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Unfortunately it rained on our protest today, but please join us tomorrow, same time, same place! 17 St. John's Road (St.Johns Road and Dundas St W)
Letter written by Lindsay Viets Moore, you can copy and paste it and send it to Bill Saundercook's office , councillor_saundercook@toronto.ca
Councillor Bill Saundercook, City of Toronto, Ward 13
100 Queen Street West,
Suite C46 Toronto, ON
M5H 2N2
Dear Mr. Saundercook.
I am writing to express my disappointment with your decision to spearhead and support city council’s decision to impose a one year ban on new daycares opening up in the area of High Park Ave.
As you are well aware, this neighbourhood is full of young families with children. We need every daycare spot we can get! It is currently very difficult to get a child into a registered daycare in this neighbourhood. Parents routinely place themselves on wait-lists the minute they know they are pregnant, yet, still, no spot is available when mom or dad are ready to go back to work – often this means they have been on a wait-list for 20 months! I’m sure you will agree this is unacceptable. The needs of many many many parents in your ward outweigh the minor concerns of a few homeowners on one street.
I’d like to point out how the concerns of the homeowners are overblown:
Noise: Daycares operate during regular business hours, when most people are at work. The sound of children playing is a reasonable thing to expect to hear, between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm.
100 Queen Street West,
Suite C46 Toronto, ON
M5H 2N2
Dear Mr. Saundercook.
I am writing to express my disappointment with your decision to spearhead and support city council’s decision to impose a one year ban on new daycares opening up in the area of High Park Ave.
As you are well aware, this neighbourhood is full of young families with children. We need every daycare spot we can get! It is currently very difficult to get a child into a registered daycare in this neighbourhood. Parents routinely place themselves on wait-lists the minute they know they are pregnant, yet, still, no spot is available when mom or dad are ready to go back to work – often this means they have been on a wait-list for 20 months! I’m sure you will agree this is unacceptable. The needs of many many many parents in your ward outweigh the minor concerns of a few homeowners on one street.
I’d like to point out how the concerns of the homeowners are overblown:
Noise: Daycares operate during regular business hours, when most people are at work. The sound of children playing is a reasonable thing to expect to hear, between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm.
Traffic: As you know, Hig Park Ave. is one of the widest streets in the area, with a full lane of parking on either side of the street. Most homes on the street have driveways, so residents are, for the most part, are not using the street parking. Additionally, many parents will be dropping their children off while walking, biking or taking transit, thereby reducing the need for parking near the daycare.
I am upset that there was no consultation with community members, outside of the small group advocating to restrict parents’ access to daycare spots.
I urge you to reconsider your stance, and to work with a broad base of community members to devise a more appropriate solution. The parents of Ward 13 will remember this decision come election time!
Thank you,
Lindsay Viets-Moore
I am upset that there was no consultation with community members, outside of the small group advocating to restrict parents’ access to daycare spots.
I urge you to reconsider your stance, and to work with a broad base of community members to devise a more appropriate solution. The parents of Ward 13 will remember this decision come election time!
Thank you,
Lindsay Viets-Moore
3 comments:
Good for you! I saw this story this morning in the paper and was simply shocked that City Hall is allowing this kind of NIMBY-ism to prevent desperately needed daycare spaces from being created.
I agree. High Park Avenue has a bus route running along it, and a number of traffic lights. It's hardly the sleepy quiet residential road it's portrayed as by Mr. Saundercook. Plus there is definitely a desperate need for more daycare spaces. As an example, my daughter is #52 on a list that I put her on when I was 4 months pregnant. She is now 7 months old. So that is a full year ago!!! Plus she is on 3 other lists where they won't even give me her #...
Good for you. I won't be in town this afternoon but I hope you get a lot of people out.
I actually live on High Park Avenue, only a few houses north of the daycare and no one in my neightborhood contacted me about this issue. I've also talked to neighbors, none of which expressed concerns about the daycare. I truly believe Saundercook has been strong-armed by only a few neighbors.
My story on daycares: I've been on every single list in Bloor West & High Park since JULY 2007 and two years later I do not have a spot in a single daycare in the area. I have been forced to bring my son to an institutional daycare outside of the city, close to my place of work, which I consider unacceptable.
I find it interesting that Mr. Saundercook, only a year ago, was at the opening of the Windermere Early Learning centre speaking about the need for daycare spaces in this area. His story certainly has changed a year later.
I think Saundercook is completely out of touch with his constituents.
Good luck today - I've contacted both Mr. Saundercook and Mayor Miller on this issue.
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