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Month: September 2021

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Boaters who live year-round in a Queen’s Quay marina are getting tossed due to COVID-19. Harbourfront’s abrupt move has left some high and dry for the winter

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

For most of the past 16 years Kris Coward has lived aboard a 30-foot sailboat, cramming his life into a space smaller than the smallest bachelor apartment in Toronto.

He cooks in a galley kitchen and washes dishes with water drawn from a tank using a foot pump. He sleeps below-deck in the bow, in front of the hanging locker where he keeps his clothes and behind that, his wet suit and soldering iron — yes, soldering iron — because owning a boat is for people with a maintenance fetish, said Coward, a PhD mathematician and father of one.

“Everything on a boat is always breaking all the time, so you’re constantly fixing it,” said Coward, 40. “I’ve definitely got a maintenance fetish. I totally like fixing and tinkering with my own stuff.”

There are benefits. He gets to live both close to nature and in the heart of the city — he spends summers on the Toronto Islands and winters in a cozy floating neighbourhood, referred to as Marina Four, below the Simcoe WaveDeck on Queen’s Quay West.

It’s a popular sight with tourists, who like to walk the Amsterdam footbridge arching over the neighbourhood and take selfies with the gleaming white boats and the CN Tower in the background.

What the tourists don’t know — in fact, most residents don’t know — is that people live on those boats, winter and summer; have raised kids on those boats who attend local schools; volunteer in the neighbourhood and patronize the grocery stores and restaurants along Queen’s Quay.

Coward is one of them, and after 16 winters, he is facing eviction from Marina Four with no other place to go.

Boaters at the marina received an email from Harbourfront Centre on Aug. 26, explaining that Marina Four would be closed for the winter — perhaps permanently. They were told that in order to secure a winter berth at nearby Marina Quay West (MQW), also operated by Harbourfront Centre, they had to be able to quarantine on their boats if necessary, in the event they were to come down with COVID-19.

Boaters at MQW, near the old Canada Malting Co. silos, also had to re-apply for a berth.

To be considered self-sufficient during a quarantine, boaters must have on-board showers and flush toilets, neither of which Coward has on his sailboat.

“I am in housing limbo — I don’t know what my housing situation is going to be in a month’s time,” said Coward, who is trying to negotiate an agreement with Harbourfront Centre that would allow him to stay at MQW this year, even if he can’t shower while self-isolating.

Having just returned from a two-week back-country trip, Coward said a shower is not strictly necessary if he ends up being quarantined for two weeks, and his composting toilet is preferable because it doesn’t clog the way marine flush toilets do.

Ben Angus, 35, an architect from Nova Scotia who lives on a 34-foot sailboat at Marina Four in winter, said Harbourfront Centre waited too long to advise boaters of the changes this winter.

Luckily Angus, who first moved onto his sailboat in 2017, was able to find an apartment in Parkdale for the winter. He was able to schedule a haul-out date for his boat.

“It was just a complete scramble,” he said.

Angus believes that live-aboards at Marina Four provide the eyes-on-the-street protection that celebrated urbanist Jane Jacobs wrote about and endorsed. The boaters are the ones, late at night, who witness the drunken vandals breaking glass, and can report it, or sometimes move to stop it, Angus said.

“I think that live-aboards have a lot of value.”

Whether and when Marina Four will reopen are questions that have yet to be answered with certainty.

Coward and dozens of other boaters at Marina Four and MQW — the two urban marinas run by Harbourfront Centre, the not-for-profit organization that programs and oversees activities along the waterfront — were stunned by the email that arrived on Aug. 26.

“There is a possibility that the elimination of Marina Four as a winter dockage location may be permanent though we cannot confirm this at this time,” according to the letter.

They were told that if they were interested in returning, they should notify the office before 5 p.m., Aug. 28. They had to prove their boats met the new COVID-19 criteria.

Harbourfront Centre’s chief operations officer, Martin Kenneally, said he agrees the boaters were notified late and he regrets that the idea of a permanent closure was ever raised.

“They think they’re being evicted,” said Kenneally. “I understand their concern. We don’t think that’s actually the case. We think they’re being relocated.

“I think in our minds — certainly mine — we see them being able to be back in 2021 in the summer, and in the winter we’ll have solved whatever the problems are by then and hopefully the COVID situation will also have eased.”

A big issue is the facilities provided to boaters at Marina Four.

It costs $111 per foot per six-month season, according to Harbourfront Centre’s website, plus hydro, to berth at Marina Four. That includes access to a common laundry, bathroom and showers in the former PawsWay building at 245 Queen’s Quay West. Boaters get a key to the facilities.

PawsWay operated as a store and event centre for people and their pets for 10 years. The building has been empty since Purina moved out in 2017. Harbourfront Centre is trying to attract a new tenant, and getting rid of the facilities for boaters is part of a possible deal.

Kenneally said it will also be easier for Harbourfront staff to maintain one set of facilities for boaters during COVID, instead of two.

There is no easy answer for where to relocate the facilities for boaters. An engineering firm has been hired to investigate the possibilities, but on the face of it, there don’t seem to be any simple options, according to Kenneally. They can’t locate the facilities next to the Harbourfront bandshell, or where the Simcoe WaveDeck sits now, on city property. They could rebuild the Harbourfront Centre Powerboat and Sailing building located past the Amsterdam Brewhouse and past the Toronto Police Service Marine Unit, at the foot of Rees Street — but it’s a bit far to be considered convenient.

COVID may have been the trigger for the evictions, but there are other issues with Marina Four. The docks need repair and the hydro in the area needs to be updated, said Kenneally.

Marina Four can handle about 70 recreational boats in the summer — depending on the size of the boats, and MQW has berths for 157. In winter those figures are drastically reduced, mainly because boats require significantly more hydro in the winter, in part to keep equipment running that prevents their crafts from becoming iced in. Between 10 to 14 people live at Marina Four in winter and about 40 to 45 people at MQW.

Kenneally said not all boats at MQW made the cut and not everyone made the cut at Marina Four. He didn’t specify how many.

If the boaters were covered by the provincial legislation governing landlords, and repairs were cited as the reason for the move, the boaters would be entitled to a 120-day notice, three-months’ rent or the equivalent, and would have the right to return to the space, said Toronto lawyer Caryma Sa’d.

While the standard contract between the boaters and the marina specifically states they are not covered by the legislation, the Act does not allow tenants to bargain away their rights, said Sa’d.

If the matter were to become the subject of a legal dispute, it would by no means be a slam dunk for either side, she added.

“It could go either way. I would say that, without providing legal advice, obviously, those who have a stronger claim are the ones who live there year-round.”

For the boaters who are being asked to leave, moving is more than just a shift in location — going back to renting an apartment represents a significant change in lifestyle.

“I never really saw myself as being a sort of big-city guy,” said Angus, whose grandfather was a ship captain in Nova Scotia.

“I was always drawn towards more rural, wild settings, but work found me here in Toronto and being able to live on your boat is definitely a connection with nature.”

Like many of the winter residents of Marina Four, Angus summers on the Toronto Islands.

“Being over on the Island, I see all sorts of wildlife, and I’m in tune with what the moon is doing. I can look at the stars at night and it almost feels like you’re camping in a way — but in a comfortable way.”

David Loney was one of the winter boaters at Marina Four who won a berth at MQW for the winter, but he’s not happy with the way the situation has been handled.

Loney, a provincial public servant, lives full-time on his 40-foot NAVSTAR motor yacht, purchased second-hand after he realized he liked living on a boat enough to sell his house in Ajax.

He fell in love with sailing at summer camp, when he was eight, and has been living on his boat for 10 years, full-time for six years.

His boat has two bedrooms and his two daughters have grown up spending summers and weekends on the Toronto Islands and visiting the city sites in winter — many of which, like Ripley’s Aquarium, are in walking distance of Marina Four.

“The people who live in tents under the Gardiner Expressway were given more notice of their eviction,” said Loney, pointing out it takes a while to find a place to relocate for winter or store a boat and make arrangements to have it hauled out of the water.

Despite the difficulties, Loney has no plans to give up the lifestyle, and every intention of fighting to keep Marina Four afloat if that is what it comes to.

“I just like the uniqueness of it. It’s so different. It’s almost like camping. Most people who live on their boats year-round would never go back.”

Francine Kopun is a Toronto-based reporter covering city hall and municipal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter:

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How to manage screen time for children learning remotely

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

This fall, as COVID-19 continues to disrupt life for Ontarians, high school students are learning through a hybrid in-school and at-home model and elementary school students who haven’t returned to the classroom are learning from home full-time.

More remote learning means more screen time for students attending livestreamed classes, accessing reading material online and submitting assignments online. As children and teenagers spend more time at their computers, Dr. Sharon Burey says it’s important for parents to know how to manage screen time to avoid the physical and behavioural symptoms that can arise from too much of it.

Burey is a Windsor, Ont.-based behavioural pediatrician and president of the Pediatrician Association of Ontario. She said parents should start by knowing the recommended guidelines around screen time for children:

• Screen time is not recommended for children under two years old

• For children two to five years old, limit recreational screen time to less than one hour per day

• For children older than five, limit recreational screen time to less than two hours per day

Surpassing these limits can put children at risk of negative health effects.

Negative effects of too much screen time

To Burey, the most obvious way excessive screen time impacts people, including children, is through the shift toward a more sedentary lifestyle.

“It can lead to increase in weight gain and obesity,” Burey said. “So we do recommend at least 60 minutes of activity per day that increases the heart rate.”

Citing a study published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity in 2010, recreational sedentary activities are linked to obesity, metabolic syndrome and hypertension.

Burey said children, especially those under six years old, who engage in excessive screen time are also at risk of developing problems with inattention.

“An increasing amount of kids are actually diagnosed with [attention deficit hyperactive disorder], behaviour problems and learning problems if you have excessive media time,” she said.

A in 2019 concluded that five-year-old children who were exposed to more than two hours of screen time per day were more than seven times more likely to meet the criteria for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They were also five times more likely to exhibit significant behavioural problems such as inattention, acting out, hyperactivity and being oppositional.

Finally, Burey said staring at a screen for too long can lead to sleep-related problems and eyestrain, including focusing fatigue.

“What happens with your near vision is it’s going to get sort of stuck in that position,” she said. “And that’s why you get blurry vision and eye fatigue.”

What can families do

Burey said parents shouldn’t need to take away children’s leisure time on the computer in order to mitigate the risks of excessive screen time. They can start by demonstrating healthy behaviour for their kids.

“If parents use a lot of screen time…then you’re going to have children modelling the behaviour,” she said. “So I always start with the parents and things like not having the TV on all day.”

She said parents can also punctuate screen time with breaks for play and exercise. For students learning from home full-time, school days can be split into 60-to-90-minute learning segments, with breaks away from the screen in between. To avoid eye strain, use the 20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, look away from the screen and focus on an object or spot at least 20 feet away, for 20 seconds.

Burey said some parents of children learning remotely have opted to print lesson materials whenever possible to reduce time spent learning in front of a computer. She said parents can also check with their child’s school to see if any lesson materials are available in booklet form.

“I think parents are doing some workarounds to say, ‘We don’t need to have you sitting there to do everything on the screen, we can do some of the assignments by hand knowing you can submit them digitally,’” she said.

After school, parents can encourage kids to take breaks from screen time by planning fun activities.

“You always want to be on the positive side of doing some positive behavioural reinforcement,” she said. “You wouldn’t be taking away their time, because that’s not going to work. But if you substitute other things like playing cards, board games and other outdoor activities, it’s easier to substitute that.”

And for a good sleep at the end of the day, Burey said, people of all ages should avoid looking at screens for an hour before bed.

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What does body cam pilot project mean for Barrie officers and citizens?

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

If you happen to have an interaction with a front-line Barrie police officer, you may be on camera.

The city’s police service rolled out a pilot project Oct. 13, providing 25 officers with body cameras to test how beneficial they are for officer safety and transparency.

An evaluation of the results will take place and a report will be presented to the police services board.

The service is starting the pilot project after studying their use in other jurisdictions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced funding for RCMP body cameras, and Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders is expediting body cameras for his officers. Calgary police are one the few large municipal police services in Canada to use the Axon body cameras.

So what does this mean for Barrie officers and citizens?

Will the cameras always be on?

The short answer is no. Officers will engage the cameras when they arrive on a call or are about to engage in an investigation. The officer controls when the camera is off or on.

What happens to the footage?

The footage is uploaded to a secure server to be used for an ongoing investigation or for court evidence. Footage not needed for court will be deleted within one year.

How will you know when you are being recorded?

The camera will have a flashing red circle when it is recording. The flashing red light can be disabled if it compromises officer safety.

What if you don’t want to be recorded?

Officers do not need consent to record in a public place but must ask permission in a private place, unless they have a search warrant to enter the premises.

Can an officer delete or edit the video?

No. Officers have no control over the video once it is recorded. At the end of their shift, video is uploaded to a secure virtual server and is retained for one year unless needed for court.

Can you view the video?

A written request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act is required before a decision can be made to release video or deny its release.

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‘Volatility is normal’: Midland financial adviser urging clients not to panic

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The pandemic’s economic impact has many Canadians worrying about their financial future.

In a recent survey conducted by CIBC, four out of 10 respondents admitted to being concerned about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on their retirement savings. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) of respondents have been unable to contribute to their nest egg since the pandemic began.

Larry Buckley, a financial adviser with Georgian Shores Wealth Management in Midland, has witnessed the financial repercussions of the pandemic and the fear it has caused first hand.

“The pandemic has created a lot more fear and uncertainty,” he said. “It’s impacted many people. Some people have been laid off and some have had to turn the tap off on their investments because they just didn’t have the cash to continue.”

The stock market dropped 37 per cent between Feb. 20 and March 23. Although It was one of the quickest drops Buckley has seen in his 39-year career, it wasn’t unexpected. 

“The markets are volatile. They go up two-thirds of the time and down one-third of the time,” he said. “Volatility is normal and it is part of long-term investing.”

Throughout the pandemic, Buckley has advised his clients not to panic and to stick with their financial strategy and keep investing.

“In the plans that we build with our clients, we are factoring in the market volatility. We use conservative assumptions, which factor in years like this,” said Buckley. “It’s important to be steady. If you are going to invest, invest consistently and diversify your portfolio.”

While March financial statements were ugly and showed significant losses, the markets did rebound. In fact, most stocks completely recovered from the significant drops they suffered in the early days of the pandemic.

Those investors who have retired or are on the verge of retirement were also urged to stay calm, as one bad year won’t devastate a retirement plan.

“We’ve had some volatility in 2020, but it isn’t going to kill the performance (of your plan) for the next 20 years,” said Buckley “We have been through crisis before and we will get through this one.”

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Restaurants remake themselves for the short and long-term

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

The restaurant industry has been one of the hardest hit sectors since the began.

At the peak of the spring lockdown, more than 800,000 food service industry workers were . The pain will likely continue with fewer diners returning in the immediate future. A recent survey from Dalhousie University projects the Canadian restaurant industry will lose $20 billion in revenue in 2021.

To survive, many restaurants, fundamental to a city’s identity and culture, are remaking themselves. Some Toronto restaurateurs are leading the way in how restaurants will operate in the long haul — ideas that go beyond contactless pickups and delivery.

Karon Liu, the Star’s food and culture reporter, talks to Adrian Cheung about the inventive ways restaurants are changing for the long-term and how many small business owners are refusing to give up in an unprecedented crisis for their industry.

Listen to this episode and more at or subscribe at , , or wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts.

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‘Strong’ real estate sales market leads to double-digit home price percentage increases, Barrie realtors say

Sep 24, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Looking to sell? There may be a great return on investment coming your way.

The Barrie and District Association of Realtors has released its latest monthly statistics report, which shows “strong” growth in both year-to-date and year-over-year sales numbers across the region.

There were 471 residential units sold in Simcoe County, excluding Barrie, in November; an increase of 25.3 per cent compared to the same month in 2019. The average price of units sold was $672,748 — up 26.4 per cent year-over-year.

Within the city, 240 homes were sold, a 17.6 per cent jump from Nov. 2019 numbers. Meanwhile, the average sale price was $588,265, up 21.6 per cent from the same month last year.

Also of note, 34 apartment and condo units were sold in Barrie in November, a 10.5 per cent dip from 2019. However, the average price climbed 27.9 per cent to $429,242.

“Nov. 2020 information is in, and residential property sales showed that year-over-year sales and average price of units sold continued strong across most regions, with properties outside of Barrie showing stronger growth,” the association said in a statement. “The real estate market begins to slow down this time of year.”

Year-to-date, 5,858 residential units have been sold across the county, excluding Barrie — a jump of 22.3 per cent over the first 11 months of 2019. The average price rose 18.6 per cent, comparatively, to $608,628.

The city saw 2,808 units sold from January to November this year, a 27.4 per cent increase over the same period in 2019. The average sales price was $561,482, up 14.1 per cent over last year’s numbers.

Year-to-date data also showed double-digit price increases in Innisfil and Orillia. There were 628 homes sold in Innisfil, a 13.4 per cent dip from 2019. But the average residential unit sold for $602,762, a 16.5 per cent increase over Jan. 2019 to Nov. 2019.

Meanwhile, 652 residential units were sold in Orillia — 21.4 per cent more than the first 11 months of 2019. The average price also jumped from 11.7 per cent to $468,521.

The association represents more than 1,100 realtors throughout the region.

For more information, visit .

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‘We tried to fill a gap’: Penetanguishene business prospers after developing own brand of face mask

Sep 23, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Jumping into the face-mask businesses has proven to be extremely advantageous for David Gravelle.

In May, during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gravelle’s curling-apparel company WOW! Special Event Management Inc. launched its own line of face masks. His product, branded as , sold extremely well in the spring, benefiting both his business and the community.

“We tried to fill a gap,” said Gravelle. “We saw that people were sewing their own masks out of cloth and realized that a more hearty and safer product may be needed.”

Gravelle partnered up with Derek Robbins, the owner of ATAC Sportwear in Langley, B.C., to develop a MASQ. Robbins, who is originally from Collingwood, has been producing curling apparel items for Gravelle’s company PROCURLING Wear for the past seven years.

“As a small business operator, you are always looking for ways to be innovative and take advantage of opportunities that come your way,” said Gravelle. “This was just one of those opportunities.”

The pair responded almost immediately to a need created by the pandemic and developed a high-quality mask.

Although they did extremely well in the spring, the market caught up to them over the course of the summer and MASQ sales dropped.

Recently, they decided to change the design of their MASQ collection in order to meet the current need. They’ve developed a thinner, more contoured mask, a mask that’s integrated with a neck warmer, and added children’s sizes.

“Our first set of masks were built on the surgical mask layout. The rectangular mask with the double fold or trifold,” said Gravelle. “We found that our market really wanted more contoured, fashionable masks. They wanted form and function, so that is where we have gone.”

They’ve also added more options and created both two-layer and three-layer masks, which offer different levels of protection.

Gravelle also serves as the physician-recruitment consultant for Georgian Bay General Hospital. Because of his connection to the local health-care community, Gravelle has decided to donate a portion of the sales from every MASQ to Georgian Bay General Hospital and the Huronia Community Foundation.

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Barrie nurse raises $1,000 for food bank with reusable operating-room caps

Sep 23, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Hats off to Barrie surgical nurse Jen Miller – or should that be caps?

Fellow nurse Terri Lynn Pickard said Miller deserves a public pat on the back after she decided to make reusable operating-room caps for the surgical unit at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre.

Miller sold the caps for $10 each, raising more than $1,000 for the Barrie Food Bank.

“She is such a well-respected individual in our workplace and has taken her time to make sure everyone gets a hat that suits their needs,” Pickard said in an email. “As always, she is thinking of others before herself.”

Pickard said operating-room caps have been a precious commodity during COVID-19 and Miller’s reusable caps ensure there are enough to go around.

“There has been such a shortage on disposable surgical caps,” Pickard said. “The same disposable hats are also used for patients, so Jen figured if we used cloth hats we could save the disposable ones for patients.”

Daily mask and hat counts are done during the pandemic to monitor the supply, Pickard said.

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What’s going on here? Orillia throws the switch on new technology

Sep 23, 2021 , , , , by shlf

Orillia’s network of street lights is undergoing an energy-saving upgrade as crews replace the existing fixtures with LED technology.

JUST THE FACTS:

–  Upgrading about 3,300 street-light fixtures with LED technology and smart-lighting controls is anticipated to reduce Orillia’s greenhouse gas emissions by 70 metric tons.

–  Seventy metric tons is equivalent to the amount of greenhouse gases stored in 80 acres of forest, or the energy required to charge nearly nine million cellphones.

–  Including smart-lighting controls will allow the municipality’s street-light network to be monitored remotely to determine outages, as well as allowing for dimming of fixtures and adjustment of lighting levels.

–  These features can help reduce energy, maintenance costs and light pollution, according to the city.

–  The LED street-light update and smart-lighting controls project was approved as part of the city’s 2020 capital budget at a cost of $2.4 million.

–  Equipping the system with smart-lighting controls will ensure Orillia’s lights can adapt to any future technological advancements.

–  Savings realized through the updated technology are expected to pay for the investment within six years.


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Canada-U.S. land-border closure has been extended to Dec. 21

Sep 23, 2021 , , , , by shlf

OTTAWA—Canada and the United States will extend restrictions on non-essential cross-border travel for at least another month, to Dec. 21, the Star has learned.

A senior Canadian government official told the Star the agreement initially reached in March with the U.S. administration of President has been renewed, by mutual agreement, for another 30 days, with no end date set.

The deal allows the north and south flow at land crossings of essential workers, like health-care professionals or truckers carrying goods, but it puts restrictions on non-essential travellers.

Canada has its limits on non-essential travel to make it easier for international students, couples and those with a dying relative to enter, however they are still subject to a 14-day mandatory quarantine order.

Although the U.S. election this month saw Joe Biden named president-elect with a vow to crack down on the spread of the coronavirus south of the border, COVID-19 continues to ravage America.

And public opinion polls show most Canadians do not want the border reopened at this stage.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians to avoid wintertime “snowbird” travel south.

“Canada’s official travel advisory is that all Canadians should avoid international travel. The pandemic continues to cause significant challenges around the world including in the southern United States and people are safest when they stay at home in Canada,” he told reporters.

“Obviously if people do choose to go, that is their choice but they need to make sure that they have good health insurance, good travel insurance, also that they make sure that wherever they’re going there is sufficient health care capacity, that it is not busy and beginning to get overwhelmed if something goes wrong. But that’s why as a government we recommend people not travel internationally while this pandemic is going on.”

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: