Petition Calls for Neighbourhood Cleanup
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
$1.00 Your Independent Local News Source Vol 3 No 8 Wednesday, Dec. 12 2007 Petition calls for neighbourhood cleanup By Jessica Verge in and around the Simcoe Street South and The Oshawa Express Olive Avenue intersection who signed their name on a petition urging the city to clean up Helen Gingereskis neighbourhood is noth- the neighbourhood. ing like she remembers it. Its insanity down here, says Larry Hicks, Living in the same home that her parents the superintendent at a Simcoe Street apart- bought in the 1930s, the 80-year-old Oshawa ment building, who started up the petition, resident remembers when the Simcoe Street which was submitted to councils finance and South and Olive Avenue area was nice and administration committee and asks the city and quiet. Since returning to the home in 1993, police to crack down on the illegal activities Gingereskis come to realize how much the plaguing the area and to remove the prosti- neighbourhood has changed. tutes, drug addicts and drug dealers from the Ive lived here almost all my life, she neighbourhood. says, recalling a time when the area boasted While Oshawa mayor John Gray says peti- upscale apartment buildings. tions are helpful in drawing attention to a prob- Now she says those very same apartment lem, he believes they can also stigmatize an buildings are part of the problem, occupied, in area, something he doesnt like to do. some cases, by sex trade workers and drug And Gray is already well aware of the prob- addicts. lems faced by Gingereski and her neighbours. Gingereski is one of more than 100 people Its sad but it is reality, he says. who live, own businesses or property or work See RESIDENTS Page 5 City looks to hike rec user fees By Jessica Verge Association, of his park, which is located on The Oshawa Express Tennyson Avenue, east of Wilson Road South. Fred Daoust, vice-president of the associa- When it comes to Oshawas fields, children tion, agrees. Involved with the park for 30 and youths might have to pay to play. years, Daoust says the association City council is toying with the idea has always provided at least some of introducing a rental fee for outdoor financial help to children who could- soccer fields and baseball diamonds nt otherwise play sports. used by child and youth sports teams. He fears if fees increase, there Currently, adults pay between $12 may be more children who need help. and $23 to use an outdoor sports facil- We cant support them all, says Photo by Courtney Duffett/The Oshawa Express ity while its free for children and Daoust. youths. However, a new proposal But rental fees for outdoors fields could see young people paying wouldnt be the only increase. between $5 and $9.40 per use in 2008 John Neal The proposal suggests changes to Learning to skate with those numbers increasing most recreation costs for children and upwards of $3 in 2009. adults, with the exception of daily and hourly Keagan Philion, 5, gets some help from his dad Gary to learn how to skate during a Rogers Its going to be dead, says Doug rates. Charity Skate Saturday at Childrens Arena in Oshawa. Kilpatrick, president of the Kingside Park See YOUTHS Page 5 Oshawa bucks GTA Blitz targets immigration trend aggressive driving By Jessica Verge listed as immigrants. A one-week campaign to curb assigned to the project and 196 The Oshawa Express Dr. Wesley Crichlow, a professor at the University of aggressive driving in Oshawa has PONs were issued. One party was Ontario Institute of Technology and an expert in race and resulted in police issuing more also arrested on a family court Only a small proportion of Oshawas residents are for- immigration, says cities that rely on industry are often a than 600 traffic tickets. warrant. The targeted routes were eign-born, according to numbers released by Statistics deterrent to immigrants. Many who come to Canada seek Project White Out involving Harmony, Ritson, Simcoe, Canada last week. something better than what they had and, thus, avoid officers from 17 Division in Stevenson, Thornton and Jarvis. While statistics show the majority of people living in labour jobs, he adds. Oshawa ran for five days in late The intersections of Ritson and some Toronto suburbs are immigrants, only 15.6 per cent Factory jobs like those at General Motors, which November. A total of 630 King and Ritson and Bond were of Oshawas 140,240 residents were born outside Canada. account for much of Oshawas workforce, are held pre- Provincial Offence Notices observed for traffic light infrac- And its a figure that varies throughout Durham Region. dominantly by white people, said Crichlow, himself an (PONs) were issued. Of the 630 tions. Numerous people honked In both Ajax and Pickering, the population is approxi- immigrant from Trinidad. notices, 561 were issued for and thanked Durham Regional mately 30 per cent foreign-born while the proportion drops GM, in some respects, contributes to the whiteness, speeding. The remaining PONs Police for targeting aggressive to the north and east. In Whitby, the figure was 20.5 per said Crichlow. were for motorists running drivers in the intersection. cent, 11.6 per cent in Uxbridge, 10.7 per cent in Scugog The latest figures from Statistics Canada also measure through red lights and amber On Nov. 29, 10 officers were Township and 12.1 per cent in Clarington. the number of people who immigrated to the country, and lights; driving with expired valida- assigned to the project and 132 However in stark contrast Brampton, a community to each individual municipality, between 2001 and 2006. tion or no insurance; driving while PONs were issued. The targeted located west of Toronto, has 59.5 per cent of its residents Across Durham Region, immigration numbers are high- suspended; driving with no routes were Taunton, Rossland, est prior to 1991. licence and making unsafe turns. Adelaide, King and Bloor. Due to From 2001 to 2006, the number of new On Nov. 26 there were nine the length of several traffic stops Canadians who settled in Oshawa was 1,530, officers assigned to the project and near the end of the day, no inter- an increase compared to the previous category, 90 PONs were issued. The target- section was monitored. 1996 to 2000, when the figure was 1,396. ed roads were Harmony, Ritson, And on Nov. 30, eight officers However, the most recent numbers still arent Simcoe, Stevenson and Thornton. were assigned to the project. Due as high as those from 1991 to 1995, when the The intersection at Taunton to a home invasion in progress and number was 1,635. Prior to 1991, the number and Simcoe was monitored for an armed person arrested by one was 17,365. traffic light infractions. There of the traffic cars, only 30 PONs Ajax, Clarington, Uxbridge, and Whitby were two near collisions resulting were issued. follow similar patterns to Oshawa. in PONs while the intersection The weather during the week Pickering and Scugog, on the other hand, was under observation. The was rainy, windy and cold. saw their numbers drop compared to 1996 to weather was rainy and there was a Several days featured blowing 2000. crossing guard on duty at the time. snow and drifting conditions. Of Oshawas 21,920 foreign-born resi- On Nov. 27 there were 11 offi- Project White Out was part of an dents, an overwhelming 25.7 per cent are from cers assigned to the project and ongoing campaign to keep the the United Kingdom. The rest is a diverse 182 PONs were issued. The tar- streets of Oshawa safe through group, among them 5.7 per cent from Jamaica, geted roads were Taunton, enhanced traffic enforcement. 5.1 per cent from Poland and 4.6 from Italy. Rossland, Adelaide, King and Officers are now concentrating in Crichlow believes few immigrants who are Bloor. The intersection at Taunton the vicinity of the Oshawa Centre visible minorities settle in Oshawa because so and Ritson was monitored for traf- for traffic safety violations due to much of the population is white. fic light infractions. the high number of Christmas He says some minorities distrust white peo- On Nov. 28, 12 officers were shoppers. ple because they dont know them and fear them because Canadas leaders are white and are the ones creating the policies that make it Charges laid in RIDE checks difficult for immigrants to transfer their educa- Police continue to catch people were given Roadside tion and skills to the Canadian workforce. drivers who fail to heed the Breath Tests and 31 people As well, Crichlow says Oshawa lacks the warnings about drinking and received 12-hour suspensions sense of community minorities are used to and driving. for registering a WARN. many believe they just dont fit in. The third week of the Police continue to notice a In Toronto, theres no one ethnic group Durham Regional Police large number of G2 Licence making up the majority but the top numbers Festive R.I.D.E. (Reduce Holders who are being caught are 9.6 per cent from India and 8.3 from China. Impaired Driving Everywhere) operating a motor vehicle with Both Oshawa and Toronto reflect the program concentrated on alcohol in their system. A provincial averages. In Ontario, 9.5 per cent of Pickering, North Durham, licence condition placed on a immigrants are from Whitby, Oshawa and G2 Licence Holder is that they the United Kingdom, Clarington, where a total of much have a Blood Alcohol 7.6 per cent from 2,360 vehicles were stopped.