Neighbourhood 'strategy meeting' at Campbell Park: 2pm Sunday July 19

Click to enlarge
The hand-written sign reads:

Friends of Campbell Park are organizing
A Strategy Meeting
(what's next)
(residents, Toronto Eagles, soccer parents, concerned residents, youth and others)
Where: Campbell Park, near wading pool
When: 2:00pm
Date: Sunday July 19, '09
There is strength in numbers, speak out against dumping in our parks

Campbell Park anti-dumping protest: it was a circus

Jack Fava and some supporters briefly block traffic on Campbell. They moved as soon as police said they had to let cars through. Click to enlarge

On Thursday evening a few residents who live near Campbell Park protested against the City's decision to use the site as a temporary garbage dump.

The event was organized at the last minute because the City only announced its decision on Wednesday. The whole thing ended up being a bit of a circus. The media presence had something to do with that. Cameras have a way of changing situations.

When I got there at 5:15pm, police and reporters were already on the scene. There were TV trucks with the high antennas parked on the grass near the wading pool. There were handmade protest signs attached to the fence. There were also two wreaths by a sign that that said "Mr. McGuinty and Mr. Miller. 'Blood is on your hands.'"

The demonstration was organized by Jack Fava and Virginia Novak, both of whom have a history of neighbourhood activism. This is the same pair who two years ago successfully fought against a proposed community garden at Erwin Krickhahn parkette. They have also organized marches and vigils to protest against crime. Two years ago when there was a community safety audit at Bloor and Lansdowne, Ruth White, the unit commander of Toronto Police 14 Division, called Jack "her hero."

Jack and Virginia were of course at Campbell yesterday, but not that many other people. There was a bit of a crowd, but it was sometimes hard to tell those there to protest from those just watching. There were quite a few neighbourhood kids, some of whom I know from working at Campbell rink.

Two men from the Toronto Eagles soccer league were there in support. The Eagles were playing their scheduled games during the protest. The men pointed out the league had put a lot of money into a new irrigation system at Campbell. They thought it was unfair for the City to turn around and use the park as a dump.

Himy Syed from the Friends of Christie Pits also turned up. He took pictures for Torontopedia and then gave an interview to a TV crew.

There were City managers at Campbell to help residents leaving their garbage. The managers wore T-shirts that had the City logo and read Customer Service. A City pick-up truck was parked next to the road in the driveway that leads to the rink. People put their garbage in the truck. When it was full, a manager drove it to the rink. By the time I left, there was quite a bit of garbage. It won't take the rink long to fill up.

Just after I got to the park, Jack and a dozen followers decided to block traffic on Campbell Avenue. That didn't last long. A minute after they formed their line, police came over and told them to stop. They did. I don't think the protesters were all that enthusiastic about this tactic, because when they briefly blocked a truck, a few people in the line started saying they should let the vehicle pass. And they did.

After the police came, Jack and the other people in the line marched about 100 yards up the street before getting off the road. I saw some footage of this march on CityTV. It looked a lot more dramatic on television than in real life. The CityTV report made the whole protest seem more exciting than it was. It was chaotic to be sure, but the event was more low comedy than high drama. I'm not dismissing the objections to the dump, but the protest wasn't well co-ordinated.

Once the short march was finished, Jack, Virginia and a few other people decided to stand in front of the City pick-up truck. One woman who lives across the street blocked another woman who was dropping off trash. The first woman ripped the trash bag from the second woman's hand and tossed it aside. Police came over. People started yelling. Some said the first woman had hit the second woman. One of the men from the Eagles said no. The first woman had only touched the second woman's bag. Police managed to calm things down and the second woman was able to put her garbage in the truck.

The people blocking the truck made people leaving garbage walk around them. Police came over to tell one man to let people through. This led to an argument. The man said he was doing nothing wrong by just standing there. Police said he was in the way. Later the man used foul language to describe the police officer who spoke to him. Another police officer warned him about his language. The first police officer said he was just trying to help the man avoid doing anything that would get him arrested. Things calmed down.

At one point Jack got into an argument with a CUPE member who was on picket duty. I don't know who started it. Jack said union members were greedy. Then some neighbours stood up for the union. At first it was a shouting match, but once everybody had let off some steam, it became more of a discussion. Jack said the union was asking for too much, while the other people said the union was only defending itself against unreasonable demands by the City.

One man who defended the union said he lived behind Campbell rink. He wasn't happy about the park being used as a dump, but said he accepted it under the circumstances. He said the best way to solve this was for the City to offer the union a fair contract.

Jack and Virginia continued to stand in front of the City truck. Sometimes they had supporters next to them, but most of the time they were by themselves. There were residents standing on the other side of the street who were generally supportive as Jack and Virginia literally begged people to hold onto their garbage for one more day. At one point, Virginia kneeled on the pavement in front of someone who wanted to drop off garbage.

Surprisingly, some people did turn back. Jack and Virginia say they persuaded 20 people not to leave their trash. They may be right. I didn't keep count, but a fair amount of people did turn back. However, most didn't. Some were apologetic, saying they had no choice. Others got angry. One guy who was provoked by comments made by people on the other side of the street started yelling obscenities. Police told him to get back in his car. Another man said he lived next to another temporary dump and if he had to put up with it, the people on Campbell could do the same.

Vehicles were parked on both sides of the street, reducing Campbell, a two-way street, to a single crowded lane. There were media trucks, police cars, police bicycles, people who came by car for soccer and people in cars dropping off garbage. There was a traffic jam and a few people got angry, though nothing serious happened. One guy leaned on his horn for a while until police told him to stop. Police did a good job of keeping things under control. Without them, some of the minor arguments could have gotten out of hand.

The temporary dump closed at 7pm. Some media stuck around to file reports. Jack told me he would back tomorrow morning at 7 when the dump re-opens.

Bloor/Gladstone library re-opens on Thursday July 23

I took this picture in May - click to enlarge

Chris Gallop from Adam Giambrone's office wants everyone to know that the Bloor-Gladstone library will re-open on Thursday July 23. The reopening will take place at noon. There will be refreshments and family entertainment as well as a presentation from Heritage Toronto. The invitation says

RSVP to: Debbie Mair, 416-397-5945, dmair@torontopubliclibrary.ca

A few weeks ago I came across workers moving the books back. See here.

BIG on Bloor 2009: people came out despite the rain

Band playing outside the Holy Oak cafeClick to enlarge
When you hold a one-day annual event outdoors, there's always the risk of being rained out. The organizers of last Saturday's BIG on Bloor festival said it would go ahead rain or shine. Rain it did, but the event went on as promised. Fortunately, the weather eventually let up and once it did, the street was full of people.

I was out on Bloor representing CELOS - a non-profit group that concerns itself with public space, especially parks. The organization was formed by Jutta Mason and other residents who were, and still are, active at Dufferin Grove. Last year, CELOS made a historical display featuring old photos of the Bloor-Lansdowne and Bloor-Dufferin areas. We found most of the pictures on the City of Toronto archives website. This year we brought the same photos.

One of the disadvantages of having a table at BIG on Bloor is that you only get to see what is happening near you. This is what I saw from my vantage point between St. Clarens and Emerson:

In the early afternoon I found myself sitting under a tent next to Susan Berman from the Perth Dupont Community Garden while rain poured down and people with umbrellas hurried by. However, when the rain let up a steady stream of people came by to look at the historical photographs. Some who stopped were people who remembered the pictures from last year.

The pictures of the Dufferin racetrack, which was located where the mall is today, attracted the most interest. When I asked people if they knew the mall had once been a racetrack, I got three types of answers: 1 - "Racetrack? Of course, everybody knows that." 2 - "Wow. I heard there had been a racetrack there but this is the first time I've seen pictures." 3 - "Holy cow. I didn't know the mall used to be a racetrack. That's really cool." (Last year, Adrienne Trent, an artist whose family has lived for generations on Havelock, displayed personal photos of the area which also proved very popular.)

The CELOS table was located across the street from the Holy Oak cafe, which has become my favourite place for coffee lately. The day before I overheard one of the owners say he had ordered extra supplies for the festival. When I went over for a coffee on Saturday, the man who served it said business had been steady. When the weather let up, a band set up outside the cafe and attracted an audience.

Our table was on the north side of Bloor in front of the Happy Cup cafe. Two years ago the Kiss Cup, as it was known then, was a hangout for drug dealers, but that has all changed. The current owner, Bing, is a friendly man who keeps the dealers out. I drop in for beer once in a while and never have a problem. The last time I was there a group was playing dominoes. During the festival, two men from the bar came out on the street to play chess. Another regular came to look at our pictures. We talked about our shared memory of when the Dufferin Mall was still the Dufferin Plaza (i.e. a strip mall).

The CELOS table was next to Yasi who owns a popular cafe at Wallace and Campbell. During the breaks in the weather she hosted cooking demonstrations which were popular. Women from the South Asian Women's Centre showed how to make a mango salad. Another demonstration was given by Ronti from the Cafe Stella at St. Clarens and Bloor. At 6, Yasi hosted a free community dinner. At about the same time, I met up at Stella with friends from DIG IN. Unfortunately for us, Ronti had a busy day and was out of food by the time we came. I had to settle for Heineken.

As far as I could tell from my spot on Bloor, the festival as a success despite the weather. Among other things it was a chance to say hello to a lot of my neighbours. That in itself made the event worthwhile.

The BIG on Bloor festival is today! Enjoy car-free fun from Lansdowne to Christie, 1-9pm, rain or shine

Design by Ghazaleh Etezal - click to enlarge
I hope everyone comes out to the festival. This year promises to be even better than last year. See you on Bloor!

West Toronto Railpath party and parade, 2pm Saturday

Click on the poster to read the details. The Railpath party coincides with tomorrow's BIG on Bloor festival.

Spacing Wire has two articles with photos describing the Railpath. Click here and here. You can read comments about the opening on the ibiketo blog.

Hurray! They're finally bringing the books back to the Bloor-Gladstone library

At 12:15pm, I saw workers bringing boxes of books to the Bloor-Gladstone library - Click to enlarge

CELOS business brought me to Bloor and Gladstone this afternoon. As I was passing the library, I noticed large cardboard boxes marked with book categories sitting by the front door. I started taking photos. When a man came out of the library, I said, "I guess this means you're opening soon." He told me, "In about three weeks." This wasn't an official announcement so I take that estimate with a grain of salt, but I'm hoping the fact they're bringing the books back is a sign the library will be open soon.

Representatives of the Toronto Public Library have come to BIG on Bloor meetings. They were hoping to re-open the library in time for tomorrow's festival but that wasn't possible. (The library will have a table on Bloor.) The library reps said the project has been delayed because the contractors building the new wing found structural problems in the historic part.