Friends and Constituents, 

I would like to thank you for visiting my website.  On December 1, I celebrated the one year mark as your City Councillor for Ward 13.  Please share your thoughts with me through my Contact Page so I can hear your ideas on how we can work together to continue to improve our ward and our city.

Update: Our spring newsletter will be arriving in your mailboxes next week.  Please keep an eye open for it, checking through all the other flyers you receive, so you don't miss it!  If you don't receive one by May 4, let us know. 

Best regards,

SHOOTING AT COOPER MILLS

On May 10 there was a shooting in Cooper Mills, resulting in a young man being killed.  Police are still investigating this issue.  While I am tremendously saddened to hear of this tragic loss, I am proud of our residents for speaking up and working with police to ensure those responsible are caught.  This is not the first case of gun violence in the area, and I will be working with 11^th Division Police, building staff, and the community to try to end these awful attacks and to ensure that the safety of our neighbourhood is our top priority.

 SAVE THE HIGH PARK ZOO:

 Update: May 14, 2012 - Since Monday, April 9 at the Friends of High Park Zoo’s meeting, where I announced that the Honey Family Foundation would match up to $50,000 donated to the Toronto Parks and Trees Fund from April 9 to June 15, we have raised over $40,000 (once matched this will be $80,000).  Donations of $10 or more will receive a tax receipt.

The Friends of the High Park Zoo now have a website.  Please visit www.highparkzoo.ca.

THE JAMIE BELL PLAYGROUND

Update: May 14, 2012 - There will be a public community meeting Thursday, May 17 at 7:00 pm.  This meeting will be at Humberside CI, located at 280 Quebec.  Please come and join us in the discussion and planning for the upcoming community build day.

Update: April 23, 2012 - To date, public donations have reached over $14,000 in the Trees and Parks Foundation website.  This is in addition to the numerous corporate donations of money, goods and services. 

Update: April 5, 2012 - Parks and Rec staff removed the damaged structure this week.  All wood had to be removed, so we will be rebuilding from the ground up.  For pictures of the current statues, please click here.  Also, find attached a letter from the Director of Parks about the status of the build, and the Landscape Ontario offer here, and the Mayor's letter of support here. 

Update: March 30, 2012 -  Since the day after the fire, hundreds of residents have contacted my office to offer their time and support. Many of them have asked where to make a donation (go to www.torontoparksandtrees.org) and many corporate donors have been in touch with the City and my office.

As you know, Canadian Tire immediately contacted us with a donation of $50,000 and support on the actual build date.  This past week was another busy one for the Jamie Bell Playground rebuild.  On Thursday (March 29) morning I joined Jamie Bell's son Aaron and family members Ruth and Sybil at the TD Canada Trust branch at Runnymede and Bloor where we received a $10,000 donation from the branch manager.

In the afternoon we met with representatives from Natural Playgrounds and Landscape Ontario to discuss their generous donation and design proposals. While we cannot rebuild within the next week, which was the time line they offered us, I was excited to hear at the meeting that there may be elements of the Natural Playgrounds design that we could work with and that Landscape Ontario members might be interested in donations of material and labour to the park at the end of their season.  I left the meeting pleased about the possibility of working with Natural Playgrounds during the design phase, which will begin the week of April 2.

The design phase is going to be just as collaborative as the build and as community-focussed as the original creation of the playground which was a labour of love for all of us.

One thing I would like to point out is that the offer from Natural Playgrounds and Landscape Ontario does not include the rebuild of the castle that burned down.  City staff has been working with all the corporations that have approached us to rebuild the castle.  We are putting together the jigsaw puzzle to enable us to accept the offers and rebuild quickly.

I hope you can make it out to the Community Meeting coming up in April.  We’ll give everyone a chance to break out into groups, talk about their vision for the rebuild, and share it with the group.  We are holding it on a Saturday to be able to include children, whose input we are definitely looking for.  We are still looking for location that can host a large group.

As soon as the fire was out, the community sprung into action with offers of help and ideas on how to stay true to Jamie’s original vision and make it even better for children and parents who come from across the city to enjoy it for its unique design and experience.  Please don’t hesitate to contact my office should you have any questions.

UPCOMING EVENTS: