Ward 29 Community Rallies Over TTC

Community Bonds Mean Everything

by Chris Caldwell

This is not about the questionable behaviour of the TTC suddenly dropping off notes to Toronto Ward 29 residents, telling them of plans to expropriate their houses. That has been covered adequately in the media in the past few weeks. This is about community, strong bonds, and being democratic.

In an age of transition, a settled family is a rarity and a valuable anchor for a community. Taking this iconic structure away from Toronto communities is like ripping a plant out by the roots – it will die.

The taking of one’s house by force, even with compensation, would be an emotional and trying ordeal for anyone. The taking of one’s home is another story. The years of emotional and social investment, the raising of children, the experiences that have become stories over time and the eyes and ears that have seen a community evolve over 50 years, become monetized in the purview of bureaucracy and expropriated in the name of ‘the code’.

There has been a positive to the ordeal. The community has rallied and come together to spread a message, one that screams “We live here and this is our neighbourhood!”. Someone who is not familiar with the community could see NIMBYism – ‘we don’t want blight in our backyard!’ (and who does?). But, in Toronto communities if something is for the greater good, we all consider compromise.

The devil is not in the TTC plans but in the approach and ethic, or lack thereof, that seems to plague an ever-centralizing government. This abrupt and inconsiderate letter delivery is a denouement for this Council which will hopefully write its final chapter this fall.

We clearly have a community that has risen to gather its intellectual and social capacity to produce an outstanding rebuttal that makes more sense than anything the TTC has put together in recent times. They should be very proud, and continue to draw on the energy to create a permanent change in a planning process to everyone’s benefit. In the spirit of Jane Jacobs, this community has shown us that antiquated policies will tear down our communities, if we let them.

Thank you Ward 29, and particularly Strathmore residents!

Chris Caldwell  has his Masters in Environmental Studies, Sustainable and Strategic Urban Planning with a Graduate Diploma in Business and the Environment, from York University. He is Ward 29 candidate for Toronto City Council in the 2010 Municipal Elections, and he is passionate about community and sustainability. www.caldwellforcouncil.ca