The New Toronto Holiday Market is accepting vendor applications from August 9 to October 10. Proceeds from vendor table fees will go to support LAMP Community Health Centre. For more information, visit lakeshoregrounds.ca

Large market with vendors to be held at Mimico Square on August 12, starts at 10 a.m. All are welcome.

No one was hurt during a storm last week when a large mature tree fell on a car parked at Marie Curtis Park. Photo courtesy of Lorenda Reddekopp of CBC News.

A decision is expected this month in the fate
of a Long Branch megacondo project and the
relocation of more than 500 tenants who now
live in low rise apartments on the site.
Five residential towers have been proposed by
Promenade Co-Tenancy in an application filed
with the city in mid-April, which seeks to
redevelop 220, 230, and 240 Lake Promenade,
and 21 and 31 Park Boulevard, opposite Long
Branch Park and gazebo.
The five seven-storey buildings will be
demolished and rebuilt by two 12-storey
rental buildings, a 14-storey condo and a
30-storey condo building with two 30-storey towers sitting
on a six storey podium. There are ongoing meetings to
stop or curb the project and more than 100 residents
showed up for a site visit on July 15 attended by Councillor

Amber Morley, city planners and the developer.
Christine Mercado, of Long Branch Neighbourhood
Association, said city officials have 30 days to make a
decision, which can be appealed.
“This is a very divisive issue in the
community,”Mercado said. “We are
concerned about the relocation of tenants in
the 548 units as the construction takes place”.
She said many of the tenants are seniors, who
have been living there for a long time, some
as long as 50 years.
Resident and an organizer Patti Pokorchak
said more than 765 residents have signed a
petition and in excess of $1,500 collected on
a Go Fund Me page to fight the development.
Pokorchak said 97 units, or around 200
tenants, at 21 Park Blvd will be temporarily relocated as
developers tear that down and double the size of the
building. There will be a total of 2,021 suites, of which
1,444 would be market condo suites.

Members of the 69-year-old Etobicoke Swim Club
keeps getting faster capturing more records at
the 2023 Summer Ontario Swimming Championships
and other meets.

A record was broken in the women’s 200 medley relay
last month, where Etobicoke swimmers Delia
Lloyd, Victoria Edgar, Victoria Raymond
and Maya Bezanson combined for a
1:55.27 breaking the old record of 1:55.98 set by another Etobicoke relay in 2009.
Etobicoke was the home club of World
Champion Summer McIntosh, now 16, before
she left to train in Toronto and eventually
Florida.
McIntosh retained her world title in the women’s
200-metre butterfly final on July 25 at the World
Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
She finished in two minutes, 4.06 seconds — a
new Canadian and world junior record.

Another Etobicoke speedster Ella Jansen, 17,
swam 4:40.65 in the 400 metres to become the
fastest girl at her age in Ontario’s history. That
swim broke a record previously set in 2013.
Jansen’s record came before a trip to Asia to
compete as part of Swimming Canada’s team for the 2023 Aquatics Championships
held last July 14 to 30.
Etobicoke swimmers Ella Jansen, Hanna Henderson and Ruslan Gaziev were selected
to represent Team Canada at the Championships in Japan.
Also members of Toronto’s RAMAC Aquatic Club combined to set a new Ontario
record in the men’s 200 free relay.
Swimmers Eric Ginzburg , Yichi Zhang, Reid Tichy and Dillon Fernando combined to
knock half-a-second off the old record set in 2018.

And Madisyn Kryger, 14, from Brock
Niagara Aquatics, swam 1:02.21 in the 100
backstroke that knocked half-a-second off her
best time from March’s Canadian Trials and
breaks a provincial record.
Top Etobicoke Swim Club members Kevin
Zhang, Delia Lloyd, Ella Jansen, Elan Daley
and Victoria Raymond were selected to
represent Canada at the 2023 World Jr.
Swimming Championships being held
September 4 to 9 in Netanya, Israel.
Five of the World Jr. contenders are from
Etobicoke Swim Club and one from Toronto.
Canada will send 26 swimmers to the Isreali
tournament which will feature more than 600 promising young swimmers from more
than 100 countries.
At the 2019 World Junior Championships, Canadians including Josh Liendo, Finlay
Knox, Emma O’Croinin, and Jade Hannah won
individual medals. Liendo won a silver medal and
set a new Canadian record at the World
Aquatics Championships in Japan.
The 20-year-old
from Markham, finished second in the 100-metre butterfly final in a time of 50.34
seconds. He is the first Black swimmer to capture a silver medal.
The Etobicoke Swim Club has a long and rich history of service to the Etobicoke
community. Since 1954 it has been training children and young adults in competitive
swimming with outstanding results. The club has produced many national, international
and Olympic swimmers and has been provincial and national champions many times
over. Today it has more than 270 swimmers competing for Etobicoke.

The province has taken notice as some municipalities
complain about being squeezed for more ambulances
and paramedics.
The Ontario government is making it easier for students
who want to become badly-needed paramedics.
The province is adding more than 300 spaces in
paramedic programs in Ontario colleges this year,
according to Etobicoke-Lakeshore MPP Christine
Hogarth.
An expanded Ontario Learn and Stay Grant will provide
students studying in the first year of a paramedic
program in 2023-2024 at select post secondary
institutions with funding for free tuition, books,
compulsory fees and other direct educational costs.
After graduating, students will need to work in the same
region they studied for a minimum of six months for
every full year of study funded by the grant.

“There is a significant demand for paramedics in
communities across the province,” said Sylvia Jones,
Deputy Premier and Minister of
Health. “In partnership with the
Ontario Association of Paramedic
Chiefs, we are strengthening
Ontario’s paramedic workforce
for years to come.”
She said more student spaces in
primary care paramedic programs
at Ontario colleges will make it
easier for future paramedics to
access education and training
closer to home.
“Expanding the pipeline of talent
for the future will also help
bolster the paramedic workforce
and make sure emergency
services are available to respond to emergencies,“
according to a release.

The province is also giving paramedics the flexibility to
treat additional 9-1-1 patients – including those with
diabetes and epilepsy – at home, on scene, or in
appropriate community-based settings instead of in
emergency departments.
“These new spots will play a critical role in addressing
the current shortage of paramedics by preparing more
highly-skilled health care professionals to enter the
workforce and provide the excellent care Ontarians
deserve,” said Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and
Universities. “
“This is an incredibly important investment in the
paramedic programs at Ontario’s public colleges,“ said
Marketa Evans, president and CEO, Colleges Ontario.
“It will bolster Ontario’s health-care workforce and
improve the delivery of emergency services throughout
the province.“
“The province is making it easier for people and
their families to connect to the care they need,“
Hogarth added. “By helping those who want to
train and work in Ontario and hiring more health
care workers to help communities build up their
own health workforces.”
Funding from the 2023
Ontario Budget
Dedicated Offload
Nurses Program
(DONP) increased by
$51 million over three
years to support
municipalities in
reducing ambulance
offload delays,
providing funding for dedicated nurses to offload
patients in hospital emergency rooms.
Colleges offering the paramedic program are Algonquin
College, Cambrian College, Centennial College, Collège
Boréal, Collège La Cité, Conestoga College,
Confederation College, Durham College, Fanshawe
College, Georgian College, Lambton College, Northern
College, St. Clair College and St. Lawrence College.

Most people driving by Portland Road can see a hive
of construction activity without knowing what is being
built on the former industrial lands.
Two mixed use towers rising to 32 and 48 storeys will
be sprouting from the site that is referred as 21 – 25
Windsor, but consists of properties from 21 through
31 Windsor Street, 18 Buckingham Street,
93 Portland Street, and 60 Newcastle
Street.
The megaproject is bounded by Portland
Street to the north, Buckingham Street to
the east, Newcastle Street to the south,
Windsor Street to the west
Developer Diamante Development has
submitted applications for Official Plan
Amendment and Zoning By-law
Amendment for the site that is within
walking distance of Mimico GO station.

It will include an eight storey podium,
while a 12-storey mid-rise building also is
proposed along with a smaller 7-storey
mid-rise building.
The project would replace the existing
low-rise light industrial and commercial
buildings with a transit-oriented mixeduse development.
It will include 978 units for the two tallest
towers and 120 units for the mid-rise
buildings.
The podium connecting the high-rises would feature
retail and office uses.
There will be a park in the northwest corner of the site
along with a mid-block section for vehicular and
pedestrian movement.
Parking would be in two underground parking garages
for the high-rises and mid-rise. There will be 308
residential parking spaces and 877 bicycle parking spots.
Other development activity surrounding Mimico GO,
includes the multi-phase Grand Park Village and four
towers proposed at 39 Newcastle on the south side of
Newcastle Street