Gord Perks City Councillor, Ward 4, Parkdale-High Park

Wishing you and yours a Happy Holidays!

holiday-greeting-card-09.pdf

Gord Perks

Wishing you and yours a Happy Holidays!

holiday-greeting-card-09.pdf

Gord Perks

On December 8^th community members, friends, donors & other supporters met at 194 Dowling Avenue on the site being developed as “Edmond Place”to launch PARC’s ‘Capital Challenge’. I regret that I was unable to attend, but understand that PARC has successfully raised 95% of their capital goal and hopes to raise the final 5%, which represents $ 340,000, before Edmond Place opens in about a year.

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Edmond Place is developed in partnership by Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre and Habitat Services. Edmond Place has been made possible through the financial support of the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, and the City of Toronto.

If you would like to make a donation to PARC please visit: http://parc.on.ca/

For more information on the launch, see link to the Parkdale Liberty Villager:

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/local/article/230393–edmond-place-is-about-being-home

Lastly, if you are looking for ways to share a little cheer with people who are homeless this year please visit the City website. Staff asked those on the front lines who run the shelters, drop-ins and other services for homeless people what would really bring a smile to their clients’ faces; requests are listed on the website below.

Agency wish lists can be seen at http://www.toronto.ca/housing/wishlist.htm.

Please note that the Parkdale Activity Recreation Centre (PARC), Romero House and Sistering have all posted wishes this season.

Please remember to shop locally this Holiday Season.

Ward 14 is home to five distinct Business Improvment Areas that each bring a unique shopping experience to the neighbourhood.

For more information on our area BIAs please visit:

http://www.toronto.ca/bia/

Have fun shopping in Bloor by the Park, the Junction, Parkdale, Liberty Village, and Roncesvalles Village.

A listing of all 49 outdoor ice rinks with seasonal operating dates is available at www.toronto.ca/parks

Members of the public are invited to call 3.1.1 for opening and closing hours and supervised program schedules for their local rink. If a rink is taken out of service for any reason, maintenance staff endeavours to keep the 311 call centre up-to-date with current conditions and schedule changes.

For the second year, members of the public can access outdoor rink surfaces during times when staff are not scheduled.

Extended Season

Again this year, Council has approved extended operations at 14 rinks (please see www.toronto.ca/parks) into the first 2 weeks of March, ending the season on March 14, 2010, weather permitting. Unfortunately, the recommended extended season will not provide for coverage of the March Break because the school holiday has been scheduled late, from March 15 to 19, 2010. Leisure skating and shinny opportunities are available at indoor arenas across the City during March Break; for times and details check out the Toronto FUN Guide, available on-line at www.toronto.ca/parks

I am very pleased to advise that the Canadian Transportation Agency has ruled in favour of the residents along the rail corridor.

The CTA has instructed GO to change they way they pile drive, the hours they can conduct the pile driving, and they way in which they communicate to the community. This is great news.

Below is the decision from the CTA.

Congratulations to everyone involved. Keep up the great work!

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This week Mayor David Miller departed for Copenhagen, where he will represent Toronto as Chair of the C40 at the Climate Summit for Mayors. The C40 is a group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change. Before departing, Mayor Miller invited Torontonians to join him in signing the “Hopenhagen” petition, which calls for world leaders to reach an agreement to address climate change. Regular updates about the Mayor’s efforts at the Summit, and more information about the Climate Summit for Mayors and a link to the “Hopenhagen” petition can be found at http://www.toronto.ca/livegreen/

Mayor Miller helped convene the Climate Summit for Mayors, which will run alongside the UN heads of state Climate Change Conference. In this Summit, Mayor Miller will continue to champion the leadership and actions taken by cities around the world and in Toronto, where our City has lowered its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% since 1990. Toronto’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Toronto leadership on the environment will be profiled in the “Future Cities Pavilion” along with nine other cities. Each of the cities has prepared a video which will run 24 hours a day for the duration of the UN Conference. Toronto’s video showcases many of the City’s environmental solutions including our Deep Lake Water Cooling system, the wind turbines at Exhibition Place and the Mayor’s Tower Renewal project.

This week Mayor David Miller departed for Copenhagen, where he will represent Toronto as Chair of the C40 at the Climate Summit for Mayors. The C40 is a group of the world’s largest cities committed to tackling climate change. Before departing, Mayor Miller invited Torontonians to join him in signing the “Hopenhagen” petition, which calls for world leaders to reach an agreement to address climate change. Regular updates about the Mayor’s efforts at the Summit, and more information about the Climate Summit for Mayors and a link to the “Hopenhagen” petition can be found at http://www.toronto.ca/livegreen/

Mayor Miller helped convene the Climate Summit for Mayors, which will run alongside the UN heads of state Climate Change Conference. In this Summit, Mayor Miller will continue to champion the leadership and actions taken by cities around the world and in Toronto, where our City has lowered its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% since 1990. Toronto’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Toronto leadership on the environment will be profiled in the “Future Cities Pavilion” along with nine other cities. Each of the cities has prepared a video which will run 24 hours a day for the duration of the UN Conference. Toronto’s video showcases many of the City’s environmental solutions including our Deep Lake Water Cooling system, the wind turbines at Exhibition Place and the Mayor’s Tower Renewal project.

With the City of Toronto anticipating its first snowstorm of the season, Transportation Services is reminding residents and businesses about its level of service for snow clearing.

While weather patterns associated with each storm are unique and require a co-ordinated approach by the City’s staff and contractors, our general levels of service are as follows:

As soon as the snow begins, the City will send out its fleet of salt trucks. If the City receives five centimetres of snow, the plows are sent to the main roads and plowing will take place for the duration of the storm.

When the snow stops and if the snow accumulation reaches eight cm, plows will be sent to the local roads. Local road plowing will be completed between 14 to 16 hours after the storm has ended.

The City will clear snow from sidewalks on local roads after eight cm of snow has fallen – where it is mechanically possible to do so. In the central core of the city, property owners are required to clear their sidewalks of snow 12 hours after a storm has taken place. To learn more about sidewalk snow clearing in Toronto and to view a map of where the service takes place, click on http://www.toronto.ca/transportation/snow/sidewalks.

Residents who have questions about snow clearing efforts in their area can call the City at 311.

The City has 600 snow plows, 300 sidewalk plows and 200 salt trucks ready to tackle the winter season.

Waterfront Toronto and the City of Toronto (City), the project co-proponents, are jointly undertaking a major study to determine the future of the eastern portion of the elevated Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard from approximately Lower Jarvis Street to just east of the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) at Logan Avenue.

Stakeholder Advisory Committee to be Formed

An essential part of the study process is effective communication and consultation with members of the public and stakeholders. One of the planned activities in meeting this goal is to establish a Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC). The role of the SAC is to provide an ongoing forum for advice, feedback and guidance to the Waterfront Toronto and City project team at key points during the environmental assessment and urban design process. The SAC membership will be comprised of representatives from interested and affected stakeholder organizations.

Starting, Monday December 7, they will begin recruiting for the SAC. Please find attached the materials and please send it out to anyone that you think would be interested in applying. Please note that the deadline for applications is January 15, 2010.

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