St Clair

Last Update October 23

Ward 21 – St. Paul’s

Councillor – Joe Mihevc

 

Demographic features of Ward 21

  • Top 5 language groups (in descending order): English, Spanish, Italian, Tagalog, Portuguese.

  • 42% of the population over 15 years are first generation migrants. The majority of recent migrants are from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Southern Europe.

  • 46.4% of residents are couples with children. 17.3% are lone parents.

  • 64% of residents live in apartment buildings.

  • The unemployment for residents is 6.5% (NOTE – these are based on 2006 statistics).

  • The majority of those employed work in the areas of finance/administration and sales/service.

  • Average household Income $113,458

  • Median household income  $54,406

  • Average 1-Person household Income $47,041

  • Median 1-Person household income  $33,557

  • 19.1% of private households are considered low-income

 

SOURCE:

City of Toronto, “Ward 21 Profile” (2006): https://www.toronto.ca/wards2000/pdf/2006/ward21_2006profiles.pdf

 

General update on cuts to TTC

  • As with all other City Agencies, the TTC has been told to come up with a 10% reduction in its operating budget for 2012. On September 16, 2011, the Commissioners approved the amended 2012 TTC Operating Budget worth a total of $1.49 billion. The amended budget is still facing a $21 million shortfall.

  • $14 million in cuts are to be achieved through cutting 482 staff, as well as through contracting out.

  • Other savings are achieved by increasing crowding standards and decreasing service frequency.

  • The Commission will be voting on whether to increase fares by 10 cents at its December meeting, although sources suggest that this is inevitable.

  • In essence, TTC riders will be required to pay more money for less service and more crowded vehicles at a time when TTC is projecting an all-time-high record ridership level of 503 million in 2012.

  • The “Blue Night Network” is to be maintained.

  • The Wheel-Trans Budget is still facing an $8-million shortfall, which was reduced from $16 million through staff reductions, expenditure savings and a policy decision to eliminate trips for ambulatory dialysis patients.

SOURCES
Minutes from the meeting of the Toronto Transit Commissioners (September 16, 2011)
Minutes from the meeting of the Toronto Transit Commissioners (October 19, 2011)

General update on Child care – see separate report

 

You can find a map and complete list of child care centres in Ward 21 (including which one’s have subsidies) here: https://www.toronto.ca/children/wardreport/pdf/2011/lic_child_care/ward21_c.pdf.

Ward 21 is not one of the wards that suffers from the worst shortages of child care spaces, but there are no subsidized spaces currently available. The Ward currently has 207 child care spaces.

If the City decides to cut 2,000 spaces across the City, Ward 21 is projected to lose 18 spaces. If the City decides to cut 5,000 spaces, Ward 21 is projected to lose 43 spaces.

 

Public Housing in Ward 21

  • According to a news release, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation voted on October 21 to sell off 706 houses. The minutes are not yet available. But according to the release, the idea is that the money from the sales would be used to pay for repairs to other public housing units.

  • The proposal now goes before City Council for approval. It is likely that most sales will also require provincial approval. This may be as early as the November 29th City Council meeting.

  • This is a partial list provided by Caitlin of the Toronto Community Housing Corporation buildings in Ward 21 {I haven’t double-checked these}:

    • 141 Louise Towers
    • 130 Vaughan Rd. (SENIORS BUILDING)
    • 430 Frankel Lambert
    • 1 146-154 Lambertlodge Ave.
    • 367-379, 384-394, 475-491 Melita Ave.
    • 475-491, 101-111 Wychcrest Ave.
    • 434 Frankel Lambert 2 460-464B,
    • 470 Melita Ave.
    • (Melita Cres. 470) 1149-1153B Shaw St.;
    • 129-137B Wychrest Ave.
    • 460 Lambert Ct. 384-390 Christie St.;
    • 2, 10-50 Lambertlodge Ave.;
    • 255-269 Melita Ave
    • 476 Davenport Rd. (1087) 1087 Davenport Road
    • 174 Blake Towers
    • 154 Vaughan Rd.
    • 490 Bathurst St. (1400)
    • 1400 Bathurst St.

 

  • More work needs to be done to identify how many of the 706 homes on the chopping block are in Ward 21.

 

SOURCES

 

TCHC news release, “Plan to raise $300 million for repairs receives Board approval” (October 21, 2011)

 

Library – Service Reductions

  • Ford has demanded that all City Boards and Agencies reduce their budgets by 10% for 2012 (except for the Toronto Police Service, which will see an increase next year). In order to achieve the necessary reduction without closing branches, the Toronto Public Library will need to reduce its hours. This reduction is the equivalent of closing 8 libraries.

  • The City Librarian is proposing a reduction of its budget of 5.7% (almost $10 million) for 2012, which would be based on “efficiencies” and “new revenues” and would not require service reductions or cuts to the library collection. These “efficiencies” include the layoff of 100 “full-time equivalent” workers and greater reliance on “self-service” and youth volunteers.

  • If service reductions go ahead, the affected libraries in Ward 21 are:

    • Forest Hill (700 Eglinton Avenue West) – currently open 62 hours a week, these hours will be reduced to 56 hours per week.

    • Wychwood (1431 Bathurst Street) – currently open 62 hours a week, these hours will be reduced to 56 hours per week.

  • {N.B. I think these are the only two libraries in the Ward, but I need to double check this}

  • The Chief Librarian notes that Fewer open hours reduces service levels in two ways: the branch is open fewer hours for residents to visit and it limits the time available for study, accessing collections, programs, etc.; and when the library is open, the space will be more congested and crowded, reducing access to study space, computers and to zoned spaces including those for teens, children and preschoolers.

  • The library workers collective agreement expires in March 2012.

 

SOURCES:

Memo from City Librarian to Toronto Public Library Board, “2012 Operating Budget Submission” (October 17, 2011). https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/content/about-the-library/pdfs/board/meetings/2011/oct17/11.pdf

 

Toronto Public Library Board, “2012 Operating Budget Submission – Monday to Saturday & Sunday Service Hours Reduction” (October 17, 2011). https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/content/about-the-library/pdfs/board/meetings/2011/oct17/11_5.pdf

Privatization of Garbage Services

  • Ward 21 is within the area that will be affected by City Council’s decision to privatize garbage pick-up

  • City Council is voting this week on awarding a contract to GFL Environmental East Corporation (“Green For Life Environmental East Corporation”) for a the period of seven (7) years commencing August 7, 2012 to August 2, 2019 with an option to extend the resulting contract for (2) additional separate one (1) year period(s), at the sole discretion of the Acting General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services, for a grand total contract value of $186,405,881.65.

  • GFL currently has the contract for privatized curbside collection in Etobicoke and was the lowest bidder.

  • GFL has agreed to comply with the City’s “Fair Wage Policy”, which means paying the “prevailing wages and benefits in the field” for non-unionized workers. It is hard to see how the projected savings can be achieved without drastic reductions in wages and benefits, particularly because service levels are supposed to remain the same.

 

SOURCE: Memo from Acting General Manager, Solid Waste Management Services Director, Purchasing and Materials Management Division, to City Council: “Contract Award RFQ 6033-11-3186 – Curbside Collection, District 2” (October 17, 2011) https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-41762.pdf

NEXT STEPS FOR RESEARCH

  • Identify all community centres/services in the area – identify whether they rely upon the community grants
  • Identify the Employment research centres and whether they are affected by cuts
  • Identify any cuts to funding in schools (e.g. the school breakfasts)
  • Get information on how many of the TCHC homes on the chopping block are in Ward 21

Comments are closed.