Ana Bailão

A woman’s place is at city hall

councillor_bailao — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:38:00 +0000

Mentorship program has women involved in municipal politics

By Tristan Carter

May 17, 2012

Of Toronto’s 44 city councillors, only 15 are women. However, that doesn’t mean females aren’t interested in politics.

Corina Wong and Jaspreet Sandu are just two of the 30 young women who are participating in this year’s Toronto Regional Champion Campaign, which aims at getting females more politically engaged.

“It definitely is important, especially since it’s well below 50 percent, the participation rate among females,” Wong said. “It’s a great idea and more cities should definitely adopt it.”

Since 2008 the program has seen women aged 18-28 paired with a female councillor in order to gain knowledge and experience of the inner workings of municipal government. Wong and Sandu have been partnered with Ward 18 councillor Ana Bailao.

“Though we have seen a shrinking gap between gender inequalities, certain sectors, including politics, have lagged behind,” Bailao said in a written statement. “In a very promising trend, fully one third of Toronto city councillors are women.

“By strengthening our relationships with other promising young women through programs such as this, we can continue building this level of engagement for future generations.”

The protégées will be involved with the program for a year and make their schedule based on their availability and interests. Both Wong and Sandu currently work in the world of Canadian films and had met before through various events in that field. Both said they are eager to work with and learn from Bailao, who is a member of the Toronto Arts Council.

“She is a very professional, strong woman,” Sandu said of Bailao. “I look forward to getting to know her more and getting a sense of her career since she’s had such a great career.”

Other political figures that Sandu said she looks up to are Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, and locally, councillors Adam Vaughan and Shelly Carroll.

Not everyone is as politically informed as Sandu though, and that is why Wong thinks the program is important and should even be offered to both genders.

“I think it’s terrific and that it should also be extended to perhaps not just females,” Wong said. “Civic engagement is really important and there is this kind of culture of apathy because people don’t feel like they can influence much change.”

While Wong and Sandu said they did not have any intentions of becoming politicians before participating in the program, they both said they are open to the possibility. In fact, just attending the orientations sessions seems to have changed Sandu’s mind.

“I totally can see myself in city council,” she said. “I am a very capable person and I care about the community. So what better fit?”

http://www.mytowncrier.ca

Community Parks Summit Notes

councillor_bailao — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:22:23 +0000

On the afternoon of May 5th, 2012 more than seventy people participated in the first annual Ward 18 Community Parks Summit at the Dovercourt Park Boys and Girls Club. Notes collected during the event are posted below and we welcome any further comments. Please email councillor_bailao@toronto.ca or call 416-392-7012

W18-PS2012 Map Comments

W18-PS2012 – Consultation Forum

The unexpected merits of Toronto’s condo boom

councillor_bailao — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:37:11 +0000

GLOBE AND MAIL Saturday, May. 12, 2012

By: MARCUS GEE

The Queen West Triangle was one of the earliest and noisiest battlefields in the condo wars. When developers started buying up land in the old industrial area south of Queen Street and west of Dovercourt Road, local activists feared they would push out all the artists and ruin the character of the neighbourhood.

Condos may be okay for Toronto, but this is the Beach
In Toronto, new condo is a chip off the old block
New Regent Park condo goes over-asking

Something quite different has happened. The area is indeed changing, with construction cranes looming, condos popping up left and right, and gentrification in full swing. But far from being banished from what was supposed to become a bourgeois wasteland, the arts are thriving.

A deal approved this month will see a local developer build a 36,000-square-foot Art Hub in the lower floors of a new condo at Lisgar and Queen streets. Seven non-profit groups specializing in film, video, photography and animation will make up the Toronto Media Arts Cluster, occupying a dramatic new space that will feature a 200-seat cinema.

The artists, previously scattered around the city and often struggling to cover the rent, will get a permanent home worth millions. The developer, in exchange, will get to build a few extra floors on his condo. Cost to the city government: zero.

The Art Hub is just the latest of several arts-related amenities coming to the area. The old Carnegie Library on the south side of Queen Street will become a new theatre, built with money from a developer and help from the federal and provincial governments. An arts-themed park is going in behind the postal station next door. Yet another deal with the developer has already created 70 studios for artists in the Artscape Triangle Lofts, part of a separate condo.

All of this would have been hard to foresee a few years ago when the Triangle fight was at its peak. The area started gentrifying in 2004, when the dilapidated Drake Hotel reopened as a hipster bar and music venue. It was soon joined down the street by the Gladstone, another artsy makeover of an old hotel. Developers saw the potential and started moving in on the Triangle, a neglected wedge of land bounded by railway tracks.

A well-organized neighbourhood group, Active18, fought bitterly against the scale and design of development. The focus was the struggle to save an old building full of artists’ lofts at 48 Abell St. When they lost their case at the Ontario Municipal Board, bells of doom seemed to toll for the artistic character of the area.

But Active18 soon saw it could salvage something out of its defeat. Developers want their buildings to have as many units and as much height as they can get, the better to make money. The city often allows them to build beyond zoning limits if they agree to pay for some sort of community benefit. This so-called Section 37 money is creating new parkettes, redone sidewalks and new performing spaces across the city – a windfall from the condo boom.

In the Triangle, the result is a profusion of space where artists can live, work and display their creations. “For us, it was a reasonably straightforward business proposition,” says developer Alan Saskin, president of Urbancorp, which is building The Edge and The Epic condominiums and financing the Art Hub. “We got more density and we can use the money from that to subsidize these arts groups.”

Everyone wins. Active18, once the scourge of developers, now praises Mr. Saskin for being open to unorthodox concepts like sticking a bunch of video artists in a condo. Mr. Saskin praises the local councillor, Anna Bailao, for being bold enough to see how the synthesis of art and development could work. Even city hall gets marks for shepherding the deal through.

It’s not a perfect outcome. Active18 still thinks the development in the Triangle is too dense and the design often cheesy. But Charles Campbell, a lawyer who speaks for the group, concedes that something good is coming out of it all. “The character of the neighbourhood is changing but surviving, maybe even improving.”

The lesson of the whole experience is that developers and artists need not be enemies. Together, in the Queen West Triangle, they are creating a unique new neighbourhood that will be a draw for the whole city.

Published on Friday, May. 11, 2012 11:14PM EDT

Spring 2012 Community Newsletter

councillor_bailao — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:33:02 +0000

Dear Ward 18 Residents,

This week, paper copies of my Spring Community Newsletter will be delivered to thousands of doorsteps within Ward 18. You can preview a pdf version of the newsletter by clicking on the image above or on this link.

I am pleased to provide residents with this wonderful source of news and information which ensures our community is informed and able to participate in the events and initiatives that affect us most.

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome.

Sincerely,

Ana Bailão
City Councillor
Ward 18, Davenport

Residents share their vision for Bloor street

councillor_bailao — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:29:01 +0000

Local BIAs hold community consult to discuss future improvements

Inside Toronto.com

BY LISA RAINSFORD

Apr 27, 2012 – 2:34 PM

Diversity among the retail shops along Bloor Street West between Lansdowne and Montrose avenues is something members and local residents of both the Bloorcourt and Bloordale Business Improvement Areas (BIA) value and would like to retain.

Residents like that the commercial strip is bicycle friendly and it’s an aspect they want to keep, they told organizers of a community consultation meeting to discuss the future of Bloor Street West on Thursday, April 26.

Bloordale area resident Natasha Alves said she appreciates the lack of franchises on the strip of Bloor.

“Without the presence of franchises, you stay unique,” Alves said at the meeting hosted by the Bloorcourt BIA at St. Michael the Archangel Serbian Orthodox Church at the corner of Bloor Street West and Ossington Avenue.

Both BIAs, which are situated next to each other, are embarking on streetscape improvement projects and sought feedback from community members regarding their plans.

“Our BIA has agreed to get rid of the concrete planter boxes to make room for more pedestrian traffic,” said Bloorcourt BIA Chair Antonia Yee. “Also, we want to improve green space with more trees planted below grade in underground trenches. This is a costly endeavor, but this is a focus of the majority of our budget.”

The BIA would like to see sidewalk ‘bump-outs’ on certain side streets in an effort to create little parkettes, explained Yee. The BIA will address the shortage of bicycle parking and would like to install additional garbage receptacles, community bulletin and poster boards as well as community directories at subway entrances. Further potential improvements include pedestrian level lighting, slender planters and public art. Delaware Avenue is an area of focus. Decorative pavers could be installed at the corner as a way of identifying public space for special events, a farmers’ market or outdoor concert.

“We can gather great wish lists, but the BIAs and city budgets are finite,” Yee said.

Meanwhile, the Bloordale BIA would like to see public art, raised gardens, more bicycle parking and flag poles for its Bloordale BIA flags. They too would like to get rid of the giant tree boxes that take up so much valuable pedestrian real estate on sidewalks.

Davenport Councillor Ana Bailao said she is already in the midst of an improvement project, working on creating a more inviting environment at parkettes on Salem and Westmoreland avenues.

The cost of the Bloorcourt BIA streetscape improvements is $360,000 while Bloordale’s improvements have a budget of $180,000, according to a City of Toronto official.

The BIAs’ streetscape plans will piggyback a City of Toronto road resurfacing and sidewalk improvement project set to begin in March of next year and scheduled for completion in time for the Santa Claus parade. Construction will be completed in phases in an effort to minimize the disruption.

Event Notice: Ward 18 Community Parks Summit – May 5th, 1PM

councillor_bailao — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:23:31 +0000

The Ward 18 Community Parks Summit is an open house and consultation forum taking place at the beautifully-renovated Dovercourt Park Boys and Girls Club on May 5th. I am hosting the Parks Summit in order to bring residents, staff and community organizations together to learn about new and upcoming initiatives to improve our parks and to help shape the future of Ward 18 parks through collaboration and consultation. The Summit will feature:

Large maps of Ward 18 parks which will be open to comment and revision
Speakers from the City’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation division, Park People and the Centre for Local Research on Public Space
Roundtable discussion forum providing an opportunity for input on a diverse collection of topics
Takeaway program/resource guide containing useful information

Please RSVP for the Parks Summit by emailing councillor_bailao@toronto.ca or by telephone

416-392-7012

We will have large format maps on-hand, similar to the one pictured here of Dovercourt Park. Participants will be encouraged to use post-it notes and other media to provide feedback on these maps.

Nelly's Theatre at the Dovercourt Park Boys and Girls Club will host the speakers and discussion portion of the Community Parks Summit on May 5th

One of the beautifully renovated rooms at the Dovercourt Park Boys and Girls Club; site of the Community Parks Summit

Upon conclusion of the Parks Summit, attendees are encouraged to walk to Dufferin Grove Park for a pay-what-you-can ($6 recommended donation) community dinner and to attend the “Why Cheap Parks Are More Fun” Jane’s Walk beginning from MacGregor Park the following afternoon, May 6th, at 3PM.

From humble roots, Bailão pushes to the front

councillor_bailao — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:44:58 +0000

Toronto Star – Published On Sat Apr 14 2012

By: David RiderUrban Affairs Bureau Chief

Ana Bailão arrived on city council without the political lineage of some of her fellow rookies, or the ready-made profile of the ex-school trustees.

But the former teenaged office cleaner, U of T grad and executive has, those colleagues say, propelled herself to the front of the pack through an immigrant’s relentless work ethic and a lack of guile rare in politics.

Bailão, 35, says she tried not to get emotional Wednesday while asking council to take control of any future outsourcing of city cleaning jobs. Her motion already had majority support, but perhaps picked up a vote or two after she choked back tears recalling scrubbing offices with her mom.

“When you’re in politics and you’re a woman, you have to be conscious of that; people see that as a sign of weakness. I was really mad at myself,” she says with a shrug. “It’s part of who I am. I was thinking about my mom and the life that we had and what I had to do.”

At age 15, Bailão left her grandparents and pals in Alenquer, Portugal, for Toronto, unable to speak a word of English. After school, she would drop her sister off with her dad and go to work with her mom, who was a seamstress by day, from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Homework began at 10 p.m.

“I felt proud to be working; we each had our own floors to clean. But after two years I said, ‘My English is good enough and I’m going to go work at a store,’” she says. “My story is like so many people in the city of Toronto, and I’m sure there are tons who went through so much more. But I know there are people out there working really, really hard.”

At U of T, she majored in sociology and European studies. Later volunteer duties included the presidency of the Federation of Portuguese Canadian Business and Professionals. Work included special assistant duties for Ward 18 councillor Mario Silva, who later became a Liberal MP, and banking.

Bailão failed in her 2003 attempt to replace Silva on council, losing to Adam Giambrone. In 2010 she handily won the vacant seat and quit her vice-president job at software developer GlobeStar Systems.

While pleased her cleaners motion passed, she is disappointed it was framed as an attempt to halt Mayor Rob Ford’s mission to slash the city workforce through extensive contracting-out.

Bailão and Councillor Pam McConnell built support, including from conservatives Karen Stintz and John Parker, on the basis that, “if we go further down that road,” council has an obligation to ensure there is a healthy bidding process that weeds out exploitative contractors.

“There are lots of services in this city that I think we could be looking at” for contracting out, she says, but declines to name them.

Asked if those services include cleaning, Bailão hesitates, notes the “vulnerable” nature of the workforce, and says: “I will be looking at the contracts but, as it stands right now, I don’t think it’s where we need to be cutting.”

Getting that motion passed pales in comparison with the challenge facing her as chair of a Ford-blessed “special working group” tasked with making recommendations on the fate of more than 2,600 tenants in single-family homes owned by Toronto Community Housing Corp.

The group, which will review its terms of reference at a first meeting Monday, will spend the summer looking at how to transform the way TCHC manages, and perhaps owns, its crumbling housing stock.

“It’s a big challenge — it does give me nightmares,” she says. “For real, I wake up in the middle of the night and say, ‘Oh my God.’ But we’ll get it done.”

Bailão is also keen to work with colleagues on the planning committee to streamline the process for developers to get city approvals. She says timelines of up to two years, as reported in her ward, are unacceptable.

“For me, this is the gravy that we need to tackle,” she says. “We need to be more efficient. That’s where we get our tax dollars, that’s how we create jobs in our city, that’s how we move forward.”

Social Impact of Lower Wage Jobs – Media Digest

councillor_bailao — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:30:29 +0000

Yesterday I put forward a motion to protect our city’s contract cleaning staff and was very happy to see it pass with strong majority support. Several media outlets picked up the story and select clips have been included below.

Newstalk 1010 (Justine Lewkowicz)

Bailao says this isn’t about contracting out or not, but about making sure the right companies are hired.

“We want to be making sure that we have companies working for us that treat their employees well,” Bailao says.

Toronto Star (David Rider)

“It’s an issue that is personal,” Bailão said, adding that after arriving from Portugal, she earned $6.25 an hour cleaning offices after school from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. with her seamstress mother.

“I know that what we do here at the city really pushes the standard in the industry.”

Globe and Mail (Kelly Grant and Elizabeth Church)

The move comes the same week that city council endorsed a new deal with its part-time recreation workers, the final piece of high-stakes contract talks and a major victory for the mayor.

National Post (Natalie Alcoba)

She insists that this vote does not close the door to contracting out, and that some councillors who voted for additional oversight would still agree to outsourcing if the right proponent came along.

Toronto Sun (Don Peat)

“It’s not about protecting union jobs, it is about protecting an industry that I’m very familiar with and I know that it is an industry that is very vulnerable,” she said.

GTA Realtors Build on Home Ownership With Habitat for Humanity

councillor_bailao — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:26:42 +0000

PRESS RELEASE

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Apr 04, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Greater Toronto REALTORS(R) along with elected representatives from the federal government and the City of Toronto will join forces April 5, 2012 to make the dream of home ownership a reality for another local family.

The home marks the fifth title sponsorship of eight Habitat for Humanity Toronto builds to which the Toronto Real Estate Board has contributed in recent years.

“Members of the Toronto Real Estate Board are strong proponents of affordable home ownership, and those who have made the transition from renting to home ownership agree that doing so allows them to build equity, achieve greater financial stability and enjoy higher quality housing,” said TREB President Richard Silver. “Additional aspects that include better physical health, improved children’s school performance and intentions to invest in renovations also have a beneficial spin-off effect on society as a whole.”

Habitat for Humanity Toronto’s latest development includes eight homes, two of which have been completed as fully accessible bungalow style homes, specifically designated to families with members who have physically disabilities. The six that remain under construction are semi-detached units scheduled to reach completion this summer.

“Habitat for Humanity Toronto is proud to have the Toronto Real Estate Board as a partner”, says Neil Hetherington, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Toronto. “Their dedication to affordable homeownership demonstrates their commitment to improving the community they live and work in. That kind of cooperation and volunteerism is what drives this city forward.”

Member of Parliament Dan Harris and Councillor Ana Bailao, Chair of the City’s Affordable Housing Committee, will be on hand to support the efforts of Greater Toronto REALTORS(R) at Habitat for Humanity’s latest construction site, located in the Danforth Avenue and Victoria Park area.

“Once again Habitat for Humanity Toronto, in partnership with the Toronto Real Estate Board, renews its commitment of delivering affordable, accessible and high-quality homes to Toronto residents. As Chair of the Affordable Housing Committee, I am pleased to express my sincere thanks to Toronto Fire, EMS and Police, as well as members of the community, for their assistance in this project. This is not only about securing more affordable housing for Toronto residents, but about building a more caring, compassionate and community-based City” said Councillor Bailao.

In recent years TREB also sponsored Habitat for Humanity homes in the Kingston Road and Morningside Avenue area, Scarborough’s McLevin Woods and Etobicoke’s Lakeshore Village. Habitat for Humanity Toronto has constructed more than 225 simple, decent and affordable homes with partner families throughout the city and has set a goal to build 50 new homes each year by 2015.

“The combine efforts of Habitat for Humanity Toronto, the Toronto Real Estate Board, and elected officials really demonstrate that powerful strides can be made with respect to affordable housing when we all work together,” said Silver.

Each year, TREB Members contribute to the overall quality of life in the Greater Toronto Area by supporting shelter-related charities through the REALTORS(R) Care Foundation. Last year it offered grants totaling more than $178,000 to 35 different organizations throughout the GTA.

Greater Toronto REALTORS(R) are passionate about their work. They are governed by a strict Code of Ethics and share a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service. Over 34,000 TREB Members serve consumers in the Greater Toronto Area. The Toronto Real Estate Board is Canada’s largest real estate board.

Get the latest real estate news and Market Watch information including market watch summary video.

http://twitter.com/TREBhome

www.facebook.com/TorontoRealEstateBoard

www.youtube.com/TREBChannel

        Media Inquiries:
        Toronto Real Estate Board
        Mary Gallagher
        Senior Manager Public Affairs
        (416) 443-8158
        maryg@trebnet.com

Group to review sale of TCHC homes

councillor_bailao — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 17:50:04 +0000

BY DON PEAT , CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF

FIRST POSTED: TUESDAY, APRIL 03, 2012 12:24 PM EDT | UPDATED: TUESDAY, APRIL 03, 2012 05:20 PM EDT

Councillor Ana Bailao has less than two months for her four-member working group to produce its first report on the future of Toronto Community Housing’s single-family homes.

Vowing to push forward whatever recommendations the group puts on the table, Bailao announced Tuesday the start of her council commissioned housing review to look at alternatives to selling TCHC’s 619 occupied single-family homes.

The members of Bailao’s housing working group are:

Alan Redway, a former mayor of East York, former Conservative MP and cabinet minister and former chairman of the Daily Bread Food Bank
Jim Pimblett, management consultant and former executive assistant to Prime Minister Paul Martin
Bud Purves, TCHC board chairman

The three were chosen based on their ability to help with consultation and to bring different expertise to the table, Bailao said.

Bailao stressed all the members of the group are committed to listening to tenants, the non-profit sector and the private sector.

Late last year, TCHC recommended selling the homes to raise money needed to address a backlog of repairs. A compromise was brokered to place Bailao in charge of a working group to look at alternatives to selling the homes.

A final report will be delivered to the city’s executive committee on Sept. 10.