THE DANGER OF PLASTIC BAGS IN THE PARK AND JUST ABOUT EVERYWHERE ELSE ON THE PLANET!!!

FOSS member Donna-Marie Batty, along with a growing number of others, is very concerned about the proliferation of plastic shopping bags in the environment. We have all seen the "plastic bag" trees in the park during the Fall and Winter and observed them in increasing numbers in the ponds and on the shore.

The slideshow she has posted here is a strong and convincing argument for a total ban (Click on arrow on bottom left of black screen to start the video)

She has forwarded it to members of city council (including Mark Grimes and David Miller). Please pass this on to everyone you know. We need to pressure the City of Toronto to simply ban them. People are now becoming educated on the issue are ready to accept this inevitability

"CCFEW fights skating trail" - ETOBICOKE GUARDIAN, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008

Text from the Guardian article
Local waterfront watchdog group opposed to city plans to build concrete recreational facilities in Colonel Sam Smith Park has once again taken its case to the Ministry of the Environment.

Citizens Concerned About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront (CCFEW) wrote Environment Minister John Gerretsen on Sept. 10 to request he pass a project-specific regulation designating a proposed artificial ice skating track as a project to which the Environmental Assessment Act applies.

Three months ago, city plans to construct the $2-million ice skating track drew support and interest from some residents.

But opponents charged the plan is an intrusion on a lakefront retreat, and repeated arguments voiced two years ago in a protracted battle against a controversial, now defunct, city plan to build a concrete skateboarding pad in the same naturalized waterfront park's meadow.

In its application, the group states the site of the proposed $2-million artificial ice skating track is a woodlot designated for "landscape regeneration" in the park's Master Plan.

CCFEW argued the environmental impact of the city's proposal has not been evaluated within the context of natural heritage policies, or on the woodlot and the park, in general.

"This development poses a threat to parkland intended for passive recreation compatible with a natural habitat," reads CCFEW's request.

A city-funded biologist's report in 2006 indicated 121 migratory bird species use the park's habitats.

At a public meeting in June, city officials unveiled preliminary plans to build a 250-metre linear skating trail. The 4.2-metres-wide trail with "morality" lighting and a "very discreet" sound system was proposed for 12 per cent of the one-hectare site, project lead Steve O'Bright, a co-ordinator with the city's park and recreation department said.

The remaining 88 per cent of the site will be renaturalized, O'Bright said.

But in its designation request, CCFEW cites site-management guidelines for the park, known as the Lakeshore Grounds, dating back to 1997 that indicate passive recreation should dominate at the site.

The guidelines cited further indicate "single purpose facilities which occupy large land areas should be discouraged at this specific site."

"CCFEW's position is that an ice skating facility with lights and music is a single purpose facility that was not envisaged when these principles were approved," the group wrote in its request.

"Traditional recreation in the Lakeshore Grounds has been walking, bird watching, nature study and enjoying views of the waterfront. The meadows are not cut and the areas where the grass is cut are not maintained as playing fields."

This is CCFEW's second designation request of the ministry in as many years.

In June 2006, the group requested the same ministry regulation over the contentious, now defunct, city proposal to build a skateboard park in Colonel Sam Smith Park's meadow.

City plans to build the skateboard park died that September after Ward 6 (Etobicoke-Lakeshore) Councillor Mark Grimes got strong advice from colleague Ward 38 Councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker to put the controversial park elsewhere.

CCFEW TAKES SKATING TRAIL'S ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT TO THE PROVINCE

Click on the CCFEW link at top left of this page to view the latest on this

HALLOWEEN AT THE POWER HOUSE

Power House Charity Haunt

October 24, 2008 to October 31, 2008

Come and have a spooktacular scare for a good cause!

Located by Humber College and the former grounds on the Etobicoke Phychiatric Hospital, this haunt is not for the faint of heart. Find your way through a labyrinth maze and anticipate what is waiting for you around ever corner!

For informtaion on volenteering or event information contact us at info@charityhaunt.ca
Although there is no age restriction, this event is not recommended for children under 9 years old. Children 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Ticket Sales close at 10:30pm

For more information contact:
Phone: 416 338 1081

or visit our website at www.charityhaunt.ca

NEW SCHOOL ON LAKESHORE GROUNDS

It looks like the Toronto Catholic School Board has decided that a new school will be built at the south-west corner of Kipling and Lakeshore Boulevard on the Lakeshore Grounds, where what is left of the heritage orchard still stands. Below is an excerpt from a TCSB meeting last May. It is taken from their website. This will be a shock to many considering there has been no publicity and very little public participation. If you look below at the quote from the Ministry of Education guidelines on pupil accommodation, it appears that the TCSB has definitely omitted an important step!


APPROVED MINUTES
CE01 ACCOMMODATION REVIEW COMMITTEE MEETING #3
TUESDAY, May 13, 2008
CHRIST THE KING CATHOLIC SCHOOL


• St.Teresa and Christ the King consolidate in a new
school at the Kipling and Lakeshore Blvd site
• vote taken – all agreed


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
PUPIL ACCOMMODATION REVIEW GUIDELINES


“The guidelines ensure that where a decision is taken by a school board regarding the future of a school, that decision is made with the full involvement of an informed local community”