Grow Our Grassways Petition

This petition is designed to bring awareness to housing constraints within the Jane and Finch area, specifically The Grassways. We are not disputing the upsetting occurrences of relocation brought upon other communities who are facing - or have already been through - this experience; rather, we are trying to bring awareness to the situation on a micro level with hopes of later expanding into a larger platform. Most Ontarian's are aware of the rapid increase in the housing market however very little attention is brought to the areas that are being forced give up their homes to pave the way for new development. The new developments are problematic because they generally are very expensive and drive up the cost of living, making affordable housing accommodations inaccessible to residents.

With this petition, we invite community members that are affected by the relocation to join our newly established "Grow Our Grassways" tenant board. Currently, there are no promises of return being established with residents of the Grassways because there is no development opportunity. However, we realize that once the units are emptied, that will change. Therefore, we demand that the City of Toronto and Toronto Community Housing consult our board and include us in consultations regarding the new development. We need to guarantee that the Grassways are memorialized by the city by honoring the long and rich history of the community. For example: the ‘Towards a Higher Journey Mural’ needs to be preserved, community arts (e.g. photograph series, youths arts and crafts, farewell BBQ) must be held to assist members in saying good-bye to their community, their family, and their friends.

We have questions for the city that must be answered such as; what will happen to the recreational center and it’s after school programs? How will the new developments help the youth and families in the Jane and Finch area? Will we be displaced and disposed? A similar situation happened to the Regent Park community and we want to prevent it from happening to ours.

Please sign our petition to help bring awareness to our crisis in order to prevent our families from losing their homes and hopefully to prevent other communities from being forced out of their neighborhoods as well. We want our government to live up to their promise of helping low-income families and neighborhoods. We want the government to keep their initial promise of reviving our neighborhood and not demolishing it. We need to GROW our Grassways not diminish it.

Demands:

• Establishment of a Grow Our Grassways tenant board to be consulted for the new development
• Despite there being no current development opportunity, a Promise of Return must be established for current residents
• Community arts (ex. Photograph series, arts and crafts, farewell BBQ) must be held to give space for community members to say goodbye to their neighborhood, the Grassways
• Towards A Higher Journey Mural (currently located on 7 Blue Grassway) must be preserved and have a space in any new development plan
• The Grassways needs to be memorialized by the City, there is a long and rich history of community mobilization that must be archived and made accessible to the public