New Flemingdon affordable seniors housing

All levels of government help fund much needed apartments
Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Aug 6.)

Groundbreaking at 5 Deauville Place. Photo by Kris Scheuer/Town Crier.

Flemingdon Park will be home to 62 new affordable homes for low-income seniors and people with disabilities by next summer.
It’s no accident the developer chose this area for affordable rental apartments for seniors, said Tim Neeb, president of Mahogany Management and Deauville Place, the project development company.
“There’s a higher percentage of seniors in the community than any other in Toronto,” Neeb told the Town Crier July 29 during the groundbreaking ceremony for the project, which is set to open July 1, 2011.
He’s referring to Statistics Canada Census 2006 for the Don Mills census area that incorporates Flemingdon. Seniors over the age of 65 make up about a quarter of the population in Don Mills, compared to the city average, which is just under 14 percent.
Seniors over 75 account for almost 14 percent of the area population compared to just 6.5 percent in the whole of North York, according to 2001 Stats Can census data and 2005 population estimates.

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Flemingdon social housing needs repair

My sleepover in the community housing highlights the good and bad
Flemo holds place in my heart ever since
By Kris Scheuer
(Originally written for Town Crier Jan/5/06)

On Dec. 5, MPP Kathleen Wynne and I stayed over in the Toronto Community Housing (TCH) rent-gear-to-income apartment located in the heart of one of the city’s poorest neighbourhoods.
When I got the tour of the TCH complex, where we were staying I quickly learned why the housing organization was seeking $224 million from the government to repair its 2,200 buildings across the city. Here in Flemingdon, which is southeast of Don Mills and Eglinton, one of the most dramatic needs is to fix the locks on the doors to the buildings and underground garages.
The building where we stayed had a busted front door lock, so anyone can enter the main entrance and congregate in the halls or worse. And this was not an anomaly. Other front and side entrance door locks were broken and so was the lock to the underground garage.
The housing manager John Martin said some gangs hang in this neighbourhood, so imagine having to walk by a drug deal as you make your way to your car or apartment unit?

Women in public life

What obstacles do female politicians still face?
Panel discussion I am part of examines this very topic
(This column originally published April 23 for Town Crier.)

The Honourable Dr. Carolyn Bennett asked me to be part of a panel discussion on women in politics on March 27. 
You may know Bennett as the MP for St. Paul’s, but I use her official titles for a reason. One issue that was raised is the fact that media refer to female politicians by first names such as Belinda (Stronach), Kim (Campbell) or Sheila (Copps). And it’s less likely for a printed article to refer to a male politician by his first name only.
Keynote speaker, Sylvia Bashevkin, the principal of U of T’s University College, has written several books on women in politics. She spoke about instances in the past where female candidates have gone door knocking at dinnertime and when they presents their campaign literature, including a photo of their husband and kids, they have been asked who is feeding her family. 
The panel included another local political rep Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne who, as a lesbian, was told she could not win in North Toronto back when she ran as a school trustee. Of course she has proved them wrong and as education minister also won re-election against a formidable challenger in John Tory, the former Ontario PC leader. 
For my part, I spoke to the 70 or so female students from Northern, Rosedale and other midtown high schools about my experience as a journalist writing about politics.

Toronto social housing in disrepair

Politics and homosexuality

Public, family acceptance for gay & lesbian politicians 
By Kris Scheuer
(Written for Town Crier Feb 2/2004)

Kathleen Wynne is a politician who happens to be a lesbian.
However during the last provincial election campaign, “I was told, ‘You can’t win because you are a lesbian. You can’t run uptown because your lifestyle is too alternative,’ ” says the Liberal MPP for Don Valley West . “But I don’t live downtown. I grew up in the suburbs. I am an uptown person. Why transplant myself, then the only thing about me becomes that I’m a lesbian!