 POST NO BILLS: A group seeking to prevent further gentrification in Leslieville aped a call to stop a new big box store.
Tag the right neighbourhood.
“These posters that have been taken down, they’re not in Leslieville proper. They’re over in Riverside and some of them are way up to the north, outside of Leslieville,” said Ward 30 Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher. “To my mind, it’s not somebody who’s that connected to the community because they don’t even know where Leslieville is.
“They’re way over at Broadview and the Don River, and everybody will tell you very clearly that’s the Riverside district. It even says it on the street signs.”
In April, many Leslieville residents were outraged to learn of a proposal to build an eight-hectare shopping complex in the community. Some forecasted a Wal-Mart coming to the area, which would contribute further to the threat of creeping gentrification.
Lifetime residents Bruce and Terry Brackett, supporters of the proposed shopping complex, say the use of intimidation is prevalent in the community when it comes to others voicing their concerns.
“My husband was reprimanded by the city council for supporting that (proposal) out in the open at a public meeting,” said Terry, who with her husband owned an area newspaper for 20 years and lobbied the city to resurrect the neighbourhood’s old Leslieville moniker in 1988. “I just think there are a lot more people that are quiet about it because they’re nervous.”
When he and his wife sold the paper, Bruce says, part of their transitional duties involved assisting the new owner with advertising, which included an ad that drew Fletcher’s ire at the public meeting.
“We had put this four-page spread from Wal-Mart in the paper,” said Bruce, who ran unsuccessfully against Fletcher in the 2003 municipal election. “She just accused me of being a traitor to the community right in front of people and pretty well loud. Not quiet.”
When her husband tried explaining to Fletcher they didn’t own the paper anymore, Terry recalled Fletcher replying, “Oh, I know you’ve got influence”.
“(The postering) doesn’t intimidate us, but that kind intimidation is going on in this community,” Terry said. “And that’s why a lot of people, . . . which I think is very cowardly, like to do that kind of stuff.”
Fletcher wouldn’t comment on the allegations made by the Bracketts but said the idea that intimidation is used to control the opinions of her constituents is absurd.
“That’s off the wall,” she said. “People have strong opinions but they’re very law abiding. This poster actually calls for illegal acts and it’s anonymous.
“Anything I know, whether it’s for a food bank or a meeting or anything else, people always identify themselves and so I don’t find that intimidating, if somebody has an opinion and puts their name on something,” Fletcher added. “This is actually intimidating because it’s anonymous and that makes it very dangerous.”
The posters don’t reflect the character of Leslieville, Fletcher said, but, along with the shooting death of Bailey Zaveda outside the Duke of York Tavern just a week before, they don’t help the neighbourhood’s reputation.
“I think it’s very unfortunate that someone has decided to anonymously call for these things to happen,” she said. “I’m just glad that it appears to be stopping.”
The Bracketts, who support the development because they believe it will create jobs and provide greater choice, are on the same page as Fletcher.
“I was very dismayed to see any violence suggested on this issue at all, Terry said. “That’s not the way to go as far as we’re concerned. We’re not that kind of people.
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