Bloor West Village Residents Association

Roughly 225 Parkdale-High Park residents turned out for the BWVRA candidates’ debate — the last candidates’ debate before the election. A question system using randomly-drawn tickets led to a wide variety of question topics ranging from free trade to the current economic crisis to Afghanistan to leadership qualities to GST on education.

Thanks to the many thoughtful and articulate questioners, to the four invited candidates (Conservative, Green, Liberal, NDP), who had the difficult task of conveying complex concepts during the brief 1 minute we allotted for their answers, and to the Christian Heritage Party candidate who deftly attempted to answer nearly all the evening’s questions in his one-minute closing statement.

Thanks as well to the many enthusiastic volunteers who helped us to distribute leaflets and publicize the meeting.

The full slate of candidates for Parkdale High Park is:

Andrew Borkowski (Christian Heritage Party of Canada)
Lorne Gershuny (Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada)
Gerard Kennedy (Liberal Party of Canada)
Peggy Nash (New Democratic Party)
Terry Parker (Marijuana Party)
Robert Rishchynski (Green Party of Canada)
Jilian Saweczko (Conservative Party of Canada)

See Elections Canada if you have any questions about the October 14 election.

Things may be a little strange for the next few minutes.

Edit – all done!

It’s your opportunity to meet and question the candidates for the main parties on the issues that matter to you and your community before October 14th.

Invited candidates confirmed:

Gerard Kennedy (Liberal)
Peggy Nash (NDP)
Robert Rishchynski (Green)
Jilian Saweczko (Conservative)

Wednesday October 8th, 7:30pm
Runnymede United Church
432 Runnymede Rd (between Bloor & Annette Streets)

Hosted by the Bloor West Village Residents Association

Alternative debate: ALL candidates will debate at Swansea Town Hall on Tuesday October 7th, 7:30pm. Location: 95 Lavinia Ave, one block south of Bloor, three blocks west of Runnymede Rd. Presented by the Swansea Area Ratepayers Association.

There’s quite a fun piece in the Globe and Mail on three couples who have moved into the city from the suburbs: Turning their backs on suburbia (it will vanish behind the Globe’s paywall after a week or two, so read now!).

The O’Haras, who gave up their big house, big commute, pool and yard in suburban Caledon, Ont., for a more compact house and lifestyle in Bloor West Village, admit to being astonished by the congeniality of city neighbours compared with those they left behind.

“I thought people in the city would be more into their own thing,” says Mr. O’Hara. “It’s the very opposite to what I thought it would be.”

…

“You buy the lifestyle here,” says Ms. O’Hara. “This neighbourhood has a huge sense of community that we were unable to find in suburbia.”

A big welcome to all the families in the story: the O’Haras; Diana Hatzepetros, David Middleton and family, also in Bloor West Village; and Tom Poldre, Jane Lawton and family in Baby Point.

The City’s Public Works Committee wants to hear more from Bloor West Village residents about the proposed Annette St. bike lane. It, and Councillor Bill Saudercook, hosted a public meeting on September 15th which drew almost 100 people, a record number for such a gathering. Most spoke passionately in favour of a dedicated lane from Jane to Dundas – which wold be the only East/West bike lane in our area.

The Councillor favours a proposal that would see the lane removed from Annette from Jane to Runnymede, and replaced with a signed route (so no actual lane) on St.John’s Road.

Critics argue this is less safe and will not achieve the goal of moving more people from cars onto bikes. The meeting was not well publicized and the Committee says it wants to hear from those who could not attend before a final decision is made in October.

People have only until Monday, September 22nd to contact the Committee. The address is below.

We urge you to tell the Committee what YOU think, and send a copy to the Councillor: councillor_saundercook@toronto.ca

From the Public Works Committee

From: bikeplan [mailto:bikeplan@toronto.ca]
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2008 1:50 PM
To: bikeplan
Subject: Annette Street Bike Lanes

Hello,

We would like to thank everyone for sharing their thoughts regarding the proposed bike lanes on Annette Street between Runnymede and Jane, and the alternatives being considered. Many of you attended the public meeting held on Monday the 15th at James Culnan Catholic School; others have provided us with comments via mail and email.

All of the comments we receive on this issue are a valuable contribution to the decision-making process and we want to thank you for your time and input on this matter. If you have not sent in your comments yet, please send them to us by Monday, September 22nd. City Transportation staff need to integrate the comments received into a report that will be presented to City Council’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC). The PWIC will vote on how to proceed with this portion of Annette at their next meeting on October 10th, so there is limited time for staff to prepare the material that will help Council members arrive at their final decision.

In the meantime, we have posted a copy of the presentation made by staff at Monday’s meeting on the Cycling website here:

http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/public-consultations/annette-street-091508.htm

If you still want to provide us with comments regarding this issue you can:

- reply to this email address (bikeplan@toronto.ca);
- fax us at 416-392-2974; or
- mail your comments to:

Public Consultation Unit – Annette Bike Lanes
City of Toronto
Metro Hall, 55 John Street, 19th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5V 3C6

Thank you again for participating in this process.

This is our last chance to weigh in on the routing of the Annette St. bike lane. As you may recall, there was to be a dedicated bike lane on Annette from Jane to Dundas West. But the route got de-railed in April by a few merchants on the Jane to Runnymede section of Annette.

Councillor Bill Saundercook asked City staff to find a way around that
section of Annette and the answer made many cyclists unhappy.
It eliminated the dedicated lane, replacing it with a signed-only section
along St.John’s Road.

Critics point out this is less safe and runs contrary to the principal that
a place must be made for bicycle traffic in order to encourage more of it.

In answer to criticsm of the first meeting, Councillor Saundercook has
called a second public meeting. Publicity for it again appears to be minimal. Advance notice was one week, at most.

The Councillor has said he supports the re-routing. If you disagree you
will have to help to change his mind by attending the meeting, or at least writing/calling him. City Hall Assistant: 416-392-4073
Constituency office: 416-338-5165 e-mail: councillor_saundercook@toronto.ca

The details of the meeting are below. If you have received a notice about this meeting, please drop us a line saying so: info@bwvra.ca

>>> Annette Bike Lanes Public Meeting
>>>
>>> In June 2008 City Council approved bike lanes for the section of
>>> Annette Street between Runnymede Road and Dundas Street West. As your Councillor I would like to discuss the section between Runnymede Road and Jane St. with you the community.
>>>
>>> The public meeting will include a presentation on alternatives for
>>> providing bike facilities west of Runnymede Road to Jane Street.
>>> Comments and questions may be submitted directly to staff and will be reviewed and considered. Public meeting is scheduled for:

>>> Monday September 15th, 2008
>>> James Culnan Catholic School
>>> 605 Willard Avenue
>>> 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.