News from People Plan Toronto

Dear Friends,

It has been a while since you have heard from us, but we have not been idle! We have a few new developments to tell you about, but we want in particular to ask your help on a new and important project.

PPT's New Project: A Community Planning Resource Centre

In our 2007 and 2008 forums, you told us loud and clear that you felt disenfranchised from the planning process. You said that you wanted to participate, but found the public consultations inadequate and the City's process confusing and complex. In response, PPT has been hard at work on a new project for a centre that would help break down the barriers between people and the planning process, foster a more collaborative approach between communities, developers and the City, and, we hope, lead to better planning and stronger neighbourhoods across the City.

The Ontario Nonprofit Network had a two day forum a couple weeks ago. News from that as well as their other projects are highlighted in the June newsletter.

Notes for Remarks by Helen Burstyn, Chair, Ontario Trillium Foundation
Metro Central YMCA, Toronto | May 28, 2009

It’s a great privilege to be here today with my fellow panelists for this important event in the early history of the Ontario Nonprofit Network.

The nonprofit sector is big, it’s important, and it’s vital to the health of our society and economy. But it’s also fragmented and often poorly-organized.

The sector faces a number of challenges. It needs to increase its profile, professionalism, and effectiveness. And that can only be done by pulling together, by finding common cause, and by inserting itself into the policymaking process – an area where it has often been conspicuously absent.

Date: Thursday June 11, 2009
Time: 9:15 am.
Place: 588 Queen Street West. St Christopher House
The Meeting Place: NW corner Queen and Bathurst

The Recession Relief Coalition will release a Bulletin outlining the impact of this severe recession on people and community organizations and the failure of our social safety net to support people's urgent needs. We are working with community groups and organizations to monitor the impact of the recession and call for action and solutions and hope other communities across Canada will replicate this work in their communities.

Ten+ Years Later – We Are Visible updates the innovative community-based research project, We are Visible, conducted in 1996, and highlights the experiences of health and health care of ethno?cultural/racialized women with disabilities in Toronto. Through community-based research and a literature review, this project works to understand the barriers to health and health care that ethno-cultural/racialized women with disabilities face and whether any progress has been made to address the issues discussed by the women in the original We Are Visible project.

Both Ten+ Years Later – We Are Visible and the original We are Visible report are available online at http://owhn.on.ca/wearevisible.htm

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is sponsoring a town hall discussion in Ottawa tomorrow entitled: The Future of the Internet: Access, Openness and Inclusion. Ottawa's open internet town hall is designed to give local citizens the chance to shape Canada's broadband future. As Canada falls behind other OECD countries on internet speed, cost, and openness, SaveourNet.ca will host a lively discussion guided by panelists representing web innovators, social change leaders, and public policy gurus.

Click here for further information and/or buy a ticket for the event.

You and your colleagues are invited to learn more about how you can lead or participate in a joint university-community pilot research project funded by the Centre for Urban Health Initiatives in collaboration with the Environmental Health Justice in the City Research Network.

Tuesday June 16, 2009
4:00 - 6:00 pm
Ryerson University
Jorgenson Hall, room 322
(380 Victoria, at Gerrard)

Light refreshments will be provided

International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School 2009

June 15-26, 2009

Instructors:

• Ron Labonte, Canada Research Chair in Globalisation and Health Equity, University of Ottawa
• Rene Loewenson, Training and Research Support Centre, Harare Zimbabwe
• Ted Schrecker, Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa

Topics will include:

From the Campaign for Public Education (CPE)

On the agenda:

• Notice of Motion (Ward) re: Review of Security Requirements.
• Focus on Youth got $2.8 M + 3 pages (single space) list of groups wanting summer permits.
• Min of Ed identified 90 schools as potential priority schools but funded 77 @ $34,000 per school ($2,618,000) and are hiring 1 manager and 4 facilitators (community use of schools - $484,000).
• Sewell's Police watchdog group noted the $2 M spent on posting 20 cops in school hasn't resulted in an appreciable difference there don't do the cops next year (full letter available).
• Briefing note from Sheila Penny re:$$ for Energy Efficiency (looks like at least $49 M not counting Reno + Retro of Existing Schools $$).

People for Education's 2009 Annual Report on Ontario’s Public Schools recommends Ontario expand its vision for education beyond test score targets and graduation rates.