Don Valley West ward takes in Leaside, Flemingdon Park

With a ward as diverse as Don Valley West (26), it’s no wonder there are a plethora of issues being discussed during the municipal election campaign.

The single family neighbourhood of Leaside combines with a vibrant community of new Canadians in Thorncliffe Park, the high-rise and townhouse community of Flemingdon Park, and the more recent residential community of Wynford-Concorde to create municipal Ward 26. Traffic, lack of community services, building maintenance, big box commercial development and security are the range of issue affecting the residents in the ward.

For many of the six candidates looking to unseat incumbent councillor John Parker, representation is also a campaign issue.

“I see there is a communication gap between the councillor and the people here,” said Tanvir Ahmed, who lives in Thorncliffe Park with his wife and three children.

Businessman Jon Burnside agreed. “The key issue is bringing the voice back to the community and that’s representing all segments of the community. You have to be out there talking to people, meeting with the community and listening to them.”

Parker said he has stood up for Ward 26 – and all Toronto residents – at city hall voting against such measures as property tax increases, the vehicle registration fee and land transfer tax, but he was on the losing side of those votes.

Locally, Parker said he brought traffic calming to north Leaside and changed parking regulations to address safety. “We have improved traffic calming measures on Broadway Avenue and Glenvale Boulevard…There was a clear concern that traffic speeds on there roads were excessive,” he said.

But, for those concerned with traffic and accidents on Eglinton there isn’t much that can be done.

“The reality is Eglinton is a major street and it’s not going to be anything other than a major street,” Parker said.

Burnside, who is also a former Toronto police officer, said he would work to make Eglinton safer. “There is an enforcement issue and we need to engage the police more,” he said.

Yunus Pandor believes there are too many accidents along Eglinton between Bayview Avenue and Brentcliffe Road.

“I would make sure the speed limit signs are well posted and monitor from time to time,” he said, adding he would also investigate installing a scramble pedestrian crossing at Bayview and Eglinton like the one at Yonge and Dundas.

Mohammed Dhanani’s said he would host town hall meetings on local issues and the first one would focus on traffic safety. He said investing in transit, which is one of his top priorities, would help alleviate traffic problems.

“The only way we’re going to significantly deal with that congestion is with investment in public transit,” Dhanani said.

The entrepreneur and former provincial government advisor is a supporter of the Eglinton LRT and would also push to move up the time line of the Don Mills LRT as part of the Transit City project.

In Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park a different kind of investment is needed to address the lack of community services and facilities.

“Ward 26 is a very sensitive area in that we have a highly populated area, but when we look at facilities we have nothing,” said Nawab Salim Khan, he lives in the area.

He added he would like to remedy this and provide more programs and facilities for youth and seniors in particular.

Ahmed agreed this is important. “Community development would be the top priority. I do believe there is a need to develop community programming for all ages.”

Parker said you do the best with the resources you have and given the large population in Thorncliffe it is difficult.

“What we need to do is have the best possible co-ordination between the resources that we have,” he said.

In his previous term, he said nearly $4 million in funding was pledged for a new child care facility that will be built with the public school expansion.

Shaukat Malik said more programs for youth will keep them from getting involved in gangs or criminal activity.

“We do not have spaces for our youth,” he said. “We need to train their minds.”

Safety and security is a concern in the ward, particularly in Flemingdon Park where two young men were killed this summer in separate incidents.

“What we need is safety and security and we have to have certain programs in place to achieve that priority first,” Malik said.

Dhanani, who lived in Flemingdon, would advocate for the revitalization of Flemingdon Park similar to Regent Park and Lawrence Heights. “To create a vibrant, sustainable safe neighbourhood you create neighbourhoods with mixed housing,” he said.

This would also be part of Burnside’s long-term plan for the ward.

Some of the candidates also said they would work with the landlords in Thorncliffe Park to improve conditions for renters.

“It will be a two way street. There will have to be co-operation from tenants as well,” said Pandor, who has lived in Thorncliffe for 35 years and raised his seven children there with his wife.

Parker said he’s worked on this issue during the last four years.

“Those buildings used to be a regular source of complaints to my office…those calls have dried up,” he said.

Burnside contends the buildings of Thorncliffe would have been perfect candidates for the city’s Tower Renewal Project, but no one championed for it to be included as part of the pilot.

“There are a lot of city programs that we’re missing out on,” he said.

Economic development is also a concern for Ward 26 residents and candidates alike.

Portions of employment lands in Leaside have been transformed into residential and commercial development, which Parker points out was a result of rezoning decisions by the former East York council.

Both Burnside and Dhanani would support encouraging high tech clusters to move into the area and protect the remaining employment lands.

“One of the things I’m concerned about is that not all that land becomes eroded with commercial development and residential development,” Dhanani said. “The councillor hasn’t been proactive in developing a vision for that land…We have to figure out what we want to do with the land and develop a plan and proposal before there is a plan and a proposal on the table.”

Burnside said he would help strengthen the small businesses in the area by helping get a Bayview Avenue BIA off the ground.

“I would spearhead that. I would be a champion of the Bayview Avenue retailers,” he said. “We have to get that back up to par. Bayview Avenue is an embarrassment with all the unkept planters and cracked sidewalks.”

The 2006 race was a tight one last time around with 15 candidates vying to fill former councillor Jane Pitfield’s seat after she left to run unsuccessfully for mayor. Parker beat Dhanani by 214 votes.

- Danielle Milley

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