Opa your heart to me

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2:29 pm

The only ring former WWE superstar Trish Stratus is concerned with these days is the one on her finger.

How they met
We’ve actually known each other since our elementary school years. When we were both in the eighth grade, Ron, who had just moved to the area, ended up on the same school bus as me, and we eventually ended up in high school together. We were best friends for years until we “officially” became “boyfriend” and “girlfriend,” which was 17 years ago this August.

The first date
Our first date was at a restaurant called Strawberry Fields. We had attempted to go for a proper dinner date numerous times but things kept popping up, preventing it from happening. We finally ended up writing a contract stating the date and place that we would have our first official date and we both signed it. That was July 11, 1991. We have the contract to prove it.

The wedding
I retired from the world of professional wrestling Sept. 17, 2006, taking my final bow in front of a hometown crowd at the Air Canada Centre. I closed that chapter of my life, and two weeks later I began my new chapter, off the road, at home with my new husband. We got married at Ontario Place’s Atlantis on the auditorium stage. Guests were seated in theatre-style seating. We were perfectly lit as we walked down the aisle and settled onstage, very apropos actually. Following the ceremony, guests enjoyed a sushi bar, grilling station serving lamb chops and chicken souvlaki and a saganaki station (a Greek fried cheese appetizer) — OPA! We left the evening with a very full heart … and stomach!

Their lives now
In 2007, we put both of our passions to work and began building Stratusphere Yoga Studio. Ron took on his first commercial build (he deals mostly in residential and land development), and I attempted to get the word out on yoga, which had affected me greatly (after yoga had fully rehabilitated a career-threatening herniated disc injury I suffered in the ring). We have now been open for just over two years. Not to mention the yoga we do together — nothing bonds a couple like downward dogging together!

Secret success as a couple
I believe the secret of our success as a couple lies in the fact that we are best friends. We started our relationship with a strong foundation and we’ve been through so much together as a couple, literally growing up together.

Celebrating Trish’s Greek heritage
The Taste of the Danforth is one of our favourite weekends – of course, it involves food! We love sampling all the saganaki and tiropita we can find on the street, but we always end it with Gyros and Greek fries at our favourite Danforth spot Kalyvia.

William Thorsell’s T.O. is sleek, sensual and just a little bit naughty

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2:29 pm

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Last call
A martini — Belvedere straight up with a twist — outside on the rooftop bar at the Park Hyatt Hotel at Avenue and Bloor because it has the best view of the central city and of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal. Not too high, not too big, not too expensive.

Last supper
I’d have the wild game at Canoe or the black cod at C5 because chef Ted Corrado does the sweetest black cod in the city, and the room is unique in Toronto for its intellectual and sensual intensity.

Last big city purchase
A BMW 6 Series Coupe — Monaco blue, at a BMW downtown — because this model offers an exceptional balance of engineering, size, style, capacity and statement. I would drive it down the Don Valley Parkway at night.

Last chance
[I would] play a piano concert on the stage of Massey Hall. The music would be from the Great American Songbook and some of my own compositions that I’ve been working on for the last couple of decades. I’d hope people I didn’t know would be in attendance — less of a risk.

Last dance
With a stranger to a slow dance in an anonymous club. We would dance to “Let It Be Me.”

Last good deed
Give my David Urban paintings to the AGO. I have two that I’ve acquired in the last 10 years. They’re very different from each other, and they’re both very complex and brave.

Last view
Of the city from a sailboat on the south side of Toronto Island because it captures water, wild and urban, in one frame.

One last memory scribbled down before leaving
The memory of taking possession of my first house in Moore Park, in August 1984, knowing beyond a doubt that I had made a superb decision in moving from Alberta to Toronto. I had come for a wonderful job opportunity with the Globe and Mail and had visited before briefly, and I knew that we were a good match.

Last crime
I would hang a naughty sign from the top of City Hall. I would have to wait until the last minute to decide what to put on it.

Last minute
Find a knoll to glimpse the CN Tower through
the trees.

Last words
Toronto is not just a city of neighbourhoods; Toronto is a neighbourhood in a bigger world.

Lohan, hot dogs and soccer a priority?

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2:10 pm

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If we were to judge our priorities by the amount of space devoted to stories in the news, we’d have to figure that the World Cup, controversy at a hot-dog-eating contest and Lindsay’s shenanigans were the most important issues.

Meanwhile, news about vanishing species, climate change, and loss of topsoil appears briefly, often buried in the B section of the newspaper, before vanishing.

It’s been this way for a while. Back in 1992, some of the world’s most prominent scientists issued an urgent warning about imminent ecological collapse.

The World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, signed by 1,700 top scientists from 71 countries, including 104 Nobel laureates, began with the statement: “Human beings and the natural world are on a collision course.” Major television networks and newspapers ignored the warning.

Two years before the World Scientists’ Warning, astronomer Carl Sagan presented a remarkable appeal from scientists to religious leaders at the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, in Moscow. It was signed by 32 Nobel Prize–winning and other scientists and is well worth quoting:

“The Earth is the birthplace of our species and, as far as we know, our only home. When our numbers were small and our technology feeble, we were powerless to influence the environment of our world. But today, suddenly … our numbers have become immense and our technology has achieved vast, even awesome, powers. Intentionally or inadvertently, we are now able to make devastating changes in the global environment, an environment to which we and all other beings with which we share the Earth are meticulously and exquisitely adapted.
“Efforts to safeguard and cherish the environment need to be infused with a vision of the sacred. At the same time, a much wider and deeper understanding of science and technology is needed. If we do not understand the problem, it is unlikely we will be able to fix it.”

At the conference, 271 spiritual leaders from 83 countries added their names to the document.

Now, 20 years later, we must regain our foresight and remember these powerful warnings from scientific and religious leaders.
They’re even more relevant today.

A private predicament

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2:01 pm

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With enrolment levels down more than 13 per cent in the Toronto District School Board since 2002, due largely to an ever-declining Canadian birth rate, independent schools are stepping up their game to ensure fewer babies doesn’t mean fewer bodies in the classroom. But what does it mean for parents?

“Declining enrolment isn’t being experienced uniquely by the publicly funded system,” says Barbara Bierman, executive director of the Ontario Federation of Independent Schools, “and private schools are doing a lot of planning, knowing that this trend is not temporary.”

Although the decline has been less radical at the private level (the Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario, another provincial organization with 44 member institutions, reported a one per cent decline in enrolment in the September 2009 session), and no schools have yet closed due to declining enrolment, Bierman notes that institutions in larger urban centres, like Toronto, Hamilton and Ottawa, have been most aggressive about exploring how to keep numbers up.

“The independent schools know that they have to really look at what they’re doing and offer it more efficiently or more expertly. They’re basically all competing for a shrinking marketplace.”

A marketplace that is seeing Toronto’s private and independent schools — once known as impenetrable institutions for some — potentially moving toward a loosening of their locks.

Head of school at Bishop Strachan School (BSS), Deryn Lavell, describes one increasingly common stay-afloat strategy as “tuition affordability”: making sure prospective students and families are aware of their options when it comes to tackling the bills.

“Over the last several years, our board, as well as at the operational level, we are really working hard to be committed to increasing our financial aid. And on that front, we certainly offer a number of bursaries. We’ve changed that language.”

“Those talented girls who can’t afford it were probably not even on their radar screen,” explains Lavell. “So now we don’t just want to open our doors. We want to have no doors. Over the last several years, we have been working really hard to increase our financial aid.”
Elaine Danson, a local educational consultant, agrees that an increase in financing opportunities signals private schools’ new-found dedication to a spirit of openness.

“Financial support is far more talked about now,” she says. “The schools are much more open to discuss it right from the get-go.
So when families go into an admissions office, they can ask what’s available in terms of scholarships and are really encouraged to apply.”
But while aid may be more readily available for prospective pupils, the consensus stands that tuition itself has not wavered in the effort to keep numbers up.

In fact, according to Anne-Marie Kee, executive director of Standards in Excellence and Learning, tuition has only seen an upturn.
“Over the past 20 years, it’s safe to say that schools have doubled their tuition,” she says. Kee suggests that it’s an increased emphasis on marketing that has helped private schools keep their numbers up, in particular, marketing that reflects the school’s commitment to innovation and change.

“You’re seeing an increase in schools looking to use social media. At a lot of schools, the heads are blogging. They have Facebook, they’re using YouTube. Their approach to marketing really demonstrates the kind of inventive student learning that’s happening at the school,” she says.This more savvy approach to communications is definitely at play at BSS, where they recently rebranded their entire admissions department as “recruitment,” to reflect how they’re adapting to the current demographic landscape.
“We’re moving away from the model of selection where we expect people to come to us and moving into more proactive recruiting,” says Lavell.

She elaborates that BSS has also seen a re-evaluation of its admissions policies. A move that, if imitated across the board, could mean an easier way in to some of Toronto’s most prestigious schools.

“We still do an assessment and an interview, but we’re not testing the way we used to,” says Lavell. “For us at BSS, we talk about our program as skills needed in the 21st century: creative thinking, critical thinking, inquiry, collaboration. We are looking for those girls who are creative and can handle our program.”

Danson reaffirms that admissions accessibility is a trend that is quickly catching on.

“I think schools are looking at children more in terms of how they will benefit the school and how the school can benefit them,” says Danson.“The standard of admission is a little wider as they look at the whole child and what

Fight continues over former Leaside car lot

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While Last Month the committee of adjustment (COA) voted down development plans for a proposed Bayview Avenue and Broadway Avenue grocery store and LCBO site because of size and traffic concerns, most say the decision was the first battle in what will likely be a long war.

“It’s crystal clear that the developer’s strategy is to bring his application in front of the OMB as quickly as possible,” said Coun. John Parker, who has fought in opposition of the site, alongside Coun. Cliff Jenkins, as its location at 1860 Bayview Ave. (the former Brennan Pontiac dealership) virtually borders the two wards.

In November 2009, when plans first came to fruition, owner MJB Corporation sought approval at the COA instead of applying for a zoning bylaw, the usual route for this type of development. When the plan was rejected, the developer applied again in July for a minor variance, after making only small changes to the plan. “This shouldn’t be a variance, this should be a full rezoning application,” said Jenkins. He said the COA is for projects such as adding a garage to a house, hence both councillors believe the developer chose to apply with the intention of appealing to the OMB where there might be more of a fighting chance to win the case.

However, if the case does go to the OMB, there will be fierce opposition. Locals in the area have formed a residents group because they think the 75,000-square-foot site plan, which also includes loading areas and two parking levels, is just too big. “They’re basically putting up a building lot line to lot line,” said Keith D’Souza, a member of the group. He said, as well, the service trucks and customers coming into the retail space will likely cause widespread traffic and parking problems.

While Michael Goldberg, the developer’s lawyer, said there has not yet been a formal decision to appeal, Jenkins said that, if it does happen, the city is prepared. City council recently passed a motion to ensure that lawyer and representation costs in the case would be covered.

Rosedale’s book mogul fights stoning

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1:58 pm

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It was a recent conversation with Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel that compelled North Toronto resident and Indigo CEO Heather Reisman to try and save Iranian woman Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from death.

“I had just come from hearing him say the opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference,” said Reisman of her talk with Wiesel, the author of Night, which is based on his experiences at Auschwitz.

When she read the article about Ashtiani, Reisman said she had to act. “I felt that, if I just went to bed, I was being indifferent to the situation.” That night, Reisman sent out e-mails to nine friends, each of who had a powerful network. Together, they started a petition, which was sent to the Iranian government every time a new name was added. One week later, more than 100,000 e-mails had been sent, enough help to temporarily cancel the stoning of Ashtiani. The mother of two has already been lashed 100 times for alleged adultery, which Ashtiani herself denies.

However, Reisman said the fight isn’t over. While the national Iranian government says Ashtiani’s case is under review, Reisman said local provincial officials have recently declared the right to implement the stoning death.

North York woman blames city for 18 basement floods

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1:54 pm

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Shondra Nauth says she has yet to receive justice after Toronto’s ombudsman issued a damning report on the city’s handling of a plumbing problem that has caused her basement to flood 18 times in the last eight years.

Nauth has been trying to get the city to correct the issue ever since. Along the way, various staff have denied the city’s responsibility and ignored her calls. She said she doesn’t trust the city to find a permanent fix any more.

Her lengthy plight, the result of a mistake in the way her piping was laid, has seen her paying thousands of dollars for each clean up, and her house still smells of mould and sewage.

“I am so angry, I could cry,” said Nauth.

The city eventually hired a contractor to install a holding tank. Nauth said the contractor caused damage to her home and the tank hasn’t put a stop to the sewage backups. She was told it would be a temporary fix, but more than two years have passed.

Nauth rented a house for a while to escape the situation, but it got too expensive, and she was forced to return to her house. She said she tried to sell her home, but she learned that she would only be able to recoup the value of the land.

“This is a nightmare I’m living,” said Nauth.

She has filed a lawsuit against the city and the contractor who installed the holding tank. She is seeking $400,000 for negligence and $100,000 in punitive damages.

In a recent report titled No Time to Waste, Toronto’s ombudsman found that there had been a failure of good administration, calling the city’s actions unjust and the delays unreasonable.

“My investigation showed inertia, incompetence and a complete failure on the part of many public servants to take responsibility for their work,” the report stated.

Coun. Mike Feldman has been working on Nauth’s situation for years now. He would like to see a permanent solution put in place immediately, as was called for in the report.

“She shouldn’t have to live this way,” said Coun. Feldman.

The flooding in his ward hasn’t been limited to Nauth’s home. He said it’s a bigger problem that goes back to the way North York’s piping was done.

Coun. Feldman estimated that he receives about 35 calls from constituents every time it rains. He said he would like to see the city address the issue at large.

Mario Crognale, the director of district operations for Toronto Water, said his department accepts the findings of the ombudsman’s report and is working to address its recommendations.

Ford denies report he was dismissed from Newtonbrook

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1:54 pm

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The Rob Ford campaign has slammed allegations that the mayoral candidate got into a physical altercation with a football player and was subsequently asked to leave his coaching position at Newtonbrook Secondary School in 2001, as was reported in a recent Toronto Star article.

Adrienne Batra, Ford’s director of communications, said he never laid a hand on the student and that his decision to leave the post was a mutual one.

“The report that was in the Star was false and inaccurate and slanderous,” said Batra.

She explained that Ford, who was head coach at the time, decided to pull the player in question off the field due to his performance in the game. The player was upset, and they exchanged words. The player then threw his helmet on the ground and Ford walked away, she said.

Batra said there’s a good chance Ford will pursue legal action with regard to the report.

The Toronto District School Board has no record of the incident. Spokesperson Kelly Baker could only confirm that after the decision was reached that Ford wouldn’t be able to continue coaching at Newtonbrook Secondary School.

Ford currently coaches football at Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School.

Competing for playing field sparks bidding war

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1:41 pm

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While the cost of revamping the playing field at Our Lady of Perpetual Help school (OLPH) has left the site in decline, a recent proposal by a community group to pay $250,000 to transform the field has locals wondering if they can devise a better plan and funds to back it.

“We’re trying to not just complain about something being proposed, but we’re actually proposing a positive alternative solution,” said Tim Costigan, president of Moore Park Residents Association, the organization leading the new proposal.

The original proposal, by the Rosedale-Moore Park Association (Mooredale), came about because of a lack of field space in the city. Mooredale organizes several soccer teams but finds it hard to schedule playing and practice time.

Lewis Reford, president of Mooredale, said he had been looking at options when he heard about OLPH. “We found each other and came up with this idea of partnership,” said Reford, referring to his early talks with the Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC).

The proposal was that, if over the next 10 years, Mooredale could reserve the field for evening and weekend practices, the group would cover the cost of refurbishing the land as a 60-yard AstroTurf soccer field.

Natalia Dukszta, president of CSAC, said she thought the proposal was wonderful: “I had been looking at all these options for the field, and it would have cost $20,000 just to put grass in.”

As plans progressed, a meeting was held May 18 to let neighbours know of the Mooredale proposal.

Dukszta said, to her surprise, many of the neighbours were concerned about the loss of the baseball diamond currently on the site, as well as the loss of public time on the OLPH field. Also, having a soccer field would mean an increase in traffic during game time and the potential for pickup soccer games all night long.

As these concerns came out at the meeting, Costigan, whose kids go to OLPH, stood up and suggested locals put together an alternative proposal. Currently, the alternative proposal has raised about $105,000. “We worked pretty hard,” he said.

The trustee responsible for OLPH, Catherine Leblanc-Miller, said the Toronto Catholic District School Board is considering both proposals. In the meantime, Reford said Mooredale is attempting to exhaust all other options. “You have to place your bets on different tables,” he said. “The thing we’ve come up against is there is basically no home field space available anywhere.”

Mixed reviews for huge Lawrence Heights plan

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1:36 pm

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Concerned residents are planning to go to the OMB over the density of the Lawrence Heights redevelopment plan recently approved by city council. The 20-year vision for the area bound by Lawrence Avenue to Highway 401 and Bathurst Street to Dufferin Street allows for up to 6,300 new residential units, on top of the 1,208 social housing units that will be replaced.

Jack Goldhar, who belongs to a residents’ group called Save Our Streets, said he’s worried about the consequences of moving forward on a project he doesn’t believe the existing infrastructure can handle. He cited traffic, sewage and electricity among his concerns.

“This is a very large mega-project that doesn’t seem to have any reasonable boundaries here,” said Goldhar. “We’re not trying to stop it, we’re trying to reduce it.”

He questioned whether improved infrastructure could even build the capacity to support the development.

Coun. Howard Moscoe said that density has already been reduced by about 35 per cent and that some of it needs to be retained.

“If you want a quality project, you have to raise enough money to make it so,” he said. “We’re building a community, not just housing.”

Coun. Moscoe pointed to studies that have already been done on areas such as traffic and sewage, which he said will lead to improvements during the development process.

Marian Mohamud, a long-time Lawrence Heights resident, said she is thrilled about the plans to revitalize her neighbourhood. Her hope is that those who are against the plans will come around once they get to see the actual changes.

“This is not going to change homes, this is going to change lives,” she said.

The plan will be implemented in stages. An application for phase one has already been submitted to North York Community Council.

Local pays $1.2 mil for Summit Series sweater

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1:35 pm

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Local entrepreneur and SmartCentres owner Mitchell Goldhar recently made history with his $1.2 million purchase of Paul Henderson’s 1972 Team Canada hockey jersey.

“If I had my way, I’d let every Canadian put it on,” Goldhar said of the recent purchase. “I want to get as close to that as possible.”

Worn by Henderson when he scored the game-winning goal of game eight during the 1972 series against the Soviet Union, the jersey has become a Canadian cultural symbol.

Marc Juteau, president of the Quebec-based Classic Auctions that held the sale, confirmed that the purchase represented the highest amount ever paid for a sports uniform. He added that the winning bid came as a shock.

“We told the consignor that there might be an outside chance that it could achieve half a million,” Juteau said.

While long-term plans for the jersey are still undecided, Goldhar stressed the importance of public accessibility to the iconic item.

“It’s not mine,” Goldhar said. “You can’t own this. You can’t own history. It’s owned by all Canadians. It’s all of ours, so it needs to be made available to everybody.”

Locals worry about the dire state of Heart Park

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1:34 pm

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Time to get things moving again: that was the message Coun. Karen Stintz gave late last month, when she held a meeting to understand why there has been no progress on the Heart Park project, an initiative that was originally spearheaded by Post City Magazines, since last February.

Specifically, she said she was concerned that the site for the parkette —the old bus bay at the corner of Avenue Road and Otter Crescent — is still under TTC ownership.

“That’s what’s been the most frustrating part of the entire process,” said Stintz. “What should have been a simple transfer has become needlessly complicated.” Stintz said coming out of the meeting, she is cautiously optimistic that plans are again progressing and that the surplus land can soon be transferred, meaning in October the city will start demolishing the bus shelter and parkette planting will begin next spring.

Gary Short, the manager of planning and development for Toronto’s parks department, said the reason the project has been on hold is because a company was contracted to complete an environmental report on the site back in February, and the report needed to be returned before the city could purchase the surplus TTC land; the grounds need to be deemed safe before a transfer can occur. He said the report had just been returned to the city and that likely by mid-August, the transfer process will be finalized and sent to the province for approval.

Stintz said she was told about the final report during the meeting. “All that was revealed was that there was a high level of salt content on the land,” she said. While the level was unacceptable, adding new soil and replanting the park will reduce the salt concentration significantly.

Kit Kleiser, one of the local leaders of the Heart Park project, said she looks forward to the time when they can plant the new parkette, as the site is now a mass of weeds and has problems with graffiti: “We’ve been spending money getting graffiti off brick walls.… we’ve had people living there at night,” said Kleiser. “It’s not very desirable.”