Doug Ford vs. Heritage
Plus a Christmas history tour, Metrolinx vs. Trees, and more
Ontario heritage laws aren’t always easy to understand. I’ve honestly never felt like I’ve completely wrapped my head around them myself. But it suddenly seems like a very important time to understand those rules — because Doug Ford has his sights set on them. And the changes he’s proposing have been called everything from “disastrous” to “an attack on heritage” to “a cluster bomb.”
So far, the clearest explanation I’ve found comes from Spacing, where Michael McClelland recently published an article in response to the proposed changes. (He’s the founding the principal of ERA Architects, whose heritage work has touched everything from the Brick Works to the Distillery District to the AGO and the ROM.) And if I’m understanding correctly, it goes something like this:
There are basically two different categories for heritages buildings in Ontario: “Designated” and “Listed.”
“Designated” is the highest level of protection. Those buildings are protected from demolition; cities have the power to keep them from being knocked down.
“Listed” is the lower level. For a long time, “Listed” basically just meant the building was being considered for the “Designated” tag.
More recently, though, cities have started using “Listed” status to keep those buildings from being demolished, too, since it makes each one is subject to a review by City Hall. And at the same time, they’ve been adding a ton of properties to the “Listed” group — doing it in big batches. Sometimes whole commercial strips at a time.
That’s called “batch listing.” And you probably won’t be surprised to learn that it’s been very controversial. Critics say it’s become a way to block development in big swathes of the city at the very same Toronto is facing a housing crisis.
So, lots of smart people having been arguing that the system needs some kind of reform. Matt Elliott wrote in The Toronto Star, for instance, that new rules could “offer things like reduced development charges to developers who take on projects involving heritage preservation. It could reward and incentivize projects that integrate heritage-protected elements into new buildings, instead of sticking them with extra costs and red tape.”
But many of those same smart people seem to be horrified at the changes Doug Ford is planning to make as part of Bill 23. For example:
They would make it harder to get a building “Designated.” Each property will now need to meet two of the criteria for designation instead of just one.
Cities will only have two years to move each building from being “Listed” to being “Designated.” If the city fails to do it that quickly, the building will not be protected — and it can’t be reconsidered for protection for five years.
Toronto currently has about 4,000 “Listed” buildings. There’s no way staff will be able to assess them all that quickly. That means tons of protected heritage buildings in our city will lose protection.
“This development is frankly disastrous,” McClelland writes. And the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario (ACO) is equally horrified. They’ve launched a petition against the bill and recently held a press conference at Queen’s Park to publicize the issues. As ACO Chair Diane Chin put it, “The changes proposed… will make it practically impossible to protect most of Ontario’s identified heritage properties, let alone those not yet listed.”
In a press release, the organization highlighted Kensington Market and Little Jamaica as two neighbourhoods in Toronto that will be more difficult to protect, while adding that the changes “will make it challenging to protect the often-humble buildings and places associated with the historic contributions of Black, Indigenous, Franco-Ontarian, multicultural, and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities to Ontario.” They call the new rules “equally confused, baffling, and counter productive.”
(Feel free to leave a comment on Substack if I’ve misunderstood anything!)
A TORONTO CHRISTMAS HISTORY TOUR!
The holidays are just around the corner — and so is my brand new tour!
This year, I thought I’d celebrate the season by exploring into the history of Christmas in Toronto and sharing some of my favourite stories with you. Together, we’ll uncover yuletide tales of love, war, celebration and scandal: from Christmas trees and window displays to holiday parties and parades.
I’m planning to offer the tour twice:
Saturday December 17 — 3pm
Sunday December 18 — 3pm
We’ll meet somewhere right by the Eaton Centre & Nathan Phillips Square — stayed tuned for the exact location. The tour will last about an hour and a half and finish near where we started.
Pay what you can.
METROLINX VS. OSGOODE HALL
Bill 23 isn’t the only provincial decision angering heritage advocates these days. There’s also growing outrage over what is set to happen at the corner of University & Queen.
I first wrote about it back in June: Metrolinx has been planning to overhaul the northwest corner of the intersection as it builds a new subway station on that spot. And those plans have put the grounds of Osgoode Hall — one of our city’s richest historic sites — directly in its crosshairs.
Today, it’s a bit hidden — tucked away behind its black iron fence and the leafy trees that stand in the green space surrounding it. And now some of that fence, the green space, and those big old trees are in danger. Metrolinx plans to encroach on Osgoode Hall’s property, tearing down some of the famous iron fence, killing some of those leafy trees, and drilling down through the lawn to build a subway station beneath it — all part of the construction of the new Ontario Line.
Back then, Mayor Tory came out strongly against the plan – “Hands off Osgoode Hall premises,” he warned — while many others called for an alternative to be found:
In the face of all that opposition, Metrolinx signaled that it would wait for the results of a design review slated to be completed early next year. But now they’ve suddenly reversed course, announcing that the trees will begin coming down by December 5. That’s just eight days from now.
As Shawn Micallef pointed out in the Star today, the grounds of Osgoode Hall have faced threats over even more serious matters than this — and they’ve survived thanks to the public’s love for the site. “During the Second World War there were calls to dismantle all that iron [in the fence] for scrap metal for the war effort, but people rallied to save them and the landmark endures.” The trees on the grounds, which provide a lush canopy in the heart of our city are particularly beloved. “In a sea of concrete, it’s the only large green space in the core, and a rather precious one.”
But right now it seems as if Toronto’s love for the site might not matter. We’ll soon learn whether Metrolinx dares to do what even the Second World War couldn’t.
Before we continue, just a very quick reminder that The Toronto History Weekly will only survive if enough of you are willing to switch to a paid subscription. Only about 5% of readers have made the switch so far, which basically means that by offering a few dollars a month you’ll be giving the gift of Toronto history to 20 other people. You can make the switch by clicking here:
QUICK LINKS
The best of everything else that’s new in Toronto’s past…
OLYMPUS NEWS — It’s not all bad news in Toronto heritage these days. Twenty wonderful old statues have been rescued from the grounds of the Muzik nightclub and returned to public view. The figures of Greek Gods were created by Toronto sculptor E.B. Cox back in the 1960s and have now been given their own sculpture garden near the CNE bandstand. Read more.
SILENCED MUSICIAN NEWS — Hogtown 101 shared a fascinating piece of local music history on Twitter recently, which I’d never heard before. Musicians were once banned from giving interviews to Toronto radio and TV stations:
SNAPSHOT NEWS — …and Hogtown 101 also shared a particularly fascinating old photo, too:
THE WHEELS ON THE NEWS — Jack Landau looks back at the fleet of electric buses the TTC rolled out a century ago, including the one survivor which you can still visit at the Halton County Railway Museum. Read more.
METRO CELTIC NEWS — Sabrina Gamrot delves into the mysteries of Metropolitan Toronto era, stumbling across a few relics of that bygone age. Read more.
TORONTO HISTORY EVENTS
MOST HOPES: HOMES & STORIES OF TORONTO’S LOST WORKERS
November 29 — 6:30pm — Online — Riverdale Historical Society
“RHS welcomes Leslie Valpy, a heritage conservationist practitioner and Don Loucks, a Heritage Architect, to speak about their recent book, ‘Modest Hopes, Homes and Stories of Toronto’s workers from the 1820s to the 1920s’, which celebrates Toronto’s built heritage of row houses, semis, and cottages and the people who lived in them. Toronto’s workers’ cottages are often characterized as being small, cramped, poorly built, and in need of modernization or even demolition. But for the workers and their families who originally lived in them from the 1820s to the 1920s, these houses were far from modest. Many had been driven off their ancestral farms or had left the crowded conditions of tenements in their home cities abroad. Once in Toronto, many lived in unsanitary conditions in makeshift shanty-towns or cramped shared houses in downtown neighbourhoods such as The Ward. To then move to a self-contained cottage or rowhouse was the result of an unimaginably strong hope for the future and a commitment to family life.”
Free, I believe!
AN ILLUSTRATED TALK ON THE HISTORY OF ADELAIDE STREET
November 30 — 7:30pm — Online — North Toronto Historical Society
“Once home to upscale residences and important public services, Adelaide Street's buildings later housed light industries such as publishing. There are still examples of the detached and row housing that dominated west of Yonge in the late 1800s. The financial district extends to Adelaide and the condo scene here is ever-changing. Architectural historian and NTHS member Marta O'Brien will present an illustrated talk on the history of Adelaide Street.”
Free with registration, I believe.
DEATH OR CANADA
December 1 — 7pm — Toronto’s First Post Office — Town of York Historical Society
“Dr. Mark G. McGowan will speak about his most recently published book, Death or Canada: The Irish Famine Migration to Canada, 1847, and his exploration of this migration's impact on Toronto. ‘Historian Mark McGowan delves beneath the surface of statistics and brings to light the stories of men and women who had to face a desperate choice: almost certain death from starvation in Ireland, or a perilous sea voyage to a faraway place called Canada.’”
$22.23 for non-members; $16.93 for members.
RESEARCHING THE HISTORY OF YOUR HOUSE
December 1 — West Toronto Junction Historical Society
“Is there something unique about your home or neighbourhood that you’ve always been curious about? How old is my home? Who lived there in the past? Jessica Algie, from the City of Toronto Archives, will show you, step by step, how to research a Toronto property using archival collections including fire insurance maps, city directories, historic photographs and tax assessment rolls. Join Jessica on a journey to uncover the story of one interesting home in the West Toronto Junction neighbour hood. Then, apply those research techniques to your own home!”
AUTHOR TALK: THE BEATLE BANDIT WITH NATE HENDLEY
December 3 — 11am — North York Central Library
“Toronto author Nate Hendley offers a presentation based on his book, The Beatle Bandit: A Serial Bank Robber's Deadly Heist, a Cross-Country Manhunt, and the Insanity Plea that Shook the Nation. On July 24, 1964, Matthew Kerry Smith put on a Halloween mask and a "Beatles" wig and robbed a bank near Toronto to fund a one-man revolution against the government. This murderous heist fueled a nationwide debate about guns, insanity pleas, and the death penalty. The Beatle Bandit, winner of the Crime Writers of Canada 2022 Award of Excellence for Non-Fiction, details this strange story.”
Free with registration!
AUTHOR TALK: LETTERS TO AMELIA
December 5 — 1:30pm — Runnymede Library
“Toronto-based author and letter writer Lindsay Zier-Vogel discusses Letters to Amelia, her debut novel inspired by her passion for Amelia Earhart, and the power of reading and writing letters for both connection and self-discovery. Zier-Vogel will read from this contemporary epistolary novel, and discuss our essential need for connection, and our universal ability to find hope in the face of fear.”
Free!
TALES OF CHRISTMAS PAST
December 8 — 7pm — Toronto’s First Post Office
“Many of us who celebrate Christmas have traditions that we feel are steeped and time honoured. But most of them aren't as old as we might think. Hardly any of the Christmas traditions that we know today were widely celebrated when the Town of York was founded back in 1793, and can instead be dated to the Victorian era. But we'll also look back at a time, before the Town of York even started, that Christmas was outlawed and celebrating it was illegal. Whether you're passionate about putting up the Christmas decorations, or like to channel your inner Scrooge, you'll be sure to find something of interest in this presentation!”
$16.93 for non-members; $11.62 for members.