Voices of Willowdale (VoW)
Newsletter #1 - Where is Democracy?
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Hello Neighbours!
It’s been a whirlwind of just over 2 weeks when many of us heard about this rushed, secret and poorly thought out proposal for modular housing at the corner of Willowdale and Cummer (175 Cummer Avenue). In fact, many of our neighbours are still not aware of this proposed development, which is not surprising since site signs only went up after the first community consultation (March 9) and after city council voted for it the next day (Mar 10).
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We need to work together to help stop a bad decision that hurts our seniors, destroys our green space and fails Toronto's homeless.
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We want to start by saying THANK YOU to the more than 1,000 people that have signed the petition in the last week alone (835+ online and 250+ on paper by senior citizens who do not have access to technology). There are also dozens of compelling comments on the petition page and we'll soon be posting them on our website. The City of Toronto and our Councillor John Filion and his office continue to mislead the residents in our community by moving forward without due process and proper consultation. It’s really very un-Canadian and upsetting to hundreds of community members. As the nearly 300 vulnerable elderly who live in the subsidized housing at Willowdale Manor respectfully ask, “Where is democracy?”
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We're just getting started!
We will use our newly set up website, newsletter, and social media to share information with you. Councillor Filion has incorrectly led most of our community members to believe that this is a “done deal” and that there is nothing that can be done to stop this proposal. Well thankfully that’s not true! The Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) has not yet been submitted to the provincial government who would need to approve it, effectively suspending all democratic rights. Our MPP Stan Cho has been made aware of our community's concerns but we encourage you to also write directly to your politicians about this particular proposal at 175 Cummer (this feature is coming very soon on our website).
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Okay what next?
About twice a week, Voices of Willowdale (VoW) will send you a newsletter that has information and facts about the multiple issues of concern. And that's the point....it's not a single issue, but a fail on so many different issues. We have a team of community members who are experts in different disciplines and are committed to transparency, democracy and doing the right thing (not the rushed thing!). These members are all residents who live in the immediate area and are volunteers doing this on top of their usual day to day work and family responsibilities. We share the same passion that a knee-jerk decision should not be fast-tracked through without due process thereby resulting in a poor permanent outcome that hurts our seniors, destroys our greenspace AND fails our homeless.
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So how can I help?
Help us spread the word! As mentioned, we are a grass-roots 100% volunteer group of concerned citizens. We don’t have paid staff like Councillor Filion's office plus highly paid consultants hired by the city to confuse and shame people, and avoid direct inquiry from the public. At this point, we need help in spreading the word about our website, encouraging people to sign up for this newsletter, sign the petition, request a lawn sign, write to politicians, and share on social media. Please take a moment to share this newsletter with at least 3 neighbours (more if you can!) to help them understand what's being bulldozed through our community, all while people are isolating during a pandemic.
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Related Events
BCNA is hosting a community meeting with Councilor Filion tonight at 7pm regarding this proposal. If you live within the BCNA catchment you are welcome to attend. Please register here to get the zoom link.
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Next up....
In our next newsletter, we'll tell you more about the hundreds of seniors that are losing their beautiful front lawn and green space. Their voices have not only been ignored, they've been blatantly disregarded. It's not pretty, but no one said politics was :(
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