The next SLNA Virtual Community Meeting for Delegates and Residents is scheduled for Wednesday, September 29th at 7 p.m. on Zoom (see link below).

In addition to receiving an update from the Board of Directors and a focused discussion on the proposed SLNA Delegate Role Guidelines, at this meeting there will be presentations from:

• Councillor for Ward 10, Joe Cressy
• Supt. Peter  Moreira of the Toronto Police Service's 51 Division

To join this meeting on September 29th at 7p.m. please use the following link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82710932790?pwd=VzZ3YzV4QmZ0emtrWHAyaEJpemU2Zz09



Community Environment Days

Community Environment Days will be held as drive-thru events at City Drop-Off Depots from September 12 to October 31, 2021. Check out the 2021 event schedule for dates and a list of Drop-Off Depot locations.

Note - there is a Drop-off event scheduled for this Sunday, September 26 at the Commissioners Rd. Depot (400 Commissioners Rd.).
Background: Community Environment Days help reduce the amount of reusable or recyclable waste going to landfill and allow for safe disposal of household hazardous waste.
​


Go For a Walk with Stroll TO

What a great resource! A City of Toronto initiative called "Stroll TO" highlights special gems to visit in various neighbourhoods across the City and includes neighbourhood highlights from the two wards in our region - Toronto Centre and Spadina-Fort York. To learn more visit the link below:

https://www.strollto.com/ward/toronto-centre/


​
Caring Connections - Ontario Culture Days

The following information is from Infrastructure Ontario regarding the new subway station being built in our neighbourhood under the working name "Corktown Station." We are advocating for the station to be named "First Parliament Station."  

Corktown Community Project OverviewThe transit-oriented community (TOC) proposal for Corktown Station offers a dynamic community with housing, jobs, commercial uses (including office and retail spaces), and community spaces, such as a library, connected to the Ontario Line subway and TTC bus and streetcar services.

In recognition of the historical significance of the land, the province will work closely with the City of Toronto, stakeholders, the community, and Indigenous partners to collaborate on a meaningful plan to commemorate the rich heritage of Canada’s First Parliament site.

The Corktown Station site consists of both the First Parliament site (South site) and the block directly to the north of Front Street (North site), both of which have identified as TOC opportunities and will be redeveloped by the Province in line with the stated objectives of the TOC program.

Why is Corktown a designated TOC?The future growth potential for the Corktown site is dependent on a planned transit station that will serve the surrounding neighbourhood, connecting to local bus and streetcar routes, as well as subway service along the Ontario Line. The proposed sites at the future Corktown Station would deliver a mix of new housing opportunities, commercial, retail and community space, while commemorating the history of the First Parliament site.

What are the benefits of the Corktown TOC Community Project?The Province, in consultation with the City of Toronto, is working on a development proposal that would deliver new housing and a broad mix of uses to a future Corktown Station along the Ontario Line subway. This includes a City-planned library and public open space that will offer opportunities to commemorate the historic features and uses of the site and area, such as Indigenous heritage, the previous Lake Ontario shoreline and the former First Parliament lands and buildings.

The proposed development will support community uses and programming on the First Parliament site, providing approximately 2,300 square metres of new public institutional space (e.g. library).

While the site is now primarily occupied by a car dealership and several parking lots, the proposal protects for opportunities to highlight the many layers of history on the site, which include Canada’s First and Second Parliament buildings, the Home District Gaol and Consumers’ Gas Company operations.

Archaeological assessment of the First Parliament site will be undertaken before construction commences to understand and document its many layers of history and to conserve any artifacts that may be revealed through excavation. Metrolinx is working with the City of Toronto, the Indigenous Communities and community stakeholders to develop a historical interpretation and commemoration plan that will inform station design and future site planning.

Read More

REGISTER NOW

What: The Province of Ontario will host the first Virtual Open House about the future of Corktown as a true mixed-use Transit Oriented Community. Community engagement is an important part of the process and we look forward to beginning this dialogue.

When: Monday, September 27, at 6:30 pm,

Where: Online. Sign in credentials will be sent to registered participants 


​Enoch Turner Fall Speaker Series

The Enoch Turner Schoolhouse Foundation is happy to announce the return of our virtual series, Speaker’s Corner!  

The new host for this season will be multi-award-winning journalist, Brian Stewart, formerly of the CBC. This fall series will focus on trends in education. In each program, Stewart will engage with thought leaders whose expertise will inform us about issues, challenges and opportunities specific to elementary and high school students and their parents. All programs are free and will run on the Zoom platform Wednesdays at 7pm. Registrants will be able to ask questions at the end of each program. Register for the series' fall lineup below: 
 
REGISTER HERE for the October 6th Session: Back to School in a Pandemic
 
REGISTER HERE for the October 20th Session: Outdoor School
REGISTER HERE for the November 3rd Session: Food Literacy
REGISTER HERE for the November 17th Session: Climate Literacy ​
 

The following information is from Infrastructure Ontario regarding the new subway station being built in our neighbourhood under the working name "Corktown Station." We are advocating for the station to be named "First Parliament Station."  

Corktown Community Project Overview

The transit-oriented community (TOC) proposal for Corktown Station offers a dynamic community with housing, jobs, commercial uses (including office and retail spaces), and community spaces, such as a library, connected to the Ontario Line subway and TTC bus and streetcar services. In recognition of the historical significance of the land, the province will work closely with the City of Toronto, stakeholders, the community, and Indigenous partners to collaborate on a meaningful plan to commemorate the rich heritage of Canada’s First Parliament site.

The Corktown Station site consists of both the First Parliament site (South site) and the block directly to the north of Front Street (North site), both of which have identified as TOC opportunities and will be redeveloped by the Province in line with the stated objectives of the TOC program.

Why is Corktown a designated TOC?

The future growth potential for the Corktown site is dependent on a planned transit station that will serve the surrounding neighbourhood, connecting to local bus and streetcar routes, as well as subway service along the Ontario Line. The proposed sites at the future Corktown Station would deliver a mix of new housing opportunities, commercial, retail and community space, while commemorating the history of the First Parliament site.

What are the benefits of the Corktown TOC Community Project?

The Province, in consultation with the City of Toronto, is working on a development proposal that would deliver new housing and a broad mix of uses to a future Corktown Station along the Ontario Line subway. This includes a City-planned library and public open space that will offer opportunities to commemorate the historic features and uses of the site and area, such as Indigenous heritage, the previous Lake Ontario shoreline and the former First Parliament lands and buildings.

The proposed development will support community uses and programming on the First Parliament site, providing approximately 2,300 square metres of new public institutional space (e.g. library).

While the site is now primarily occupied by a car dealership and several parking lots, the proposal protects for opportunities to highlight the many layers of history on the site, which include Canada’s First and Second Parliament buildings, the Home District Gaol and Consumers’ Gas Company operations.

Archaeological assessment of the First Parliament site will be undertaken before construction commences to understand and document its many layers of history and to conserve any artifacts that may be revealed through excavation. Metrolinx is working with the City of Toronto, the Indigenous Communities and community stakeholders to develop a historical interpretation and commemoration plan that will inform station design and future site planning.

Read more...


REGISTER NOW

What

The Province of Ontario will host the first Virtual Open House about the future of Corktown as a true mixed-use Transit Oriented Community. Community engagement is an important part of the process and we look forward to beginning this dialogue.

When

Monday, September 27, at 6:30 pm,

Where

Online. Sign in credentials will be sent to registered participants 



​

Magic at Berkeley Castle on The Esplanade

hese performances offered a beautiful opportunity to showcase the vibrancy of our community and garnered positive media coverage in Narcity, BlogTo, TFO, ICI Radio-Canada and more.
. 
Read Joe Szekeres' review of the show here:
https://www.onstageblog.com/reviews/2021/9/1/review-la-bulle-the-bubble-by-torontos-corpus-dance-projects

Learn more about Jamii's events here: https://www.jamii.ca/events
 


REMarket Recap

The SLNA's REmarket event was a great success for the neighbourhood and our efforts to encourage recycling and sustainability.

This event was conceived, organized and brought to fruition by the hard working members of the SLNA Waste Reduction Group (WRG). Thank you to the WRG and to all residents and friends who participated in the REmarket event August 24 - 15, 2021.

Here is recap of the event  provided by the WRG:

The Salvation Army picked up 45 skids of donations and were wonderful to work with! 
 
RCT ( Renewed Computer Technologies ) picked up 6 skids of electronics, 
and Homes First picked up 1 skid of donationd for 45 the Esplanade. 

Repair Cafe Toronto had 7 volunteer fixers, and a few non-fixer volunteers. 
Together they dealt with 39 items - 70% of them fixed! ( in only 3 hours! )

Charlie's Freewheels had 3 volunteers and fixed 27 bikes ( in only 4 hours! ), 
and they talked to many people about their programs for kids like Build a Bike Program,  
group rides and Mobile Repairs. 
 
Thank you to all who participated and supported this event!

Learn more about the Waste Reduction Group here: https://www.slna.ca/wrg.html


City of Toronto Consultations

The following information is from the City of Toronto:CafeTO FeedbackIn 2020 and 2021, the City of Toronto rolled out CaféTO, a temporary program to provide space for expanded outdoor dining areas to help some restaurants and bars who were impacted by COVID-19 indoor dining restrictions.

Going forward, the City will need to better understand and manage the balance between supporting the restaurant industry recovery, while at the same time accounting for appropriate use of public sidewalks and curb lanes, and the effects of expanded patios on private properties.

We want to hear what you think! Please fill out this survey and help us shape the City's outdoor dining programs and the future of Toronto's streets.

Toronto Drug Strategy - LINK ADDEDToronto Public Health is researching alternative models to drug criminalization in Toronto and wants to hear from members of the public.

In 2018, Toronto Public Health conducted a community dialogue process to explore how to change the approach to drugs and what a public health approach to drugs could look like in Canada.

The Toronto Board of Health endorsed the use of a public health approach in developing alternate models to the criminalization of personal drug use in July 2018.

At its June and November 2020 meetings, the Board of Health reiterated calls to the Federal Minister of Health to decriminalize the simple possession of all drugs and scale up prevention, harm reduction, and treatment services.

At its June 14 meeting, the Board of Health asked Toronto Public Health staff to convene a multi-sectoral working group to provide advice on developing a health- and social equity-based alternative approach to drug criminalization, as a step towards requesting an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

Toronto Public Health has initiated the process to request an exemption from Health Canada from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (S.C. 1996, c. 19) (CDSA) for the possession of all drugs for personal use in Toronto (also referred to as decriminalization).

Efforts to determine potential options for the alternative model to criminalization for Toronto are underway, informed by the multi-sectoral working group and other broad consultations.

A Toronto model for decriminalization will be rooted in a public health approach, with an emphasis on ensuring that people who use drugs who are most at risk of criminalization because of their drug use are involved in the development of the model, that risk mitigation be incorporated throughout, and that best practices and evidence are used to inform the final submission to Health Canada.

Consultations and analysis are being undertaken throughout the summer and into the fall, with a preliminary submission expected to be submitted to Health Canada in early fall. An iterative process is expected with Health Canada, as the model is refined and, hopefully, the exemption from the CDSA is eventually granted.

Submit feedback via email directly to Toronto Public Health at [email protected] OR visit the following link to access the survey. 

​s.tphsurvey.chkmkt.com/?e=239638&h=70CC258973219E5&l=en


Date for Next SLNA Virtual Community Meeting 

Wednesday, September 29th, 2021
7:00 p.m.- 9:00 p.m.
Agenda will be announced next week

ZOOM Link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82710932790?pwd=VzZ3YzV4QmZ0emtrWHAyaEJpemU2Zz09
​

All Candidates Debate - Tonight, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.This is a collaborative virtual debate between The Politics and Governance Student Association and XUVotes (Formally known as Ryerson Votes) with support from the Faculty of Arts and The Democratic Engagement Exchange. This federal candidates debate for the Toronto Centre riding will highlight four candidates:

MP Marci Ien - Liberal Party Candidate
Annamie Paul - Green Party Leader and Candidate
Brian Chang - NDP Party Candidate
Ryan Lester - Conservative Party Candidate

This debate will be moderated by Martin Regg Cohn, a visiting practitioner in the Faculty of Arts and political columnist with The Toronto Star.
Tickets are free and can be accessed here.



Have Your Say About Market Street

Please fill in the survey at the link below and let Old Town Toronto know your thoughts on making Market St. a thoroughfare for pedestrians:

Market Street Survey
 
 

The Flatiron Building is Lit!

​Take a look at the Heritage Lighting that has been recently installed on our iconic Flatiron Building on Front St. at Wellington - photo courtesy of our local historian, Bruce Bell:


​
 
City of Toronto - Downtown East Initiatives

"There are two city initiative pilot programs that will start as part of the City’s Downtown East Action Plan.  The Downtown East area is bound by Bloor Street on the north, Front Street on the south, Bay Street on the west, and the Don Valley Parkway on the east.

“Here to Help De-Escalation Team” and “Community Care Clean up Team”: 

Community Care Harm Reduction Clean up Team (a partnership with PASAN, South Riverdale CHC, Dixon Hall and Street Health) provides 120 hours of proactive and response-based clean up a week of harm reduction supplies, main focus being needles.  The team operates Monday to Friday and will respond to request on private property (emphasis mine) as well.  To request a pick up can be done through email or by phone. 

Here to Help De-Escalation Team is a mobile crisis intervention de-escalation team that involves a partnership of 6 organizations (Gerstein Crisis Centre, Dixon Hall, Neighbourhood Group, Homes First, Seeds of Hope, Inner City Health Associates).  They will respond to non-violent situations or crises in the community, providing pro-active outreach and responding to calls for service.  For the moment, there is only one team of 2 people starting in the Church-Wellesley area, Tuesdays to Saturdays but will expand to South Cabbage Town/Moss Park area, 7 days a week once they hire more nurses.  A concern from police is how will these people be identified and suggestions were made to have some uniform or colour which can be readily identifiable."