Good turnout for federal candidates debate
By Kathy Rowe
On April 15, our area associations held a candidates debate at the Legion in Highland Creek. The candidates who came to speak were Gary Anandasangaree (Liberal), Tory Rife (Green) and Kingsley Kwok (NDP). Questions from each association were posed, as well as prepared questions from the audience. Topics such as the national debt, housing, and transit were raised.
Sensitive issues such as the war in the Middle East and the missing and murdered Indigenous women were also addressed. The evening was a success with over 100 people in attendance. Many thanks to the area association presidents. A special thank you to Reza Khoshdel (WRCA president) who did a superb job as moderator throughout the evening. We appreciated the candidates for taking the time to participate and to the attendees coming to ask questions at an important community event.
Elma Todkill
On March 15, the Highland Creek community lost a dear friend and a valuable volunteer. Elma Todkill, 82, was a much-loved mother and grandmother. Elma was very generous with her time when it came to helping with HCCA’s newspaper distribution, the annual community tree lighting, community area Earth Day cleanups, and of course the Highland Creek Heritage Day Festivals. Elma’s energy, amazing spirit and hard work will be sorely missed.
Hail to Denise!
Our CCRA membership director, Denise Bacon, was recently bestowed with a new and prestigious volunteer award. The King Charles III Coronation Medal recognizes Canadians who have made significant contributions to their communities. Over the past several years, Denise has been a key volunteer with many different organizations in Scarborough. Groups such as Feed Scarborough, the Curran Hall Tennis Club, Tropicana Community Services, St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, and the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization. Currently, Denise is an active member of the Scarborough Women of Philanthropy, a group that works hard to raise funds for the Scarborough Health Network. Congratulations Denise!
2025 Earth Day Success
Congratulations and thank you to the amazing members of the Earth Day Committee for putting on another terrific event. Children happily built bird feeders and made crafts to take home, and adults had a chance to learn all about native plants with folks from the Rouge Butterflyway.
Speakers Colin Winn and Raja Raudsepp made informative presentations about the beauty of nature in our community and The Meadoway project. There were many display tables set up around the recreation centre for attendees to visit such as: West Hill Lion’s rain barrel sales, the Toronto Zoo, and Friends of the Rouge Watershed and more. Everyone was grateful for the free paper shredding, which was made available by Iron Mountain and sponsored by Sue Anfang. People loved getting free compost, which was provided by Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie’s office. Many volunteers came out to clean up the garbage in the neighbourhood and that was great to see!
I want to thank the Port Union Seniors for serving hot dogs and hamburgers to residents and volunteers. A big shout-out goes to Rob McMulkin, Port Union Community Recreation Programmer, who graciously supported us and allowed us to take over the recreation centre for this important event. The Scouts recycling drive, which took place at the West Rouge C.C., was a great success and a perfect complement to the activities happening at Port Union. Thank you Kevin Beleskey for your hard work coordinating this annual and very impressive recycling drive.