The leaves are changing colours, the air is getting colder, and people are beginning to bundle up, but that didn’t stop them from heading down to the annual Pumpkin Fest at Downsview Park on thanksgiving weekend.The atmosphere was lively, with a large pumpkin patch, fun rides, an exotic animal petting zoo, and more bouncy castles and food trucks than you could dream of. There were families visiting for the first time as well as some who could not resist coming back for another round.Rajeev Nigom’s family was having an excellent time, especially during pumpkin bowling. Nigom believes that events such as Pumpkin Fest are great for family moments and a healthy way to get kids outside and having fun.The Fawad family was also having a wonderful time at the festival, with son Hammad claiming that it was “awesome, there were so many activities to do!” Daughter Linta said “going climbing and boxing” was so much fun.Guests were also able to meet and pet an exotic kangaroo named Jasmine. Natalie Cheng from Hands On Exotics spoke about Jasmine and the other pets that they carry, such as lemurs and snakes. The organization hopes to teach children about conservation, so festivals like Pumpkin Fest are a great way for children and families to overcome their fears of certain species, or to just have fun meeting new ones.Combined with all of the exciting things to do, Pumpkin Fest’s success can be measured by the many smiling faces around every corner.By: Rhiannon Moller-Trotter and Giovanna Loureiro
Local Trustee in “Hot Water” over Alleged Breach in Code of Conduct
Toronto District School Board Trustee, Tiffany Ford, is in “hot water” according to a Toronto Star article.The article published on October 1st disclosed two separate incidents: one, where she allegedly used her title as a school board trustee to sell water from a company she owned called “Smarty Pants Water” and a second one related to a local student award she organized in her role as Trustee.The Star published a copy of the press release in question where the following title is read as a headline “Toronto School Board Trustee Launches Innovative Product to Increase Children’s Water Consumption: Smarty Pants Water.” The article goes on to describe that the use of her title to promote her personal business was allegedly in violation of the code of conduct that guides Trustees on the Board. They also quote a TDSB spokesperson stating that Ford had breached the code of conduct.Tiffany Ford denies that a breach in the code of conduct has occurred and has since demanded and received an apology from TDSB staff. In a statement published on social media on October 3rd, she says that according to the code of conduct “the board of trustees are required to conduct an inquiry and with that make a determination. This process has not occurred and has not been initiated by any Trustee of the board”. She also states that “I hold myself to high ethical standards and principles. With that, I have never used my Trustee office, resources, or taxpayers dollars to promote my personal business ventures.” She goes on further to demand a retraction from The Star and an apology from the TDSB spokesperson.The Advocate reached out to Ford to get a statement for the local community. She referred our inquiries to the same published statement, for which we have included links at the bottom of the article.The Toronto Star published a follow up article titled: “TDSB apologizes to trustee Tiffany Ford after saying she violated the code of conduct.” The article published in late October details that the TDSB spokesperson now states that only its integrity commissioner, not board staff, can determine when its code of conduct has been violated. John Malloy, TDSB director of education, wrote, in a letter to Ford, dated Friday, October 21st “I incorrectly instructed staff to confirm that your actions were in violation of the TDSB Member Code of Conduct.”Trustee Tiffany Ford has accepted John Malloy’s apology and has asked the integrity commissioner to confirm what “she can, and cannot, put her title on.”In their own voices:The Toronto Star article:https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/01/toronto-school-trustee-used-her-title-to-promote-her-own-business.htmlTiffany Ford statement: https://www.scribd.com/document/326235763/Statement-by-TDSB-Trustee-Tiffany-FordThe Toronto Star follow up article: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/10/24/tdsb-apologizes-to-trustee-tiffany-ford-after-saying-she-violated-code-of-conduct.html
Humber River Regional Hospital: New Site, Same Problems
Part 1“The union filed a complaint,” the nurse said to her colleague. “They don’t want us porting patients. But I don’t know how to use the new computerized porter booking system, so I just do it myself.” By her own account, she has more than 20 years’ experience in nursing, including at the old Humber River Regional Hospital.During my previous chemotherapy session, she was the “senior” nurse who had angrily and confrontationally increased the drip rate of the drug I was receiving, overruling a younger, more recently educated nurse, whose patient I was. The “senior” felt that I was “wasting their time” by insisting they follow the chemotherapy protocol laid out in my file by my oncologist.When I had an entirely preventable rigors reaction (intense sweating and uncontrollable shaking) to the drug minutes later, the “experienced” nurse shrugged it off, casually saying, “well, that has never happened before.”Except similar events have happened before. Frequently.The “old” Humber River Regional Hospital (at its site on Finch Avenue West) had frequent problems with patient care. The first problem I heard was from my 19-year-old neighbour who went to emergency with unexplained continuous bleeding from his nose. He bled for 36 hours at the hospital while doctors found “nothing wrong with him”. “It felt like the doctors and nurses didn’t take me seriously because there was no obvious bullet wound causing the bleeding,” he told me. He believes that he would have died if his terrified parents hadn’t taken him out of the Humber River and checked him in to Sunnybrook hospital. “The University Health Network (UHN) was completely different”, he recounted. “They actually cared about me and took my condition seriously. They put me on a new drug and it saved my life.”His story and many similar ones were used to justify the massive cost of the new Humber River site, with claims of the latest technology improving patient care. And plenty new technology is being used, like the pneumatic tubes that deliver blood samples to the lab at such high speed that they shatter the blood cells, leading to faulty test results. “They promised us when they installed the system that it wouldn’t harm the blood samples,” another nurse told me. But that didn’t prevent my being admitted to emergency due to a bad test result. “You are standing and talking to me, so this result can’t be correct. You would be dead,” the ER doctor told me looking at my blood test result after I waited 60 minutes to be admitted (imagine if it had been a correct result!). A couple of days later it was, “the system would have beeped to warn me, don’t worry!” said casually by a nurse who almost gave me the wrong type of blood transfusion (which could have killed me).Technology is neither the problem nor the solution in these cases. The underlying cause is a lack of critical thought, patience, and listening to patients by burned out, jaded health care professionals. And the patient experiences that I have heard about at the “new” Humber River while researching this story are exactly like the old ones: Medication screw ups, sending elderly patients to non-OHIP-covered offsite clinics they can’t afford, uncompassionate and confrontational medical professionals, and long wait times, including in emergency cases.Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article in the next edition.
Can you identify the man in the photo?
On behalf of Madeleine Lefebvre, Chief Librarian, at the Ryerson University Library in Toronto. Ms. Lefebvre and other members of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries recently toured the Netherlands and were asked to help identify the soldier in the picture.The Canadian soldier (Corporal) seen in the photo below is one of the liberators of the Netherlands in WWII.In a period between September 1944 and early April 1945, he was housed with a family in Eindhoven, a city in the south of the Netherlands. The family name is Andersson and their address was Franciscus Sonniusstraat 18 in Eindhoven.The name of the mother was Alida Catharina Andersson (born 1908) and the father was Henricus Johannes Andersson (born 1907). They had three sons: Anton (born 1936), Pieter (born 1940) and Hans (born 1946)The picture was sent by the soldier to the family in Eindhoven after the war. In the picture are also his wife and son in Canada. We do not have his name or city the picture was sent from.Is there a possibility to post a message on your website or for instance in a magazine? In the hope that someone will recognize him.
Memorial Fund Raises Money for Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre
I do not want to spend too much time on the sickening details I heard in a downtown courtroom.Melonie Biddersingh was 17 years old when she died. Prior to her death, Melonie endured starvation and horrific abuse at the hands of her father Everton Biddersingh and stepmother Elaine Biddersingh. In September 1994, Melonie’s body was found in a burning suitcase; her autopsy revealed that she had suffered several fractures and weighed only 50 pounds.Two years earlier, Melonie’s 13 year old brother Dwayne, fell to his death from the balcony of the Biddersingh’s apartment. His tragic death continues to be surrounded by suspicion; many wonder why a generally happy boy from Jamaica would jump to his death.Earlier this year both Everton and Elaine Biddersingh were found guilty of murder in Melonie’s death; Everton of first-degree and Elaine second-degree.I am not related to this family but this tragedy affected me. I attended the criminal proceedings against Everton and Elaine and sought out Opal Austin, mother of Melonie and Dwayne, at the trial. I learned that in an effort to give her precious children a better life she entrusted them to their father and stepmother with the hopes that they could fulfill her wish. I saw a light in Opal’s eye when she shared how Melonie loved children and wanted to be a nurse and how Dwayne loved singing and wanted to be a rapper. The light in Opal’s eye has been snuffed out along with the hopes and dreams of Melonie and Dwayne.As I got to know Opal, I suggested honouring Melonie and Dwayne’s life in the hopes that the innocence and purity of these children would prevail over evil. Opal and her daughter Raquel agreed and chose Boost Child & Youth Advocacy Centre (CYAC) as the beneficiary of these efforts – The Dwayne and Melonie Memorial Fund will support Boost CYAC’s Child Victim Witness Support Program (CVWSP). This program provides court preparation for children and youth who are called to testify. Children learn what their role is as a witness and what they can expect while on the stand. The program helps children and families understand verdicts and helps to explain what specific judgments mean.My prayer is that through this fund, Melonie and Dwayne will be able to support other victims of abuse to fulfill their hopes and dreams. The goal is $5000.00. Any donation is appreciated.To make a donation to The Dwayne & Melonie Memorial Fund: www.gifttool.com/athon/MyFundraisingPage?ID=2240&AID=3011&PID=575273To learn more about Boost CYAC:www.boostforkids.orgMEDIA CONTACT:Lindsay Jolie | Director of Communications & Community Relationsjolie@boostforkids.rorg | (416) 560-7568
Modernizing Transit Need Not Create Social Class Divides
You may have noticed posters placed in some TTC stations advising riders that tokens will no longer be accepted at unmanned entrances. These ads represent a new, more aggressive push for adoption of the PRESTO card that has been in deployment for several years across the GTA. While there are useful qualities to tap cards, tokens have three important features that the Province of Ontario and City of Toronto overlooked when pressuring the TTC to phase out this alternative currency that has been used since the 1950s.The primary benefits of PRESTO cards stem from their ease of use in the digital era. You can “top-up” online with a credit card. That’s fine for many TTC riders. It’s not so easy for many others. Public transit is a fundamental social pillar used by some of the most vulnerable people in our society: the poor, elderly, sick, and young. For these riders, added complexity—even small levels of added complexity—are a barrier to access. Tokens are simple, well understood, easy to use, and ubiquitous. For those who cannot readily use the Internet, having to visit “select” TTC stations in person to “top-up” creates unnecessary hardship, not to mention that such money is not immediately available for use on their card. As a result, cash becomes the next simplest, viable alternative. And the cash fare is roughly 12% more, effectively the same as sales tax!Taxing the vulnerable is a practice we detest, but there are deeper issues such as identity. Not all TTC riders can easily establish and maintain a verifiable identity—something that is required to have a PRESTO card. Tokens are anonymous, untraceable, and that’s a good thing. Even assuming the best case of world-class technology and privacy law adherence, recent history repeatedly teaches us that it’s not enough. A support worker at a homeless shelter or food bank can hand a token to a visitor effortlessly—not so with a PRESTO card.It is true that transit users can currently still use the “main entrances” of TTC stations in order to pay with tokens. The overlooked result is a social-class divide, where vulnerable riders are no longer allowed to use the unmanned entrances they had used for decades with tokens & turnstiles. Instead, they must go wait in long lines with the other “people who refuse to modernize”, corralled into a place for that lower class of rider. Tokens do not draw lines across social class like PRESTO cards. Preventing the use of tokens to some entrances will not increase PRESTO card adoption. It simply separates people according to entrances in a manner that were decried in social movements of decades past, with no tangible benefit.I am not advocating against the PRESTO card. It has value. My concern rests with phasing out the token so aggressively. The TTC reassures us that it is a “transition period” and that a “network of vendors will eventually be established” to support single-ride anonymous card purchases. Yet, in the meantime, it is barrelling forward constraining token usage without viable alternatives in place. Why not simply delay token phase out until everything is ready? Modernizing transit need not create social class divides.
Temp Workers, Know Your Rights
Temporary staffing or temp agencies are companies that find and hire workers for other companies. Temporary workers, or ‘temps’, do not work directly for these companies. Instead, they still work for the agency; the client company pays the temp agency, which then takes a cut of the temp worker’s pay and passes on the remainder. Temp workers do not receive any benefits from the client company and do not receive the same pay as permanent employees who do the same work. This uneven power balance means that their position is very precarious and they can be easily fired by either the client or the temp agency.Originally intended to fill in for employees who needed a leave of absence (such as for a vacation or illness), temp work has now become semi-permanent, precarious positions that are under the constant threat of elimination due to fluctuations in a company’s staffing needs. Since the establishment of temp agencies, corporations quickly learned the benefits of having a workforce that was easily hired and fired; in addition, the fragmented and asynchronous nature of a temp worker’s employment means that he or she has very little chance to meet and develop relationships with other workers, temporary or permanent, thus limiting their ability to collectively demand better treatment from their workplace. Seeing the threat of replacement by temp workers, permanent employees have also learned not to demand better treatment at their workplace.A survey by Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP), a local community group, found that over 200 temp agencies operated in the area. These companies are poorly regulated and employ tens of thousands in the Jane and Finch area alone, and many more across the city. These agencies are sometimes fined by the Ministry of Labour but the sum of the fines have often been so low that it barely affects the agency.On August 24th, York University’s legal clinic, Community Legal Aid Services Programme (CLASP), JFAAP, and the Jane Finch Community and Family Centre held a legal education workshop to inform temp workers of their rights. Although their position is precarious, temp agency workers are still protected by Ontario’s Employment Standards Act. Among other rights, they are due to no less than the minimum wage of $11.40/hr and this is after the agency has taken their cut. They also have the right to refuse unsafe work, and must have an eight hour rest period in between shifts. These and other important facts were outlined to the attendees during the workshop.Although attendance was small, there will be more workshops held by the partner groups. Food, tokens, and childcare will be provided. Those interested in learning more can contact Nicola from CLASP at 416-736-2100 ext. 30130.Future workshops will also be placed in the Downsview Advocate’s event calendar.
Mayor Tory talks Manufacturing in DUKE Heights
On the morning of Tuesday September 13th, approximately 250 people gathered at Teknion furniture headquarters for some breakfast and to hear Mayor John Tory speak. It was the Mayor’s Economic Update Breakfast and the purpose of the event was to remind everyone that manufacturing is an essential part of Toronto’s economy.The mayor’s message was clear: we need manufacturing in order to be a successful economy and there was no better neighborhood to deliver this message than in DUKE Heights. This is a neighborhood that provides many of the manufacturing jobs in the GTA, with manufacturing being the second largest source of employment for the 30,000 employees who work in the area.Mayor Tory emphasized that Toronto has a very competitive market for manufacturing. Toronto is home to some extremely innovative and intelligent individuals who create quality goods whose production is supported by good laws. The Mayor stated that because of these things, despite the economic downturn of 2008, manufacturing has grown in Toronto. In the last few years the GTA has added 1300 new jobs in manufacturing.Despite this growth, our local manufacturing sector is suffering. Canadian companies do not seem to have very strong exports and despite the Mayor’s claims that there are laws setup to support the manufacturing sector, there are many other road blocks from the city and local infrastructure that hinder development. The Mayor gave an example of a local company that wished to expand their food processing plant. For this addition they needed to receive new permits and hook up hydro to the new part of the building. It took so long to go through these official processes that the new addition of the plant was built and ready long before hydro was hooked up. Mayor Tory stated that he is aware of the roadblocks that manufacturers face when dealing with the City and city infrastructure and says he takes responsibility for these problems. “Time is money” says Tory “and we are working on that”. What form that work and responsibility will take remains unspecified at this juncture as this update seemed to serve mostly as a morale boost to the manufacturing sector.It is understandable since more than ever manufacturing is seen as a less viable career option. Part of the importance of holding his update at a factory like Teknion is to showcase what modern manufacturing can be. The products at Teknion are sleek and professionally engineered and the work is both craftsmanship and technology based. Teknion is a good example that to be successful in modern manufacturing requires intense training, education, trade skills and more.One thing to take from this economic update event is to try a little harder to support our local industry by buying local and supporting Canadian manufacturers.
The Latest on Electoral Reform
Since this paper last wrote an article on electoral reform there have been several developments on the issue.Firstly, Justin Trudeau apologized to the House of Commons for comments he made during Question Period alleging that the opposition was not cooperating on electoral reform. When questioned about the lack of progress, Trudeau said that his government has put forward several ways to address the issue, including a parliamentary committee, direct engagement by the Minister of Democratic Institutions, and a public consultation. Trudeau implied that the delays arose because the opposition Conservatives and NDP were imposing unreasonable conditions in exchange for taking part. Conservative MP Scott Reid challenged this statement, calling it “invented and patently false”, forcing the Prime Minister to issue a formal apology through the Speaker.In addition, the Prime Minister altered the structure of the parliamentary committee looking at electoral reform. Initially, the committee had a government majority but after the NDP put forward a motion for a a committee that gave a majority to the opposition parties the Liberals abandoned their plans and supported this motion. Prime Minister Trudeau said that he feared they were acting too much like the Conservatives under Stephen Harper and that his government is trying to work better with the opposition. The initial proposal would also have denied a vote to the Bloc and the Green Party but the NDP committee contains five Liberals, three Conservatives, two NDP, and one Bloc and one Green Party. The motion also called for all MPs to conduct town hall consultations with constituents and to file results by October 14th. There have not yet been many scheduled town hall meetings, in fact, only a handful have taken place so far. Local MP Judy Sgro has yet to set a date for consultations in her riding but this information will be added to the Downsview Advocate’s website event listing when it becomes available.The consultations will discuss what form electoral reform will take. There are two major proposals: Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV). MMP involves making two votes: one for a local MP and one for a regional representative. The regional MP would be used to “top up” the votes to ensure that the number of MPs that the party receives is proportional to the number of votes it receives. The Law Commission of Canada recommended this system in 2004. STV involves larger ridings that would receive a number of MPs based on its population. Voters rank candidates on their order of preference. The number of votes needed to elect an MP would be calculated by dividing the number of voters by the number of seats. Candidates who receive more than this will have their surplus votes transferred to voters’ second choice. The BC Citizens Assembly recommended this system in 2004.Leadnow is an organization concerned with this issue and will be conducting a detailed presentation on proportional representation in the coming months. The time and location will also be posted on the Advocate’s website.Stay tuned for more information!
Your TTC Fare Will Go Up in Downsview
Metrolinx, the Provincial body in charge of building transit in the GTA, is considering a number of changes on how we pay for transit. This conversation will result in the average trip being more expensive for residents in Downsview.Metrolinx is doing this, because of budget pressures and because different modes of transit (buses vs. trains) and the distance of each trip (1km vs. 10km) need to be factors in calculating the price of each trip.Currently, a trip from Downsview to the downtown core, which normally requires a bus and a subway ride, costs the same as a trip from Bay St. and Queen St. to Bay St. and Bloor St. -one bus ride. This means that people in inner suburbs benefit from a system that understands that the distances traveled in the suburbs are greater than they are in the downtown core.Metrolinx is considering changing this. Their rationale for questioning the current system is that it is not fair to charge the same price for someone that rides a train versus a bus, or takes a short trip versus a long trip. What this misses is that the accountant's methodology to building transit will create a dysfunctional system.If we want more people riding transit, we need to figure out a transit system that caters to the needs of riders, not the other way around. Metrolinx seems to be coming to the decision that the riders need to meet the demands of the transit system -they've done this before.Leading up to the PanAm games, Metrolinx built the UP Express from Union Station to Pearson International Airport. Their business model assumed that there would be a wealthy market of transit riders that would pay a premium fee for the convenience of the service they created. What they missed, is that most of the transit trips to the airport were made by the 10,000 employees who are employed by the Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA). Since the service was not practical, or affordable for most of the employees, the trains ride mostly empty -even a reduction in fares has not changed ridership.The UP Express experience should have taught Metrolinx that its focus on market based transit building is not a viable model. For Downsview, this could mean a more expensive transit fare in the next couple of years. Let us not forget where the decision are being made: the Province is not investing in the operating costs of transit, so Metrolinx is trying to come up with the money by raising the price of transit.