A crowd of a few hundred watching the game at Plaza Flamingo restaurant at College and Bathurst Street poured out onto the roadway after Spain’s goal in extra time against the Netherlands, pushing the team to a 1-0 victory.

“There is no sleeping tonight,” one teenaged boy yelled.

At least a thousand revelers of all ages and nationalities celebrated into the night, as the sound of cheers, car horns and the now-infamous vuvuzelas filled the air.

“Spain had the best team. We won and I am proud of my players. And the best part tonight is fiesta!” Maria Consuelo, of Puerto Rico, said.

About a dozen fans climbed atop a TTC streetcar which was forced to stop amid the pandemonium.

Not only was it Spain’s first-ever World Cup victory, it was the nation’s first appearance in the tournament’s title match.

“I cheer for Spain, not because I am Spanish, but because they are the best team,” fan Pablo Lorenzo said. “I do not know how to explain this to someone who is not a follower of the cup, because this feeling comes only from the football.”

Not only was the day a success for fans, but also for street vendors who capitalized on the intense pride that revelers displayed.

Souvenirs were readily available for purchase.

Sandy Leather, owner of Promotional Wear – a printing company – made 400 souvenir T-shirts as mementos of Spain’s victory which she sold out of the back of her van.

When asked what she would have done if the Netherlands had won she just smiled and said: “it’s a risk I was willing to take.”

The owners of TTB Trading CO. LTD Food Market & Hardware, located beside the Plaza Flamingo, supplied water for hot and thirsty fans partying outside the store. One owner said that he was selling water so quickly that he could hardly keep up.

Under the guidance of 22-year-old Toronto musician, teacher and entrepreneur Mitch Wong, students at De La Salle College, University of Toronto Schools and St. Clement’s School are learning how to jam.

Unlike traditional conservatory-based programs, which are based on composition and performance, Wong puts an emphasis on spontaneous collaboration, improvisation, and creative expression.

“Jamming is such a fun thing to do, it’s so easy to do,” Wong said. “Its just a matter of giving (students) a course, taking them by the hand and showing them how to do it, and then let them free – let them play!”

The three private school each ran distinct pilot versions of Wong’s Music As a Second Language class during the past academic year, allowing Wong to fine tune the program; he’s hoping to gauge the interest of larger, public school boards such as the TSDB.

The public board is no stranger to innovation. It currently boasts 19 alternative elementary schools and 22 alternative secondary schools, several of which have a focus on the arts.

UTS music teacher Ronald Royer said there’s “a real need” for more creativity in the music curriculum. He handed control of his music class over to Wong for one period a week during the spring term and said that there’s been a positive effect on each and every student’s performance.

But despite the promise, Royer notes that resources and funding for new pilot projects in the public sector are limited. “Getting them logistically to work it all out,” Royer said, “I think is the biggest hurdle.”

Offering the jamming classes to students in high school, Wong says, will hopefully inspire them to think the possibilities for making music differently.

“Jamming usually happens with a guitar, a bass, drums, maybe a piano…very rarely in that group will you see a saxophone player or a clarinet player.”

At De La Salle College, meanwhile, only three students were selected to take Wong’s program as an enrichment experience, and only two of them agreed to give it a shot.

Sixteen-year-olds Johnathan Chan and Alethea Song are already practising upwards of six-hours a week as part of their intensive musical regimes. Despite their rigorous training, they agree that the program offers them a new way experience music.

“Its different than just playing notes on a page,” Johnathan said.

Wong has also volunteered to teach the program on Saturday mornings at Regent Park School of Music but the school’s director, Richard Marsella, is hesitant to confirm the program will proceed.

The board of directors at RPMS has been unwilling to accept volunteer teaching staff, Marsella said, and is still finalizing the year’s budget.

“We value to work of our educators,” he said, “and we think it’s important to ensure a standard (by paying them.)…We work with volunteers in so many other ways, but we don’t encourage volunteer teaching.”

Marsella did say that he was thoroughly impressed by Wong’s program, and that “there’s a definite interest.”

In the meantime, Wong is planning to open a studio in midtown Toronto in September, where he can try out the teaching approach with members of the general public.

“This is the heart and soul of music,” he insists. “I would like to see this is wide spread as possible.”

To hear Mitch Wong’s thoughts on the program and the sound of a live lesson at De La Salle, listen to the audio clip below.

For further comments from the author, click here.

This year’s show runs for two weeks and is on now.

All photographs will be on sale to help raise much-needed funds for the club.

To take the pictures, students in the club used a digital single-lens reflex camera, owned by educational assistant Cristina Da Silva. The class broke into small groups, so while one group was using the camera, the other groups looked for things they would like to photograph.

The camera however, has since died, due to high usage at the hands of dozens of students.

Da Silva started the club three years ago as a way to provide an outlet for the non-athletes and non-musicians to express themselves through a different avenue.

“The main point of the photography club is to be able to teach them how to look through the lens with a different set of eyes,” Da Silva said. “It’s about changing their perspective on things and being able to tell a story.”

The program has since grown, based on high student interest. However, the club is grossly underfunded.

Da Silva runs the club with two other educational assistants, Christine Lombardi who supervises and Kevin Graham who oversees the technical work.

In its first year, students were asked to bring their own cameras.

“This is the third neediest area of Toronto,” said Graham. “The kids are coming in with these cameras that are 20 years old that you can’t buy film for anymore, or they are digital cameras that won’t even help them.”

Graham has introduced the students to photo editing this year by use of his personal laptop and a free downloadable program. The editing software cannot work on the school’s computers, which are too old.

To further engage the students while some are using the camera, the instructors use slideshows and props to get the students thinking about how they would like to photograph a subject and project meaning onto it.

In the club’s second year, they were able to purchase one DSLR with some of the profits from selling photographs and calendars, all of which normally goes back to the school.

The instructors hope that the club will get more funding soon so it can grow, and they can purchase more equipment. Lombardi is waiting to hear back from the government about an application for club funding.

“The bottom line is, if we don’t any equipment, we don’t have a program,” said Da Silva.

Now in its third year, the club is still rotating one camera between 30 students. Even so, the students have been able to produce exceptional work, by photographing simple objects such as crayons and mouse traps.

“I learned a lot because my teachers were really good with us. I want to be a photographer when I grow up,” said student Samantha B, who photographed a single domino standing in front of a set of falling dominoes, and titled it Stand Firm.

“It means don’t follow other people because you might end up falling behind. Just be yourself,” Samantha said.

At the show, three top prizes and notable mentions will be given for the best photographs, as judged by a panel of students and teachers.

First-place recipient Priscilla Y. will receive a point and shoot camera for her photo titled Defy the Odds which she felt was reminiscent of Haiti and presents the idea there’s always hope in the most dire of situations.

The instructors said the program enhances the students’ sociability, providing friendships to students who normally do not belong to a circle of friends, .

“They’re really proud of [their work]. They really want to showcase it,” Da Silva said.

“They get to go to the art gallery. They get to dress up and they get to show their work. That’s great for their self-esteem,” added Lombardi. “It’s beautiful.”

But they did for Shane Peacock, Canadian author of the beloved Boy Sherlock series, when he visited the Highland Creek Public Library.

The students of Morrish Public School and Cardinal Leger Catholic School met Peacock with laughter and enthusiasm.

“Do you like being told what to do?” Peacock asked his audience of 90 children. “That’s what happens when you watch TV or a movie.”

During his hour-long talk, Peacock explained the importance of reading, and how to make it more interesting.

“When you read the thing you’re into, you really get into it,” Peacock said.

He told the children about his journalism career. He covered sports for a paper but was bored by the routine and mundane stories that made it into the paper. He told the students that he began to read about something bizarre and interesting: sumo wrestling.

But just reading was not simply enough, Peacock said. He went to sumo wrestling events and met with the athletes. He learned about the traditions and the religious elements associated with the sport.

Watching the presentation, the students were engaged, intrigued and occasionally vocal. They laughed and at times expressed their opposition.

Linda Flavell, head librarian at the Highland Creek Public Library, organized the event.

She’d been surprised to get funding to host a guest author, she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I read the memo three times.”

Toronto Public Libraries often host guest authors, but smaller branches like Highland Creek rarely receive such opportunities.

Morrish and Cardinal Leger schools are both within walking distance of the library and were more than happy to participate in the event.

The students eagerly found any piece of paper available to mark the occasion with a signature and quick note from the author.

Provide better equipment for young hockey players….

Raise the temperature in the rinks to accommodate older fans….

Find new ways to sell the sport to new Canadians….

Scarborough residents had lots of suggestions for improving the state of hockey in Scarborough, the task force researching the problem heard at a meeting at the McGregor Park Recreation Centre on April 17.

The problem is that many of these suggestions may not feasible due to a lack of funding, say local officials.

“Some of them are pie-in-the-sky, but other pie-in-the-sky things in our lifetime have been realized,” said Margo Cowie, a hockey mom and member of the hockey task force created by Scarborough Community Council to investigate on the state of minor hockey in Scarborough.

Cowie believes addressing minor hockey is an urgent matter.

“If we don’t change the conversation soon I think what you’re going to see is the programs will fold, and once they fold it is so hard to start them back,” she said. “I think to rebuild them is a lot easier when they’re still there.”

Scarborough Hockey Association president John Kelloway also outlined his vision of hockey in Scarborough at the meeting:

“One house league with a strong select program, with a middle ground of what we call ‘minor development’ and one ‘A’ club representing Scarborough and if we do our job well enough, one ‘AA’ club,” he said.

“It would be dreamy to have a ‘AAA’ club but there are enough kids playing in the [Greater Toronto Hockey League] that could build that ‘AAA’ club in Scarborough.”

The SHA is feeling the effects of low enrolment and high costs for minor hockey in Scarborough, as the association spiraled into turmoil and eventually merged with the GTHL.

The meeting was co-chaired by Ward 37 councillor Michael Thompson and GTHL executive director Scott Oakman.

“What we are trying to do is research, fact-find and then sit down as a committee to assess the information that we’ve gathered from the public,” Thompson said. “Then to come up with some recommendations and refine those in such a way that we can attempt to meet our mandate.”

Thompson first brought this issue to the attention of Scarborough Community Council after finding it difficult to enroll his son in minor hockey.

The GTHL’s Oakman, who played his minor hockey in the SHA system, said that minor hockey in Scarborough has not changed with the times to accommodate shifting demographics. Oakman said that the SHA’s amalgamation into the GTHL has seen positive results so far.

“The sentimental side of me is sad to see the former structure change, but then the other side of it is that if we don’t change we’re going to get left behind,” said Oakman.

Thompson recognizes he has taken on a challenging cause.

“This is a very difficult job, actually,” he said. “It’s not easy because everyone has their own ideas and formulas to make hockey work. People are very passionate about their hockey so it’s exciting we are going to take on this challenge.”

The McGregor Park Recreation Centre will host another minor hockey summit on April 24.

On March 25 the government announced in its 2010 spring budget that it would phase out the Special Diet Allowance.

The Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program offered people such as Gonyo, who has a medically-certified health condition, up to $250 in monthly-income support to be used to buy healthy, nutritious foods.

Now, with the cuts, Gonyo has been left wondering where his next healthy meal will come from. “I need (the special diet) for more expensive foods and supplements. Without it, I mean, I’m definitely going be in a seriously bad way,” he said.

Gonyo has fibromyalgia, a muscular disorder that can be very painful, triggering bowel and abdominal abnormalities. Sufferers are also sensitive to chemicals and changes in the environment. Right now he lives in subsidized housing.

“It’s very stressful because I have all sorts of sensitivities. It’s not the place I want to be, but I can’t afford better and without (the special diet) it’s even more unthinkable to leave,” he said.

“I get $240 a month and if they take that from me I’ll be right back where I was 10 years ago and that’s just devastating.”

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) held a rally on April 19 demanding that the Ontario Liberals restore the Special Diet Allowance and increase social assistance rates by 40 per cent.

The move would bring welfare levels back to 1995 levels, when the Mike Harris government cut funding for social assistance programs by 22 per cent, and downloaded the bulk of social services on to the municipalities.

John Clarke, the president of OCAP, called the recent plan to strike the SDA “disgusting:

“This is a government that has claimed to represent something called poverty reduction and yet with the removal of the special diet (allowance) it has imposed a cut on people that is going to have the most incredible effect,” he said.

Shauna Lindzon, a registered dietitian, believes that if the allowance is taken away it may trigger high rates of malnutrition, and the diseases that follow.

“This population already has pre-existing medical conditions and not having the proper nutrition may compromise a healing immune system… It’s very important to get essential nutrients to stay healthy and to fight off disease,” she said.

Lisa Schofeild, 30, an eight-year OCAP veteran, does not want to see what will happen to people when the allowance stops coming in.

“What it’s going to mean, essentially, (is that) people are not going to be able to pay rent and buy food. Relying heavily on the food bank system we are going to see potentially mass evictions, the drop-ins are going to be full. We are going to see people getting sick really sick and that’s what worries me,” she said.

As for Gonyo, he will do his best to keep his life together but he won’t stop fighting for the help he needs.

“I’m really trapped, I just got to protest this,” he said.

The province has pledged to replace the program, but as of yet does not have an action plan.

The meeting, the second held by The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, drew a packed crowd inside the auditorium at Stephen Leacock Collegiate.

TTC users voiced concerns over buses and the behaviour of frontline workers.

Dave Witzel, 62, a retired Markham transit worker, called for garbage bins on buses to cut down on littering incidents.

“I had an incident the first time I rode the TTC. I gave the driver my transfer. The driver looked at it like I was a fool,” said Witzel who later threw his empty coffee cup and transfer on the floor when he left the bus. “If people are going to treat me like that and not have anywhere for me to put my garbage, then expect to find it on the floor.”

According to an electronic audience response system, 49 per cent of the audience were regular TTC users and the same amount took the TTC to the Sunday meeting. About 53 per cent of the audience said they saw cases of avoidable unsatisfactory customer service within the last two to three years.

The meeting did not settle the concerns of some audience members, who wanted more answers.

“Throughout this meeting your answers have been overtaking our questions,” said Ryan Endoh, a student with a prepared question about profane language. “We have one-minute questions and you’re giving us four to five minutes answers. That’s not fair.”

One panelist, Laverne Snagg, acknowledged the dissatisfaction among the audience and with commuters.

“Our major concern is about our customers and at the end of the day we want to get from point A safely and with as little drama as possible,” Snagg said.

Throughout the meeting, Kinnear and the panelists stressed many issues could be solved with an increase in funding but government would only do so if pressured by TTC users.

“Today was really a focus on funding and there are two sorts of questions, one which can be resolved internally and the second are matters like funding which are really fundamental to the operations,” said Giambrone after the meeting.

Giambrone was not a favourite among the audience. The meeting’s loudest applause came after Mai Cheng, a 72-year-old TTC rider challenged Giambrone’s position.

“He should be fired right away, on the spot,” Cheng said.

The third town hall meeting is scheduled for May 2 at Ryerson University.

Reactions following the TTC town hall meeting:

Stephen Lewis whetted University of Toronto students’ political appetites Wednesday evening by urging them to get involved in the fight to cut cancer diagnoses in half by 2015.

The U of T was the last stop on a university tour across Ontario, given by the “People vs. Cancer” for the Campaign to Control Cancer. Lewis is a founding member.

He challenged students in the audience to begin their own conversations about curing cancer within their disciplines, in coffee shops and meetings with MPPs and city councillors.

“It’s worth saturating the prime minister’s office and the minister of health,” Lewis said. “If the universities could give leadership, then politicians might act. This is a cause who’s time has come.”

As the director of the Stephen Lewis Foundation and former UN special envoy for HIV and AIDS in Africa, Lewis has experience in raising public awareness on health.

He told a full house at the U of T Medical Sciences building that preventative measures could cut cancer in half within a generation. He said changing personal habits, such as smoking and drinking alcohol, will decrease chances of contracting the disease.

“It’s not just about the fundraising, the research and the cure,” Lewis said. “It’s placing non-communicable diseases, of which cancer is a part, at the centre of the global health edifice.”

The “People vs. Cancer” tour began with an informal conversation in Ottawa last September.

Pat Kelly, CEO of the Campaign to Control Cancer, told U of T students that she and Lewis were astonished that one in three Canadians will face a cancer diagnosis in a lifetime.

“We know how to control cancer, and have known for years, but we need to mobilize,” Kelly said.

In order to galvanize student interest, Lewis and Kelly looked to Barack Obama’s 2008 Iowa caucus, which drew strong support for his presidential campaign.

“Stephen (Lewis) said, ‘You are on the verge of an amazing world-wide campaign to control cancer. What’s missing is leadership: moving knowledge into action…and engaging a new generation of people,’” Kelly recalled.

Later this year, the Campaign to Control Cancer will draft a report of their findings, based on people’s ideas and tips from their own conversations, and turn it over to Parliament Hill.

Lewis wants to see non-communicable diseases on the agenda during the G8 and G20 Summits, which roll into town this summer.

For Sarah Collier, an epidemiology student at U of T who attended the talk, Lewis’ plea struck a chord.

“Tonight I’ll be thinking about where I sit politically and what I can do to move the agenda forward,” Collier said. “Sometimes we sit back and let politicians make the decisions. I am challenged to challenge politicians.”

Special exhibits were decorated with Easter eggs created by volunteers and students. The environmentally and health-friendly papier-mâché eggs were made of brown paper bag, whole wheat flour, water, non-toxic paint and were stuffed with nutritious treats to provide enrichment for the animals.

Animal feedings and zoo talks enhanced the event. Special displays included polar bears in the new Tundra Trek and Nassir, the zoo’s newest addition to the gorilla family.

The Spring Fever! display, one of three exhibits run SAC this year, showcased 40 mixed media, season-themed, pieces from 27 recruits.

“Visitors love the show,” SAC office coordinator Susan Dimitrakopoulos said. “We have such a variety of work, and people are very inspired by it. We have a lot of great submissions.”

The walls of the quaint, four-room gallery were brought to life by beautifully crafted images representing the splendor of springtime.

Artist Mary Lee Chisholm, submitted two mixed media pieces for the Spring Fever! exhibition. Both works were done in her forte, Bunka Shi-shu, which is Japanese punch embroidery. Chisholm is a certified master instructor of the art, and teaches classes at the Port Union Community Centre on Lawrence Avenue East and out of her home.

“Depending on the image, [Bunka] can take anywhere from 50 up to 300 hours to complete,” Chisholm said. “Usually [the art submissions] are already done. I didn’t just stitch them for this, because I couldn’t get them done that quickly.”

The pieces she submitted were completed in 1992 and 1995.

“The SAC treats their members well,” said Tharmila Rajasingam, arts management specialist. “One of the best benefits of a membership is access to exhibition space at Agincourt or Cliffcrest Library, or Bluffs Gallery. For an aspiring artist, that’s a big deal.”

The SAC also offers two workshops to Scarborough residents: Professional Practice Techniques and Photography Basics. They aim to provide the community with the tools and techniques necessary to improve their artistic skills.

The SAC’s annual event, Art in the Park, a one-day only outdoor art show and sale, is scheduled for July 17. They are currently calling for artist submissions from the community. The deadline is May 21.

A 1.5 per cent funding increase means the hospital will not be following through with the 14 layoffs announced in February, said David Brazeau, Rouge Valley Health System’s director of public affairs.

“We’re not looking at any service cuts as a result of the budget,” Brazeau said.

In February, the East Toronto Observer reported that because of a 2008 deficit elimination plan, Scarborough’s cuts would include lab technicians, mental health workers and histologists.

“Because of the success of that plan in lowering our costs and focusing our resources on quality patient care, we’re in a better position to take on the effects of the recession,” Brazeau said.

Brazeau also said the cuts that were made have not affected the hospital services but rather focused more on improving quality of care.

“It’s still tight, it doesn’t mean we’re going to be able to do anything extra with it,” Brazeau said. “In fact, it still means we have to become more efficient as a hospital with the funding we receive.”

Brazeau explained that the overall budget for RVHS is almost $300 million, and that the increase will not necessarily bring new services to the hospital.

“It isn’t extra money at all but we’ll be able to maintain the services we have to,” Brazeau said.

As for the provinces, population continues to age and inflated costs rise in hospitals that will need even more funding.

“Because we’ve been able to eliminate our deficit in the last two years, that has put us in a better position so that we can get by on the 1.5 increase that the government has proposed,” Brazeau said.

“The number of people in high-priority neighbourhoods without cars is much higher than other parts of the city,” he said. “And there’s often many seniors and people who are already dealing with multiple challenges in priority neighbourhoods.”

He was responding to a preliminary report on Toronto’s first food strategy released in February by the public health department. The study aims to integrate food security into the city’s broader agenda — linking public transit to grocery stores, building community centres with gardens and kitchens, and educating residents about healthy eating.

Last month Dorfman spoke with a group of seniors in Malvern about where they go to get groceries. Those living in the heart of Malvern told him they just walked to the local Food Basics.

But residents who don’t live near it had to rely on their children to take them shopping, Dorfman said.

“That’s okay. But what do you do if you don’t have kids or your kids don’t have a car?”

Solutions

One of the solutions identified in the city’s strategy is to encourage more food stores along transit lines, which means integrating food security into urban planning.

“We’re increasingly trying to organize the city around transit,” Dorfman said. “And we’re looking to intensify development — to stop sprawl. When there’s new growth, we should be thinking about access to food.”

The plan also looks to encourage the growth of food markets around the city. Montreal has food stands selling fresh produce outside a number of its subway stations, a system Toronto can implement as well, Dorfman said.

The city is also looking to introduce food trucks that go around neighbourhoods selling fresh produce.

The Good Food Box, a program that provides fresh fruits and vegetables to residents at a subsidized cost, began 16 years ago as a way to address Toronto’s food security gap.

“The program feels pretty permanent to us,” said Paul DeCampo, Good Food program manager. “It’s something that’s grown exponentially.”

Today, they distribute 5,000 boxes a month through 200 neighbourhood drop-off centres.

City planning: food first

“The food strategy is a significant moment because it’s encouraging the city to be thinking food first,” said Angela Elzinga Cheng of Toronto Food Animators, a group that works with local agencies and residents in Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods to start food projects, like community gardens, kitchens and markets.

The group worked with residents at Gordonridge Place, a Toronto Community Housing residence in Scarborough, to set up a community garden.

They started with 12 plots three years ago and expanded to 32 due to high demand, said resident and community activist Len Mirander. There are currently 15 people on the waiting list.

While the project at Gordonridge Place has been successful, Mirander said he thinks the food strategy shouldn’t target one demographic of Toronto society.

“They’re talking about low-income [communities], but what about the middle class and the upper class?” he said. “If we’re going to make this work in Toronto, there can be absolutely no exclusion. It’s for everybody to partake and work together.”

But the main barrier to healthy food is one the city cannot solve, DeCampo said. The provincial and federal government control the tax system, which “really are the instruments that would lead to more equitable distribution of wealth,” he said.

Building communities

People benefit from fresh food in more ways than one. Activists say it’s also about empowering residents and fostering vibrant communities.

Good Food boxes aren’t delivered directly to people’s homes but through community centres.

“That way we are bringing community together around food,” DeCampo said. “So people will start to recognize the various resources that already exist in their community and learn how to use them more efficiently.”

Mirander said the garden at Gordonridge Place has fostered a sense of community that they didn’t have three years ago.

“We have people from about 15 different countries gardening,” he said. “You get to know your neighborhood. It builds relationships. It builds participation.”

Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced Thursday that provincial government plans to spend $310 million to add space for 20,000 new students into the post-secondary school system.

Duncan also announced the province will continue its Second Career program, which provides financial assistance for recently laid-off workers to train in college, with some $600 million to be set aside to add 30,000 Second Career students over two years.

Duncan said in addition to the government’s plan to accommodate more students in Ontario, they’re providing 50 per cent more space for international students as well.

“I just think this is just very good public policy to help sustain our post-secondary system,” he said. “It will create real opportunity, I think, for universities and colleges.”

The provincial budget was met with a positive reception from student unions. National Executive Representative Hamid Osman says the budget was a victory for college and university students.

“The Canadian Federation of Students is pleased with the McGuinty government listening to the students by having more spaces for students,” he said. But, Osman said, the province needs a framework for tuition fees.

College Student Association president, Justin Fox, said he’s pleased the government is allocating money for colleges.

“The fact that post-secondary education is top priority once again with this government is just outstanding,” Fox said. “I think it’s very exciting for college students.”

However, not everyone was happy with the 2010 budget plan for Ontario. Progressive Conservative MPP for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, Bill Murdoch, says the provincial plan for education is a lost cause.

“They talk about education for all these new students and we don’t know where they’re going to go,” Murdoch said. “I’ve been here 20 years and never heard a worse budget in my life.”

Progressive Conservative Leader, Tim Hudak was critical of the Liberals’ attempt to offset the impact of the recession.

“Today, Dalton McGuinty had the opportunity to show the bold leadership Ontario desperately needs and he failed to deliver,” Hudak said. “Ontario has higher unemployment than bankrupt Greece.”

Duncan also announced plans to freeze wages for civil service workers in the province. Ontario’s deficit is now projected at $19.7 billion for the end of 2011, down from $21.3 billion last October.

This is not an isolated situation. Throughout Scarborough many apartment buildings have multiple unsolved standard-of-living complaints.

“Residents shouldn’t have to put up with this nonsense,” said Ward 44 councillor Ron Moeser.  “People should be able to live in comfort and have their issues addressed as soon as possible.”

According to Moeser, the problem is due to a lack of appropriate legislation and the power of landlords to deny city by-law inspectors entry.  The city is forced to take property owners to court, which can take years and keep tenants living in impoverished and sometimes dangerous conditions.

“It breaks my heart when we can’t do our job, it’s extremely frustrating,” Moeser said.  “By-law officers have to tell property managers that they don’t have to let them in, even after we receive complaints.”

Angelo Swampillai, property manager at 205 Morningside Ave., said they are doing the best they can with their budget to fix the building.  He says they deal with the serious safety complaints first and claims the city doesn’t do much of a job of enforcement.

“City inspectors show up maybe once in a blue moon,” Swampillai said.  “They just give an extension anyway — safety issues are the only thing they really care about.”

Moeser says the landlords are simply taking advantage of a flawed system and doing all they can to avoid and prolong dealing with complaints.

“These guys know how to use the courts,” Moeser said. “Even if we are victorious the courts just give them a slap on the wrist anyway,”

He said new legislation is needed from the province to really solve the problem.

“We need to be able to give them a fine right away if they don’t comply with our orders — and a significant fine that will hit them where it hurts.”

Mike Halliday, a tenant at 207 Morningside Ave., agrees the city needs to step in and make sure landlords live up to their responsibilities.

“My girlfriend gets shocked every time she touches her stove,” Halliday said.  “They keep saying they are going to fix it and never get around to it.”

Vincent Simon, who has lived in the same building as Halliday for 30 years, said the building could use some work but has improved drastically since a new more responsible owner has taken over.

“It used to be horrible, full of cockroaches and falling apart,” Simon said.  “This new owner is trying to fix things up.  Violence and graffiti have almost completely disappeared, and they put in new windows and balconies.”

Last month, The Observer reported a few SHA teams might be forced to merge with the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

After issuing a newsletter, it is official.

Next season nine Scarborough teams will find themselves trying out for the GTHL in April.

“You’re looking at about 150 kids [affected],” said Ed Wahl, who takes over as SHA president next season.

Wahl said that the change was bound to happen.

“We’ve been draining the system for the last 10 years,” Wahl said. We have virtually no hockey players left.”

Since the 1970s, enrolment has dropped from over 10,000 to under 1,000. Much of the problem has to do with the changing demographic in Scarborough. According to a 2006 survey, 57 per cent of Scarborough residents were foreign born. Wahl said first- and second-generation immigrants are more engaged with sports from their ancestry than with Canadian hockey.

“Everyone keeps saying that new Canadians will play,” Wahl said. “They will once they grow up and have their own kids, and they’ve grown up with the game.”

In addition to sending teams from the community-based SHA to the much broader Greater Toronto system, the SHA has created a minor development (MD) league to continue facilitating competitive hockey. The MD league is intended to house players who are looking for competition, but are not yet ready financially, or skill-wise, to play in the GTHL’s “A” Division.

“It’s basically a bridge from house league to competitive,” Wahl said. “They will get their two games a week, they will have their contact hockey. The only thing they do lose is tryouts.”

Instead of tryouts, the MD league will host preseason skates in September. Wahl said that assigning individuals to teams, similar to house league, will ensure that the league is competitive. In recent years, each division has had a team that struggled to win a single game during the regular season.

“You want kids coming to the game not knowing if they are going to win or lose,” Wahl said.

Players are not the only ones being shifted around. Coaches too will be forced to adapt to the changing structure.

“Our hopes are that all the coaches that are being displaced, the majority of them will step up and want to help in the MD program,” Wahl said.

“I may be old fashioned, but my thoughts are that it shouldn’t really matter who you’re coaching, it should be to help kids in general,” he added.

Wahl said that despite closing down its most competitive league, the SHA would not be folding entirely.

“We’re hoping we can make this grow into something that the SHA used to be, and that was a viable option [compared with] the ‘A’ Division in the GTHL,” Wahl said. “We’re not closing our doors, we’re trying to reinvent ourselves under the circumstances.”

Costs to play in the SHA are roughly $900, as compared to Scarborough teams moving to the GTHL, where costs will be about $1,200.

The SHA was created in 1956.

Kids around the area made the most of their March Break last week. One of the most popular destinations was the Toronto Zoo. Jim Parker also performed folk music for kids at the Malvern Public Library.

This has been made possible by the zoo joining the Toronto Public Library’s Sun Life Financial Museum + Arts Pass program.

The program serves 32 branches in the city’s priority neighborhoods, including Malvern and the Kingston/Galloway and Orton Park community.

Each pass grants free access for two adults and two children to the Toronto Zoo and can be borrowed from the library using an adult library card.

Because of their passion for reading, one of the first things the Teshaev family did when they arrived in Canada was get a library card.

Zafar Teshaev moved to Toronto from Tajikistan with his wife and three children last July.

Teshaev said he is thankful the library has given his children opportunities to visit interesting places in Toronto.

“We still need to complete our roaming of the Royal Ontario Museum,” he said. “Thanks to the passes, we’ve gone a few times but we still haven’t seen everything.”

The program also offers admission to Toronto attractions including the Art Gallery of Ontario, Black Creek Pioneer Village and Casa Loma.

The Toronto Zoo will join this lineup this coming weekend.

“The 32 branches serve priority neighborhoods where people otherwise might not have the opportunity to visit institutions like this,“ said Jane Pyper, city librarian.

Since its launch in 2007, the program has grown in popularity. Nearly 10, 000 passes are borrowed every month.

“I’ve had a number of families come to me and tell me how much they’ve enjoyed using the MAP program,” said councillor Paul Ainslie, whose ward includes the priority area of Kingston/Galloway and Orton Park.

He said he enjoys the Toronto Public Library because it is one of the best community resources in Canada.

Some program passes are offered at all 99 of the Toronto Public Library branches.

Teshaev said he is waiting for the summer weather to take his family to the zoo.

“Target number one is the Toronto Zoo,” Teshaev said.

The Leasing Inquiry, established in 2002 by Toronto City Council, suggested an improper financial relationship between former city councillor Tom Jakobek and MFP Financial Services salesman Dash Domi.

The inquiry report showed that Domi withdrew $25, 000 from his bank account on Nov. 1, 1999. Two days later, Jakobek made a payment of $21,000 using his credit card.

Dash testified that the $25,000 withdrawal was used for a birthday gift for his brother, Tie Domi, former Toronto Maple Leafs player. Jakobek testified the $21, 000 payment came from his father-in-law, former Metro Toronto councillor Ken Morrish, to help pay for a family trip to Disney World.

Jakobek said now that the scandal is over, he has nothing else to say about it.

“I’m not an open target,” he said. “People made an accusation that was really bad, and the police have said there was no evidence to support it. So what more am I supposed to say?”

Jakobek, who retired from politics in 2000, claims the scandal ruined his chances of becoming mayor of Toronto.

But he has remained a community leader in West Hill.

Jakobek is currently the landlord of the Highland Creek Plaza, among other areas.

“I don’t live here, but I have a business here,” he said. “Because of the business I have here, I participate. Why do I participate? Because I’m a community leader.”

Jakobek said he has done several good deeds in the community, such as holding an annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony, cleaning up walls vandalized with graffiti, funding an annual heritage parade and sponsoring local hockey and baseball teams.

Tenants and workers at the plaza say he is an important asset to the community, despite what has been said about him in the media.

“For us, it’s what Tom does for this plaza,” said Aliscia Razack, a worker at Benjamin Moore in the plaza. “We don’t care about his personal life. The tenants are happy here in the plaza, so we don’t care about anything else.”

Although community members praise Jakobek as a landlord and leader, he is aware of those who aren’t his biggest fan.

“If you hang out here long enough, you’ll probably find someone who doesn’t like me. But those are the people who are all over the place,” he said.

Now that the scandal has ended, he is hoping for an optimistic future, Jakobek said.

“I understand politics well enough to know that people do what they do, and I can’t do anything about it other than state my position and hope that eventually enough people will understand.”

“You wouldn’t believe how many youths are playing here until midnight,” said Morris Joseph, manager of the Canadian Cricket Academy.

Joseph opened the academy doors last year and has drawn youths and teenagers who have nowhere else to learn the game of cricket. In Malvern, there are virtually no cricket pitches, and the academy is the first and only to be built to International Cricket Council standards.
At the academy, cricket has become more than just another sport to youth in the community.

“I look at how many kids were in trouble, and now they’re not leaving this place,” Joseph said. “And they stay afterward. They hang and talk about cricket.”

There is no shortage of talent or dedication to the sport locally. The academy is consistently filled with practising cricketers. A number of clubs exist in Scarborough, including the Malvern and Victoria Park cricket clubs who practise out of Joseph’s academy. Unfortunately, it’s not easy for the clubs to get residents engaged in a sport with practically no funding, and minimal space to play.

“The city spends all kinds of money on correctional services, when they could spend it on this for kids,” Joseph said.

Ronald Silva, a rugby player who uses cricket to stay fit, said money provided by the cricket council and the government is being mismanaged. The Canadian Cricket Academy is funded privately.
“Funds are coming in, but we don’t know where they’re going,” Silva said. “The city has to take responsibility.”

The level of promotion for cricket in Toronto, or Canada for that matter is laughable, Silva said.  To discuss the matter further, Ward 42 councillor Raymond Cho was unavailable for comment.

Cricketer Mustafa Qamar said not only is there a lack of pitches, but the pitches that are available are in a terrible state. The pitch he plays at is constantly abused and ruined by people playing other sports, like golf.

“If you try to run on the ground you could twist your ankle,” Qamar said. He added that cricket pitches in Toronto are often found in undesirable locations, such as in hydro fields under power lines.

Former Canadian national cricketer Balaji Rao has seen firsthand the rise in popularity of the game in Scarborough, but he agreed that supply is not close to meeting demand.

“Cricket is a religion back home,” said Rao of his native India. “I came seven years back, and there has been a huge difference because of immigration, but we have a long way to go.”

The forum, hosted by the Toronto Board of Health, filled council chambers to near capacity. The vast majority of those in attendance opposed the use of diesel-powered locomotives for expansion, preferring electric-powered trains instead.

Gary McNeil, the executive vice-president of Metrolinx, began the forum by making the case for diesel. He talked about tier-4 diesel technology, a new kind of technology that aims to eliminate many of the pollution concerns that come with diesel.

“We are moving forward with tier-4 technology, which actually will deal with a lot of the air-quality issues,” McNeil said.

McNeil also stated that electrification would be a very expensive proposition. Metrolinx is currently undertaking a study to examine all the aspects associated with electrification. McNeil said the study would be complete by the end of 2010.

Dr. David McKeown, the Toronto Medical Officer of Health, voiced the concerns of many in attendance when he made the case for electrification.

“Electric trains are desirable from a public health perspective because they don’t produce direct air pollution emissions,” McKeown said.

“We’re all in favour of a better public transit system and for this, everybody is on board. But no one should be asked to trade public health for public transit,” McKeown said to heavy applause.

Following McKeown’s statement, the forum turned to the audience for questions. With activist groups such as the Clean Train Coalition (CTC) out in full force, the event quickly became a free-for-all opportunity to air environmental grievances to McNeil.

Metrolinx’s forthcoming study on electrification proved to be a point of contention for those in attendance.

Many expressed anger that Metrolinx planned to go forward with diesel-powered trains when the study had not yet been completed. Others saw the study as a delaying tactic. McNeil preemptively addressed those concerns early in the night.

“Some people have said that that electrification study was just a delay process but actually it’s a very serious study that Metrolinx and GO Transit is making. If there is justification for electrification, we want a solid, solid business case,” McNeil said, “because it is a billion-dollar decision.”

Towards the end of the discussion, Barry Lipton, vice-chair of the activist group Community Air, summed up the general tone of the forum when he praised Vancouver’s electric-train system and lamented Toronto’s diesel-trains.

“That’s going to be the welcome to the Pan-Am games in Toronto. Welcome to the last century,” Lipton said.

Blessed Mother Teresa was one of five Catholic high schools in Toronto that hosted the Seventh Annual Northern Spirit Games this past week. Students from nearly 50 elementary schools took part in the games which focused on understanding traditional aboriginal culture through teamwork and sport.

Based on the Arctic Games, which first became popular in the 1970s, the Spirit Games allowed elementary school students from across the city to take part in traditional native activities, as an extension of their native studies classes.

“(Participating in the games) makes learning come alive and makes it jump from the book,” John Somosi, a presenter at the games said. “It gives them a physical experience that they’ll remember.”

Brian Armstrong, games coordinator and a former elementary school teacher, agrees the games are a great way to learn through having fun and being physically active.

“Yes, there is a time for the theory part,” he said. “But if you actually physically take part in something and if you are active in something then the retention level really increases.”

Somosi and partner Kathryn Edgecombe are both of Metis descent and performed traditional native songs for the children during the opening ceremonies.

They taught the students how to use hand drums and encouraged them to sing and dance.

“It just lets them have fun because everyone likes to sing, or at least perform,” Somosi said.

The students also took part in 10 different games including kickball, a snow shoe race and a spear throwing contest. For safety’s sake, however, the children played with foam spears.

Another important component to the games was the interaction between the elementary school students and the high school students that volunteered to help out.

The older students were given the opportunity to perform leadership roles and the younger children got to know the students and teachers from the high school they may one day attend.

While there were many components of the games, the main goal for everyone involved was having fun.

Somosi said that although he wants to break down barriers of racism and teach the children about aboriginal culture, seeing the children enjoy themselves is a reward in itself.

“It’ s been a huge honour to be a part of this and it’s a real beautiful thing,” he said. “You’ll see the kids throughout the day have these huge smiles on their faces and it’s just fun to be part of it.”

The bill would make the TTC an essential service and make future strikes illegal, preventing TTC workers from walking off their job as they did in 2008.

City council debated this issue two years ago. In October 2008, councillors decided by a vote of 23–22 not to ask the province to change the TTC’s status.

Critics of the new proposal say the city already has essential services that are unable to strike, such as police and fire services, and any contract disagreements are sent to negotiation. This process results in more salary hikes than if the contracts had been negotiated freely between the two parties, said Bas Balkissoon, MPP for the Scarborough- Rouge River.

“It’s not convenient. We must make mass transit a priority for Scarborough to discourage people from getting in their cars,” Balkissoon said.

Improvement of the current transit system should happen before making any more changes, Balkissoon said.

Wayne Arthurs, MPP for the Pickering-Scarborough East, is against the TTC becoming an essential service.

“Public transit is certainly a matter of convenience and it has an economic impact, but it doesn’t involve people’s safety,” Arthurs said.

Arthurs said we need to consider the long term costs.

“Some people are promising everything for free,” said Ward 38 councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, a former TTC commissioner.

“I don’t support it and I think it’s very ironic that some people say ‘I want to save you money’ with one breath, and then say ‘I want to make the TTC an essential service which will cost you more money’ with the second breath,” De Baeremaeker said. “And that means the third breath is ‘I’m going to raise your taxes more.’”

The proposal will benefit people who use the TTC to get around quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively, De Baeremaeker said.

“People who live in condos out by the Sky Dome can walk to work if they have to during a strike,” De Baeremaeker said. “But if you live up in Malvern, Jane and Finch, or North Etobicoke, for example, you can’t walk to work. It would take you two days.”

The controversial project will connect Sheppard Avenue East to the Don Mills subway station.

The members of Save Our Sheppard (SOS) oppose the line, as they’re advocating for viable transit in Toronto, said Patricia Sinclair, organizer of the group and 30-year area resident.

The city’s anticipating economic growth in the neighbourhood, but critics claim it’s a wasteful expense.

“We recognize the very great need in Toronto for better public transit and we acknowledge large sums of money need to be spent,” Sinclair said. “Light rail, alias streetcars in designated rights-of-ways, does not offer a solution to our woes, but creates more problems.”

Although the group wants a subway instead, city councillors say it’s not affordable.

The 14-km Sheppard East line will cost the same as the 6.2-km Sheppard subway, according to toronto.ca.

“When we only have so much money, why not use that for a continuation of the underground subway from Don Mills to Kennedy?” SOS Reg Rego said.

The city’s building “a spider web” of a mess, as LRT vehicles operate in a dedicated right-of-way, he said.

A subway would be more reasonable, even in terms of “immediate capital costs,” as the underground tunnel for a streetcar would have to be at least 45 cm higher than for a subway to accommodate electric power lines, Rego said.

Another concern is the lack of access for vehicles from one side of the street to residences and businesses on the other side, creating a “dividing Sheppard wall,” he said.

If an incident disables a streetcar, emergency services would be delayed, resulting in “a total crippling of transit,” Rego said.

“This city has fallen behind in a major way, which leaves us economically at a distinct disadvantage when you compare us to other cities, not only in North America, but in Europe,” Sinclair said. “Even Asia and India are doing better than we in building new transit lines.”

Ward 38 councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker said although the $1-billion project will cause unavoidable disruption, the city is working with local residents and business owners to minimize inconvenience during construction.

“The Sheppard East Village Business Improvement Area welcomes the LRT,” De Baeremaker said. “The owners have told the city just to make sure not to disrupt their businesses, like if we’re paving the road, not to be in their way for four weeks.”

He said benefits of the LRT include lower costs and diesel fume emissions while providing a clean, comfortable and fast way to travel.

There’ll also be new bike lanes running along the tracks, De Baeremaker said.

The line will enter a tunnel west of Consumers Road, travel under Highway 404 and connect to the subway level at Don Mills Station, according to toronto.ca.

Although Ward 39 councillor Mike Del Grande said construction started in late 2009 in the underpass of the Agincourt GO Station and is to be completed by 2013, Sinclair said there hasn’t been much progress.

While part of the parking lot at the station has been closed for construction, it’s now just a “dirt field” from where the cement has been taken out, she said.

Citizens need to be aware of the facts of the issue, as studies have been done, including one on the failure of the LRT in Portland, Oregon called “Debunking Portland: The City That Doesn’t Work,” Sinclair said.

“Billions of taxpayers’ dollars will be wasted if we can’t stop this,” she said. “But more importantly, the negative impact these lines bring will be detrimental to the neighbourhoods they are being planned for.

“The documentation exists, but it seems neither our politicians nor transit planners are bothered to read them. We want to change that before it’s too late.”

Public consultations for the LRT project are set for March 8 at Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School and March 11 at the Chinese Cultural Centre.

Now the sweet smell of progress fills the zoo as it looks to turn the poop into power.

“We looked at what is a liability and thought about using it to create green electricity,” said Ward 38 councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker, a zoo board member.

The Toronto Zoo is expecting to have a privately biogas plant up by summer 2011.

City council approved the final proposal this month, paving the path forward to turning the Toronto Zoo into a green leader, De Baeremaeker said.

The plant is expected to make the zoo carbon neutral in two years, plus produce enough electricity for 2,500 homes in Toronto. It will use the feces of 5,000 animals and organic waste from restaurants and grocery stores, like Metro, to produce the energy.

“All the old banana peels and apples that don’t sell, and right now go to landfill sites, will go into the plant,” said.

The zoo is looking to private investors to pay the $20-million bill for the project. De Baeremaeker says many companies already eager for the development. He expects more to follow suit, as the plant’s electricity will be sold to the grid and make profit for its investors within five years.

“This is a winning project,” he said. “The zoo wins, the private sector company wins, the tax payer wins, and the environment wins.”

But not everyone agrees.

“It’s a great project but big deal,” said Rob Laidlaw, director of Zoocheck Canada, an animal rights group in Toronto. “The zoo is in the animal business and they are supposed to be engaged in wildlife conservation. I don’t see any evidence of that happening,”

Laidlaw criticizes the zoo for its recent animal deaths: a matriarch elephant and a rare Siberian tiger.  He says the zoo cares about popularity more than animal welfare and conservation.

De Baeremaeker counters this, saying he believes the zoo is becoming a green pioneer.

“The Toronto zoo is changing,” De Baeremaeker said. “We’re trying to change the mandate of zoos to be more compatible with species survival and to become places of education and advocacy.”

With 1.3 million visitors annually, zoo officials say the biogas project will play a major role in informing the public about renewable energies and will spark similar projects throughout the city.

“I’m confident that we can power the entire city of Toronto through green energy,” De Baeremaeker said. “This is just one step towards that future.”

It was an extremely close game throughout, with no team leading by more than 10 points at any given time. Thirty-seven seconds left on the clock, Laurier sank a game-changing basket to tie West Hill with 51 points.

The score tied at 51, Laurier made a two-point basket to give them a two point lead with four seconds left to go in the fourth quarter.

With just 2.1 seconds on the clock, Laurier fouled West Hill, resulting in two free throws and giving the Warriors an opportunity to tie the game.

But the Warriors sank only one, letting the Blue Devils narrowly win the East region championship 53-52.

“I’m happy, but it’s more of a relief,” Laurier head coach Tony Vallejo said. “We were expected to repeat, and we were able to accomplish it. We had a lot of teams gearing to knock us down.”

The two teams played each other twice this year, once during regular season and once during a tournament the weekend of Feb. 5. Laurier came out on top both times.

The Blue Devils finished the season at the top of the Eastern Region standings with a perfect record of 10-0. The West Hill Warriors came second, finishing 8-2.

With the win, Sir Wilfrid Laurier advanced to the city championship and was to host Earl Haig for their quarter-final match on Feb. 18. Earl Haig finished first in the North/East region with a record of 6-3.