by Tom RakocevicWe have all driven or taken a TTC bus past the forested William Baker neighbourhood along Sheppard Ave. W., near Keele St., but few of us have ever entered it.Councillor Anthony Perruzza wants that to change and has worked on an agreement with the Canada Lands Company to open this forested neighbourhood to the community as early as Autumn 2014.The William Baker Neighbourhood was established in the 1950’s to house military personnel serving at the Canadian Forces Base Downsview.The base was decommissioned and closed in 1996, and the neighbourhood was eventually emptied leaving unused homes in a secluded small urban forest.Currently, the William Baker neighbourhood is a part of the greater Downsview Park lands and owned by the Canada Lands Company with a long-term plan for development. Councillor Perruzza has been fighting to see this neighbourhood preserved for its heritage aspects and natural beauty.“The military base closed twenty years ago. It’s time that the community has access to this beautiful space.” says Councillor Perruzza.Canada Lands has received permission to demolish the vacant houses but thanks to the work of Councillor Perruzza, they have also agreed to take down the fencing and make this area into park space open to the public.Their landscape plan for the area shows a number of enhancements to this park space including new pathways for pedestrians and cyclists, new benches and garbage bins to reduce litter, as well as new trees.The creation of a new park is welcome news to the community. This fall, make sure to take a stroll through the William Baker neighbourhood and enjoy the wonderful colours of a lovely urban forest right in our neighbourhood.

By Howard MoscoeI am a long time customer of Rogers Cable. I’ve been using their service for TV and now, for internet since I moved to Downsview some 50 years ago.The service has never been great, but lately, it seems to be getting worse and worse. I regularly lose my cable service at least once or twice a week.My internet is as slow as the hand drier in the Bay Street bus terminal washroom; at least when it is working at all.Is it just me or are you having the same problems with your service?The city of Toronto re-builds a road every 45 years. By ‘rebuild’ I don’t mean simply lay a new coat of asphalt, but actually re-construct the road including the concrete road bed and curbs from the ground up. My street was done seven years ago.Right now in the Keele and Finch area, the water mains and some of the sewers are being replaced. How often does Rogers cable replace its infrastructure?Is the Rogers infrastructure (cable hardware) just simply too old to do the job? When is Rogers going to replace our local cables? Has the company invested its entire capital budget into finding new ways to dip into your wallet while ignoring the necessary upgrades needed to keep the basic system running?The company has recently given every one of its customers up to three free boxes so we can continue to receive the same basic service as they switch to digital. Why? Is it so they can start to sell you individual programs and new services that you don’t yet know you need or want? Isn’t that the equivalent of putting a new coat of paint on a rotten board?Let me know if your service is as painful as mine.Please send me an email at info@downsviewadvocate.ca, and tell me what you think of the service you get. I will publish comments from readers and ask Rogers for its response.Perhaps, together, we can get Rogers to pay some attention to Downsview, this forgotten corner of Toronto.