world19News #149 |
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world19News This e-mail is going to people on the mailing list for world19. If you don't want to receive further notices, please reply to this e-mail with "remove" in the subject. Let us know if you prefer to receive this in "plain text" format. Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested. In this issue:(a green theme...) 1. HIGH PARK - Tree Planting volunteers wanted - Sat.
May 15 A last minute reminder of tomorrow's tree planting event organized by HPCAC. You are welcome to attend. The weather should be great. Wanted Tree Planting Volunteers High Park Saturday, May 15 at 10 am to 12:30 pm Planting will take place rain or shine starting at 10 am on Saturday, May 15, 2004 in High Park, on the ravine slope behind the fountain at the intersection of Bloor Street and Parkside Drive. The nearest subway stop to the planting area is Keele station. Please bring a shovel or we can supply. The High Park Community Advisory Council (HPCAC) is pleased to host its second annual large scale volunteer spring tree planting. The planting is made possible through the generous donation of $3,600 from the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and $1,750 from the Toronto Parks and Trees Foundation. This initiative is part of a long term strategy aimed at restoring trees and shrubs in the natural areas of the Park to pre-settlement condition. Native species to be planted include red oak, white pine, red maple, paper birch, chokecherry and witch hazel. Individual donations to support future tree planting projects
and children's outdoor educational programs are welcome. For more information or to
donate, please check www.hpicharity.org. 2. PESTICIDE BYLAW - May 18 At the City Council meeting beginning May 18, Council will vote on a recommendation by the Works and Parks department committees to weaken the pesticide ban (except in cases of serious bug infestation) which was passed by last year's City Council. In a "compromise" proposed by Case Ootes, the recommendation would allow pesticide use on lawns, golf clubs, etc. if they had as little as 5-10% weed cover. We put the word "compromise" in quotes because to those believing in the danger of pesticide use, the appearance of reduced hazard by allowing use for "some" weed cover is false. There may be amendments made at Council to allow usage in case of 25%, 50% coverage etc. Given the serious warnings by health groups (see below), we believe that cosmetic gains don't justify the potential serious health risks. (Note that according to the "Inside City Hall" column in the May 14 Globe & Mail, the vote of the joint committees passed with the support of Works chair Jane Pitfield, who apparently has since realized she voted in error, and will support the original ban). The vote is expected to be close. We encourage you to contact your City Councillor on the issue:
Some relevant links and info: Toronto Star article (May 6) on the committee recommendation: http://makeashorterlink.com/?L20412E48 Council agenda item: (City website): http://makeashorterlink.com/?X36422E48 Warnings from various organizations: -- The Canadian Cancer Society says, "we call for a ban on the use of any pesticide for ornamental purposes that has not been scientifically demonstrated to be non-carcinogenic." -- The Learning Disabilities Association of Canada supports, "a phase out of non-essential uses of pesticides on lawns, gardens, and on parks and playgrounds." -- Environment Canada has found that lawn and garden pesticides are contaminating the Don and Humber rivers. -- The World Wildlife Fund Canada has produced a booklet titled "Your Guide to Natural, Pesticide-Free Gardening, which is available at garden centres operated by Loblaws. "Mountains of scientific studies demonstrate the problems with pesticides and make a compelling case for pesticide reduction," Julia Langer, director of international conservation programs for WWF-Canada, said in a news release. -- Toronto Environmental Alliance's Council Watch page: http://www.torontoenvironment.org/councilwatch/new_council_watch/index3_issue22.html Our final comment: It seems natural to be suspicious of heavy
lobbying by a group that purposely distorts their identity. The organization representing
lawn-care companies has been behind the heavy advertising and phone blitz against the ban,
but under the name "Toronto Environmental Coalition". 3. HIGH PARK - Opportunities to help your park! This email is being sent to those interested in the Volunteer Stewardship Program, and those with a general interest in High Park. Help is needed as members-at-large for High Park Community Advisory Council (paragraph 1.) and with High Park Volunteer Stewardship Program planning (paragraph 2.). 1. The High Park Community Advisory Council has several openings for members-at-large for the 2-year term beginning at the Annual Meeting (June 16) and running to June, 2006. Here is an opportunity for you to get involved more closely with the Council, the work of its standing committees and its various volunteer programs. Interested parties should apply in writing on or before May 31 to: High Park Community Advisory Council, P.O. Box 108, Swansea Town Hall, 98 Lavinia Avenue, Toronto, ON M6S 3H9. Your submission should include a brief biography and comments regarding your interest in helping us act as responsible stewards of the Park for present and future generations. If you would like further information on the responsibilities
of members-at-large as you consider applying, please feel free to contact Ron Allan at ronsallan@REMOVETHISrogers.com. (remove the
"REMOVETHIS" -- it's there to protect the address from spam) 2. High Park Volunteer Stewardship Program is holding a Planning Meeting on Thursday, June 10th at Howard Park Tennis Club at 7 p.m. Please advise if you'd like to attend and we'll send you an Agenda gillian.smith@REMOVETHISsympatico.ca or jean.vesik@REMOVETHISsympatico.ca (remove the "REMOVETHIS" -- it's there to protect the address from spam) VSPs need help with several tasks, including answering the phone line, co-ordinating adopt-a-plot matters (administrative work), sending events to the media and keeping track of person hours and numbers of plants. Some events on the schedule have changed and we'll firm these up at the meeting. We'd really like feedback and suggestions from you by email or in person. See you in the Park. Gillian Smith and Jean Vesik Co-Chairs, 4. OTHER a) Assessment Appeals More from our subscriber, Bruce Haines. This time a letter to the Assessment Review Board, about their apparent unwillingness to grant access to the valuable "pre-hearing stream" for residents appealing their assessment. See the Assessment link on www.world19.com b) Hotmail - not so hot? After sending our last newsletter (May 11), we received bounces from all our subscribers who use hotmail addresses. This has happened a few times recently. They were returned "because the destination computer was not reachable within the allowed queue period". We've also heard of long delays in receiving mail via hotmail. For those using hotmail, we hope this is temporary. (And for our hotmail subscribers, the missing newsletter covered mostly upcoming events. Most of the info is posted on our main webpage). c) Meeting reminders: Reminder of a couple of meetings this coming week. Details are posted on our main webpage: www.world19.com
d) Bloor West Village "visioning study"
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