Community of Downsview: Come Aboard the New Lineby Jessica A. PointonIt’s time for an upgrade.Toronto’s average commute is 30.4 minutes, almost 50% more than the national average. Some evenings, Downsview commuters wait almost that long at the subway station, just to catch their overcrowded bus home.
Hope is on the way. The Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension will add six new subway stations between Downsview Station and Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.Lillian Rodriguez, a local resident, can hardly wait, “I’m looking forward to cutting my travel time, to have more time for other priorities.” With train departures expected every four minutes from the new stations, local residents will have a faster and more predictable commute to work and school.The extension has also boosted Lillian’s sense of pride in her community: “it’s making our neighbourhood a priority for transit.”The Downsview community will no longer be on the margins of city life, but an integral part of a solid transportation link between Toronto and York Region. The extension is expected to attract visitors and business to the area. Two of the new stations – Downsview Park and Pioneer Village – are strategically located to make local tourist attractions more accessible.The extension promises other benefits too. Car traffic between Toronto and York will decrease, aiding efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in highly populated areas. Three commuter parking lots – at Finch West, Pioneer Village and Highway 407 – will help encourage drivers to leave their cars behind.The extension is expected to open by autumn of 2016. Already, the two tunnel producing machines – affectionately named the “Yorkie” and the “Torkie” – have completed their labours. “Torkie” reached its final destination at Vaughan Metropolitan Centre on November 8, 2013. The next phase of the journey requires fortifying the tunnels, installing the tracks, and preparing the signal systems.Construction can sometimes be a bumpy ride. Although residents may find the detours inconvenient, it is a short-term sacrifice for a necessary long-term investment in our neighbourhood. The Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension provides a template for other transit- famished areas across the GTA. The population is only going to increase, and it`s time to build the proper infrastructure to uphold the transit-related prospects of Downsview, Toronto and the GTA.Fasten your expectations, Downsview is on the move.Residents are encouraged to check the TTC website for updates. http://www.ttc.ca/Spadina/index.jsp
Downsview Councillor Maria Augimeri Wins Top Spot at TTC
Downsview Councillor Maria Augimeri (Ward 9 York-Centre) is the new Toronto Transit Commission Chair. A majority of Toronto City Councillors backed the veteran Councillor's successful bid during a Council vote last month.The high-profile position is considered to be one of the most influential in municipal politics. It includes oversight for one of the City's largest budgets."As a Commissioner, I have always worked to stand up for everyday riders, and I am delighted that I can continue to do so in the TTC's top spot," said Augimeri.Councillor Augimeri has served on the TTC for 6 years, bringing to her new role a wealth of experience.Augimeri says that the recent focus on giant transit projects such as subways and rapid rail has distracted attention from other important priorities."I am focused on getting the TTC to provide more service with less crowding" Augimeri explained. "That can only be achieved through increasing our operations, not starving them as we have been for years" she added.Augimeri revealed plans to sit down with provincial and federal officials to discuss funding. She stresses that one of the best ways for all levels of government to get people and the economy moving is to invest in Toronto's transit operations."Every other sizable transit system in the developed world gets help from its upper levels of government, because they recognize that getting people places faster is one of the best ways to encourage economic growth," Augimeri said.Currently, neither the province nor the federal government provide any operating dollars to the TTC, which is unusual for a transit system of Toronto's size.The TTC's funding has been virtually frozen for years, and service has been cut since 2011. In that time ridership has increased to over 500 million rides per year. It is expected that in 2014, rides on the transit system will top 540 million."Ridership demand is exploding. Investing in Toronto's transit will get people to their work, their home and their playtime faster, said Augimeri. She argued that renewed investment will reduce gridlock and produce “huge gains for our economy.”Today, riders pay the bulk of the cost of operating the TTC-- nearly 80%-- which is the highest percentage for any transit system in North America.
Typhoon Haiyan – An Opportunity for Transformation?
Typhoon Haiyan – An Opportunity for Transformation? By Robert McElhinneyLast November, Toronto residents joined the local Filipino community in responding to the tragedy caused by Typhoon Haiyan. Fundraisers were organized to help the millions left without homes, and vigils mounted to mourn more than 6000 dead. Four months later, most of us have already forgotten.
In the Philippines, however, the work of reconstruction has only just begun. In the days and weeks following the disaster, the government struggled to rehabilitate the national north-south highway, and to add the additional ferry services needed to accommodate the flow of relief supplies.Later, the focus shifted to building bunk houses for the homeless. Amidst outcry at the poor quality of the construction, there has been a commitment to modify and rebuild to international standards.Public debate over mismanagement of development funds is not new to the Philippines. Right at the time that the typhoon hit, organized opposition to “porkbarreling” was ramping up. The issue here is continuing presidential discretion over 1,134.8 billion pesos in public funds [$28 billion Cdn].A small portion of these funds – 25.2 billion pesos in the proposed 2014 budget – are Priority Development Assistance Funds. These PDAF funds are allocated to legislators for purposes which they determine in their regions.In one recent scandal, allegations are that 100% of this PDAF has been lost to kickbacks – 50% to legislators, 10-15% to local governments and implementing agencies, and 35-40% to a prominent business woman named Janet Napoles.Typhoon Haiyan has drawn new critical attention to the porkbarreling system. On the surface, it would seem that this crisis presents an opportunity for President Benigno Aquino to direct discretionary lump sum funds to the purpose of rebuilding the devastated regions of his country.However, this top down approach to spending has historically favoured the rich over the poor. Already grass roots organizations are expressing concerns about the government’s plan to develop a public-private response to the crisis. To date, there has been no organized consultation with victims or organizations supporting them.What are we in Toronto to make of this convergence of major disaster with public outcry against a corrupt system of managing public funds in the Philippines? It should be transformative. It is a time for momentum to bring about real change.In 1986, people power removed the corrupt regime of President Marcos. Sadly, removing the man did not transform the system. This time people power in the Philippines must target the very workings of governance itself.We here in Canada can support the grassroots movement for change. If we do not, we become part of the problem, because our own corporations are there.The Philippines government allows Canadian mining companies to extract tremendous natural resources, while exporting up to 100% of their profits. This permissive environment has led to complaints of environmental destruction and human rights abuses.Canadians have a responsibility to pressure our government to regulate the activities of our mining companies working abroad. At the same time, we can support people power by raising the porkbarreling issue with our government representatives and partnering with community based organizations in the Philippines.Can a leopard change its spots? When the people of the Philippines rise up again in a collective cry for change, and when we their allies abroad are with them in the struggle, it is possible.Robert McElhinney is a retired United Church minister, whose daughter and her family live in the Philippines. Over the last six years, he has visited the Philipinnes three times. In 2012, Bob and his wife Dorothy participated in an exposure tour to learn about the impact of large scale mining on local communities and the environment in the Cordillera region of north Luzon in the Philippines. His last visit to the Philippines fell one month after Typhoon Haiyan.
Ice Storm Left Many Residents in the Dark
A freak ice storm, Toronto's worst on record, caused more than 300,000 people to lose power just in time for the holidays.Freezing rain during the Dec. 21 storm produced a blanket of ice stretching from Southern Ontario all the way to New Brunswick. In Downsview, the weight of that ice caused many trees to snap and knock over power lines, leaving residents in the cold for days.“We had people who were without power in some cases for six days,” said Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Ward 8, York West). “The most difficult situations were in apartment buildings. Whole apartment blocks lost power and they only had some emergency elements that worked. They basically lost heat, lost hot water. They only had their elevators working and some emergency lights, but not much else. That left people stranded in a really, really difficult way.”The last twelve months have seen a series of extreme weather events in Toronto. In July, a storm and flash flood caused power outages, transit interruptions and widespread basement damage. Following on the heels of the December ice storm, a January freeze brought record low temperatures, freezing pipes and bursting water mains. Flooding from one such break closed the subway station at Yonge and Bloor.While the science is still debated, climate change experts suggest extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and more intense. Meanwhile, municipal governments are on the front lines of managing the resulting emergencies.As the December ice storm unfolded, Perruzza and his staff worked diligently to ensure that the city's crisis organizing committee and Toronto Hydro were made aware of all power outages reported to his office by constituents. They were constantly in touch with property owners and landlords to ensure that police visited to check for vulnerable people who needed to be taken to one of the two warming centres that had opened up in the Ward. Additionally, they worked to provide fuel and generators to buildings that were in desperate need.“We also did a door to door, particularly with people whom we knew were elderly, to make sure that they either were ok, or needed to be taken to relatives' or friends' places who had power,” Perruzza said.According to Perruzza, who lost power at his own house for four and a half days, the most difficult part of the whole ordeal was not being able to provide constituents with answers. More than anything, people wanted information. They needed to make decisions about whether to move or stay put.Toronto Hydro, however, was unable to predict when electricity would be restored. With electrical demand already poised to outstrip supply, recovering from emergencies takes time.“People were waiting it out hour by hour and the power wasn't returning. They were sort of in the dark,” said Peruzza. “That was a very difficult thing for me to deal with and something we need to change going forward.”Investing in our electrical grid, water mains and transit system is critical to being prepared for the next big storm.A 2013 report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives warns decision makers to pay attention a growing infrastructure deficit. One contributing factor, suggests the report, is the downloading of infrastructure responsibilities to municipal governments. In 1955, 75% of infrastructure investment came from federal and provincial governments. By 2011, municipal governments were responsible for almost 50% of infrastructure investment.Overburdened municipal governments can`t plan for the future if they`re too busy coping with emergencies. It`s time to stop making decisions in the dark.By David Ros