It seems that the Ossington moratorium has benefited Dundas Street West, turning it into the new, new thing. The proliferation of galleries, bars, restaurants and more continues this fall with the opening of several spots between Crawford and Beaconsfield alone.
What was once a mixture of Portuguese sports bars, hair salons and video stores is now a booming strip of fine dining restaurants, hipster bars, and a new gym. Let’s explore Dundas just east and west of Ossington.
While some of the better known spaces have been around for years, such as The Communist’s Daughter and The Lakeview, many of the go-to places opened less than 2 years ago: The Red Light, Show and Tell Gallery and Opera Bob’s come to mind. Continuing that trend, The Garrison took over a huge sports bar and turned it into one of the better live music venues in the city, with on-the-verge acts playing most every night. Enoteca Sociale is an expansion of Ossington’s Pizzeria Libretto family, and the rustic Italian wine bar is packing them in after approximately 6 months in business. Loop Gallery opened a year ago just west of Dovercourt, adding to Dundas West’s cachet in the arts’ community.
One of the more recent newcomers is Brockton General, which is getting ravereviews for it’s small menu of daily specials on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Academy of Lions, a cross-fit gym, just opened in a former auto service station on Dundas a block east of Dovercourt. Churchill, a lounge-bar, opened last month at Dundas and Lakeview, and Bunda Lounge is opening soon just east of Ossington.
Since Dundas doesn’t have a moratorium, it is much easier to open a restaurant or bar there than on Ossington. We’re not going to get into the fact that maybe they should be revising some bylaws so there are different licenses for bars as opposed to restaurants, and that we don’t need to force bars to serve food because we are all adults and smart enough to know when we need to eat. Ok, maybe I did go into that. Seriously, it’s 2010, can our government treat us like grownups? Anyway, the point is, we assume the tough restrictions on Ossington have caused some of the spill-over onto Dundas, and we see so many “for lease” and “for sale” signs that this will probably continue for some time. We’ll be here to cover it.
We had coffee with Karlene at I Deal coffee on Ossington this Sunday morning and she clearly shows a passion for getting in and playing some kind of spoiler in this race. She knows she’s not a front-runner but she’s getting her issues heard, and learning and experiencing the process of running a campaign as she goes along. Without the campaign machines of some of the other people running, she does everything herself.
She’s got a strong, focused message which supports business owners. They are a ward constituency that doesn’t get to vote, but provide the backbone of the community. She tells us that they don’t get heard at city hall, and it’s generally an un-inviting place with no interest in welcoming small businesses. This sentiment was expressed by Shaun, a partner of the Garrison, in his question to the candidates (see 1:27:25 in) about the tangle of red-tape he has to run through to get anything done to run his little business on Dundas. Businesses, clearly, are not consulted on issues, and Karlene talked about the need to have a “Business Welcome” sign at city hall, with a reception that lets people know how they can get things done, rather than having them sent to the back corner.
She is very comfortable speaking her mind – especially about issues of media coverage. She pointed out that CHIN radio, a very popular local station among the diverse neighbourhood, outright supported Mike Layton, and is not interested in playing any role in the election apart from advocate. She also said that one of the unused avenues for local Ossington businesses was to use the media better, and hold the politicians to account. You can be sure she’d bring this media savvy to city hall.
What struck us and many of the other people we chatted to after last Tuesday’s debate was Karlene’s passion. She obviously cares deeply about the ward and it comes out in her speeches and discussion one-on-one.
One of the people at the debate last Tuesday was local Toronto Sun reporter and freelancer Rachel Sa, who is a neighbourhood resident. She found out about the debate and came along to cover it and wrote an excellent piece asking where the voters were in the elections in Toronto. She makes a good point and notes that most of the people that came to the debate knew more about the issues than many of the candidates on the stage. It was a decent sized crowd, but most were well educated on the issues, and probably the people who should have come are the people who need to know more.
One of the reasons people don’t get involved in local politics is they don’t know what’s going on. Karen Sun pointed out in our meeting and discussion, and on stage at the debate, that many of the people that she talked to in the neighbourhood knew that there was something going on with the moratorium on Ossington, but didn’t exactly know what. And, I’d have to admit that I’m still not sure I fully understand how the laws work, because it was my understanding – which was obviously wrong – that the moratorium ended but the new laws they passed back in the spring are now in effect. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case, as Salt Wine Bar fights to find a way to open their already complete and fully ready restaurant.
In the Toronto Sun, Rachel writes for the broader audience, not specifically about the particular issues in the riding, because in the end, most Sun readers don’t care what goes on in Ward 19 – and rightly so on both her and the paper’s part. She writes about the lack of turnout, which is prevalent no matter which ward you live in in Toronto. Most areas in the city have incumbent councilors which make it even harder to get voters out, because it’s very difficult in City of Toronto voting rules to unseat an incumbent, so most residents just don’t bother to try.
In January of this year I got an email from a local business owner who had received an email from Joe Pantalone telling him about his great work “that will greatly enhance the neighbourhood. At the Toronto East York Community Council on January 12, 2010, a recommendation was presented to remove the pedestrian crossing at Ossington Ave & Argyle St in order to install traffic control signals at this intersection and I fully expect it to be passed at City Council on January 26, 2010.” This was clearly Joe targeting his marketing for his own purposes. In this case it didn’t work because in fact this business owner didn’t agree with Joe on this, and sent him a strong note back pointing this out. We didn’t get a copy of this note, and Joe’s office definitely knows we write about the neighbourhood. He didn’t want local commentary.
But where was the local involvement? Where was the consultation? And where was the news that this was going on? All these get no press because there is no press to cover it, or at least that’s what we’re led to believe. How do locals find out what’s going on in their community? There are a few scattered old-media print publications we do receive now and then at our doorstep, including the Gleaner, although most things that come on newsprint on our doorstep are full of ads and they end up where the Yellow Pages goes – in the blue bin.
That’s where we come in, and people like us – and there are otherfolkslike us. Maybe not many, and maybe some don’t do quite the job we do, but they are out there. And with very little work and almost no money (this blog costs us ~$50 a year in hosting costs, and we enjoy walking the area and writing) democracy can take hold. We leave our comments open and let people put in their 2¢, as long as it’s inclusive and respectful. We also have a Facebook page where people can place their comments, and let us and other people in the neighbourhood know what’s going on.
The new candidate for Ward 19 should make it a priority to set up and importantly to promote an online place, whether it be a Facebook page, or some other platform where people can find out what’s going on in their area – whether as local as the street, or the Ward. We can’t leave it up to the Toronto Star or the Sun (and face it, local flyers don’t work any more), because those papers aren’t going to cover the issues in this area the same way a local blogger or platform can get people involved.
If people in the neighbourhood know what’s going on, whether it’s a new stoplight, a new zoning restriction, speedbumps, or even are aware that there are complaints about local businesses, maybe they will get involved and take more action locally. Perhaps the local businesses will react quicker to meet the demands of their neighbours (and potential customers) rather than receiving a citation from city hall. But most importantly, citizens will get involved and vote.
So get involved locally. Know your candidates and the issues – we’ve posted all the links of the sites on the sidebar of the blog until elections day. Vote on election day! and if there’s something going on in the Ossington area that you like or don’t like, comment on the blog, write to us and let us know, or start your own blog and start making changes in the area. This is what democracy is, and it’s enabled by technology.
We posted our Tuesday night’s debate on UStream here, but we also took some good pictures of the event, and there was some good coverage.
A few good people were following the debate on twitter and provided up-to-the-minute commentary on what was going on:
There was also an article today in Parent Central on Michael Sims’ discussion of Maria Pantalone, sister of Joe Pantalone, and a current local school principal who recently was charged with assault and in the past found guilty of throwing feces at a student, and her distribution of Chris Bolton’s campaign literature through her school. Michael Sims made quite a stir. (Quite shocking stuff, and amazing that it only makes Parent Central in the Star)
We’ll keep an eye out for more coverage, but in the meantime check out the pictures from the night. If you want to check them out on Facebook, we’ve posted them there also.
If you missed tonight’s debate with the Ward 19 candidates, we recorded it on UStream. The video isn’t great, but the audio came out quite well, so you can hear the full debate.
There’s some great pieces in there – definitely tune into the 9 minutes mark for Michael Sims talk about the school board which offered some pretty shocking and interesting information. On that same topic, it’s also worth checking out another question on the same topic of the school board at 1:14:45 where the same topic rattled Mike Layton.
Each of candidates presented well and there were fire and passion in all of them. There are some great other snippets. What was your favourite part?
We’ll post more on the highlights of the debate tomorrow.
I attended the Friends of Trinity Bellwoods debate to learn how these things are done, and decided that we would allow the candidates longer to talk on various issues, hopefully getting more detailed answers.
We are going to start the evening off with a few words from the two Toronto District School Board candidates, Michael Sims and Chris Bolton, so everyone can learn a bit about the position, and each of the candidate’s platform.
Then we’re going to move to the main event where each candidate will have a two minute intro. We’ll be doing these in a random order. We’ll start with a question about the Ossington moratorium, and then move on to questions from the audience. We’ll be limiting the answers to 45 seconds.
Then we’ll have two minutes each for closing remarks, and hopefully enjoy a drink with the candidates after, where you can talk to them about the issues one on one.
We’re excited about this group of young and enthusiastic candidates who are going to change the ward for the better. Come out and hear what they have to say!
If there’s someone in Ward 19 that knows about bars and restaurants and issues with local council it’s Ted (David) Footman. Ted started and ran a number of restaurants including College Street Bar, Ted’s Collision and Ted’s Wrecking Yard on College Street, and had to endure Joe Pantalone’s neighbourhood manipulation up there, as city regulations froze the development of the strip where it remains like a mid-nineties memory of small struggling bistros and bars.
But his experience is much broader than that. Ted is also an architect, and with that brings a much broader understanding of city issues. Being an architect gives a candidate a solid understanding of city aesthetics and heritage as well as, importantly, regulations.
Ted grew up in Brampton, after being born in Scotland, and moved downtown to study history and architecture at the University of Toronto.
Frustrated with the direction of the neighbourhood, and always having an itch to run, Ted joined the race later than most of the other candidates, but he has made up for his late start with his quirky approach, as well as his large network of supporters in the neighbourhood from his restaurant background.
One of the main planks in his platform in running for council is to encourage the small businesses in the neighbourhood to grow, as well as to connect with local residents, and be the caretakers of the neighbourhood. As a small businessman himself he was subject to many of the regulations he is looking to change – including expensive fees on sandwich boards. Read more of his platform here.
Ted’s got a very open and direct style which may ruffle some feathers, but Ward 19 needs some change, and Ted’s in it to push for change.
Come to the Ossington Village debate at the Garrison Tuesday night and see Ted in action, as well as all the other local candidates. It should be a good night.
As we have mentioned, the moratorium and other restrictions on Ossington have proven too much for Salt Wine Bar. We heard from an employee there that they were shut down during service last weekend. They have also tweeted they are closed, and blogTO has an in-depth post about it today. BlogTO’s story mentions that Salt hopes to reopen by November. We hope so too. As you know from our previous posts, we were big fans.
This sort of bureaucracy in our ward is not only affecting Salt Wine Bar and Ossington. Joe Warmington’s editorial in yesterday’s Toronto Sun points out the crazy levels of harrassment our city is pulling on business owners on Queen Street as well, instead of focusing on important matters. On a related note, next month we have the opportunity to elect a new city council representative for this ward. Each of us deserves someone we believe will work in our interests. How do we determine that? Listen to what the candidates say and ask them questions. Your chance to do that is next Tuesday night at the Garrison, where we are hosting a Ward 19 Candidates debate which is open to the public. Hope to see you there!
Ossington, between Dundas and Queen is the heart of Ward 19. And like the entire ward, it has changed dramatically in the last few years.
For this year’s city election in Ward 19 there is no incumbent. We have a great group of young and enthusiastic candidates looking to make a mark on Toronto. We’ve been profiling them in the past couple months, but now’s the time to bring them all together.
On October 5th we will host a debate at The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St West, west of Ossington, where we’ll discuss and debate the issues in Ward 19, and specifically in the Ossington area.
- The recent patio restrictions south of Bloor St,
- Salt Wine Bar being held closed due to moratorium restrictions,
- Balancing neighbourhood growth with local resident’s concerns,
- How to enforce current local bylaws. (or should they be enforced) and
- Ensuring local resident and business feedback into local issues.
- Building better transit for the neighbourhood
However, we don’t know what issues are of primary concern to you. So we’d like to invite our readers to comment below and tell us what you care about, and what you would like us to ask the candidates for City Council. You are all welcome to attend the debate (or let us know you’re coming on Facebook). Admission is free and it is open to the public.
We’ll be trying to live-blog the event and we may even get it up on UStream so if you miss it, or can’t be there, you’ll be kept up to date.
Last night I went for a walk along Ossington and ran into William Tavares, one of the owners behind Salt Wine Bar. The beautifully decorated restaurant was sitting empty, wine shelves cleared out, and no customers. All because Joe Pantalone imposed a moratorium on new restaurants on Ossington, and Salt didn’t file before the deadline.
We probably don’t need to remind you that we didn’t agree with the moratorium then, as there was no local consultation (a period where Salt owners could have decided whether they wanted to go forward or not) and the resulting legislation was poor and misguided. We cannot support anything to do with his mayorship now – as we fear less community involvement, as Joe likes to do things solo.
We like the vitality that the neighbourhood has with new cuisine entering the area. We’ve eaten at Salt while they opened semi-legally using a catering licence, and it’s excellent. It’s just what the neighbourhood needs – modern Portuguese tapas, combining the cuisines of many of our neighbours with the modern styles of places like Union and Foxley Bistro.
The reason that Salt can’t open is that the city will not issue them a restaurant license, and thus, without that license they can’t get the liquor license. It has nothing to do with the AGCO – it’s purely a city decision, and one that was made law by our mayoral candidate. Interestingly, a few other places have been granted food licenses, including Crafted and Crepes and More. Although neither has a need for liquor licenses at this point, the city granted licenses despite the moratorium.
Joe will not be getting our vote for mayor, but he might be wanting yours. And we want Salt Wine Bar to open. We’re already craving some of the nice cured hams we had!
Call him and let him know that politicians should let entrepreneurs build their businesses, and let local enforcement do their job. And that Salt Wine Bar should open! He can make that happen.
It seems that the Ossington moratorium has benefited Dundas Street West, turning it into the new, new thing. The proliferation of galleries, bars, restaurants and more continues this fall with the opening of several spots between Crawford and Beaconsfield alone.
Just a reminder that the 
Ossington, between Dundas and Queen is the heart of Ward 19. And like the entire ward, it has changed dramatically in the last few years.
