News from the Archives v02-3

News from the Archives v02-3

• Created by: Albert Fulton
• Date: 1993-09-01
• Provenance: Collected by members of Toronto Island Connections group, scanned by Edward English, OCR by Eric Zhelka, PDF by Eric Light
• Notes: v02-3

MARGARET BURROWS
SEPTEMBER 1, 1993
After residing at 7 Dacotah since April 1950, Marg has made the difficult decision to move to a seniors’ building in the Eglinton-Dufferin area. The lucky new residents, come October, are /
Jennifer Dales and her sons David, Matthew and Robert. Jennifer’s first encounter with the Island and Islanders was her practice-teaching stint at the I.P.S.
Marg and Bud’s home, one of the better built Island houses, was constructed after the war by the young architectural student Edwin Manning and his wife Isabel, and the sizable shedwas a prefab job from Halliday Lumber that could supposedly be assembled by 2 men in 2 hours. Marg
t e
recalls that it took considerably more than 2 men (and women) considerably longer than2 hours to put it together! This shed has recently yielded up a cornucopia of archival treasures—3 cartons of Island clippings and newsletters and more of Bud’s photos and slides, even a slide projector and screen, which Marg has donated to the Archives. If you have any large 2″ slides and no projector, you may borrow this one.
/
Following is an excerpt from a piece written by Marg which appeared in the Globe & Mail on December 5, 1968. It was accompanied by 2 of Bud’s photos of the play school kiddies and their teachers, and Marg passed on to Enid Cridland the other photos which Bud had taken at the play school. Enid has generously donated 30 of them to the Archives. I have added the addresses.
4 1 1
A group of mothers on Toronto Island thoroughly endorse Metro School Board Chairman Barry Lowes’ belief that children should start school at 3 or even younger. In fact, they thought so four years ago. And since there is no junior kindergarten at the Island School, they decided to start their own play school on Algonquin Island. Mrs. Enid Cridland (16 Ojibway), who spearheaded the idea, had a little girl of 3 who, she felt, was ready for organized learning. And there were other mothers who felt the same way. ‘We thought if we could give the tots even one morning a week, it would introduce them to group play and supervised activities, ‘says Mrs. Cridland, an energetic brunette with a quick smile.
–
The play school still goes on. This year, after a couple of years tending to another baby, Mrs. Cridland is back in charge, assisted by 11 other mothers—all with active youngsters between2 and5 who make up the 23 children attending the school every Tuesday morning from 9 to 11:30. Held at the Algonquin Island Assn. clubhouse—a roomy building put up by island husbands 17 years ago–the play school is a fine example of what determined, imaginative women can do in their own neighborhood. It is run on love, hard work and very little money. The mothers pay only $6 per year per child, and this d i t
working capital is being used judiciously for supplies like books, second-hand chairs and tables, and educational toys. Some of the equipment of course is donated—building blocks, dolls, puzzles, toy trains and so forth. Some of it is conceived and created by the mothers—like the giant pull-train made of cardboard cartons, and the big felt balls made from bright scraps. And some of it is constructed by co-operative fathers—like the child’s-height book rack, the little partitions for the “play stations’, the small easels for painting, the hook-board for coats and hats, and shelves and storage cupboards.
“We checked with the pre-school activities division of the Board of Education, explains Kate Verweij (3 Ojibway), e 0 e
mother of a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old, “and discovered that it must be called a play school, not a nursery school, and that there should be one supervisor for every 10 children. Since we have 23 youngsters this year, we have 3 mothers supervising each Tuesday.’ The Board of Educational so advises the mothers about books to get, the kind of equipment to install, and how to plan the curriculum. Two of the mothers taught school before marriage and others have had experience ininstruction. Anne Maher (11 Dacotah), who has a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old in the play school, was a North Toronto 4
teacher for a number of years and currently gives two evenings a week (while father baby-sits) to teaching New Canadians at Oakwood Collegiate. Eve Cappel (12 Oneida)was a kindergarten teacher in West Germany before coming to Canada. Louise Chisholm (3 Channel)was a nurse. Kate Verweij was a research technician and a swimming instructor on the side. Another mother taught horseback riding. Others held varied office jobs.
‘One of the interesting things to us,’says Mrs. Maureen Smith (6 First), who helps Mrs. Cridland run the play school, ALGONQUIN ISLAND ARCHIVES c/o Albert Fulton 5 Oibway Ave Toronto M5J 2C9 203-0921 or 537-5006 is that personality traits are evident right from the start. You recognize the child who is introverted and needs drawing out, the one who is full of aggressions and needs calming down, or the one who loves to be busy but doesn’t want to play.” “Occasionally there’s the tot who sits alone against a wall while the others are playing,” adds Jill Fowlie (16 Dacotah), mother of 6, whose youngest is a play schooler. “We don’t force them though. We let them take their own pace and eventually they dry their tears and join in.” The teachers at the Island School have told the mothers they can spot the play schoolers immediately when they start to the regular school. Apparently they adjust quickly, don’t cry for their mothers, and take to the routines more readily.
Since the Algonquin Island clubhouse is used for many other community activities, the mothers have to do a good housekeeping job on play school equipment, stocking it away in storage cupboards, toy boxesand shelves. But they’ve taught the children to do their share of cleaning up and putting away. The mothers actually look forward to their stints of supervising, with a turn coming up about once a month. They admit the play school has been a good thing for the mas well as the children. Shy women are drawn out, hidden talents emerge, and imagination is called into play. They say with one voice, “We love it!
MAUDE WIDEMAN
Maude has moved to Vancouver Island, to the same mobile home community as Yvonne Kirkpatrick (5 Dacotah). Her address is 1120 Shawnigan Mill Bay Road, R.R.#2, Mill Bay, B.C., VOR 2P0, (604) 743-1635. The lucky new owners of 28 Omaha are Jim & Anna Healy and their daughter Sabinska, formerly of 3 Lenore. Jim has a long Island connection as his sister Sharon was a teacher and Director at the Montessori school, starting in 1977.
This house was moved in 1938 from 61 West Island Drive (about half way along the western sandbar) to make way for the airport, and it was the long-time summer home of John & Eliza Brown and family, who owned it until 1946. It was then purchased by Ken & Annie Purchase, who later rented i t to the teachers John & Doreen Howard, the Stirlings who moved to 5 Ojibway (and furnished it beautifully, I’m told), the Schoenborns who moved to 13 Ojibway, and the writer Philip Hunt and his wife Alison. Maude, her husband Harley, and children Miriam & Herbert, bought 28 Omaha in 1961.
In cleaning out her classy shed clad with Western red cedar shingles, Maude transferred to the Archives a big batch of Island clippings and newsletters, files of her own correspondence re Island matters, and memorabilia of the Save Island Homes campaign, including a helmet and a couple of walkie-talkies! Following is an item written by Maude which appeared in the April 1988 issue of TIRA NEWS. She had recently retired as Supervisor with the Children’s Aid Society.
Ah, at last I’ve retired (for the 5th time) and can sleep in every day till 8 a.m. It’s 7:45 on Thursday morning, March 31st, and the jangle of the phone beside my bed is not a welcome sound. “Who??…0h hi, Enid…The 8:45 boat?..April Fool’s Day is tomorrow, Enid…Yeh…I see…O.K…O.K…I’ll do my best to be there…Bye…”
On the boat with Enid Cridland, Kay Walker, and Peg Russell I found out what it was all about. TIRA had just received the market value assessments from the Ontario Ministry of Revenue late on Wednesday, and the news was good. Island lots in 1981 were assessed at $27,700 on Ward’s and $36,000 on Algonquin. At an emergency meeting of TIRA it was decided this should go to the press immediately. There was no time to get to block captains to organi7e the usual Island contingent. Enid and Kay phoned as many as they could next morning and others canvassed the early boats, but the pickings were small. Enid, Kay, Peg and I arrived at the Queen’s Park coffee shop to find Brent Rutherford and Peter Dewdney already there and munching, but that was it. Moving on to the main floor pressroom we discerned a tall, distinguished looking man in a natty navy suit, dark tie and polished shoes up on the podium. That was Mr. David Harris. The other well-dressed gentleman by his side was David Reville, an NDPer from the provincial caucus whose input provided good back-up.
David was a knockout in front of the cameras and deserves all sorts of kudos. Since there is always the chance of agreen reporter in the crowd, he briefly outlined the historical facts and moved on to a comparison of the appraisals and why the new figures should be the ones used to arrive at a fair settlement. His presentation was articulate, dynamic and convincing. (I could add a lot to this if I could find my Thesaurus.) When he entered the lists with the reporters there was little cut and thrust on their part to question the logic of his reasoning. We really seem to have the press on our side this time. The Star and Globe coverage was excellent. Does anyone read the Sun? A cameraman from CITY-TV was on the 12:30 boat when we returned to the Island. He wanted some shots for the evening newscast so I showed him my magnificent ceiling leaks and expounded on the incredible pressures Islanders are struggling against. Of course, little of all this was included in the newscast, but we have to believe that every tiny bit of effort helps the cause–or why would one get up before 8 a.m. after retirement?
OTHER RECENT ACQUISITIONS
Jim Fraser donated a book titled “Summer Island” by Philip Murphy (Oberon Press,1984). Philip, a Telegram reporter, was a son of Rowley W. Murphy (1892-1975), a professor at the Ontario College of Art, whose illustrations and historical essaysappeared frequently in “The Centre Islander”. The Murphy summer home, later occupied by the Scanlon family, was located at 118 Lake Shore, 5doors west of the Shaw house (the present boarded one by the Algonquin Bridge lane). A 1945 sketch of the house by RWM is on the cover. From “Summer Island”:
Sunfish Island [the original name for Algonquin] was a great place for playing Indians. Lying just across the narrow lagoon from us, it was mostly wilderness; the only buildings on it were the yacht-club clubhouse at one end and the abandoned shell of a cookhouse from what had once been a day-camp at the other. In between were thickets of scrub brush, random swards of twitch-grass and wildflowers, leafy stretches of sinister-looking vegetation that was said to be poison ivy (or even more venomous, poison oak), dense stands of willow and poplar, open patches of untrodden sand that sometimes bore the tracks of small animals…Our gang made frequent crossings in whatever punts and canoes we could commandeer along the shore, then scrambled up the steep sandy bank on the far side and plunged down into the untamed woodland below to become for a while fellow-tribesmen of Uncas and Chingachcook…
Kathleen Roe donated an autographed copy of one of her books, “War Letters from the C.W.A.C.”, (Kakabeka, 1975), with preface by Judy LaMarsh. It’s a fascinating account of Kathleen’s life with the Canadian Women’s Army Corps in England, France, Belgium and Germany in 1942-45.
Bob Kotyk transferred to the Archives a 6″ pile of his Island files, including a copy of a paper on the architecture of the Island church which he wrote in 1979.
Bill Freeman also deposited 6″ of his files, mostly on TIRA matters. Five of Bill’s children’s historical novels are in the Archives. Bill and I have discovered that we have common Mayflower ancestors! His given names are William Bradford, after the first governor of the Plymouth colony, and whose methodical diary is the chief source o f information about the early years o f the settlement.
Len Barnett donated a great batch of Island clippings which had been compiled by Michael Jones, a former occupant of 18 Dacotah. They are meticulously labelled, even to the extent of having the dates and sources typewritten on them!
Other materials have been kindly donated by Klaus Bock, Enid Cridland, Ruta Gravlejs, Bonnie Hambourg, Sandy Krzyzanowsld, Vivian Pitcher, Alexandra Poore, Irina Schestakowich, and one or more anonymous donors who dropped goodies into my mailbox while I was away for 3 weeks. Please advise me of any omissions.
CONTINUING-.
C.N.E., until September 6:
Marine Museum: Annual juried art exhibition, “Toronto Harbour in Art”. 52 entries, including several Island scenes. Large oil by Donna Seymour (4 Omaha, 29 Seneca). Music Building (Wintario Seniors’ Pavilion): Interesting historical display assembled by the CNE Archives. This triple-domed building, designed by George Gouinlock in 1907 (architect of many of the CNE’s most impressive buildings) was almost lost to fire in 1987. Only an ambitious fund-raising campaign led by Sam The Record Man Sniderman persuaded the CNE and The Toronto Historical Board to restore the exterior of this beautiful building. Included in the exhibit are photos of the elaborate fountain donated by George H . Gooderham i n 1911 (demolished i n 1958). The Gooderham summer home, like an antebellum Southern plantation house with 4 high white columns supporting a pediment, was located at 254 Lake Shore (at Oriole Ave). The CNE Archives are open year-round, except now during the CNE while the 2 archivists are occupied with their current exhibit. Bicentennial Village (just inside the Dufferin Gates): Displays by a whole host of local historical groups, ranging from The Ephemera Society of Canada to The French Connection Quilting Guild! The THB has mounted an exhibit on the Queen’s Wharf Lighthouse, which was moved in 1929 from the old Western Gap to its present forlorn landlocked location near the Molson Brewery building.
CITY HALL. until September 17:
20panoramic photos by Peter Lorber (10 Toronto scenes).150 to 355degrees, 10″x60 1as1 exciting a n d as2Je0rry”Exng9lar0’s b”e.cause they N aore flatt, but they are seamless and quite beautiful. A.G.O., until September 26:
Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe exhibit (her mother died during childbirth, and her father had died 7 months earlier). 32 intricate oval line drawings with watercolour by Mrs Simcoe on birchbark, c.1796, on loan from the British Library, London. Six of the scenes are of the harbour, peninsula, and the River Don, and they have been widely copied i n history books. The birchbark has survived remarkably well. Supplementing the display are several drawings and paintings by C.W. Jeffreys and Charles Pachter on the same subject matter. The 1911 edition o f Mrs Simcoe’s diary, with commentary by John Ross Robertson and numerous reproductions of her sketches, is in the Archives, asis the 1926 biography of Governor Simcoe by William Riddell. Admission to the AGO is free for seniors on Fridays from 10 to 10 and for everyone on Wednesdays from 5 to 10.
MARKET GALLERY, until September 26:
Exhibition of maps and surveys, with many of the Harbour and Island. Included is the Bouchette map of 1792, the earliest known survey of the harbour and peninsula. Most of the maps were drawn by John G. Howard, Charles Unwin, and Charles E. Goad. The Goad summer home, “Floreat”, was located across the lagoon to the east from the RCYC. With its fences, bridges, boathouse and other outbuildings, all constructed over the years in the decorative Stick Style, Floreat occupied the largest and most elaborate estate on the Island. A large file of Floreat photos and info is in the Archives.
ALGONQUIN ISLAND ARCHIVES
Open for d ro p
BILL 61
i n v i s i t s
The Island Bill received Third Reading on July 21 and Royal Assent on July 29. A copy of
f r o m
the final wording of the Bill may be borrowed from the Archives. Unfortunately I had to be out of
1
town at the time. I have the Star article of July 22, the Real Estate News article of July 23 (by t o
Vanessa Ring, formerly of 16 Ojibway), and the Star photo of August 2, showing Lu Schoenborn and 5
Ernie Trepanier cutting the big cake. If anyone has any others, or any photos, I’d be delighted to o
obtain copies for the Archives.
n
S u
The following article appeared in the Star on July 23. It wasaccompanied in the early editions
by a large photo showing Vivian and Lisa Pitcher working in their “resplendent garden”, which, due n d a
to the camera angle, looks to be immense!
y s
with Metro, which has been
community by fighting the en emy,” he said. Now, the island ers will have to share power in
shares her father’s concerns.
a n
By Peter Small TORONTO STAR
trying to evict them.
“I’m just leery of what it’s
“It’s a little disconcerting that there are a lot of loose
Toronto islanders are re lieved their fate is finally set
d
tled but say they’re holding the b
champagne until they see the fine print.
y
And some worry that, with a p
out their fight against Metro Toronto to unite them, divi sions will start to surface.
p o
i n t
On Wednesday, the New m e
Democratic Party government passed legislation giving resi dents the chance to buy 99-
n t
a
yearleases on their land and setting up a trust to administer
t
the properties.
o
The legislation puts an end to a decades-old legal battle is landers have been fighting
t
going to mean day-to-day,” said Vivian Pitcher, 39, as she watered her resplendent gar den on Algonquin Island.
“It’s like going to a shoe store. Until you come home, you don’t know howthe shoe’s going to fit you,” said the mother of three.
“I’m of two minds,” saidBob Kotyk, 50. “I can’t get too emo- tional about it. It’s been hang ing around for too long.” There are lots o f unan swered questions, such as how the islanders will get along now that Metro has been de- feated. “Before, we existed as a
administering the land trust, hesaid, and differences among the 700 residents on the 13.3 hectares (33 acres) of Ward’s and Algonquin islands are bound to surface.
Some Islanders want to pre- _serve the community much as it is, he said, while others want major changes, even commer cial enterprises. Kotyk’s daughterRobyn, 12, hasno reservations about the new law.
“I’m happy because I know we won’t be kicked out and now we’ll be able to live here aslong as we want,” she said. But Peter Cridland, 63,
ends,” said the 30-yearisland veteran. “The details in the legislation haven’t been ham- mered out.” Land trusts are rare in Cana da, Cridland said, and are es sentially another level of gov- ernment.
The islanders own their homes but will have to pur- chase 99-yearleases on their land from the trust, which would also control to whom they may sell. Residents of Algonquin Is land will pay $46,000 for their leases, while those on Ward’s Island will pay $36,000 for their smaller properties.
MILLEN, CHARLIE (1919-1993) & KAY (1929-1993)
GLOBE & MAIL, June 21, 1993
MILLEN, Charles Thomas, P.Eng. — (lifetime
member of the Canadian Roofers’ Contract
Association Board; long-time member of the
Royal Canadian Yacht Club; Past Commodore
of the Queen City Yacht Club; Past President, Toronto Island Residents Association;
Alumnus, U. of T. School of Engineering) a t
Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto, on Thursday,
June 17,1993. Charlie Millen, beloved
husband of Katherine. Dear father of Mark
and Frances Millen, Alice and David Reese,
and John. Grandfather of Katherine and John
Charles. Charlie was an active sportsman his
whole life, and his particular passion was
sailing. He contributed greatly to the Toronto
Island Community after building his house
there _ • , Friends may call at the Rosar- Morrison Funeral Home, 467 Sherbourne St.,
Toronto (near Wellesley) from 2-5 and 7-9
p.m. Monday. A Memorial Service will be held
at St. Andrew’s by-the-Lake Church on
Sunday. June 27, at 11:00 a.m. A private
funeral service will be held. Donations may be
made to the Leukemia Fund at Mt. Sinai
Hospital, or the Missions to Seamen. (parking
adjacent to the funeral home).
TORONTO STAR, July 4, 1993
MILLEN,KatherineJane(neeBriggs)—Graduate ofthe Institute of ChildStudies.Long time AdvertisingManagerof variouspublications. LongtimememberoftheRoyalCanadianYacht ClubandQueenCityYachtClub.Long time residentoftheTorontoIslands.AtthePrincess MargaretHospital,onFriday, July2,1993,aftera lengthyillness.KatherineMillen,belovedwifeat thelateCharlieMillen.DearmotherofMarkan4
1FrancesMillen,AliceandDavidReeseandJohn’,I Charles.Grandmotherof KatherineandJoh0′, Charles.BelovedsisterofBarbara Illrichsen Osco,NorwayandJoanBurke of Huntsville, -Ontario.Shewillalsobemissedbymanynieces andnephews.FriendsmaycallattheRosar-Mor- risonFuneralHome,467SherbourneSt.(near Wellesley)onThursday,July8,1993from2-4and 7-9p.m. Private family service. A Memorial Service at St.Andrew’sByTheLakeChurch (TorontoIsland)onSunday,July25,1993,at11:30 a.m. If wished,donationsmaybemadeto the PrincessMargaretHospital.
According to the city assessment records, Charlie & Kay built 15 Dacotah in 1951-52, and their home was the second last on Algonquin still occupied by the original residents. The first speaker at Charlie’s Memorial Service was Dermis Kimpson, who built 16 Ojibway, also in 1951-52. When I asked him why his house had such a low-sloped (and therefore impractical) roofline, Dennis provided the following enlightening information. He would have preferred a waterfront lot on Seneca, but none was available. Next bestwas a lot once removed with a U.S. southeastern seacoast type of low-roofed house on stilts having a good view of the harbour over the low house at 15 Seneca. Unfortunately the stilts were too radical for the city building department, and so 16 Ojibway assumed its original low profile.
Following is an excerpt from a Toronto,Life article of May 1971, which featured photos of Kay, her daughter Alice, and other Islanders. It was written by Alan Edmonds, who lived at 12 Omaha in the middle ’60s with his wife Elizabeth, also a journalist, and their 2 boys John & David, who, it is said, were known locally as “Shad & Carp”. (Maybe someone can explain why.) The article overleaf appeared in The Telegram on June 24,1971.According to Enid Cridland’s research, Charlie wasChairman of the Inter-Island Council in 1963-65 and on the T.I.R.A. Executive in 1971-73.
Kay Millen, an elegant woman who moved to Algonquin as a bride with her engineerhusband 19 years ago, who raised three children there and who has lately been the Emily Post of the Island, said her neighbors now include a bookkeeper, adoctor, a truck driver, a CBC cameraman, a commercial artist and a frail woman who lives with her kids on Mother’s Allowance. [Archives Contest–the winner is the first to correctly identify these folks and their addresses!] “It’s nice, not living is some Applewood Acres financial and occupational ghetto,” she said.
She also said that the dog that means so much to Hazel Buzza [2 Ojibway], an old neighbor of mine and a widow now, came down with mange last year, and because everyone knew Hazel was just making ends meet they collected $45, collared the dog and took it to the vet to be cured. “You’re made to care about your neighbors because of the relative isolation, so you end up behaving towards other people the way you should have all along,” says Kay.
l’he money wi l l be ipletion of a paved sland t o the Wards on demolition of 250
and Wards Islands. ed is a request from for an extension of
are due t o ex pire is part of the devel ceshore a r e a f r o m expropriated three ally should be com velopment begins at in Island, i f i t i s
e many other rea community s
h o u l d
on the islands’is an 3part of the history only community on nt. To bring life t o le mus t live there, amied park and re ments. O t h e r wi s e the waterfront only during the daytime. rovides a bui lt i n
as saved drowning ) police the eastern residents go about ties.
of Harbor City as a pt has changed the the Island. Homes
to date under the t called f or a park housing. The Island prand actually part
some of the homes were moved there
aror y are no unreae ssues.
3. There is at present no need for more parkland on the Island. Of a total of 640 acres, ex c luding t he airport , 510 a r e parkland and wilderness areas, 100 are used for yacht clubs, filtration plant, the science school, radio stations and parks installations. The homes occupy the re maining 30 acres. Muc h of the present park is little used even at peak times.
The expropriated Lakeshore area had only six people using it on the holiday Monday in August 1970 at 3 p.m., and no more people use this area than before the homes were removed. This Lak e shore area, which was called the Hooper to Chippewa area, has been tidied up after the demolitions, but otherwise not developed wi t h t he exception o f t wo campfire circles i n the Chippewa area, and the partially completed road.
The picnic tables and barbecues were all there before the homes came down. Traditional picnic and amusement areas north o f t he Manit ou bridge a n d o n Olympic Island receive most of the sum mer visitors, and special events such as Caribana and the Italian picnic on these sites bring the big crowds. Ontario Place may well cause a drop in island attend- ance.
4. Transportation a n d park ing s t i l l present a serious problem. Ferries can not carry more people to the islands on weekdays and holidays and return them to the city: The parks department has recently suggested rapid transit as the only solution. I f Wards and Algonquin are c leared o f homes and developed, there is no way t o provide good,boat
low and medium cost houSing. Al l re maining island homes are low-cost hous ing. Wit h high interest rates and rents still ris ing i n the city, many residents will never again be able t o own their own homes, many more wi l l suffer f i nancial hardship i f forced t o leave in August. There are s t ill 13,000 families and old people awaiting public housing, and expelling island residents can only aggravate the situation.
Preservation of the existing stock of low-cost housing would seem t he f irs t step in dealing wit h the housing crisis. Or does anyone care? Some s ummer residents in the past have rented their homes f or the school year to students, graduate teachers wi t h families , a n d even professors for the remainder of the school year, thus providing badly needed low rent al housing whic h has alway s been i n great demand. These students return t o their homes, out of town, f or the s ummer. Met ro has stopped t his service by forbidding rentals.
6. Metro already owns all Island land, so wi l l save no money by development now rather than at some future date if a changed waterfront then results in the need for more island parkland
7, The cost t o taxpayers of this one park is very high. Nearly $10 million has been spent on the Island to date and the annual cost to the taxpayers of Metro in debt charges and maintenance is over $1 million. The residents pay ground rent to Metro and taxes t o the city that coVer their services. They are taxed a t the same assessment rate as c it y dwellers even though they do not have the same services
nen sa an e g cos o mane nance of the old ferries.
Some argument s hav e been rais ed against renewal of island leases. One is that Toronto needs more parldand. Yes, we agree, but it is needed in the city and suburbs where local park and recreation deficiences exist, not on the island where access i s inadequate and there i s a l ready more park than can be utilized by the public. I t has been suggested t he taxpayers of Metro subsidize Island resi dents, b u t t his i s untrue. Th e is land community pays its way as well as any residential communit y t hat has no t ax assessment from apartments and indus try.
•
are occupied al l year round, and more
E
would be if Metro permitted rentals. A i
recent is land survey showed 791 res i g
dents, including 80 public school children h
who attend the island school. There are two churches. I n spite of non-compensa tion leases that mean residents wi l l re
t
y
ceive not hing f o r t heir homes ma n y p
houses are maintained in good condition. e
Given some security of tenure, res i r
dents would welcome reasonable housing standards a n d enforcement. Nat ional
c
Rousing Standards could be met . The
e
residents are a cross section of working n
people, inc luding ma n y f amilies wi t h t
small children, a f ew professionals, a o
number of students, many retired peo f
ple, and some on welfare. This c ommunit y feels t hat i t has a
t
right to survival, as the land it occupies
h
is not now needed f or public use. We e
should c heris h t h e c ommunit ies w e i
have. They are hard to come by.
Hanlans when the lilt. This is a moral ission. Is it right to
service t o Wards on weekends without taking the big boats off the Centre Island run. Parking at the ferry docks is Made
s
Year round residents’ ferry fares help l
to defray ferry deficit, and taxes to the a
City and ground rents to Metro help to n
d
h
o
m
e
s
CHARLES T. MILLEN
Executive Committee Member, Toronto Island Residents Association.