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As of Monday July 28th, 2020, the city of Toronto has entered stage 2 of phase 3 of the Covid-19 pandemic recovery. Despite the ease of restrictions, encampments continue to be a concern.  Encampments are outdoor tent dwellings and makeshift shelters that are present in various parks and green spaces across the city, including in and around the Regent Park and Moss Park area. Many of the inhabitants are homeless.  Acknowledging the lack of shelters to safely house the homeless during the Covid-19 pandemic, in an effort to prevent and deter encampments, the City of Toronto has acquired hotels and buildings, in order to provide temporal housing to encamping individuals. As claimed on the city of Toronto’s website (Toronto, July 14th, 2020): “Clearing encampments is a multidisciplinary effort with staff from Parks, Forestry & Recreation, Transportation Services, Solid Waste Management Services, and Shelter, Support & Housing Administration, and where appropriate, there is...

Supreme cut is a barbershop located in the Regent Park area on 432 Dundas Street east, near parliament and Dundas. Their area of focus is hair cutting, lineups, shape ups & men’s care. The shop is owned by black business owner Flory Wembolwa. Flory Wembolwa was forced to close his shop after Premiere Doug Ford announcement on Tuesday March 23, 2020, that all non-essential store and services would be ordered to close as of Tuesday March 24th, to slow down the spread of Covid-19.  Flory took the time off that he had to plan ahead until the shop opened up again. He learned at an incredibly young age to always prepare and save for “rainy days.” Flory tell us that it is part of the Congolese culture to always have something aside like an emergency insurance. As a result of this attitude, Flory has no sympathy for businesses that had to close down due to the COVID 19 closure.  In Flory’ words, “if you don’t have enough money to pay three months rent, you shouldn’t be in business...

Regent Park is home to approximately 12,000 people. According to Statistic Canada’s 2016 Census of Population, youth between the ages of 15 to 24 years account for 17% of Regent Park’s population (compared to a Toronto-wide average of 12%). Unfortunately, many of these youth will not have a job this summer due to Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, those that do need to ask themselves whether they are putting themselves at risk for Covid-19. The summer job is considered a rite of passage for youth. It is a symbol of independence, and marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. As the province slowly reopens, and businesses start to accommodate requests for social spaces, more and more employment opportunities reappear within our communities. However, those burdened with health are hesitant to take on this responsibility. Even with the warm weather and larger gatherings being permitted, COVID-19 remains a threat. However, in a time where costs for education and housing remain at an al...

Over 70% of the Regent Park population are people of colour; South Asian, Black, Chinese and South-East Asian residents make up the majority. Why is this important to point out? Well, health experts in Toronto, especially those associated to the Community Health Centre movement, say that race is often one of the most telling facts about a person that determines their health outcomes. These ‘facts’ that determine someone’s health are called social determinants of health. It is no surprise then that community health centres have been collecting Ethno-racial data on clients for quite some time, and are urging the province, and even the country, to follow suit. This is because community health centres were established on the principles of the social determinants of health which includes factors like safe and secure housing, social inclusion, income and education, and increasingly race. These factors matter when assessing the health needs of their clients because they are the real drivers i...

Regent Park is home to approximately 12,000 people. Many of the residents are of the Islamic faith and have reported encountering Islamophophia in Toronto and even in their home community of Regent Park. As of 2020, Islam has 1.9 billion followers making up about 24% of the world population. There are almost as many Muslims as there are Christians in the world who make up about 29% of the world population. With such a large following, you would expect there would be little to no misconceptions among the Western public about the Islamic community. Unfortunately, this is not the case and Islamophobia in North America is widespread. I invited Imam Said Rageah of the Sakinah Community Center to have a conversation about the public misconceptions of Islam and how we can better educate the people about Islam. Islamophobia is described as the illogical fear, hatred, and prejudice towards Islam and its followers (Muslims). These prejudice and fears are often caused by misconceptions about th...

Regent Park TV reports on the June 2, 2020 meeting of the Regent Park Social Development Stakeholders Table. Currently Regent Park is undergoing a massive redevelopment from a social housing neighbourhood to a mixed-income and mixed-use community. One of the two plans governing the Regent Park redevelopment is the Regent Park Social Development Plan. The group charged with working with the City of Toronto to implement the plan is the Regent Park Social Development Stakeholder’s Table (also known as the SDP Stakeholder’s Table). The Stakeholder’s Table comprises of residents, agencies and grassroots groups in the Regent Park area and their mandate is to make decisions related to the development of social infrastructure that the community deems necessary to ensure that Regent Park is a cohesive and socially well functioning neighbourhood. The following is RPTV’s report of the June 2, 2020, meeting of the Social Development Stakeholder’s Table held through the on-line application of Zoom....

The Regent Park neighbourhood is undergoing a massive transformation from social housing community to a mixed-income and mixed-use community. As a result of this revitalization, the Regent Park community is the beneficiary of a beautiful new park, a gloriously designed aquatic centre, a new community centre, a new track and soccer field, a new arts centre (Daniels Spectrum), two new child care facilities and a newly built youth centre (Dixon Hall).  What many people don’t realize, is that the building of these new amenities had a lot to do with a little known and understood City policy, called Section 37. Section 37 is a part of the Ontario Planning Act that deals with zoning issues and community benefits. This complex but crucial legislature is applied when developers exceed limits on building height or density. In return, they must provide benefits for the community. This may include: recreation centres and child care, public art, heritage sites, access to greenspace...

There used to be a time when small business owner’s principal worries were about securing investments, attracting customers, advertising, and most importantly the survival of their business. According to a report titled Canadian New Firms: Birth and Survival Rates over the Period 2002-2014, May 2018 by the Canadian Government, the survival rate for small businesses within the first five years is 63% and after ten years that number drops down to 43% so it is no wonder that creating and operating a small business is a risky venture. However, when a small business does manage to be successful it can be a great accomplishment. Sadly, the emergence of Covid-19 in 2020 has created a new and even bigger challenge for small business owners. Take for instance the Parliament Street Optical.  The Parliament Street Optical is located on the east side of Parliament Street, between Carlton and Gerrard Street. The business is owned by Munaverali Gulamhusein. Unlike big businesses who regularly ge...

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked unprecedented upheaval across the globe. Millions have tested positive, and hundreds of thousands have died. In more than the 200 countries in the world that coronavirus has taken hold, health systems have been devastated, unemployment is rampant, and populations have been in self-isolating lockdowns for months on end. And while our scientists desperately search for vaccines and improvements to testing, there is another dimension to the pandemic that is emerging; it is the staggering realization that disproportionately the most vulnerable are the hardest hit – the poor, the elderly, the marginalised, and those in low income but vital jobs. In Downtown Toronto East including the areas of Regent Park, Sherbourne-Dundas, Moss Park, Cabbagetown, St. Jamestown and the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood where many of the most vulnerable members of our society live, there is a crisis brewing. Homeless encampments are springing up everywhere leading to conflic...

In the wake of the pandemic, employment consultant Wayne Greenway, offers some helpful tips on finding a new job in the current environment. As anyone who has ever been unemployed and looking for a job will agree, the task of finding that job is gut wrenchingly difficult. Writing cover letters, tailoring resumes, and attending interviews (if you can get them), is like have a full-time job all on its own – in fact some people can be unable to find work for months if not years. Add to this mix of uncertainty and anxiety the coronavirus pandemic, and you have uncertainty and anxiety amplified by factors that are simply unquantifiable. With more than two million Canadians out of work, finding a new job may not be that easy. Perhaps because of the nature of the pandemic, a total societal disruption, the Government of Canada has not come forward with any new employment programs, instead the Government has focused its efforts at helping people through the crisis with relief programs such as t...

Louisa Jewell offers her opinion on how people can better cope with the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic. If there is anything that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us is that disproportionately the virus has affected the most vulnerable. This may be because of age and the compromised heath issues that come with age, or it may be because of socio- economic factors (low income, inadequate access to health care, racialized, marginalized, precariously housed).  Additionally, there is the issue of one’s mental health. Sadly, the most vulnerable in our societies straddle some or all of the above factors, however it maybe that mental health is the least well understood. Mental health can be understood to relate to the emotional wellbeing of a person.  To have what is considered a mentally healthy full life, one is able to functionally cope while experiencing a range of emotions including pleasure and pain. Mental illness on the other hand is considered to be a psychiatric disor...

Regent Park is currently going through a major revitalization, transitioning from being Canada’s largest solely social housing community to being a mixed-income and mixed-use community. The development is managed by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC). The Regent Park TCHC Community Up-Date Meeting, held on Feb 18, 2020 at the Regent Park Community Centre, brought together representatives from Toronto Community Housing (TCH), residents, and other community members to learn what is the status of the newest buildings, discuss the community benefits plan and hear who TCHC short-listed for the final stages of the Regent Park development. As the final phases of the Regent Park redevelopment are set to unfold, the residents of Regent Park are struggling with the revelation by the TCHC back in 2018 that the Daniels Corporation (the sole builder since 2009) is not slated to complete that last stages. Apparently, the TCHC has known since 2014 that they do not have a contract with D...

Regent Park, built in the 1940 to provide affordable housing, is undergoing a massive revitalization and will be transformed into a mixed income community. Despite the doubling of the resident population, no additional public housing units will be built. Yet there are over 100,000 on the waiting list for affordable housing in Toronto. According to Homelessness Hub, approximately 35,000 Canadians experience homelessness nightly. Additionally, a significant number of Canadians, especially Indigenous people, live in substandard homes that are overcrowded and/or dilapidated. Even Canadians that are lucky enough to have housing struggle to afford their homes and are at risk of becoming homeless if they lose their jobs. This situation is exacerbated by an expensive housing and rental market and insufficient access to affordable housing. Although Canada has signed on to many international treaties that signify access to adequate housing as a human right, this is still a major issue in our cou...

With everyone forced to stay inside, what is the fate of the homeless, and those living in shelters or on the street? Regent Park located just east of Toronto's downtown core is undergoing a major revitalization, it is being transformed from a neighbourhood made up solely of public housing, most of which were buildings over 50 years old, to a multi-use, mixed income community. Despite these changes, the areas surrounding Regent Park, which included Moss Park, Cabbage Town, St Jamestown, and the Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, have had large populations of low income, homeless and street people. To meet the needs of these populations, the area also has the highest concentration of social service agencies, shelters and drop-ins. It is estimated that there are over 9,200 people in Toronto who maybe homeless at any one time. Shelters and drop-ins provide essential services to these populations, food, clothing, medical and mental health supports, and places where people can socializ...

Over the past 15 years Toronto’s Regent Park neighbourhood has been going through the process of revitalization. Regent Park, once a neighbourhood made up solely of public housing, most of which were buildings over 50 years old, is being transformed into a multi-use, mixed income community. Although on the surface this is a needed change, there is much concern that the Regent Park revitalization will echo the processes of gentrification that many Toronto neighbourhoods have gone through over the last few decades. Gentrification is the process of updating and beautifying a community which on the surface sounds positive, however it unfortunately leads to increases to the cost of living and high housing costs. This in turn leads to an influx of wealthy neighbours while many of the original residents end up being displaced because they are no longer able to afford the cost of living in their community.  A strong argument can be made that the Regent Park revitalization has thus far avoi...

8 July 2020 Focus Media Arts Centre Chloё Nguyen-Drury The COVID-19 virus, also known as Coronavirus, has changed every aspect of our lives. What originated as a small cluster of cases in Wuhan, China, has quickly spread worldwide. On 11 March 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic (World Health Organization 2020). In this hyper-connected world, global travel has played a significant role in the spread of the virus. Infected persons visiting or returning to Canada have brought the disease to our backyard, leading to community spread (transmission from one community member to another). Additionally, Canadians who were travelling abroad have had difficulty returning home, as cancelled flights and travel restrictions limit residents from returning to their country. As of 8 July 2020, Canada has reported 106,434 cases, including 70,247 recovered and 8,737 fatalities. Ontario has reported 36,178 confirmed cases of COVID, the second-highest number in the country after Québec (Public H...