Community News Update - November 15, 2024

Dear Community, 

Community, tenants won a significant victory yesterday. The City of Toronto passed its Toronto Renoviction Bylaw, bringing in important protections for community members faced with renovictions. The bylaw will require that landlords demonstrate their renovations are in good faith and that units be offered back to affected tenants once a renovation is complete. 

A landlord will no longer be able to evict a tenant without a verified need and if a tenant must move during construction the landlord must now:

• Pay for moving costs
• Cover any difference in rent
• Let the tenant return to the unit at the same rent afterwards

Community, this is a MAJOR win for renters here in St. Paul's and ACROSS the GTA. Everyone deserves a stable and affordable place to live. This new bylaw will ensure that tenants aren't needlessly renovicted, and if they are displaced due to a necessary renovation, they won't be put out financially by the decision. I'd like to thank No Demovictions Toronto for their work fighting to make this bylaw a reality.

Here in St. Paul's, we've seen too many residents displaced by bad faith renovictions, and many have had to fight tooth and nail, to get even a sliver of what they deserve. While I'm happy to see the city take the necessary steps, the province must act to ensure tenants across Ontario are protected. I put forward a motion at Queen's Park calling for the province to better support tenants who are being temporarily evicted due to renovations and redevelopments by requiring them to cover moving costs and pay the difference in rent for a new unit. 

Today, I renew my call for the province act to ensure that tenants across Ontario have these same rights. I will also continue to call for a full ban on abusive above-guideline rent increases (AGIs), real rent control, including vacancy control to stabilize rent costs, and for the province to properly staff the Landlord and Tenant Board. While we celebrate this victory today, we must recommit to the work that still needs to be done.

In today's newsletter:

Recognizing that it's impossible to capture a full week of news in a single newsletter, please see the highlights below: 

• Our upcoming Opposition Day Motion
• Jill on TikTok
• Days of Significance
• Jill in Community
• Upcoming events and more!

Opposition Day Motion: Building Strong and Caring Communities

Community, you deserve a government that makes your life easier, invests in your community and takes care of the basics. But after 6 long years of Doug Ford Conservatives, life is more expensive than ever — and in communities across the province, people are paying more and getting less. 

It doesn't have to be this way. We're bringing forward a plan to develop strong and caring communities that would reverse unfair provincial downloads, and see the province take back responsibility for housing, transit, highways, and infrastructure. The Ford Conservatives made deep cuts to municipal transit, childcare, and public health services in their 2019 budget, and their Bill 23 downloaded even more costs and mandase onto municipalities with NO funding to fill this gap. 

On Monday, we're bringing forward a plan to develop strong and caring communities, and reverse unfair provincial downloads to see the province take back responsibility for housing, transit, highways, and infrastructure. We want to reverse decades of cuts and downloads that have driven up costs for everyone.

Click here to add your name to support our motion!

Follow me on TikTok @jillslastword

The wait is finally over, I'm now on Tiktok! Follow @Jillslastword to see what I am up to in St.Paul's and watch me advocate for our riding Queen Park regarding housing, transit and affordability.

On Wednesday, I took a lunch break at Le Bleu on St Clair West. Iman, the owner, told me I had to try their famous miso and toffee cookie, which was mentioned in the New York Times, and let me tell you, it was amazing! I vlogged the experience to share this incredible local business with our community. Thank you, Iman and everybody at Le Bleu, for the excellent baked goods, the honey ginger tea, and the delicious sandwiches. Check out my TikTok for more community vlogs.

DAYS OF SIGNIFICANCE

Happy Gurpurab!

Happy Guru Nanak Gurpurab! May the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji guide you through life's journey with wisdom, love, and compassion.

JILL IN COMMUNITY

Bee Ambassadors Canada

It was wonderful to meet with Shelley Candel a local community member and Director of Bee Ambassadors Canada to talk about their programming to advance children's understanding and appreciation of pollinators and pollination. The program provides young learners with the resources necessary to care for them and also helps children navigate issues including climate anxiety, while learning tangible ways to take action to mitigate it and build connections with the natural world. 

Thank you Shelley for your work and advocacy!

Coffee and Conversations at Lil E Coffee Cafe

Today, I took lunch at Lil E Coffee Cafe at 2 St Clair Avenue West. The Ice E Matcha latte was great, and it was lovely to sit down and talk with constituents.

Lil E's, however, is more than just coffee. They do amazing work, hiring people with intellectual developmental disabilities and providing them with an opportunity to build essential skills and raise community awareness.

Thank you to the staff for welcoming me in today!

Grand Opening of UBC Built Carpenters' Training Centre

Yesterday, I attended the grand opening of the UBC Built Carpenters' Training Centre in Vaughan, Ontario. The centre can train carpenters in a range of sectors, including residential, construction, scaffolding, formwork, mass timber, flooring, and more!

It was great meeting folks and learning about the training programs offered. What a milestone for education in the trades! It is also SO important for the province to be supporting women entering the trades, and ensure that families are properly supported with a robust childcare system to ensure that workers have the resources they need to succeed. 

St. Hilda's

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting the folks at St. Hilda's Seniors Community. We talked about the need for wrap-around care services, access to doctors, PSWs and the healthcare staff, and the importance of community building and supporting each other. 

Thank you to the staff at WoodGreen Community Services for a tour of the recently renovated and retrofitted towers. 

Holy Blossom Temple: An Evening with Special Envoy, Deborah Lyons

Last night I attended an evening with Deborah Lyons, Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism, hosted by Holy Blossom Temple's Advocacy Committee.

The increase of antisemitism in our community is a major concern and a priority of mine that me must tackle as a community. It is important that we keep finding opportunities to build understanding between different communities to end this threat and make sure everyone in Canada is safe.

I also appreciated the courageous conversations we had after the special presentation and the many perspectives Jewish community members shared with me. I will continue to stand against antisemitism and all forms of hate and beyond just standing against it we must all continue to act against it too.

Hillcrest Village BIA AGM

Had a wonderful time at the Hillcrest Village BIA AGM on Wednesday. The BIA has accomplished SO much over the past year, and they have some very exciting plans for the future. Thank you to the board for ALL they do!

Shout out to Aviv Immigrant Kitchen for the delicious catering! Community, remember to support local this holiday season if you can.

Hillcrest Community School Visit

Thank you Hillcrest Community School for having me speak to your wonderful grade 5 and 6 classes on integrity and advocating for oneself on Thursday! I had the opportunity to read some amazing books like Say Something by Peter H. Reynolds and In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by Jo Witek on this important topic.

We must continue to encourage youth to speak their mind through their words, art, and presence. 

Mount Pleasant Cemetery Mausoleum and William Barker Memorial Annual Remembrance Day Service

On Monday I joined veterans, constituents and service members at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery Mausoleum and William Barker Memorial for the annual Remembrance Day Service. This Mausoleum is the resting place of William Barker, hero of the First World War and one of the first directors of the Royal Canadian Air Force. This year is the 100th anniversary of the creation of the RCAF.

On Remembrance Day, we remember and honour the sacrifices made by soldiers, sailors and aviators who served this country, both those who died and those who did not. Thanks also to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, the Royal Canadian Air Force Foundation and the Barker Family for this solemn ceremony.

COMMUNITY BULLETIN 📌

Public Consultation on the Redevelopment of 803-815 St Clair Ave W

The Hillcrest Village BIA is hosting a Public Consultation Zoom Meeting this Monday, November 18th, 2024 at 3 PM. The consultation is on the proposed redevelopment of City property in front of #803-815 St Clair Avenue West. 

The proposal is to replace the existing steps with a gradually sloping access walkway and to also replace the existing concrete planters with a lower planting area and seating, while maintaining existing trees. 

The Zoom meeting will give you the opportunity to see the design prepared by PLANT Architect, to ask questions, and give feedback. Click here for the Zoom link. 

Central Eglinton Community Centre Older Adults Holiday Lunch

Central Eglinton Community Centre is hosting their Older Adults Holiday Lunch at a new location this year at 110 Eglinton Ave East. The new location is to accommodate the demand from our older adult community for this popular event!

The lunch is taking place December 13th from 12 pm to 3 pm just four days away from Central Eglinton Community Centre. 

Come have a FREE festive meal and enjoy live entertainment!

Please RSVP with reception at 416-392-0511, ext. 0. 

CALL FOR SUPPORT - 2024 Humewood Community Scholarship Fund

We are very pleased to start our 6^th Annual Humewood Community Scholarship Fundraising Drive! Our fundraising goal again this year is $5,000 and the campaign will continue until December 31, 2024. 
 
This scholarship was specifically designed for young mothers in the community who use the impressive range of parenting support and educational services offered at the Humewood and Broadview Campuses of the Abiona Centre For Infant & Early Mental Health. As a result of last year’s fundraising drive, $1,000 was dispersed to each of the 6 young moms who met the scholarship criteria.
 
Over the last 5 years, a total of 28 young mothers have received the Humewood Community Scholarships to pursue post-secondary education at accredited colleges and universities. We thank you so much, because these were funds that you, the community, contributed for the scholarship! All the funds that we raise to directly to the scholarship recipients.
 
TO DONATE, please click on the link below:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/abionacentre/p2p/HCS2024 or click here or scan the QR code at the bottom left of the banner.  A donation of any amount is very much appreciated. Donations of $20 and over will receive a tax receipt. Please note that the CanadaHelps website may take a few extra seconds to load.
 
Thank you in advance for the community’s continued support for this initiative. Special thanks to MPP Jill Andrew, City Councillor Josh Matlow, and St. Matthew’s United for their help in sharing information about The Humewood Community Scholarship Fundraiser.

Learn to Prevent an Overdose

Each year across Ontario, thousands of lives are lost to overdoses. We need every level of government to prioritize implementing harm reduction strategies to combat these senseless deaths, and you can help.

As many of you know, Naloxone is a medication that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, and these kits are FREE with training at participating pharmacies across the city. Together, we can prevent unnecessary deaths and work toward a more compassionate society that is safe for everyone.

Find a pharmacy with Naloxone kits near you, and make sure you can recognize the signs of an overdose.

In solidarity, 

Dr. Jill Andrew, PhD

MPP, Toronto--St. Paul's