Leaside Life Issue 36 February 2015

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:19 PM Page 1

No. 36 • February 2015

Leaside Life leasidelifenews.com

Let's move Leaside: Redway Page 17

IT’S STARTING ■

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RioCan has presented plans for two towers, 19 storeys and 13 storeys, for Sunnybrook Plaza, where the limit is currently 12 storeys. Page 22 Retail development is starting to push east of Laird into the Leaside Business Park, with the North York Committee of Adjustment approving sites on Industrial St. and Research Rd. Page 24 $1,203,000 paid in December in North Leaside – for a bungalow. Highest price at the beginning of last year was $580,000. Thank you LRT. Page 7 What says big time in luxury condo development more than Shane Baghai? He’s looking here, along with other big developers who’ve caught the scent of change.

No details yet – just the buzz.

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:19 PM Page 2

LOL in Leaside turns to a BLAST in Thorncliffe

Leaside Life, February 2015

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Everything for Folks Who Love WILD BIRDS 939 Eglinton Ave E. (Brentcliffe and Eglinton)

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Heading into its sixth year of what has so far been a great success, the Laugh Out Loud in Leaside fundraising comedy show is aiming again to help Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park.

This time it will be for BLAST, a Mooreland’s After-School program that creates positive change for poor inner-city kids ages 6 to 12.

BLAST stands for Budding Leaders After-School Teams, with three locations in the Thorncliffe and Flemingdon areas.

It provides a safe, fun and enriching environment where children build positive character traits through physical activity, participation in art, science and drama projects, improve literacy skills and get homework help.

Last year LOL raised over $30,000 for New Circles, a not-for-profit organization that offers clothing services, community referrals and skill building programs to Thorncliffe

Park, Flemingdon Park and Victoria Village.

The first four years LOL raised over $130,000 to help finance the new arena in Leaside. When that was complete, says local real estate agent Charlene Kalia, “I felt it was time to focus and bring awareness to other local causes.”

Together with her volunteer team including Lara Neal, Mary Holmes, Selby Copeland and Brittany Poole, Kalia decided to help achieve important community goals.

This year LOL will be held Friday, Feb. 27 starting at 7 p.m. in the William Lea Room at Leaside Memorial Gardens and will feature Yuk Yuk’s comedy and The Indecision Band.

The evening will also include a silent and live auction. Returning sponsors include Lexus On The Park, Grilltime, De La Mer, PepsiCo, Amsterdam Brewery, Neal Brothers food and a few surprises. charlene@charlenekalia.com ■

THINKING OF A MOVE IN 2015?

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:19 PM Page 3

If you are the first three guinea pigs, unknown to each other, to start a new series about dining out here for Leaside Life, what better place to choose than where you can order many small dishes?

That’s another way to say tapas bar, known here as Tinto Bar de Tapas, 1581 Bayview.

Our three eaters (you can become one; see the explanation at right) were Lynne Griffin, the actress who spends most of her time in Leaside (see June/14, Must you live here to be a Leasider?), Ken Ramstead, a writer and editor for the Salvation Army, who lives on Leacrest, and Paul Boston, of Randolph Rd., a high-performance business team organizer.

Since the point of ordering many

Paul Boston

Lynne Griffin

Ken Ramstead

Leaside Life’s meal deal We’ll give you $100 to help pay for a meal for three at any restaurant in our area, the M4G postal code, which includes Leaside, Bennington Heights and the Leaside Business Park (known also as the industrial area).

You need to be a resident of the area or work in it.

Your part of the deal: Pick any eatery in that same area and all three of you eat there together, then each one send us a review of your experience. We’ll put it all together for the newspaper.

Send your contact information to leasidelife@gmail.com. You’ll get on a list and we’ll get back to you when your turn comes. Bon appétit. ■

DINERS, Page 4

b rro o ker k er

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Leaside Life, February 2015

Top rating YOU, our dining critics for our first dining outing

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:20 PM Page 4

Leaside Life, February 2015

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small dishes is to get as many tastes as possible, the three ordered three each and tried every one.

Results?

All rated as delicious, but two were favourites.

Griffin: “I like to order shrimp, as I believe it (and most seafood), is a true test of a restaurant’s culinary delicacy. The shrimp were big and juicy, still retaining their delicate flavour, with a spicy garlic sauce for which a second plate of bread was offered for the drippings. That plate went back to the kitchen clean!

“Next I had the dates wrapped in bacon with Fontina cheese snuggled within.

“This dish, as well as the garlic shrimp, were highlights and given a second and third ‘thumbs up’ by my companions, Ken and Paul.”

A second dish was ordered.

Boston: “To be honest, my favourite food of the night was one of my partner’s dishes, garlic shrimp. At first I was thinking it’s just garlic shrimp, simple dish, nothing new to experience here. Boy, was I wrong. The shrimp were some of the freshest I have had in a long time (and I ate lots of shrimp over the holidays), and the garlic sauce gave them a very warm kick. I think I might have even broken into a sweat at the time, which was OK, because it was a very cold night.”

Ramstead: “The unqualified hit was the dates, stuffed with cheese and wrapped with bacon. It was truly exquisite.”

Ramstead did have a sort of disappointment: “As a beer aficionado, I was disappointed somewhat by the lack of choice – not everyone lives for wine – but I hope that this will improve over time. However, the Estrella Spanish beer I chose amply complemented the meal. As for the wine, the offerings seemed to satisfy my two compatriots.”

The other dishes: Kale salad was perfectly wilted yet crisp with a generous portion of asiago cheese, corn soup sweet and delicious, calamari stew tender with artichokes, salt and buttered almonds, zesty marinated octopus, and salmon, one of the less spicy dishes but balancing out the other selections, thanks to the chickpeas and tomato sauce.

“While we did wonder about the backgroud music – a mix of ’80s standards – it did serve to complement rather than drown out the table conversation as is common with too many restaurants these days. In short this restaurant more than lived up to our expectation and we awarded it 4 ½ out of five stars.” Ramstead ■

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:20 PM Page 5

By ALLAN WILLIAMS “It will take a few more months and three or four more meetings run by the city before the BIA (Business Improvement Area) is completely up and running� on Bayview, says Trae Zammit, owner of The Smokin’ Cigar and a spokesperson for the steering committee. “The current steering committee remains in place for the time being and, working with the city, we have to set the agenda, develop a budget, and identify individuals interested in serving on the executive committee. All owners and merchants within the catchment area (138, according to Zammit) will have a say on these things and a chance to vote.�

But now that the BIA has been approved they will all also have to pay the BIA fee. “We’ve talked about an annual budget in the range of $100,000,� said Zammit, “which would put us on the lower end among the 77 or 78 BIAs already in Toronto. The majority of the other BIAs have a budget bigger than that. “There is some flexibility in the formula determining how much each has to pay based on size of business and square footage, etc.�

The Leaside Property Owners’ Association has $25,000 to give the BIA after an agreement with SmartCentre North before it won city council approval for the development on Wicksteed east of Laird. “The BIA can help area businesses in three main ways,� says Zammit. “By branding the neighbourhood and promoting it, by beautifying the streetscape, and by speaking with a collective voice to advocate on important local issues like parking.�

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Leaside Life, February 2015

BIA will be running in a few months

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-21 12:02 AM Page 6

Parents will raise funds for tennis upgrade

Leaside Life, February 2015

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In many older homes, electrical hazards are lurking behind the walls. Your home may give you some warning signs: ‹ 3PNO[Z [OH[ ÅPJRLY VY KPT ‹ )YLHRLYZ [OH[ [YPW ¶ M\ZLZ [OH[ ISV^ ‹ 7S\NZ [OH[ Ä[ SVVZLS` PU[V YLJLW[HJSLZ ‹ 3PNO[Z I\SIZ [OH[ I\YU V\[ ZVVULY [OHU L_WLJ[LK

Rolph Road parents have won approval to raise money to repair the school’s tennis courts instead of the Toronto school board making a private-public deal because of lack of funds.

Parents Robin Dickie, Linda Carte and Stan Flemming will organize to try to raise at least $16,000 for repairs.

Dickie, head of the Rolph School Council, said there was passionate opposition among members to the private-public proposal.

They were worried about what effect new tennis facilities would have on the school’s playground and on traffic on a currently quiet Hanna Rd. There was also a concern that school property should remain public. â–

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 7

$1,203 million for a bungalow in North Leaside

By JETHRO SEYMOUR

Seniors are invited to join us for lunch.

We do the driving and the cooking.

YOU do the eating and enjoying!

Your first Diners Club lunch is on us! (starting January 2015) East York Meals on Wheels 416-424-3322 www.eastyorkmealsonwheels.org

The sale of bungalows started early last year at $580,000 for a 25foot by 100-foot lot in South Leaside on Sutherland at Eglinton.

Then there was a December sale, a North Leaside bungalow, for a whopping $1,203,000, or 35 percent above the asking price. That is $106,000 more than a 31.5-foot by 135-foot bungalow a few doors down the street last June.

That works out to about $35,000 per foot of frontage, or $120,000 for the 3.5-foot difference between the two homes.

That is a strong indicator that builders are bullish on Leaside for 2015. Expect to see some spectacular new homes in our neighbourhood for sale this year.

Apart from that big bungalow sale December was its usual quiet month. Only four homes changed hands in Leaside and Bennington Heights. That was up from the two that sold the previous December, but 63 percent less than the 11 that sold in November 2014.

But prices seemed to have little do with the amount of activity. Average dollar value in December 2014 was 84 percent higher than in the previous December. All were detached homes last December.

Last year’s average year-end sales compared to 2013: SALES VOLUME All homes – up 13.5 percent to 235 sales, Detached homes – up 25.8 percent to 190 sales, Semi-detached homes – down 25.5 percent, to 38 sales.

DOLLAR VALUE All homes – up 7.4 percent to $1,343,591, Detached homes – up 1.3 percent to $1,452,246, Semi-detached homes – up 10.4 percent to $827,245. ■Latest street sales leasidelifenews.com

graph

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Jethro Seymour is a broker at Johnston & Daniel. All figures are from the Toronto Real Estate Board’s Multiple Listing Service.

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 8

Elgie House mediation gets its first approvals

Leaside Life, February 2015

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By GEOFF KETTEL Several months after a mediated settlement was reached, the proposed alterations for the Thomas G. Elgie House, the designated heritage house at 262 Bessborough Dr., came before the Toronto Preservation Board on Jan. 9 and the North York Community Council on Jan.13. The alterations detailed in the Conservation Management Plan for the property are: 1. to retain and restore the original central section of the Thomas Elgie House, moving the house eastward on the property 7.5 metres such that the house remains on the top of a gentle slope on the property, and 2. that the relationship between grade and the entrance to the heritage building not be changed once re-located, and 3. construction of a new rear addition to the house.

In accordance with the mediated settlement, the property will be severed into three lots, with the Thomas Elgie House on a wider central lot, with one new lot to the north, and one new lot to the south.

However the property as a whole will be landscaped cohesively, and all lands will be subject to a Heritage Easement Agreement.

Provided the city makes a decision no later than Feb. 27 (after that date the owner has the right to request that the OMB proceed to schedule a hearing of the demolition appeal), the owner has agreed to notify the OMB of the withdrawal of the demolition appeal.

The matter is scheduled to go to city council on Feb. 10, so it is likely that work will begin onsite later this winter to remove the undesignated north and south additions, and start the alterations to the heritage property. â–

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 9

I had the pleasure of attending the recent induction ceremony for the latest entrants.

My family grew up in North Leaside and my brother Bruce and I were very active in the sports community right from atom baseball at Trace Manes (where our father was a director and coach of the LABA) through to junior baseball at Talbot Park. We were also involved in hockey all the way through playing for the beloved Leaside Lions on Saturday night, all the way through midget.

I grew up with Peter Krol and we remained in touch over 60 years. Along with Gary Malpass and Jeff Nobes (whom I hadn’t seen for over 50 years) we reminisced about all the trouble we had gotten into and survived.

We were also lucky enough to have grown up knowing Jack Caffery and Terry, who was a bit younger.

The highlight of the evening was when an older gentleman asked if he

Thanks again for a wonderful evening.

Rea Godbold, Avenue Rd.

LETTERS leasidelife@gmail.com Letters may be edited. could sit with us. I believe his name was John Lomax and he was 86 years old.

We asked whom he was here to see inducted and he said Jack Caffery. Although Mr. Lomax had moved out of Leaside in 1946, the memories of Leaside and growing up and playing ball hockey with Jack were enough to draw him back to this event.

This simple gesture epitomized the spirit of Leaside in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

The sporting programs offered to the kids by the community and the extraordinary commitment by coaches formed lasting friendships and a respect for the wonderful community we were privileged enough to grow up in.

My mother sent me the July 2014 issue of Leaside Life as part of my Christmas package, as I now live in Vancouver. I was touched by the article that honoured Mr. Bondy's commitment to life as a music educator.

I attended Northlea P.S. Mr. Bondy was inspirational and supportive of the children in our choir. I sang a solo at Christmas Concert in either '84 or '85. It's a very fond memory of mine.

I'd like to thank Mr. Bondy for his dedication and enthusiasm for music and sharing his talents with young people. It has made a positive impact in my life as an artist.

I am now a chef, and although cooking is a different discipline, there is an important artistic component that was nurtured long ago under his guidance. Please pass this on to him. Forever grateful.

Russell Cameron

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Leaside Life, February 2015

Epitomizing spirit of Leaside in the ‘50s

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 10

LEASIDE STOCK INDEX Leaside Life, February 2015

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LSI has great year despite weak December A lot of fireworks obscured what was otherwise a mediocre December for the Leaside Stock Index.

The first important piece of news: Burger King successfully merged Tim Hortons into itself creating a new company with $23 billion in systems sales in over 18,000 restaurants around the world. The new company, Restaurant Brands International (QSR) will be headed

by Daniel Schwartz, the young but brilliant CEO of Burger King.

The LSI held 210.35 shares in Tim Hortons. In an effort to maintain continuity the index will take the allshare proposition that issues 3.0879 shares of QSR for every one share of Timmy’s. Moving into 2015, the LSI will own 631.05 shares in the combined company. In 2014, the index’s investment in Tim Hortons appreciated 137.4 percent. It’s doubtful 2015 will be nearly as exciting.

The second piece of news is that PetSmart agreed in December

to be acquired by U.K. private equity firm BC Partners for $83 per share in cash. The deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2015, will provide $12,342 in cash to be reinvested in another U.S. stock.

While 2014 was a decent year for the specialty retailer, up 12.7 percent, it will be nice to move on to a better opportunity.

As a finishing month it wasn’t a strong one. Excluding the December gains for Tim Hortons as well as the currency gains for the U.S. dollar, the LSI gained a measly 1.9 percent in the month, and while better than the benchmarks was still much less robust than in the previous three or four months.

If you allow for both of the extraordinary items from above, the LSI gained 5.3 percent in December and 28.2 percent for 2014 in its entirety. Canadian stocks, thanks once more to Timmy’s, delivered the bigger return in 2014, up 43.5 percent

compared to 15.5 percent for the American stocks.

Interestingly, U.S. stocks, whether we’re talking about the 10 in the index or the SPDR S&P 500 benchmark, obtained a lion’s share of their performance (approximately 10 percentage points) from currency appreciation.

The top performing stock in the LSI in 2014, excluding Tim Hortons, was Alimentation Couche-Tard (up 83.9 percent) on the Canadian side and Home Depot (up 29.6 percent) on the American. Also delivering returns of 20 percent or more in 2014: Berkshire Hathaway, Loblaws, Dollarama, Empire Company and Canadian Tire.

Overall, the LSI beat its two benchmark ETFs by more than 11 percentage points.

It was a good year in 2014. It’s doubtful 2015 will be nearly as successful.

Funds graph at leasidelifenews.com ■

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 11

Leaside Life, February 2015

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 12

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Want a bungalow? You can’t afford it Young couples with children searching for a starter home may want to look elsewhere if they're hoping to purchase a bungalow in Leaside for a economical price.

These days, buyers are lucky if they can snap one up for less than a million bucks.

"Only contractors, or big foreign money can afford to buy these houses.

There are no more starter homes," says a retired schoolteacher who sold her bungalow on Donlea four years ago for a high six-figure sum.

"It's true," says real estate broker Sue Byford. "If you aren't a builder, you probably can't afford one."

But it isn't just the young who are out of luck, it's also retirees looking to downsize. "I recently quoted the price of bungalows in Leaside to a man from Rosedale who wanted to settle here and he was shocked," Byford says.

On the other hand, retiree Jeanette Brattin-Ellis, 88, was delighted when a broker recently told her that she could get over a million dollars for her three-bedroom bungalow on Laird.

PATRICIA PHENIX

Leaside Life, February 2015

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By PATRICIA PHENIX

Jeanette Brattin-Ellis The house in North Leaside, which Brattin-Ellis has lived in for 37 years and that was built in the 1950s, features a finished basement and renovated kitchen, as well as an addition at the rear, built in part by her late husband Norman.

"I've had many offers for it, but I don't want to sell it. I'm quite happy with it," she says, adding that in her opinion with the completion of the LRT, house values in the area can only increase.

Replacing bungalows beside and across the street from Brattin-Ellis' home are large two-storey stucco houses in varying shades of grey.

For some, the appearance not to mention the practicality of these stucco houses seems questionable.

"They're very ugly, I don't like them at all," says Brattin-Ellis.

"I think the stucco craze has waned," says Byford. "Builders caught on… so you see a lot more bricks now. Grey stone is also popular."

Even the predominately red brick, peaked-roof houses of Leaside are losing appeal.

"I call them Big Bird's house. I wanted to have a house with a European feel to it," says one who demolished a bungalow to build a stucco house with a stone facing.

Frontage is also worth its weight in gold, or close enough. "I calculate it at about $35,000 a foot," says real estate broker Jethro Seymour.

On a recent taxi ride home from her hairdresser, Jeanette Brattin-Ellis' driver reminisced about when Laird was mostly an open field.

It appears that in no time bungalows will go the way of the open fields.

"Probably bungalows will be eradicated," says Byford. "But Leaside will continue to have its charms." ■

Our house is a teardown - we love it We live in a Leaside teardown, and we don't mind it a bit. In fact we might mind it it more if our house stopped being a teardown.

We think our house is doomed when we sell it because, as is happening throughout Leaside and much of residential Toronto, a much better house could be built on our property. Although it was in fact architect-designed, our current house, built around 1950, has impossibly small closets, a distinctly un-modern layout, poor over-all insulation, an undistinguished exterior, and doesn't lend itself to easy modification.

When it gets knocked down, no one is going to miss it.

Well, we will miss it a bit if we survive its demise. But, as I've written before, we're entirely happy in our Leaside house and will have to be carried out of it in the end.

Like most people who live in a house for many years, we've adjusted it to meet our needs, and we've adjusted to its peculiarities. We made a major structural change 30 years ago to give us more space, we've fiddled with the interior to maximize its

Michael Bliss

Living in Leaside comfort and convenience, and we know how to live comfortably with its limitations.

Ironically, we were able to use a serious fire in the house, caused by lightning in 2008, to make another series of improvements that gave us a better living space. In any case as soon as the children left we had all the room we needed in our empty nest. We have no need to do anything much more with our house than maintain it. We live very well in a comfortable old shoe of a house.

I can be as scathing as anyone about the tasteless pretentiousness of some of our Leaside fauxchateaux, and I consider it monstrous when builders find ways of bending or ignoring the rules that are essential for neighbourly co-existence. And I'm a bit sorry to see old

residential Leaside gradually slipping away.

But I don't think it would be fair or fruitful to try to freeze our community by putting new controls on the teardown/rebuilding process. It wouldn't be fair because a new level of, say neighbourhood heritage designation, would inevitably constrain the market for properties like ours, diminishing the value of our chief capital asset, and our descendents' inheritance. It wouldn't be fruitful because the new Leaside is at least as aesthetically pleasing as the old (which itself was less aesthetically pleasing than the farmland it replaced).

As a historian, I deeply value our built heritage, and I believe that many unique and important buildings should be preserved. Our home is unique and important to us in our everyday lives, and we hope it will be for a good long time. But there isn't much of a market in comfy old shoes.

When we leave here we won't be the least surprised if the buyers decide to build a chic new shoe of a house.

Let's hope they hire a good shoemaker. ■

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 13

BIA |

Another member of the steering committee is Stanley Janecek of White House Meats.

“I have another White House Meats location in Etobicoke, in the area of the Kingsway BIA,” says Janecek, “and I’ve seen how beneficial being part of a BIA can be in terms of marketing the area and putting on special events. This is a great opportunity for the businesses on Bayview to look at themselves and say, ‘How can we improve ourselves? How can we collectively make our stores and our neighbourhood into more of a destination?’”

One issue to be decided is what the BIA will be called. Both Zammit and Janecek favour Bayview Leaside. “Some have suggested South Bayview,” said Zammit, “but Bayview Ave. goes as far south as the new Athletes’ Village area so it’s not as clear as it could be. On the other hand, everyone knows exactly where you mean when you say, Bayview Leaside.” ■

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Leaside Life, February 2015

From Page 5

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 14

It’s time to do something with graffiti Hi Cheryl: I took a break this morning and did my rounds, until the fingers of my picking-up hand froze. I used my left hand because I've gone through all my right-hand gloves and have three lefties left over. Oddly, though I had woolly gloves on both hands, only the one covered by a plastic glove froze.

My other hand wasn't even cold.

Found two discarded dog-pooh bags on the street, one squashed so I didn't go near it.

I saw a woman picking up garbage alongside the path near McDonalds. She told me she has some pet peeve areas that she de-litters regularly. I was in a hurry so I didn't have time for more than a oneminute exchange. Nice to know there are a few others similarly inclined, but sad that the situation is so awful that they feel the need to.

How about creating a customized button reading: ‘My Leaside is De-Pigstyed’ for us litter pickers to proudly wear.

Jeff Walker, Donegall Dr. Hi Jeff: My latest crusade is graffiti. We have a budding artist who has painted a swath along Millwood, Laird, Bayview and Rumsey around the park. I’ve just discovered that our ward has a graffiti officer, PC Brenda Dolenc, who will notify property owners to remove the tags. I've sent her over a dozen photos of building walls, city parking meters/traffic signal boxes/bridges/signs and Hydro/Rogers utility boxes. I hope to see some improvement soon.

I’ve spoken to Trae Zammit (BIA) about creating a community wall for street artwork and he says “The graffiti (on Bayview) really is an eyesore and a community wall is a great idea.”

While doing my Trace Manes Park patrol I spoke to the Boy Scouts about their Christmas tree lot. In the past they have left a lot of debris including strings, branches and coffee cups. A neighbour who cleaned up one year found $50. Nice reward for his good work! I’m happy to say that this year the lot is pristine… nice!

I’m working with the police to do weekend patrols to move the kids along as I’m weary of picking up dozens of beer cans, wine bottles and cigarette butts on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I thought it might stop when the weather turned cold but not so.

Leaside Litterati

courages more of the same. It would be great and efficient if whoever loads the papers would report the condition of the boxes back to you.

I like your idea of the button.

How about Take Pride in Leaside? *** Dear Toronto Star: Let me begin by saying that our household is a Toronto Star subscriber and we enjoy home delivery and reading the paper each day. However I have two pet peeves that I hope you can help me with.

The first one is the amount of street litter created by carriers who snip the ties off the newspaper bundles and leave them on the street or drop elastics. I cannot tell you how many I have picked up along Rumsey Rd. and how many I pass by on my daily walks. It does not reflect well on your brand.

It would be great if your industry could educate your carriers to carry litter bags in which to put the leftover ties/elastics and dispose of them either at their home or in a city trash bin or return them to you as part of a recycling process.

The second pet peeve is the condition of your newspaper boxes. Many of them in our neighbourhood are littered with graffiti, which is quite an eyesore and en-

Dear Cheryl: Thanks for taking the time to write. We will address the litter issues as described in your note. We have already advised our area supervisors and the carriers about it.

It seems a bit odd to us that they would be leaving trash on your street. There is only one carrier that services the area, and they are required to pay for their supplies such as elastics, etc. to curb abuse.

If you would let us know where exactly on the street the litter is being left, we will look into it further. I believe we are the only newspaper in the city that uses blue strapping, so it is easy for us to identify.

We had sent our box cleaner out to your area over the weekend to clean all of our boxes. We have quite a robust cleaning program. We’ll remind our team to sweep through your area more often to catch these.

It is helpful if you let me know the location of the boxes you describe and we’ll ensure we didn’t miss any.

Thanks for bringing all of this to our attention.

Terry Willows, Director, Circulation Operations

Cheryl Vanderburg

CHERYL VANDERBURG

Leaside Life, February 2015

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:21 PM Page 15

Prom drive becomes a labour of love

Leaside Life, February 2015

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The drive to find prom dresses and suits to help needy graduating students in Thorncliffe and Flemingdon Park is becoming an annual labour of love for Leasider Alexa Rocca.

For the third year in a row she is asking that suitable and laundered slightly used clothing for the big event be donated up to April 3.

The clothing will be taken to The Prom Boutique at New Circles Community Services.

Items can be dropped off at Bosley Real Estate, 290 Merton St., attn. Patrick Rocca, or can by picked up by emailing Alexa at alexr@bss.on.ca.

Her father says, “The actual day of the fittings for suits and dresses is quite incredible. My familt has volunteered to help the kids with fittings and choice of dress/suit and it’s very heart warming to see the smiles on these kids’ faces.” ■

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Ha Happy appy Family Family D ay!

Day! Monday, February 16 is the Family Day. Ontarians work hard and deserve more time to enjoy with their loved ones.

HAVE A LOCAL EVENT TO PROMOTE? SEND US THE DATE, TIME, LOCATION AND EVENT NAME BY THE 10TH OF EACH MONTH

leasidelifenews@gmail.com

NORTHLEA UNITED CHURCH, 125 Brentcliffe.

– Canadian Federation of University Women, Leaside East York, meeting Thursday, Feb. 19, 7:30 p.m. Alan Redway on Your Questions about Wills and Estates.

– 65th anniversary of NUC, Sunday, Feb. 8, 10:30 a.m. www.northleaunited.ca, – Pancake Supper Night, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 6-7 p.m. followed by Ash Wednesday service. All welcome, donations welcome.

– Lone Hand Euchre, Friday, Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m. $20/person, must be purchased by Feb. 25 through the office. 416-425-5252.

9:30-10 and 10:30-11 a.m., Wednesdays, Feb. 4, 11, 18, 25.

– Ready for Reading Baby Time (birth-18 months). Bouncing and tickling rhymes, songs and stories. Drop in. 9:30-10:00j and 10:30-11 a.m. Thursdays, Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26.

LEASIDE LIBRARY, 165 McRae. Adult And Teen Programming: – Ask an Expert: Estate Planning. No registration required. Wednesday, Feb. 11, 7-8p.m.

– Starting the Conversation: A nine-step plan to deciding where to live as you age, by Ontario Society (Coalition) of Senior Citizen's Organizations. No registration required. Wednesday, Feb. 25, 7-8 p.m.

– Youth Advisory Group Meeting. Volunteer to receive community hours. Wednesday, Jan. 28, 4-6 p.m.

– Valentine’s card-making class, for those 10 to 25 years old. Wednesday, Feb. 11. 4-6 p.m.

Register at 416-396-3835 or at the library.

Programming For Everyone: – Art Exhibit: drawings by Dr. Shorty. Ongoing all month.

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING: – Ready for Reading Family Time (19 months5 years). Stories, songs and rhymes. Drop in.

Kathleen Wynne, MPP Don Valley West

795 Eglinton Ave East, Unit 101 TToronto, ooronto, ON M4G 4E4 416.425.6777 kathleenwynne.onmpp.ca

Deadline for March, February 10

Outside Groups: – Leaside Garden Society, Thursday, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m., James Davis, FoodShare speaker.

– Heritage Ontario, Barry Penhale and special guests. 2-4 p.m. recurring Tuesdays in February.

ST.CUTHBERT'S CHURCH, 1399 Bayview.

– Pancake Supper and Mardi Gras, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 5:30-7:15 p.m. Hot pancakes, sausage and more food, plus crafts, relays, flipping contests, Pancake Jeopardy and Mardi Gras surprises for all ages. $6/person, $18 the whole family. Reserve tickets 416-485-0329. Wheelchair accessible.

LEASIDE MEMORIAL GARDENS, William Lea Room, Laugh Out Loud in Leaside, fundraiser for Thorncliffe after-school programs, Friday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. Yuk Yuk’s comedy, music and food. charlene@charlenekalia.com.

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-21 12:02 AM Page 17

Alan Redway Former East York mayor and federal cabinet minister

GOVERNING TORONTO: Bringing back the city that worked: The paperback version is available at Amazon.ca for $24.99 plus GST, or from Alan Redway, 416-421-5328, for $20 including GST.

From the book...

In 1913, another land developer, the York Land Company, the real estate arm of the Canadian Northern Railway, proposed to move its railway car repair shops from Winnipeg to Leaside (the repair shop building exists to this day as a Longo’s super market) and to lay out a planned residential community, if Toronto would annex the entire Leaside area. Again, the city civic department heads opposed the request saying that there was no benefit for the city but the York Land Company would make a fortune. A majority of the city Board of Control supported the idea, but when the vote was taken by city council as a whole on April 4, 1913, the proposal was defeated. The Toronto World called it a “jockeyed vote”. One month later on May 9. 1913, the Ontario Legislature incorporated the town of Leaside.

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I have just published a book entitled Governing Toronto: Bringing back the city that worked.

In it I trace the growth and governance of the city from its creation in 1834 through its successful Metro years to why and how the decision was made to establish the present megacity.

Finally I urge the provincial government to initiate a long overdue review of the governance of Toronto aimed at a decentralization of decision making either by way of deamalgamation, as has been successfully achieved by a number of Quebec cities, or alternatively by creating a more decentralized form of Toronto government using Montreal’s present borough system as a model.

The city of Montreal is made up of 19 boroughs with varying populations. When The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was created in 1954 it was made up of 13 municipalities with varying populations. Leaside was one of the 13.

Today our megacity is made up of 44 wards with populations intended to be roughly equal.

In 1967 the province of Ontario

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Leaside Life, February 2015

Let’s move Leaside to another ward

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:22 PM Page 18

Leaside Life, February 2015

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merged the Town of Leaside, which included the Thorncliffe community, with the Township of East York, which already included the Bennington Heights and Governor’s Bridge communities to create the Borough of East York.

Following total amalgamation in 1998 the province of Ontario divided the new Toronto into 22 wards with the same boundaries as the existing 22 federal ridings. Later these 22 wards were divided in half, resulting in the present 44 Toronto wards.

Since 1998 the population of Toronto has increased by almost a million people.

But that population increase has not occurred equally in each of the 44 wards. Because of this Toronto Council has recently retained consultants to conduct public hearings and make recommendations for boundary changes to achieve ward population equality. As advertised in the Toronto Star, 12 public meetings were held by the consultants during December and January. Did you attend one of these meetings?

At present Ward 23, formerly part of North York, has a population of 88,435 while Ward 29, adjoining the south of Leaside and formerly part of East York, has a population of only 44,935.

The city believes that the average population of each ward should now be approximately 61,000. Unless the method by which Toronto is governed is changed, as I have recommended in my book, it appears that the boundaries of Ward 29 will have to be changed.

The southern boundary of Ward 29 is Danforth Ave., the historic dividing line between East York and the old City of Toronto. It extends east to Coxwell Ave., the western boundary of Ward 31, which has a population of 54,032 and extends north from the Danforth and east to the Scarborough border of Victoria Park.

The northern boundary of both Wards 29 and 31 is essentially the Don Valley. However Ward 29 also includes the Leaside Bridge and Millwood Rd. up to the CPR overpass. If you shop at Loblaws on Redway Rd. you are shopping in Ward 29.

Prior to amalgamation the Borough of East York was made up of what are now Wards 29 and 31 together with Leaside, Thorncliffe, Bennington Heights and Governor’s Bridge. Leaside is now a part of Ward 26. Ward 26 which has a population of 67,367, is made up of four distinct communities, Leaside including Bennington Heights, Thorncliffe, Flemingdon Park and Wynford Heights. Both Flemingdon Park and Wynford Heights were part of North York prior to amalgamation.

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:22 PM Page 19

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Leaside Life, February 2015

U! O Y Accurate would uld lik like kee ttoo tha thank nk all of these LLeaside easide businesses NK A for their trust st aand nd confidence confidence in our service service oover ver the yyears. ea e rs.

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:22 PM Page 20

Leaside Life, February 2015

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Ba Bayview yview & Fleming F le m in g 1601 B Bayview ayview A Ave ve Tor Toronto onto O ON N M4G M4G 3B5 3B 5 416 489 1873 416-489-1873

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While itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impossible to forecast what boundary changes may be made to bring the populations of Ward 29 and Ward 31 up to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desired average of 61,000, one possible solution would be to move the boundary between 29 and 31 west from Coxwell to Greenwood Ave. and then to add the remainder of Ward 29 to Leaside and Bennington Heights.

Leaside, Bennington Heights and Ward 29 are essentially single family home communities with similar problems and needs while Thorncliffe, Flemingdon Park and Wynford Heights are high-rise apartment communities with different kinds of problems and needs.

Of course a change of boundaries in one ward would require other ward boundary changes as well.

Only one thing is certain. If there is no change in the method by which Toronto is to be governed, there will have to be changes in the ward boundaries to bring all 44 wards closer to a more equal population. That will likely impact Leaside somehow.

Ideally however the province of Ontario will take my advice and initiate a long overdue review of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s governance leading to a more decentralized decision making process. Perhaps then Leaside will be one of a number of separate boroughs within Toronto. â&#x2013;

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Leaside Life, February 2015

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:22 PM Page 22

Twin towers proposed for Sunnybrook Plaza

By GEOFF KETTEL Long rumoured but only recently revealed, Sunnybrook Plaza, the first suburban strip plaza built in Toronto, is being proposed for redevelopment.

This collection of stores with a parking lot out front was opened on the northeast corner of Eglinton and Bayview in 1952. It signalled the emergence of car-oriented shopping plazas, rather than main street strip (to the sidewalk) stores.

For Leaside it also represented the filling in of the last gap in the town’s built form.

According to Urban Toronto the RioCan plan is to build two towers, one of 19 storeys (66 metres high) and the other of 13 storeys (50 metres high), with retail at grade.

Part of the Eglinton Connects study, the Bayview/Eglinton area has been designated as a special policy area under the Official Plan for midrise development. However this proposal appears to be a good deal higher than envisaged in the city’s Mid-Rise Building Design guidelines (6 to 12 storeys).

While Bayview will have a station on the Eglinton LRT, there is no higher order transit existing or proposed for Bayview itself, unlike Yonge or Don Mills. Therefore it is a mid-rise not a high-rise site, but of course developers always attempt to push the envelope. ■

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Leaside Life, February 2015

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Jon Burnside Councillor, Toronto Ward 26 Don Valley West

I will find funds for traffic study As our traffic committees in both North and South Leaside get started, we will be looking at ways to reduce the volume of traffic.

I am aware that residents are tired of hearing about traffic studies but the reality is that a comprehensive study has not been done in Leaside for years.

Despite there being approval for one in the previous term, funding was not allocated. I am committed to finding the funding to execute such a study. The overall need is to gather baseline traffic volumes so that we can ensure that as we make changes that an increase in traffic does not occur on neighbouring streets.

In North Leaside there are a number of options that we will be exploring. We will then work with Transportation Services to find the best solutions to present to the community.

The same pertains to South Leaside, although we will also be exploring the extension of Redway Rd. to offer a bypass of the community. A 1999 study indicated that Redway Rd. could provide serious traffic relief for both Southvale and McRae, which are the most heavily travelled roadways.

The key mandate of our committees will be to find strategies to reduce traffic infiltration as opposed to simply pushing existing traffic onto other streets.

It is probable that any strategies proposed will likely result in a higher level of inconvenience to the community. I believe that this is a price worth paying for increased safety. However, this is a decision that the community ultimately has to make.

Although you may not be on either of the traffic committees I encourage you to call or email any ideas or concerns that you may have. ■

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:22 PM Page 23

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Burnside gets OMB appeal against retail spread Leaside Life, February 2015

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24 What’s driving change in Leaside? Sure “the market” is a key driver, but the North York Committee of Adjustment, which decides on severances and minor variance applications for properties in residential Leaside and the Leaside Business Park, is facilitating change in Leaside’s land-use and built form.

Spending a day at the committee is instructive in understanding the process of change. The committee meets every two weeks and two or three residential applications involving Leaside at a meeting is typical.

Agnes Vermes, of the Leaside Property Owners’ Association (LPOA) reports that in 2014 the LPOA submitted 41 letters in response to applications to the committee. A major concern is that applications increasingly involve demolitions rather than renovations.

The Committee of Adjustment has no power to refuse demolitions; the hemorrhage of original built form will not change until the Heritage Conservation District is in place to enable some control over existing building structures.

Geoff Kettel

Saving old Leaside The agenda for Jan. 8, the first meeting of this new year, included five applications involving properties in Leaside, three in the residential area and two in the Business Park.

So what happened?

The three residential applications were deferred and the two Business Park applications were approved.

Here are the details of each Leaside case that day: The two Business Park applications both involved areas currently zoned for employment uses to be rezoned to permit non-industrial uses, and hinged on the Official Plan and zoning by-law requirements for change in use.

The application for 11-25 Industrial St. involved a proposed twostorey fitness centre and surface parking connecting to the existing

shopping centre anchored by Longo’s.

The Official Plan requires frontage on a major street as precondition to allowing commercial development in employment lands. As such, all Laird Ave. big box store developments, including the original First Pro (later SmartCentre), First Capital (Longo’s) and SmartCentre North (expected to have a Walmart) were approved on the basis of having frontage on Laird.

This application, which represents a major expansion of the First Capital development at Longo's north to Industrial St., does not front on Laird, or so it was thought! The city staff report, the Leaside Business Park Association, and the LPOA all lined up on this side of the matter.

However First Capital's lawyer stated that First Capital had acquired the land and under the definition of "lot" in the city’s 2013 comprehensive zoning by-law, which was based on ownership not on physical frontage, it was considered to front on Laird.

The committee accepted this and approved the application. So it

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would now appear that we can expect further retail encroachment eastwards.

Or maybe not. Councillor Jon Burnside proposed, and the North York Community Council approved, an appeal to the OMB at its meeting on Jan. 13 Moms to be…and More, which has a multi-front store on Bayview Ave. and has recently leased a warehouse in the Business Park at 196 Wicksteed/89 Research Rd,. wanted a re-zoning to permit a retail outlet.

This was approved (for the period of the lease) by the committee, over the opposition of the Leaside Business Park Association, as it was deemed to be a “minor” variance, and within the committee’s authority to approve.

In each of the three residential deferrals, discussion among the applicant, the architect, the neighbours and the councillor’s office immediately before the hearing persuaded the applicant to ask for a deferral to allow time to consider changes. The committee then agreed to defer the application at the request of the owner.

The point of the committee’s deferral was to allow time for the applicants to discuss their intentions with the neighbours and the community.

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:23 PM Page 26

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Hopefully this will now occur, but it is apparent, and unfortunate, that the applicants had to be “shaken” to start the process. The applicants will likely be back to the committee, hopefully with significant changes to reduce their impact on neighbours’ property, the streetscape and the community.

For the neighbours the process starts with a notice in the mail. They then have to take the time to attend a day-time meeting at North York Civic Centre.

If they disagree with the committee’s decision they can appeal to the OMB for a cost of $125. But the people I speak to at the committee are not experts in planning and zoning.

I think there is a need for information and training in zoning and the Committee of Adjustment process.

This might be a great project for the LPOA and the councillor’s office to work on together?

The 24 Sutherland Dr. application was to construct a new twostorey detached house with integral at-grade garage while demolishing the existing house. This house is located just west of Bessborough Dr., part of an intact row of original homes on the block. It is also just up the road from the heritage designated Talbot apartments that were saved from demolition following a difficult fight at the OMB in 2009 and 2010. The application involved 12 variances over two by-laws (net of seven variances when duplications are considered) including building length, height and floor space index.

The 143 Donlea Dr. (between Sutherland and Laird) application was also to construct a new twostorey house with integral garage, demolishing the existing dwelling, and involving eight variances over two by-laws (net of five variances) including height, length and floor space index.

The 328 Bessborough Dr. (north of Broadway) application was to construct a two-storey addition to the south portion of the existing twostorey dwelling and demolish an existing one-storey addition and garage.

There were four variances over two bylaws (net of two variances) for parking space and side yard setback. The immediate neighbour had concerns about the addition’s impact on access to the side of their property and the utilities such as drains and hydro that were there. This application reveals how even when the extent of the work is less (an addition, not wholesale demolition/reconstruction) the impact to the immediate neighbours can be significant and adversely affect their property. ■

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:23 PM Page 27

Carol Burtin Fripp Co-president, LPOA

Current bylaws should not be jumping off point At LPOA’s January public board meeting, The Brown Group presented a new proposal for a blocklong, nine-storey condominiumplus-mixed-use building on Bayview Ave., from Hillsdale to Soudan. The current zoning for that block is designated as Neighbourhood, which limits building heights to four storeys, primarily detached and semi-detached houses, with townhouses and walk-up apartments.

An Official Plan amendment would be required to allow mixed uses in a block which is now totally low-rise residential, not to mention requiring a zoning bylaw amendment.

Zoning bylaws and official plans are not created overnight; they evolve over many months (sometimes years) to create and reflect communities. Residents’ views are solicited at official meetings held by the city, and more informal but equally important ones organized by local ratepayer groups like the Leaside Property Owners’ Association.

Successful communities are the result of much consultative work.

The idea is to plan based on neighbourhoods’ needs and wants. Residential, commercial, industrial, and recreational areas are set out. Maximum heights of buildings, density limits, street and road allowances are defined.

Resulting official plans, and bylaws, are meant to last, to ensure stability. They provide the framework within which we regulate new development applications. It is a serious matter to amend them, or at least it should be.

Current bylaws should not be seen merely as a “jumping off” point for permitting the building of new and inappropriate uses. Development applications should fit neighbourhoods, not redefine or damage them. Change is not a bad thing if it’s

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:23 PM Page 28

Leaside Life, February 2015

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change for the better, and approved by the community, under the framework provided by proper planning bylaws.

The Brown Group proposal includes 172 residential units, with retail or other uses on the ground floor.

In an attempt to reduce shadowing over adjacent homes on Hillsdale and Soudan, the building would be stepped back on the north, south and west sides, with nine storeys along Bayview, a major and overpowering contrast to the two storeys across the street on the east side, not to mention the two-storey commercial/residential mix south of Hillsdale.

Does a nine-storey building fit the existing two-storey context of the rest of the neighbourhood? A lot of people in both Leaside and Davisville Village donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think so, and attended a December community meeting to say so. The LPOA board heard The Brown Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presentation and questioned them about the proposed height as well as blocklong massing. Our concerns also include its impact on the Bayview shopping district and nascent Business Improvement Area, as well as any precedent such a giant building would create.

We have all seen what â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;retail contagionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has done to Laird Dr. If The Brown Groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed development were approved by the city, could it not create another kind of development contagion along Bayview? Would the precedent of permitting nine storeys a block south of Eglinton encourage city planners to give permission for new even higher buildings at the LRT-intersection of Bayview and Eglinton? Very possibly.

These are all important considerations. Remember the old adage, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Create in haste, repent at leisureâ&#x20AC;??

It is worth taking the time, and doing the work, to protect what is good about our zoning bylaw controls, before we damage the nature and scale of the community. â&#x2013; ____ The LPOA Board to Directors meets at 7:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at the Trace Manes building. You are welcome to join us â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to depute, ask questions, have your say, or just listen.

Our next meeting is on Feb. 4.

To advertise in Leaside Life and leasidelifenews.com: 416-486-7387 www.leasidelifenews.com We deliver to all homes, apartments and businesses in the M4G postal area.

LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:23 PM Page 29

Leaside writer Beth Parker has published a new book called Unstoppable, about a little-known Canadian finance system.

We asked her about it. Her reply: It’s the business history of an entire industry called the asset-based finance industry, which is the second biggest lender in Canada to business next to the banks/credit unions. So it includes hundreds of companies in Canada, like General Electric, Canadian Pacific, all the major banks, all the car companies (their financing divisions), large manufacturers like John Deere, technology companies like IBM.

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industry and come to support every business.”

I interviewed 50 business leaders (many octogenarians) to piece together the story, which had never 29 been told in Canada. This included vice-presidents of all the banks, and past CEOs of companies like GE Capital, Canadian multi-billionaire Jim Pattison. One person I interviewed turned out to be a neighbour on Donegall Dr. (Doug McKenzie), who works in the global finance division of Bank of America in Canada. I’ve known him for many years as a friend but never knew until writing the book that he was part of the industry.

Sorry for the mini lecture. But this is actually interesting stuff. It is the good news about how companies (and economies) grow because someone has thought up a new idea, a piece of equipment or these days, new technology, and the asset-based finance industry makes the idea actually happen. ■

Leaside Life, February 2015

Leasider writes about Canadian finance giant

It started when the country needed to finance the railroads (and our conservative banks wouldn’t loan them the money) and evolved from there as Canada’s manufacturing and industrial sector grew post World War II. Asset-based financing allows a company to “buy” the equipment it needs by means of a lease, and then pay the money back as they make money by using that equipment. It’s a $300 billion industry in Canada (each year).

To quote from the opening paragraph of the book, “Take a look out at the highway; take a look at the trucks, trailers and cars passing by. Now ask yourself: What’s in those trucks? The appliances, equipment, machine parts, vehicles, computers, network systems, microchips.... The leasing industry finances so much outside the financial world that people don’t realize, and through the decades it has become part of every

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:23 PM Page 30

So you think you know Petra Grantham Leaside Life, February 2015

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30 You may well have run into Petra Grantham at a Rolph Road school event, on a soccer field, or on Bayview, but you probably are not aware of what an extraordinary woman she is. Read on.

Petra Grantham has stepped down as the administrator of the Bennington Rolph Road Soccer Association after more than eight years at the helm. With 250 kids from senior kindergarten to grade 8 participating each fall, that is a lot of local families she’s been involved with. She is happy that Susan Scandiffio has taken over so the league can continue, but is grateful to no longer be the one on the chase for referees, managers, coaches, field permits, sponsors, etc., etc.

One of the by-products of her involvement with the association was keeping in touch with the various principals and staff at Rolph Road long after her own sons, Kurt and Karl, had gone off to Bessborough and then Leaside High. This led to her involvement in Rolph Road’s participation in the Leaside 100 celebrations. She was asked to help, and came up with a Scavenger Hunt that

Lorna Krawchuk Publisher Leaside Life

had whole families searching for answers around Leaside, in Jane Pitfield’s Book, Leaside, and whatever other sources they could find.

This led to her being asked to help with the Rolph Road 75th anniversary celebrations.

She helped build up a huge database of former students and staff to be part of the celebration, collected and catalogued memorabilia and ultimately produced a DVD that is a history of Petra Grantham Rolph Road school.

You can still get a copy of that DVD by emailing rolphroad75@gmail.com and paying $10 plus $5 for delivery.

All proceeds go to a special fund, Archive Project at Rolph Road School,

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to protect and preserve what they already have, and ensure future donations are well treated as well. The DVD cover is a copy of an etching that former Rolph Roader Peter Joyce, of Glenvale Blvd., had commissioned.

An ongoing part of what Grantham is involved with is beyond our Leaside community. She is the president of the Canadian Baltic Immigrant Aid Society, CBIAS, started in 1948 to provide assistance to German Balts coming to Canada after World War 11. As a result of a pact between Hitler and Stalin in 1939, German-speaking people who had lived in Estonia and Latvia for hundreds of years suddenly became German citizens and had to leave their homes. Grantham’s father’s family arrived in Germany from Riga, Latvia early in the war.

When her parents came to Canada in 1963, they soon met and became friends with families who had come earlier, and had been helped by, and involved with, the CBIAS. Grantham’s love of history, and the friendships established, have kept her involved with the society over the years. ■

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LeasideLife issue 36 final_LeasideLifev1 15-01-20 11:23 PM Page 31

RBC Dominion Securities Securities Inc. Inc.

RBC Dominion Securities is pleased to announce that Investment Advisors David Goddard and Mark Coyle have now relocated to the firm’s new branch located at 45 Wicksteed Ave. (Laird & Wicksteed).

DAAVID VID GO ODDARD DDARD, C CIM IM Investment Advisor RBC Dominion Securities 416-699-4105 david.goddard@rbc.com

MAARK RK CO OYLE YLE

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David and Mark have the knowledge, expertise and devotion required to offer outstanding service to the Leaside community. They also provide clients with the resources of Canada’s leading provider of wealth management – RBC Dominion Securities.

Whether you’re looking to maximize your retirement savings, enhance your after-tax retirement income or protect your wealth for future generations, David and Mark can create a personalized strategy designed to achieve your individual goals.

They offer you the highest quality advice on a wide range of wealth management services, including portfolio management, financial planning, RRSPs/RRIFs, education savings plans, estate planning There’s Ther e’s W Wealth alt h in Our Approach. alth Ap pr o ac h. aend and charitab ble giv giving. ving gh

Investment Advisor RBC Dominion Securities 416-699-4997 mark.coyle@rbc.com

Call to arrange for a complimentary initial consultation – or to receive an objective, no-obligation second opinion on your current investments.

RBC Dominion Securities Inc.* and Royal Bankk of Canada are separate corporate entities which are affiliated. *Member-Canadian Investor Protection Fund. RBC Dominion Securities Inc. is a member company off RBC Wealth Management, a business segment off Royal Bankk of Canada. ®Registered trademarks off Royal Bankk of Canada. Used underr licence. © RBC Dominion Securities Inc. 2014. All rights reserved.

Leaside Life, February 2015

YO OUR UR PA ARTNERS RTNERS IIN N LE EASIDE ASIDE F FOR OR FIINANCIAL NANCIAL SU UCCESS CCESS

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