Christmas Reflections

by John Laforet
posted on December 25th, 2009 at 05:38:04 am

To those who will join today with family and friends and celebrate Christmas, may I wish you a Merry Christmas.

My family Christmas tradition sees three generations of Laforet’s celebrating Christmas in Guildwood – where our Christmas dinner has been celebrated since 1968 and with the addition of spouses, children and family friends spans three generations and includes nearly two dozen people.

For me Christmas is a time to share with family and friends, catch up and reflect on the year that is quickly coming to an end. It’s also a time to make decisions about how you will spend the year to come.

This past year has been a unique and totally unexpected one for me that has seen many challenges and opportunities present themselves. My community involvement and activism have taken an angle I could not have predicted they would even when I decided last fall to actively work with Guildwood residents to oppose Toronto Hydro’s project.

While where it has led has been unexpected, the camaraderie and friendship that exists within Wind Concerns Ontario is second to none that I’ve witnessed elsewhere and I feel blessed to consider so many fine Ontarians standing up for their communities to be my friends.

Christmas 2009 will also mark the one year anniversary of the burning of the Studio Building at the Guild Inn – something that tragically destroyed a heritage building on a site with so much meaning to my community. It is my hope, by Christmas 2010 the old Bickford Inn will begin to look like it’s old maintained self again and we can move past the ‘lost decade’ the City of Toronto brought my community at the Guild Inn.

Next year I am sure will be interesting for it’s own reasons, but I look forward to the challenge and know I am in good company as we soldier on.

Meanwhile at the Zoo…

by John Laforet
posted on January 24th, 2009 at 00:12:53 am

(Feel free to scroll to the bottom to listen to “At the Zoo” by Simon and Garfunkel while reading this post.

Guildwood residents face uncertainty and a wall of silence from Councillor Ainslie on the fate of the only heritage building at the Guild Inn that was slated for preservation, in the wake of the Christmas morning fire. At the same time hundreds of Guildwood residents fight against Toronto Hydro Energy Corporation’s disgusting tactics. While this has been happening, Councillor Ainslie has been busy trying to take over the Toronto Zoo. Residents of Ward 43 have very real issues that require leadership. A guy who was doing his job would find himself hard pressed to find time for ‘power plays’ like the one at the Zoo this week.

On January 20th, the same night as the Toronto Hydro meeting where Ainslie sat quietly, never once addressing community concerns to Toronto Hydro or publicly displaying his support for or against this project, he gave a press interview to the Scarborough Mirror regarding his ambitions to mount a hostile take over of the Zoo Board. You couldn’t make this stuff up if you wanted to because it is so patently ridiculous that anyone with the kind of concerns he should be dealing with would waste time on a “Team of Me” spat like this. But he did.

What was five (spoiler alert now six) term Chair Raymond Cho’s response to the challenge? “If I were Paul Ainslie first I would come to the board meeting, get the inside story and see why the board has come to this decision – and then get some more accurate information,” he said. “I haven’t read his letter, but the zoo has been very successful in many, many ways.” Ainslie to seek Chair of Zoo Board – Scarborough Mirror

[The board has a chance to make change happen at their meeting this morning when Coun. Paul Ainslie, a new appointee, attempts to oust long-serving chairman Raymond Cho for its leadership.

Meanwhile, from the looks of it, the monkey business is far from over. ] Monkey business hurts zoo – The Toronto Sun

Curious about the result? Ainslie and his nominator were the only people who voted for him at what was both his first board meeting, and the date of his take over attempt. “I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get the chair. I still think we have a lot of issues over fundraising, in particular, and the foundation, that need to be dealt with,” Ainslie said, noting he asked to be on the board to make substantial changes. ” Calls for change ignored at zoo – Toronto Sun

I must admit I was a bit stunned when I read this and couldn’t imagine what would possess a guy who ducks from principled positions regularly, and whose record is far from distinguished, to do something like this. On his watch the Guild Inn has fallen further back, a heritage building has burned, a surprise cellphone tower came out of nowhere. Residents had to alert each other to organize its defeat and now the same thing is happening with a massive wind project. What is Ainslie doing? He is off at the Zoo duking it out with another Councillor and finding his way off Miller’s Christmas card list all at the same time. If he wanted a good reason to be in the Mayor’s dog house, he wouldn’t challenge a decent guy for his job, Ainslie would do his own job, the one he was elected to do, and stand up for the community he represents at City Hall.

No one should have time to bother trying to take over the zoo. Anyone who thinks that is a meaningful fight for a ward Councillor, particularly one who has been a board member for such a short period he hasn’t even been to a single meeting, has their priorities mixed up. Ainslie’s attempted coup demonstrated a complete lack of appreciation for what’s going on in his community, a total lack of comprehension of the nature of boards. In the process he managed to upset the mayor and alienate virtually every Councillor on the Zoo Board, none of whom supported him, all of whom are probably a little stunned by such a public and stupid move. It says something when you can’t convince even one of your peers on Council to vote for you.

If the Councillor is looking to tilt at wind mills, perhaps he could tilt at some very real and very worrying wind turbines in the pre-construction phase off the Scarborough Bluffs, it is an actual fight that needs to be fought and won.

More Guild Inn Studio Pictures

by John Laforet
posted on January 16th, 2009 at 13:37:45 pm

I wanted to share these excellent pictures I received in my inbox from Guildwood area resident Carl Chalupa. Carl is a long time resident of Scarborough and like many of us has an affinity for the Scarborough Bluffs, and the Guild Inn. As someone who has taken many pictures on the site both before and after the fire, Carl was kind enough to allow me to share these pictures here. I thank him for it, and encourage anyone else with pictures or stories they would like to share to contact me at john.laforet@laforet.ca 

Like many Guildwood residents, as the gate blocking access to the site came down, I began to wonder and speak to others about what should the future of the Guild Inn Studio be. Like many, I am considerably more worried about heritage as it relates to the Guild Inn than I am to monetary considerations. I believe that a very serious, thorough, unbiased review needs to be done to determine if the building can be restored using the original plans to bring it back to it’s former glory. 

It is a disgrace that the City has allowed the whole site to fall into such a state of disrepair and this fire needs to serve as a warning that Guildwood could risk more of it’s history of the City of Toronto does not get on with the job of protecting the Guild Inn now. 

Guild Inn Studio Before and after the Christmas Day 2008 fire.

Bench beside Guild Inn Studio 

Guild Inn Studio window before and after the fire.

Chimneys after the fire.

A view inside

Burned exterior