Archive for February, 2016

All text the JRA 

JRA general community meeting is on Thu., Mar. 10, 7-9 pm at West Toronto Baptist Church, 3049 Dundas St. W. Meet your neighbours. Refreshments served.
 We will be discussing:

Approval of January 2016 meeting minutes (JRA members, please read them beforehand)

Community police representative from 11 Division

Update from Annette Library on Function 2015 funds spent

Plans for Function in the Junction 2016

Meet new businesses in the neighbourhood, including Canada Bliss Herbal Society

Update on development in the area

To be confirmed:

Meet Arif Virani, new MP

Update on an exciting community project by Friends of Watkinson Park

Note: If you cannot attend this meeting in person, you can catch our video streaming of the meeting in real time. To watch it live on your computer, go to http://www.junctionra.ca/jra-tv. There may be a 15-second commercial (not ours) before you can watch. We’ll post the agenda there, so you can follow along. There is a facility for asking questions remotely. 

All text from city document,

item was considered by Parks and Environment Committee on February 25, 2016 and was adopted with amendments. It will be considered by City Council on March 10, 2016.

City Council direct the Director, Environment and Energy Division to submit the signed Resolution Designating City of Toronto a Bee City and the completed Bee City application, contained as Attachment B to the letter (February 9, 2016) from Councillor Holland, to the Bee City program to obtain official Bee City certification.

Summary

Pollinators are vital to a healthy and resilient ecosystem. The conservation of pollinators is critical to the sustainability of Toronto‘s natural areas and urban gardens. Certain pollinator species have been determined to be in decline due to habitat loss, climate change, pesticide use, and disease/pests. The Toronto area is home to over 300 species of bees and hundreds more non-bee pollinator species, making it one of the most diverse areas for pollinators in Canada. A diverse and resilient pollinator community is a key component of a sustainable city for us all.
 

Background Information

(February 9, 2016) Letter from Councillor Michelle Holland (Berardinetti) on Bee City Certification – Toronto to Become the First Bee City in Canada

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/pe/bgrd/backgroundfile-90492.pdf

Attachment A – Resolution Designating City of Toronto a Bee City 

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/pe/bgrd/backgroundfile-90493.pdf

Attachment B – Bee City Canada Initial Application 

http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2016/pe/bgrd/backgroundfile-90494.pdf

This blog would really like to see a hoarding in the Junction where residents could post their thoughts. 

R
This block of a building, on the north side of Dundas St. W. has really  had a hard time of it from the building of the building. 

The building has provided affordable residential units right from the start, severing the community well in that regard. 

Yet it’s retail streetlevel spaces have always suffered, mostly likely as it was just being built as the Junction stated its big wane.

However now with a new condo going up just west of the building, and some well thought out businesses moving into the block, hopefully the building can be fully untilized.

Safe Rail Communties’ online e-petition for rail safety is ready.
Every day, the movement of dangerous goods by rail through our communities puts thousands of Canadians at risk. In 2014, there were about 140,000 tank cars carrying crude oil across Canada. This is 280 times the number of tanks that travelled in 2009. The projected number for 2016 is 510,000 tank cars. Safe Rail Communities (SRC) is a non-partisan initiative that advocates for safe, transparent, and regulated rail. It is our Federal Government’s responsibility to regulate the transportation of dangerous goods by rail. They must set the standards for industry to follow in order to mitigate the risks to rail communities across Canada. Over the past couple of years SRC has worked with experts to develop the list of recommendations in our petition. Please visit our website at www.saferail.ca to learn more about our efforts.
With the federal government’s recent implementation of online e-petitions, we have created a new online rail safety e-petition. It is a completely new petition. In order for an e-petition to be presented in the House of Commons, it must receive 500 signatories within 120 days of being posted on the government website. 
Please click here to read and/or sign our petition. Pour le francais, cliquez ici

International Women’s Day Celebration : Film Screening & Talk @ the Jane Dundas Library.
Saturday March 12, 2016 @ 2pm
In Celebration of International Women’s Day, the Jane/Dundas Library is presenting a screening of the 2015 documentary film, He Named Me Malala, with an introduction by Sahar Zaidi who is the Project Coordinator for the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) and the Vice President of the Toronto Chapter of the CCMW.
He named Me Malala is an intimate portrait of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was targeted by the Taliban and severely wounded by a gunshot when returning home on her school bus in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The then 15-year-old was singled out, along with her father, for advocating for girls’ education, and the attack on her sparked an outcry from supporters around the world. She miraculously survived and is now a leading campaigner for girls’ education globally as co-founder of the Malala Fund. (Synopsis source: henamedmemalalamovie.com)
For more information call 416-394-1014 or visit http://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca
The Jane/Dundas Branch is located at 620 Jane Street on the SouthWest corner of the Jane and Dundas intersection.

Appointment of First City of Toronto Photo Laureate
Confidential Attachment – Personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees
Origin

(February 1, 2016) Report from the General Manager, Economic Development and Culture
Recommendations:

The General Manager of Economic Development and Culture recommends that:
 
1. City Council appoint the selected individual named in Confidential Attachment 1 to the position of Photo Laureate for the City of Toronto, at the pleasure of Council, for a term ending on March 31, 2019, and until a successor is appointed.
 
2. The Economic Development Committee authorize the public release of the recommended candidate’s name and biography contained in the Confidential Attachment.

Summary:

The purpose of this report is to recommend the appointment of the first City of Toronto Photo Laureate. It recommends that City Council approve the candidate identified in Confidential Attachment 1 for a three-year term under the terms outlined in this report.
 
The position of The City of Toronto Photo Laureate honours a photographer recognized for excellent photography and whose work focuses on subjects that are relevant to the people who live in the city. Toronto’s Photo Laureate advocates for photography and the visual arts, and uses his or her unique perspective to create a dialogue on contemporary issues.

Financial Impact:

Funding for the Photo Laureate honorarium of $10,000 per annum is included in the 2016 Arts and Culture Services base operating budget.
 
The Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer has reviewed this report and agrees with the financial impact information.

   
 
Why a World Water Day?
World Water Day is an international observance and an opportunity to learn more about water related issues, be inspired to tell others and take action to make a difference. World Water Day dates back to the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development where an international observance for water was recommended. The United Nations General Assembly responded by designating 22 March 1993 as the first World Water Day. It has been held annually since then. Each year, UN-Water — the entity that coordinates the UN’s work on water and sanitation — sets a theme for World Water Day corresponding to a current or future challenge. The engagement campaign is coordinated by one or several of the UN-Water Members with a related mandate.

The Gardiner Expressway is getting its usual ongoing bandage work right now. Whatever keeps  the city council thinking this constant remedial work is cost effective or working is questionable. 

Water constantly pours down with pebbles from the Gardiner Expressway on Lakeshore Blvd East, so much that you have strategically remmeber where it is sensible to stop for red light. 

Standing under the Expressway, at the Don Valley start, the structure rattles and thunders under the stress of the traffic.

Here is a photo just out side St Joes. Healthcare   
Here 

  
The Atlantic Ave historical notation of a building was only item of wide interest affecting areas. (Full details in an earlier post)