13.11.2024 Views

#9203 - May 1992

  • No tags were found...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Digital Archiving Completed by the Ethnography Lab, A University of Toronto Anthropology Initiative<br />

and Produced in Collaboration with David Perlman/Wholenote Media Inc between July-December 2015.<br />

/<br />

Kensington Market DRUM COMMUNITY <strong>May</strong> 21, <strong>1992</strong> I Page Eleven<br />

Continued from page 3<br />

the Toronto Chinese Parents'<br />

Association, arose out of concern<br />

of the health, safety and welfare .<br />

of the children and the future<br />

children attending Orde Street<br />

School and the four nearby day<br />

care centres. The Orde School<br />

Parents Council "mounted a reasoned<br />

and compelling case<br />

against the hospital's proposal",<br />

said the Ontario Municipal Board<br />

(OMB) Decision in August,<br />

1991, which approved the hospital's<br />

plans last spring.<br />

The repercussions will mean<br />

that the small park will be lost.<br />

There all be heavy construction<br />

traffic servicing the hospital construction<br />

site adding to the traffic<br />

hazards for the children. There<br />

already have been accidents with<br />

children struck by vehicular<br />

traffic. There will also be noise<br />

and dust during construction.<br />

Recently, City Public Works was<br />

carrying out roadwork on Orde<br />

Street and the noise from the .<br />

hydraulic hammers made normal<br />

conversation almost impossible<br />

for some classrooms. When the<br />

hospital is completed, the traffic<br />

on streets nearby will be among<br />

the highest in the City of<br />

Toronto for an elementary<br />

school.<br />

This decision and the approval<br />

process for the hospital has<br />

been remarkable for its consistency<br />

insofar as the children were<br />

conc.erned. The arguments<br />

advanced by parents and others<br />

concerned about the welfare of<br />

the children and for· the protection<br />

of their rights and entitlements<br />

consistently carried<br />

little weight in each" of the decisions<br />

in the approval process.<br />

Even the provincial Ministry of<br />

the Environment accepted the<br />

arguments advanced by an environmental<br />

planner for the hospital<br />

t~ere were "no realistic reasons<br />

for local concern from an<br />

environmental perspective" despite<br />

the "reasoned and compelling<br />

case" advance by parents.<br />

The decision confirms the degradation<br />

of the children's environment<br />

and this is wilful neglect of<br />

the welfare of children.<br />

The process has failed the<br />

more than 600 children; it has<br />

failed to protect their best interest;<br />

and, it has failed to defend<br />

the rights and entitlements. Our<br />

nation is a signatory to the<br />

United Nations Declaration of<br />

the Rights of the Child. Our ·<br />

ATTENTION ALL THOSE<br />

ON U.l. Want to upgrade<br />

your English and math<br />

skills? It's free, and we<br />

even p'rovide child care.<br />

Alexandra Park Neighbourhood<br />

learning centre.<br />

Call us at 591-7384<br />

Employment Opportunities<br />

The Toronto Disarmament lh . r.:;;:;:;:::;;:::;;:::;;:::;;::;:::;:;<br />

Network is seeking women<br />

1 ..<br />

and men able to communicate<br />

effectively with<br />

others. Willingness to work<br />

for social change essential.<br />

Knowledge of contemporary<br />

Peace, Environmental<br />

and Economic issues an<br />

asset. Call Allan between<br />

11:00 am and 5.00 pm<br />

Mon. to Fri. tel: 535-8005<br />

WORK FOR PEACE<br />

provincial government has even<br />

produced a · report entitled<br />

"Children First" which proclaims<br />

that "Promoting the well-being of<br />

children and defending their<br />

entitlements must become society's<br />

highest priority." Childreus'<br />

rights are human rights and<br />

in all these areas, the process has<br />

failed our children.<br />

In spite of all this, the parents<br />

will continue to press for safety<br />

measures to protect the children<br />

and to seek amelioration of the<br />

worse aspects of this hospital<br />

proposal. There is still the pending<br />

appeal by the parents of the<br />

original OMB decision by the<br />

: Ontario Ombudsman. A Traffic<br />

. Construction Committee with<br />

parent representation has been<br />

constituted by the City Public<br />

Works to deal· with traffic concerns.<br />

The Toronto Board of<br />

Education has passed a motion to<br />

support closing Orde Street to<br />

through traffic with school buses<br />

exempted to minimize traffic<br />

hazard to the children. The<br />

parents are supporting the City's<br />

Public Works Commissioners'<br />

efforts to open Orde Street at<br />

University Avenue to direct<br />

traffic away from the school. A<br />

consultant will soon be submitting<br />

proposals for the replacement<br />

of the park and a Play<br />

Ground Committee has been<br />

constituted by the Toronto Board<br />

of Education to develop plans to<br />

improve the play area for the<br />

children.<br />

If you need further information<br />

or wish to assist, please<br />

contact the Orde School Parents'<br />

Council at 393-1900.<br />

(Doug Hum is an Orde School<br />

parent)<br />

~ o n ;; o o.... 't'XT-....4- n,..... tral<br />

~'l~~~g;\~~£tj~~~A?~~\ V~tt;ll~ll.<br />

~1: ~~ ·~ Uu W llu\~ COmmumtyHealthCentres<br />

Sanity in<br />

the City<br />

by Amina Miller<br />

There is something very basi~:<br />

about digging in the soil. It is<br />

one of the few opportunities we<br />

still have to connect wi~h nature.<br />

Certai'nly there _are nature hikes<br />

and wilderness trails, and they<br />

are wonderful, but unfortunately<br />

many of us hav·e neither the<br />

energy, time, or the resources to<br />

take advantage of them. Pottering<br />

in a garden is affordable,<br />

accessible and immedi-ate, it<br />

nurtures our spirit as the produce<br />

nurtures our bodies. Even if you<br />

do not have your own yard there<br />

are community gardens or tubs<br />

and planters that can serve the<br />

same purpose.<br />

All of our senses are involved<br />

in gardening. We smell the<br />

wonderfully satisfying scent of<br />

freshly turned earth and the<br />

delicate and pungent aromas of a<br />

rich variety of plants and herbs.<br />

We can feel the earth moist and<br />

crumbly in our fingers and the<br />

cool fibrous skins of some vegetables.<br />

We see and hear a different<br />

world, a miniature world<br />

of interlocking branches and<br />

barbed stems, beginning in secret<br />

hidden places. And the colours.<br />

The dazzling intensity of light<br />

and shade, the jewelled backs of<br />

scurrying beetles, all under the<br />

heat of the sun in a brilliant sky.<br />

While focusing on the task at<br />

hand our mind wanders to<br />

explore other by-passed corners<br />

of our lives and memories. Memories<br />

triggered buy the fleeting<br />

FOOD ACTION PROJECT<br />

* Would you be interested<br />

in obtaining good food at<br />

low cost?<br />

* Are you. a single person<br />

or a family having a hard<br />

time on a limited income?<br />

* .Are you interested in<br />

building community spirit<br />

and getting to know your<br />

neighbours?<br />

* Do you think you would<br />

enjoy a group trip to a farm<br />

to pick your own cheap and<br />

fresh vegetables and fruit?<br />

* Are you an apartment<br />

dweller with no space for a<br />

garden?<br />

*Would you like to learn to<br />

garden or do you already<br />

have skills?<br />

THE FOOD ACTION<br />

PROJECT can help you<br />

·and your community<br />

with free information<br />

and what you need<br />

to start up:<br />

•Food Buying Clubs<br />

•Community Gardens<br />

•Pick-Your-Own Trips<br />

. •Community Kitchens<br />

Anyone can do it!<br />

Contact:<br />

Micheie MacKenzie<br />

at the<br />

Food Action Project<br />

392-6655<br />

(please leave a message and<br />

your call will be retu.rned)<br />

George Brown College offers a\ diploma programme in<br />

community work to persons with a strong commitment to<br />

human rights, social justice and community development<br />

in a multicultural society. · ·<br />

This is a two year, full-time programme of classroom<br />

study and supervised work in the field.<br />

We start in September and en4 in <strong>May</strong>.<br />

For more information or to arrange an interview,<br />

call 867-2185.<br />

familiarity of a sight, sound or<br />

smell. There is a timelessness<br />

about working with our hands in<br />

the soil. It becomes easy for us<br />

to identify with unknown past<br />

generations of people who have<br />

also grown their food and<br />

thought similar thoughts that<br />

were triggered by the same<br />

smells and sights. We may wonder<br />

about their lives, their hopes<br />

and their dreams. This connects<br />

us to our heritage and our world,<br />

we feel part of a larger scheme<br />

and it helps to put our own lives<br />

and problems in perspective .<br />

We do not have may opportunities<br />

in our programmed crazy<br />

lives to fully experience ourselves<br />

and our direct relationship<br />

with nature. Yet in a garden in<br />

downtown Toronto in <strong>1992</strong> time<br />

can stand still, we can expe·rience<br />

·the timeless connection<br />

between mankind and the fertility<br />

of the earth. We are confronted<br />

with the reality of our seasons<br />

and how our activities must be<br />

planned to accommodate them.<br />

Many ancient calenders we're<br />

constructed around seasonal<br />

plantings and harvesting, even<br />

wars were interrupted in order to<br />

sow and reap. Man's futile<br />

activities took second place to<br />

the reliable, relentless, life-giving<br />

cycle of the earth's fertility.<br />

In our modest city garden we<br />

are forced to work in pa~.:e (and<br />

partnership) with nature, we<br />

cannot impose our hurried<br />

manmade timetable on her.<br />

Nature takes the responsibility<br />

out of our hands and so relieves<br />

us of the stress and pressure to<br />

excel and produce, or to beat a<br />

dead-line. Every thing unfolds in<br />

its own time as it should, arid we<br />

are privileged to witness and<br />

encourage -the events. However,<br />

we can not force them to happen,<br />

neither can we hurry them<br />

along. In this simple process ewe<br />

re-discover ourselves, patience,<br />

humility and joy.<br />

Amina Miller<br />

West Central will have a community<br />

garden again this year<br />

Interested? Call Amina at 364-<br />

4107<br />

UTOO CAN no -<br />

Ont. Tenants organize<br />

by Timothy Maxwell<br />

The United Tenants of Ontario<br />

(UTOO), was founded in<br />

Hamilton back in 1989 as the<br />

result of a provincial conference<br />

at McMaster University of more<br />

than 200 tenants. For a couple of<br />

years we struggled to organize<br />

tenants across. Ontario with very<br />

little money. Last year, at our<br />

Third Annual General Meeting<br />

and Training Conference in<br />

Ottawa, the Minister of Housing<br />

annou~ced that we would finally<br />

receive stable funding so we<br />

could hire staff to _go around the<br />

province and organize tenants.<br />

Since then we have been very<br />

busy indeed, setting-up our office<br />

at Spadina and Bloor, which we<br />

s~are with the Federation of<br />

Metro Tenants' Associations, and<br />

organizing meetings with tenants<br />

from Windsor, Mississauga,<br />

Kingston, Ottawa, Sudbury,<br />

Toronto and Thunder Bay, as<br />

well as many smaller towns in<br />

northern Ontario.<br />

Our Fourth Annual . General<br />

Meeting and Training Conference<br />

is fast approaching. Across the<br />

province, friends and members of<br />

UTOO are busy preparing for<br />

what will be a great weekend at<br />

Laurentian University in Sudbury,<br />

June 25 to 28th.<br />

Tenants who have been to<br />

UTOO Conferences in the past<br />

will know that it won't be some<br />

kind of stuffy, boring, meeting.<br />

VOLUNTEER REQUIRED to<br />

assist a young adult learner<br />

in an educational program<br />

(Math and English)<br />

Wednes. afternoons,<br />

1-3 pm. If interested,<br />

please call Lana at OASIS<br />

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL<br />

393-9830.<br />

Tenants will be able to share their<br />

experiences and gain new knowledge<br />

of organizing tenant associations,<br />

fighting evictions getting<br />

repairs done and other legal matters.<br />

As well, tenants will be able<br />

to take part in many other Workshops,<br />

including maintaining<br />

Tenant Solidarity in the Face of<br />

Racism; Blind Spots and Dangerous<br />

Places, (Safety Tour); Rental<br />

Housing on a Low Budget; Native<br />

Housing; Seniors Speak Out; The<br />

Women's Workshop and many<br />

others.<br />

In addition to Workshops,<br />

Provincial Council Elections and<br />

Policy discussions, Tenants ·are<br />

sure to enjoy the two main social<br />

events. Friday evening there will<br />

be a ·"TENANT CABARET",<br />

where performing artists, previously<br />

hiding within the tenant<br />

movement, will share their talents<br />

with the rest of us. On Saturday<br />

evening there will be a D .J.<br />

Dance. So bring your songs,<br />

stories and dance steps to Sudbury<br />

when you come!<br />

For more information about<br />

the least expensive, most productive<br />

and rewarding weekend you<br />

can spend away, from your landlord,<br />

CALL UTOO at 1-416-927-<br />

8363, and we'll send you a Registration<br />

form. See you there!<br />

Timothy Maxwell,<br />

UTOO Executive member and<br />

Kensington-Bell woods<br />

Community Legal Worker<br />

The Metro Toronto Associ­<br />

. ation for Community Living<br />

needs people willing to<br />

spend a few hours a week<br />

with a person with a developmental<br />

disability. Call<br />

Volunteer Services,<br />

968-0650.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!