Leaside Life Issue 92 January 2020

J A N UA R Y 2020

Leaside Life

No. 92

leasidelife.com

Leaside’s ZACH EDEY leaps into the new year at Purdue.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ADRIANA LUHOVY

Story on page 8.

VISIT US AT LEASIDELIFE.COM: COMMUNITY DIRECTORY • UP TO DATE EVENTS • ARCHIVED STORIES

Leaside Life • January 2020

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EDITOR’S WELCOME Happy New Year, Leaside!

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions for 2020, the year of perfect vision?

I always greet this time of year with a mixture of resolve – and guilt. Resolve because I know this is the year I am finally going to (fill in the blank!) ... but guilt because, aren’t these the same resolutions I made last year?

So, this year instead of making resolutions that may or may not come to pass, I am going to look forward to some sure things. We’ll be celebrating 2020 with the inclusion of entertaining and (I hope) enlightening features in Leaside Life in what our Business of Leaside columnist is calling the Roaring Twenties (but without Prohibition).

Here’s a taster: 1. This year Leaside High School will be celebrating its 75th anniversary. In honour of this

Jane Auster Editor Leaside Life

milestone, we’ll be profiling notable grads and others who have made their mark on the high school – and beyond.

2. We’ll be wearing our green even more in 2020.

With the launch of Cheryl Vanderburg and Debora Kuchme’s Leaside Green column in 2019, we turned the focus to more initiatives that are good for the planet, starting right here in Leaside. Look for even greener themes this year and actions you can take right at home.

3. The Bayview-Leaside BIA is one busy organization. You’ll EDITOR Page 27

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As we welcome the New Year, one of Leaside’s strongest community partners, Holland Bloorview, is embarking on a major expansion of its research institute, the Bloorview Research Institute, funded entirely through the generosity of donors.

“Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital celebrated the arrival of its research MRI in September, which will be housed in a world-class MRI suite to be completed in winter 2020,” says Suelan Toye, senior research communications specialist at the Bloorview Research Institute (as reported in Leaside Life in December). “This MRI suite will be the first in Canada to be immersive, customizable, childfriendly and fully accessible, and is poised to accelerate research into child and youth brain function.”

But new equipment is only one part of the story. The real story is the people behind the machinery. We RESEARCH Page 27

HOLLAND BLOORVIEW KIDS REHABILITATION HOSPITAL

by SUZANNE PARK

LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS

Get to know The Midtown Community Group Leasiders were tantalized in October with announcements that Dr. Karyn Gordon, a relationship expert, would be speaking at Trace Manes about “how to raise emotionally happy kids in this age of affluence.” The sponsor for the evening?

The Midtown Community Group.

I didn’t attend the session, but 45 of you did, and I was curious as to how this evening had come about. More importantly, I wanted to know more about the Midtown Community Group. A conversation with Leasider Julia Schindeler gave me the answers.

Julia organizes a group of about 70 people who all live in the broad area of “midtown,” of whom about a third are Leasiders. Their commonality is that they are all connected to Little Trinity Anglican Church on King Street East. The church, with its motto “Love God. Grow Together. Serve Our World,” has divided its congregation into five groups across the city, with the

Lorna Krawchuk Publisher Leaside Life

Julia Schindeler

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Leaside Life • January 2020

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instruction “you live in your own neighbourhoods, so you identify where and how you can serve the needs of your neighbours.”

So, this past fall, the Midtown Community Group decided that inviting neighbours to hear a well-respected speaker on a topic of local interest would be worth a try. Julia’s aim was to attract 40 people she didn’t know to attend.

She exceeded her goal. Julia’s past professional history extends from being the executive director of the Working Group on Refugee Settlement (which morphed into AURA, the Anglican United Refugee Alliance), to radio and TV journalism, producing with the CBC. Over the past several years, the midtown group has ventured into a number of different projects. Some have been “one off” – such as a cleanup of Sherwood Park, while others have been more regular – such as providing the servers for a few 200-person community dinners hosted by the Flemingdon Park Ministry. Members of the group also make themselves available to fill in when needed over the winter for the Saturday night slot of “Out of the Cold” at Blythwood Road Baptist Church when some of their regulars aren’t able to help.

For their service projects, the group has an interesting approach.

Instead of offering specific help, they ask the agency what IT would like, and how the group can work alongside them, then proceed from there. At Flemingdon, for instance, their help now goes beyond serving at dinners, as they saw a greater need and stepped up for particular donations.

The group meets once a year to brainstorm. They start by talking about the other ways members are already volunteering, and that often leads the discussion to ways for the group as a whole to further their reach. Once a specific project has been proposed, implementation planning meetings are held and opened up to anyone in the group who wants to participate.

Through their efforts, this group of older and younger men and women now know each other well and continue to further their reach into the community. ■

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Leaside Life • January 2020

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LEASIDE PEOPLE • MEET YOUR NEIGHBOURS 6

Leasider Katja Werner says a BIG yes to BIG goals Smart. Driven. Compassionate.

Diligent. Dedicated.

It’s hard to decide which adjective best fits Leasider Katja Werner.

Originally from Germany, Werner arrived in Canada in 2005 after spending time in Ireland and the United States. Her résumé is one that needs far more than the industry-recommended one page. Between her education, certifications, volunteer work, and multiple awards, Werner’s list of accomplishments is long and impressive.

Werner is a graduate in Business Administration and Economics from the School of Business and Economics in Tübingen, Germany,

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Leaside Life • January 2020

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO

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Werner at the Canadian Opera Company, May 2019.

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and from the Rotman School of Management (Initiative for Women in Business) in Leadership in Administration. She is a dynamic facilitator currently working with the commercial real estate company Avison Young Global.

But a full-time job is just small a part of Werner’s life. A selfless volunteer, Werner has multiple areas of service to which she devotes her time and efforts.

In order to best serve those with whom she works, she has studied, and received certification in, ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), Life Coaching, Grief and Bereavement Counselling, and Depression Counselling.

Werner spends Monday to Friday in the office and every Saturday at Sick Kids Hospital, where, since 2006, she has been a member of the Women’s Auxiliary Volunteers (WAV), the WAV board of directors, program and donor relationships, and the WAV recognition committee, where she works in fundraising, marketing, sales, and customer service.

Anne MacInnis, past board president of the WAV and current service coordinator of the 5Fifty5 Shop, notes that “despite holding down a full-time job through the week,

(Werner) faithfully arrives at the hospital every Saturday and works for three to five hours. (She) is completely dependable, works well with her fellow volunteers and enjoys helping patients and their families.”

As if this weren’t enough, and since there are evenings to fill, Werner has also worked for many years with Alliance Hospice (now Better Living), providing counselling to patients and families, speaking at events, and facilitating grief and bereavement groups. She also works with Emily’s House, a children’s hospice, where she assists in improving the quality of life for both parents and children.

Her commitment to volunteerism has earned her the Hospice Palliative Care of Ontario June Callwood Award of Distinction as well as the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration’s Volunteer Service Award for five years of continuous service at Emily’s House.

In a bid to, as she says, “start off (her) next decade right,” Werner is combining her volunteerism with her wanderlust.

To celebrate her 40th birthday, Werner will be trekking to Machu Picchu in March of 2020 to support Cuso, the Canadian international development organization that connects communities around the world with skilled Canadians to help end poverty and inequality.

She is aiming to raise $4,000, which will help Cuso support projects such as sending doctors to Tanzania, training midwives in Ethiopia, assisting Indigenous girls and women in Brazil in building small businesses, and supporting students in the Northwest Territories.

Werner is offering an entry in a raffle to win tickets to one of two productions of Hamilton the Musical in Toronto with a donation to her campaign or by sharing her campaign on social media platforms.

With her 40th birthday in sight, Werner is embracing a philosophy of “let’s say yes to more things.” And with her impressive accomplishments in education, volunteerism, and her love of travel, her trip to Machu Picchu is probably only the latest in a lifetime of “yeses.”

To learn more about Kat’s trek for Cuso, visit her personal Cuso page at http://tiny.cc/katwerner. ■

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Leaside’s basketball wiz Zach Edey ready to “Boiler Up” at Purdue When I last wrote about Leaside basketball phenom Zach Edey in the August 2018 issue of Leaside Life, he was working hard to up his game.

For the past year and a half, the 7'3" Edey has played basketball at IMG Academy, the world’s largest multi-sport training high school, situated in Bradenton, Florida.

Edey has been training four hours a day, five days a week and has gained (in addition to 40 lbs. of muscle weight) a firmer knowledge of the game and an ability to read the play.

The center is now not just the tall guy under the net, he’s a dominant force in the paint.

Edey’s dedication and hard work have provided such outstanding results that in September of 2020 Edey will be donning the gold and black of the University of Purdue Boilermakers in his freshman year of university.

Being granted a scholarship at a

FROM THE COVER

Zach with his mum Julia. prestigious university with a basketball team that went to the Elite 8

MEGHAN MITCHELL/IMG ACADEMY

Leaside Life • January 2020

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO

last season is a massive accomplishment. But not only was Edey granted a scholarship at Purdue, he also received offers from, among others, Santa Clara, Baylor, Minnesota, Tulane, Western Kentucky, and Seton Hall.

What makes this accomplishment especially astonishing is the fact that Edey signed with Purdue less than two years after taking up the game of basketball. He was originally a baseball and hockey player until Edey’s friend’s dad offered him a spot on his North Toronto Huskies basketball team. Edey initially declined but felt the game might help as cross training for his other sports. Once he was spotted by coaches of other basketball teams, he quickly rose through the ranks. Six months after picking up the game, in fact, Edey was recruited to Team Canada.

So why choose Purdue over the other schools?

Edey says that after meeting with coaches of various universities, he felt that Purdue had high academic standards, a great family feel, and a head coach who was going to challenge him to earn his playing time with the team.

Coaches from other schools, Edey notes, were promising him playing time right off the bat, but in order to better his game and to bring it to the ultimate level, he felt that Purdue’s head coach, Matt Painter, was the best person to help him succeed.

Painter notes that one of Edey’s strengths is the fact that “he can move, and that’s going to be something that’s really going to help him initially, his ability to move at that size.”

Purdue assistant coach Steve Lutz comments on the first time he saw Edey play. “I was in awe of his ability to move at his size. I was also very impressed with his ability to pass the ball and his soft touch on his shot. It is a rare combination of size and skill.”

Edey’s parents, Julia and Glen, have already mapped out the drive from Leaside to the Purdue campus in West Lafayette, Indiana (approximately 8½ hours) and plan to attend a lot of games next fall.

With Edey’s drive, skill, and determination to improve, his freshman year at Purdue will be the start of an impressive run. As they say at Purdue, “Boiler Up!” ■

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by JANIS FERTUCK Leaside United Church (LUC) is a familiar landmark in the neighbourhood across from Trace Manes Park and known for its spring and fall “Awesome Sales.” But more awesome activities are taking place there these days in the form of renovations to upgrade the dated facilities for use by both the congregation and the many members of the community who frequent the church weekly.

The first stage of the renovations was unveiled early in December.

The new kitchen, next to the Hearth Room and used for Sunday Coffee Hour and various church and community events, is more than twice the size of the former kitchenette.

It boasts new cupboards, counters and energy-efficient stainless steel appliances, including a commercial dishwasher that completes a cycle in under four minutes and an induction range, as well as a larger flower preparation area.

Members of the congregation are impressed by the size and functionality of the new kitchen, commenting on its brightness and spacious layout, making it a pleasure to work there. The supply minister, Rev. Warren McDougall, noted that the new space would give people “a real boost right before Christmas.”

This renovation is part of an improvement project made possible by the amalgamation of LUC with Presteign-Woodbine United Church (PWUC), which was located in the

Volunteers working in the new kitchen: Dick Cowan, Anne Raby, Inga Theberge, Wendy Turley and Dorothy Cowan.

St. Clair and O’Connor area of East York. The PWUC congregation had been dwindling for several years, and the remaining active members found themselves overburdened by all the responsibilities of running a church council and several committees. They considered a number of viable alternatives such as amalgamation, redeveloping their property or creating a new type of mission in the area.

In the spring of 2016, when LUC was thinking about fundraising for needed upgrades, the head of council, Graham Lute, was approached by the PWUC head of council, Tom Carter, about the possibility of amalgamation. Their initial meeting followed with a dinner involving key representatives from both congregations, during which they shared personal and spiritual experiences as well as their visions for their churches. Soon, it was decided that the best solution for PWUC would be amalgamation with LUC because of their similarities in terms of mission, core values and outreach initiatives, as well as their proximity and the close personal connections between the two groups.

By the beginning of 2017, the regulars from PWUC were already attending services at LUC and joining in all of the activities and LEASIDE UNITED page 25

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Leaside Life • January 2020

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This makes no sense to me at all, but any way I slice it, I’ve now lived in eight different decades, even though I just turned 60 last month. I’m having enough trouble with the whole turning 60 thing without compounding it with the whole living in eight decades thing!

But it’s true. My twin bro and I were born on December 23, 1959 – towards the end of the final month of the final year of the 1950s.

Had we been born when we were due, I’d instead be complaining in this column about living in seven decades. You see, like most identical twins, we were born a few weeks premature (okay, six weeks premature, but who’s counting?

Hmmm. Well, I suppose our mother was counting). This pushed us back into the fabulous 50s. So, if you do the math, which I’ve now done 73 times, stubbornly yielding the same result, we’ve lived in the 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, the “noughties,” the whatever you call the 2010s, and now, as you read this, in the 2020s. Yep, count it up.

Eight different decades. This realization is not helping me deal with

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turning 60.

I know I’ve written about this whole issue before. Can you tell it’s weighing on me? But by the time you read this, it will have happened. Despite my incredulity at the passage of time, I’m not expecting it to be too traumatic, largely because there’s something else to stress about around the same time as my birthday (I mean in addition to the traditional seasonal stress that comes with the holidays). On December 27th, just four days after I cross the 60 years-old Rubicon, I will debut with the National Ballet of Canada in The Nutcracker. You heard me right.

I know what you’re thinking, I’ve never written about my long and storied career as a dancer. That’s true. Well, a guy has to keep some secrets, so that part of my life has always been off limits, until now.

Don’t worry, it won’t take long to tell you about it. If you’ve ever had the misfortune of seeing me dance – once you have, you can never “unsee” it – you’ll know that boogying (let alone ballet!) is not my strong suit. No, I assure you it’s a very, very, weak suit. Yet, somehow, through an email received in November, the National Ballet of Canada invited me to appear as a Cannon Doll in this year’s production of The Nutcracker.

I figured there’d been some kind of mixup. I was aware that in each performance, two special guests are invited to appear on stage, in colourful costume, as Cannon Dolls for about 57 seconds. One doll brazenly advocates the firing of the cannon, while the other cowers in fear, pleading for peace.

I learned about all this when I saw a YouTube clip of Leaf stars Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner “performing” in last year’s production.

Clearly the National Ballet had run out of Toronto celebrities to invite and randomly threw a dart at the Toronto phonebook to skewer me.

But when am I ever going to get the chance to grace to vast stage of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts? So, I took a deep breath, said “yes,” and roped my thespian son, Ben, into joining me as the comic relief Cannon Dolls.

As I write these words, we’re still a week or so away from the big performance, so I’m spending my time in training, waving my arms FALLIS page 25

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Leaside High football wins City Championships

Leaside Life • January 2020

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The Leaside Lancers football team won the Tier 2 TDSB Varsity City Championships on November 21st at Varsity Stadium. Coached by LHS Phys. Ed teacher James Georgiadis, the team went undefeated in the season and won the championship 15-7 against Silverthorn Collegiate Institute from Etobicoke. Our football season made every student proud. The team played with effort, grit, and determination and brought the whole school to their feet! Games such as the 21-0 win over our rival East York CI, the 34-0 win over North Toronto HS, were definite highlights. This season of Leaside High School football was nothing short of inspiring. It’s a great time to be a Lancer!—Matty Hall, Leaside High Athletic Association.

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75

Leaside High - celebrating 75 great years!

Leaside Life • January 2020

by SUSAN SCANDIFFIO With Leaside High School’s 75th anniversary being celebrated this year, Leaside Life will be profiling a number of notable members of the school in various positions, as students, teachers, and more, to mark the milestone.

As Julie Andrews most eloquently put it in The Sound of Music, “let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

A little background In 1944, the Chair of the Board of Education for the Town of Leaside, Paul McLelland, submitted a brief to the Mayor and Council of the town recommending that Leaside have its own high school. Students at that time were attending 10 different high schools, including Jarvis, Oakwood, and Northern. After acceptance of the proposal, discussion of the location of the school ensued, with the current Hanna Road site chosen as the most suitable option.

While construction took place, the

first classes of Leaside High School were held in Rolph Road School, and the official opening of the school building was marked on February 16, 1949.

Leaside High’s first principal The first principal of Leaside High was Norman McLeod.

Born in Arran To w n s h i p of Bruce County, Ont. in 1899, McLeod was a graduate of the North Bay Normal School and taught elementary school in Temiskaming for several years until he entered Queen’s University.

Graduating with a Master of Arts in English and History, McLeod then attended the Ontario College of Education and taught for several years at the Oshawa Collegiate and Vocational Institute and the University of Toronto.

A man with a clear dedication to

education in Ontario, McLeod served as the first president of the Ontario Teachers Federation from 1944 until 1945 when he took up the role as Leaside principal.

McLeod not only had a strong background in education, he was also fiercely proud of his Scottish heritage.

He was president of the Clan McLeod Society of Ontario and on several occasions hosted Dame Flora McLeod, chieftain of the McLeod Clan from Scotland, at the school. Leaside School’s choir ties were McLeod tartan, and McLeod himself was often seen in the halls dressed in his clan kilt.

The Scottish theme is still present today with the yearbook, called the “Clan Call,” pipers at commencement ceremonies, and the Gaelic school motto “Seas Gu Dileas,” meaning “Stand Faithfully.”

According to records, McLeod’s first phone call upon assuming the role of principal was from a resident asking for a delivery of a four- to five-pound roast, “something that I can turn out as a well-done roast.” While explaining that he was answering from a school and not a butcher shop, he did point out that he was working to turn out well-done products.

McLeod not only viewed school as a place of education but as a precursor to a life of civic service. In a yearbook message, McLeod urged students to engage in extracurricular activities. “Where else,” McLeod noted, “can you find a better place to get some practice in this basic training which underlies our whole system of democratic government?”

While working as principal until 1964, McLeod also served on the Royal Commission of Education in Ontario from 1945 to 1950.

Upon his retirement after 43 years of teaching, McLeod received the first of the fellowship awards for teachers from the Ontario Teachers Federation.

Retirement from teaching did not end McLeod’s involvement in education and civic engagement as he served as president of the Superannuated Teachers of REUNION page 24

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Leaside Green: We the Roots – a new way to bring agriculture back This area that we call Leaside was once home to the Laurentian people, who grew corn, beans and squash and gathered the abundance of local nuts and berries to sustain their community. Later, the Lea family, along with the Murray farm to the south and the Elgie and Beatty farms to the north, worked this fertile soil to create a livelihood providing fresh produce to feed and support the growing city. Then Frederick Todd designed Leaside with the Garden City Principles, giving us the key to establish a live/work, self-sufficient city within a city.

But as the city grew larger, the farms moved farther away and today the majority of our food is transported from large-scale industrial farms from all over the world. Though seemingly productive and affordable, this model comes with a great cost to the environment. Because of poor practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, the industrial farm model produces one trillion dollars of food waste a year. It’s responsible for the deforestation of 40% of our woodlands and the loss of biodiversity, plus it uses 70% of our fresh water resources and emits almost one-third of all greenhouse gases.

Large-scale agriculture has contributed to climate change and in turn, climate change is having a big impact on agriculture creating food insecurity along with rising prices.

Fresh ideas

Fortunately, there is a new generation of agricultural pioneers cultivating fresh ideas and combining new technology with old-world techniques to produce fresh, local food.

They’re making use of underutilized public land, inside buildings, rooftops and even underground parking lots and subway tunnels. Their mission is simply to bring agriculture back to the city and be a part of the climate change solution.

One of these agricultural pioneers is Amin Jadavji, who lives in Bennington Heights. He is the president of Intravision Greens Canada (a leading provider of light technology), and, in 2017, became the CEO and partner of an urban micro-farm known as We the Roots (a play on We the North).

Amin of We the Roots Along with other partners, including long-time Leasider and award-winning producer Henry Less, they’re like a perfect salad mix combining their unique ingredients to create something even more remarkable together.

Inside a 1,000 sq. ft. building (with no sun and no soil) We the Roots is growing top quality, ultra-fresh culinary greens such as arugula, kale and many rare products (mizuna and chepiche, for instance) for local chefs at high-end Toronto restaurants like Parcheggio in Bayview Village, Canoe and Quetzal. The company produces around 4,000 plants a week, 52 weeks a year, and these greens are non-GMO, pesticide free and delivered the day they are picked with the roots still on. Now that’s fresh!

How green are they?

As Leaside Life’s green team, we just had to check this out!

At an East York industrial warehouse, we met Amin for a tour of the urban farm. Honestly, we had no idea what to expect.

As the door opened to the growing chamber, our eyes were filled with the fuchsia glare shining down on the plants nestled in water trays seven shelves high. In the background, music from Star Wars was playing (many experiments have proven that music can boost plant growth) to ensure the force was with them.

Amin explained how their efficient computerized hydroponic system delivers nutrient rich water to plant

DEBORA KUCHME

Leaside Life • January 2020

by CHERYL VANDERBURG and DEBORA KUCHME

roots, then gets filtered and reused, saving 98% of the water. Because of the high yield from their stacked vertical system, they use 90% less land than traditional farms. And their computerized lift system moves the plants from one shelf to another through the stages of growth. We found the lights most fascinating.

Using different coloured LED lights (cool white, green, deep red, ultra-violet) in different combinations and with different intensities can affect a plant’s nutrient properties (giving it more calcium, phosphorous and vitamins) and even alter a plant’s taste and texture. For example, they can make a milder tasting kale or a more intense flavour kale. In other words, they make custom kale!

We both left feeling inspired and wondered what might be next for Leaside. Why not rooftop farms like those in New York, Paris and Montreal? These micro-farms produce tonnes of local organic fruits and vegetables during the growing season, utilize rainwater while reducing excess storm water, help to clean the polluted urban air and provide jobs to the local economy. Is Leaside ready to be a true Garden City?

Low-tech matters too

There are still many Leasiders who remain true to our “low tech” agricultural roots and continue to plant essential and nutritious food. The Leaside Park Community Garden (maintained by volunteers) grows a variety of vegetables to provide local residents access to fresh produce. In 2018, St. Cuthbert’s Church won the Greening Sacred Spaces Award for their environmentally friendly place of worship, which included their community garden. I (Cheryl) planted apple, cherry and a pear trees last year and can hardly wait to make my first fruit crisp. And thanks to the Leaside Garden Society’s informative seminars, I (Debora) am now hooked on growing my own organic fruits and vegetables from seed.

Whether it be high- or low-tech, locally grown food creates economic opportunities, helps reduce environmental impact, tastes better, lasts longer and brings our community together.

Let’s grow and support local food for the good of us and the planet!

Visit leasidelife.com for the extended version of this article along with more photos! ■

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Not sure if it’s just me, but I have always disliked the decade defining nomenclature of recently passed eras such as ‘the noughties’, likewise for the ‘tenners’ or ‘teenies’ because they conjure up…well, nothing in particular (okay, the internet, financial crisis, political upheaval). No allure. No imagination. No passion.

It might just be nostalgia, but today – I’m EXCITED because I can’t wait to witness Leaside leap into the latest iteration of the ‘ROARING TWENTIES’ with great entrepreneurial aplomb.

Thinking back 100 years ago, the 20s was a period of shared optimism fuelled by the end of a war, positive societal change and unrelenting technological advancement.

It was the time of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Charles Lindbergh and Henry Ford, and Canada was celebrating its ‘diamond jubilee’ of confederation.

People challenged traditional ideas (e.g. economics, morality) and revelled in new personal freedoms (e.g. women’s suffrage, the youth movement) that informed a more modern

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and located its head office at 150 Laird where the incoming VIVA retirement development will eventually be. At the time, what is now the Leaside Business Park employment zone was becoming a hive of manufacturing and development activity that would support our own forces John Mangold (r) with the Droppit meal preparation team.

PHOTO FROM DROPPIT

Leaside Life • January 2020

20

The NEW Roaring Twenties brings young entrepreneurs to Leaside

lifestyle from fashion to music. It was also a time of tremendous innovation and invention (e.g. automobile, telephone, radio, motion pictures, electricity, penicillin, insulin) which presented enormous opportunity for enterprising individuals of the day.

Titans of business became ‘titans’ in the Roaring Twenties Indeed, some brilliant Canadian entrepreneurs and ventures have shone brightly during a 20s decade.

Gordon McGregor seized the opportunity to work with Henry Ford and masterfully negotiated a remarkable technology licensing agreement that allowed the Canadian entity to sell Ford cars across the entire British Empire from its head office in Windsor. Kenneth C. Irving’s own empire began in 1920 when he opened an automobile dealership.

Recognizing customer needs, he added a gas station to his father’s general store and over time he had the prescience to evolve the business into what became the Irving Oil Company.

Closer to home, the Durant Motor Company had established manufacturing operations along Wicksteed

and allies in both wars.

During the previous roaring 20s, in 1820 when William Lea’s parents John and Mary had just purchased the 200 acres that would become Leaside, Canadian business titan John Molson was putting the capstone on his considerable legacy as the “greatest entrepreneur of his day.” A legacy built on technological innovation (yes, brewing was at the forefront of applied technology at the time), considerable problem-solving and foresight.

(He was also a force in the steamship industry, the single largest investor in Canada’s first railway, and the Bank of Montreal’s president.) Naturally, we couldn’t write about the 20s without a nod to the role Prohibition played in creating wealth for entrepreneurial Canadians like enterprising whisky distiller Samuel Bronfman, who was allowed to export ‘product’ from Windsor to Detroit so long as he paid the excise tax.

Rise of a new generation of entrepreneurs in Leaside Which brings me to Leaside today.

In particular to the rise of a new genTWENTIES page 24

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Leaside Life • January 2020

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Settlement with RioCan to include $11 million in community funds Last month’s column described how the City moved forward with its Laird in Focus Plan. RioCan’s development application for 815-845 Eglinton Ave. East was approaching decision point at the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT), and the three Parties (RioCan, the City and the LPOA) agreed to sit down to try and reach a settlement.

After meeting for three days, a settlement was reached, approved

by City Council, and set to go to the LPAT for ratification on December 19.

Details of the settlement let’s get technical!

The two main components of the proposed settlement are Built Form and Section 37 (in-kind commitments and cash payable by RioCan), known as “community benefits.”

The Built Form changes are: • A reduction in the two towers from 36 and 38 storeys to 34 and 29 storeys with the 34-storey builder closer to the proposed Eglinton Crosstown LRT station.

• A reduction in the midrise component of the building next to the proposed public park from 12 storeys to 10 storeys, with the office building increased from 4 to 5 storeys.

• A 6-storey street wall along Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Drive will wrap around the buildings facing the Privately Accessible Public Open space (“POPS”) at the corner of Eglinton and Laird and the proposed public park.

• A wider internal private street with appropriate streetscaping.

• Improved sightlines from the two proposed POPS to the internal private street by increasing the separation distances between buildings and increasing space provided at grade.

• Restrictions on protruding balconies in specific portions of the development.

• Adherence to a 45-degree angular plane originating at the property line from a height of 80% of the respective rights of way of Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Drive maintaining good access to sunlight.

• The overall FSI (density) will be 3.87, which is not changed, but

Geoff Kettel

Saving old Leaside

the proportion of residential is decreased and that of commercial/office is increased.

Section 37 contribution details • A 62-space daycare facility to be provided on site (with additional funds for startup costs).

• 40 affordable rental housing units to be provided on site (to be secured as affordable for 15 years, and as rental for 25 years.

• A cash payment of $11,300,000 for on-site and/or off-site community facility and/or community facility improvements, off-site park improvements and/ or parkland acquisition, and/ or public realm and streetscape improvements, with such funds to be used at the discretion of the chief planner in consultation with the ward councillor.

There will also be an agreement between the City and RioCan for the provision of: • Transportation Demand Management measures.

• 10% of the units in the development as 3-bedroom units.

• A phasing requirement to ensure

that the office component of the development is constructed before or at the same time that the first residential component of the development is constructed.

• Easements to secure public

access to the POPS spaces, the private pedestrian mews connecting to Eglinton Avenue East, and the private internal road.

• Underground loading and servicing for the development.

Did we get it right for local residents, the City, and the developer?

They say a good barometer of a successful mediation is when both parties are somewhat unhappy. I’d say we are pleased with the design improvements, but a little disappointed that we did not get the density reduced further.

What about Section 37? This opens a whole realm of possibilities for Leaside to have a say in setting priorities for how the funds are to be allocated. There is the opportunity for the City to elect to secure a 10,000 sq. ft. “community facility” on site. In addition, there are numerous off-site candidate projects like the Laird in Focus proposed connection to the Don River trail from Vanderhoof.

How do we ensure the Leaside community has a role in priority-setRIOCAN page 24

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Leaside Life • January 2020

HAPPY New Year!

Twenties...

From Page 20

Leaside Life • January 2020

24

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eration of entrepreneurs and the relationship they have with our community and the opportunities that will follow. I’m excited to report on the initiatives of three growing start-ups located in Leaside and encouraged to read about others my colleagues have recently written about (e.g.

Dave Martin’s New Standard beer and Christine Manning’s operation).

Operating from the Leaside Business Park, Droppit (www.droppit.ca) is a rapidly growing ketogenic meal delivery service founded by Millennial John Mangold. Notably, John was attracted to set up in Leaside because Manning Canning was here. A former Queen’s Varsity football player, John became passionate about the science behind maintaining a healthy weight.

Birchall & Taylor (www.birchallandtaylor.com) is a Canadian luxury watchmaker based on Research Road. Charles Birchall and Brad Taylor met in the Swiss city of Le Locle where both were studying their craft. Fast forward eight years and Leaside was the perfect location because of the light industrial zoning, close to fellow business owners who are happy to offer help and support, and very near to where they live.

The third and newest venture is run by Jason Van Humbeck, a techsavvy young entrepreneur from Leaside High School who has started Shovel Me (www.shovelme.ca) to help you easily deal with SNOW REMOVAL. Jason’s vision was to eliminate the third-party adults from the snow shovelling supply-demand chain with the use of technology in order to match Leaside homeowners with local students in response to his customer’s own desire to find students to pay.

Like the Molsons, Bronfmans and McGregors of their day, these entrepreneurs are helping to reenergize Leaside and bring new opportunities to both existing businesses and the community. Their vision, passion, innovative use of new technology, and hard work are infectious.

There is an undeniable synergy when entrepreneurs can motivate and provide services to one another.

Further, it would be an unbeatable combination if interested members of the residential community get involved through mentorship, provision of services, and helping to attract investment and promote the commercial opportunities. If

we roll up our sleeves and properly plan for the right kind of investment and enterprise development, I am confident we can win support from both the province and city to become a vibrant hub of innovation and employment in Toronto.

The ‘roaring’ is optional but would certainly be a lot of fun. Happy New Year!

Do you think Leaside could become an entrepreneurial hub of innovation and light manufacturing within Toronto? Do you think re-energizing the nearby commercial employment zones will benefit Leaside? What resources would we need to make this happen? Let us know at leasidelife@gmail.com.

Leasider Glenn Asano is a partner and principal consultant for the strategy and business development practice at Centred Performance. He is also an Instructor with the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. ■

Reunion...

From Page 16 Ontario (now the Retired Teachers of Ontario) from 1969 until 1971, and as treasurer of the Bennington Heights Ratepayers Association, beginning his role in 1966.

While McLeod died in 1972, his legacy lives on at Leaside High School not only through the Scottish marks throughout the school, but also through a scholarship in his name recognizing the student in each graduating year with the highest average.

As his obituary noted, McLeod was known as a 3-F man – friendly, firm, and fair. And ever did he “Stand Faithfully” to education with the roots of the school that carry on his principles of high academic standards and civic engagement. ■

RioCan...

From Page 22 ting? That’s where the new Leaside Town Council comes in. The community council proposed by Glenn Asano in his August 2019 column is getting established. Stay tuned!

Finally, a big shout-out to Councillor Jaye Robinson, a most determined negotiator. Though not able to be there physically, she was in fact very much there; the settlement bears her imprint. We wish her all the best for a full recovery following her treatment. ■

Leaside United.. committees long before the official date of amalgamation on June 10.

The amalgamation resulted in a financial opportunity, thanks mostly to the sale of the PWUC property, to enhance the congregation’s missional goals and upgrade the facilities physically and for greater accessibility, in order to encourage greater use of the building for members and the community.

As Graham Lute says, the relationships that started as “good acquaintances have over time become really good friends,” and now they are embarking on a new adventure together.

Happy NewYear!

Please join me and MP Rob Oliphant for our 17th Annual

New Year ’s Levee Sunday, January 19, 2020 • 1–3 pm Toronto Botanical Gardens, Floral Hall 777 Lawrence Ave E, Toronto

Join us to celebrate the New Year with refreshments and live entertainment!

“Change is a constant, but our church has used it in a positive manner and we look forward to serving the Leaside and East York communities for years to come.”

Kathleen Wynne, MPP

Don Valley West 416-425-6777

kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

—Anne Raby, member of the Renovation Committee.

Anne Raby, a member of the Renovation Committee, adds that “change is a constant, but our church has used it in a positive manner and we look forward to serving the Leaside and East York communities for years to come.”

Our next article will highlight the congregation’s philosophical and physical priorities for the improvements and more details about the upcoming changes. ■

Fallis...

From Page 12 wildly and feigning bravado while a fearful and trembling Ben leaps into my arms. I’ve only dropped him twice so far.

Stay tuned for a full report on the experience in a future installment.

Anything to turn my mind away from that big looming birthday.

A two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, Terry Fallis grew up in Leaside and is the award-winning writer of seven national bestsellers, including his most recent, Albatross, all published by McClelland & Stewart. ■

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Leaside Life • January 2020

From Page 10

26

EVENTS: January 2020 THE POWER OF WOMEN WORKING TOGETHER

Leaside Life • January 2020

Monthly meeting of the Canadian Federation of University Women, Leaside-East York. Speaker: Rebecca McTaggart, Retired Director General of the Immigration and Refugee Review Board, on Refugee Migration to Canada: Early Arrivals to Current Challenges. Visitors and new members welcome!

Thursday, January 16, 7:30pm at Northlea United, 125 Brentcliffe Rd. Info: www.cfuwleasideeastyork.ca or email joincfuw@gmail.com.

WANT TO MAKE CYCLING BETTER WHERE YOU LIVE? Come out and join fellow cyclists from Wards 15 and 16 to advocate for safe and connected cycling routes in our neighbourhoods.

Meeting: Wednesday, January 29th @ 7:00 pm. Trinity Grace Church, 826 Eglinton Avenue East (north side, just west of Laird). RSVP contact: cycledonvalleymidtown@cycleto.ca

LEASIDE GARDEN SOCIETY Guest speaker Paul Zammit. Rethinking Beauty: Inspiring Gardeners in a Changing World.

Guests welcome.

Thurs. Jan. 9. 7:30 p.m. Leaside Public Library.

GROOVE ROOM COFFEE HOUSE Listen to great live music by local artists and have a coffee and homemade dessert with friends. Featuring Jim Sweetland. Cost is $5 with all proceeds to the Flemingdon Park Food Bank. We are looking for performers.

Friday, January 10th 7:00-8:30 pm, St. Augustine’s Church, 1847 Bayview Ave. Info: 416-485-2656 • www.saintaugustine.ca • office@saintaugustine.ca

WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE LEASIDE LIBRARY AFTERNOON @ THE MOVIES Join us for a free film screening. All welcome. No registration required. Call 416-396-3835 for movie titles.

Wednesdays: January 8, 22 from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

DISCOVER YOUR HERITAGE Explore Ontario of yesterday and today with Barry Penhale and some special guests. For more information, please contact Marjorie McLeod at 416-425-1392.

Leaside Gate

Tuesdays: January 14, 21, 28 –2:00 – 4:00 pm

For the most up-to-date information, see https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/ programs-and-classes Send us your free listing for February by January 10th leasidelife@gmail.com ■

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From Page 3 spoke to two of the key researchers to learn more: The research team leaders, Dr. Evdokia Anagnostou and Dr. Tomáš Paus, bring unique research backgrounds and decades of experience to Holland-Bloorview. As Dr. Paus explains, “I came to Holland Bloorview last year to help launch this initiative. My research has focused on studying typical brain development mainly in teenagers. I’ve scanned thousands of young brains and will bring that expertise to looking at the brains of children and teens with developmental differences, which Evdokia has been studying for many years, in many contexts.”

Dr. Anagnostou confirms, “... the understanding of typical development is invaluable to studying developmental differences. We’re interested because we’re curious about how the brain may change over time and this may provide insight into to how and when to intervene as the brain develops. We’ll also be researching how caregivers can and are taking care of their own health.”

It takes a village “The MRI is just a machine and our team are just scientists,” says Dr. Paus. “What we need is the community to participate in our research. We need kids and teens but also adults and families to come forward and help us understand what’s going on in brains by participating in our studies and spreading the word. This will support our research. We need hundreds, even thousands of participants, because the brain is so complex to get close to answering our questions we require really large studies.”

“The machine needs all the right researchers’ brains determining how best to answer the important questions over the next few years,” Dr. Anagnostou adds. “We’ve assembled an inspiring team of clinicians, scientists, mathematicians, doctors and psychologists in the same place working in close proximity. We’ll be linking with partners around the world to share expertise, address issues related to how we manage all the data and how we understand and apply new analytical techniques. New approaches to solving these challenges will require additional skills, so as the project unfolds we’ll be bringing more scientists on board. Experts in artificial intelligence and machines learning will support our understanding of particular patterns and how they

impact the stories and lives of the kids and the families we serve.”

“For every scientist we have another seven to 10 trainees,” says Dr. Paus. These talented PhD students and post-doctoral fellows are at the cutting edge of research that this new equipment permits, bringing compelling jobs and investment in state-of-the-art equipment to our community – keeping us competitive with the best in the world.”

An exciting development – and right in our back yard. ■

The new kid-friendly MRI.

Editor...

From Page 2 be seeing a lot of changes along Bayview that we’ll want to share with you.

4. What’s happening with Leaside real estate in 2020? We’ve invited local real estate agents to share their unique insights into Leaside’s rapidly changing, always interesting real estate scene.

5. Where are they now? We asked this question last year and were able to share some unusual stories of former Leasiders who have made homes and careers elsewhere...but still retain a love of their old ’hood. We’ll be hunting down more of these Leasiders-living-elsewhere.

6. Your residents’ association is in the midst of big change. Stay tuned to this space to learn more about the new focus.

Note that Jaye Robinson’s column appears online this month. As always, we love hearing from you with comments and ideas for stories. Here’s to a lively Leaside Life New Year! ■

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Leaside Life • January 2020

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Changes and challenges face the LPOA in 2020 Here we are, entering a new year and a new decade. Looking ahead, we anticipate both changes and challenges: Leaside as a community is strong, but so are the pressures facing us. Leasiders continue to have concerns about traffic problems that take too long to get the attention they deserve. We continue to be confronted by excessive applications from developers for what amount to little (or not so little) cities on Leaside’s borders.

Traffic Although LRT-related road construction and diversions may have lessened in anticipation of the Crosstown’s going into service in (we are told) 2021, construction of the Bayview Avenue and Laird Drive stations will still cause congestion. Questions remain: once in operation, will commuter use of the Crosstown really reduce automobile traffic through Leaside? Will the TTC cut surface transit and local bus routes serving our community? Readers of my columns know that the Leaside Property Owners’ Association has been in communi-

Carol Burtin Fripp Co-president, LPOA

and protect local neighbourhoods.

There are fewer tools in our toolbox as a result.

How to respond most effectively to the constant flow of applications for excessively dense or high buildings?

Ratepayer groups such as the LPOA

SHUTTERSTOCK

Leaside Life • January 2020

30

cation with the TTC and Councillor Jaye Robinson to protect our access to public transit. These conversations will continue in 2020.

With any luck, 2020 will see some progress in neighbourhood-wide traffic calming. The efforts of residents Rosa Spizzirri and Judy McKenna this year led to a real improvement in street safety, with speed reduction to 30 kph on all Leaside streets other than Bayview, Eglinton, and Laird. Councillor Robinson’s successful motion at North York Community Council to initiate a Traffic Management Plan will, I hope, result in implementing at least the key elements of the LPOA’s traffic calming plan.

Development As for property development, we can expect pressures to continue, especially along Eglinton Avenue.

During 2020, both Sunnybrook Plaza at Bayview and the “Upper East Village” at Brentcliffe Road will be under construction. Talks involving RioCan, the City, and the LPOA about the Canadian Tire site at Eglinton and Laird Drive are already happening. In future years the massive Celestica property at Don Mills Road will be transformed, with both infrastructure and traffic-related implications for Leaside.

The Ford government’s changes to the Planning Act have made it much harder for citizens to successfully apply local density priorities

are faced with critical choices: do we try to reduce negative impacts, by entering into mediation? Should we fight each case to the end, whatever ‘the end’ is? Each case has its differences, but, always, neighbourhood feedback is key.

One does not need 20/20 vision to see that Leasiders have our work cut out for us in 2020!

Big change!

A great change for the better is the transformation of the Leaside Property OWNERS’ Association into the Leaside RESIDENTS Association. Although the name change has not yet been formalized, we are now able to legally invite all residents of Leaside who want to be more involved in local issues, or contribute their expertise, to become full members of the association. Are you a tenant? Whether you rent or own property, we enthusiastically encourage you to join the LPOA, and, if you are inclined, to consider joining the board of directors.

As we head into the new decade I’d like to wish all Leasiders a very happy New Year.

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The next regular monthly LPOA board meeting is on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, at 7:30 p.m., in the Trace Manes building on Rumsey Road. We invite you to attend and learn what is happening in our community. Visit us online at https://lpoa.ca. ■

Douglas Easton, CFA

Investment Advisor & Portfolio Manager 416-956-9673 | douglas.easton@rbc.com www.rbcds.com/douglas.easton

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LEONARD TAM, CPA, CGA

The Leaside Painter

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LATE TAXES, SMALL BUSINESS ACCOUNTING AND TAX NEEDS

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416-917-6504

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