Canada 150 Fever

Happy Canada Days Ward 43-ers,

There will be a number of events to attend this weekend in the City of Toronto to Celebrate Canada’s 150th Birthday!

Left and right you’ll see signs of Canada 150 celebrations. The addition of a maple leaf to the famous Toronto sign in Nathan Phillips Square is probably the most obvious of Canada 150 fever.

On a smaller scale, take a look at those famous red coffee cups you’ve been carrying around, Canada 150 fever that’s right. Tim Horton’s Canada 150 coffee cups have been gracing our presence since mid-April as a part of an earlier wave of Canada 150 celebrations.

Across the city there will a handful or events where you, your family and friends can come out a show off you red and white pride. In the eastern end of our city, our home, Scarborough’s annual Canada Day celebration in Thomson Memorial Park will run from 10 am to 4 pm. From 4 pm to 5:30 pm a parade will start west of the Scarborough Civic Centre on Brimley Rd and will end at Lawrence Ave E.

The Scarborough Museum on 1007 Brimley Rd. will be celebrating how Canada has created such a diverse community. Featured programs include traditional and contemporary local crafters, interactive printmaking of Canadian symbols, a pie-eating contest, blacksmith demonstrations, leather working, traditional fiddler-and-caller square dancing and more.

For those longing to submerge themselves in this Canada 150 Fever there will be a four-day festival in Nathan Phillips Square. The festivities will begin this Friday at 5 pm, this four-day music festival will feature the Barenaked Ladies, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ron Sexsmith, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, dvsn and Belly, for more details on show times please visit

Canada Days Celebrations at the Scarborough Civic Centre will take place from 2 pm to 11 pm, with a fireworks finale at 10:55 pm, visit and for more Canada Days celebrations across the City of Toronto check out www.toronto.ca/canadadays

I’ll be wearing my read and white pride participating in the parade this Saturday July 1, 2017, west of the Scarborough Civic Centre on Brimley Rd. Hope to see you there!

How will you wear your red and white pride?

 

Best,

Paul

Crime Statistics & Open Data – 43 Division in Eastern Toronto

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I would like to touch on a very interesting set of statistics in eastern Toronto which don’t get bragged about, or even pointed out in the media too often.

Toronto Police Services – 43 Division, located in southeastern Scarborough has one of the lowest crime rates not  only in Toronto.  A few years ago a police officer who worked out of 43 Division told me he would put crime stats for 43 Division up against any major city in North America and come out ahead.

The boundaries of 43 Division? The western boundary is Brimley Rd.The northern side is Highway 401. To the east its the Rouge River, and to the south its Lake Ontario

There is good news and bad news when it comes to this announcement…..The good news? If you want to learn about the crime statistics for 43 Division to back this up, you can go to the “Crime Statistics” section of the Toronto Poilce Services website: http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/statistics/  Click the “I have read and agree to the qualifiers ” box and away you go.

The bad news… Unfortunately the information provided in charts and graphs.  There is no useable format by what is commonly referred to as “Open Data”

If you go the City of Toronto “Open Data” Portal you will not find any crime statistics either.  Under the “P” you will find links to datasets describing the different police station addresses and their boundaries.  http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=1a66e03bb8d1e310VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD#P

If you have the time and the inclination you can attend the 43 Division Community Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) which meets on a monthly basis.  Here you can listen and watch a presentation by a police officer who will go over the monthly crime statistics.  (I understand this happens in every Division every month)  Just don’t ask the Toronto Police Service to post them publicly…not in an individual chart or graph….and definitely not in any “open data’ format

You can contrast this to the City of Montreal which launched a crime statitics website using “open data” in September 2016. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/police-open-data-site-lets-citizens-track-crime

Here is a taste of the crime statistics from the 43 Division June 8, 2017 CPLC meeting:

– There is a new Public Safety Response Team, they started May 1st and their office is at 330 Progress.

– They do community engagement that is positive and proactive, working on what is going on in local communities and addressing their concerns.

Crime Stats

1- Collisions and Enforcement

-Hot spots from May have already seen a reduction due to increased enforcement, again mostly in the area of Scarborough Town Centre and Morningside and Kingston/Lawrence intersections

-It was noted that Distracted Driving is slowly overtaking Drunk Driving as the #1 killer in  motor vehicle accidents, and includes eating, drinking, applying make-up, and just touching the phone.

2- Break and Enters

-May stats are down 8% from last year.

-Residential b&e’s are down a lot, non in June so far

3- Robberies

-Up slightly from this time last year

-There were a few incidents around Morningside and Lawrence but have been reduced now due to increased enforcement

4- Auto Thefts

-Up considerably this year compared to last year, but already in May numbers are down significantly

5- 7 Major Crime indicators

-All down since last year.

Community Concerns:

1- A resident complained that motorists are still speeding on Guildwood Parkway, particularly from Guild Inn to Morningside.  He was informed that 43 Division have the Watch Your Speed Trailer is ready and can be installed.  Then the police will analyze the data collected and use it to know when they should be having enforcement go out.

In conclusion, I can’t thank the men and women of the Toronto Police Service stationed in 43 Division for their dedication to keeping my community safe!!

All my Best,

Paul