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CBC
3 days ago
- General
- CBC
Some Toronto residents push back against parkette being renamed after anti-gun violence advocate
Social Sharing Some residents of a tiny enclave bordering Toronto's newly redeveloped Regent Park neighbourhood are calling on the city to revisit a council decision to rename a parkette after a well-known local anti-gun violence advocate. Last week, councillors led by Chris Moise (Toronto Centre) voted to rename the tiny Sumach-Shuter Parkette after Louis March, who died last July. In a motion, Moise wrote that the park should be named after March because "Regent Park was one of the neighbourhoods where Louis did some of his most impactful work, and [it] would recognize his deep commitment to ending gun violence and supporting the most vulnerable communities in Toronto." The parkette sits in a corner of tiny Trefann Court, adjacent to the newly revitalized Regent Park. Locals there agree March made a huge impact on young people in the area and across Toronto. Their argument, they emphasize, is with the process, not March's legacy. "It was a surprise," said Bill Eadie, a 42-year Trefann Court resident. "What I think people are offended by is that there was no consultation." CBC Toronto reviewed 28 emails city staff received prior to the vote, from people who wanted to express their views about the name change. Twenty-two were in favour; six were against it. "Louis was not the type of man who needed accolades or praise, he truly loved Toronto and was committed to making it a city we could all feel safe in and be proud to call home," wrote one woman. "Naming a City of Toronto park after Louis March would ensure that his life's work was not in vain. It would guarantee that his name will live on for future generations." The tiny parkette runs east from Sumach Avenue on the south side of Shuter Street. It has just been upgraded, and is scheduled to re-open next month. Neighbours told CBC Toronto the parkette is a vital meeting spot for residents, and they should have been asked for their input on its future."It's really our only greenspace," 20-year resident Lynn Lawson said. "I didn't really get to know people until I started going to the park. Now I know everyone." 'Nobody knew' Carol Silverstone, who's lived in the neighbourhood for 64 years, found it upsetting that the parkette was being renamed. "Nobody knew this was happening," she said. Eadie and other residents who spoke with CBC Toronto say they're proud of their tiny community, an area of a few square blocks that begins on the south side of Shuter Street, east of Parliament, directly across from the new Regent Park. In the 1960s, city staff wanted to take over Trefann Court and build public housing on the land, including it as part of Regent Park public housing development. But residents organized against the move and won. It was around this time, city records show, that Trefann Court was recognized as a "redevelopment area", unique from Regent Park. Eadie and other residents say they'd like to see the renaming debate re-opened at Toronto and East York Community Council. Moise insists the public had ample opportunity to voice their opinions before his motion came up last week at council. Moise insists everyone in the city — including those in Trefann Court — had an opportunity to comment on the issue. He also points to an online petition that garnered the names of 800 supporters across the city in a few months, including 80 people he described as locals. "The issue is closed," he told CBC Toronto. "It went through council." Moise said its irrelevant where March was from in the city. "Louis March founded the Zero Gun Violence Movement, believing that everyone deserved to live in a safe, supportive and opportunity-rich environment regardless of their postal code," his motion reads. "His sudden passing on July 20, 2024, was a profound loss for the city, but his vision continues to guide efforts towards peace and justice." One of the locals weighing in on the issue is Walied Khogali Ali, co-chair of the Regent Park Residents Association, who knew March personally. Khogali Ali said he agrees with the residents' complaints. "(March) was a real champion for community voices, and I think this process unfortunately did not include community voices," Khogali Ali said. Eadie says that if Moise had brought the proposal to rename the park through the Toronto and East York Community Council, more Trefann Court residents would have had an opportunity to voice their concerns about renaming Sumach-Shuter Parkette. Although that's traditionally how public spaces like parks are named, Moise said that route is not mandatory. He pointed to last year's renaming of Tiverton Parkette, in the Dundas-Loigan area. That motion went straight to council after hundreds signed a petition in support of a proposal to name it after Caroline Huebner-Makarat, a woman killed by a stray bullet while walking in Leslieville.
CTV News
7 days ago
- General
- CTV News
It will soon be easier for residents in some Toronto neighbourhoods to sign up for recreation programs
The tot pool at the Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre. (City of Toronto website) Residents living near six recreational centres will be able to sign up for programs a week before registration opens to the general public. The City of Toronto announced on Tuesday that it will launch a pilot program called the Early Local Registration Initiative on June 3, starting with six community centres. Mayor Olivia Chow said local residents have been calling for improved access to recreational programs for a long time. 'I've heard you,' Chow said during a news conference at the Regent Park Community Centre. 'It took us a bit of time to get it organized (but) here we are.' She shared that she had heard from local residents that many recreational programs at their centres are being enjoyed by people from other parts of the city. 'Some people might say, hey, I really want to use that pool, but they don't live in the neighbourhood. And by doing that, it ends up, a lot of the local kids end up not being able to register for the swim program,' the mayor said. 'We think the local neighbours should have priority first.' Mayor Olivia Chow Mayor Olivia Chow speaks at a news conference on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Two residents of Regent Park, who are part of a group advocating for early access, spoke during the news conference, expressing their excitement about the program. 'This is a big milestone for us,' said Hani Afra. For Rabia Alsabaie, it's something that her community has been waiting for a long time. 'As an immigrant, it's so hard for us to navigate the system here. On top of that, you want me to wake up at 7 o'clock and chase after other people who have good internet, laptop access, and other things. They are just relaxing and hit the button,' she said. 'It's a moment for us as a community.' The six community centres part of the pilot are the following: Antibes Community Centre, 140 Antibes Dr. Centennial Recreation Centre, 1967 Ellesmere Rd. Fallstaff Community Recreation Centre, 50 Falstaff Ave. Pam McConnell Aquatic Centre, 640 Dundas St. E. Regent Park Athletic Grounds, 480 Shuter St. and Regent Park Community Centre, 402 Shuter St. Scarborough Village Recreation Centre, 3600 Kingston Rd. Howie Dayton, the general manager of the city's park and recreation, explained that eligibility for early access to programs is based on postal codes. He said residents living between one and two kilometers from the community centres would be eligible. As for how the city will ensure the system is fair, Dayton said the city has the ability to determine whether accounts are being created with the correct postal codes. 'There is an honour system around it. We're not asking for proof of residence for people to come into the center and use our centre. We don't want to create that barrier, but there's ways that we can sort of audit the system by exception and determine whether or not we need to do any correction or re-education of the public in terms of how to access those programs,' he said. The mayor noted that the city will review the results of the pilot, and if it is successful, it will be expanded to the other 31 community centres.
The Guardian
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Channing Tatum and Pedro Pascal write poems for Canadian musician Mustafa's book
Actors Channing Tatum and Pedro Pascal have written poems for a new anthology curated by Canadian musician and poet Mustafa that also includes contributions by the writers George Saunders, Max Porter and Hanif Abdurraqib. The book, titled Nour, explores themes of ceremony, loss and worship. 'You told me God wasn't real/ as we sat in the water in the dark that night/ I couldn't see your eyes but I could feel the anger/ in the water', opens Tatum's poem, extracted below along with Pascal's. Mustafa's debut album, Dunya, was released last September; long before that, he'd begun collecting songwriting credits for the likes of Camila Cabello's She Loves Control, The Weeknd's Attention, and Justin Bieber and Shawn Mendes' Monster. His work has often focused on the impact of gang violence and the deaths of friends, drawing on his experiences growing up in the Regent Park neighbourhood of Toronto, Canada's first social housing project. He has not returned to Regent Park since his brother was killed in 2023, he told an audience at a launch event for Nour with actor Daniel Kaluuya on Thursday evening. 'In my mind I want to talk about my brother,' he told George Saunders in a discussion with the author, a transcript of which is included in Nour. 'But is that my responsibility? But he was killed, I want to reimagine his memory. I want to write beauty where there wasn't. But then I also don't want to misconstrue the reality of the harshness of what it was'. Mustafa told Saunders that he finds himself reading pages of the writer's Booker prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo to 'kids in the hood … because you've developed your own language, and your own universe, it's like it's a universe that we all have access to and we all have equal right to enter.' Nour 'is the most important thing I've ever been a part of', Mustafa told attenders at the launch event. The book also features work by the poet Noor Hindi and the musicians Daniel Caesar and Dev Hynes among others. 'With art, we all have to surrender, especially when it comes to poetry', said Mustafa. 'You can't just put different literary devices together and hope for beauty. There is this invisible thread that ties great work together'. You told me God wasn't real as we sat in the water in the dark that night I couldn't see your eyes but I could feel the anger in the water. You said if there was and that god could let a child be violated it was not a god worth worship. Many other things were said on many nights in that angry water Mostly talk of power soaked in booze and fear So it's safe to say I've never known religion I still hear your voice say 'Worshipping anything is for fools' over the dull sound of the football on TV I always imagine clowns on bikes with baskets on the front Honking and riding in circles But my great secret is that I have always felt you Felt angels. Felt love. Felt the magic of so deeply caring for another I never knew what exactly to call it. Now as I write this maybe that's what worship has been for me I've heard it said, god is love. Maybe my way to worship is to love. Every person I meet. As reckless or stupid as that can be. But I also worship my bedsheets, my favorite pillow. I worship the feeling right before I drink coffee, the smell of breakfast I have loved so much as I have drifted through this life. Loved so hard I almost loved myself right out of this world because it was all too much But now I surrender at the feet of each day that I get to experience beauty, the warmth of love Sun on my skin I have never known religion but I've always known you. My love. Love. Love. I will always worship love. I surrender my love always. I surrender my love forever. I see you late bloomer smoking just after sunrise for the first time. Wearing pants and buying pillows dropping cash then leaving them lonely in a stranger's closet. Mushroom lamp says 'What the fuck? Lemme outta here.' I explain to her that first I have to go back and back and back again until I understand that I will always be in love with those footprints. 'Fine.' People smoke here because they like me. See me sitting near the bird shit, making things up that never happened. But they're cool with it. Someone tells me she was kidnapped by a man who held a knife to her neck because her sister always picks the wrong men. I tell her I was a very late bed wetter. All the other talk happens alone, never into a mirror and never to you. But to objects caught off guard by my hostility, by the shape of this grief. Eleven months and only this: I am struck by the lightning of your presence now that you are gone. Nour can be downloaded for free through WeTransfer.
