Four candidates are vying for Scarborough East seat

Ward 44 Scarborough East resident Clancy Delbarre is hoping the Oct. 25 municipal election brings some attention to his community.

“Residents in this area seem to feel the focus is downtown Toronto all the time,” said the past president of the Highland Creek Community Association. “Very little attention is ever paid, or mentioned of Scarborough, except perhaps in derogatory terms.”He said the priority seems to be aimed at spending money on developing the downtown waterfront and the deluxe ice rink proposal, which is in the port lands.

Incumbent councillor Ron Moeser, who is running again for the Ward 44 seat, said he understands residents feel left out, but added Scarborough East is included in city plans.

“I’ve worked hard to make sure that the money did flow out this way,” he said adding an example is an investment put into the waterfront trail.

Diana Hall is also running for the Ward 44 council seat along with Heath Thomas and Mohammed Mirza.

Though residents feel left out, Hall said residents enjoy living in the ward.

“They love it here,” she said, but she agrees the city stops before reaching Ward 44. “We don’t get subways,” Hall said. “It just doesn’t come out this far.”

People live in the ward because of its green space and beautiful waterfront, she said.

Residents might not want to change their place of residence, but Hall said a change in their representative is needed.

“People want change,” she said. “That’s what I’m hearing. They know there’s going to be a new mayor and they know what the old council can do. Hopefully they’ll vote for change.”

Moeser, however, doesn’t believe his run as councillor should be over, pointing to his years of experience as a councillor in the area with both the former City of Scarborough and in the amalgamated City of Toronto.

He has been a councillor for 19 of the past 22 years.

Moeser was first elected as a Scarborough councillor in 1988. He remained a councillor until he was defeated by Gay Cowbourne in 2003 by less than 300 votes. He was returned to office in 2006, a race which Cowbourne did not take part in, narrowly beating out Hall by 61 votes.

“I can’t predict it,” he said of this year’s election. “I’ve tried my very best.”

Thomas, however, agreed that their is a push for change in the ward. He said he has been knocking on doors and said people are telling him that is what they’re looking for.

“I get the sense that there’s dissatisfaction with the incumbent,” Thomas said. “I’m optimistic I can make some headway. I sense a lot of unhappiness with the incumbent. I get it at the door all the time. I do sense there’s a desire of change.”

Thomas said residents do feel left out from city council decisions, but he has a solution.

“We need to get better public transit in Ward 44 by building a subway out to the area right out to the Rouge Hill station,” he said. “It’s a long range plan. It needs to be built over 30 years. It should be built up slowly. Our grandchildren will benefit, but long range it will benefit the area.”

He added long range planning is also a concern since council seems to focus on downtown. “There’s a lot of deals being made and they all seem to favour downtown Toronto,” he said. “I would like to see Ward 44 get its share when it comes to long-range planning.”

Mirza said Scarborough is absolutely left out of the decision making at city council.

“We need to have a separate Scarborough council,” he said. “We should separate council and put Scarborough money in Scarborough.”

Some areas in Scarborough East need sidewalks he said adding there aren’t any improvements going on in the ward. “They’re (city council) not thinking about us,” he said.

Delbarre said when he talks to his neighbours there’s also concern about the proposed wind turbines off Scarborough’s Lake Ontario shore. “There’s questions around the whole complexity of wind generated electricity,” Delbarre said. “People don’t understand the whole complexity of the issue. The fact is generation of electricity by wind turbines is not only inefficient, but it’s costly.”

Moeser agrees wind turbines are costly, but there are also issues with sight lines.

“We have one of the premiere waterfronts in Ontario with the bluffs,” he said. “I’m concerned about the kind of impact these wind turbines have. These are 40-storeys high. The visual impact is so substantial. We spend the money to build this wonderful waterfront and they’re going to put these giant turbines right in our faces. I would not support that.”

Hall isn’t in favour of the turbines either. “I’m against them going in the waterfront. This is Canada. We have tons of land. Is this the best option?”

She added health options such as sound and the effect a wind turbine will have on marine life also needs to be investigated.

“I still have a lot of questions,” she said. ”We need to know what we’re getting into.”

Thomas said the wind turbines in the lake are expensive and a bad idea.

“I think it’s a colossal waste of money,” he said. “I don’t think it adds anything to the area. For those people who live near the shoreline it will undermine their view of the lake and possibly their property values so I’m completely opposed to it.”

Local redevelopment in the area is also an issue in the community, Delbarre said.

“Ward 44 is essentially low-rise residential large-lot area and it’s ripe for intensification,” he said. “The province has a intensification policy and that trickles down into the municipal planners and so on…”

Because Ward 44 has so much green space it provides “ample opportunity” for this intensification.

“People are concerned and rightfully so,” Delbarre said. “We’re accustomed to what is almost a rural neighbourhood in some parts of Ward 44 and all of a sudden boom, in comes something that just doesn’t compliment what exists.”

Delbarre said he realizes the issue isn’t just at the local level.

Right in his own Highland Creek Village area he said there’s large under-utilized commercial establishments.

“Developers have moved in and they thought they want to put the land to better use by building highrises,” he said.

The community doesn’t want to see that, he added. “We cherish what we have. We recognize intensification is going to come, but nonetheless let’s try and keep it complimentary to what exists rather than completely foreign to what exists.”

Even if the local government takes the stand against developers, Delbarre is concerned the councillor doesn’t have the ability to stop it.

“It’s fine they support the official plan, but there’s the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) where developers appeal for exceptions to the existing official plan for zoning,” he said. “It’s a continuing battle.”

Delbarre said it’s an issue beyond the control of a local councillor.

Moeser said he’s frustrated as well.

There hasn’t been a highrise built in the community for quite some time, he said.

“It is a very, very busy planning ward,” Moeser said. “My first aim is to make sure that any development that comes into the community doesn’t overwhelm the scale of the community.”

There is a frustration that one developer can appeal and a decision made by 44 councillors and the mayor of Toronto can be overruled by the OMB, he said.

“That’s outrageous,” he said. “They’ve got to change the system. I’ve been saying that for years and years and I’m hoping one government will act on it to reform it.”

Hall agrees highrises are out of character and although developers might have an idea of what they want to build, the character of the community needs to be kept in mind.

Thomas’s vision of Ward 44 doesn’t include any condos.

”We do have plenty of condos being built in Toronto already,” he said. “We should preserve as much green space as we can. We have a large amount of single-family homes and that’s what defines the area. It would be best if we could keep development to not involving condos in Ward 44. It’s a residential area, not a city area, and it should be kept that way.”

Mirza is also in agreement about keeping development down in the area.

“We’ve lost green space in the past couple years in the Port Union area,” he said. “We need the green space. I would stop the construction.”

- Michele Mclean

Posted in News, Scarborough