A little boy reaches for the red plastic firefighter’s helmet and puts it on his head. Next is the yellow jacket. He smiles while looking into the child-sized mirror. His mother looks on approvingly.The scene is the York West Ontario Early Years Centre (OEYC) located in the Jane-Finch Mall. Our firefighter and his mother are two of about twenty taking part in the morning program. According to Manager Nesta Blake, there are usually parents waiting outside every day before opening time.It’s a popular place because OEYC offers a wide range of free programs that support parents and their children up to six years.As the fledgling firefighter played with a toy fire truck, an older woman came in looking for help with her own problems. This occurs often at OEYC, as Ms. Blake does a lot of referrals that go beyond children, and nearly all of those go to the lead agency: the Jane/Finch Family and Community Centre.Located on the ground floor of 4400 Jane Street, the Centre was incorporated in 1976 by residents who wanted to address local issues. This social services agency has grown to offer programs from prenatal to seniors. According to Michelle Dagnino, the Centre’s Executive Director, “our goal is to increase capacity, leadership skills, and provide support for residents in the Jane-Finch area as advocates, and engaged and empowered citizens.“The Centre remains responsive to shifting community needs in large part because of resident advisory groups with decision-making authority over program objectives and outcomes.Once he outgrows the plastic helmet, our fire fighter can go to The Spot, located on the second floor of Yorkgate Mall. The Spot offers youth aged thirteen to thirty a wide range of social, educational, leadership, artistic and recreational programming.If he needs financial advice, there’s FEPS (Financial Empowerment and Problem Solving), which also offers a popular Income Tax Clinic for low income residents.Should he need support in times of crisis, Getting In Touch is a mental health drop-in program which started in 1980.One program he’ll likely never use is Women Moving Forward (WMF), which is for sole support mothers on social assistance between ages 20-29. WMF helps these women build a foundation based on education and meaningful employment, so they and their children can have better lives.Perhaps he’ll want to make a difference in his community. Given its origins, the Centre has always been involved in community development and advocacy. A recent highlight was the Centre’s role in the Jane-Finch TSNS Task Force, a community response to the city’s Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy 2020.Maybe one day, he’ll look on approvingly as his son or daughter puts on a red plastic helmet.You can learn more about the Centre at the 40th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, July 23, in the parking lot of the Jane-Finch Mall, starting at 11:00 a.m. Or phone the main office at 416-663-2733.See you there!
York Centre Trustee By-Election is July 25th
The sudden death of former TDSB Trustee Howard Kaplan has prompted a by-election call in York Centre. The election will be held on Monday, July 25th.To find out where to vote you can go to the following website www.toronto.ca/electionsAt the time of publication 10 candidates signed up for the by-election and The Downsview Advocate contacted them in order to provide a profile on each one to our readers. The following are the profiles for the candidates that responded.Name: Sue MathiEmail: info@suemathi.comWebsite: www.suemathi.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/suemathiward5trusteecandidate/I am eager to serve this diverse community. A trustee should be interested in advocating for the needs of the entire community and I will do that with vigor. I do not have a personal agenda, nor am I using the role as a gateway into politics. To show my commitment to service, I have promised that if elected, I will donate my entire first year’s salary directly to the schools in Ward 5 to be used at their discretion. I value education, children, and proper use of tax-payers money. I am eager to give back and help the children in our community get the best out of our education dollars.Name: Jordan GlassEmail: glass4yorkcentre@gmail.comWebsite: http://glass4yorkcentre.webs.com/Twitter: @Glass4YorkCenFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlassInYorkCentre/I believe I can help make our school system better. As a parent of a child with special needs, I’ve spent years trying to navigate my way through the obscene red-tape in the TDSB. Dealing with our school board should not be this hard. My priority would be to create a parent facilitator to guide parents through a system that was not built with the concerns of them or their children in mind. This individual would assist families by empowering parents to speak for the needs of their children, especially those with special needs. Name: Erica ShinerEmail: info@ericashiner.comWebsite: ericashiner.comTwitter: @ericashinerFacebook: facebook.com/ericashinerTOMy son's first experience in kindergarten this year was a real eye-opener to the challenges that children and parents face when navigating the system. Classes are overcrowded and repairs are woefully underfunded. I love being of service by amplifying the voices of others, and I'm passionate about implementing the changes necessary to better our school system. If elected, my priority would be implementing better planning to avoid overcrowding and the short-sighted sale of schools. I'm also committed to creating a more effective system of parent engagement to resolve issues at schools. Whether there are concerns with special needs, bullying, health issues, or anything else, parents need more accessibility to work with their schools.
If you like coffee, sandwiches and homemade dessert, Cafe by Kwin is the place to be!
Café by Kwin first opened in July 2015. This friendly neighbourhood café was created by J. Kwin and is a family business involving both parents and their three children as well as an aunt. The children work after school or on weekends and enjoy working while balancing their school and social schedules.The family works well together and they share bonding moments too. Working with family is, according to them, “a real pleasure.” The business schedule can be adapted to each individuals schedule making it easy to manage.Cafe by Kwin’s priority is to stick to good quality, healthy and fresh product at affordable prices –and they are great at making you feel comfortable. They provide great customer relationships and delicious food –can’t go wrong!It all started because J. Kwin is a coffee lover and a cooking devotee, so he came up with the idea of a cafe where he could work with his family. He did a lot of research and invented his own recipes to make good, healthy, fresh and homemade food. He also decorated and designed the café’s layout. The room is spacious which provides different areas that fit several groups of people and they even have outdoor seating!Their menu includes a variety of sandwiches, coffees, salads, cheesecakes (from The Cheesecake Factory), Belgium waffles, ice cream, and much more. Tu Anh Nguyen (J. Kwin’s wife) is fond of drinks, so J. Kwin also created a variety of drink recipes. I personally recommend the strawberry banana smoothie, which is very fruity and refreshing.Café by Kwin is a great place to meet with friends, to study or have a meeting. They provide a great atmosphere and friendly, respectful service along with good quality food. It is located at 1 De Boers Drive, 400 meters from the Downsview subway station.So, do not hesitate anymore, and come enjoy a delicious coffee with a slice of homemade cheesecake sooner than later!For more information visit: www.cafebykwin.comEmail: mail@cafebykwin.comPhone: 647-352-5558Facebook: Cafe by KwinInstagram: @cafebykwin
Repair Cafe in Downsview
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On Saturday, June 18th, there was a steady stream of people who came to the Driftwood Community Centre for the Repair Cafe. Over 60 people got their items fixed for free!
   Photo credits: Heather Ramsay
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Parents rally against changes to Ontario autism services
A mother holds back tears while speaking to the large crowd at a rally outside of Queen’s Park.“We are mourning the loss of the life we thought our child would have. We had a plan,” said Brianne Brown, whose son Chase was diagnosed with autism at the age of two.Like so many other families of children with autism, her plan was cut short by the Liberal government’s changes to autism services.Children over the age of five no longer qualify for Intensive Behaviour Intervention (IBI), even though many of them have been on the waiting list, to access the service, for years. Instead, the government is offering a one-time payment of $8,000 to families (this will not even come close to covering the cost of private treatment).“$8,000 for what? A couple months of service? It’s nothing.” Said Brown.Families and those who work with children who have autism agree that this one-time payment just isn’t enough.“I've worked with kids on the autistic spectrum and I've seen the progress they can make with IBI therapy,” said Erica Shiner, candidate in the upcoming TDSB Ward 5 by-election.“Offering parents a lump sum that is one sixth of the cost of a year's worth of IBI leaves children and their families high and dry. It's not right to take this crucial therapy away. We can all empathize with the challenges of having a child with special needs, even if that's not our experience. We need to stand together as parents, as educators, and as public servants to make sure that the government does the right thing and reverses these cuts,” she added.Experts have weighed in on the issue to say that there is no evidence to suggest children over the age of five won’t benefit from IBI. It’s the personal stories, like Brianne’s, that are fuelling the movement to stop cuts to these life changing services.Parents, David and Linda Galvao, held signs at the rally with pictures of their two children that read, “Started at 6 and began to speak” and “2nd child waited 3 years for IBI, now what?”With plans to return to Queens Park for a fourth time, the movement by parents’ groups and coalitions shows no signs of stopping.For information on upcoming rallies and events visit www.ontarioautismcoalition.com
Driftwood Public School: 50 years teaching our kids
On June 1st , 2016, Driftwood Public School hosted a celebration for their 50th Anniversary in our community. This celebration was an opportunity for people to share both past and current experiences with an institution that has helped to shape and develop the very spirit of the surrounding community.Since it’s opening in 1965, Driftwood Public School has been the source of many stories from city wide news outlets for their revolutionary educational initiatives. These stories have ranged from discussion about new innovative programs for conflict resolution to kicking off the trend for environmentally friendly programs in the 90s. Programs like these are the work of engaged and concerned teachers, aiming to be on the leading edge of education initiatives. Indeed, as recently as 2012, teacher Sheri Alcordo, was awarded the Premier’s Award for Teaching Excellence.But teachers can only do so much, part of what makes a school like Driftwood successful, is the involvement and support of the children and parents. Driftwood is part of an extremely diverse community whose intent is to ensure that their children can have the best education possible. The hard work of teachers’ means nothing if children are not encouraged and supported by their families to put everything they can into their school experience.We will be sure to bring you more pictures and updates about the event in our next edition, so keep your eyes peeled for that!
Better Regulations of Predatory Lenders Needed
When Joseph’s car broke down a week before his paycheque he needed fast money to pay the $1000 repair bill. Without savings, available credit or a network of family and friends who could help him financially, he decided to go to a payday advance loan agency (think Money Mart, Cash Money, etc.).Like using a credit card, Joseph figured there would be little to no interest if he paid back the loan on time. When he went to pay back the $1000 loan two weeks later, he was charged $300 (30%) in interest.Based on his experience Joseph expressed concern for others, “It’s a vicious cycle. A person could easily end up needing a payday loan to pay back a payday loan. I would never go back.”Enter Rohan. Living with a disability and in his fifties, Rohan felt reborn when he fell in love and was happily planning a wedding. Without available funds to pay for even a small celebration, a friend suggested he get a payday advance loan.Rohan ended up borrowing from three different lenders to pay the minimum payment for his growing debt. After borrowing from friends and scraping by for two years, Rohan was able to pay back what he owed.Such experiences are common for many residents in our community where the number of payday advance lenders roughly equal the number of Tim Horton’s. In desperation, individuals and families often turn to them for help, only to make their financial situation far worse.Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has taken a lead role in the fight against ‘predatory lenders’.ACORN’s spokesperson on this campaign, Donna Borden, has personally experienced the bottomless pit of high interest debt when she took out a $10,000 installment loan. Five years later, Donna had paid back $15,000 and still had to pay $8,000 to clear the debt.“The loan never gets paid off because there are additional charges and then at the end you are still paying the cost of the initial loan.” said Donna. ”The terms were changed several times without my consent.”The provincial government is currently reviewing legislation around payday advance and other forms of high interest lending, but organizations like ACORN want to ensure that any changes will prioritize the needs of the public rather than the lenders.ACORN (www.acorncanada.org) demands include reducing the criminal rate of interest, instituting a minimal distance between such lenders, an enforceable complaint process for consumers, public banking (through Canada Post) as an alternative (visit www.cupw.ca), and the creation of an independent loan database to prevent different payday lenders to loan to the same borrower (called concurrent loans).Quickcheck Canada, a company that provides software to payday lenders agrees with ACORN on the need for an independent loan database.“If we do not adequately address the issue (of concurrent payday loans) we will have a lot of desperate people taking out multiple payday loans on the strength of a single paycheque.” says Roy Toker, Executive Vice President of Quickcheck Canada.Presently, concurrent payday loans are illegal however, lenders ask desperate borrowers to simply sign a waiver stating they have no other payday loans. Roy says that this loophole could be closed by requiring payday lenders to register each payday loan with the proposed database. Lenders would then see if a borrower had an outstanding payday loan and therefore have no excuse to lend.In March 2016, City of Toronto Council voted to ask the province for better regulation of predatory lenders. Local Councillors Maria Augimeri and Anthony Perruzza were in favour of better legislation.Both Donna and Joseph hope the government will act quickly in strengthening laws to protect individuals from predatory lending while Rohan’s focus is elsewhere. “As long as struggling families have to pay more than half of their salary on rent and other basic needs, people will always be in a desperate situation.” he concluded.
Veterans graves flooded at the Mount Sinai Memorial Park
I’m familiar with Mount Sinai Memorial Park. Most members of my family are buried there and it will be my final resting place. It is located on Wilson Avenue west of Keele Street south of Downsview Park.In the rear section of the cemetery is the burial ground of Canadian Jewish War Veterans, the graves of some 300 service men and women who fought and died for their country in both the first and second world wars. The war vets are buried at the north side of the cemetery abutting the Downsview lands.Downsview Park resulted from an election promise of the Liberal government during the Federal election of 1999 -Liberals like to promise parks. It was the land from the decommissioned CFB Downsview. Of the some 295 acres of land released, only about 65 acres are actually park. The balance will be sold off for redevelopment under the supervision of Canada Lands, a federal agency.The first area to be re-developed was Stanley Greene, an area of what used to be base housing for enlisted men and their families. It was just next to the Veterans’ graves. Stanley Greene was to be replaced with a massive town house developmentPhil Grenfell, the manager of the Mount Sinai Cemetery told me. “The trouble began when they tore out the base housing and the sewage system was ripped out.”Water began to seep southward, filling the graves. The level of the land for construction had been raised about 4 feet and that added to the drainage problem. “I’ve been here for twenty six years. Our cemetery has a sweeping tile system. We’ve never had a drainage problem before,” he said.Al Rubin, president of the Jewish Canadian Veterans’ Memorial Park Association told me that they discovered the problem when they dug a grave and the water rose to above the level of a coffin. The cemetery now has to pump out a grave before the funeral arrives and return the soil to the grave quickly before the water is visible. Several open graves have collapsed. The Association has had a number of meetings with Canada Lands and there are two City of Toronto Inspectors directly involved who are not going to approve the subdivision until the drainage is fixed. In the end Canada Lands as a Federal Agency can ignore the city inspectors if they so choose. In Canada, a government has no jurisdiction over an order of government above it.“I can assure you that we are not taking this lightly,” said Al RubenMy Uncle Joe Moscoe is buried in Mt Sinai Memorial Park. He was captured in the Dieppe Raid and spent four years in a German prisoner of war camp, Stalag VIIIB. Joe was president of the General Wingate Branch of the Canadian Legion. Every year in late August just before Yom Kippur, the legion would lead a grand parade of veterans to a memorial service at the Jewish Veterans’ War Memorial. Each year the parade would get just a little smaller as the veterans aged and died off. On August 10th, 2008, a week before the parade and memorial service, the Sunrise propane explosion occurred on Murray Road just to the west of the cemetery. The parade was cancelled. It never happened again. It’s as if the vets moved off the parade route into their graves.Maria Augimeri, the local councillor, is dismayed about the Canada Lands handling of the situation. “They’ve shown a real contempt,” she said. “The veterans deserve better than a watery grave. Where’s the respect?”
The Signs they are a Changing
Having just gone through a large move in life I’ve been sorting through some old boxes. One very important box marked “DAD’S SIGNS” was put in a special place for safe keeping. It contained hundreds of slides, one for nearly every sign my dad, George Morris, of Kramer and Morris Signs (later changed to George Morris Signs) painted by hand and erected throughout Toronto from the 1930’s up to the late 1980’s when he finally retired. Looking through the box I came across 2 slides labelled Bathurst Manor. It brought back wonderful memories of my childhood when he would take me to his sign shop, dressed in my “let her get dirty clothes,” where I enjoyed some of my happiest days with my dad, watching him create the next big sign.When I was older, I would drive my dad to the sites to make sure his staff erected each sign according to municipal regulations. Those were days I will treasure forever. It is well known as the “Manor Plaza” is soon to be no more.Having just moved into the Bathurst Manor I wanted to share a piece of Toronto history in the hopes it may rekindle old memories for those who have lived through so many changes.
The Repair Cafe is coming to Downsview
What is a Repair Cafe? A Repair Cafe is an event where people with experience in repairing things, or ‘fixers’, help people repair their broken items, for free. They gain this experience either as a hobby or from their work (e.g. as a bike mechanic).Repair Cafe fixers work on anything that needs repairs, such as books whose bindings have fallen apart, socks with holes, non-working toasters, laptops that won’t start, cracked vases, and other formerly working items.Started in Amsterdam in 2009, the Repair Cafe movement quickly spread all over the Netherlands and to more than 20 countries. The Repair Cafe Toronto was founded by a small group of volunteer fixers and have helped thousands of people with their broken items. Their goal is not to fix things for people but to teach them how to fix things for themselves.In our existing culture, we are encouraged to throw away our broken things, even things which require only minor repairs. In fact, many things are designed to break down easily and are even designed to be difficult for regular people to repair. Apple, for example, has designed their brand of popular phones such that they can only be opened with specially made tools which no one who isn’t an Apple technician would have. Many people with a damaged Apple phone are often told that the repairs would cost almost as much as a new phone so why don’t they just get a newer model? Or perhaps a $10 skirt from H&M develops a small hole – easily repaired by someone with the knowledge and tools, but since it’s so cheap anyway the owner decides to throw it away and just buy a new one.Corporations have encouraged the growth of this throwaway culture because it leads to greater profits for them. Many people have either forgotten that they can repair things themselves or they have forgotten how. Many older people still have the knowledge to fix things, knowledge that younger generations have lost. The Repair Cafe movement is trying to change that. Fixers take peoples’ broken items and try to fix them. However, the point is not just to fix things for people but to teach them how to fix it themselves. Fixers will take people through the repairs that they are doing so that the owners can learn how to do it. Not every item can be fixed but many can still be diverted from the landfill.The Repair Cafe Toronto is in a different neighbourhood each month; on June 18th, it will be at the Driftwood Community Centre (4401 Jane St) from 12 to 4 pm. People are encouraged to come early as it can become busy. There will be free, donated refreshments available so attendees can wait, chat with their neighbours and fixers, and find out how fun it is to repair things.