Leaside Life Issue 134 July 2023

Mary Brown of the Ontario Censor Board Pg. 3

By the time you read this, Toronto should have a new mayor. Unless you’ve been living on a deserted island, you’ll know that we’ve been essentially rudderless since John Tory resigned in February (with apologies to acting mayor Jennifer McKelvie).

That means that July marks a new beginning in city politics, and with that the promise of some positive changes for our city.

Our municipal election normally comes only once every four years, so we were understandably shaken, to put it mildly, by the news that we’d be heading to the polls...again.

But political – and by extension community – involvement does not have to pause and only spring back to life for a new election cycle. Real change happens right where we live, and we can help make it happen.

In each issue of Leaside Life , Leaside Residents Association co-president Carol Burtin Fripp shares an update on LRA’s involve-

Jane Auster Editor Leaside Life

ment in local, local, local issues. These are the core concerns that really matter because they affect us where we live. Case in point: Carol has been doggedly following Leaside’s traffic issues, not just for years but decades. Now, as LRA’s co-president and along with the board, she continues to advocate on Leasiders’ behalf for traffic solutions. Finally, there are signs that LRA’s doggedness is paying off, and Leaside can look forward to changes in traffic policy in the neighbourhood.

This to me is true involvement in the life of our community. It’s political activism at a granular level, hitting at the heart of what it means to be engaged in our neighbourhood. So, while I hope our new mayor can effect positive change at City Hall, my money is still on our local community leaders. n

Leaside was once home to Ontario’s infamous film censor. Who knew!

For over 50 years every film shown in Ontario movie theatres was first screened at a nondescript, one-storey brick building at 1075 Millwood Rd., adjacent to the Leaside Memorial Community Gardens. It housed the Ontario Board of Censors (later known as the Ontario Film Review Board), one of Ontario’s most powerful government agencies.

Founded in 1911 as the Ontario Classification Board, the Censor Board was based for many years in Queen’s Park, but by 1948 it had moved to new state-of-the-art headquarters in Leaside. Few people knew the building was even there, as it was virtually unmarked. This was deliberate, as the Board and its staff preferred keeping a low profile. The building’s features included: a fireproof brick vault for storing films, a 100-seat private theatre (later reduced to 35 seats for added comfort), equipment for film-editing and film-cutting, administrative

Ted DeWelles Leaside Heritage Preservation Society

offices and a board room. There was also a recreation area for employees. When the Censor Board first moved to Leaside, board membership comprised a chairman plus three additional members. By the 1980s when the board was screening nearly 3,000 films a year (according to the Toronto Star, Dec. 5, 1984), its number had grown to over a dozen full- and part-time members. At least one was a Leaside resident – Fred Scholes, who lived at 179 Bessborough Dr. and served on the Board from the late 1940s into the late 1960s.

Board decisions were non-transparent and confidential – and its powers were vast. It classified films (as family appropriate, adult accompaniment, or restricted to 18 and over), enforced cuts to images and dialogue, and had the authority to ban movies outright. It exercised control over coming attractions,

CENSOR Page 18

LEASIDE MEMORIAL COMMUNITY GARDENS

The abandoned site

Dr. Tim Marshall is a true bee-liever

by LORNA KRAWCHUK

The buzz started when Tim Marshall spent a week at the Sheldon Valley Outdoor Education Centre as a Rolph Road Public School Grade 6 student.

Sheldon Valley had honeybees, and Tim fell in love with these beautiful insects. So much so that he got a colony of bees and was allowed by his parents to set them up on their hobby farm near Collingwood. It wasn’t possible to use a Leaside backyard, because a hive is required to be 30 feet from the property line. With some help from teacher Martin Hunt and his parents, Tim continued his beekeeping through high school. There was a hiatus while he attended Wilfrid Laurier University and Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College.

After telling his wife, Judy, about his earlier beekeeping adventures, she bought him a colony for his birthday, and it’s now become a family activity.

Their three children, Norah, Calvin and Milo, all help with hive activities when they go to their property on weekends. Luckily, bees are generally quite self-sufficient, so the main work is in the spring to ensure they have enough food (sugar and water) when they are starting to move about before spring blossoms appear, and then, of course, there’s harvesting the honey later in the year.

As you can imagine, it is necessary to be well suited up to avoid being stung when close to the hive. Especially in the city, most people who say they’ve been stung by a bee have actually been stung by a wasp or hornet. There aren’t that many bee colonies in urban settings, plus a bee needs to feel threatened to sting, because after stinging, it dies. Wasps and hornets do not.

Tim and his family now have four bee boxes, each with three layers, called supers. In each super, there are 10 hanging frame racks which the bees use to make their wax honeycomb and then fill the combs with honey. When it’s harvesting time, the hives are smoked to make the bees “peaceful” and less likely to sting, while the racks are removed. The racks are whirled in a centrifuge to extract the honey. Most of the comb remains for the bees to rebuild when the rack is returned to the hive. The honey is strained to remove the bits of broken comb. There is no need for pasteurization because honey is antimicrobial and never gets moldy. The usual yield in a year is about 100 litres. Last year, Norah, Calvin and Milo sold honey at their schools (respectively Leaside High, Bessborough and Rolph) when the schools were doing fundraising to help Ukraine. Several years ago, the children exhibited at the Royal Winter Fair and got coverage on Breakfast Television and in the Globe & Mail! They’ve also been known to set up a stand on Bayview.

Tim always knew that beekeeping “wasn’t a normal kid thing to do,” but he really enjoyed what he was doing. Now, he describes it as “being peaceful working with bees – almost meditative.” Over these last years, we’ve all become more aware of the importance of the role bees play as pollinators. We are also learning

Magical musical journeys on Bayview

by JANIS FERTUCK

For centuries, philosophers have commented on the power of music to enrich our lives. Plato, for example, said, “Music gives soul to the universe and wings to the mind.” No wonder so many of us enjoy listening to music and even taking music lessons at some point in our lives.

One local venue for pursuing an interest in music can be found right on Bayview at the Melody School of Music. The school first opened at Brentcliffe and Eglinton 18 years ago and moved to 1624 Bayview two years ago. School director Grace Kakoian explains that the school was drawn to the more central location by the friendly and family-oriented atmosphere on Bayview, reminiscent of European towns, with its shops and restaurants for parents to enjoy while the children are taking their lessons.

Melody offers classes in many instruments including piano, violin, guitar, ukulele, drums, clarinet, saxophone, flute, trumpet and voice.

There are also small group programs in preschool, glee club and rock band. The most popular courses are piano, vocal, guitar and violin. Currently, Melody employs 20 teachers with professional degrees in music and several years of teach-

ing experience. There are about 300 students, ranging in age from three to 90, most being between the ages of seven and 15.

Sean Trudeau-Tavara has been teaching guitar and ukulele at Melody for nine years and has 22 students right now, some of whom he has taught for five years. He is also the director of the rock band and enjoys having a committed group who are “hungry to learn,” making it easy for him to “bring his A game for them.”

Grace Kakoian, manager Isabella Conliffe, and administrator Arabella White all agree that the secret to Melody’s success is the emphasis they place on “the students’ happiness and satisfaction.” To that end, they offer unlimited make-up lessons and complimentary practice rooms for students without instruments at home. In addition, as Grace says, “If a student wants to try a different method of instruction, we’ll switch them to another instructor without missing a beat.” The students can also try a different instrument without losing any credits.

Nicoleta Barbure and her daughter, Elisa, 13, are big fans. Elisa has been taking piano lessons at Melody for eight years and is now preparing for her Level 7 exam at the Royal Conservatory. They appreciate the skills and knowledge of the teachers who “match their lessons to the personalities and needs of the students.”

JANIS FERTUCK

MELODY SCHOOL OF MUSIC: Director Grace Kakoian, administrator Arabella White and manager Isabella Conliffe.

School’s out for summer!

I tell you, as a kid growing up in Leaside, June always felt like the slowest month of them all. The days seemed to pass in geological time. In comparison, a glacier moved swiftly and nimbly. A snail streaked by in a blur. The sloth was a veritable speed merchant. But not so those final agonizing June days in the classroom.

I recall writing about summer vacation in an earlier column a few years ago, but that sense of freedom that arrives on June 30th is much bigger than one measly column. Looking back, there really wasn’t anything that could compete with the feeling we kids all had upon hearing that bell ring on the last school day of the year. And in an unrivalled act of mercy – or perhaps it was enlightened self-interest – the powers that be had decreed that on that final day of classes, we would be released –nay, liberated – at 2:30, a full 60 minutes early. (I’m not sure if that tradition lives on today.) The, then, East York Board of Education made a very wise decision to abbreviate that final day of the school year. I think they knew that a certain

Terry Fallis Columnist

number of the students – a certain number of us – might not have made it through that final hour. Yes, who can say how many cases of spontaneous student combustion were forestalled by this one clear-eyed decision?

And don’t misunderstand me, I actually liked school. My friends were all there. I enjoyed most of my teachers and the subjects they tried to teach us. Yet, still nothing could compare to that feeling of stepping out the school door to the outside world on that day at the end of June when we were all paroled for the summer. In fact, calling it a feeling may be inadequate. It was a more physical sensation. We were all buzzing. Students would briefly

linger on the school grounds chanting “No more teachers, no more books… etc. etc.” My twin brother Tim and I would then carry home in plastic bags all the detritus from our emptied desks, including pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, dirty socks, perhaps some Batman cards, and various pieces of artwork that really challenged the definition of the word “art.”

Within a matter of hours – sometimes our parents would even pick us up at school, the car already packed to the gunnels – we’d be at the cottage, and then shortly thereafter, packed off to camp on Lake Temagami. (Yes, I know it was an idyllic Leaside childhood and I try not to take it for granted.) We were ready, oh so ready, for a break. Nevertheless, while we loved our time at the cottage and at camp with a different circle of friends all those summers ago, I still remember missing my pals from Bessborough and the neighbourhood. I missed the bright lights of Talbot Park as the baseball players took to the field almost every evening. I missed sneaking up to Claire’s Cigar Store and splurging on chocolate bars with my early babysitting money. I missed a lot about Leaside when we were away as kids during the summers. And here’s the strange thing – or perhaps it’s not really that strange – by the time Labour Day rolled around, and it didn’t take long, I was really ready to be back in Toronto and, yes, back at Bessborough with my friends, back at home in Leaside. Of course, that also meant back to cutting the lawn, doing what seemed like an endless list of chores around the house, and the daunting prospect of homework looming in our future. But it was always good to be back home.

Then it would be the first day back to Bessborough another year older, another grade higher. It would take about a week before we’d all start dreaming of the end of June again, nine months away. Funny how that works.

A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis grew up in Leaside and is the award-winning writer of eight national bestsellers. His most recent, Operation Angus , is in bookstores. You can also subscribe to his newsletter: https://terryfallis. substack.com. n

Leasider Joel Gibson takes it outside

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO

For years, educational experts have extolled the virtues of outdoor learning. Studies have shown that kids learning outside the classroom perform better academically and have an increased enthusiasm for learning.

Exhibit A: Joel Gibson, a shining example of a student who successfully took outdoor ed to a whole new level.

A 2022 graduate of Leaside High School, Gibson wasn’t sure he was quite ready to enter university, so for a gap year he “wanted to expand (his) horizons.”

Searching for a meaningful way to spend the year, Gibson came across Sea|Mester.

The program provides students with the opportunity to spend a semester on a sailing vessel taking on full duties as crew members while acquiring university credits. This combination of travel and education earned Gibson credits through the University of South Florida in courses including nautical

science, marine biology and oceanography. He also received training in scuba diving, skipper and crew training, leadership and emergency drills while alternating roles including skipper, petty officer, navigator, engineer and chef.

Departing from Rome and landing in Anguilla, Gibson also had the incredible experience of going ashore in spots like Morocco, Madeira and Corsica. As Gibson notes, “it would be impossible to pick a favourite spot!”

With 24 students and seven staff on board from around the world, the days were busy and often strenuous. But for Gibson, the experience was awe-inspiring and reinforced his dream of incorporating his love of water into a career.

After finishing his trip, Gibson applied his scuba skills to a dive in Venice, Florida (a.k.a. “The Shark Tooth Capital of the World”), ascending with a five-inch megalodon tooth, which is over four million years old and most likely from a 60ft. megalodon.

Now back home and working in the neighbourhood, Gibson will be staying on the ground for a while as he attends Brock University in September to study geography. n

FRANCESCA ALLMAN

Joel (left) and friend on the open sea.

Here’s to the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee Community Market Initiative

As a staunch supporter of the ‘3 I’s’ that contribute to the collective economic and social well-being of Leaside – individuals with ideas and initiative – I was immediately captivated when I received a flyer from community connector Geoff Kettel about the Thorncliffe Community Market (affectionately known as “the Bazaar”). This lively market, held every Friday night from 3 p.m. to sunset at R.V. Burgess Park (from May 19 to Oct. 13 this year) promised a diverse range of offerings, including clothing, jewelry, food, tandoor bread-baking, and activities for children. Spearheaded by the Thorncliffe Park Women’s Committee (TPWC), this market initiative has become a shining example of community collaboration. Being an advocate for entrepreneurial endeavours, I couldn’t resist the temptation to visit this bustling pop-up market located behind the library at 48 Thorncliffe Park Dr. After attending the market for three consecutive Fridays and witnessing

Glenn Asano The Business of Leaside

FROM THE COVER

an international delegation tour the market as part of the 11th International Public Markets Conference – the largest global conference for public market professionals – held in Toronto from June 8-10, it became evident to me that the placemaking efforts led by Executive Director Sabina Ali and her dedicated colleagues are making a significant impact both locally and globally, and most, including Sabina, are volunteers.

Empowering local entrepreneurs

Thorncliffe Park has warmly embraced numerous waves of immigration to Toronto, earning its reputation as an ‘arrival city’ celebrated

for its diversity. However, despite its rapid growth compared to the rest of the city, the investment in this vibrant community has not kept pace with its expansion. Over the past 15 years, the TPWC has worked diligently to overcome these challenges by spearheading a remarkable community market initiative that has brought about transformative positive change. Today, the Thorncliffe Community Market initiative serves as a central meeting point for residents and has become a catalyst for community engagement, development, and investment in R.V. Burgess Park.

One of the key impacts of this community market initiative is the empowerment of local entrepreneurs. The TPWC has provided a platform for small-scale businesses to showcase their products and services to a wider audience. From unique handmade crafts to delightful homemade delicacies, the market has flourished as a hub of entrepreneurship. By supporting these local vendors, the

community market has successfully stimulated economic activity within Thorncliffe Park, fostering financial independence and self-sustainability among its residents.

“It’s a model for what our public parks can be – old-fashioned town squares where neighbors meet one another and become, well, neighbours. Even better, it is legal; the parks department has issued a permit for the weekly bazaars. And best, six women make this happen every week. Sometimes, things work in this city.”—The Miracle of R.V. Burgess Park, Toronto Star , Catherine Porter.

Neighbours gather, share stories, and forge new friendships as they explore the diverse offerings of the market. The success of the market has inspired the TPWC to collaborate with Leaside organizations, businesses, and all three levels of government to further enhance the park’s infrastructure and amenities. Improvements such as seating areas, landscaping, and lighting have transformed a previously tired plot of land into a vibrant hub of activity, greatly improving the quality of life for residents and visitors while instilling a strong sense of community pride.

Sabina shared with me what she believes are two key drivers of TPWC’s long-term success. First, grassroots volunteer-driven engagement played a crucial role. “We are all in the same boat... let’s make the best of it... organize ourselves and engage with outside communities to bring awareness to the situation because back then in 2007, even residents living in the tall buildings were not allowed to use the green space.” Second, rather than focusing solely on “infrastructure” such as equipment and physical structures, the group’s primary emphasis was on community engagement and community building (referred to as “placemaking”). They aimed to win ‘hearts and minds’ first, allowing the software of community relationships to work harmoniously with the hardware of physical improvements.

Volunteers with heart

By providing opportunities for people to gather, communicate, and work together, placemaking and community engagement activities promote social cohesion and strengthen relationships within the neighbourhood, positively impacting the health and well-being of

residents. Active participation in shaping the neighbourhood fosters a stronger connection to the place, generating a sense of ownership and pride. These initiatives encourage interaction and collaboration among community members.

Overall, placemaking and community engagement initiatives have the potential to transform neighbourhoods into thriving, inclusive, and resilient communities, benefiting residents in multiple ways. Vibrant and well-designed neighbourhoods attract businesses, investors, and visitors. Placemaking initiatives that focus on creating useful public spaces, supporting local businesses, and organizing community events can contribute to economic development, job creation, and increased property values.

I was truly humbled to spend time with Sabina this past month and witness first-hand the immense impact of organized volunteers and the power of community collaboration. Through her dedication and visionary leadership, she has empowered women entrepreneurs, built a vibrant community market, and forged bridges between Thorncliffe, Leaside and far beyond. Sabina’s journey as a newcomer to Canada and what she has accomplished since arriving serves as a source of inspiration, highlighting the potential for positive change that can be achieved when volunteers come together with a shared vision. Her efforts exemplify the transformative power of individuals working collectively to make a difference in their communities.

How about it, Leaside, is it time to launch our own community pop-up market? What would be the distinguishing characteristics (I’m partial to food trucks and bringing back our own ‘lite’ version of Toronto’s International Caravan)? What other placemaking initiatives can you think of that might work for Leaside?

Let us know at leasidelife@gmail. com. n

Step Right Up to...

Taking Leaside’s branding to the street

Glenn Asano, in his inspirational piece: “Would that which we call Leaside by any other name smell as sweet?” (Leaside Life , May 2023) challenged readers to describe what they understood to be “Leaside’s brand,” and given its evident importance, further challenged the community to develop a neighbourhood branding strategy that can “help attract residents, businesses, investment and visitors, and enhance the area’s overall attractiveness and vitality, which subsequently improves the quality of life for its residents.”

I support Glenn’s well articulated vision, and the recent experience of creating a unique identifier for the Leaside 110 anniversary celebrations suggests that it may not be such a difficult task. We took Frederick Gage Todd’s Leaside model garden suburb design with its clearly differentiated street pattern marking residential and industrial areas, and then used it as the basis for Leaside 110 anniversary branding. But we were not the first to recognize the potential of the Town of

Leaside’s street plan for an enduring “Leaside brand identity.” We have the Bayview Leaside Business Improvement Area (BIA) to thank for implementing their gateway feature in 2019 at (both sides of) Bayview and Millwood as part of a thoughtful reimagination of the Bayview streetscape.

The BIA’s consultant, The Planning Partnership, proposed an expansive vision of Bayview Avenue: “to be a retail and restaurant destination, with inviting boulevards lined with mature trees and comfortable attractive street furniture. People will come here year-round to shop, to eat, to linger, and to enjoy life. The greenness of Bayview will extend to include the side street ‘flankages,’ making this one of the great public realms of Toronto.”

The streetscape on the east side of Bayview, constructed by the City several years ago, is anchored by trees rising from ground level (not boxes!) and enhanced by BIA benches and planters.

On the north side of Millwood, both east and west of Bayview, the BIA partnered with the City to introduce two parkettes, complete

with benches, in-ground planting beds, and decorative maps called “standing screens,” which play on the Todd plan. Made of corten steel, the screens very creatively depict the street patterns of Davisville Village on the west side and the Town of Leaside on the east.

Four years out, what is the reaction to the Bayview Millwood parkette improvements? Henry Byres, the BIA coordinator, confirms that it is very positive. “In a nutshell, the Planning Partnership’s design of our Bayview Millwood streetscape features has achieved its goals. From morning to evening, at all times of year, people sit on the parkette benches, which was the hope of the BIA at the outset of the project. We go to great lengths to maintain the planting beds, so that they look good in spite of the harsh growing environment.

“Regarding the screens, I’m a big fan of corten steel, in particular the durability and almost maintenance-free nature of the product and its ‘industrial’ aesthetic. I’m also impressed with the level of detail achieved in the screens, which speaks to the design applicability of corten steel as a gateway feature material.”

So, where do we go from here? Is a bigger, more expansive vision possible that would integrate the Leaside brand in a more coordinated way? Here’s my suggestion: how about installing standing screens on major gateways into the community, like Bayview and Moore, Bayview and Eglinton, Laird (or Brentcliffe) and Eglinton, and Laird and Millwood, all stylized and adjusted to match the street pattern in the gateway area?

In fact, thanks to an understanding developer, we have already started on this thought path. Emblem, the developer of the mid-rises planned for 126-132 and 134 Laird Drive, will be installing a heritage feature at the northwest corner of Laird and Stickney that incorporates the map screen design, and seating, and adds elements and information about the historic automotive services’ link to the site.

Being a community with unified identity clues, we want to display a strong commitment to place-making and public art. How about it? This article was written with the assistance of Henry Byres. n

Geoff Kettel Saving old Leaside

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The changing of the gardener

As I walk along our winding streets, I see more Leaside gardeners who are stepping away from formal garden practices and choosing instead to work with Mother Nature.

Call them trailblazers, trendsetters or simply those who dance to a different drummer, these are the gardeners who inspire us to think differently about our relationship with the environment, and are ultimately changing how we perceive beauty.

Every year I see more lawns being converted into perennial gardens, pollinator gardens and rain gardens. And I’m seeing a lot more native plants too!

No Mow May

There was no official No Mow May campaign in Leaside, but it sure looked that way this spring. Personally, I think it looked amazing! But there are some who rightfully argue that the No Mow May campaign is a short-term solution to our pollinator problem. What’s really needed are more native plants and less tidiness in order to support these essential creatures throughout the year. Others believe this cam-

The Leaside Gardener

Debora Kuchme Columnist

Still, there are many gardeners who believe formal traditional landscaping will never go out of style. For them, the look of manicured lawns and clipped hedges is classic and defines the ultimate urban landscape.

Unfortunately, this type of landscaping often comprises mostly non-native plants that are reliant on significant inputs of water, chemical fertilizers, pest control along with maintenance labour.

What do I think? All I can say is, thank goodness for the changing of the gardener! The more native and wild, the better. n

paign at least opens our eyes to the lack of food source available to our native bees in early spring and hopefully makes us think about how our landscapes contribute to nature… or not.

One of the many Leaside lawns transformed

KAREN KEAY

One of many Leaside lawns ablaze with dandelions

DEBORA KUCHME

film advertising, and video. It also licensed theatres, licensed projectionists (who wrote their exams at the Leaside office) and oversaw theatre safety.

Cuts were mainly based on explicit sex and violence – although in earlier years profanity, suggestive language and scenes of excessive alcohol consumption were also often excised. Movie producers and distributors could appeal the board’s decisions, and it was not uncommon for delegations to travel to the Leaside office to make their case.

For all its power, the Ontario Censor Board was considered one of the most liberal in Canada and elsewhere, especially under its longtime chairman O.J. Silverthorne, who served from 1934-1974. After he retired, the Board acquired a reputation for being much stricter –especially under Silverthorne’s successors Donald Sims (1974-1980) and Mary Brown (1980-1986). During their tenure, the Board came under growing criticism for restricting access or demanding major cuts to several serious films, including Coming Home, The Tin Drum, and the National Film Board’s documentary

Not a Love Story.

Despite this and other challenges, the Board continued to operate in Leaside well into the current century. But its time was running out. Leaside Memorial Community Gardens had long desired the Board’s site so it could build a second ice rink. By 2010, the financial and legal arrangements were in place to acquire the property, and in 2012 ground for the new arena was broken and the Censor Board building was demolished. The Board lived on for a few more years but faded away in 2019 when the Ontario Government eliminated its supervising organization, the Ontario Film Authority. n

more about the dangers to hives by colony collapse disorder.

If you’ve read this far, you will realize that Tim is a second-generation Leasider. He grew up on Sutherland Drive beside Rolph Road School, and he and his wife made a conscious decision to find a home in Leaside, which by coincidence is also on Sutherland. His children attend the schools he attended. And while his wife, Judy, was not originally a Leasider, she now works in Leaside – farther up Sutherland as a doctor at Lyndhurst.

And yes, Tim is actually Dr. Tim Marshall, of the Bayview Chiropractic Health Centre at 1555 Bayview Ave. Chiropractor – and beekeeper! n

Nicoleta also praises the school’s recitals, held twice a year, which “provide a great opportunity for the students to perform in front of an audience.”

Grace explains that the recitals allow the students not only to showcase their talents, but “to develop a foundation of self-confidence that can be applied to all areas of their lives.” This June’s recital was conveniently located at Leaside United Church.

In the future, the staff at Melody hope to offer a wider range of music lessons and groups, and to expand the school. But in the meantime, they are happy to be rebounding from the pandemic and to see the smiles on the faces of their students.

One of those happy students happens to be Leaside Life’s gardening columnist, Debora Kuchme, who says that her piano playing, like her gardening expertise, was largely selftaught until she decided to pursue her dream of improving her skills at Melody a year ago. She credits her teachers there with making her feel comfortable and helping her achieve her goals. In fact, she refers to her experience as “her magical music journey” and says she “feels elated after every lesson.” n

Debora practising

JANIS FERTUCK

JUDY MARSHALL

Are Leasiders ready to get serious about a neighbourhood transportation plan?

by HOLLY REID

The much-anticipated update on the Leaside Neighbourhood Transportation plan was revealed in early June, with near-term improvements proposed:

Phase I: “Quick wins”

This phase of the plan is to deliver the “quick wins” –interventions that could be delivered with minimal fuss and take immediate effect. From an active transportation perspective, there are encouraging signs. A signalized crossing to Mount Pleasant Cemetery at Bayview and Sutherland will improve safety and accessibility for people visiting the cemetery by bike and on foot. Conversion of diagonal to parallel parking on McRae from Laird to Rumsey is a very good first step. Our BikeShare network is expanding – a station was added at the library,

another is planned for Laird and McRae, and more will come with the installation of the Eglinton bikeway and Millwood Road improvements near Thorncliffe Park. Improvements at four intersections are another plus. Anytime you can slow vehicles and improve visibility of people walking and biking through design, it’s good for road safety. But Phase I has little to offer in terms of dealing with Leaside’s nemesis: “cut through” traffic.

Phase II: 2025 and beyond

The opportunity for major reforms is through the longer-term plan, which is dependent on emerging travel patterns once the Line 5 LRT and the Eglinton bikeway are open. We should also have updated results of the Transportation Tomorrow survey (the 2021 survey was deferred to 2022/23 due to the pandemic) for an updated view of how Leasiders currently get around. It is at this phase that significant changes to road design, travel routes, a neighbourhood cycling network, traffic calming and measures to discourage “cut through” traffic will be considered. But according to data reported by the City, this may be a challenge for us.

The uncomfortable truth –we are traffic

From data shared, it seems we are a car-loving lot, making most of our journeys by car and many of them for distances that could be walked or cycled. We’re not big on transit or biking and most of the traffic (at least in 2016) in the neighbourhood was us, or our very close neighbours. Furthermore, according to one of the enforcement officers at the community consultation on June 7th, we account for about 45% of the traffic infractions.

The uncomfortable truth is that if we want fewer people driving on our streets, we have to make it less attractive to do so. Are Leasiders ready to embrace changes that could make it a little harder for them to get around so that others avoid our streets?

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What’s next for Leaside’s traffic woes?

Two hundred years ago, Benjamin Franklin stated that nothing could be said to be certain “except death and taxes.” Leasiders might be tempted to add “traffic,” as it always seems to be with us.

Earlier this month the City’s Leaside Neighbourhood Transportation Plan (LNTP) team held a virtual consultation meeting to present the first phase of the LNTP proposals for the near term (2023-2025). There were about 80 attendees, plus City Traffic staff, police representatives, and Ward 15 Councillor Jaye Robinson, whose proposal initiated the Leaside NTP in the previous Council term. Several very useful measures were proposed.

But these changes will only take effect after the Crosstown LRT is in service. I think this is a mistake. Who knows when that will be? Why not implement traffic control safety measures sooner, to help now, and adjust subsequently as necessary? Doing so would assess the proposals’ effectiveness and monitor the effects of the LRT once in operation.

The longer we wait, the more development construction pressures congest our streets. As long-time chair

LEA SIDE Community PHARMACY

Carol Burtin Fripp Co-president, LRA

of the Leaside Residents Association (LRA) Traffic Committee, I am aware that Leasiders support making our streets safer, and soon.

I am concerned that this early stage of the LNTP has ignored flowthrough traffic’s major entry and exit points into and out of Leaside. Intersections like Bayview Ave. at Moore Ave., McRae Dr., Broadway Ave., and Glenvale Blvd.; Laird Dr. at Parkhurst Blvd., McRae, and Millwood Rd./Southvale Dr. These are the source of many of Leaside’s volume and speeding problems.

Perhaps the LNTP team are saving these locations for Phase Two of their proposals, but it is disquieting to find them missing from Phase One, which focuses on potential solutions within Leaside rather than on additional traffic entering Leaside.

Enforcement of speed limits and turn restrictions is a continuing problem, as we all know. The police officials at the meeting were sympathetic to our concerns, but their ability and resources are overstretched. They support traffic control measures which are effective in themselves, not dependent on an increased police presence. The measures proposed in the LNTP are designed with this in mind.

Parking on our residential streets also received a lot of attention in the plan. How do you feel about requiring on-street parking permits? That was proposed, for instance, on Parkhurst, Sutherland and Randolph Road. On your street? And should parking on both sides of a street be permitted? Would these changes help, or even add to, such problems as speeding and unsafe driving?

One of the plan’s proposals is to install a traffic light on Bayview at Sutherland Drive, to permit a muchneeded safer crossing for pedestrians, cyclists and the 88 bus route. What was not addressed, and needs to be, was how to prevent encouraging Bayview drivers from turning onto Sutherland at that light, thus opening up Sutherland as a through-Leaside route for more traffic. This intersection has been a source of both prob-

lems and complaints for many years.

Interestingly, collected location-based data show that quite a few of our traffic problems are caused by local residents: some 45% of infractions are from Leasiders, so an effective traffic plan has to consider measures aimed both at residents and at through-traffic drivers pursuing shortcuts.

For much more detail, I encourage you to go to the plan’s web page (toronto.ca/LeasideNTP), as well as for illustrations of the traffic calming measures being considered, such as speed humps (used successfully elsewhere in the city, such as in the Post Road area) and in-road flexible speed posts, which can be seen in use on such roads as Merton Street and Blythwood Road.

The Leaside NTP does not yet offer a complete or long-term solution to our traffic woes. The validity of the proposals in Phase One (and eventually in Phase Two) will be determined by your opinions and suggestions, followed by a local voting process to ensure that the neighbourhood is on side. Meanwhile, the LRA appreciates the hard work of the LNTP team, and Councillor Robinson’s continuing support of this initiative. We look forward to moving forward with results.

The LRA board of directors meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month, at the Trace Manes building on Rumsey, just south of Leaside Library. You are welcome to join us to depute, ask questions, have your say, or just listen. Our next meeting is on July 5th. n

CYCLING From Page 20

We also need to make it attractive for people to choose other modes – transit, cycling and walking, especially for short trips. So what changes are needed to encourage more car-free travel in the neighbourhood? What would you need to see to switch from driving to walking your children to school, biking to run errands and taking transit for a night out downtown?

If Leaside wants to get serious about a transportation plan – a plan that improves road safety, reduces vehicle volumes and supports climate action – these are the questions we need to be asking.

Read Carol

Burtin Fripp’s

LRA update on this page to learn more.