The City is looking at acquiring land in Etobicoke or other parts of Toronto to help build a Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation.

A report by City executive Vic Gupta was sent on February 2 to the Board of Directors of CreateTO dealing with the pending acquisition or disposition of land by the City for a Somali Centre.

The Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation is a registered non-profit organization led by a group of Somali Canadian young professionals from across Ontario aiming to create a cultural recreation and community space for their countrymen in Toronto.

The organization said there has been a 40-year effort from the community to develop a culture and recreation centre in Toronto to address the needs of their under-served community.

The main goal of this centre is to create a “central space for the Somali community to gather and receive culturally appropriate community services from non-profit service providers and agencies.”

Toronto City Council adopted a motion in July 2022 to direct CreateTO staff to work with the Somali Centre on a feasibility study to identify potential sites for the facility.

City officials led a site search of all City-owned properties based on requirements from the Somali Centre and that of new community recreation centres.

The motion asked City officials to work with the Somali Centre and report back once a viable site has been identified with details on site due diligence, the operational model and financial strategy.

Canada is home to over 65,555 people with Somali ancestry, making it one of the countries with the highest number of Somali diaspora, according to the 2021 Census. There are about 20,000 Somalis in the Toronto area with the largest concentration in the City’s west end.

The Somali community is part of the wider population of 265,005 Torontonians of African descent.

A 2017 City plan to Confront Anti-Black Racism reported historically rooted anti-Black racism is faced by populations of African descent, who reported  their neighbourhoods felt like a ‘service desert’ with a lack of community and social services that serve their area.

A survey by 2,500 Somalians show most wanted the Centre to be located in either the Etobicoke or York areas. Many requested a basketball court, with others seeking a fitness centre, family childcare centre and venue for community events.

“Participants noted that prominent arches inspired by traditional Somali architecture should be integrated to create a welcoming ambiance,” according to the survey. “Participants recommended that the Somali Centre should stand as a symbol of cultural pride and environmental responsibility.”

They felt strongly that the Centre should actively work to support Somalis who need help and to provide settlement services for newcomers.

City staff were asked to report back with an update on the Centre, which may include next steps on the financial strategy, operating model, site selection and lease or license arrangements, design and development.

One nature advocacy group say they’ve been calling for years for a public, year-round washroom at Colonel Samuel Smith Park without luck.

“We are concerned that there are no open washroom in the park,” said Terry Smith, of Friends of Samuel Smith Park (FOSS). “The park is increasingly used by more people.”

He said there is a dire need for an all-year washroom at the park and it is most obvious when they conduct annual cleanups and volunteers venture in the bushy areas with garbage bags.

Smith said washrooms are available for park users at a nearby Ken Cox Community Centre, a Tim Hortons at Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive and the Power House, but they are shut early and on the weekends.

It took years before Marie Curtis Park obtained a public all-year washroom and that required pressure from the community and park users.

Toronto city council approved a Washroom Enhancement Program in November 2021 to allow for more public park washrooms to stay open in the winter months.

But groups claim progress has been slow and there still aren’t enough places to go in Toronto when nature calls.

The program, implemented by the Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) department involves upgrading the plumbing, insulation, heating and other electrical equipment in existing park washrooms.

When the program began, only 17 of the 187 standalone washrooms maintained by the PFR department were open year-round. There are now more than 60 public park washrooms today.

One advocacy group claims Toronto continues to lag far behind other cities in terms of access to public washrooms, especially in the winter months.

City officials said most of the washrooms are up to 80-years-old and are not designed or constructed for all-year use.

Park users said a lack of washrooms impacts the quality of life in Toronto and increase barriers for vulnerable populations.

“If we don’t have enough, people will find other places to go,” one group said. “It makes it worse for health, for safety and just human rights and human dignity.”

A life-saving program is underway to help preserve the endangered Snapping Turtle living at Colonel Samuel Smith Park.

The project by the Friends of Samuel Smith Park (FOSS) and High Park Turtle Protectors (HPTP) has saved about 90 Snapping Turtle hatchlings around the North Creek Wetland in the five-hectare lakefront park.

“Our inaugural Turtle Monitoring Project has been a success,” FOSS members said. “About 90 Snapping Turtle hatchlings have to date been successfully “escorted” to the water by turtle monitors.”

FOSS member Terry Smith said by joining forces with the Indigenous-guide High Park group, FOSS will benefit from their expertise and operational procedures.

“They (HPTP) will provide the protectors for nesting Snapping Turtles and Midland Painted Turtles as well as a storage shed for them in Sam Smith,” Smith said. “They will put up signs around the wetland area with a hotline number to report laying females and emerging hatchlings.”

The group will also provide a training programme for volunteer monitors and FOSS will have quick access to a biologist with lots of experience and expertise with turtles.

He said to preserve the hatchlings, protective covers are placed over where the eggs are buried in the soft sandy soil and when they are hatched around June the baby turtles are escorted to the water by volunteers.

“We are advised by the High Park Turtle Protectors that Snapping Turtle eggs, unlike Midland Painted, cannot survive the winter,” Smith said. “They freeze solid and become unviable.”

He said statistics show the highest density of painted turtles amongst the Lake’s coastal wetlands at Samuel Smith Park.

The baby turtles are eaten by foxes, skunks or raccoons and have to be protected.

“The loss of even a few adult turtles from a population every year is enough to cause that population to decline, and this makes snapping turtle populations very vulnerable to threats such as road mortality, hunting and poaching,” officials said.

Many are killed by vehicles in the summer as they try to cross roads in search of mates, food and nest sites.

The snapping turtle is listed as Special Concern under both the Ontario Endangeed Species Act and the federal Species at Risk Act. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the global status of the snapping turtle as Least Concern.

They can live up to 70-years-old.

FOSS has also set up boxes to protect another endangered species, the Tree Swallows, which arrive early from their winter vacation in the southern states and Central America.

The birds inhabit Swallow Field, which is located south of the waterfront trail that runs through the park and immediately east of the yacht club.  FOSS has been installing dozens of Tree Swallow nest boxes there over the past ten years.  There are now more than sixty boxes in the park.

Every spring, volunteers prepare the boxes for the swallows by cleaning them out, repairing and sterilizing them against parasite.

The birds start turning up in the last week of March and are present in the park in large numbers by the middle of April.

Some 254 trees are proposed to be cut down with the construction of a new building to expand the R.C. Clarke Filtration Plant in Long Branch, according to a study and a local wildlife group.

The building will be located on the eastern side of Pumping Station at the filtration plant site, at 45 Twenty Third Street, near the western boundary of Samuel Smith Park.

“The building will be located on their property in the south-east corner of the large open space south of the dog park,” according to a newsletter by the Friends of Samuel Smith Park (FOSS). “It will house a new generator system which will be used to power the operations of the existing water treatment facility.”

The group said the generator system will be connected to the electrical distribution system inside the buildings via a buried duct and a service driveway will be built over top of the duct bank along the east side of the property.”

The existing generators are more than 60-years-old and it is difficult to find parts for maintenance. The new generators will provide sufficient electrical capacity to power the plant for up to 72 hours during a utility power outage and to reduce energy costs when utility power is available.

Construction is due to start in the winter or spring of 2025. The facility will provide more clean water required in the growing Toronto and York Region.

The group said of the proposed 254 trees to be removed from the property, 19 may face injury and only 15 replacement plantings are required by Toronto Forestry private property bylaws since all the trees are small, being less than 30-centimetres in diameter and 1.4-metres in height.

“It does appear that the small woodlot just northeast of the dog park will be gone as well as a portion of the woodlot at the south-east end of their property inside their boundary fence,” the FOSS newsletter said, adding no public consultations seems to be planned.

“Replacement trees will be planted south and west of the plant as well as some new plantings alongside the service road,” according to FOSS. “Some of the impacted areas mentioned above will no doubt have an effect on natural space and wildlife habitat in the park’s adjacent environs.”

FOSS said ‘trees selected for removal pose a barrier to construction or are not healthy and may pose a hazard.’

“Trees selected for injury may be encroached upon and require pruning; however, permanent adverse affects are not expected,” according to the newsletter.

“Planted trees shall be in good condition with healthy roots and no damage or presence of disease, and shall have a healthy caliper (minimum 50-mm), preferably balled and burlapped,” the group wrote.  “Selected trees shall be native and planted as soon as possible after construction has finished, within locations within locations proximal to the affected areas.”

The survey said replacement trees shall be watered with deep, infrequent soakings for at least two years during the dry season. Follow-up inspections shall be carried out to confirm species growth and health.

The R.L. Clark Water Treatment Plant (WTP) is one of four water treatment plants operated by the City of Toronto’s Water Division, according to the facility.

The plant operates year-round to supply water 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is a conventional water treatment plant that began operation in 1968. The current average daily production at the plant is 356 m Megaliters per day,egaliters per day (MLD), with a maximum capacity of 615 MLD, supplying treated water for residents and businesses across the City of Toronto and York Region.

The company also has a plan for nesting and bird migration once the trees have been removed.

To avoid harm to birds, it is recommended that trees and any other vegetative removals are planned outside of the nesting period from April 1 to August 31. If vegetation removals cannot occur outside this period, a qualified biologist will perform detailed nest sweeps and provide applicable mitigation as required.

Toronto’s top cop warns that car thieves are getting more bolder and violent and 12,000 vehicles were stolen in the city last year or about one every 40 minutes.

Chief Myron Demkiw told an anti-car theft summit in Ottawa that 34 vehicles are stolen in Toronto every day.

He said the theft of 12,000 cars in Toronto yearly amounted to about $790 million last year.

The Chief said home invasions and break and enters for auto theft occurrences rose 400 per cent last year, with a total of 202 incidents.

Carjackings have also seen a dramatic rise in Toronto, with 233 occurrences reported last year, the Chief said.

“That’s over 50 per cent of all incidents reported in the GTA,” he said. “Toronto has experienced a dramatic spike in auto thefts over the last several years – more, by far, than any other city in Canada.”

He said less than half of the stolen vehicles are recovered.

Demkiw said since 2018 Toronto police has recovered 46 per cent of stolen vehicles, totalling more than 20,000 vehicles, and have arrested 1,300 offenders and laid over 5,000 related charges.

“I am very concerned about the escalation of violence, threats and intimidation, where all sorts of weapons and firearms are being used to steal vehicles,” he said.

Police are also concerned about the ability of the justice system to deal with repeat offenders.

“Whether it’s a carjacking or a home invasion, criminals are becoming increasingly brazen in their efforts to steal vehicles, and causing residents across Toronto an incredible amount of fear and anxiety,” the Chief warned.

He noted that it requires little skill to steal a vehicle and the thieves can get quick cash in return.

It is reported that the thieves can be paid as much as $5,000 by organized crime for every car they steal.

In most cases the stolen vehicles within hours are driven into containers and end up being sold around the world by criminal groups.

“Stealing cars is lucrative and the demand is incredibly high,” Demkiw noted. “Criminals migrate towards an easy pay day.”

Police here have created a Provincial Carjacking Joint Task Force, with the support of the Government of Ontario, and co-led by the Toronto Police Service and the OPP.

He said all levels of government and private industries, including vehicle manufacturers, port authorities and shipping companies have to work together in a common goal of fighting organized crime and keeping our communities safe.

Car owners are again urged to secure their vehicles by locking them, to use a steering wheel bar lock, tracking devices, park in their garage, install security lights or cameras, and park their expensive cars behind others in the driveway.

 

 

Loud noise is in the top three complaints received by the City from residents.

Among the most noise complaints received are from all-night garbage trucks and the banging around of garbage cans.

One councillor is seeking that all garbage trucks be registered and licensed so the noise from trucks can be monitored and acted upon by a Noise Reduction Team.

The individual trucks can have their licenses revoked if there are a number of noise complaints filed against them by residents.

“Licensed garbage trucks can help to reduce the noise that now exists,” according to Ward 11 Councillor Dianne Saxe, who represents University-Rosedale. “There are many complaints by residents from the all-night garbage trucks.”

Councillor Ausma Malik, of Ward 10, Spadina Fort York, said there has to be more enforcement of garbage truck noise.

“It is one of the most complaints we get,” she said. “Noise is among the top three complaints that the City receives.”

The debate led to Council approval of a review of the noise by-law, in regards to the Night Economy Program to take affect and loud vehicles.

Residents are urged to phone 311 to complain about loud motorcycles and vehicles so the complaints can be recorded.

Councillors heard that Ward 3 Etobicoke Lakeshore is one of the areas in the City with the loudest vehicles and more enforcement measures are required.

Councillor Mike Colle said people work different shifts in Toronto and there will always be some noise.

“We don’t want to live in a sterile city with no noise,” Colle said.

The noise issue is being reviewed by City Council.

City plans are underway to rename the Jane-Dundas Library and Dundas Subway station after prominent Black civil rights activists.

Members of the Confronting Anti-Black Racism Advisory Committee were instrumental in having Yonge Dundas Square renamed Sankofa Square by early next year.

The issue was brought up by the Committee last month in regards to the Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Renaming Civic Assets bearing the Henry Dundas name.

The committee was asked to have Jane-Dundas Library renamed later this year.

The members suggested the names of two prominent Black Torontonians which can be used for replacing Dundas, who fell out of grace due to his ties to the slave trade.

Lawyer Charles Roach, who was born in Trinidad, fought in court for many marginalized Black and minority people, including members of the U.S. Blank Panthers who sought refuge in Canada.

A civil rights lawyer, Roach was an activist and leader in Toronto’s Black community who fought tirelessly for social justice and equality for marginalized communities.

Roach never obtained Canadian citizenship because of his refusal to swear the Oath of Citizenship, as it contains a promise to bear allegiance to the Canadian monarch.

He passed away in October 2012.

Another name placed for consideration was another civil rights activist, Dudley Laws.

Laws is described as a Canadian civil rights icon who as Executive Director of the Black Action Defence Committee, which worked to combat anti-Black racism in policing.

He was vocal and staged protests against Toronto Police for a string of shootings in the 1970s and 1980s of young unarmed Black men. The demonstrations led to the formation of the Special Investigations Unit to investigate police behaviour in 1990.

The British-born activist lived most of his life in Canada and passed away in March 2011.

City officials were called on to undertake public education campaign to acknowledge the impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and slavery in keeping with the International Decade for People of African Descent and report back to Council later this year.

There was also a request for Mayor Olivia Chow to consider funding the program $50,000 in 2024 and 2025.

A plan to build a 33-storey, 10-storey towers and new roadway in Mimico is moving ahead with many residents expressing displeasure of the proposal.

A large sign has been installed in front of 2405 Lake Shore Blvd. W., notifying residents that ‘change has been proposed on this site.’

The proposal will be heard by the Ontario Land Tribunal in a 10-day video hearing on July 8.

The signage shows an outline of the towers planned and state notifications will be posted of public meetings of the proposed mega development.

The proposal if approved will lead to the demolition of 2405, 2407, 2409, 2411 and 2417 Lake Shore Blvd. W., between Mimico and Superior Avenues to construct a 33-storey and 10-storey towers that will contain 471 residential rental apartments in mixed sizes.

There would be retail space at the ground floor level, residential uses above, and two underground levels of parking, according to the proposal.

The proposal includes a portion of land from Amos Waites Park to be used for a new public road, which will be located to the south of the planned building site. The road would provide additional public road frontage to Amos Waites Park, allowing the park to be publicly accessible on three sides.

The plan has left many Mimico residents concerned about the magnitude of the project and what it will do to a low-density community.

Area resident and community activist Alex “Sandy” Cameron said he is opposed to the current proposal because it is too large ‘for the location and does not fit in.’

“I do not believe that this project can start until public consultation has occurred,” Cameron said. “I do not believe that has happened yet.”

He is seeking further information from City officials.

Rozhen Asrani,  President, of the Mimico Residents Association (MRA), in a letter last October to City officials said the MRA supports city staff’s position in opposing this file at the Ontario Land Tribunal.

“We do not feel the current iteration of this proposal would appropriately address the needs of our community,” Asrani wrote. “The applicant has not yet participated in any form of community engagement and the proposal contradicts many of the fundamental objectives of the Mimico-by-the-lake Secondary Plan.”

The MRA said given Mimico’s proximity to higher level transit and the abundant underutilized lands, ‘we understand that our community is a prime location for intensification.’

“This being said, we do not feel the current iteration of this proposal would appropriately address the needs of our community,” the association noted.

The MRA said affected tenants should be provided interim housing in the neighbourhood at current rental rates, provided financial aid for their hardships, and opportunity to return at current rent.

The group said about 15 per cent of the units should be affordable housing.

It said a new planned roadway is too close to Amos Waites park and will have an impact on the park, a children’s playground, Mimico pool and Mimico Square.

A City report is calling for a Dedicated Noise Team of by-law officers or ‘noise cops’ to crack down on the increasing amount of construction and other noise in Toronto.

The By-Law Enforcement Officers will be armed with devices to measure the levels of noise from construction sites, vehicles and home air conditioners and issue tickets if it is over mandated limits.

The report if approved will see increased fines for noise, or mobile noise radar guns erected in noisy areas of the City, which can be monitored and tickets issued for loud vehicles by the Dedicated Noise Team.

The OPP and Toronto Police will also be called to help monitor and squash the noise.

Toronto Police will be able to ticket for loud City noise and the OPP will be given powers to test the loudness of vehicles on the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway, once details are worked out with the Government of Ontario.

Residents can also be ticketed for noise from a stationery vehicle as sounding a horn or revving an engine ‘or any sound that is clearly audible at a point of reception,’ according to the report to be presented to City Council on February 6.

Residents also face fines for loud air conditioners to be measured by by-law officers with noise measuring guns.

Sound limits will range from 45 decibels from 11 p.m. to 7.a.m. or 50 decibels from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

People can be exempted from loud noise citations providing they obtain a permit certified by a professional engineer or acoustical consultant.

The report said provincial environmental noise guidelines will be updated to provide clear communications to the public and industry regarding the province’s role and authority.

The City said the provisions if approved will take effect by June this year and the sound level guidelines includes; 13 to 16 decibels for amplified sound, 17 decibel for construction noise, 18 to 19 for motor vehicles, stationary sources or residential air conditioners, 20 for unreasonable and 21 for persistent noise.

It said a full-time Coordinator will be hired to lead the Dedicated Noise Team, who will work in the City’s By-law Enforcement, Municipal Licensing and Standards Division.

“In a City as large and vibrant as Toronto, certain levels of noise are reasonable and reflect life in a densely populated city,” according to a summary by the City. “The (noise) by-law works to set out clear and enforceable noise rules across the City, while providing flexibility to meet local needs.”

It said there should be a pathway for residents to submit complaints on waste collection noise and for City staff to communicate with industry on persistent noise issues.

The report called for the provincial government to change legislation to allow for the City’s use of automated noise radar when the technology is ready.

“Managing and regulating noise is a complex undertaking and proposed changes attempt to maintain the balance of multiple competing interests of people living, working, and visiting the city,” the report stated.

It said research conducted on behalf of the City in 2023, shows that 51 per cent of residents believe that noise levels in Toronto are reasonable, while 49 per cent believe more needs to be done to restrict noise levels ‘because of potential negative health consequences and impacts to quality of life and well-being.’

There are a number of events taking place in our community in February to recognize
Black History Month.
Black History Month would not exist if not for local resident, MP and community
activist Jean Augustine, who was instrumental in establishing the month in
Canada.

Augustine, in 1995 as MP for Etobicoke Lakeshore, introduced a motion at the
request of the Ontario Black History Society that February be recognized in Canada as
the official month of Black history. The motion was passed unanimously.
It would the first of many political and community feats for Augustine.
She served the community for 13 years from October 1993 to January 2006 and was the
first Black woman to be elected as an MP in Parliament.

She served under Prime Minister Jean Chretien with distinction winning
four consecutive elections until she decided to move on to new challenges.
She founded the Mimico-based Jean Augustine Centre for Young Women’s
Empowerment, on Portland Street, which has helped hundreds of girls between the ages
of 7 to 17 with programs in STEM, arts, life skills and building their self-esteem.

The Jean Augustine Centre on February 3 will be holding its 9th Annual Black History
Month Celebration at the Assembly Hall, at 1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Drive, from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be prizes, food, music and dramatic performances. For
more call 416-253-9797 or e-mail info@jeanaugustinecentre.ca

To launch Black History Month a bust was unveiled last month at Queen’s Park to
honour the first Black MP and Ontario Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander.
Alexander served in the Canadian Air Force, returned home to Hamilton to become a
lawyer, ran successfully for politics before being chosen to be the Queen’s representative.

Black History Month activity is also taking place until February 29 in a Celebrating our
Diversity ‘Black Excellence,’ a future to build at the Etobicoke Civic Centre, at 399 The
West Mall.

The program will take place in the Council Chambers and Board Meetings room, and will
be launched on February 3 from 11 a.m. Residents are invited to share their stories and
there will be cultural foods, entertainment and
vendors. Contact 647-328-7669.

On February 8 there is Humber Music Presents Reverberations II, a celebration of
music of the Black Diaspora featuring Humber Music’s Gospel Choir, African
Rhythm ‘n Jazz and Rhythm ‘n Soul Ensembles.

That show starts at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of ‘B’ Building of the Humber Lakeshore
Campus, at 3199 Lake Shore Blvd. W. Tickets are required and can be ordered at
Eventbrite. Contact: Dewi Minden at Humbermusicdegree@humber.ca or visit
https://reverberations-ii-humber.eventbrite.ca/

And on February 25 there is a Black History Month Carnival Edition taking place at the
Small Arms Inspection Building, 1352 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga, from 11
a.m. to 6 p.m. Experience the rich culture and traditions of the African diaspora
through music, dance, and food. Featuring live performances by talented artists to
interactive workshops and games. Contact 905-615-4860 or e-mail
small.arms@mississauga.ca