Catch da Flava On-Line

RPNA holds a community meeting on safety to discuss a Ding Dong Pitch (Prank) Regent parkers have continuously come together over many challenging issues including housing, redevelopment, immigration, access to adequate medical health and mental resources, and racism, but if there one issue that has repeatedly galvanized the community, it has been the issue of its youth, and its relationship with the Toronto Police Service - the latest incident of which came to a head at a community meeting on safety, organized by the Regent Park Neighbourhood Association on December 20, 2021. At approximately 4:45 pm, on Sunday November 21, 2021, Toronto Metropolitan Police officers from 51 Division, stormed a community youth event been held at 50 Regent Park Blvd. The youth event was organized by TCHC and Tridel, in partnership with Healing As One and other youth groups in the community, as a way of consulting with youth around phase 4 & 5 of the Regent Park Redevelopment. According

Toronto Police Services hold community meeting with Regent Park youth and community members to discuss new initiative to tackle gun and gang violence in the city. On Thursday December 2, 2021, Toronto Metropolitan Police officers from 51 Division and the Toronto Metropolitan Police Youth Engagement Unit hosted a presentation and dialogue session about guns and gang violence with Regent Park youth. The meeting was held at the Regent Park Community Centre located at 403 Shuter Street and was facilitated by Isabelle Cotton, a Police Youth Engagement Officer. Cotton was assisted by her colleagues including 43 Division Superintendent Dave Rydzik; 51 Division Unit Commander Chris Kirkpatrick; 51 Division 2nd in charge Inspector Angadvir Singh; and Regent Park Neighborhood Police Officers Farzad Ghotbi and Mustafa Popalzai. The session was targeted at Regent Park youth and included a small number of adult community members. The main purpose of the session was to introduce Project#Engag

Mustafa The Poet, Regent Parks own performed live at Massey Hall in Toronto Downtown. Not many artists get to play their first hometown concert at the prestigious venue Massey Hall. For Mustafa, the location was even more significant than for most. It’s a walk away from Regent Park, the Toronto neighbourhood that looms over all the songs on Mustafa’s debut album When Smoke Rises.  Mustafa Ahmed, better known by his stage name Mustafa the Poet, is a Canadian poet, singer and songwriter who grew up in Regent Park. On 1st of December of 2021, Mustafa The Poet Performed at the Massey Hall in Downtown Toronto. His album is a tribute to his friends and family and their lives spent in Regent Park. The full house crowd at Massey Hall was full of Mustafa’s friends and family, including the families of Ali Rizeig, an 18-year-old resident of Regent Park who was gunned down in the doorway of his home in 2017 and Jahvante Smart aka Smoke Dawg, a 21-year-old Canadian rapper who was killed outside

Police arrest two in killing of Regent Park mentor Thane Murray. Third man wanted. Two men have been arrested for first-degree murder and a third is wanted by police in the fatal shooting of Thane Murray, a Regent Park mentor gunned down in a hail of bullets Two men have been arrested for first-degree murder and a third is wanted by police in the fatal shooting of Thane Murray, a Regent Park mentor gunned down in a hail of bullets early on a warm September night. Police announced the arrests three months after the high-profile death of Murray, a beloved, 27-year-old community leader and City of Toronto employee who was one of three men shot while walking in Regent Park, allegedly by multiple shooters. The Sept. 18 shooting near Oak and Sumach streets was described as “disturbing” by police in part due to sheer number of bullets fired: investigators found more than 50 shell casings on the scene, and police also reviewed a surveillance video posted on social media that appeared to ca

The following is a report of the December 7, 2021 SDP Stakeholders Meeting: The Regent Park Social Development Plan is a community wide initiative aimed at fostering social inclusion and cohesion. The SDP Stakeholders Table is the main decision-making body responsible for the implementation of Social Development Plan. The Stakeholders Committee meets four times yearly. SDP Membership Intended to be a coalition of stakeholders serving or residing in Regent Park, participation on the Stakeholders Table is open to anyone including: market and TCHC residents; agencies; Grassroots Groups; Faith Groups; and businesses located in or serving Regent Park; TCHC and its development partners; City of Toronto, and other elected representatives serving Regent Park. SDP Voting Privileges While membership is open to all, voting privileges are restricting to residents and stakeholder groups who are actively involved on the various working committees of the SDP. The working committees are commun

The next agenda item on the November 25, 2021, SDP Planning Committee was the Community Benefits Working Group Terms of Reference. Tridel Builders, the development partner with TCHC, has pledged 36.8 million in community benefits for phase 4& 5 of the Regent Park Redevelopment. TCHC has been working with RPNA Community Benefits Coalition to co-develop terms of reference for a community benefits working group that would oversee how the 26.8 million would be spent. According to Ismail Afrah, last week TCHC senior manager, Peter Zimmerman, met with RPNA co-chairs Marlene DeGenova and Ismail Afrah, to inform them that going forward TCHC will no longer continue discussions about the terms of reference for the Community Benefits Working Group and that TCHC would unilaterally deciding the terms of reference. At the planning committee meeting, Ismail stated that he informed Peter that according to the signed community benefits agreement that the development of a terms of referen

In this episode of St. James Town TV, we feature the Weathering the Storm Research Report. The report was prepared for The Corner and the St. James Town Service Providers Network by Lisa Kovalchuk, a professor of sociology at the University of Guelph. Lisa Kovalchuk’s team of researchers included community residents Priyal Goenka, Tanvir Kaukab, and Lovlyn Dsouza. The aim of the study was to determine how the Covid-19 pandemic played out in the highly diverse and densely populated community of St. James Town. The study focused on three demographics, youth, newcomers and other immigrants, and seniors. According to Lisa and her team, in the area of children and youth the study found that parents with infants and pre-teen children reported lockdown impacts that affected child development such as the lack of social interactions and gaining of learning experiences because of the disruption of day-care and the closure of recreational family outing options. Parents of special needs c

In this Episode of the 4GetAboutIt TV, the Youth Collective discuss some of the Slang words used in Toronto, especially in the Regent Park neighbourhood. Toronto, or the 6ix is one of the most diverse cities in the world. The whole world lives in the 6ix. In Toronto, one can find folks from every ethnicity, race, region etc. This makes the 6ix a multicultural and multilingual society. This mix of different cultures brings a distinct swagger to Toronto. Toronto Pop icons, Drake and Lily Singh have been using 'the 6ix' (slang for Toronto) in mainstream media sparking a conversation on Toronto slang. But in a city that brands itself as multicultural and diverse, where does that Toronto slang actually come from? This language we’ve normalized and enjoy comes from Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana, Somalia and other specific communities within the Greater Toronto Area. Regent Park is one community in the east end of downtown Toronto. A huge number of immigrants live in this community, t

4GetAboutIt Youth Collective discuss Mustafa The Poet, an Inspiring Regent Parker & the Astroworld Tragedy. The 4GetAboutIt, Regent Park Youth Collective are really excited about, Regent Park's own, Mustafa the Poet's upcoming concert. The concert will be held on 1st December 2021, at Massey Hall in Toronto. Born to Sudanese parents, Mustafa began mesmerizing audiences with awe-inspiring poetry as a mindful pre-teen. He created raw and hopeful poetry/songs inspired by his upbringing in North America's first public housing building. Despite his age, Mustafa was able to touch on the grave reality of his hometown, located in one of Toronto's Regent Park. In 7th grade, he performed an original piece, "A Single Rose", at Nelson Mandela Park Public school. The piece got a lot of attention and appreciation, earning him high praises at Toronto's Hot Docs Festival in 2009. In 2016, he connected with Toronto producer Frank Dukes with whom he he

The Regent Park Revitalization Team commits to community wide consultations on the rezoning process. The Regent Park revitalization team is in the process of consulting with the community on the Regent Park phases 4 & 5 revitalization. The revitalization team is made up of a development team from Toronto community Housing (TCHC), and Tridel, and a consultation comprised of 9 different consultant groups including Karakusevic Carson Architects (KCA), Bousfields Inc, Monumental , ERA Architects, PFS Studio, BA Group, Transsolar KlimaEngineering, Counterpoint Engineering and RWDI Consulting. On October 26, 2021, an on-line engagement presentation was hosted by the revitalization team for Regent Park community members. The presentation is one of many engagement activities that have been held to date. The October 26 presentation provides an understanding of the rezoning application process, what is involved and the timelines. In past meetings, the rezoning process has been the sub