The pop culture Pied Piper, an interview with Douglas Coupland about his ROM exhibition

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12:43 pm

Douglas Coupland’s novels, from Generation X to Worst. Person. Ever., are stuck tidily on the shelves of many Toronto homes. His sculptures litter condominium entranceways from Liberty Village to Don Mills. His design work and his art have touched more than a few local gallery walls. Although a lifelong West Coast guy, Toronto is clearly Coupland’s second home, so why not give the guy a big exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum so we can really see what makes the prolific artist tick? Everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything, an exhibition that includes The Brain, a sculpture that puts to use 5,000 objects, to his homage to the pop art movement, Pop Explosion. It runs at the Royal Ontario Museum until April 26. We chatted with Coupland, via email as always, about just what he was thinking.

Please tell me about the mandate or the message of the exhibition.
The massive democratization of just about everything.

Has technology changed how we interact with art?
Yes. Watch people in museums these days; they’re being pulled through the rooms by their phones. It’s become our Cyclops eye.

If I don’t have a smartphone, can I still come?
Sure. But wear an eye patch, so you can go Cyclops like everyone else.

Why is Lego such an effective tool for getting your ideas across?
It’s like an operating system we all have wired into us. Forget English. There’s joy in finding you share a language with half of the planet.

There is an immense amount of stuff in this show. Do you consider yourself a bit of a hoarder or pack rat, perhaps?
Collecting tells you things about yourself you might never have otherwise learned. For me it was looking at death, destruction and 9/11. And other things, but those are big strokes.

To what do you attribute this condition?
Brain pathology.

Where is your chief source of goods?
Anywhere. Stuff is everywhere. Always.

How is the new novel coming along?
Short stories. Slowly.… There’s a lot of visual stuff happening right now. There’s a new theory book coming out in March called The Age of Earthquakes.

We’ve got so many of your sculptures here in Toronto. It seems as if you’re now a permanent part of our city. Anything currently in the works?
Not right now. I love Toronto. Some kids made a documentary on why Canada hates Toronto, and I refused to say a bad thing and they got mad at me. It’s great here.

Dr. Jess offers an alternative Valentine’s Day plan

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Andrew Mannsbach

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12:53 pm

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I’m not a romantic. I don’t believe in love at first sight, soulmates or unconditional commitment. I’m wildly in love with my husband, and I look forward to growing old together, but I don’t presume that we were meant to be together. I’m convinced that lasting love exists in abundance, but its cultivation is rooted in the practical (i.e., compromise, flexibility, emotional openness) as opposed to being a matter of fate.

It follows that, despite my belief in happily ever after and my love of wine, chocolate and intimate dinners, I’m not a fan of Valentine’s Day.

Although the notion of a holiday intended to emphasize romance, intimacy and all things sexual has obvious appeal, its intention is often obscured by commercialism and overshadowed by pressure, unrealistic expectations and, inevitably, let-down. In many cases, it reinforces the relegation of romantic gestures to special occasions and suggests that thoughtfulness, intimacy and eroticism are special, as opposed to essential, components of a happy relationship. Performing thoughtful gestures and flirting with your partner on a regular basis will do more to deepen your love connection and strengthen your bond than executing a grand gesture once or twice a year.

Small favours that will remind them of your love might include warming up their towel in the dryer, fixing them a tea or coffee in the morning, taking over their regular chores once in a while, packing a lunch, stocking a favourite snack or putting gas or windshield washer fluid in their car.

I want to make it clear that I’m not anti–Valentine’s Day, and I have nothing against grand, romantic gestures, but I believe they should be practised more than once a year to have a lasting and meaningful impact in your relationship. If you enjoy Valentine’s Day and find that it inspires you to reconnect with your lover or serves as a good excuse to make your love life a priority, then keep the celebrations coming!

You’re the ultimate expert in your relationship, so don’t let my personal preferences ruin your good time.

If, however, the holiday is a source of stress or pressure, consider ditching the crowded restaurants with their set Valentine’s menus and celebrate in an alternative way this year.

Take a single friend out for dinner, visit a neighbour who lives alone, take a “me” day, play bingo, cook dinner together or spend time with your parents, if you’re lucky enough to have them in your lives — they were, after all, your first valentines.

Traffic shortcuts pose a threat

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2:50 pm

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Gridlock and congestion have been, especially as of late, at the forefront of everyone’s mind. The mayor’s push to ticket and tow vehicles blocking lanes during rush hour is yielding positive results. It’s helping to get our city moving.

As we build upon these efforts to free up our most-used routes, we can’t forget that drivers looking to beat the traffic are using our local roads and school zones as shortcuts. As a mother of two small children and now an elected official, one of my key priorities is to protect our most vulnerable as they walk and cycle to school.

I am committed to explore the myriad of options that are required to make our local streets safer, especially for our children. We must continue enforcing the rules that we already have. A free-flowing arterial road means drivers have less incentive and inclination to venture onto smaller streets and residential areas in search of a bypass or shortcut.

We must be willing and able to utilize the whole toolbox of traffic control measures that are available to keep our local streets local and flowing. Furthermore, we must continue to make key investments in transit, as our system is overwhelmed.

Only through a combination of these measures can we really get Toronto moving while keeping our pedestrians and cyclists safe. I look forward to working with residents, city staff and my colleagues with regard to this matter, to protect our children and secure their ability to walk and cycle safely to school.

Lane occupancy fees to increase?

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2:50 pm

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We all know it too well. Stuck in traffic because a construction site up the road has blocked an entire lane. Two lanes are reduced to one and gridlock is the result.

Yonge, Eglinton, York Mills, Bayview, Leslie — construction adds to congestion on major streets right across Ward 25.

As the new chair of the public works and infrastructure committee ,the problem is front and centre on my agenda.

The current system, based on a cost-recovery model, no longer works. It doesn’t provide incentives to minimize lane closures.

That’s why we’re exploring a new, rent-based model that would link the price of a lane occupancy permit to its impact on traffic and congestion.

For example, that could mean paying more to block a lane on a major street, like Yonge or Bayview, or finding new and innovative ways to complete a construction project without taking up valuable road space.

It could also mean paying more to renew a lane occupancy permit or paying escalating fees over time. We need to build in incentives to open up those lanes as quickly as possible and get traffic moving.

A report on the new model is expected before the public works committee in the first quarter of this year.

If you have ideas about how to reduce the impacts of construction on traffic and congestion in Ward 25, please get in touch with me at [email protected] or 416-395-6408.

Losing our religion, part two: the case for preservation

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2:50 pm

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Inside a United Church building at Manor Road and Foreman Avenue in the Davisville Village neighbourhood of Toronto, the striking sound of badminton birdies being smacked can be heard while sneakers screech on the ground.

The sound of children laughing or lining up is another regular soundtrack played at this uptown facility. In the course of a week, the church and its adjacent building will operate as anything from a Brownies meeting spot to a place of worship to a badminton court. But that could all change in the near future as this church, like so many others in Toronto, faces the imminent threat of being sold to developers and torn down.

Churches have been losing their place in Toronto for years. As congregations continue to shrink, churches are becoming less able to support themselves and are faced with the hard choice of selling their land or repurposing it in order to survive.

Recent closures include the Deer Park United Church set to become a condo as well as the former First Church of Christ, Scientist on Chatsworth Avenue where another condominium has been proposed and is headed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

“It changes the community. What we need is more parks, schools and community centres,” said Catherine Alonso, a resident and mother of two children who uses the facility, “not to be tearing them down.”

But that’s easier said than done as many churches reside on prime real estate.

“We have as part of our official plan … an exercise underway to review our neighbourhood policy to make sure that we are recognizing the uniqueness of each neighbourhood,” said Jennifer Keesmaat, chief planner for the City of Toronto, in response to this growing trend.

Keesmaat could not say which United Church locations could soon be up for grabs, only that she knew several were looking to repurpose or sell. “One area we are going to be looking at is a statement in the policy that would encourage these places to remain as community amenities,” she said.

Although many communities have been built around churches and schools, which often function as quasi–community centers, current neighbourhood policies do not specifically address churches. Policies address some issues surrounding development, such as intensity and zoning. But there is now a recognized need to develop specific policies to address what to do when church land is for sale. “Recognizing that these are often sites that have an important community amenity for the neighbourhood, if that site plays a key role in the community, to make sure that it continues to do so,” Keesmaat said.

Keesmaat and her team have been hearing recommendations from various residents’ associations, city councillors and experts on what could be done to protect these spaces from being entirely lost to the private development sector.

“The question is how do you protect community space when they have to shut down completely.”

The United Church sites in particular have functioned as community centres across the city where a wide array of activities take place, from seniors dancing to scouts to recovery programs to meditation classes. If you walk into any one of the many churches located throughout Toronto, you will notice a bulletin board packed with events the public can enjoy. The churches are often beautiful structures, too. Some date back to the late 1800s.

“There are many examples of churches basically saying, ‘We’re done and we need to sell the property,’ ” Coun. Josh Matlow said.

“What can we do to make sure that we can make sure we still have community space? Where will the Brownies hold meetings? That question has not reasonably been answered yet.”

Matlow is currently working on a plan with the Manor Road United Church to avoid its sale to a townhouse developer. He hopes the city can purchase the land and then maintain it as a public space and large park area.

The plan is still in the early stages but would be funded by a parks and acquisitions fund whose monies come from developer’s fees so that taxpayers would not be held responsible. So far, Matlow said the church is very interested in keeping it away from the developers currently vying for the land.

“This is very unique, because we were proactive, and we’ve got a church that is being very civic-minded, and I love them for it,” Matlow said.

A Montessori school at this location services 70 families and offers teenagers in the neighbourhood opportunities for employment. The principal is very concerned about the fate of their school.

“This is a real hub for the community and has also been a huge community builder,” said Dana Stewart, the principal of the Montessori school. “There are moms who have started book clubs, people who meet here. If they take down this part of the building, we wouldn’t be able to do anything like that,” Stewart said.

Matlow said, despite the positive outlook for this church, there will need to be compromises that are made. It is almost inevitable that some of the building will be lost, so they are looking at new ways to make room for everyone. This includes having removable church pews, so when church is not in session, they could be pushed aside to make room for Scouts or whoever needs the space.

But other situations (and certainly more commonly) will not see any of the church space left behind.

“The question is how do you protect community space when they have to shut down completely and are no longer going to be on the site at all,” Matlow said.

He believes this is where changes to neighbourhood policies are especially needed.

One suggestion has been the requirement of having policy written into the title, so that, even if the land is sold privately, some piece of it must remain forever available to the public (known as privately owned publicly-accessible sector, or POPS).

“The city now needs to be proactive, to protect the space no matter how it is repurposed in the future.”

40 units proposed

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2:13 pm

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The site at 2425 Bayview Ave., near Post Road, has been a battlefield for developers and residents, dating back years. Now, another developer plans to double the number of townhouses originally proposed for the site,

The fight for this particular site began back in 2006, with a proposal that originally called for 20 townhouses, submitted by the developer Hush Homes. Now, the new application, by Urbancorp has proposed to build 40 townhouses on the same lot that once was slated for 20.

According to David Bawden, past president of the York Mills Ratepayers Association, residents raised approximately $120,000 to fight the site’s previous townhouse development (alongside City Of Toronto, City Planning staff), which wound up receiving approval from the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) all the same. An endeavour Bawden is worried residents may not be willing to repeat.

“It’s really the perfect example of why we need OMB reform,” said Coun. Jaye Robinson, “to set a new planning precedent in the area.”

The councillor has voted to abolish the OMB three times thus far, to no avail. It is Robinson’s belief that the OMB’s decision to appprove the Hush development set a precedent along Bayview Avenue, which opened the door for other developers.

“That stretch of Bayview has become a hot spot for development, with many proposals on the horizon,” she said.

City planner, Guy Matthew cites that particular loss at the OMB as one of the main reasons why the Bayview Townhouse Study (between Lawrence Avenue East and Highway 401) was initiated.

“The point of the study is to generate guidelines to ensure that townhouses fit the character of the community,” said Matthew. And according to Matthew, the current development does not meet the draft guidelines.

A community consultation meeting has yet to be scheduled for 2425 Bayview Ave. but will be arranged shortly.

Stollery’s coming down

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2:05 pm

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On Jan. 13, councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam put forth a motion to have the 114-year-old upscale men’s retail store Stollery’s at Yonge Street and Bloor Street West preserved as a heritage site. Four days later, the councillor was surprised to receive calls from residents complaining that the building was being unceremoniously torn down.

According to Wong-Tam, developer Sam Mizrahi’s demolition permit was issued on Jan. 16, and the construction crew was on site by Saturday morning, the very next day.

However, Mizrahi denies any correlation between the sought-after heritage designation and the demolition. “You can’t plan a demolition overnight,” he said. “It takes months of planning [and] design.”

Mizrahi has big plans for the site and predicts that it will be an iconic landmark for Toronto for the next 100 years to come. Pritzker Prize–winning architect Norman Foster, responsible for the Gherkin Building in London as well as the Hearst Tower in New York, has been tasked with the design of the new building.

“There’s a significant moral responsibility that comes with this corner, it’s one of the most significant corners for Toronto, if not Canada, in terms of commerce and in terms of retail,” said Mizrahi.

Although the councillor commends Mizrahi for seeking architectural excellence, she believes he acted hastily, without requesting the appropriate permissions from the city to occupy the sidewalk.

“We have 130 development applications in the development pipeline,” said Wong-Tam. “If every developer decided to tear down their building before approvals were granted, can you imagine what the city would look like?”

Briar de Lange, executive director of the Bloor-Yorkville Business Improvement Area has other concerns.

“We worry about the interim time and what will go on site until the new building comes through after the application process because you don’t want something unattractive,” said de Lange.

Mizrahi insisted that he has no intention of leaving the site as a “scar on the city” or as a parking lot. Although Wong-Tam has pointed out that the city’s review of the proposal (to be submitted in 30 to 45 days) could last a while.

Pizza war heats up

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2:05 pm

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A pizza war has been heating up following the opening of Paoletti’s Pizzeria at Dufferin Street and Highway 407 in Vaughan.

The new mom-and-pop shop, which opened on Dec. 16, is located at 8700 Dufferin St., across from Dante’s Pizza Vino Pasta, successor to the original business Dante Paoletti and his four brothers founded in 1976.

Last March, Paoletti was let go as manager of his old restaurant by CDDC Hospitality Group. The investment group bought the business — which began at Yonge Street and Bay Thorn Drive — after it went bankrupt in 2006 and then opened its current Dufferin Street location in 2009.

When contacted, Paoletti, 61, declined to comment on the rivalry “until the [legal] stuff clears up.” But Paoletti was vocal about his return and his mother, Loreta, being a central force. “It’s a dedication to how we saw her work tirelessly and selflessly to create such a wonderful environment in the kitchen,” said Paoletti, who immigrated to Canada from Italy in 1959. “We didn’t have much. The most we had was the great quality of her food.”

The food on his new menu — pizzas, pastas, sandwiches — is all made using his mom’s recipes. Unlike his old restaurant, the new Paoletti’s Pizzeria, furnished with about 10 seats, is meant to be more of a takeout and delivery shop.

That hasn’t stopped Tomer Strolight, a loyal customer since 1988, from visiting six times in just the first few weeks.

“There’s nobody else who makes food like this. It’s a fresh, unparalleled taste,” he said, adding that the supreme pizza and milk-fed veal sandwich are his favourite items. “It’s amazing how quickly [Dante] is recapturing his old audience.”

“I want to keep the old tradition of a family-run restaurant serving food made by the same people, day in and day out,” Paoletti said. “A simple little place, almost like being in a nonna’s kitchen.”

The Thornhill classic

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12:25 pm

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Stuart Farb always rooted for the underdog. In fact, it was for this very reason that Boston Bruins’ hockey player Bobby Orr became his favourite player.

“Even though most hockey players are very tall and very big, Bobby Orr wasn’t,” said Farb’s son Philip. “My dad was also not very tall, so he really identified and liked the underdog.”

So when Stuart passed away in 2012, his children knew they had to keep his love for the underestimated alive.

To do so, they started the Stuart Farb Memorial Hockey Game Fundraiser three years ago, a charity hockey game that raises funds for the Rebecca Farb Endowment Fund at the Reena Foundation, based in Thornhill.

The non-profit social service agency is dedicated to helping children and adults with developmental disabilities realize their full potential and become integrated into the mainstream of society.

In the Greater Toronto Area alone, the organization helps almost 1,000 people in need of its support.

Born and raised in Thornhill themselves, choosing the Reena Foundation seemed like a natural choice for Farb siblings Philip, Guy and Jody. But its location is far from the only factor the family considered when deciding where to donate the funds. Philip’s cousin has seen the challenges of developmental disabilities first-hand since his daughter suffers from one herself.

But thanks to the Farb siblings, children just like her are getting the help they need. The event, which took place in the Thornhill Community Centre Hockey Arena on Jan. 10, garnered $6,113 in personal donations from friends and family.

The filled stands likely came as no surprise to Philip, who said getting the family together was yet another lesson he leaned from his dad.

“He and his brother [have] basically been a great role model for the family,” said Philip. “We all get together very well, and we get along very well, so we’re able to do things like this with each other.”

As an additional salute to the man who inspired it all, the players all sported Boston Bruins jerseys on the ice.

Slam-dunk the LOVE

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12:25 pm

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When Eric Sherman was 17 years old, he never could have imagined that working at Camp White Pine in Toronto would inadvertently change his life. In the summer of 2008, it just so happened that Leave Out Violence sent a group of youths to the camp. It just so happened that the camp needed staff members to assist with the youths’ leadership training. And it just so happens that Sherman has a love for basketball.

These factors spurred Sherman to become involved with Leave Out Violence (LOVE), an organization that uses an inspiring team of youths to communicate messages of non-violence in their communities.

So when he was approached to volunteer for the organization’s second LOVE & Basketball event, he couldn’t say no.

“I think that the basketball avenue for me also helps because I’m, you know, a sports guy, and I can connect with it,” said Sherman, 24. “I have fun doing it as well as it’s rewarding because you see the results.”

The three-on-three basketball tournament requires each player to donate a minimum of $250, though some go above and beyond, according to Sherman. The event raised more than $70,000 last year alone.

And while the basketball court is normally known as a space of competition or rivalry, LOVE transforms it into an area of non-violence, respect, creativity, friendship, problem solving and expression.

Transformation is, after all, a key element to the organization, which encourages participants to become youth leaders themselves after completing the program.

“They do a very good job — Leave Out Violence — of having youth leaders or youths who have gone through the program share their stories and feel comfortable,” said Sherman. “I always find it fascinating to hear a new story.”

These inspiring anecdotes are precisely what keep him interested in continually volunteering.

“When I volunteer for things or help raise money for things, I like to sort of see the results,” said Sherman. “You can see the youths, you can connect to it, and it’s all in your immediate community.”

The event will take place at the Hoop Dome near Downsview Park.

Cooking up awareness

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11:17 am

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The Stop’s Food For Change dinner series is back, and critically acclaimed chef Chris Brown is gearing up to feed about 40 guests this February.

After a nearly three-year hiatus, the monthly event will relaunch on Feb. 12 with a Valentine’s Day–inspired event at their location in the Wychwood Barns. It will kick off with a cocktail reception in the Stop Community Food Centre’s Green Barn classroom, followed by Brown’s four-course dinner — buttercup squash soup, smoked duck carpaccio, wood-grilled bison and elderberry panna cotta — in the 3,000-square-foot greenhouse.

Food For Change has raised over $72,000 since inception. Proceeds go toward the Stop’s transformative programs, which fight hunger, build hope and inspire change with the belief that access to healthy food is a basic human right.

However, Brown thinks there is greater value in creating awareness than writing a cheque. “I couldn’t measure that,” he said.

“There are lots of situations where people are left with the short end of a stick and not given the opportunity to break out of it,” the 36-year-old said. “As long as I live and have the opportunity to give back, why not do that for people who are less fortunate?”

Brown came up with the idea of making money for a non-profit organization during his years as a culinary student at George Brown College. So when the Stop approached him to develop their catering company in 2009, he left the fine dining scene — Avalon, Scaramouche and Perigee —behind for good. Brown worked at the Stop for four years, cooking up a storm for hundreds of fundraising events before leaving to start his own business, Citizen Catering.

His departure hasn’t stopped him from continuing to support the Stop’s fundraising events. In fact, Brown got involved prior to his employment through Cross Town Kitchens — a Toronto chef collective in aid of the Stop. At the time, he was a partner and executive chef at Perigee, which closed in 2009. “I was extremely bummed out and depressed,” Brown recalls.

But he has always believed that there is more to life than making money. “My job is to make people happy,” Brown said. “This might sound a little 1969 hippie-ish, but if the community works together as a well-oiled machine, everyone will be better.”

Homeowners protest near Bathurst & Lawrence

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10:37 am

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Karim Hajee and his wife dreamed of having a bigger home that could fit their family of six. After carefully checking online reviews of contractors and considering several companies, they decided to go with Adam Gardin at GarCon, which had great online reviews, ratings and customer feedback.

Gardin began the work in October — totally uprooting the inside of their house and backyard — took a sum of money as forward payment and then, essentially, quit.

“That was our life’s savings. And there isn’t a whole lot we can do now,” Hajee said in mid-January. “What has affected us [the family] the most was not that we lost money, but that we have to start all over again. Not just finding a contractor, but also finding the financing,” he said.

The Hajees are just one of several families who have been affected by GarCon’s failure. One family is living without a roof, and several others are still displaced. The families received a notice from A Farber and Associates that GarCon had filed for bankruptcy.

In early January the affected families and subcontractors held a protest outside Gardin’s house at Bathurst Street and Lawrence Avenue West. Signs read, “Don’t trust Adam Gardin.”

Miguel Padille is a homeowner that was at the protest. “My savings from over 20 years is gone,” said Padille. “[GarCon] removed the roof of my house … put a very bad tarp, and it got ripped right away and the house was exposed to the weather.”

“That was our life’s savings. We have to start all over again.”

Hajee said that there is an investigation underway involving 20 homeowners that were impacted by GarCon, but that won’t necessarily lead to anyone getting their money back.

“We are all working together,” he said. “I believe what he has taken is close to about $1.5 million.”

As a result, Hajee — and all the other families disappointed by Gardin — are stuck trying to find new contractors and alternative options.

“There needs to be better regulations in this industry because there is just nothing in place to protect homeowners,” he said.

Hajee said his main concern is now putting back together the pieces of his home but warns anyone looking into homebuilding to be careful.

On renovator rating site Homestars, GarCon has a 9.4 out of 10 rating.