During the public meeting, Councillor Grimes said that he would work with ourlakeshore.net to communicate with the community and that the people behind that organization should be the “spokespersons for the community”.
At the meeting, there was representation from many other community groups: CCFEW, Good Neighbours, LAMP, the Lakeshore Planning Council, the New Toronto Historical Society, Lakeshore Environmental Gardeners, the BIA, Friends of Sam Smith Park, 51 Lakeshore Drive blog spot, the Lakefront Homeowners Association, the Watershed Coalition, Spirit of the Lakeshore as well as ourlakshore.net. There were probably other community groups at the meeting as well.
All of these groups and individuals care very much about our neighbourhood and deserve information on proposals in Ward 6. Councillor Grimes needs to understand that the more community groups he communicates information to, the more people in Ward 6 he can reach. It is hard to understand why he would shut any of his constituents out by choosing to only work with a select few, shunning the rest.
As our elected representative, he is required to communicate the same information to all interested community groups equally.
It is interesting to note that Councillor Grimes would (and will) only work with an organization whose primary members appear to be only new to our community. The leader has only been here about a year, other active members less than that.
ReplyDeleteYet, this group is considered to be "the" voice of the entire area already.
Why are other members of our communities who have worked for decades to make the Lakeshore a better place to live being so openly ignored?
Why do the opinions of only newcomers count - mainly those who know little or nothing of the area?
Why do the opinions and all the hard work done over many years by longtime members of the community count for nothing? These are the people who truly know the community.
There appears to be something terribly wrong with this situation. A sinister and insidious underlying agenda for the area comes to mind first.
Whatever is planned is not likely to be of benefit to the communities and residents in the Lakeshore area (we have already seen the public comments regarding the proposed skating trail "stacked" by the few organized supporters of the project).
That newcomers would claim that this is their Lakeshore while ignoring those who have been here a lot longer speaks volumes.
There is fear that much worse is yet to come.
Hi Folks,
ReplyDeleteourlakeshore.net does good work in our community.
They created the Shop the Shore event, and they fought hard against the strip club.
At the 51 Lakeshore Drive Public Meeting Councillor Grimes announced to everyone that he would communicate on this issue - only through ourlakeshore.net. Councillor Grimes admitted that he had not spoken to them about this prior to his announcement. They made no claim to be the spokespeople for the community.
This is not about one community group trying to take over and be the voice for everyone. This is not about one part of the community versus another.
This is about an elected representative who chooses to ignore and shun many of his constituents.
New people bring new energy and ideas, and no one should be criticized for wanting to make their neighbourhood the best in Toronto.
We all care about our community. We need to listen to each other, respect different opinions and ideas and work together on all issues - including the proposed development at 51 Lakeshore Drive.
We need to focus our energy on the best solutions for the neighbourhoods of Alderwood, Long Branch, New Toronto, Mimico and Humber Bay Shores.
Folks, we can’t accomplish anything when we are divided. No one wins.
We need to stand together as neighbours. Stand together as a community and work together to achieve great solutions.
Working together we are unstoppable. We will be successful and the result will be a great community in which to live, work and play.
Thank you,
Jem Cain