Sheppard West

Residents face $3.2M on top of $100K already paid after losing at OMB

2008-10-19T15:00:00.001-04:00

After an unsuccesfull attempt at OMB to stop a development in their community, residents face a $3.2M cost. The developer they were fighting outspent the families involved and now wants to be reimbursed for his $3.2 million legal bill. The families fighting the developer raised $100,000 for their lawyers in five years. The developer Kimvar Enterprises, on the other hand, hired 105 experts and more than a dozen lawyers and paralegals.

INNISFIL–Making 298 families pay a developer's legal bills after he spent $3.2 million fighting their objections to his massive development on Lake Simcoe would scare communities away from expressing their views, says the lawyer representing the families. The Innisfil District Association, a local ratepayers' group, lost that fight last year, and now the developer is at a second Ontario Municipal Board hearing, seeking a refund of the company's expenses from the residents and their lawyers. "You have to consider that your decision will instil fear in the heart of anyone who wants to come out to protest," Derek Bell, the ratepayers' lawyer, told the board Friday. "It took these families five years to raise $100,000 for their lawyers," said Bell. "It's ironic that when they finally got the money to come (to the board) to be heard, they lose and then are on the hook for the costs. What are ratepayers supposed to do – not come? That is what developers would like." He wondered how long it would take them to raise $3.2 million. It will be financially ruinous for the families, he said. Bell gave the board an elaborate chart showing the resources to which developer Kimvar Enterprises had access, including 105 experts and more than a dozen lawyers and paralegals who had been directly retained. "It's an army; they (developers) have deep pockets," he said. "If this is what they put forward for a frivolous case, imagine what they would have done for a serious case," Bell said. Ratepayers don't come to the board to make money but to comment on how things should be done, Bell said. He argued a decision against ratepayers will have a chilling effect on anyone seeking justice through the OMB. This case is being closely watched as a potential precedent for future clashes between developers and residents who want to protest urban sprawl. When it was proposed six years ago, the $1 billion Big Bay Point Resort near Innisfil provoked a feud between developer Earl Rumm and some residents, cottagers and environmentalists who claimed a development that large would threaten an already fragile Lake Simcoe. Plans for the project, on a 242-hectare property 10 kilometres east of Barrie, include 1,600 condos and town homes, 400 hotel rooms, a 1,000-slip boat marina and a golf course. Bell rebutted accusations from the developer that the ratepayers did not represent the community and that the organization was run like a fiefdom. "It's also untrue that the ratepayers are not residents of the area," Bell said. The hearing continues Tuesday.

This article by Raveena Aulakh, Staff Reporter, was publised on October 19, 2008 and registered over 65 comments shortly thereafter.

Source

TheStar.com | Residents face $3.2M cost after OMB fight

CTV: TCHC, Canada's worst landlord

2008-10-19T13:56:00.001-04:00

CTV's W Five has made a documentary about the Toronto Housing Corporation, widely known as Canada's worst landlord. The documentary can be viewed on their website.
This news documentary shows the appalling conditions Toronto public housing tenants are forced to live in, starting with cockroaches infestations, filth and ending with crime and spraying bullets. Stan Brodzinski, a legally blind tenant, is quoted as saying:

"Toronto Housing Authority doesn't care about any of their tenants," charges Brodzinski. In the 11 years he has lived in a TCHC apartment, he has made numerous complaints but says they fall on deaf ears. "Many times I've asked them to do maintenance work, but unless you go through the bureaucratic regulations you don't get anything. And it's obvious to even a blind person that they ignore people."

Sarah Shartal started a class action suit asking the Court to hold TCHC to the same standards private landlords are being held. The repair bill is around $300 million, up from $230 million back in 2001, when the province downloaded 30,000 housing units onto the City of Toronto, doubling its public housing roster. Meanwhile, Derek Ballantyne, the CEO of TCHC, makes more than $200,000 a year and blames the province for not providing sufficient funding. The province, represented by Jim Watson, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing blames the federal government, but agrees that

The conditions that these people are living in, many of these people are living in, is not acceptable (sic).

Sources

CTV.ca | Canada's Worst Landlord

Toronto, government, mismanagement, political, fallout, corruption

In the aftermath: answers, or more unanswered questions?

2008-08-13T09:41:00.001-04:00

After such a tragedy, where people died or were forcibly evacuated, it is only natural to inquire how could this happen and whose fault was it. As details are starting to emerge, it becomes clearer and clearer that government idiocy and lack of foresight have played an important role in the tragedy. The very reason of zoning - i.e., dividing the city in areas with specific purposes, such as residential, commercial and industrial - is to ensure quality of life for its residents and make the city manageable. Residents do not want industries close to them for pollution and safety reasons. City officials do not generally permit industrial sites next to residential areas because elected representatives fight for their voters and help the respective citizens make their views known. Yet every now and then, elected representatives fail to represent those who voted them into office and don't do the job they were elected to do. This is how such disasters have a chance to happen.

News coverage

First of all, the lack of coverage of the story is appalling. It almost seems like the local mass-media waited for approval from the Chinese Embassy before rushing, hours after CNN, to cover the story. On CBC's story page, linked in the first article on this topic, Pe-Bo stated:

RichHelms wrote:
"Nice of CBC to finally cover the story at 8:28 am. CNN had a new flash on it before 6 am. "
OK Rich, I know it's a posting passtime to fault CBC at every opportunity, but let's be fair here, every local news service dropped the ball on this one. None, not CTV or CITY TV or Global had mention of this on their websites until very recently. CP24 had a ticker-tape headline at about 5 am but no clickable link to a story.
Additionally, CBC Radio One was the first to report the event mention the event on its hourly news shortly after the first explosions.
And welcome to the 21st century....youtube nearly always gets video before news services nowadays.

CBC managed to include a section of user-contributed photos and descriptions of the nightmare while the National Post quoted a few residents. YouTube has its own collection of clips uploaded by users, one such collection being displayed in our original article on the Toronto propane blast. Spacing Toronto has a collection of news headlines relevant to the explosion.

City Response

According to the National Post, the fire department responded swiftly and the fire claimed the life of the district chief, Bob Leek as well as that of a Sunrise Propane employee. The 12000 residents were then evacuated from an area of 1.6 km around the site and Canada's busiest highway was closed, along with several subway stations. The evacuation was most likely caused by asbestos which was found all around the area. The response was quarterbacked by city manager Shirley Hoy and her deputy, Richard Butts. They coordinated the EMS, fire and police. The media link is normally the Mayor, presently still David Miller. As he was away in holiday in Vancouver, this task was fullfilled by Shelley Carroll a deputy mayor and Miller's closest ally. Ms Carroll is known to our residents as the most vocal proponent of the Jane & Sheppard housing project, a project opposed by our association, sponsored by various levels of government and declared racist and apartheid-inspired by the African Canadian Legal Clinic.

The evacuees were housed at York University. On Sunday at 7 p.m., Toronto Police and Shelley Carroll gave their OK for the residents to be allowed in their homes, only to be prevented from returning, steps from their entrance, causing anger and resentments. The Mayor later explained that asbestos was found again and more clean-up was needed. Residents were eventually allowed back home in batches. The Mayor promised a review of zoning by-laws, even though the city did not have the authority to license the facility.

A little history

How did this situation appear? In two excellent articles, John Barber digs out the truth: 1, 2. It turns out that in the early 90's, the unamalgamated municipalities that made Toronto fought hard to be able to regulate and inspect propane facilities. Tough bylaws were passed, but the industry fought back and won an Ontario Court of Appeal judgement in 1995 that quashed a tough City of York bylaw. The judgement was given after the province intervened in the case on behalf of the industry and against the City. The amalgamated City of Toronto completely gave up and removed any last remnants of similar bylaws in 1999 and at the OMB. Toronto has failed to develop a harmonized zoning law 10 years after amalgamation and it is still governed by no fewer than 41 zoning laws.

The Harris provincial government privatized the inspection of propane facilities in the wake of the Walkerton tragedy, defying common sense. The provincial legislative body passed the Technical Standards and Safety Act, which put "Colonel Sanders in charge of the chickens", as Jim Bradley, an opposition MPP described the new act. The people in charge with inspecting the propane facilities are directly financed by the propane industry, much like Anderson was financed by Enron. Brian Patterson, president of the Ontario Safety League, has also decried the fact that some of the best experts in fire prevention are not allowed to inspect the facilities under this legislation. Whatever the cause of the latest tragedy proves to be, that can't last. "Facilities that require enhanced fire protection should be inspected by the fire department." Mr. Patterson said. "It seems pretty straightforward." (...)

The early bylaws emerged following the 1986 explosion of a propane refuelling station in Weston. But the province joined the propane industry in an ultimately successful attempt to kill them off in the courts and at the Ontario Municipal Board. To placate propane-phobic municipalities in the meantime, former Consumer Minister Monte Kwinter struck an expert committee to devise a "model bylaw" for propane-handling facilities in Ontario.
If that committee ever met, there is no mention of it in the public record. Milt Farrow, a retired civil servant Mr. Kwinter nominated to the committee, said yesterday that he had no recollection of such a thing. No model bylaw restricting propane ever emerged.
Today, as local MPP for the riding where the blast took place, Mr. Kwinter is leading the chorus of those blaming the city for allowing a propane farm next to a residential neighbourhood. This is the same person who once led provincial attempts to quash municipal bylaws that would have disallowed many if not most of the propane installations that, thanks to provincial policy, have since sprung up all over the city.
The same person who forgot his promise to create a better bylaw the moment he uttered it. Not a Harrisite, just a Queen's Park veteran.
His colleague, Mr. Bradley, should take greater care the next time he plays Cassandra.

TSSA has not inspected the location of the blast since 2005, when it opened. TSSA released a list of the 22 GTA locations licensed for more than 5000 gallons of propane.

Allegations, Recriminations and things left unsaid

There is a lot of anger and disappointment directed at the officials. There were persistent questions regarding how and why was it possible for such a dangerous facility to exist and operate within meters from a residential neighbourhood. Many wonder if Sunrise will survive this scandal. Shopekeepers scout the empty, desolate streets and survey the damage. The emotions were high, and they boiled over at a meeting. As residents were asking questions, or "venting", as Shelley Carroll said, councillor Augimeri yelled "Shut Up!" (1, 2, 3).

Lessons Learned

There clearly is a communication problem.
It is ridiculous that people learned about this from CNN while the local media, including CBC, was eerily silent.
The residents were moved around with no clear directions or explanations.
Residents were then "allowed" to return to their homes only to be turned around in front of their gates.
As expected, the various levels of government play ping-pong with their responsibility.
Local politicians seemed to have been far more atuned to the needs of the community prior to amalgamation than after.
Larger political entities (the province and the amalgamated city) are more sensitive to lobbying than smaller ones (the municipalities).

This is why the explosion at the "Sunrise" plant was not just an industrial failure, but more so a failure of proper planning.

[tags]responsibility, corruption, government idiocy[/tags]

Huge explosion at fuel depot in Toronto

2008-08-10T04:40:00.008-04:00

We were awaken by a huge explosion in Toronto S from our vantage point (N of Sheppard, between Keele & Jane) shortly before 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, August 10, 2008. The windows rattled and the skies lit up. At one point, in the distance, an immense flame raised to the sky. The flame was visible from our 2nd floor window. Crackles and secondary explosions could be heard throughout. Shortly thereafter, we could hear the alarms of the firefighters. We expect this to be major news tomorrow, if it could be heard at such a distance.

Video #6 in the list has caught the major secondary explosion.

Our own video was filmed around Jane & Sheppard, so we can virtually guarantee that this did not occur near the airport. It's most likely a gas station or propane shop explosion, as some have identified it.

CBC has covered this explosion:

Thousands of people fled their homes in a residential neighbourhood of Toronto early Sunday following a series of explosions and a massive fire at a propane depot.
Shelby Degan holds her sweater to her mouth in an attempt to filter out the smoke near her home which is several blocks from a the site of a huge blaze at a propane depot in northwest Toronto. (J.P. Moczulski/Canadian Press)

Police report at least two injuries involving people hit by broken glass and fiery debris that shot into the air after the initial blast, just before 4 a.m. ET.

One man lost his balance and fell while running from the scene, where a huge fireball lit up the sky. Tony Testa said he suffered burns to his back from falling debris.

Officers brought in buses to take residents out of the area after the multiple explosions began. A fire official said people living in a 1.6-kilometre radius have been forced out of their homes.

The first explosion, which could be heard seven kilometres away, shook nearby homes and buildings, waking residents.

One resident living across the street from the Sunrise Propane Industrial Gases facility in the area of Keele Street and Wilson Avenue said the blast blew out all the windows at his home.

Testa said his house appeared to shift and one of his solid wooden doors is in pieces. A number of witnesses reported seeing houses on fire and propane tanks falling from the sky.

The six-alarm fire sent clouds of thick smoke hundreds of metres into the air. More than 130 firefighters were sent to battle the blaze.

Two propane tankers were still parked at the scene several hours after the explosions. Firefighters were spraying water on them to prevent further explosions.

The tankers have the capacity to hold about 220,000 litres of propane, police said.

A no-fly zone was ordered above the site of the explosions.

Air testing showed initial concern that the fiery blast had turned the air toxic was unfounded, a fire official said.

As a precaution, police have closed a 16-kilometre stretch of Highway 401 between Highway 400 and the Don Valley Parkway.

Ontario Provincial Police spokesman Sgt. Cam Wooley said he has never seen such a large stretch of the highway closed.

[tags]responsibility, corruption, government idiocy[/tags]

Violence in our community: pretending it's not our problem won't make it go away

2007-12-14T11:30:00.002-05:00

The North York Mirror published an editorial related to the unfortunate events from last week, Violence in our community: pretending it's not our problem won't make it go awayI believe that the root problem of crime in our community consists of councilors like Giorgio Mamolitti, who through their ill-thought policies have concentrated social housing in our area without adequate support. But the media itself contributes to the problem by ignoring the people in the area, who for the past few years have been trying to call attention the neglect and lack of resources that this neighbourhood is confronted with.

When the press dropped by, the frustrated residents were first interviewed on City TV, Global, CTV and OMNI news, but eventually they were censored out. Giorgio Mamolitti came running to do some very effective damage control and took the spotlight to give the impression that he's doing something for the community and fool people into believing that the problem can be solved by military presence. What we need is intelligent policies that take this area out of the trouble is in.

Welcome to our brand new blog

2007-12-07T17:52:00.000-05:00

This blog is so new, we are still playing with the bubble wrap.

Although we will maintain the official website for our group, Sheppard West Neighbourhood Association, we created this blog as an outlet for our members (and anyone living in or interested in our neighbourhood) to make their voices heard. We are looking forward to thoughts, photos and video clips from everyone living in the Jane & Sheppard area, as well as anybody else who is or might be sympathetic to our cause. We always welcome anyone who wants to participate in making this neighbourhood better.