Lorna Krawchuk was announced as LPOA’s Honorary Member for 2012 at our AGM. Newer Leasiders may only know of her as Publisher of Leaside Life, but she’s been serving Leaside for decades.
As our East York councilor for three terms before the city was amalgamated, she was known for her candour, her willingness to listen, and her ability to convince council on our behalf. Before that, Lorna was president of the LPOA, she volunteered for 35 years with Girl Guides, was an activist in such conservation matters as the Don Valley Watershed Regeneration Council, and church warden and youth group leader at St. Cuthbert’s Church.
She continues as a volunteer in Flemingdon Park’s food bank, and with AMI (formerly VoicePrint). In 2007 she was given the prestigious Agnes Macphail Award.
As I said in my presentation, Lorna IS Leaside, and LPOA is honoured to be able to publicly applaud her many achievements
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City staff is still receiving reports from the SmartCentre consultants on traffic and retail impacts of this proposed mega-shopping mall, and LPOA/Leaside Unite have been receiving them from the city.
There are still lots of unanswered questions from both the city and us, with requests for further details. A number of the statistics used to support building the SmartCentre North are out of date, as well. More investigation is clearly needed.
We support a planning-based approach to argue traffic and retail impacts on our community’s well-being, and are working to reduce the scale of the proposal, which – aside from its effect on Leaside – could set dangerous precedents for yet future proposals, or even encourage increased applications for more density from existing retail centres along Laird.
We are receiving helpful comments from our own responsible and objective consultants, to ensure that Leaside’s interests are protected.