the bloordale times vol. 3 issue 4 // may 2015

BY EVAN [email protected]

Despite the unpredictable spring weather, even the sun made an appearance at the Bloor-dale May Playday that took place on May 2.

Stretching between Brock Ave. at Bloor St. and Susan Tibaldi Parkette at Margueretta St., the event was initiated as part of the Bloordale Business Improvement Area’s campaign to promote com-munity well being and together-ness.

“We wanted to do a small proj-ect that focused on the idea of walk, ride and drive civil streets,” said organizer Dyan Marie of the Bloordale BIA.

For Marie, Playday and its ac-companying Jane’s Walk were chances to air a variety of con-cerns that affect members of the community.

“We’ve heard on many occa-sions that people do have health issues simply because they don’t go out for a walk, or that they have issues of alienation or isola-tion,” she said.

“By doing events that encour-age people to come out for a walk, all of those issues are in some ways addressed, as well as making the neighbourhood a more excit-ing place to live,” Marie said.

In addition to pay-what-you-can haircuts to raise money for the Music Therapy Centre and free barbeque courtesy of Ward

18 Councilor Ana Bailão, attend-ees created unique paintings us-ing shoes, bike and car parts, as well as the option to colour and take home complimentary “Share Bloordale” backpacks.

Even large pieces of recycled cardboard were available for chil-dren to express their creativity by building their very own Bloordale shops.

The May Playday’s focus on youth involvement comes as no surprise to Jason Campbell, chair of the Bloor Improvement Group.

“My son is one year old and my drive of volunteering and helping out with BIG and other initiatives is to make everything better for his future, to help create a place that is not only better for the en-tire community but better for my son moving forward,” he said.

Site coordinator Marjolein Winterink said she’s seen a trans-formation within the Bloordale area in the last 15 years, with members of the community be-ginning to reject placid consum-erism to take on more active roles.

“We might live in a big city, but if you step out onto your cor-ner with neighbours and you do something and include every-body, that makes a neighbour-

hood,” she said.“It’s not about everybody being

the same and being in agreement, it’s about peaceful coexistence and enjoying life together,” Win-terink said.

That change is something Campbell and others don’t take for granted.

“There are a lot of other BIAs and other neighbourhoods within the city of Toronto that would be envious of what we have being so close to the downtown core,” he said. “We have such strong com-munity engagement already.”

And for Marie, Playday is just the beginning of many exciting ventures.

“This area could open up to many different projects that peo-ple can do fairly spontaneously,” she said. “We want to make Brock Bloordale’s haven.”

www.theblooordaletimes.wordpress.comMAY 2015 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 4

Neighbourhood news worth repeating

INSIDESPRING CLEANING IN

BLOORDALEGarbage pick-up and flower

planting beautifies streets Page 2

JANE JACOBS CELEBRATED IN BLOORDALE

Bloordale a big player in city’s Jane’s Walk movement

0

JESSICA BERRY REVIEWS TORONTO’S ‘HOT DOCS’ FEST Hot Docs offered a story for

everyone says local film reviewerPage 4

JTRC WEIGHS IN ON BRIDGE

DEBATE BY NICK [email protected]

The creation of the Davenport Community Rail Overpass has ruffled feathers in the Bloordale Community, and the Junction Tri-angle Rail Committee (JTRC) has released its thoughts on the matter.

Metrolinx’s proposal, part of the Ontario Government’s $15 bil-lion promise to invest in transit expansion in the GTHA, would see the removal of the “Davenport Diamond” rail intersection, one of North America’s busiest.

The removal of the diamond would solve scheduling conflicts between freight and commuter trains, allowing GO trains to run more frequently through the area.

But JTRC head Kevin Putnam would like to see more community involvement from Metrolinx, as the creation of the new rail line has received virtually no input from local residents.

“We think that the project has to get opened up a lot more,” said Putnam, “Metrolinx isn’t letting residents talk about other options other than a bridge.”

MAY PLAY DAY FESTIVAL AN ACT OF LOCAL AWARENESS

TIMES

THE

BLOORDALEB

Chair of Bloor Improvement Group Jason Campbell thanked Jane’s Walkers for taking an active role in their community. Photo by Evan Millar

see BRIDGE DEBATE page 2

02

News

The Bloordale Times May 2015

BY DOMENIC [email protected]

The Bloordale area was the host of the 2nd Annual Bloor-dale Spring Clean-Up Day.

The cleanup operations had members and residents of the Bloordale community collecting garbage from the streets, local parks and planting new flowers around the community in prepa-ration for the May Play Day event,

which took place on May 2.Councilor Ana Bailão along

with the Bloordale BIA, the Bloor Improvement Group (BIG), and the Bloordale Community Im-provement Association (CIA) have come together to support Toronto’s “Clean Toronto Togeth-er” Campaign.

“We’ve been able to see hun-dreds of people coming together to cleanup their city with their own hands and that shows a lot of care and love for the city,” said Councilor Bailão.

“It reinforces the message that Torontonians really care about their city.”

Bailão’s office on Bloor St. was able to provide garbage bags, gloves and other materials for the many volunteers who were able to help out during the weekend.

Bloordale is one neighborhood

that is known for coming to-gether as a community and able to contribute to a good cause for their district. Dan-Milford War-ren one of many members of the Bloordale CIA, said that a com-munity that is able to come to-gether is special.

“It’s important to show that we care,” said Warren. “It gives the area a nice family feel. The act of boots on the ground neighbour-hood maintenance makes it a safer place. A safer, friendlier and a more inviting place.”

Members of the community see other participants of their society take part in helping mak-ing the community a better place and offer their assistance or show their appreciation with words of encouragement to the volunteers.

“I think it’s a strong message,” said Jason Campbell, chair of the

Bloor Improvement Group. “The better we do our jobs getting that message out there, the more peo-ple will be in-tuned with what is going on here in Bloordale.”

“This is everyone’s community, we all live here. I think we all have aspirations to make it as positive of a place to live for everybody as possible. It’s important to engage as many people as possible and to make this a big collaborative pro-cess. That’s the only way to make positive changes in communities and I think it has been proven in many texts,” Campbell added.

The cleaning of the area gives initiatives not only for the May Play Day festival but for multiple community projects coming up later this season. The operation also allows the public a chance to give their area a clean spring look.

BLOORDALE SPRING CLEANING CARRIED OUT FOR SECOND-STRAIGHT YEARAs part of the city’s ‘Clean Toronto Together’ campaign, neighbourhood dignitaries joined hands in an effort to clean up and beautify the neighbourhood

(right to left) Jason Campbell, Ana Bailão, Jason Raabe and Dougal Bichan stand armed and ready. Photo by Domenic Loschiavo

The JTRC has released five points for discussion on their Facebook page, listing ways in

which they would like to see improvements in the process.“We would like to see Metrolinx hold design competitions for the

bridge itself as well as the space underneath, and at the very mini-mum, Metrolinx should be including cycling and pedestrian bridges as part of the bridge project,” said Putnam.

There is no space for cyclists or pedestrians to cross the existing CP rail tracks in Metrolinx’s current proposal.

“Metrolinx should be putting up $40 million to develop this space underneath (the bridge),” said Putnam.

The idea comes after $10 million was spent to develop Underpass Park in Corktown, a smaller, but very similar project.

The Davenport Community Rail Overpass slated to stretch 1.4 ki-lometres and the JTRC would like to see the appropriate increase in funding for this underpass.

Another point of contention is that residents who face added noise and disruption because of the bridge’s construction will not have ac-cess to the line.

No stop is currently planned for the community, and the commit-tee would like to see an additional stop built in the next five years, somewhere between Bloor St. and St. Clair Ave..

The fifth point of discussion proposed by the JTRC surrounds to amount of diesel trains running through the area.

“What we’re worried about is that they’re going to build this bridge and then run more diesel trains,” said Putnam.

“We’re going to go from eight a day currently, to more than 200 a day,” he said. We want a guarantee that they won’t be diesel. No imple-mentation of regional express on the Barrie line until it’s electrified.”

Despite the expected changes in the community, the JTRC faces an uphill climb in order to get Metrolinx to listen to their proposals let alone agree.

“It’s in one ear and out the other,” said Putnam. “There’s nothing that forces them to adhere to residents’ wishes.”

BRIDGE DEBATE from page 1

Torontonians are pulling their bikes out of the shed and hitting the streets now that the snow has finally melted.

But with the beautiful weather also comes the perilous endeav-or of peddling on the city’s busy streets. Around 7,500 cyclists are seriously injured every year in Canada and most of those inju-ries occur during the afternoon rush hour.

Ward 18 Councilor Ana Bailão said in a recent commu-nity newsletter she consistently advocates that cyclists need a comprehensive cycling network through our city.

“This network should be fast, it should be safe, and it should be integrated within our com-munity,” she said.

Bailão said she is constantly looking for ways to make cy-cling safer in Toronto.

One of the changes cyclists will notice will be yellow centre lines painted on bicycle lanes in place of white ones to make it easier for cyclists to legally travel two ways on the street.

According to Bailão some residents have been cycling the wrong way on one-way streets.

“Adding bicycle lanes will help to organize this existing demand and make streets safer for all road users. This includes adding stop signs and signals for cyclists,” she said.

Tess Singer was riding her

bike down a one way street in Toronto last summer when she was involved in a collision with another bike.

She was riding at a reason-able speed but wasn’t wearing a helmet. A large cube van was parked blocking an alleyway. An-other girl on her bike rode out from behind the van and Singer hit her head on.

“Because she was pushing off she was more stationary,” Singer said. “I was biking so I took the impact and flew over my handle bars put my arms up to protect my head.

“My bike was ruined and the front basket was completely smashed in,” she said.

Fortunately Singer wasn’t seriously injured.

“People ran over to help me. Luckily I was okay so walked home which was just up the street,” she said.

It’s mandatory in Ontar-io for bicycles to be outfit-ted with lights, a bell or horn, and properly work-ing brakes. Riders under 16 must wear a helmet and all bicyclists have to obey the same rules of the road as motorists do, accord-ing to the Highway Traffic Act.

Bicyclists who don’t obey the rules of the road get ticketed, just like mo-torists, and some fines are fairly hefty, up to $110 in-cluding victim surcharges.

Tony Jenkins, 52, com-petes in road and moun-

tain bike races and has completed three Iron Man events and one world championship.

Jenkins also builds, repairs and sells bikes. He says one of the most important safety precau-tions when cycling is to make sure drivers can see you.

“Make sure you have lights, LED flashy lights let you be seen by drivers in the daytime or when it’s dark,” he said.

Jenkins also says cyclists should learn to ride defensively. If you cannot see the driver’s face or eyes, they can’t see you.

“At junctions, look at the driv-

er, try to anticipate what they are going to do,” he said.

“If there is a vehicle alongside you, watch the front wheels. If you see them start to steer to-wards you, slow, move out the way, yell or scream. It works!”

Jenkins said it is good practice to keep your bike serviced.

“Tire pressure is important, too low affects handling and leads to more punctures. When low pres-sure, the wheel rim can pinch the inner tube if you hit a pot hole or curb,” he said.

Jenkins said the worst position on the road is between a truck or

a bus that is turning right.A bicyclist can be run over

by rear wheels if caught be-tween the turning truck and the sidewalk, or parked cars. Rear wheels cut a corner much tighter than front and many cycle deaths are caused by rear wheel run-over.

“If you get stuck in this situ-ation, dive off the bike away from the truck or bus. Bikes are replaceable,” he said. Finally, wear your a helmet.

“Yes they can look daft, but there are some cool looking ones. They save lives.”

03

News


BETTER DISCIPLINE AND CYCLE NETWORK KEY TO BIKE SAFETY ON ROADS

Follow a safety checklist before hopping on your bike. Photo by Clare Jenkins

BY CLARE [email protected]

BY TONIA [email protected]

It’s all about atmosphere at Cabin Fever Collective cafe, and the owners are bringing the heat with a new liquor license.

Robyn Harrison and her hus-band Alex are behind the ec-centric cafe on Bloor St. W. near Keele St.. She said it was their love for music that helped drive the unique identity behind their business.

The Wi-Fi free zone boasts a selection of vinyl records that are

hand-picked by the couple and available for purchase. With a va-riety of genres the space is perfect for anyone who wants to unwind, disconnect and appreciate music that spans from indie to classic rock.

“As soon as it opened we kind of realized that you know we’re renting the square footage but it’s up to us to what we put in it ...” said Harrison.

Cabin Fever is the only place in the area where customers can stop in and grab a cup of cof-fee and a scone while browsing

through the selection of records, and soon they will be the only ones to throw alcohol into the mix.

Harrison said they wanted to offer a space that appeals to more than just coffee lovers.

“It just kind of opens us up to a demographic of people who may-be wouldn’t normally walk into a cafe or go somewhere for a coffee ... a lot of our vinyl customers, I think, would love to have the op-tion if it’s seven or eight o’clock to be able to browse while they’ve got a pint on the go as opposed

to just an Americano,” Harrison said.

The pair hopes to be serving al-cohol within the next few months all while maintaining the energy that the space already provides.

“I think the biggest thing that we want, and also the biggest comment we get is all based on the vibe for us, so we never want-ed to be the best espresso we don’t want to have an exclusive line of beers,” said Harrison.

“It’s got to be a whole piece and if somebody feels comfortable be-ing here then every other aspect

of the experience kind of has a positive note because of that,” said Harrison

The area around the record store masquerading as a coffee shop has a lot of great business-es to add to the rich culture, but nothing comes close to the vi-brancy offered at Cabin Fever.

Harrison said she and her hus-band have lived in the neighbour-hood for five years, “so it was just us putting something that we would want in our neighbour-hood into the neighbourhood that we lived in.” Harrison said.

VINYL RECORD HAVEN CABIN FEVER SOON TO SERVE LATE DRINKS

The 2015 Hot Docs Film Fes-tival just wrapped up on May 3. There is something about a film festival strictly dedicated to documentary films; a genre that in recent years has exposed vari-ous corporations, industries, and governments for a montage of im-proprieties. There has also been a surge of films aimed simply to educate, entertain and document. These are some of the diverse in-gredients that go into creating the Hot Docs Film Festival: a festival that literally offers something for everyone.

THE REVIEWS:

Kurt Cobain: Montage of HeckRunning Time: 145 minutes

(translation 2 hours 41 minutes)Director: Brett MorgenThe Review:Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

is a beautifully directed stimulat-ing experience. The first thing you notice about this film is how polished it is from top to bottom. The second thing you notice is how great Nirvana’s music is. The film is clearly meant to introduce an entirely new generation of po-tential fans to Nirvana’s majestic sound, and more importantly, bring Kurt back to life via music.

Montage of Heck is a treat for both hardcore Nirvana fans and nubians alike. It is one of those

films that could have been made by a major studio as a bio-pic, similar to Walk the Line (the film about Johnny Cash and June Carter-Cash), but instead stuck to its grunge/independent roots, by choosing to be a documentary film. Perhaps a fitting tribute to an incredibly gifted and talented musician.

Let the Oscar watch start for Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck. You will definitely see this film nominated for Best Feature Docu-mentary and it might just win.

Overall Grade: 4 1/2 stars*Scoring System is based on a 5

Star System

Raiders!Running Time: 104 minutes

(translation 1 hour and 44 min-utes)

Directors: Jeremy Coon & Tim Skousen

The Review:When Raiders of the Lost Ark

premiered in 1982, every kid quickly became obsessed with recreating every scene. A group of friends went as far as filming every scene of the movie, shot by shot, over the course of seven years (1982-1989), with the ex-ception of the elusive Flying Wing airplane shot. This compilation is known as The Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation, a cult classic known by the likes of Eli Roth. In fact, during a film festival in Aus-tin, Texas in 2002, Roth urged the organizer, Harry Knowles, to play the film to audiences. The film

brought the house down, and the organizers were booed when they stopped the film short to show the intended screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

This documentary film explores the cult status of the adaptation film, and reunites the original crew 25 years later to shoot the one missing scene. The film cul-minates with a heart-pounding final take.


Star System

The Barkley Marathons - The Trail That Eats Its Young

Running Time: 89 minutes (translation 1 hour and 29 min-utes)

Directors: Timothy James Kane & Annika Iltis

The Review:This film is what a film festival

is all about. This future cult classic and close runner-up for the 2015 Vimeo On Demand Audience Award, stole my heart. Not only does it inform you of the hardest, if not craziest, 100 plus mile race in the world, but you can’t help to fall in love with the subjects of this film. Barkley reminds me of the Olympics, where true sports-manship and fandom is more prevalent than any other sports spectacle in the world; where you find yourself rooting for all the participants, not just the favourite or your athlete of choice. While watching this film I began to not only root for all of the athletes, but

also for this film. The little film that could.

Through this movie, the Barkley Marathon is outed to the world af-ter 29 years of anonymity, previ-ously only known by a small cult following of ultra-marathon run-ners. The Barkley Marathon, with its secret application process and testing, quirky co-founder Laza-rus Lake and the gang, and even quirkier start times (announced one hour ahead of time by the blowing of a conch shell), tests the limits of the mind and body on the ever-changing course consist-ing of 59,100 feet of climb (plus 59,100 feet of descent), and over 100 miles of grueling Tennessee landscape. This marathon is con-sidered to be one of the hardest 100 mile races in the world. Since the race began in 1986, only 14 runners out of about 1,000 have finished the race within the 60-hour cutoff.

This film that documents the race and its participants in 2012 is funny, emotional and a soulful journey highlighting the strength of the human mind, body, spirit and sportsmanship.


Star System

UNBRANDEDRunning Time: 105 minutes

(translation 1 hour and 45 min-utes)

Director: Phillip BaribeauThe Review:UNBRANDED was the 2015

Vimeo On Demand Audience Award winner. I don’t agree... This film is a documentary ver-sion of Billy Crystal’s City Slick-ers, but with wild horses and a

pseudo conservation theme. I guess the point of this film was to raise awareness to the tens of thousands of wild mustangs that are losing their territory due to human infringement, all the while highlighting this species natural ability to traverse the wild coun-try by undertaking a 3000 mile journey on wild-horseback from the Mexican to the Canadian bor-der.

The film starts off with a great cause in mind, but quickly becomes a high-glossed Budweiser and Jim Beam commercial full of staged shots and dangerous decision mak-ing, that put many horses in peril. The ruckus and rowdy foursome show off their rodeo ability, and seem to care more about their bro-some than their rescued horses. This film is a Texas cowboy version of MTV’s Spring Break coverage.

UNBRANDED raised $171,253 through a Kickstarter campaign; and I think I know exactly where the money went: go-pro cam-eras, aerial helicopter shots, satel-lite mobile phones and restocking their Budweiser fridge. I still don’t understand how they were able to have cold beer yet they couldn’t find water for their horses.

This film was a disappointment on many levels. UNBRANDED would not have been my choice for best doc of the festival. The people who watched this film clearly didn’t make the trek to the midnight viewing of The Barkley Marathons - The Trail That Eats its Young, but then again, who wants to do hard when the EASY BUTTON is right there via Kickstarter.


Star System

04

Feature


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Clare Jenkins, Orhan Sumen, Nick Beare, Natalia Vega, Britnei Bilhete, Domenic Loschiavo, Tonia Venneri, Giancarlo DiPeco

**The Bloordale Times is published monthly and distibuted within Ward 18’s boundaries and neighbouring areas. 10,000 copies are de-livered door-to-door, to local businesses and areas of interest. Call or email us with your story ideas or to inquire about our advertising rates**

THE

TIMESBLOORDALEB

LOCAL FILM BUFF RECOUNTS EXPERIENCE AT THIS YEAR’S TORONTO HOT DOCS FILM FESTBY JESSICA BERRYmyyearatthemovietheatre.tumblr.com

MPP CRISTINA MARTINS416-535-3158

It has been a busy and exciting couple of weeks at Queen’s Park with the introduction and debate of the 2015 Provin-cial Budget. The 2015 Budget continues our Government’s commitment to build Ontario up by investing an unprece-dented $130 Billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years. The Budget also included a significant reform which will directly benefit Davenport residents.

The morning after the Budget was introduced, on Friday April 24, I welcomed Minister of Finance Charles Sousa to Bellwoods Brewery on Ossington to make the exciting an-nouncement that our Budget removes the red tape which will allow this fine small brewer to move to Davenport! Our Government is supporting our small brewers, not only by increasing their shelf space in the LCBO but also by elimi-nating the AGCO’s minimum production threshold for the

expansion of second retail locations.Previously, an Ontario brewer was only permitted to have an additional on-site retail store if its

overall production exceeded 25,000 hectolitres of beer. This restriction unfairly favoured larger brewers and restricted the innovation and success of our world class small brewers. By eliminat-ing this archaic threshold for minimum production, this change allows small brewers like Mike Clark and Luke Pestl from Bellwoods Brewery to open a second production location with an on-site retail store.

This regulation change has been an area of interest and activity for me. For some time, Bell-woods has been looking to expand its business into Davenport at the corner of Dupont and Do-vercourt but were held back by the AGCO’s red tape.

I’ve been advocating on behalf of Bellwoods Brewery shortly after I was elected in June 2014. I actively met with the AGCO in August to discuss what I saw as an unfair and arbitrary parameter which disadvantaged our small brewers here in Toronto. I also reached out to the Ministry of Finance, the Attorney General, and the Premier’s Office specifically advocating on behalf of Mike and Bellwoods to get this regulation modernized. I’m so happy that this change that I have been championing for some time was included in our budget.

This change is a major breakthrough which will provide jobs to the local area, promote tour-ism, and allow for Bellwoods to grow even further and solidify its reputation as one of the best breweries not only in Toronto but across the province.

With an additional location, Bellwoods, for example, can now significantly expand their pro-duction to supply to this current location on Ossington, to supply to restaurants and bars across the city and to even sell their surplus products at the LCBO.

I’m very happy I could advocate on Bellwoods Brewery’s behalf and all small breweries in On-tario and I’m sure so many of my constituents are ready to welcome you with open arms.

COUNCILLOR ANA BAILÃO 416-392-7012

Our new Community Of-fice recently opened at 1240 Bloor Street West. It will con-tinue to be open every Wednes-day, Thursday and Friday from 10am-6pm. I wanted to take this opportunity to share the good news and outline how this space will be used to serve Ward 18 residents going forward.

It was a picture perfect spring day on May 2nd for the Offi-cial Opening celebration. Resi-dents came from the surround-ing Bloordale area and across Ward 18 for this event; which featured a BBQ, live musical performances, face painting and plenty of good neighbourly conversation. We temporarily closed Margueretta Street from Bloor to the laneway to accom-modate hundreds of residents

who joined the fun. Activities also took place in Susan Tibal-di Parkette as well as on Brock Street, where Bloordale Play Day festivities were being held in conjunction with our office opening. There was something for everyone and everyone was welcome to take part.

Everyone is also welcome to take part in the new Commu-nity Office. It is a place to meet me and my staff with regard to local issues and a space to serve our many community groups. It represents my continued and enhanced commitment to our community by providing a con-sistent presence in the heart of our neighbourhood. It promotes a strong connection to the issues that matter most the Ward 18 residents and quick responses to local concerns. The door is open for you to walk in and share your ideas for local projects and ways we can make Ward 18 an even

better place to live, work and play.

In addition to these local hours, you can also contact my City Hall office every week-day from 8:30am to 4:30pm. By working together in our com-munity and at City Hall, there is no limit to what Ward 18 can ac-complish.

I always welcome your feed-back and ideas, so please do not hesitate to contact me by com-ing for a visit when you’re in the neighbourhood. You can also call 416-392-7012 or email [email protected] any time.

I look forward to seeing you in the community; whether at my office, a community meeting, or at the many local events taking place this spring and summer.

Your neighbour, Ana BailãoToronto City CouncillorWard 18, Davenport

MP ANDREW CASH 416-654-8048

The past few weeks on Parliament Hill have seen huge developments on campaigns we’ve been working on here in Davenport: our calls for fairness for precarious workers and unpaid in-terns, and our fight to stop unfair pay-to-pay fees.

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to debate the NDP’s Intern Protection Act in the House of Commons. The bill would have extend-ed vital workplace protections to unpaid interns and prevented the exploitation of internships. Just before the vote on the bill, the Conservatives introduced their budget, which pledged to adopt our proposals for workplace protections. Then they voted down our bill.

As always with the Conservatives though, the devil is in the details. The fine print of their proposed reforms reveals that they fall woefully short, and don’t even protect interns from egregious abuses like excessive hours of work or sexual harassment. Regardless, the plight of interns wasn’t even a topic of discussion before our bill, so the fact that we forced the government to pay attention and enact some reforms is a huge win!

In other exciting news, my bill to bring fairness to contract, freelance, self-employed and part-time workers, the National Urban Worker Strategy, will finally be up for de-bate on Thursday, May 14! Nearly 50 per cent of workers in the GTA find themselves in one of these precarious employment situations with no benefits or pensions. This group has been ignored by our governments for far too long and I am thrilled that we’ll have a chance to debate their issues as we fight to bring real, positive change for precarious workers. For more info on my bill, visit my website at http://www.andrew-cash.ca

Finally, the recent weeks have seen Canada’s big banks announce outrageous new fees for their customers. Starting soon, customers with certain accounts at banks like BMO and RBC will have to pay additional fees when making a mortgage or student loan payment, paying off credit cards, moving money between accounts, paying for items with the “tap” function on debit cards, and many other everyday transactions.

These banks each made over $2 BILLION in profits last quarter, and now they’re crying poor in an attempt to nickel and dime Canadians even further. So far the gov-ernment has refused to stand up for consumers, and has rejected my calls to make the banks’ code of conduct mandatory and ban these unfair pay to pay fees.

I’m going to keep fighting the government to ban these fees, and advocating for bet-ter conditions for precarious workers. If you’d like to help out, please sign the petitions I have on my website, ‎http://www.andrewcash.ca, on both of these issues.

05

Letters from your political representatives


With the weather beginning to warm up, the Dundas West Fes-tival is a great way to celebrate summer in Toronto.

The Dundas West Festival pre-sented by The Little Portugal BIA and Dundas West BIA is on June 6 and features arts and entertain-ment for families to enjoy.

“It’s a celebration of arts, com-

munity and everything local,” said Dundas West BIA Coordi-nator Helder Ramos. “With the festival we make it a one day showcase of everything that can and does happy in Dundas West on a regular basis.”

The third annual festival is lo-cated on Dundas St. W. between Lansdowne Ave. and Rusholme Rd.. Visitors can experience the many food vendors and stages throughout the day.

“The places people always walk or drive by everyday and never had a chance to go in, during the festival that’s their best chance to see what these places of-fer,” said Ramos.

Ramos added it is im-portant to ensure the fes-tival’s vendors and shows are as local.

“The content, activi-ties, experience of the festival is actually pre-sented by those who live, work and play here 365 days a year,” he said.

Andrea Kuzmich, a program director with the festival, says it will feature many of the tal-

ented youths that call the area home.

“We’re going to have a West Af-rican Drumming workshop from MusiCamp where kids come can try out the traditional instru-ments,” Kuzmich said.

Many children rock and blues bands will be performing live at the festival.

“It is quite incredible how the show has grown, it’s really amaz-ing,” said Kuzmich.

Ramos said the festival has grown since its inception, dou-bling in attendance in its first two years. In it’s second year, the festival contributed just under $1 million to the local economy.

Ramos said the most impor-tant aspect of the event is to cel-ebrate culture.

“We like to think it gives peo-ple a really good opportunity to see what actually happens, and a taste of the neighbourhood’s cul-ture,” he said.

News

DUNDAS WEST FESTIVAL TO HIT LOCAL STREET FOR THIRD TIMEBY GIANCARLO [email protected]

First Annual Dundas West Festival. Photo by Melissa Millerson

06 The Bloordale Times May 2015

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There is almost nothing more enjoyable this time of year than spending a warm afternoon outside perfecting the garden. Gardening pro-vides an excellent outlet for stress relief, and it also allows us to gain some of the much needed vitamin D we have all been lacking over the long and harsh winter. It is really common for gardening to be a source of aches and pains for many people, although many don’t realize this until it’s too late! With a little bit of planning, it is possible to avoid the aches and pains that we see pop up with gardening and yard work. Here are five tips to help you get started:

1. Prepare your work areaBefore you jump right into your gardening

tasks, consider where you will be working and what you might need to make the job easier. If you are planting in containers, consider plac-ing them up on a higher surface, level with your waist to avoid crouching or reaching. Bring your equipment close by so that you can

avoid awkward positions or prolonged hunch-ing. When planting flower beds, many people stoop over in awkward positions for sustained periods of time, which in turn can lead to a sore back. Plan where you will sit and what you will be doing ahead of time.

2. Prepare your bodyBelieve it or not, your body needs a warm up

to prepare for some of the new and sustained movements you will be doing as you garden. Make sure to warm up your sides, your thighs, your hamstrings, your wrists, and arms. As you take breaks, stretch out your forearms to avoid tightness later on.

3. Practice mindful awareness of your work positions

It’s really easy to get caught up in digging and planting sections of your garden, and be-fore long you’ve spent over an hour in a very awkward position. To avoid this, plan a good variety in tasks- consider alternating heavy and light tasks throughout the day. Listen closely to your body, and if you start to ache, consider switching what you are doing. Changing hands to reduce strain is a good option. Aches are gen-

erally a sign that the body needs to change its position.

4. Take breaks and replenishPace yourself when gardening to build in

planned breaks. Some people do this by car-rying around a timer while others pace them-selves according to tasks (“2 more bunches of geraniums before I stop”). A good starting point is to consider taking a posture break every 20 minutes, the way you would at work. Plan to re-hydrate during your breaks, and remember to re-apply sunscreen if you need to as well. Light stretching and active ranges of movement help to keep away potential aches and pains.

5. Be aware of heavy loadsIf you must lift something heavy and awk-

ward, such as a bag of soil or mulch, be mind-ful of how to lift properly to avoid injury. Keep the load close to your body, bend your knees and keep your low back neutral (avoid bending from the waist). Consider breaking heavy loads into smaller more manageable loads –your back will thank you later!

After your fun filled gardening day is over, re-member to lightly stretch to avoid any lingering

tightness. If you experience pain that lasts more than a couple of days, call your chiropractor for a check-up. Have fun out there, and remember to plan ahead to avoid those pesky strains!

Dr. Sonya Hamilton is a local chiroprac-tor with a special interest in helping others to regain control of their own physical wellness through education, exercise, and rehabilita-tion. She practices at Bloor West Health Cen-tre at Jane and Bloor- you can learn more at http://www.drhamilton.ca

09

Health & Wellness


BY DR. JENNIFER BAERGot a [email protected]

Feeding Your Gut Bugs For Health and Happiness

Think you’re alone? Think again! An estimated 90 per cent of the cells of our body are made up of teeny tiny bugs. These microorganisms are known as “the microbiome”, and are now being described by some as a unique (and highly inter-active) organ system. The microbi-ome (or microbiota) can be found on our skin, in little pockets (like our gums), and most numerously, in our guts.

The microbiome has become a HUGE area of research in recent years – and its potential role in con-ditions as diverse as gastrointestinal disease, obesity and psychiatric dis-orders, is only beginning to be in-vestigated and understood.

The microbiota participates in vital functions like: immune system modulation, enhanced gastroin-testinal tract motility and function (think bowel movements), diges-tion and nutrient absorption, vita-min production (like Vitamins K and B12), resistance to infections, production of beneficial com-

pounds, and even production of some of their own neurotransmit-ters (chemicals that help to direct neurological function).

I often get asked if diet and life-style have any impact on the mi-crobiome, and what we can do to support “eubyosis” ( a state of bal-ance in the microbiome). There are certainly specific approaches to dif-ferent conditions that I employ with my patients, but for the average person there are some good rules of thumb:

1. Avoid antibiotics.Now I’m not saying there isn’t a place for them – but if you didn’t culture positive for a bacterial infection and/or the infection is mild-moderate and likely to resolve without them, an-tibiotics are not only unnecessary, but are detrimental to the health and balance of the friendly bugs in our guts. In fact, a course of an-tibiotics has been demonstrated in studies to wreak havoc on the mi-crobiota for months or even years.

2. Avoid antimicrobial products. We have created a culture of fear around dirt! We surround ourselves with antimicrobial soaps, cleansers, and aerosol sprays. While regular hand washing and proper hygiene are good ideas for preventing the

spread of infectious disease, the rest of it is contributing (like antibiotics) to “dysbiosis” ( a state of imbalance in the microbiome).

3. Manage stress. Stress actually plays a role in alter-ing GI tract motility and secretions. It also may cause an increase in circulating norepinephrine which acts as a growth inducer of po-tentially pathogenic mi-crobes.

4. Limit meat, flour and sugar. Diets high in pro-tein and fat – especially animal protein – a r e shown to contribute to dys-biosis. Likewise, a diet high in refined carbohydrates (sugars and any foods made from flour) has a negative impact.

5. Include prebiotics and colonic foods. Prebi-otics can be taken supple-mentally (get advice from someone qualified), but colonic foods abound and may attenuate the effects of animal protein in the diet. Colonic foods are generally high fibre plant foods – es-pecially: brown rice, carrots,

almonds and green tea.Jennifer Baer is a Naturopathic

Doctor and Digestive Health Ex-pert, in your neighbourhood. Additionally a trained chef and holistic nutritionist, Dr. Baer

sees diet and digestion as key cor-nerstones of long-term health promotion and disease preven-tion. For more information about her services, please visit: http://www.drjenniferbaer.com

ASK YOUR BLOORDALE NATUROPATHIC DOCTOR - DR. JENNIFER BAER

Dr. Jennifer Baer, Naturopathic Doctor.

HOW TO AVOID INJURY WHILE GARDENING THIS SPRING SEASONBY SONYA [email protected]

Dr. Sonya Hamilton, Chiropractor.

Sterling Rd. was the highlight of an industrial Jane’s Walk on May 1 and 3.

Dozens of people joined in the movement over the weekend that celebrates Jane Jacobs and gets communities connected and people exploring their city.

There were more than 100 walks hosted throughout the city and thousands throughout the world. This one was called “Intriguing, In-

dustrial, Sterling Road”.Walk leader Catto Houghton and

her mother Elise led the walk along Sterling Rd. in the Junction Tri-angle. This was both their first time being a walk leader, but wasn’t their first time participating in Jane’s Walk.

“Jane’s Walks are a great way to learn about areas of the city and certain things you haven’t thought about before,” said Houghton.

The walk featured the Nestlé chocolate factory, the Tower Auto-motive building and a flag factory. Participants also were able to get

interior tours of artists’ studios, in-cluding a woodworking shop and a glass blowing studio.

While the walk was based on the area’s history, Houghton says it’s not like she is giving a speech to people.

“It’s a conversation as opposed to me pontificating about something or doing a lecture. If there are things I don’t know I’m very happy to ad-mit that and have people chime in,” said Houghton.

This was the first Jane’s Walk that Sarah Brigel participated in. She learned about Jane’s Walk in a class she attended at Ryerson University.

“It’s an important part of being part of a community and having that kind of neighbourhood stew-ardship when you learn about the things that built your surround-ings,” said Brigel.

Brigel who is originally from British Columbia but moved to the Junction area said she wanted to attend as many of the walks as she could this past weekend.

Peter Hrycajkiw also attended the walk. This however was not his first, as he has attended multiple Jane’s Walks last year.

“I like to explore the city. I like

finding nooks and crannies. This one definitely has it … It’s like see-ing a place I’d never seen before,” he said.

Hrycajkiw, who is from the Bathurst Street and Lawrence Av-enue area, said he chose this walk because it was one of the first ones, and that he also ran here to make it in time.

“There is also a social element. I can find a book on Toronto, but I don’t get to meet other enthusiasts,” said Hrycajkiw. “It’s a social element and it’s fun to see other enthusiasts, other Torontonians.”

Jane’s Walk Coverage

INTRIGUING, INDUSTRIAL STERLING ROADBY JESSICA [email protected]

10 The Bloordale Times May 2015

The streets of Bloordale were alive with explora-tion and pedestrians on the second Jane’s Walk.

Jane’s Walk, an annual celebration of community inspired by late author and urban planner Jane Ja-cobs, toured the neighbourhood and some of its underground treasures.

Banafsheh Zia led the walk on Bloor St. and not-ed that research was an important part of learning about the area.

“I discovered that a lot takes place in Bloordale, but it happens under the surface and in the back-ground,” Zia said.

The interactive walk began at Dufferin Station and made several stops including the Toronto School of Arts, Intergalactic Travel Authority, a volunteer-based coffee shop and non-profit literacy advocate group, and a music therapy centre where walkers had a chance to stop, sing and make music.

The tour also explored businesses such as the Kind Exchange clothing store that buys and sells clothing while working with charities, and Through Being Cool, a local bakery that specializes in vegan foods.

Kate Watanabe, Toronto programming and events coordinator of Jane’s Walk, noted the growth of business in Bloordale in addition to the nearby GO station under construction east of Dundas and Bloor streets will make a big impact in the neigh-bourhood.

“If that becomes an actual mobility hub … I think that Bloordale is poised to be a second busi-ness district,” she said.

Bloordale has dramatically transformed in the past several years from a dangerous, drug-filled area to a community thriving with local commerce.

A third Jane’s Walk through Bloordale took place May 3, which was the last day of Jane’s Walk.

This year a record-breaking 160 cities participat-ed in the organization’s walking tours.

BLOORDALE’S JANE’S WALK:

WALK HEREBY BRITNEI [email protected]

DIAMONDS AREN’T FOREVER

Vic Gedris gets ready to make his opening speech to commence the Jane’s Walk as members of the Dav-enport community start to gather in Erwin Krickhahn Park.

Sunday’s walk was the second Jane’s Walk that Gedris has led.

“I was kind of trying to think of something to do for Jane’s Walk this year and then this whole Daven-port Diamond bridge came up and I thought, ‘Well that’s kind of the per-fect thing to do a Jane’s Walk about,’” he said.

Metrolinx is studying options to build an overpass from Bloor Street West to Davenport Road that would separate GO tracks from CP tracks.

That would decrease the waiting times of freight and passenger trains and would ultimately eliminate the Davenport Diamond.

“No matter how they do it, it’ll have a major impact on the com-munity and I thought it’d be a really great chance for people in the neigh-borhood’s around it to get together and walk the route together and just have a discussion about what’s going to happen,” said Gedris.

“I think it’s going to be a very

rushed process, it’s going to happen very quickly and I hope the com-munity gets involved right from the get-go and stays involved,” he said.

From the very first stopping point residents had questions that weighed the pros and cons regard-ing the overpass.

The possible benefits involve quicker commute times and expan-sion of public spaces. The possible downfalls listed by residents at the beginning of the walk involved noise, lack of privacy, safety, higher real-estate prices and environmental and visual impacts on the commu-nity.

Manuel Pedrosa, a spokes-person for Metrolinx, said planning for this project be-gan in 2009, where five op-tions were discussed.

“The preferred option (of the overpass) came about based on a criteria of miti-gating community impact, mitigating construction im-pact, reviewing the oppor-tunities for the community that can be created by the

infrastructure, and of course a cost benefit analysis, and our study re-vealed that going over was the best preferred option,” said Pedrosa.

During the discussion it was stat-ed by Pedrosa that Metrolinx plans to install two tracks which shouldn’t take up too much of the allotted space, considering there is enough to fit three to four tracks.

Residents then began to question the environmental impact this proj-ect will have.

While standing at Campbell Av-enue Park residents pointed out that the trees located close to the fence

where the overpass will go, will most likely be cut down for safety reasons.

Pedrosa said an arborist would be brought in to measure the cir-cumference around the trees and determine if they would need to be removed.

Another issue that was raised was although the goal is to have the GO trains electrified there is no guar-antee on when that would happen. Until then they would run on diesel fuel.

“I think there’s a lot of questions that we need answers for,” said com-munity member and NDP MP An-drew Cash, who attended the walk.

“Am I happy with the idea of a big bridge in the middle of the commu-nity? No, I’m not,” he said. “But I tell you what, I’m going to be even less happy if this community doesn’t see some real tangible and significant benefit here.”

A group of 36 residents were se-lected at random to be a part of the Residents’ Reference Panel to repre-sent the community when discuss-ing the overpass. Their first meeting was held on April 25.

On May 12 Metrolinx will hold another meeting for residents to take part in.

“Our environmental assessment is scheduled to begin at the end of the summer, early fall and it’s a six month process,” said Pedrosa.

“Once we finish the environmen-tal assessment, assuming we get ap-proval, we’ll begin detailed design which should take about another year, and after that we would pro-cure to begin construction so realis-tically we’d probably be in construc-tion sometime in 2017 to 2018,” he said.

BY NATALIA [email protected]

“I think it’s going to be a rushed process, it’s going to happen very

quickly and I hope the community gets involved right from the get go.”

Vic GedrisCommunity Activist

Earlier this month, Canadians across the country were transfixed as Albertans went to the polls. Jim Prentice’s Progressive Conserva-tives, with history on their side, sought their thirteenth consecu-tive mandate.

What actually happened was nothing short of a political revolu-tion.

Voters decided to make history by electing Rachel Notley’s New Democrats to a majority in the Legislature, Alberta’s first progres-sive government in 80 years.

Canadians are not a revolution-ary people. The independence of our nation from Westminster came slowly and gradually, over more than a century.

But over the past several years, voters across the country have left pollsters scratching their heads, es-chewing conventional wisdom in favour of electoral results well con-trary to the predictions of experts.

In 2011, the NDP under Jack Layton swept Quebec, and in do-ing so vaulted over the Liberals to become the Official Opposition. In 2013, poll after poll predicted the BC NDP under Adrian Dix

securing a crushing victory over Christy Clark and the incumbent BC Liberals; on election day, she

ended up finishing five points and fifteen seats ahead.

One year ago, and closer to home, a tired Liberal Party at Queen’s Park looked like it was destined for opposition; Kathleen Wynne managed to secure her first majority and become the first out gay Premier in Canadian history.

So what do these campaigns all have in common?

I have been a New Democrat for many years, and have worked on multiple campaigns across the country, including here in Dav-enport. Through my work, I’ve witnessed the power of careful, methodical organizing around important issues that people care about.

But none of this matters without a good narrative. This is precisely what Ms. Notley and her team un-derstood.

To say that people in Alberta were ready for change would be an understatement; any healthy democracy includes a competitive political arena. But in the face of a four-decade dynasty, orchestrating an upset would require both luck and skill. Thankfully for Ms. Not-ley and the NDP, she had both in

spades.The opportunity presented itself

with Mr. Prentice’s brutal budget, spurred on by soft energy prices, which cut services and increased taxes and fees on working people at the same time as it spared large enterprises from sharing the bur-den. In addition, orchestrating the floor-crossing of Danielle Smith and eight of her Wildrose Party colleagues was seen as a cynical move. Finally, when pressed about his bad-news budget, Mr. Prentice faulted Albertans themselves, say-ing they should “look in the mir-ror” when assigning blame.

Ms. Notley’s strategy revolved around a very simple message: the Tories think they’re entitled to your vote, but New Democrats have an alternative, solid, and pragmatic vision for how Govern-ment should be run. And in spite of running a campaign with a dras-tic lack of volunteers, money or political infrastructure, it worked brilliantly.

I will make no claims as to how Ms. Notley’s premiership will pro-ceed; her legacy is yet to be written. But it’s clear that her victory was made possible by telling a cred-ible story in which voters could see themselves reflected.

(To be fair, Mr. Prentice also

told a story: that his Government deserved to be re-elected because he was entitled to it by divine right. Perhaps unsurprisingly, voters dis-agreed.)

Andrea Reimer, a city councillor in Vancouver, once told me that storytelling is the most powerful tool in human history, and on this I am inclined to agree wholeheart-

edly. Without being able to craft a story – and tell it in a way that people can relate to it – no political movement can expect to succeed.

So the next time a political hopeful comes to your doorstep, ask them to tell you the story of why they’re there. Their answer will likely tell you everything you’ll need to know.

11

Op Ed ~ Feature


OPINION KUSHNIR: GOOD POLITICS REQUIRES GOOD STORYTELLERSBY MICHEAL [email protected]

Michael Kushnir: Community Engagement Specialist

FILM MAKER GIVES NOD TO GEORGE MILLER’S MAD MAX REBOOT

When the first Mad Max came out in 1979, Mel Gibson was an up and coming actor with only one feature under his belt, and George Miller was an unknown name in the industry. The mov-ie, set in a post-apocalyptic Aus-tralia where the world was re-duced to a desert and the society was formed of motor gangs and outlaws, was made with a micro-budget and quickly became a huge success that spawned two sequels and an entire multime-dia franchise of films, books, comics and videogames. The film’s brutal portrayal of hu-man nature and the survival instinct, stunning visual style of a nightmarish world of sun, sand, leather, metal and blood; and appropriately violent ac-tion scenes that usually revolve

around car chases quickly be-came iconic. With its questions of what makes us human, what forms a society, and how can we

hold on to values like friendship, love and family in a world filled with people reduced to animals killing each other for food, water and gas; the movie served as a thought provoker as much as en-tertainment, and achieved a cult following.

A sequel to Mad Max trilogy was in works since early 2000’s, where a number of production problems halted the project. It eventually became a reality a few years ago with Tom Hardy (Dark Knight Rises, Warrior) cast as the titular character. Although it reboots the franchise with three more movies slated to be re-leased in the next few years; the movie does not serve as a tradi-tional reboot. It tells a continued story in the same setting, send-ing nods to the events of the pre-

vious incarnation of the series, mainly Max’s backstory, and cre-ating a base for future stories.

Envisioned as a two hour long car chase, Mad Max: Fury Road tells the story of Max Rockatan-sky, an ex-cop on the run from a bloodthirsty gang that mo-nopolizes the sources of water. Max meets Furiosa (Charlize Theron) who is also on the run from the same gang; trying to escort a group of captive women, known as the Five Wives, to her homeland; the Green Place. Max and Furiosa will have to work to-gether against the gang and the dangers of the road to reach to an unknown safety, and form an unlikely friendship in the pro-cess.

The movie is shot mostly with old-school, practical effects; and it is very refreshing to see that the special effects are used here to enhance the experience and not to create it from scratch like

many lazy blockbuster movies do these days. There is an ex-hilarating feeling to seeing all the destroyed cars, flying metal, the gas and the fire, since your mind knows most of it is real. The production design and the cinematography are simply ex-cellent; the movie plays out as a brilliant piece of artwork from start to finish, and you can tell how much effort and care went into every single frame. The characters, the costumes and the set pieces are unique, memo-rable and disturbing, even for a Mad Max movie.

The “two hour car chase” ex-pression is by no means a stretch; since the movie barely ever drops the pace, and it is easy to feel the tension of the approaching danger even in the quiet, slow scenes. The adventure element is somewhat in the backseat, but this doesn’t mean that the action is mindless. On the contrary,

Fury Road manages to make you care for its characters; especially Charlize Theron’s Furiosa, who easily steals the movie from even Max, himself. However, it is safe to say that visual storytelling is the lead here, as George Mill-er shows the newbie directors how it’s done with nothing but a bunch of cables and a few gal-lons of gasoline.

In an age where we are all very tired of seeing remakes and ad-aptations, it was brilliant to see that the makers of Mad Max did not simply try to recreate the same movie. Instead, it is a pow-erful reimagining of the setting and the characters, and it doesn’t lean on your sense of nostalgia to succeed. It is exactly what it aims to be; a fast paced, soulful action movie in a strange and scary world with stunning visu-als. For summer action movie entertainment, it hardly ever gets any better than this.

BY ORHAN [email protected]

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the bloordale times vol. 3 issue 4 // may 2015

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