Neighbourhood could lose local medical centre

8:49 am

From the outside, Lawrence Park Medical Centre at 250 Lawrence Ave. W. might look a bit worn down, but it serves an important purpose. It houses many of the neighbourhood’s doctors and specialists and it caters to thousands of patients.

But now the centre has been sold for approximately $12 million and the new owner is looking to demolish it and put up an 11-storey condominium in its place — leaving councillor Christin Carmichael Greb to wonder: where will doctors and patients go?

An official plan amendment and zoning application was submitted by the Goldberg Group to the City of Toronto on March 27. The development calls for 259 units, three townhomes fronting onto Glengarry Avenue and three levels of underground parking. The proposal also calls for the corner house, at 219 Glengarry Ave., to be demolished and turned into two semi-detached homes.

Although Coun. Carmichael Greb is also opposed to the height of the proposed building, her primary concerns with the application are the lack of employment use and the displacement of doctors, patients and other businesses.

“It’s a medical building that is heavily used by the surrounding area,” said Carmichael Greb, who is concerned about the seniors and families with young children in the neighbourhood who frequent the centre.

Irena Gryffer, a hearing instrument specialist in the building, said that maintaining a level of comfort and accessibility for patients is important, and the camaraderie between other tenants is useful since many of her patients see more than one specialist in the building.

“Every single day we get a call asking if we’re taking new patients,” said a receptionist at the office of family physicians Sheldon, Grant and Catz-Biro, at which point a patient sitting in the waiting room chimed in, “It’s hard finding a good doctor in Toronto.”

But it’s not just doctors — there is a blood lab, an X-ray and ultrasound lab, physiotherapists and other office space being used.

“All these people, specialists and others now have to scramble to find where they are going to go. It’s something we’re trying to stay on top of,” said Carmichael Greb, who then added that commercial properties being redeveloped for residential use is a common issue happening in the neighbourhood.

The councillor has asked City of Toronto, City Planning to expand the notice area so more residents are informed of the process and are able to get involved, and she anticipates a preliminary report to be issued sometime in May, followed by a community consultation meeting.

New food truck rules could be a game-changer

8:45 am

It looks like good news for Thunderin’ Thelma — North York native Zane Caplansky’s gourmet food truck — and others like her, after City of Toronto, Municipal Licensing & Standards reduced the required distance between curbside food trucks and nearby restaurants from 50 to 30 metres. The final decision will be voted on at Toronto City Council on May 5 and, if passed, will be enacted on May 14.

The division also approved cheaper, pro-rated six- and nine-month permits and longer parking limits in pay-and-display spots (from three hours to five). The annual permit costs $5,000 for 12 months.

The city finally approved new rules allowing food truck businesses on city streets last year, issuing a bylaw on May 15, 2014. But, the new system had a strict set of rules that prevented any food truck from parking less than 50 metres from any restaurant. The move dissuaded many of the mobile restos, and only 17 food truck permits were purchased.

Me.n.u, the panda-repping Asian fusion street food truck that is regularly parked at Mel Lastman Square in North York, was one of the trucks that bought a permit.

Bryan Siu-Chong and Allen Tran of Me.n.u have had difficulty finding viable spots to set up and admit that some of their success can be attributed to the small number of trucks competing for curbside space.

As for the cheaper permits, Siu-Chong said it’ll definitely help with costs. “We’ll probably get a nine-monther because we don’t operate during the winter,” he said.

“Last year, Toronto stuck its toe in the water,” said Caplansky. “This year, we’re going up to the ankle, and hopefully [by next year], we’ll convince city council that we really add vibrancy, choice and quality to the Toronto food scene.”

Caplansky was elected as head of the Toronto Food Truck Alliance, a group of owners and operators, and is helping to lead negotiations.

Other food trucks that venture north of Bloor, like Burgatory (spotted at 4800 Yonge St. on April 21) or Urban Smoke (coming to 4110 Yonge St. on May 13), will also benefit from the change.

Richmond Hill gains support in OMB battle

8:36 am

The City of Vaughan has come forward to support the Town of Richmond Hill in its appeal of a precedent-setting decision by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), which would see developers contributing less to the preservation of parkland.

Earlier this year, the OMB ruled that developers would pay no more than 25 per cent to support town parkland acquisition as part of the development process. Richmond Hill is appealing that decision.

Vaughan is the latest municipality to apply for intervener status at the appeal, along with Oakville, Mississauga and Markham. This came after Richmond Hill mayor Dave Barrow sent a letter to about 25 neighbouring municipalities in February, calling for support in its fight against the OMB’s Jan. 15 decision.

“It’s an arbitrary number. There is no basis for it. That’s the frustration,” said Barrow, of the 25 per cent figure.

The Town of Richmond Hill’s director of policy planning, Patrick Lee, said the OMB overstepped its bounds by erroneously interpreting the Ontario Planning Act, which clearly states what the municipality can charge a developer.

For lower-density developments, such as detached and semi-detached houses, five per cent of land area can be dedicated to parkland. For higher-density developments, an alternate rate of one hectare of parkland per 300 residential units can be applied.

“The board has ignored the direction of the Planning Act by effectively removing the second option based on density,” Lee said.

He added that the cap may lead to the town using tax dollars if it hopes to protect a significant area of parkland — 63.4 hectares, from now until 2031.

“If the OMB’s decision is upheld, it could clearly affect the funding available to other municipalities to build parks in new areas,” says Coun. Alan Shefman.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that developers will apply to have the same sort of ceiling applied in other municipalities. It’s to their advantage; they save money.”

Markham mayor Frank Scarpitti shares the same view as Shefman. “It has dire consequences for us. The decision has tipped the balance tremendously toward the development industry, and it runs contrary to our best interests,” said Scarpitti.

“Parks are enjoyed by residents and important to the city in terms of financial management,” Shefman said.

Richmond Hill’s three-year battle with the OMB for more parkland in the community continues. The town is seeking leave to appeal the decision at the board as well as at an Ontario divisional court with a court hearing likely to be scheduled for sometime this summer.

“I urge you to join our fight for the right to determine our own futures,” Barrow said in the letter.

Restaurant Review: Refined simplicity at Dandylion

Andrew Mannsbach

9:00 am

When a guy with a golden pedigree gets his own shop, you gotta go. Jay Carter cut his teeth as sous-chef under Susur Lee, first at Susur and then at Lee. He was chef at Centro during its glory years.

And now, finally, his own vision and passion come home to roost at Dandylion on Queen West. It’s a very sweet homebuilt room, more sweat equity than capital on show, with lovely warm lighting, high ceilings, an open kitchen at the back and marble tables. Plain-spoken. Friendly.

Rather like the food. Chef has obviously taken great care to exercise restraint, to rein himself in against gunking up his plates with gewgaws and gimmickry. So the food is very simple and clean and straightforward.

They start us with impeccable fresh-made cheese with shallots to spread on superlative whole wheat bread. There are just three choices for apps, mains and desserts. And one’s veg. Keepin’ it simple.

When an accomplished chef who’s had the patience to wait gets his own canvas to paint, if he’s smart he figures out his vision, style and values rather than trying to be all things to all people. Jay Carter has clearly and consciously chosen layered simplicity.

Elegant potato soup is green from fresh dill, smoky from moist mackerel and ham chunks. Raw cobia, a delicate white fish, has been sliced thin a la sashimi, sauced in an ultra-light vinaigrette that “cooked” it slightly, and topped with avocado (lovely) and a plethora of soybeans that have been sliced and crisped to resemble too much savoury granola. A little of it would have been OK. A lot is meh.

The menu changes; you will perhaps not meet the delightful pink lamb that was our meat option. Two tender chops sitting pretty on high-flavoured black lentils stewed with tiny diced veg and slightly crunchy kale. The fish that night was tilefish, a delicate creature, perfectly pan-seared, with sweet/sour Asian-inflected tomato jam. Nothing spectacular here, but good honest cooking with credible ingredients.

Sweets are … sweeter. Chef does a dense pear cake made even more exciting with raw ginger chunks, caramel crunchy bits and rich vanilla ice cream. Jay Carter is in love with texture. He is like a weaver, a thoughtful cook who builds his plates on touch and feel as well as taste. And he has commitment. It’s not the best restaurant in town, but it’s interesting, and Jason Carter tries harder.

Dandylion, 1198 Queen St. W., $50 Dinner for two

The New Mid-Life: Rebecca Eckler takes gets hooked on free-fall adrenaline rush

8:33 am

Thankfully, I don’t have time to worry that I’m going skydiving. It is before 8 a.m., and I’m rushing to iFLY Toronto, which is located in Oakville, for what they describe as “an epic experience.”

In The New Mid-Life, I’m all for epic experiences, but I’m also a little more fearful than I was when I was younger. For example, not too many new mid-lifers I know want to start a new sport for fear of injuring themselves.

But my outgoing and very cute 21-year-old instructor, Adrian Uracz — am I making myself sound like a cougar? crap! — tells me that they get indoor skydivers as young as four years old.

The eldest iFLY Toronto indoor skydiver? 93 years old!

I figure if a four-year-old and a 93-year-old (who came with her son and her grandson) could do this, then certainly this new mid-lifer could … and probably should.

So what is indoor skydiving? Well, according to iFLY Toronto, it’s an opportunity to experience the sensation of free fall. Participants watch a video that gives an overview followed by classroom training of body position, hand signals, entrance and exit procedures and a safety briefing. You are then in a 14-foot cylindrical diameter vertical tube that is 45 feet tall, in which an airstream is passing at a speed of up to 250 kilometres per hour.

Once inside the wind tunnel, you get the experience of what skydivers experience during the free-fall portion of the jump (without actually having to jump out of a plane, which, to almost everyone, is the scary part), which is generally done from 13,500 to 3,500 feet of altitude at a speed of 200 kilometres per hour.

I know this isn’t rocket science, and that I’m not about to perform brain surgery, but I tell Uracz that I’m a little nervous.

“It’s normal to feel nervous. I’d be nervous if you weren’t nervous!” he says.

But, he stresses, “This is not supposed to be stressful!” Easy enough for a 21-year-old to say. A little hard to believe when you are a mother of two.

Today, I am going to indoor skydive four times, 60 seconds a pop.

As for new mid-lifers, he says, groups of women and men come in “all the time.” They also host birthday parties and bachelorette parties.

After I’m all suited up, I hold my arms to my chest (as instructed by the video) and am ready to fall into the tunnel. “Remember,” Uracz yells, “stay relaxed and smile!”

I fall forward and am immediately swept up, feeling the skin of my face flapping (and a little drool falling from the sides of my mouth).

“That’s perfectly normal. I had a five-year-old do this, and there was so much drool,” Uracz says and laughs.

Immediately, inside the tunnel, I know I am hooked, feeling, well, kind of like a superhero, mixed with the kind of rush you get when you are at the top of a roller coaster.

Yes, I sometimes fly into the walls, but it’s easy to push yourself back. Yes, I sometimes fall right to the ground, and Uracz tosses me back into the air. I feel weightless and free, and, looking back, all I could think about in that tunnel was, “I don’t want this to end!”

I think this new mid-lifer is going to be a repeat flyer. I know my 11-year-old daughter would love this.

“My mother isn’t so much a fan of me actually skydiving. But she feels more comfortable with the indoor skydiving,” says Uracz, when asked how is mother feels about his job.

The company has another location in Montreal, and iFLY is celebrating its first anniversary in May.

They are often so busy, says Uracz, that, especially on weekends, they have back-to-back indoor skydivers. Often there is a waiting list for a few weeks.

Interestingly, no one has ever thrown up. No one has ever stood at the entrance of the tunnel and said, “Nope. Not going to do this.”

But more interestingly for some, is that there is a fitness factor to indoor skydiving.

“I think I lost about 20 pounds in the first two months I started indoor skydiving,” says Uracz, who is very lean. He tells me I’ll feel sore tomorrow, as if I just had “a really good workout.”

Sadly (and yes, I mean I WAS sad when my session was over), I feel both exhausted and full of adrenaline.

That adrenaline rush lasted the entire day. I don’t remember the last time I’ve been so excited by something. And, yes, when I woke up the next morning, my shoulders and stomach muscles did feel like I had done a hard yoga class the day before.

I can’t help but ask, “When you tell people indoor skydiving is your job, is it a good pickup line?”

Uracz laughs and says, “Yes. It has worked a couple of times.”

I guess the big question is, will I ever try actual skydiving? After this, the answer is a definite, “YES!”

Post City Magazines’ columnist Rebecca Eckler is the author of Knocked Up, Wiped!, How to Raise a Boyfriend, The Lucky Sperm Club and her latest book, The Mommy Mob.

David Suzuki challenging Mayor Tory to take nature challenge

11:16 am

Mayor John Tory’s first few months have focused on the laudable goal of getting Toronto moving. We couldn’t agree more.

So this month we’re issuing the mayor and the rest of council a challenge that could inspire Torontonians to transform their lives, spark creativity and innovation and improve their health and well-being.

The best part: It doesn’t require any digging, tunnelling or deft political gamesmanship. And it’s absolutely free.

Mayor Tory and city councillors: We challenge you to get into “the nature habit” by joining the David Suzuki Foundation’s 30×30 Nature Challenge. Will you heed the call of nature, for the good of the city?

It’s simple. During the month of May, participants commit to spend at least 30 minutes in nature each day for 30 consecutive days.

Most adults sit indoors or commute more than nine hours a day. Kids spend more than six hours in front of screens each day and mere minutes outside. Our increasing disconnect from nature is hurting our health and productivity.

But research shows something most of us know intuitively: nature is good for us.

Spending time in a natural setting reduces stress and boosts immunity, ingenuity and energy.

If you’ve ever witnessed a council meeting or wandered through city hall, you’ll agree getting these folks out for a breath of fresh air each day can’t hurt.

But how can a busy mayor, councillor — or any of us, really — fit more green time into our hectic schedules? We’ve prepared a tailored, city hall daily green time itinerary.

Start the month by checking out one or two free, citizen-led Jane’s Walk walking tours of a local park or one of the city’s lost rivers. Sundays are great for a soothing stroll through one of the city’s ravines. On Monday, plan at least one meeting outdoors. Tuesday, make it a walking meeting. Start a new hump-day tradition by inviting colleagues to have lunch in a nearby park. On Thursday take the scenic route home — be sure to check out a green space along the way. Stop to smell the flowers and take notice of critters, trees and plants.

During the second week, brush off your green thumb and spruce up your garden.

In week three, as the weather warms, take a hike in Rouge Park, the wild green space that will soon become Canada’s first urban National Park.

Check out some of the great natural spaces in the city — the Evergreen Brick Works, High Park, Riverdale Farm, Toronto Island and Leslie Street Spit. While you’re there, tap your inner child — splash through a puddle, roll down a hill or hunt for bugs and birds.

Mayor and councillors: When you take the 30×30 Nature Challenge, you’ll join tens of thousands of your fellow Canadians who are getting into “the nature habit.”

Remember, getting Toronto moving with a daily dose of nature is good for our heads, hearts and health. See you outside.

David Suzuki is the host of the CBC’s The Nature of Things and author of more than 30 books on ecology. (With files from Jode Roberts.)

Hilarious new Second City show highlights stellar cast

12:34 pm

Second City’s new revue, How to Kill a Comedian, finds the legendary sketch comedy institution going strong.

The set is a Danish Modern warren of doors and flats with a projection of a whimsical mega doodle, which may also be a reference to the messy state of the world, a theme that constantly pops up during the show.

Sometimes a revue here may have a snappy topical title but then shy away from any real concerns, but not this time.

The show opens with a song, “Please Don’t Kill Us,” which is all about comedy, free speech and the chilling events at Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Then, the first sketch is about a confused couple trying to negotiate consent for everything they do together, a topic ripped from the headlines of Cosby and Ghomeshi. Only a few minutes in, and already the show is relevant.

A sketch about cultural bias sees friends play a Trivial Pursuit–type card game where the middle-class white male gets all the breaks.

Moments later, a couple argue about whether it’s possible to separate the artist from his or her art, this time making explicit references to Cosby et al. Picking up where the first sketch left off, the piece is a very funny critique of gender and media politics.

I couldn’t quite figure out why the cast created a sketch about competing Schwarzenegger impressions. It would have been dated a decade ago. And the impressions themselves weren’t even that good.

Veteran cast member Ashley Botting did a funny song that wowed the audience. Even better that she can really belt out a tune. But a flu lecture sketch by two Shoppers Drug Mart employees felt forced, even though the actors worked their hearts out and won the audience over.

Maybe this is the time to note that this show really belongs to the women in the cast. The three women, Botting, Leigh Cameron, and especially Kirsten Rasmussen, represent Second City at the top of its game. Perhaps it’s not a big surprise, as women’s contributions to comedy have never been greater than in this age of Fey, Poehler, Silverman, Dunham, etc.

But Rasmussen is the key player in the show, elevating every sketch she’s in. You can’t take your eyes off her, and it wouldn’t surprise me to find her doing Kristin Wiig heavy lifting in a future season of Saturday Night Live.

After intermission there was a sketch about a jester’s audition run by a very cruel queen. The jester’s jokes were sharp, dark and mostly unprintable here.

Late in the show, Rasmussen and Cameron play a couple of BFFs whose friendship is tested when one of them decides to go back to college in Calgary. The character work of both actors is stellar, and I found the piece touching, funny and masterful. It was the sketch that resonated for me during my long taxi ride home.

Only one thing marred my enjoyment of the show. In the last sketch, a coda to the first song, the actors interrupted the ditty to ask why they hadn’t mentioned the prime minister. Then they F-bombed Harper and Bill 51 and went back to the song.

It left a bitter taste in the mind because it was name calling, not satire. If ever a topic were ripe for skewering, it’s Bill 51.

I’m hoping something more pithy will replace the catcall, because this show is more than that, much more.

Restaurant Review: Chinese-Caribbean mashups at Patois

Andrew Mannsbach

9:31 am

The chick behind the bar has a black lace bustier under her floppy grey cotton tank top, lots of eye makeup and an orange toque. She dances to the loud hip hop. It’s that kind of vibe on a Saturday night. AND they take reservations. They gave away our table cause we were 16 minutes late — but sitting at the bar was way more fun.

It’s a long wooden bar with Jamaican Red Stripe beer, Caribbean ginger beer and bottles of rum on the wall above it. There are blow-up pool toys and big fat heating ducts, galvanized metal, paper placemats with Chinese zodiac signs. Both chopsticks and forks. Tropical cocktails in coconuts with paper umbrellas. A little hipster irony here at Patois, home of Caribbean-Chinese cooking?

Chef Craig Wong of Patois.

Patois comes to us from chef Craig Wong who was sous at Luma and The Granite Club (ho hum) but before that spent a year on the line at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in France. Wong’s family — Chinese — lived in Jamaica for three generations before emigrating to Toronto in the 1970s. Here, in Scarborough, chef learned the polyglot food of his roots. Hence the magical meeting of jerk spicing with hoisin and five-spice in his clever cooking.

We’re smitten by the kimchi potstickers pierogi style. Mixed metaphors aside, they’re tender little dumplings with beautifully caramelized onions, bacon and kimchi flavoured sour cream with scallions on top. Give me more! Same deal with the miniature Jamaican patties, properly flaky and jazzed with bacon, melted Swiss cheese and sriracha.

Oxtail ramen lo mein from Patois.

When chef jerks lobster, we fall upon our knees. The critter is liberally spread with jerk-seasoned butter and then fried hot and fast to seal in the flavour, and sparkled with coriander leaves. Gives new definition to finger-lickin’. Also making my heart sing is Jamaican oxtail ramen lo mein. Superbly tender chunks of braised oxtail keep company with soft-fried noodles and bok choy in deep gingery brown sauce.

By the time we’re done mains the joint is jumpin’ loud and crowded. Everybody here is way less than half my age. They’re getting deep into the bevvies. But we stick to our guns and keep eating. Mango cheesecake stuffed French toast is everything you ever imagined a divinely down-market dessert to be: Sweet and crisp and creamy.

Everything about Patois is what we love about Toronto: An ethnically hybrid cuisine in hipster garb. Wearing a toque!

Patois, 794 Dundas St. W., $65 Dinner for two

Another T.O. label explodes onto the international scene

10:16 am

The Canadian fashion industry is about to see another home-grown label explode onto the international scene: Greta Constantine. The “accessible luxury,” ready-to-wear women’s label is a favourite of many actresses, singers and media personalities here in Canada as well as in the U.S.

At the helm of Greta Constantine is Toronto’s design duo Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong, who have set their sights on steering their label to fashion’s capital and introducing it to the industry’s prominent influencers, tastemakers and media.

Pickersgill and Wong both come from impressive fashion backgrounds: Pickersgill is a stylist, having worked in Milan for Dsquared2 and Neil Barrett and has guest-taught at Istituto Marangoni in Milan. Wong worked as a costume designer in Toronto and has designed for big studio films like American Psycho, Glitter, Chicago and Hairspray. The designers met in Toronto, became good friends, and with a shared design esthetic and vision. They launched Greta Constantine in 2006.

They caught the industry’s attention with their signature draped and architectural jersey dresses — and were quickly dubbed the “jersey boys of Toronto” by several publications. After showing at Toronto Fashion Week for several seasons, Pickersgill and Wong decided to skip the sponsored fashion week and began presenting their collections to press and buyers independently in the city as well as in New York.

“When we started this business, a good friend of ours gave us this advice: ‘You have to be willing to live and breathe fashion 24/7.’ I took it quite literally and devoted all my time to working, and my personal life was non-existent. I’m now trying to have more of a balance, but it still remains that my main goal is to focus on building and growing Greta Constantine,” says Wong.

Greta Constantine is well recognized in Canada (with strong sales in the Middle East, as well, the designers reveal), but the logical next step is to reach customers across the pond. Of course there’s no better place to make a splash than in Paris, which is what Pickersgill and Wong did with their fall/winter 2015 collection — presenting it for the first time during last month’s Paris Fashion Week.

With the goal “to be recognized internationally,” as Pickersgill shares, expect to see Greta Constantine making international fashion news and solidifying its presence in the French capital. Of the recent fall/winter 2015 collection, which Pickersgill and Wong presented at the opulent Salon Pompadour in the hotel Le Meurice in Paris, Wong explains that it took some time to arrive at that moment.

“We see everything that Toronto has to offer. It’s grown into a very cool and sophisticated city.”

“We had been coming to Paris for the past three years to market [and do] sales appointments. Last year, we secured a PR office (Laurent Suchel), and it was a good friend, the stylist Darryl Rodrigues, who gave us the push we needed to make our debut [there].”

This Paris introduction of their sharply tailored, sophisticated looks in an all-black palette “with the odd touch of greys,” made a positive impression on the French press and buyers. Pickersgill and Wong say that for this collection they were inspired by the fashionable women they know and dress (T.O.’s Coco Rocha is one of their favourite clients), and they wanted to present a more elevated, luxurious Greta Constantine vision.

“When using a monochromatic colour such as black, we felt it was important to have a wide variety of texture to give it depth, so we found some very luxurious fabrics, such as double-faced twill, cotton velour with metal threads, plush wools, sheer silk tulle, textured peau de soie and a dense armour-like satin. We used these, along with our standard fabrics like silk/wool weave, and a technical, neoprene-like knit,” says Wong.

Speaking after the Greta Constantine designers’ Paris debut, Wong shares that the duo has big plans on the horizon: “Now that we’ve taken this first step in presenting in Paris, we have to continue with it — [to] build momentum, to establish the brand here in Paris and in the rest of Europe.”

Although the duo is looking for international reach and recognition, Toronto remains Pickersgill and Wong’s home base.

As Wong says: “This is where our heart is. We both grew up [here] and we see everything that Toronto has to offer. It’s grown into a very cool and sophisticated city with lots of diversity and open minds. I have many friends visit from all over the world, and they’ve all expressed that it feels like there’s something great bubbling up to the surface here.”

Both designers have their favourite, diverse neighbourhoods in Toronto. Pickersgill lives in Yorkville, and although he’s a self-described homebody, he does love to frequent Asuka on Yorkville Avenue, Joso’s on Davenport, and Parts and Labour in Parkdale for a night out dancing.

Wong lives at Yonge and College and loves the fact that he can walk everywhere or use public transit. He lists off some of his go-to spots around the city: “I am having a ramen moment. The best place for ramen in Toronto is Sansotei Ramen. For a date, I like 416 Snack Bar — it’s got a great menu, amazing vibe, and my date always thinks I’m cool when I take them there.”

The Canadian fashion industry might be small, but its creatives have immense potential, and Greta Constantine is another great example of that.

Faceoff: Is T.O. ready for a casino?

9:06 am

LAYTON VS. RUTSEY

Mike Layton

T.O. councillor who led the fight to defeat both the proposed mega-casino and expanded slots and tables at Woodbine

There is an old saying: “If it is too good to be true, it probably is.” Unfortunately, some T.O. politicians are so mesmerized by the glitzy lights of casinos that they don’t care to see the truth. Casinos take money out of the local economy and put it into the hands of a few. Studies show the cost of casinos to social infrastructure — from increased addiction rates, bankruptcy, family breakdown, crime and the cannibalization of income generated from local businesses — costs local governments more money than we gain.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) estimates that 30 to 40 per cent of the revenue from casinos comes from those facing gambling addiction. That means a third of casino revenue comes from people willing to risk it all. For government to prey on them is not leadership. It is exploitation.

Casino operators will make promises. They will talk about jobs — will they materialize? Jobs are being cut in the casinos in Windsor and Niagara. And it is the casino workers that are most at risk of developing a gambling addiction.

Tables and slot machines are the most addictive forms of gambling — exactly the expansion being proposed at Woodbine. CAMH and the Toronto medical officer of health have both said the risk of addiction increases for those that live closest to a casino, making expanded gaming at Woodbine a lousy bet for Rexdale and North Etobicoke.

We can do better than expanding casinos. We should imagine a city where revenue and jobs come from prosperity, not from a policy to exploit gambling addictions. Do we want to be rebranded as a casino destination? We can come up with far better ideas that will bring better, permanent jobs to our city. We can find solutions that do not hinge on the addictions of our residents. It’s time governments stopped the chase.

VS.

Bill Rutsey

President and CEO at the Canadian Gaming Association and a national advocate for the gaming entertainment industry

What is being asked of council is to revisit their decision to prohibit increases to the gaming that is currently offered at Woodbine. If they vote the way we want them to, they will remove that restriction and then ask developers to come forward with their proposals as to what they would like to do on the site in conjunction with Woodbine Entertainment Group.

We don’t know what the entire proposal will be, but the components I am putting forward are those that would likely be part of an integrated entertainment centre, as there currently isn’t one in the GTA.

I speculate that the enhanced development on the site would include a more attractive facility that will include food and beverage, retail space, a hotel with a spa, meeting and convention space, as well as elements of the gaming itself. The gaming component would take up 10 per cent or less of the entire footprint of the development.

It will create tourism, economic development and permanent jobs in all aspects of the development that could equal up to 12,000 jobs. I think if people are morally opposed to gaming, that’s their right. But what’s not right is people who present fabrications and urban myths rather than valid arguments against gaming.

The debate that occurred in Toronto last time was people raising the issue of crime, and the chief of police and the deputy that was responsible for the Etobicoke area that includes the racetracks said that there are no issues that they’ve seen with respect to crime.

With respect to problem gambling, yes, problem gambling is a very, very serious issue for a very small number of people. Problem gambling rates have stabilized across Canada and around the world over the last 20 years at approximately one per cent of the general population regardless of the supply of legal forms of gambling, including casinos.

Hannah and the art of physics

12:47 pm

Salt and chocolate. Popcorn and M&M’s. Melon and prosciutto. Every now and again, there’s that brilliant moment when someone discovers an unexpected combination that ends up working.

For Toronto playwright Hannah Moscovitch, this unexpected duo was playwriting and theoretical physics.

Her new play, Infinity, centres around a mathematician experimenting with love while her parents — a composer and theoretical physicist — struggle to keep theirs alive. Highlighting what it means to be citizens of time, the play shows that love and time are connected in ways that we never could have imagined.

The process of writing the play started when Volcano Theatre’s artistic director, Ross Manson, simply requested that Moscovitch write a play about time. Her first reaction: to turn to the people who know time best.

“I started reading the work of theoretical physicists and trying to catch up on the many formative years of physics,” says Moscovitch.

She eventually came across Lee Smolin’s Time Reborn, which counteracts Einstein’s view that time is a “stubbornly persistent illusion.” Rather, time is real, and the very laws of physics evolve over time rather than being fixed, Smolin argues.

Soon, Smolin became Moscovitch’s “consulting physicist,” helping her write and revise the technical elements of his theories that were incorporated into the play.

“It’s been really beautiful to get to work with him, and it’s so rare in a way for artists and scientists to collaborate,” says Moscovitch. “We really like each other because we’re creative types on both sides.”

Although the exploration of physics may be new territory for Moscovitch, other themes are expected of the playwright. Audience members surely won’t be surprised with this dark comedy’s examination of love — a typical topic choice for Moscovitch.

“I’m always drawn toward anything that sort of refutes simplification,” she said. “And love is like that. Love has its dangers and yet is essential to our happiness.”

Infinity also deals with “large systems of thoughts that we aren’t aware of” and how ideas are passed on from generation to generation. At six and a half months pregnant, the playwright admits it’s a subject that resonates with her deeply at the moment.

“I’m fully in the throes of thinking about how my systems of thought will be communicated to the baby — what my systems of thought are and which of my systems of thought are unexamined,” she says. “There’s a whole set of cultural ideals that get passed down.… And because the play is about that, it’s coming out at a hilariously appropriate time.”

Moscovitch is an award-winning playwright. Her first full-length play, East of Berlin, premiered at Tarragon in 2007 where she is currently playwright-in-residence.

Infinity opens April 1 at the Tarragon Theatre’s Extraspace.

Tom Wilson and Lee Harvey Osmond back with Beautiful Scars

3:39 pm

It’s been a long time since the first time I saw Tom Wilson in concert, but I remember two things: one, his incredible voice was so deep and so full of enough emotion that he could move you to tears in one song and absolute outrage the next, and two, he loved to make references to chunks of hash the size of his head. That’s the thing with Wilson, there is no filter. It’s up to us to take it or leave it. Thankfully, we’ve continued to take the incredible talent of Wilson to heart.

Beautiful Scars is the title of the latest album by Lee Harvey Osmond, the moniker bestowed upon his “acid-folk” project, initiated with Michael Timmins of Cowboy Junkies and Josh Finlayson of Skydiggers. And the name couldn’t be more fitting. Wilson has been through it all over the decades and has come out of the darkness like a guitar-toting prophet bestowing pearls of honest and gritty brilliance to the masses.

The figure of Wilson looms large on the Canadian music landscape, and not just because of his sheer size. Wilson seems to have experienced every facet of the business, from the highs that come with success — such as being flown overseas to perform a private concert in a castle — to the other kind of highs that could have killed him. Now, the proud father and grandfather stands as a symbol of tenacity and longevity, thriving in a world of creativity that allows him to basically do much of what he wants, when he wants.

This is Lee Harvey Osmond’s third album, the followup to 2013’s Juno-nominated and Polaris Prize shortlisted Folk Sinner. The album release show is slated for April 7 at the Dakota Tavern.

One of Wilson’s other gigs is with the equally brilliant Blackie and the Rodeo Kings. He also paints, really well, as evidenced by his new mural — an homage to his beloved Hamilton’s musical roots — that was revealed during last month’s Juno Awards festivities. And he’s penning his first book for Random House.

“I do have to be a businessman quite a bit of the time, but I get to be an artist mostly,” he says. “If you put the art first, everything else will follow. It’s a hard lesson for people to learn, especially if you want to be really famous, really successful, really rich. But if you want any of those things, if you want to just make money and want a dental plan, you should go do something else.”

Wilson’s early work with the Florida Razors and then Junkhouse earned the baritone a taste of success. Junkhouse’s 1993 debut album, Strays, produced three hits, including the memorable song “Out of My Head.” There were a few subsequent albums, but none approaching the level of Strays. But Wilson continued to work on his solo career in addition to getting together with Colin Linden and Stephen Fearing in 1996 to form roots and blues supergroup Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, which released their debut album in 1996 and won a Juno Award in 1999 for their album Kings of Love.

It’s been a long time coming, but the estimable Wilson has earned his place amongst the greats of Canadian music by following his own path.

“Understanding who you are is really important,” says Wilson.

“Everything that comes out of my mouth is who I am. I’m not proud of who I was all the time in my life, but I’m definitely proud of who I am now.

“As artists we have to get on a level of communication that is true to the conversation we have across the table over a cup of coffee and a cigarette. The same voice in writing to audiences, in communicating to our grandkids, to our lovers, it’s all got to be the same. As a 55-year-old artist, I’m on that road now.”

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