatives underfunded education for decades. Hundreds of schools have closed, and hundreds more are on the chopping block. We will invest $16 billion to repair crumbling schools through a 10-year capital plan, and we’ll fix the rules around education development charges so they can fund the new schools families need.
We will overhaul the funding formula starting with a comprehensive review focused on equity and quality – a new funding formula will allow us to curb class sizes and support our most vulnerable students and their teachers.
We believe big polluters should pay, and that money should support families like those who are lower-income or live in rural and northern areas, as well as trade-exposed industries. Wynne’s system is punishing low-income, rural and northern families and letting big polluters off the hook. Doug Ford’s plan to have the wild west of environmental policy will drag Ontario backwards. New Democrats support policies that protect natural heritage while encouraging affordable, transit-friendly ‘complete communities.’ We will protect prime farmland from land speculators, and strengthen Ontario’s Greenbelt to expand economic opportunities for family farmers and local producers.
The Green Party candidate responded with a general statement: The Green Party of Ontario, and myself as a candidate are committed to both short term and long term environmental stewardship. Our goal is to move to 100 per cent renewable power generation. The GPO wants to invest in clean tech-
nology innovation to create jobs and allow Ontario to be a leader in green technology in Canada and the world. We also want to make it easier for homes and businesses to make buildings more energy efficient by providing interest free loans and tax credits for renovations.
The Greenbelt is vital for Ontario’s future. As Greens, we’ll introduce legislation to permanently protect Ontario’s prime farmland and water sources. We will expand the Greenbelt and invest $200m over four years to help farmers protect water and store carbon.
Jon Kieran, Progressive Conservative
Kathleen Wynne, Liberal Incumbent
Amara Possian, New Democrats
Morgan Bailey, Green Party
ELECTION 2018 QUESTIONS The healthcare system is stretched beyond its capabilities. Given that healthcare is the largest budgetary expenditure in Ontario, and with our challenging fiscal situation, how does your party plan to provide Ontarians adequate care and how will you improve relations with healthcare stakeholders?
What are your plans to ensure women in Ontario are fairly represented, fairly paid and are made to feel safe and equal in all aspects of their lives?
Small and medium size businesses are the economic lifeblood of the Ontario economy. Governments bordering Ontario are reducing tax and regulatory burdens on SMBs. What are your plans to ensure businesses in Ontario and more particularly Don Valley West can compete?
The Ontario PC Party is committed to get Ontario moving. Our plan includes the provincial government assuming responsibility for maintenance and investments in Toronto subway infrastructure. We are also committing an additional $5 billion in new subway funding in addition to the $9 billion already available to build new transit projects in Toronto. The Sheppard Loop, the Relief Line and Yonge Extension are considered priority projects.
There is a crisis in our health care system. Our hospitals are being pushed to a breaking point and patients are receiving care in hallways. One of the top priorities of an Ontario PC government will be to end hallway healthcare. We plan to do this by investing in 15,000 new long-term care beds in five years, and 30,000 new beds over the next 10 years. We will also invest $1.9 billion in mental health. We also plan to fund dental care for lowIncome seniors.
The PC Party of Ontario is committed to gender parity in all aspects of life including representation in the workplace, government and community safety. Ontario PC MPP Laurie Scott, Official Opposition Critic for Women’s Issues, is a tireless advocate for victims of human sex trafficking in Ontario. Recently the Ontario Legislature voted unanimously in favour of her Private Member’s Bill, the Mandatory Sexual Assault Law Training for Judicial Officers Act, that will implement mandatory sexual assault training for currently sitting judges and justices of the peace.
There is no secret to creating good jobs in Ontario. It starts with lower taxes, cutting red tape, and reducing hydro bills for everyone. We need to attract businesses to Ontario, not drive them away. An Ontario PC government will lower corporate taxes from 11.5 per cent to 10.5 per cent. The province has $325 billion in debt and our debt interest payments are out of control. This is why an Ontario PC government will balance the budget, but do so in a responsible way without harming the economy, jobs and services we depend on.
The Eglinton Crosstown, when finished in 2021, will be the largest transit expansion in Toronto’s history. Don Valley West is also serviced by the Oriole GO Station on the Richmond Hill Line. The Richmond Hill Line will see increases in service as we implement our GO Regional Express Rail plan over the next few years. By 2024/25, commuters in Don Valley West will see peak-period, peak-direction service on weekdays every 15-30 minutes on the Richmond Hill line. We have also committed $3.7 billion to enable GO Regional Express Rail in Toronto, the foundation for SmartTrack. We have committed up to $150 million for Metrolinx to work with the City of Toronto to continue planning and design work on the Downtown Relief Line and $55 million investment to support the same work on the Yonge North Subway Extension.
Since 2003, we’ve increased our investments in health care each year, allowing us to treat more patients, provide better care and reduce wait times to some of the shortest in the country. Don Valley West is a part of the Central Local Health Integration Network where we have increased the number of nurses working by close to 2,000 since 2010. From 2003 to 2015 the number of physicians in the Central LHIN increased by 47.8%. In the 2018 budget we are making an additional investment of $5 billion in the health care system over the next 3 years – to reduce wait times, provide access to care and to enhance patient experience including over $822 million in funding – over half-a-billion dollars – in Ontario hospitals. We are also investing an additional $650 million in home care over the next three years.
We believe that our province is strongest when all women in Ontario are able to meet their full potential. Through our Gender Wage Gap Strategy, we have created more opportunities for women by eliminating the barriers they face in the workforce – this is part of our Women’s Economic Empowerment strategy. And we’ve set a mandatory target for women to make up at least 40% of all appointments to every provincial board and agency by 2019. Our Gender Based Violence Strategy is an up to $242 million investment in much needed supports. It means 1,000 more beds for women and their children fleeing violence. It means transitional housing for 600 more women.
Businesses are hiring, we’re leading the G7 in growth, and unemployment is the lowest it’s been in almost 20 years. We know that this growth hasn’t been felt by everyone, and that’s why we are phasing in a $15 minimum wage over 18 months to ensure more workers are benefiting from this growth. We also know that some businesses have struggled with the transition to a higher minimum wage. That’s why we brought in $500 million in new initiatives over the past three years to support small businesses in Ontario - including lowering the small business Corporate Income Tax rate, from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent and eliminated the capital tax.
Ontario used to fund 50% of municipal transit operations, a successful funding formula that helped make the TTC and other municipal transit agencies the envy of the world. But in 1997-1998, the Conservatives cancelled funding for transit operations, and they stayed cut under the Liberals. Now fares are going up faster than inflation, and service is getting worse. The NDP will restore the province’s traditional 50% funding for municipal transit and paratransit operations. That means spending more than $800 million to improve transit and paratransit service across the province, including more than $330 million in Toronto.
Hospitals are overcrowded, and we have a hallway medicine crisis. Andrea Horwath will end hallway medicine. We will invest in Ontario’s hospitals, lower wait times, and protect the health care that all of our families are counting on. Our plan invests more than $1.2 billion in hospital operations this year. We will also invest at least $19 billion dollars over the next 10 years in hospital capital expansions and the new hospitals that our growing province needs.
I’m proud to be part of a slate of candidates that is 56% women, and is truly representative of Ontarians. And we take the pay equity issue seriously. This Liberal government has had 15 years to tackle the gender pay gap in Ontario. If it were a priority for Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals, they would have already done it. The last Conservative government cut funding the Pay Equity Commission and Wynne hasn’t restored it.
When small businesses grow and prosper, so does our province. The NDP believes that the best way a government can support a small and growing business is by buying their goods and services. That is why a NDP government will work to provide greater procurement opportunities for small and scaling sized businesses with the goal of awarding 33% of government procurement contracts to small businesses. We also know small businesses struggle with skyrocketing hydro rates. The NDP will bring rates down by 30 per cent.
Transit growth is among the most important issues facing Leasiders and all Ontarians. The GPO will increase funding for transit infrastructure and growth by $1 billion to $1.5 billion per year and will fund 50 per cent of municipal transit system operating costs. This will be paid for with dedicated revenue
tools that are fair, such as congestion charges, parking levies and land value taxes - to raise over $3.9 billion per year.
VOTE ON JUNE 7th! Small businesses are the lifeblood of Leaside and all of Ontario. The GPO is committed to lowering small business taxes to create good local jobs: we’ll lower payroll taxes on local businesses by increasing the exemption level for the Employer Health Tax from $450,000 to $1 million in payroll for businesses
and organizations with payrolls under $5 million. Our plan helps businesses keep about $1 billion each year to invest in our communities and pay workers better wagers. We’ll pay for this by reversing the Liberal’s corporate tax cut for big businesses by one per cent.
FULL UNEDITED RESPONSES AT leasidelife.com
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Leaside Life • June 2018
With Metrolinx already influencing transit decisions in Toronto with the Crosstown LRT, are you considering a greater provincial role in Toronto transit? Are you willing to fund more of Toronto’s transit needs, as you are with SmartTrack?
Doing your part every day, not just on Earth Day
Cheryl Vanderburg Leaside Litterati
meeting new people, as a team we managed to pull some giant items out of the woods including a huge tire, a barrel, a couple of signs, as well as several bags of plastic waste!” They plan to do it again next year, but Sara advises, “If everyone picks
MARTHA ASSELIN
It’s been over a month now since Leaside celebrated Clean Toronto Together/Earth Day, yet there are many more stories still to be told. Sarah Filippi is a member of EcoAnselm, a group of St. Anselm’s Church parishioners who are concerned about the earth, our common home. Through education, communication, action, and prayer, they endeavour to raise ecological awareness and change behaviours to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Iseult Hayden, another member of EcoAnselm, said “We are interested in building bridges with all community members, including other faith-based groups, and we welcome opportunities to learn together how best to protect our environment.” On a beautiful, sunny, April 22nd Earth Day, 17 St. Anselm’s parishioners eagerly gathered garbage in the area surrounding the Redway Loblaws. “This was our first Earth Day cleanup,” said Sarah Filippi. “It was a successful day with 20 bags of garbage collected including a propane tank and a lead pipe.” I shared with Sarah that several years ago I spoke to the Loblaws
store manager about this situation and he had his maintenance crew clean up the area. It did look better for a while, however I guess it’s back to status quo. Sarah replied: “I am surprised too to see the garbage. But if we can bring attention to this matter then hopefully it won’t be an issue in the future. Everyone should do their part and not just on Earth Day.”
Going to the dogs
Lynda Gorges Broker
416-486-5588 Lynda.Gorges@gmail.com www.lyndagorges.com
Passionate about helping my Clients
Sara Wickware, Jason Shelly and Jeff Mudge are fellow dog owners, and Sara operates Go Leash Go, a local dog walking and pet services company. The dog lovers have been using the Sunnybrook Dog Park and surrounding trails’ greenspace for years. Inspired by “Clean Toronto Together” and some dog poo complainers on Leaside Community Facebook, they decided to create an event – “Lets’ Doo This” – to demonstrate that dog owners and walkers are community-minded responsible “poop and scoopers.” According to Sara, “it was so simple to organize. Jason created a Facebook event, I exchanged three emails with the city to register and arrange a disposal time, and I picked up garbage bags at my local Pizza Pizza. On Saturday morning we arrived bright and early with Timbits and coffee in hand, and commandeered dog walkers and families to join us. Not only did we have fun
SARAH FILIPPI
Leaside Life • June 2018
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up a couple of pieces of trash every time they use a green space, we could cut down on the amount that we need to clean up every spring. Hopefully, one day there will be no need for the city-sponsored event! Until then we can all do our little part.” ■
NDecision... And that repertoire saw a major overhaul when Ndecision was invited to play in the amazing annual Leaside fundraiser, Laugh Out Loud. The band was in dire need of a bass player, so an invitation was extended to John Mason’s son, Daniel. Says Daniel, “I didn’t know ANY of their music when we started playing together.” Focused on eliminating all Beach Boys’ music from set lists, the younger Mason introduced the dads to more modern music, now including rock, dance, indie rock, punk, and a smattering of country. Soon after, more of the band members’ kids came on board with McCauley’s son Connor jamming with the band in McBride’s basement and at a few gigs and lending a hand with sound engineering. McBride’s son Mitch has brought incredible sound to the band with his mixing talents, and Cara Mason, daughter of John and sister of Daniel, lends her beautiful voice to the group. She has also introduced
more female artists’ work, such as Adele, to their set lists. Dave Porter’s daughter also has her hand in the band as the group’s videographer and photographer. The kids, all now in their 20s, love hanging out with the band (which indicates the cool level of the dads). The experience of coming together to play music, says John Mason, is “... a great stress relief. We love our group and want to pass along the enjoyment to our kids and to share it with them.” Ndecision has helped the Laugh Out Loud fundraiser on five occasions, played at Rolph Road School’s 75th anniversary, and opened for several bands at the Leaside Pub over the years. This month, the band is booked to play their first solo gig at the Leaside Pub on Saturday, June 9th, and both dads and kids are excited about this big gig. As Sandy McBride notes, “It’s the kids who brought us together through sports.” But it is now music which has brought both generations together. ■
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Leaside Life • June 2018
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EVENTS
Leaside Life • June 2018
LEASIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 670 Eglinton Ave E, June Kid’s Club, June 8, 9 am-4 pm $30 per child or $50 for families per day. Special Assistance is available for all families in need, with strict confidentiality kept! Volunteers of all ages are welcome! Community Service Hours are available for youth! Activities include: baking, crafts, and music. Snacks, drinks and a hot lunch are provided! To register or to volunteer, please speak to Rev. Angela at 416-422-0510 Ext 25. Church Luncheon Wed., June 13, 12:15 p.m. One of our members will speak about photography tips to get the best images. Please bring a bag lunch—dessert and beverages will be provided. For more information, please call the office.
ST. AUGUSTINE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH 1847 Bayview Ave. Listen to great live music by local artists and have a coffee and dessert with friends. The Groove Room
Coffee House, Friday, June 8th 7-8:30pm. Cost is $5 with all proceeds to the Flemingdon Park Food Bank. We are looking for performers. Contact Augustine@bellnet.ca.
LEASIDE LIBRARY 165 McRae Drive, 416-396-3835. Toronto Fire Services – Stay Safe in Your Home. June is Safety Awareness Month. A Toronto Fire officer shares information about fire and fall prevention, high-rise fire safety, escape planning and more! Especially for older adults and seniors. Friday, June 22, 2:00 pm –3:00 pm. Drop in. Everyone welcome. Games Night! Enjoy an evening of Cribbage. Other board games and puzzles also available upon request. Tuesdays, 7pm – 8:15 pm. June 5, 12, 19, 26. Drop in. Everyone welcome. Leaside Needleworx Group (Knitting and Crocheting at the Library) Bring your own projects or start something new. Fridays, 10:00 am – 11:45 am. June 1, 8, 15, 22, 29. Drop in. Everyone welcome. Leaside Writers Group Are you looking for a creative place
to meet with other like-minded individuals? Join us. Saturdays, 10:00 am – 11:45 am June 9, 23. Drop in. Everyone welcome. Art Exhibit “Abstract Art Inspired by the Spirit” Painting and mixed media by Susan Aaron. Ongoing event throughout the month of June. OUTSIDE GROUPS Discover Your Heritage Explore Ontario of yesterday and today with Barry Penhale and special guests. For more information, please contact Marjorie McLeod at 416-425-1392 Tuesdays, 2:00 pm 4:00 pm. June 5
LEASIDE GARDEN SOCIETY Meeting Thursday, June 14, 7:30 pm in the Leaside Library, 165 McRae Drive. Carol Pasternak will speak about How to Bring Butterflies to Your Garden. Send us your free listing for July by June 10th – leasidelife@ gmail.com ■
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The Bayview Cup score: Leaside 7, Davisville Village 4 The world has witnessed some bitter rivalries. From the Capulets and the Montagues, to Coyote and the Roadrunner, not to mention the Leafs vs. the Habs and dogs vs. mail carriers, we have certainly experienced great conflicts. But perhaps no hostility has ever been as heated as that between the golfers of Leaside and those of Davisville Village, who face off in the annual Bayview Cup. For the past 11 years, 48 golfers from both sides of the border (Bayview being the dividing line) have hit the greens in a day of sport and the occasional, while possibly reluctant, laugh. The lead-up to the event is a detailed process. Each team elects a captain or co-captains who design a logo for team shirts, order said shirts, register the players, and book the course. The captains also book a bus to take the players to and from the course, arrange a meeting spot for morning pickup, and, sometimes, most importantly, determine the venue for the post-golf shenanigans. (Oops, I mean the post-golf location for team-bonding and a friendly, non-alcoholic review of the day.) The event also has a flashy website listing the registrants, the itinerary and a gallery of past years’ photos, and on the day of the tournament it is updated with scoring at each hole. (Visit www.bayviewcup.ca.) This year’s Bayview Cup will take place on Friday, June 15th, at Piper’s Heath Golf Club in Milton. The day will kick off with a delicious new addition to the agenda. Players will meet at Triangle Park at the corner of Cameron Cres. and MacNaughton Rd. and will be served peameal bacon on a bun by Grilltime’s Andy Elder, along with local Ward 26 Councillor Jon Burnside. After boarding the bus, the players will then be paired with an opponent from the rival team based on their golf handicaps, and debates over potential winners will ensue. Following the tournament, at a post-Cub dinner and drinks at the Leaside Pub, an award will be given to the best individual golfer. The pinnacle of the evening, naturally, will be the awarding of the prestigious Bayview Cup itself, a magnificent piece of hardware which will then reside with the winning team’s captain for the year. Sincere congratulatory handshakes and best wishes
between the teams will follow (insert sarcasm emoji). The event isn’t solely for fun, though. Any fees collected from the players that exceed the costs of the day have been generously donated to various local charities over the years, a tradition that the group plans to continue. While the venue, the uniforms, and the players may change each year, the fun, along with the (mostly fake) hostility will continue. As one of the Leaside co-captains for 2018, Daryn Everett notes, “the friendly rivalry between the Leasiders and
the Villagers has never been more intense, and the witty and sarcastic repertoire leading up to the event makes it even more competitive.” Friendship, community, sport, and charity are all pieces of what make the Bayview Cup a fun and veryloved event. At the end of the day, the participants truly are friends. But as a Leasider who may be as competitive as the golfers, it behooves me to note that the current record for Bayview Cup winners stands at seven wins for Leaside vs four for the Village. Take that! ■
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Leaside Life • June 2018
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by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO
34
W ILLS & E STATES
UPDATE ON
Leaside High School’s 75th reunion
Leaside Life • June 2018
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The Leaside High School Alumni Association has been working steadily on its plans for the 75th anniversary, to be held on October 23 and 24, 2020. They have started meeting at the school once a month, most recently on May 15, with the next meeting on June 12 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Currently, the association has a dozen or so members, many of whom hold positions such as president, vice-president, treasurer, communications co-ordinator, secretary and staff representative. They plan to form a committee specifically to organize the 75th reunion at their next meeting. To date, some ideas for 2020 include an open house with rooms
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dedicated to each decade and some type of musical event or concert in the auditorium on Friday night, a sporting activity such as a football game and a gala dinner celebration featuring a slide show and a dance band. At the May 15 meeting, Patty Clark, who planned the 50th anniversary at the Metro Convention Centre, presented her research on possible venues that can accommodate two to three thousand guests, the most popular being the Convention Centre again and the Beanfield Centre on the Exhibition grounds. There will be more discussion of this issue at future meetings. The group is looking for new recruits to help with the website and managing social media, representatives from each five-year period to act as liaison and assist the co-ordinators, organizers for various events, fundraising, marketing and advertising support, and people to help with set-up at the school events. Anyone who is interested in becoming involved and having fun with old friends is encouraged to attend the meeting on June 12 at 6:30 at the school. There will be no meetings during the summer months, but they will resume in the fall. In the meantime, former students and staff are urged to visit the website leasidehighschool. com and email their names, phone numbers and graduation year or years of service to alumni@leasidehighschool.com in order to get on the email distribution list and stay updated on all the 75th anniversary news. As Elaine LeBlanc, the communications co-ordinator, says, “the group is very excited and hopes that everyone gets involved in this rewarding experience.” ■
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Life in Leaside – death, taxes...and traffic You know the saying about the only things certain in life being death and taxes. And then there is traffic. No part of Leaside is immune from traffic infiltration of one type or another. Speeding drivers. Drivers who ignore stop signs or other kinds of signage. Congestion, or heavy volume, at many times of the day. Parking problems. Trucks using streets with signs clearly marked “No Trucks.” Inability to get out of your own driveway before traffic gives way. We think these issues are bad now, but they are likely to get even worse, as the city expands. There is a level of traffic saturation beyond which neighbourhoods are damaged beyond repair. We do not want this to happen in any part of Leaside. It is not NIMBYism to work toward creating safer streets. But now is the time to plan, and to act as a single community to support traffic-calming measures which address all of Leaside, not just piecemeal sections of it. As I write this, residents of North Leaside, having reached the limit of their patience with their traffic
Carol Burtin Fripp Co-president, LPOA
and South Leaside separately from each other is that it is likely to be divisive. It is too easy to turn the traffic problems which we all share into an us versus them matter. It is too easy for residents of one part of Leaside to claim that their problems
SHUTTERSTOCK
Leaside Life • June 2018
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problems, contemplate a cul-desac proposal to prevent car access to and from Bayview Avenue north of Eglinton Ave. While they are being polled by the City to measure their opinion, the Leaside Property Owners’ Association is hearing from South Leasiders who are concerned about resultant diversion of traffic into South Leaside. The problem with looking at North
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are worse than those of other parts of the neighbourhood. The result of that would likely lead to no improvement at all, for any of us. Divided, the status quo will continue. The LPOA is being asked what the association will do, if the North Leaside cul-de-sac design is implemented. Will we support something similar for South Leaside? Our position has been clear from the start. Only a traffic calming plan which looks at ALL of Leaside, working as an interconnected system as a system, can be truly effective in reducing speed and flow, and be mutually supportive. ALL of this area deserves help and improvement. Street versus street action, or section versus section, has the potential to harm all of the community, as it has stymied progress in past efforts. Although happening more slowly than we would like, the LPOA’s neighbourhood-wide study proceeds. We have met with City traffic staff and will continue to do so. We will hold a Leaside-wide meeting as soon as we can, likely late in the fall, after the municipal elections. Whatever happens with the North Leaside poll, we will be putting forward a positive set of proposals for all of Leaside. Let’s not let the serious traffic concerns, which we all share, divide us.
ab
Our next LPOA board meeting is on WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6th at 7:30 p.m., in the Trace Manes building. We invite you to attend, whether for help on local matters, to share your opinion or give advice, or just to hear more about what is happening in our community. Contact us anytime via our website, lpoa.ca. ■
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Leaside Life • June 2018
Your Old Home Movies On DVD
Demolition derby in Leaside Geoff Kettel
Saving old Leaside Rumsey Road demo underway
to refuse all variances but which was demolished without notice. The owner did not appeal the Committee decision, but the City issued a demolition permit and building permit, so the owner must have submitted
For all your health and beauty needs, come and visit our TWO convenient locations. Bayview & Fleming 1601 Bayview Ave. Toronto, ON M4G 3B5 416-489-1873 8am - 12am* Bayview & Broadway 1860 Bayview Ave. Toronto, ON M4G 0C3 416-482-9841 8am - 10pm* Excluding Holiday Hours
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BRIAN MOK
plans without any variances. Another notable demolition (though expected) was 30 Parkhurst Blvd., further to the OMB approval of the owner’s successful appeal of the Committee of Adjustment’s earlier refusal decision. Still, the news is not all bleak. My column in Leaside Life (March 2018) reported that the City was back at the Toronto Local Appeal Body (TLAB) defending the Talbot Quads on Bayview threatened with demolition, reversing their withdrawal from the case in October 2017. I can now report that the battle to save 17551757 Bayview Ave. has been won. A settlement was reached among all four parties: the City, the LPOA, the owner of a neighbouring quad, and the applicant. The property will still become two semi-detached homes, rather than four apartments, but the applicant changed the plans to conform to the heritage designation, and allowed an addition on the back. So what can we learn from these “infill” situations? The current planning and building processes including Committee of Adjustment, appeal mechanisms, and the rules around demolition and building permits are not working to protect Leaside’s character. We are seeing increasing demolitions and something has to be done. When heritage legislation is applied, it seems to be reasonably effective. In the 2018 budget the City approved proceeding with a process called Cultural Heritage Resource Assessment (CHRA), which will examine Leaside’s built form character, and “list” groups of properties in the City’s Register of Heritage Properties. The same process resulted in listings of several commercial properties on Bayview (through Midtown in Focus). In the event of a demolition application the City would be able to designate the property, or ensure legal protection, within 90 days of the application. Let’s hope this CHRA gets going soon. ■
My staff and I are proud to serve our community!
Reconstruction on Sharron Road
GEOFF KETTEL
The weather may be better now but it’s been a bad spring for Leaside’s storied streetscapes and upsetting for those who care about the incremental loss of Leaside’s heritage. Except that on Rumsey Road the loss is more than incremental. Four neighbouring two-storey houses were demolished, supposedly because of leakage from an oil tank. The houses will be replaced by four single detached houses, after the soil is decontaminated. This loss was unannounced, and without public involvement of any kind, since there was no Committee of Adjustment application. Recent weeks have also seen the day of reckoning for two properties where there was prior awareness and local interest: 34 Cameron Cresc., the centre-hall plan Tudor Revival beauty that the LPOA had fought to preserve, but in the end was forced to withdraw its appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board, citing the lack of support from the abutting neighbours; and 41 Sharron Dr., a delightful Arts and Crafts “cottage,” where neighbours were successful in getting the Committee of Adjustment
GEOFF KETTEL
Leaside Life • June 2018
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