Ward 28 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale) Issue Profile

Ward 28 (Toronto Centre-Rosedale) is undoubtedly one of Toronto’s most diverse wards.
From the diversity of its residents to the diversity of incomes to the diversity of its neighbourhoods, those vying to represent the downtown east community at city hall face some especially unique challenges.

Ward 28 can be best described as a juxtaposition of low- and high-income neighbourhoods all facing challenges with housing followed closely by crime as well as development, streetscaping and overall vision.

Darcy Higgins chairs the St. James Town Safety Committee, an organization that has focused on improving local safety and bringing the community together on many levels since the mid-1990s.

He said the most pressing concern for the 25,000 residents in the Sherbourne-Bloor-Parliament-Wellesley area is the lack of decent housing, which was especially highlighted by a six-alarm fire that torn though a 30-floor highrise at 200 Wellesley St. E. on Friday, Sept. 24.

Leaving an estimated 1,200 residents homeless for more than a week, the inferno and the damages it caused brought to light several concerns about the need for better living arrangements for those in social housing as well as more resources to help community members better succeed in life.

“The (housing) conditions are not always the greatest or the healthiest,” said Higgins, referring to ongoing problems with bedbugs.

“We need to work together to reduce crime and increase safety through better housing. People would like a more respectful atmosphere in some of the buildings.”

A lack of quality social services is also problematic in St. James Town, Higgins said, especially with the closure of the nearby Wellesley Hospital in 1998.

“We’re the densest residential neighbourhood in Canada with many new and diverse residents (who) have specialized health needs. More health care providers are needed,” he said, adding fostering a stronger local business community is also essential.

Higgins said the installation of community gardens, local food growing opportunities, neighbourhood beatification efforts as well as sports and cultural programs for youth are helping improve the community.

He also said the city’s tower renewal project – a combination of green technology and neighbourhood revitalization for more than 1,000 residential apartment buildings – has been a good thing for St. James Town.

“We’d like to continue and strengthen those initiatives.”

Exhausted after spending more than 24 hours with constituents displaced by the Wellesley Street fire, Ward 28 incumbent Pam McConnell said city staff and the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) did “phenomenal work” during the time of crisis.

McConnell also credited the building’s tenants as well as area residents for coming together to help one another during the difficult time.

“As much as the fire was a tragedy, it brought people together. I’ve never been so proud.”

McConnell said as a local councillor she wants to foster that sense of community spirit by involving local leaders in “building a healthy community together.”

The longtime councillor said she always puts people at the forefront of all she does as a municipal representative pointing to the redevelopment of Regent Park.

“It’s about improving the quality of life for people living in public housing,” she said, noting in the nearby St. James Town knocking down buildings isn’t an option at this point.

Instead, McConnell said the solution for improving that community is the city’s tower renewal program.

“Ironically, 200 Wellesley St. is one of the two buildings there slated for that,” she said.

“(St. James Town) needs a huge facelift in terms of the environment but it also needs a social facelift.”
McConnell said the high concentration of transitional housing in her ward is slowly being mitigated by the fact such facilities are being built in other parts of the city.

“New shelters are being built throughout the city and it’s taking the pressure off Ward 28,” she explained, adding the city is also working to improve the existing shelters in the ward.

“We’re trying to take the transitional services we have and make sure they’re available in other parts of the city.”

McConnell said she’s in favour of having an affordable housing component in new development projects in the emerging East Bayfront and West Don lands communities.

The vice-chair of the Toronto Police Services Board, McConnell said crime statistics as a whole are actually down in Ward 28 but that “street-related” crime like fighting and the smashing of car windows continues to be an annoyance.

She said the community policing model has been a successful one for addressing some of these problems and she promises to work to ensure it remains present in the ward.

“I think it’s working very well. There’s a higher number of police and a higher visibility,” she said.
In terms of development and overall vision for the ward, McConnell said development must be appropriate and beautification must be done to both public as well as private spaces. She pointed to ward-wide heritage lighting, common goals for community beautification and projects through Section 37 funds used for parks enhancements and other initiatives and top-notch streetscaping and pathways along the edges of new developments.

“We’re knitting together the developments and the streetscaping,” she explained, pointing to several new public spaces that have recently opened or are under construction along the waterfront.

Don Purvis, vice-president of the Cabbagetown South Residents Association (CSRA), acknowledges the interesting assortment of neighbourhoods in Ward 28 but said he’s confident something can be done to address local concerns especially the need for more permanent quality housing and the accompanying petty crime and street prostitution that tend to accompany that deficiency.

Pointing to safety concerns at his local green space – Ontario Street Parkette – Purvis said a lot of young families are nervous about visiting the unkempt park as a lot of unemployed and homeless individuals tend to hang out there.

“We have a too high concentration of people in need of resources in the area and not enough effective solutions,” said the 15-year area resident, adding he’s heard members of the CSRA express concerns about the high concentration of shelters and transitional housing in the ward.

“We feel it’s really unsafe,” he said, adding there’s a high prevalence in the ward of families who tend to move out of the area before their children reach school age due to a perception inner-city schools are more problematic and less safe.

Founded about 25 years ago, the CSRA represents those living in an area bounded by Shuter to Carlton streets and Parliament to Sherbourne streets.

Jennifer, who did not want to give her last name for privacy reasons, is a board member with the Trefann Court Residents Association. She also pointed to the trend of young families wanting to move out of the area due to safety and crime concerns.

“In our neighbourhood, crime is always high and a lot of incidents do not make the news of any kind,” she said, noting incidents range from petty to major.

“We have very few families in our catchment area. People want to relocate by school age because of concerns about safety.”

The 10-plus year area resident said it’s unacceptable for the community members her group represents – those living north of Shuter Street east of the Don River and south of Queen Street East – to become desensitized to crime.

“Just because we become used to it doesn’t mean it should be that way,” she said, adding a larger police presence would be ideal but always seems to be limited by budget restraints.

Jennifer said a lot of the crime concerns relate to the elevated percentage of shelters, transitional housing and drop-in centres in the ward.

“We’re not anti-social services but too much of anything is never good. It leads to a lot of petty crime and other incidents,” she said, adding the area tends to feel like “the dumping ground of Toronto” where the safe streets act doesn’t tend to apply.

On a positive note, she said Trefann Court is close-knit community where several neighbours have become good friends.

“There’s a strong sense of community despite the challenges. We’re a tough little group,” she said.
Council candidate Daniel Murton said he feels the problematic housing situation in Ward 28 is caused by the lack of social programs and services.

“It’s great we can actually house people but dealing with their lives is another story,” he said, raising the issue of drug dealers often living in social housing.

Murton said another “huge” problem in the ward and across Toronto’s social housing system is bedbugs.

“We need systemic eradication. I’d push for overall spraying in St. James Town and other areas. I’m also going to fight for better electricity.”

A Ward 28 resident for almost two years, Murton said he’s seen first-hand the outcome of the concerns he speaks about as his mother lives in the ward on Bleeker Street, while some of his friends live at  200 Wellesley St., the site of a massive six-alarm fire on Sept. 24.

He called the city’s response to the six-alarm fire “inadequate.”

“When it comes to talking to different people, finding out who’s in charge is difficult,” he said, adding there’s too much bureaucracy and not enough “ground-level” action.

“I want city council to be more accountable for the TCHC.

“We also need to have a more cohesive customer service methodology at the city,” he said.

Murton said the solution for dealing with many the local issues is for all residents of Ward 28 to come together.

“If we have a proper community network we’re going to see improvement. We need to do a lot more in the community and we need to do it together,” he said, adding that also includes more involvement from the police.

Candidate Dennis Hollingsworth said there’s no quick fix or silver bullet for dealing with local housing issues.

Pointing to “extremely wide disparity in the ward,” the three-year Torontonian – who currently lives near Sherbourne and Dundas streets – said there are some serious security as well as drug issues in the area.

“There should be no budget excuses of not having enough money to have 24-7 security,” he said, crediting the staff at city hall for their hard work despite “inadequate resources.”

“We need to get a handle on the city budget and use tax revenues for social assistance or other considerations.”

Hollingsworth said spending must be controlled and projects that can’t be afforded at this time put on hold.

“There’s a lack of jobs and support services,” Hollingsworth said, noting the actual “employability” of many people who live on the streets in Ward 28 is a whole other can of worms.

“A strategically appropriate review is needed,” he said.

Hollingsworth also said he wants the federal and provincial governments to get involved in keeping social housing up to code.

He also said better access to the local councillor is needed and proposed the creation of residents’ panels and neighbourhood groups to discuss important local issues on a monthly basis.

Raj Rama said the most common issue he’s heard from Ward 28 constituents at the door – rich or poor – is the need for better housing.

“The tenants aren’t happy. The buildings are in a poor state of disrepair,” said Rama, who wants to create a framework to work with entrepreneurs/funders to build 600,000 new housing units across Toronto in the next five to 10 years.

To do so, he’s proposing 10 per cent or 60,000 units must be affordable ones.

“I think we have a lot of capacity south of Bloor and along the subway lines. We need to start looking at creating value, not destroying value,” he said, adding, if elected, he’d like to serve on the TCHC board of directors but also wants professional experts in the housing sector to take part as well.

Rama, the co-founder of a non-profit organization called Canadians Against Substance Abuse, said inadequate housing often leads to crime, especially incidents involving drugs.

He said municipal licensing and standards needs to play a stronger role in forcing absentee landlords to get more involved in who they rent to as do the police.

“It’s about having non-profits like mine working with the police,” he said, adding the RCMP and OPP also have a role to play in helping curb local drug issues.

“We need to start by looking at the big picture. I really believe if you deal with the small things the big things start taking care of themselves. It’s all about supply and demand.”

Rama, who said his policies are aligned with those of mayoral candidate Rob Ford, said considerations must be taken to provide “conducive” housing options for people with mental health issues so they have the adequate supports they need.

To improve the local business community, Rama said the reach of area Business Improvement Area should be expanded and better funded.

“I want tax dollars leveraged to help small businesses and exemptions for stores that earn less than a certain amount per year,” he said, adding the provincial and federal governments have a role to play in making this happen.

Ward 28 candidate Howard Bortenstein, the runner-up in the 2006 municipal election, said he’s also in favour of involving the private sector in building more affordable housing units in Toronto.

A member of The Toronto Party, Bortenstein said TCHC should be reformed and people should be more involved in choosing their housing pointing to a portable housing stock allowance so people can live where they want in Ontario.

“I would fight for using the assets the TCHC has to encourage the development of private affordable housing,”

Bortenstein, who wants to abolish homelessness in the ward, said he’d work to move people out of transitional housing and into more supportive housing environments.

“We can’t acknowledge their plight and do nothing to end it,” he said.

To address crime, Bortenstein – a six-year member of 51 Division’s community police liaison committee – said he wants policing to be more community centered. The founder of the downtown Toronto chapter of Safe Streets, Stronger Communities, Bortenstein said residents should have a stronger voice when it comes to the sentencing of criminals.

In terms of giving the ward a stronger direction, he said district plans are the way to go for outlining each neighbourhood’s vision for the future.

The 18-year area resident said the St. Lawrence Market has a clear plan for years to come but the same is needed for other areas of the ward like Parliament, Queen, and Dundas streets.

“We need to make it a place where people want to shop and visit – a destination,

Bortenstein noted the heritage aspects of the community should be better highlighted.

A father of two young daughters, Bortenstein said he’s running for public office so his girls can enjoy a great life growing up in Ward 28.

To cut down on “wasteful spending,” he is proposing a hiring freeze on Toronto’s labour unions, which he said represents 70 per cent of the city’s costs.

“We’re spending ourselves out of our future and it’s just not sustainable,” he said, adding the downtown core has become so expensive that people are relocating to the suburbs.

Longtime Corktown resident Cynthia Wilkie chairs the West Don Lands committee, a coalition of community-based organizations advocating for positive and timely development on the waterfront.
“We want our future councillor to continue to support and be actively involved in waterfront redevelopment,” she said, adding one of the most important things in the south end of the ward is ensuring the future site of the 2015 Pan Am Games becomes a neighbourhood asset once the athletes are gone.

“We want to ensure the promise of architecture excellence, outstanding public realm and affordable housing are followed through on. In the pressure to meet the Pan Am deadline we want to ensure nothing gets lost.”

Speaking from the perspective of a resident of the ward’s south end, Wilkie said she wants to ensure the community is properly consulted on local development and streetscaping projects such as the redesign of Queen’s Quay and the accompanying transit plan for the area.

“We’d also like to see movement on the plan to re-naturalize the mouth of the Don River, which currently is not funded. We’d like to see the city go to bat on that,” she said, adding public realm investments are also important in Corktown, an important part of Toronto’s old town.

“King and Queen streets east also merit attention. If you can’t make trees grow there you could plant shrubs or other plants,” she said, mentioning the importance of good street lighting and street design and furniture.

Wilkie said investment is needed to attract tourism dollars to the city and that cutting taxes would only lead to more problems and less services.

Like her counterparts to the north, she said crime is a huge concern in her part of the ward and said she’s in favour of ongoing community-based policing.

“Residents are pleased with a stronger police presence and the focus on the community. It’s been a direction we’ve been calling for a long time,” she said.

“We want to ensure that continue throughout the next term.”

Candidate Eric Brazau could not be reached for comment by The Mirror’s press time Tuesday.

- Joanna Lavoie

Posted in Downtown, News