Ward 16 Public Meeting Re: Proposed New City of Toronto Zoning By-Law

For those in the east half of the riding, Coun. Stintz has an upcoming public meeting on the draft Zoning By-Law:

 

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at

The Agricola Finnish Lutheran Congregation (Fellowship Hall) - 25 Old York Mills Road

 

Please attend the public meeting I have organized with Councillor Cliff Jenkins (Ward 25) regarding the new draft Zoning By-law that is being proposed for the City of Toronto.

 

The City of Toronto's Planning Division is proposing a new Zoning By-law to replace the 43 zoning by-laws inherited from amalgamation. A draft By-law has been prepared by Planning Staff with a recommendation to be implemented by the end of 2009. Some of the proposed changes include:

 

• a new definition of height to the top of the roof rather than the mid-point of the roof, as presently exists;
• new formulas for calculating front, rear and side yard setbacks;
• a higher standard of 10 metres for the height of homes; and banning of reverse-sloping driveways city-wide.

It is not yet known what influence, if any, these changes will have on residential development in Ward 16.

Executive Meeting / St. Paul's By-election

The Eglinton-Lawrence NDP is holding an executive meeting next week (Tuesday, September 15th), gearing up for what might be a busy fall. We will be looking for people to help with our candidate search and election readiness committees and planning our next newsletter. Executive meetings are open to all active members of the riding association and we need as many people helping as possible. If you are interested in attending, just send us an email.

Also, if you want some "hands on" election practice, our neighbours to the south can always use more help in the final drive in the St. Paul's by-election:

	Friend, This is the last weekend of the St. Paul's by-election. Election day is September 17. The NDP team has been working hard towards electing Julian Heller, the next NDP MPP for St. Paul's. As of today, we have received 1200 requests and delivered 100 000 flyers. The energy levels are high, as New Democrats are coming in daily to knock on doors, drop flyers and call voters. Julian Heller's campaign has excited the voters of St. Paul's. We are now receiving more interest than ever before. As we are entering the final week of the campaign, we need your help to send Julian to Queen's Park. Join us Saturday, September 12 11am - canvass blitz 2:30pm - women's canvass The campaign office is located at 434 Eglinton Avenue West, 1 block west of Avenue. You can confirm your attendance by calling the office at 416 545 0713 or responding to this email. Alternatively, you can just come by the campaign office on Saturday. We'll be waiting for you. In solidarity, Andrea Horwath, leader Ontario's NDP

Unified Toronto Zoning By-Law

There is a North York open house in a couple weeks regarding the City's pending unified Zoning By-Law:

September open houses on draft zoning bylaw In June, City staff held Open Houses in each District on the draft new City-wide Zoning Bylaw. Due to the labour disruption the cancelled Open Houses are rescheduled for September. The Open Houses run from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m. and Q&A session is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. The details for each meeting are:

North York Civic Centre Council Chamber
5100 Yonge Street
Thursday September 24, 2009
4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

More info here.

Avenue Road Plan Meeting

It looks like there's a meeting coming up on the long-gestating Avenue Road plan:

Thursday, September 24th, 7 p.m. at Lawrence Collegiate.

The city's project page for the Avenue Road study hasn't been updated to include tis meeting, so more information as it becomes available.

 

Labour Day Parade

This came in from the Parkdale-High Park mailing list:

LABOUR DAY PARADE 2009 -

This year's Labour Day parade will take place on Monday, September 7. Members and friends of the Parkdale—High Park NDP will assemble at 9:10 a.m., at the south-east corner of Queen and University, and starting marching at 9:30 sharp to the CNE Dufferin Gates. The theme of this year's parade is GOOD JOBS FOR ALL. Please let us know that you are coming so that we can make sure a wristband is available for you; you'll need it for your free CNE admission. Please e-mail Julius Deutsch at jdeutsch@labourcouncil.ca or contact him at 416-892-4380.

A new issue of this thought-provoking journal from our friends at Parkdale-High Park:

Hearts & Minds

July/Aug 2009

The third issue is now available!

Click HERE to view online Click HERE to download pdf	A newsletter for members of the Parkdale-High Park riding association and the wider NDP community
	Strategic challenges in the Nova Scotia election (Jill Marzetti, Director of Organization, Nova Scotia 2009 campaign)
	2009 Liberal Budget and the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) (Cheri DiNovo, MPP (Parkdale—High Park))
	Psychiatric survivors need jobs (David Reville, former NDP MPP (Riverdale))
	Getting eHealth back on track (France Gélinas, MPP (Nickel Belt))
	Air Canada: Fly it right (Peggy Nash, former MP (Parkdale—High Park))
	...and much more

Eglinton Crosstown LRT - Additional Open House - Sept 2nd, 2009

This is beyond our turf, but seeing as it involves the Eglinton LRT project, it seems relevant here:

The TTC and City of Toronto are hosting an additional Open House for this round of public consultation to display the preferred route of the Eglinton Crosstown LRT from Martin Grove Road to Pearson International Airport.  Plans for stop locations and potential construction methods for this section will also be displayed.

Details of the Open House are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, September 2nd

Time: 6:30pm to 9:00pm

Location: Etobicoke Olympium (Olympic Lounge 2nd floor)  590 Rathburn Road (just west of Renforth)

An updated series of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers is now posted on the project website. Please visit:
http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/eglinton_crosstown_lrt/index.htm

The direct link to the FAQs file is: http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/eglinton_crosstown_lrt/pdf/faq.pdf

St. Paul's by-election update

From The Star:

Vote called for Sept. 17 in St. Paul's

Aug 20, 2009 04:30 AM

Tanya Talaga -  Queen's Park Bureau

The battle for the key Toronto riding of St. Paul's is underway.

As expected, a Sept. 17 provincial by-election to fill the seat vacated by former Liberal economic development minister Michael Bryant was called yesterday.

It will be the first by-election since the Liberals unveiled their plan to harmonize the 8 per cent provincial sales tax with the 5 per cent federal goods and services tax, and the first since the eHealth Ontario spending scandal exploded.[...]

From the St. Paul's NDP website:

The nomination meeting will be held on Monday August 24, 2009 at 7pm at St.  Matthew's Bracondale House, 707 St. Clair Ave. West.

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St. Paul's by-election

There is an impending by-election in St. Paul's, our neighbouring riding to the south. I noticed this press release on the St. Paul's NDP website:

St. Paul's New Democrats to nominate candidate Sept. 9
Two declared candidates already in the race

New Democrats will select their candidate for the upcoming by-election in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's at a nomination meeting on September 9th, the party's provincial secretary announced this morning.

"This by-election is an opportunity to send a message to the McGuinty Liberals and send a strong representative to Queens Park," said Dennis Young.

"Two strong and respected individuals have already come forward to seek the NDP nomination and we look forward to a lively nomination process."

The nomination meeting will be held on September 9th at 7:00 p.m. at St.  Matthew's Bracondale House, 707 St. Clair Ave. West. The meeting date will be moved up if the by-election is called before then. Individuals interested in seeking the candidacy must declare by September 2nd.

The two declared candidates are:

Julian Heller - A local public education activist and ratepayer association leader, Heller has lived in the riding since 1983. He is a trial lawyer and ran as the NDP candidate in St. Paul's in both the 2003 and 2007 provincial general elections. Heller has built a reputation as an outspoken advocate for individuals, businesses and not-for-profit organizations.

Stuart Parker - A leading voice on environmental, poverty and voting reform issues for more than twenty years, Parker is a former director of Fair Vote Canada and Fair Vote Ontario. He is also a former leader of British Columbia's Green Party. Parker is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto and has lived in St. Paul's since 2004.

St. Paul's has been vacant since former cabinet minister Michael Bryant resigned in early June. The Premier must call the by-election by December 7th.

York-Eglinton International Street Festival

Next weekend will see a street festival along the south-west corner of Eglinton-Lawrence:

The second annual York-Eglinton International Street Festival offers everyone a weekend of hot music and fun activities. On Friday, the street gets hopping with Djs and a sidewalk sale from 3 pm to 9 pm. On Saturday, see live musical performances by R&B, Reggae, Soul and Ska artists including Steele, Comfort, Mountainedge Crew, Jay Davis, and Frankie Foo & the YoYo Smugglers. Street magician Ray Chance will also perform, along with a number of multicultural dance troupes. There'll be exciting giveaways, kids' activities, and more. Free.

WHAT: 2nd Annual York-Eglinton International Street Festival

WHEN: Friday August 14th 3 pm to 9pm: Along Eglinton Ave strip from Marlee to Dufferin & Saturday August 15th noon to 9pm at 1607 Eglinton Ave West

WHERE: Along Eglinton Ave strip from Marlee to Dufferin & 1607 Eglinton Ave West

All the information on the event is available here.

From a CBC news story:

NDP to consider name change

Last Updated: Tuesday, August 4, 2009 | 9:27 PM ET

CBC News

The federal New Democratic Party will consider dropping the word "new" from its name when delegates gather for the party's annual convention in Halifax in two weeks.

The 1,000 delegates expected to attend the conference will either move to adopt the abbreviated moniker right away, reject it, or appoint a task force to study the name change.

One is, of course, welcome to reflect on whether "branding" is a paramount problem for this party today, as opposed to, say, administrative inertia, muddled policies, or what have you.

Town hall meeting with ONDP Leader, Andrea Horwath and NDP Pensions Critic, MPP Paul Miller - THIS THURSDAY!

In Ontario today - 2 out of every 3 people have no workplace pension coverage.

Join us for a Roundtable discussion to share your ideas on a Pensions Ontario Plan with Andrea Horwath, Leader Ontario's NDP & MPP Paul Miller, NDP Pensions Critic.

Details:
Thursday, August 6th
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Royal Canadian Legion, Toronto, Branch 31
1050 Weston Road
Accessible from the Eglinton Avenue West bus and the Weston Road bus from the Keele Subway Station, Branch 31 is one and a half blocks south of Eglinton Avenue West, on the west side of Weston Road. Parking is available on site, as well as on the street.

Please RSVP to MPP Paul Miller's office at 416-325-0707 or email: pmiller-qp@ndp.on.ca
We hope to see you there!

Green Roof @ Eglinton West Station

This Spacing wire post on the new green roof at Eglinton West station gives the heads-up on a positive change at one of our local landmarks.

"Rail for Toronto" BBQ with Jack Layton

In my email today:

Hey Toronto New Democrats,

Tired of John Baird and the Harper Government dismissing the needs of major municipalities like Toronto? Enjoy BBQs? Then we have an event for you.

On Friday, July 31st, come join the Beaches-East York NDP for a BBQ around the issue of federal funding for municipal infrastructure and transit, featuring Jack Layton! As well as discussing important issues facing Toronto, the event should be a great time, so feel free to bring out the whole family. The festivities are taking place at 9 Neville Park Bvld., right at the end of the 501, and are starting at 6:30.

There will be a $10 admittance charge ($5 for kids) covering burgers, hot dogs and pop, and there will be beer and wine available. Chicken and vegetarian options will also be available. Any profits will go to the Beaches-East York Federal NDP Riding Association.

Please RSVP to beyndp@gmail.com if are thinking about attending, as it will help us know the appropriate amount of food and beverages to have. Also check out the event, and sign up, on Facebook. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Beaches East York NDP Riding Association

Canada Replaces US as Worst Climate Performer!

This made the news headlines, and landed in my inbox from the WWF:

 

Oh Canada! Our Country Earns Failing Grade on Climate Change Action

For the first time, Canada has taken over last place from the United States in this years G8 Climate Scorecard rankings! This comes just as the G8 nations are set to meet next week in Italy in an effort to find solutions to the world's main issues, including climate change.

According to the report, developed by WWF and the global insurance company Allianz, the United States rose in the rankings due to recent actions taken by the Obama administration on green energy and vehicle fuel efficiency. Canada ended up at the bottom of the pack because our greenhouse gas emissions are not only still increasing, thanks in large part to the expansion of the tar sands, but also because we lack a credible plan to reduce emissions in the future. Learn more about Canada's climate performance by downloading the report.