Toronto is the richest city in one of the richest countries on Earth, but that isn’t so obvious in many of its neighbourhoods. After decades of neglect by local governments, poverty has become entrenched in many areas. In an effort to address this, in 2011 the City started the Toronto Strong Neighbourhoods Strategy 2020 (an unwieldy name so this article will call it TSNS). The idea is that by 2020, TSNS will improve these poverty-stricken neighbourhoods to the level of the rest of the city. The neighbourhoods were ranked according to five criteria: physical surroundings, economic opportunities, healthy lives, social development, and participation in civic decision-making. Originally called “priority neighbourhoods”, the city now calls them “Neigbourhood Improvement Areas” (NIAs). The City has identified 31 NIAs. Unsurprisingly, Jane-Finch scored the lowest among all of them.TSNS sounds good in theory, but in practice, it’s a heavily bureaucratised way for the City to appear as if it’s doing something to address endemic poverty. TSNS has produced many reports but, without proper investment, poverty will still be widespread in all NIAs. Despite this, participation by residents is still necessary as low interest will be taken as a lack of desire for improvement and will lead to a lack of investment by the City. In response, residents in the Jane-Finch area collectively organized and wrote their own report, Community Response to TSNS. By interviewing Jane-Finch residents, community organizations, social service agencies, and grassroots groups, the Jane-Finch TSNS Task Force identified five main areas of concern: housing and physical surroundings (including public transportation), education, employment, health care, and access to healthy and affordable food. This has led to the formation of working groups on Housing, the Health Care Action Committee, and the Economic Opportunities Committee. An already existing group, the Black Creek Food Justice Network, was invited to deal with issues related to food security, food education, and growing your own food.The Jane-Finch TSNS Task Force meets every other month at Yorkgate Mall’s York University TD Community Engagement Centre. The meeting is held on the third Monday of the month from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. Food, TTC tokens, and childcare are provided for all attendees. The working groups meet on the months in between, with varying locations and times. Send an email to jftaskforce@gmail.com for more information, including copies of the reports above mentioned.
Giving Ourselves WHO’s Gift of Health
Who is WHO? WHO is the World Health Organization, the United Nations’ agency for international health. The 1948 Charter of WHO defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." April 2018 will bring us the 70th anniversary of WHO. Though I often write about food and nutrition, they are not the only basis for good health. As the WHO definition of health tells us, we must broaden our focus to include physical, mental and social well-being. Physical activity at work or during leisure is equally important as nutrition. Mental health depends on our relationships with other people, with our community and with the environment. We’re not health hermits! Research shows that people who find something to be grateful for every day live happier, healthier and longer lives. Social well-being equals interdependence. Safety of our water, quality of our food and the relative cleanliness of our air reflect collective commitments.Social well-being also includes the protection and development of children and the communal support of the persons who nurture and educate them. Social well-being means taking good care of people who are exposed to potential hardships by age, frailty, economic stress, physical or mental challenges, or for any other reasons. Social well-being requires our readiness to correct abuse. All of that is part of individual and community health. At the heart of the WHO definition is “community.” This word doesn’t appear in the definition, but the concept is foundational for all three components (physical, mental, and social). To be healthy, we need to be connected and compassionate toward one another.Speaking of connectivity, we in Downsview just got a boost. The subway extension means improved connectivity with friends, with family members, with our uptown and downtown universities and hospitals. Our social fabric will be tighter and our professional performance will be enhanced and will become more efficient. Health and transportation are intimately connected. For the 75th anniversary of WHO, our present will be the Finch LRT, bringing a game-changing Arts Centre and Community Hub at Jane-Finch. It will be an uplift—a health uplift.Ever since my early years in Canada, the WHO definition of health has been an inspiration for me. I am grateful that individual health and community health coincide in my professional career. Opinions or questions? Write to Nicole@IndividualCare.ca. Nicole Constant is a registered Doctor of Naturopathy. Her website is: www.IndividualCare.ca.
Expanding the Use of Allen Rd and Dufferin St: Converting Diamond Lanes to HOV Lanes
Over the past ten years, if you've driven north or south on Allen Road and Dufferin Street between Sheppard Avenue and just north of Finch Avenue, you will notice shoulder lanes that are almost always empty and yet motorists cannot use them. These are "diamond lanes” reserved for transit buses all day and all night, 7 days a week. The lanes have long been a source of great frustration for residents in our community. Since my arrival in Toronto City Council, I have been working to loosen the restrictions on these lanes. Over the years, I was repeatedly told by City staff that once the subway extension to Vaughan was complete, these lanes would be converted back to regular traffic lanes, open to all. Recently, we made some great progress. At the City of Toronto's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting on February 27th, I worked with Councillor Anthony Perruzza to have the committee pass a motion that will convert the diamond lanes on Allen Road and Dufferin Street to High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes for vehicles containing a minimum of two people. In addition to busses, the lanes can now be used by cyclists, motorcyclists and taxis. The item will now go to City Council on March 26th for approval. We are also seeing the other positive impacts of the new subway extension on our local streets. With more residents north of Toronto taking the subway downtown to work, there are less cars cutting through our neighbourhoods. With new commuter parking lots along the north part of the subway extension, dozens of parking spaces at the Wilson and Sheppard West subway station lots have opened up. The opening of the new subway proves that investing in transit provides dividends for both transit riders and motorists. Keep up with our progress and check back for regular updates at www.JamesPasternak.ca.
Lynessa: Hard at Work, Happy at Work
How can a young girl who likes playing with Lego find fulfilling work when she grows up? If you ask Lynessa White, she’ll tell you the best way is to follow your instincts. Lynessa, a racialized woman from Downsview, has strong instincts; she defied everyone who ever gave her career advice. Raised in a traditional family, she says despite her desire to fix things and a childhood dream to be a carpenter, her mother made sure she learned to cook. She still fixed things, she did it all the time.How do women resist such discouragement, whether it’s the guidance department steering you towards a career as a nurse, or your mother telling you to find an office job? Lynessa thought a career in the film industry would be a satisfying compromise so she attended film school in Toronto. The film set didn’t bring her the fulfillment she craved. It wasn’t until she arrived on a construction site that she discovered what was missing.When Lynessa talks about the construction project she is working on, her joy is palpable. When I first met Lynessa, she was part of the team building the Bentway Skate Trail under the Gardiner Expressway. Every project she works on involves a new approach, a new puzzle to put together, a new problem to solve. Lynessa finds that there isn't a set way of doing things on a construction site and that’s what drives her.Through Building Up, a Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN) social procurement partner, Lynessa found her path to becoming a licensed carpenter. In addition to Building Up, the process also included Carpenters Union Local 27, and Peter Kiewit Sons ULC, a private contractor. Lynessa is one of TCBN’s greatest success stories. TCBN envisions Toronto as an inclusive, thriving city in which all residents have equitable opportunities to contribute to healthy communities and a prosperous economy. TCBN is a coalition of organizations and individuals working in direct partnership with other grassroots, community, labour and anti-poverty organizations to build a strong community benefits movement in Toronto. We believe that all Torontonians should have access to the opportunities stemming from infrastructure investments, including women like Lynessa.
A Difficult Journey to Freedom
The Vietnam War (1955-1975) was a terrible battleground of the Cold War. For many, knowledge of this conflict comes through an American perspective in movies and other sources. For our Vietnamese friends and neighbours, this tragedy was intensely personal and represented the loss of everything dear to them.In those final days of the war, as the outcome became increasingly clear, many families in the South Vietnamese military and those with the means to travel fled the country to find safety abroad. Those who left in 1975 represented the first major wave of Vietnamese immigrants to arrive in our country.Doctor Kien Le, President of the local Vietnamese Association of Toronto (VAT), was part of that first wave at age 12. Though many years have passed, Doctor Le still has vivid memories of the war's final days, "My father was a high ranking officer in the South Vietnamese Fleet. On April 29, 1975, the day Saigon fell, my family was aboard a battleship. When we heard word that the presidential palace was overrun, we knew the country was lost."That day, Doctor Le's ship and many others regrouped at an American base in the Philippines. From there, families boarded a cargo ship headed to a military camp in Guam where they would wait for months as the international community decided their fate.In July 1975, Doctor Le's family arrived in Toronto, first living in a downtown hotel where he keenly remembers the excitement of seeing his first Caribana Festival. His family moved to the city's east-end where they rented the second floor of an Italian-Canadian family's home and enrolled in the local catholic school. He still recalls the support his family received from a Canadian family, the Catholic Church and other community organizations during their transition into a new life.Today, Doctor Le is an accomplished medical doctor and an active volunteer within the Vietnamese community. In February, the VAT co-hosted a special Lunar New Year event at our local Northwood Community Centre that memorialized the 50-year anniversary of the Tet Massacre where the Vietnamese communists' violation of a ceasefire led to the deaths of thousands of civilians. Through his efforts with the VAT, Doctor Le hopes to make a difference in the lives of Vietnamese-Canadians while speaking for human rights and freedom in Vietnam.The second wave of Vietnamese immigrants began in the late 1970s. Fleeing the communist regime, families risked their lives in small boats on the open seas.Andrew Dang, a volunteer with the local North York Vietnamese Canadian Seniors Association, was part of this second and much larger wave of Vietnamese immigrants. At age 6, Andrew's family sold everything they had to pay for a cramped trip on a camouflaged fishing boat, "There were 91 of us on a small boat. We spent three days at sea without proper food and were robbed clean of our few remaining belongings by pirates. Most families who attempted this dangerous journey never reached shore. We were the lucky ones." he recalls.His family arrived in a refugee camp in Thailand. For six months, they lived on the generosity of the locals and international donations until landing in Montreal in 1980 and moving to Toronto shortly thereafter. Andrew recognizes the sacrifices made by his parents, "They worked long hours in factory jobs so my brother and I could have a better future."The North York Vietnamese Canadian Seniors Association meets on the weekends at Grandravine Community Centre to socialize, exercise and play chess. They are also taken on field trips to enjoy the natural beauty of our province. Andrew is a proud volunteer of this association of which his father was a former president, "Our older generation sacrificed everything for their children and grandchildren. It is their time to relax after so many difficult years."In 2015, the dangerous journey that millions of Vietnamese families undertook following the end of the Vietnam War was commemorated in Parliament as Journey to Freedom Day Act. This worthy recognition received all-party support and celebrates both the role Canada played in welcoming refugees as well as the important contributions that the Vietnamese community has made here in their new Canadian home.
Lessons Learned from My Jane-Finch Years
El Salvador is a small country in Central America. When a civil war broke out in the 1980s, teachers like my parents became a target for the repressive government. After getting death threats, we decided it was best for our family to leave. We moved to Mexico, thinking the war would soon be over. We had no idea it would last 12 years. After six years in Mexico, we immigrated to Canada, settling in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood. I still remember the landscape of the neighbourhood in the 90s. There was a large number of immigrants from Latin America, visible in the malls, churches, doctors' offices and at school. James Cardinal McGuigan was my high school and the Jane Finch Mall was the cool place to hangout with friends. The youth employment services office at Yorkgate Mall launched me into my first summer job as a recreation assistant for a seniors program at Northwood Community Centre. York University became my alma mater as I obtained a BA and an MA in Political Science. The community was vibrant and full of hope as many new immigrants made it their home. On Sundays, we attended St. Jane Frances for service in Spanish where we thanked God for allowing us to leave the horrors of the war behind and start a new life in Canada. In 1997, our family moved to Woodbridge. We missed our old neighbourhood. My old cat could not get used to his new home and ran away. I drove back to the neighbourhood many times to look for him but he was never found. I still imagine him cruising around the block, refusing to become a suburban feline. For years, I returned to the neighbourhood to shop at Zellers and Marisel's Bakery and get my haircut at Josanthony's, until they closed. When I visit the neighbourhood now, I am very happy to see the changes but also the things that have stayed the same. The malls bustling with people from so many diverse backgrounds, the flea markets, the community centres offering great programs... Sure, growing up in Jane-Finch had its challenges. We lived close to a drug house and police presence was a regular occurrence. At times, whole SWAT teams were deployed on our block. There were gangs and shootings. But we had a strong sense of community and we were always resilient in the face of adversity. Within the corridors of what some referred to as "the concrete jungle" lived the hope of many people of all ages and backgrounds trying to improve their lives and their community; there were recreational programs for youth, neighbourhood associations putting together Caribana floats, seniors groups, free family skating days with hot chocolate and many other great initiatives. I learned much from my Jane-Finch years. Through determination, we can overcome any barrier, whether it be linguistic, economic or cultural. The strength that a community can have when it works together is limitless, regardless of circumstances. Positive change is always possible. These experiences served me well as I became a lawyer. When faced with difficult cases or a fierce opposing counsel, it is my Jane-Finch resilience and strength that help me succeed.
Councillor Pasternak joined by Mayor Tory at his Annual Ward 10 Town Hall
On January 25th, I hosted my annual Ward 10 Town Hall at Antibes Community Centre. For the 4th year in a row, I was joined by Mayor John Tory to listen to residents' suggestions and ideas and to respond to their concerns.For over two hours, Mayor Tory and I answered dozens of questions from attendees on a variety of important topics including community safety, traffic congestion, transit, local developments and affordable housing. We also heard many suggestions for improving our local neighbourhoods.We also heard from the members of the Ward 10 Emergency Roundtable group that was formed after the ice storm of 2013. This remarkable group meets regularly to develop local plans of action in the events of serious emergencies, extreme weather or industrial accidents in our neighbourhood.One of the reasons my office strives to host so many town halls and community consultations is that, since being elected to City Council in 2010 for the first time, I have been determined to ensure that City Hall and Toronto's municipal government do a better job of listening to residents.In addition to my Annual Town Hall, we recently hosted community consultations for upcoming park improvements in Irving Chapley Park, Garthdale Park and Champlain Parkette that will be built in 2018. These meetings allow residents to directly impact the type of investments the City of Toronto is making in their neighbourhood parks.My office has also hosted neighbourhood town halls on community safety, transit, affordable housing and the Toronto Seniors Strategy.Using the feedback and ideas we receive at these meetings, I will continue to push for more smart investments in Ward 10, to protect the value in our homes and to enhance our parks and playgrounds. Our neighbourhoods deserve nothing less.Keep up with our progress and check back for regular updates at www.JamesPasternak.ca.
What Black History Month in Downsview means to me
Downsview is my home. This is why a few years ago I worked with other neighbours in the community to create The Downsview Advocate. As one of the places that helped to shape me, Downsview has a special place in my life. I have a history in this place. Black History Month reminds us that we have a shared history and that part of that shared story still shapes us today. We celebrate the history of our black predecessors in February and hope to learn a bit more about who we are in that process. Downsview’s black history is still alive!We often forget some of the progress that were made in recent times. Until the 1950’s and 1960’s, you could not practice certain professions as a black person in Ontario, such as driving a taxi or being a nurse.Much of the overt discrimination that used to occur has changed, even as we continue to struggle as a society with many other forms of discrimination. The road towards equity in our society has taken many turns and continues to this day. For most of the early black immigrants in Downsview, the everyday struggle to find a new life in a new country doubled up with the unique experience of being black in Canada.Most of the residential buildings in Downsview were constructed in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and there are still many neighbours living in the area whose history in Downsview dates back to that time. I can remember my grandmother, Nana Lynn, who came to Canada in the 1960’s, telling me how difficult it was to find the basic food she grew up with (they used to give away oxtail for free sometimes if you could find it!). A simple trip to the supermarket could be an adventure as she and her generation struggled with the cultural shock they experienced, as well as the shock of their new neighbours! She tells me that once on the College streetcar, a little girl asked her why her skin was different, to her mother’s mortification. She explained that some people are different and that she was born that way. The child’s mother was relieved that my Nana was patient enough to explain that to her, but we can only imagine how many times that moment was relived.Many of the black women from the Caribbean that came to Canada in the 1960’s as domestic workers struggled with barriers and lack of opportunities. Some of them settled well and were able to create homes for their families. Others struggled to find footing in their new country. In February, we remember their histories and struggles and hope to make the path towards a more equitable society in Canada easier for the next generation.
Community Benefits is coming to an infrastructure project near you
The greatest long-term benefit for equity seekers, racialized residents and historically disadvantaged groups is most often only realized in finding a sustainable long-term job. Infrastructure improvements often coincide with a temporary disruption to our lives. The community benefits movement, led by Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN), aims to directly improve the lives of those impacted and reduce the negative impacts of large infrastructure projects in our communities.We may be experiencing something of a renaissance in community engagement. Communities are finding their voices and we have the technology to both express and hear those voices. The status quo is no longer accepted without scrutiny. Eyes are being opened to blind-spots. The community benefits movement has been in the vanguard of this sea change. Ten years ago, the movement was in its infancy, many still believing in the “trickle down” theory; it was believed that without any community participation, benefits would automatically be distributed meaningfully and fairly throughout communities impacted by large infrastructure projects. We now know better and communities are organizing themselves around Community Benefits Agreements (CBA’s) that offer guarantees in terms of what was previously only promised.The proposed redevelopment at Woodbine Racetrack is a massive project that the community has been engaged in for more than 10 years. Woodbine is an excellent example of how a community coming together around a single issue can engender real change. TCBN, standing in solidarity with Community Organizing for Responsible Development (CORD), is seeking to start negotiations with Great Canadian Gaming for a comprehensive agreement for community benefits from the huge expansion of this Toronto entertainment complex. Rosemarie Powell, Executive Director of TCBN says of the negotiations, “The decision to bring a casino into their neighbourhood was not made by the residents of Rexdale. Yet, they will forever be impacted by its legacy, whether it be positive or negative. The community simply wants to make sure they have some control over their shared destiny.”TCBN learned a lot from the Eglinton Crosstown project; it showed that with a commitment from the three levels of government along with a string of vibrant communities, we can achieve a type of city building that not only improves our surroundings but also works to build the public trust. Improving on the Eglinton model in other projects with real targets for jobs, apprenticeships and social procurement is a step in the right direction.
Elections Ontario not taking action on low voter turnout
In 2015, the Downsview Advocate featured an article illustrating the lack of accessibility to provincial voting locations in the area. Unfortunately, years later and with an election this summer, the issue remains unresolved. While Elections Ontario has recently completed an outreach effort to deal with accessibility to polling stations, with regards to ramps and other similar issues affecting people with disabilities, it did not properly address the low number of voting locations in the riding. The west part of Downsview is now a riding called Humber River–Black Creek (formerly known as York West - the name was changed by Elections Ontario, although the boundaries have remained the same). This area had the second lowest provincial election turnout across Ontario.Humber River–Black Creek has one of the province's highest tenant populations and to account for this during municipal and federal elections, larger buildings have polling stations in their lobbies. As expected, tenant turnout in municipal and federal elections is much higher than provincial elections in relative terms. Elections Ontario knows this. Humber River–Black Creek only has 45 polling stations as compared to the neighbouring ridings of York Centre and York South–Weston which have 66 and 65 polling stations respectively. These ridings have almost 50% more places for residents to vote as compared to Humber River–Black Creek.When this was brought to the attention of Elections Ontario in 2015, there was no response. Now, a few years later, with an election around the corner, it would be timely to see a response. Voters deserve ease of access to voting stations, and Humber River–Black Creek deserves the same standard as neighbouring ridings. This is unacceptable and those responsible in Elections Ontario need to take immediate action.To see the 2015 article on low voter turnout, visit: http://www.downsviewadvocate.ca/2015/02/arent-people-downsview-voting/