By Tanya Vividly

About 100 residents braved the snow and elements to attend a two candidates debate at the Daily Bread Food Bank.

Liberal contender Lee Fairclough and NDP hopeful Rozhen Asrani were the only candidates who showed up to face questions from members of the community weeks before the February 27 Ontario election.

Etobicoke Lakeshore MPP Christine Hogarth and listed Green Party candidate Sean McClockin were not available.

This February 12 event was sponsored by LAMP CHC and Second Harvest. It was hosted by Daily Bread CEO Neil Hetherington.

Also there was MP James Maloney and interested community members.

There was a discussion of concerns in the community ranging from a proposed shelter on Third Street, food insecurity, affordable housing and improving healthcare.

Both candidates were in support of a shelter to help the homeless.

Members of the audience were encouraged to submit written questions for the candidates to answer.

The candidates were well-informed and articulate. Fairclough has over 25 years of leadership in healthcare. She has dedicated her career to improving the lives of people in that she started as a radiation therapist at Princess Margaret Hospital.

She was at one time the President of St. Mary’s General Hospital, where she guided her team through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, working with public health, local businesses, and community leaders to protect vulnerable populations.

Fairclough, who was also a former competitive athlete and member of Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team at the 1998 World Cup, has a Master’s Degree in Health Policy and is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.

Asrani was a former president of the Mimico Residents Association and community advocate.

She holds a degree in Economics from the University of Toronto, and has worked for nine years in healthcare technology and innovation. She is now a Senior Product Manager in Digital Health.

Rozhen is running to represent Etobicoke-Lakeshore, believing the area deserves strong leadership and real change.

 

Area residents wishing to vote early to beat the rush for the February 27 Ontario election can do so at an Evans Avenue banquet hall.

The early votes can be cast at the Trident Banquet Hall, enter through doors under YHO sign, at 145 Evans Avenue.

The candidates vying for the Etobicoke Lakeshore provincial riding are PC Christine Hogarth, health care worker Lee Fairclough running for the Liberal Party, Rozhen Asrani of the Ontario NDP and Sean NcClocklin, of the Green Party.

The polling station will remain open until February 26 and the hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday. They are open until 5 p.m. on Sunday.

To be eligible to vote you must be 18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen and resident of Ontario. ID is required to vote in a provincial election.

Photo ID is not required when you go to vote and you do not need to provide any information about your sex or gender expression.

ID can be shown on a mobile device. International ID or permanent resident cards are not accepted.

A list of polling stations will be released on February 14. Voters can also vote by mail by visiting elections.on.ca

 

Two Toronto police officers were hospitalized with minor injuries after being assaulted by a driver when they stopped a vehicle from entering a film shoot on Evans Avenue.

The two are among 10 officers injured on the job in the last week.

Toronto police say the incident happened on February 12 just before 1 p.m. in the area of Evans Avenue and Brown’s Line, just south of the Gardiner Expressway.

There are a number of film studios in the area with film shoots taking place.

The officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries in the assault, police say.

A male driver of a vehicle, in his 40s, has been arrested and face charges.

The incident comes days after another police officer sustained a head injury while responding to a call in North York on February 10.

The officers are recuperating at home.

About 200 concerned and sometimes boisterous residents showed up to express their mixed opinions at a meeting on a proposed 80-bed homeless shelter on Third Street.

A large hall at Humber College was packed with an overflow crowd as Toronto Police and security officers looked on as residents asked questions and tried to obtain information from speakers on the planned shelter for the homeless on the site of a City parking lot at 66 Third Street.

There were many against the shelter and those who support the project, one of 19 proposed citywide to help the homeless population. Many said they support the facility but not the location.

City shelters have to turn away more than 200 hundreds homeless nightly in this freezing weather due to a lack of beds.

Many of those at the meeting were asking why there wasn’t public consultation on the planned shelter, which is expected to be completed by 2030.

MP James Maloney was in attendance along with Ward 3 Councillor Amber Morley, who has said she fully support the shelter and faced a number of questions.

Morley said she had no say in the location of the shelter, which was among 100 sites examined by City officials.

MPP Christine Hogarth in a recent letter said her office has been fielding calls as to a lack of public meeting.

Hogarth has written Morley stating that a lack of public consultation is troubling.

“I am hearing growing sentiment that such a significant decision should have involved community input from the outset, not after the site was chosen.”

Many residents against the proposed shelter warned it will be close to two elementary schools and a seniors residence.

The community has been mobilizing as City crews conduct surveys and pre-construction work on the project.

More than 2,000 people have signed an online petition against the facility, and less than 200 had signed a second petition in support of the shelter.

Almost $6,000 has been raised on a Go Fund Me page created by a group called The New Toronto Initiative.

“It’s important that this decision involves more thoughtful planning and community input to ensure the best outcome for both shelter clients and local residents,” according to the group.

No other meetings or initiatives are planned.

A world-class New Toronto marathoner who was a member of the New Toronto Wall of Fame has passed away.

Jerome Drayton, who ran in the Olympics and was among a handful of Canadians to win the famed Boston Marathon, is being mourned by area residents.

Drayton, who was well-known in the community, died unexpectedly on February 10 at the age of 80.

The avid runner took part in the 1976 Montreal Olympics and was also the last Canadian to win the Boston Marathon.

He beat thousands of top runners in the Boston street race to make it to the finish line in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 16 seconds. Canadian Gerard Cote won the event four times in the 1940s.

“The Boston Marathon was a tough race,” Drayton recalled in an earlier interview. “The race often intrigued me as it had not been won by a Canadian since 1948.”

Drayton during his running career won dozens of races; including the Fukuoka International Marathon in Japan, which he won three times. He also placed second in the New York City Marathon in 1975 and placed sixth in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal.

Drayton held the Canadian Men’s Marathon record for 43 years. In 1978, he was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

He has lived in South Etobicoke since 1957, first for decades in Mimico, before moving to New Toronto. The athlete moved to Canada from Russia with his parents as a young boy and at one time ran back and forth from Mimico to downtown Toronto to work at a government job.

You may have passed by his portrait many times as it is painted with other high-achieving residents on a Lake Shore Village BIA Wall of Fame, which graces the side of a pharmacy on Sixth Street.

“I loved the running which I did for enjoyment,” he said in 2024. “I also loved travelling to different places to race.”

Visitation will be held on February 13, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Cardinal Funeral Home, 92 Annette Street.

His funeral service will be held on February 14 at 11 a.m. at St. Volodymyr Cathedral, 400 Bathurst Street. Burial to follow at St. Volodymyr Cemetery in Oakville.

Donations in his honour can be made to the Canadian Olympic Foundation.

A former Toronto Police Drug Squad officer was forfeited 10 days with pay and ordered to take a firearms safety course after his service weapon was stolen at Sherway Gardens Mall.

Const. Eugene Lee, 51, was off-duty when he went to Sherway Gardens on February 2023 and left his gun in a backpack on the back seat of his personal vehicle.

When he returned after about six hours of shopping his vehicle had been broken into in the parking lot and the backpack with his Glock firearm was gone.

The 14-year veteran of the force was suspended with pay after being charged with careless storage of a firearm and careless storage of ammunition, which were dropped.

A Toronto Police Disciplinary Hearing in a decision last month said the weapon has never been located and can be used to injure someone if it ends up in the hands of a ‘bad actor.”

Lee faced Police Act charges of insubordination and discreditable conduct.

“The firearm was stored unloaded and without ammunition,” according to the decision. “It was not locked up in any secure receptacle nor was there a trigger lock on it.”

Tribunals Hearings Officer Inspector Susan Gomes said the force takes the incident very seriously.

“… police officers are prohibited from carrying their issued firearm, or issued magazines while off duty except when travelling to or from duty.”

”A multi-hour stop into a restaurant does not qualify,” according to the decision, which said Lee contacted his supervisors right away and accepted full responsibility for the incident.

‘Constable Lee carelessly storing his firearm, having it stolen and not recovered is simply damage to the Service’s reputation,” the decision warned.

Submissions made said Lee’s carelessness was completely unacceptable, and that if this were to occur again, ‘the Service will take it extremely seriously and dismissal may be requested.’

“The police issued firearm is unaccounted for and out in the public, where it may be used for violence, or even for the responsibility of taking a life,” the tribunal was told. “… this behaviour cannot be tolerated.”

The tribunal heard from Lee who expressed his remorse stating he was willing to accept the punishment and to return to work.

The hearing was told that during his policing career Lee had earned 32 awards and letters of recognition, which included 25 award recommendations, six letters of appreciation and a corporate award.

Lee’s supervisors told the hearing that he is an honest person, with integrity and true core values.

“He owned his mistake immediately and faced it head on,” one manager said. “He has proven that no one is perfect, and mistakes happen to everyone, and has expressed feeling terrible about what happened.”

Lee has to report for a firearms safety course at the Toronto Police College.

Residents are asked to rally around the Canadian flag as it turns 60 and Canada-U.S. tariff talks escalate.

Community residents are asked to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the Canadian flag on February 15.

At noon on that day there will be a celebration of the flag at the flagpole at Eighth Street and Lake Shore Blvd. W.

Organizers said it is a good time to rally around the Canadian flag especially with political leadership vacuum in Ottawa, elections in Ontario and a U.S. tariff fight on our hands.

“We have to rally and show how proud we are to be Canadian,”’ said area resident Chris Korwin-Kuczynski, who has been spearheading the flag drive for years. “We have to rally around our flag.”

He and other are calling for a Canadian National Flag Day for people to pay respect to our flag to be established on February 15.

This flag day there will be a birthday cake to be shared, some words by MP James Maloney, music by the Royal Canadian Navy Band and more.

“It’s the Maple Leaf forever,” Korwin-Kuczynski said. “The flag is a symbol of our country.”

The Canadian National Flag was officially adopted on February 15, 1965. The flag was designed by historian George Stanley and approved by Parliament in 1964. Queen Elizabeth II signed a royal proclamation ratifying the flag on January 28, 1965.

The flag was showcased at Expo ’67 in 1967, Canada’s 100th birthday year.

The National Flag of Canada, though simple with its red and white colours and a single maple leaf, is respected around the world and symbolizes pride and strength throughout Canadian history.

Those wishing to vote early for the February 27 Ontario election can do so at an Evans Avenue banquet hall.

The early votes can be cast at the Trident Banquet Hall, enter through doors under YHO sign, at 145 Evans Avenue.

The candidates vying for the Etobicoke Lakeshore provincial riding are PC Christine Hogarth, health care worker Lee Fairclough running for the Liberal Party, Rozhen Asrani of the Ontario NDP and Sean NcClocklin, of the Green Party.

Asrani said on her website that after moving to Mimico with her wife in 2021, she became President of the Mimico Residents Association, advocating for local issues like responsible development and infrastructure improvements.

Motivated by the lack of effective leadership on key community challenges, Rozhen believes the area deserves strong leadership and real change.

Many Hogarth and some Fairclough signs are visible in the community.

“I am working hard to earn the trust and vote of the people in Etobicoke-Lakeshore,” Fairclough said.

 She has more than 27 years of experience working in health care in a variety of roles related to the delivery of care in hospitals, leadership, and policy, 18 years in a leadership capacity.

She was also President of St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener leading a team through the pandemic.

McClocklin has been a long-time Green Party organizer and former riding president.

The polling station will remain open until February 26 and the hours are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Monday to Saturday. They are open until 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Voters can also vote by mail by visiting elections.on.ca

To be eligible to vote you must be 18 years of age or older, a Canadian citizen and resident of Ontario. ID is required to vote in a provincial election.

Photo ID is not required when you go to vote and you do not need to provide any information about your sex or gender expression.

ID can be shown on a mobile device. International ID or permanent resident cards are not accepted.

To be eligible to vote, you must be: 18 years of age older, a Canadian citizen and a resident of Ontario. A list of polling day stations will be released on February 14.