Another great summer in Scarborough!
By Jennifer McKelvie, President CCRA
CCRA Summer Events. Summer kicked off with a burst of fun in Centennial. In June, CCRA supported both the Highland Creek Festival and the Port Union Waterfront Festival. At the Highland Creek Festival, Mayor John Tory proclaimed June 17 as Highland Creek Heritage Day commemorating one of the earliest settlements in the Scarborough community. At the Port Union Waterfront Festival on June 24, to stand together for East Scarborough, the five local community associations (Centennial, Coronation, Highland Creek, West Rouge, West Rouge Sports and Recreation) shared booth space and spoke with residents. We also co-sponsored the attendance of Scientists in Schools. The scientists conducted interactive learning activities on insects and birds with kids at the festival. The fun kept going through July with the Port Union Concert Series. A huge thank you to Kathy Rowe for organizing our participation in these events, and thank you to all the CCRA team members who volunteered over the summer.
Happy 150 Canada! The highlight of the summer was Canada’s 150th Birthday. I had a great time at the Scarborough Civic Centre listening to local music artists and enjoying the performances by Indigenous drummers and dancers. It was also loads of fun to walk in the 50th Annual Scarborough Canada Day parade with the Scarborough Community Renewal Organization. The excitement was contagious and watching strangers high five and cheer together in celebration of our fantastic country was heartwarming.
Welcome Jim Hart. On behalf of CCRA, I would like to welcome Councillor Jim Hart. He was appointed by Toronto Council on June 28. Councillor Hart lives in the Centennial community and previously worked with the City of Toronto for 31 years, including as General Manager of Parks, Forestry and Recreation, and as Executive Director of Municipal Licensing and Standards. We look forward to working with him on local issues. Make sure to check out his first report in this month’s issue.
Scarborough Waterfront Environmental Assessment. On Friday, July 28, the Scarborough Waterfront Project was referred to the Toronto & Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). The project will connect East Point Park to Bluffer’s Park. CCRA’s past president Jeff Forsyth was a participant on the stakeholder committee for many years. On behalf of the CCRA executive, Jeff submitted a letter to TRCA expressing that we “fully support proceeding with the preparation and submission of the Environmental Assessment for this project. The study undertaken has been fair, thorough and very comprehensive in the evaluation of all aspects of all the environmental features of the area. The Centennial Community and Recreation Association fully supports the preferred alternative.” The preferred alternative was approved by TRCA and the project will now proceed to Toronto City Council for approval to submit the final Environmental Assessment report to the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change. The draft EA will be available for public review until October 2. The Draft EA can be accessed online at: www.trca.ca/swp. Comments can be submitted to TRCA by email to Nancy Gaffney at waterfront@trca.on.ca. All comments will be responded to in the Final EA. A big thank you to Jeff Forsyth for representing our community association on the stakeholder committee.