 Community Support for Heritage Protection On February 14, residents of the St. Lawrence, Corktown (and possibly other communities) came out to walk around the Dominion Foundry heritage designated buildings on Eastern Ave. in the Canary District and to show their love of our neighbourhoods, our shared history, the preservation of our heritage architecture and inclusive development that provides real, diverse and needed housing while respecting our local planning priorities! To learn more about the history behind the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association's involvement in helping to pause this demolition, the next steps and how you can help, please click on the following link: https://www.respectlocalplanning.com/donate Thanks to all our political representatives who showed up to vocalize their on Feb. 14 especially our Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, leader of the Green Party Annamie Paul, and MPPs Suze Morrison and Chris Glover #friendsofthefoundry Next Important Step - CONSULTATION We need you to participate in the provincial government's recently announced consultation for the use of this "heritage" site. Please note the key issues with this consultation pointed out by the Friends of the Foundry in the comments below. We hope you can use their commentary as advice when submitting your feedback to the government. The Foundry Consultation Process: From the Friends of the Foundry The Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing announced that "new public consultation would be posted on the government's website." This has now appeared: a single web page with the title "Crown land for affordable housing on Eastern Avenue (Toronto)" two sentences of background information, and an email address. Words conspicuously absent from the page include"heritage", "building", "demolition", and the name of the site, "Dominion Wheel & Foundries Company". It is clear to us that the Ministry is trying to play "catch up" in the most minimal way possible: to "tick the boxes" on the things they didn't do before demolition, so that in court on February 26 they can say "we made a mistake, but all better now so there's no case." If we give feedback, they can say they received input from the community. If we don't, they can say the community's “stop demolition, start consultation" stance is insincere. This "consultation" looks like a one-way trip into a black hole. So, how to respond? We can resist by repeatedly asking for dialogue: showing an interest in the issue, but persistently asking them for clarification on how they will evaluate and use the input.Your task today, then, is to consider how you, as a citizen of Ontario, choose to respond to this call for consultation. Our suggestion:
Plus we'd love you to bcc us on your correspondence. Here is a link to their web page. Friends of the Foundry http://www.respectlocalplanning.com/ Download following article Next SLNA Meeting - Feb. 24 The next SLNA Community Montly Meeting will honour Black History Month with guest speaker Rosemary Sadlier. Rosemary is an Order of Ontario recipient and the former president of the Ontario Black History Society. As an educator Rosemary has developed and contributed to African Canadian curriculum and was an appointed member of the College of Early Childhood Educators. As an author Rosemary has written 7 books on African Canadian history. Most recently Rosemary was appointed Equality Lead for the Americas and the Caribbean with the Royal Commonwealth Society. This neighbourhood is historically where Toronto began and where many Black Canadians and Black Americans made their mark in history (to name a few: Thornton and Lucie Blackburn who escaped slavery in the United States to establish themselves as community leaders and activists in Toronto and well known anti-slave activist and publisher Mary Ann Shadd...). We look forward to the highlights of those historic profiles during Rosemary's presentation on February 24th - see you there! SLNA February 24 Community Meeting Agenda: Meeting Begins at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom - see link below.
Zoom Link (click to open) Or copy link below to your browser: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88163151751?pwd=Yk5OYUV0V0hpVU05VHVtZVFJQVB5dz09 Download the following article SLNA 2021 Annual General Meeting The SLNA will be hosting our next Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. on Zoom. Link will be provided in the coming weeks. MOTION FOR APPROVAL: That the SLNA appoint Hogg, Shain and Scheck as accountants to perform the financial review for fiscal 2021. Vacancy on the SLNA Board of DirectorsDue the expiry of the term of one of our Board Members there will be an opening on the SLNA Board of Directors. All SLNA building/condo/home association delegates are eligible to submit a nomination for this position. The election will take place during the March 24th SLNA Annual General Meeting. The Board vacancy is for a 3-year term of service. Board Member Responsibilities In addition to managing the affairs of the Association, SLNA Directors are required to attend the SLNA monthly Community Meeting which takes place ten times per year. Board members are also expected to participate in the monthly SLNA Board meeting which is held the second Wednesday of each month from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. DOWNLOAD NOMINATION FORM (NOTE: deadline for submission of nominations is March 17, 2021 ) Download the following article Major Changes: The Esplanade & Mill Streets FROM THE CITY OF TORONTO: The Esplanade and Mill Street are two important streets in the east part of downtown Toronto. They connect people to iconic destinations like the St. Lawrence Market and Distillery District, as well as parks such as Corktown Common, and David Crombie Park. Parliament Square Park is vital pedestrian connection between the two streets. Today, walking, cycling and transit make up nearly three-quarters of the trips in the St. Lawrence and Distillery District neighbourhood, yet there have been more than 340 collisions on this corridor in the last five years, 10 per cent involving people walking or cycling, and one per cent leading to serious injury or death. The Esplanade is also being used as a bypass to Front Street and Lower Jarvis Street. This non-local traffic leads to congestion, pollution and noise, and delays to TTC service. The City of Toronto is recommending changes to the way people move through and experience The Esplanade and Mill Street. These recommendations are based on Toronto City Council-approved policies and plans and data analysis. They are also informed by input from local stakeholders, including community groups, businesses, institutions and property owners along the corridor. The project’s goals are to:
View the video Participate in the Consultation Community residents, businesses and organizations are invited to a public consultation event on February 25th, 2021. The consultation will be an opportunity to learn about the proposed changes, ask questions and provide comments. Sign up for the Consultation Saving Canada's First Parliament Site Did you know some of the most historically significant buildings and sites in Ontario are located in and around Front St. in our St. Lawrence and Corktown neighbourhoods? So many buildings have already been destroyed over the decades. What we have left of Canada's First Parliament Site here in our neighbourhood needs to be protected from recent announcements indicating that the province may be taking over the land for varioius developments including transportation (Ontario Line). The following article by Rollo Myers (former manager of the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario) is a must read on the significance of this heritage site. Click to read article or copy this URL to your browser: http://spacing.ca/toronto/2021/02/08/op-ed-why-we-have-to-save-the-first-parliament-site/
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