HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF KIDS GROWING UP IN POVERTY PAGE A3
PROTECTING STUDENTS ACT IS LONG OVERDUE PAGE A6
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COMMUNITY
York CAS has ‘critical’ shortage of foster families BY LISA QUEEN
lqueen@yrmg.com
T
o the four dozen young boys cared for in their elegant and welcoming Aurora foster home for the past 14 years, they are Miss Maple and Mr. Fred. Removed from their homes by York Region’s Children’s Aid Society because of abuse, neglect, conflict or financial hardship, they have found a safe haven, often for years, in the loving home of Maple Porter-Balaz and her husband Fred Balaz. Both immigrants, Porter-Balaz and Balaz wanted to give back to Canada. “What better way to do so than fostering. Taking children in your home, looking after them, showing them a different way of life, loving them, caring for them, I just thought that would be just wonderful,” said PorterBalaz, adding she and her husband chose to take in boys, usually between the ages of five and 12. “Sometimes, kids are coming from very, very difficult situations and they come into your home and some of them may act up or whatever but after a little while, they settle down because they can see that you care about them. There is love everywhere and you look after them the best way you can and they also become part of the family. They come into care and you want to give them a better life and the kids appreciate it, they really do.” Balaz said being a foster parent is one of
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the fulfilling things he’s done in his life. York’s CAS has a serious shortage of foster parents. “I would certainly call it critical. We have just over 300 children in care and a third of those children in care are living outside the region because we don’t have homes in the region,” said supervisor of residential development, Karen Wright. “I think the other piece in terms of our crisis is we are at capacity, such that if we had a call today where a sibling group had to be placed, we can’t keep them together. We’re splitting them up...We have no infant homes in York Region and no teen homes.” York has 111 foster homes, down from about 130 homes 10 years ago, despite the ballooning population. “Also, I think for us, what we feel is, we almost have this generation of foster parents who are aging out and are beginning to plan their own retirement from fostering,” Wright said. While some children placed outside the region land in foster homes in the Greater
Steve Somerville/Metroland
Maple Porter-Balaz of Aurora, with husband Fred Balaz, have been caring for foster children for 14 years. York Region Children’s Aid Society has a critical shortage of foster families.
See page A5.
TRANSIT
Newmarket council taking steps toward Mulock GO train station the town will determine the best ways to link nearby pedestrian and cyclist routes to the new station and engage York Region Transit to find the best ways to expand bus service in the area. In June, the Metrolinx board of directors included the Mulock station as part of its GO regional express rail 10-year program. It is one of five new stations recommended for approval along the Barrie rail corridor — Spadina, Bloor-Davenport, Kirby and Innisfil also made the cut. Over the next few years, GO will add about 150 kilometres of track throughout its network and increase service along the Barrie line — from 12 trains to about 32 on weekdays and from zero to nearly 29 on weekends. The program is part of the province’s $13.5-billion plan for extensive rail improvements throughout the GO network, which was announced last year. The plan includes train electrification, addi-
BY CHRIS SIMON
I
Steve Somerville/Metroland
Newmarket wants to work with Metrolinx to help ensure that a new GO Transit train station is built near Mulock Drive.
csimon@yrmg.com
t’s hardly a surprise, but Newmarket is ready to cooperate with Metrolinx to ensure a GO Transit station is built near Mulock Drive. Council passed a recommendation formally advising the transit agency of the town’s support for the station and its willingness to plan for growth around the proposed site. As part of the resolution, the town will ask the Ministry of Transportation and Metrolinx to fully fund construction of the station. “It should be noted that this resolution is the first step in the planning process for the future station and provides support in principal,” said town senior planner Adrian Cammaert, in a report discussed during an Oct. 18 committee of the whole meeting. “Staff agree that the current land uses and densities in the station area would require a re-examination.” As part of the planning process,
tional tracks, bridge reconstruction, grade separation and other improvements, many of which are aimed at speeding up travel times. Through this program, ridership is expected to increase by about 140 per cent over the next 15 years. About 54 million riders boarded GO trains in 2014. Nearly 4,500 new weekly trips will be added to the GO train network during that time —about 1,500 are made now. Metrolinx will host a working group, which includes representatives from the town, region and other community agencies, at the end of October. The group will be tasked with addressing technical aspects of the station design. Metrolinx will also host a public open house in Newmarket in November. “The feedback I’m getting is that Metrolinx is moving forward fairly quickly on this,” Regional Councillor John Taylor said. “This is not something that will be considered over five years.”
SOCIAL ISSUES
We are not a Halloween costume: First Nations HEIDI RIEDNER
hriedner@yrmg.com
The time has come to stop dressing up as an “Indian” for Halloween, according to First Nations people, who say they are not a costume. On the heels of the recent debate over whether the Cleveland Indians name and Chief Wahoo mascot is racist or merely anachronistic, First Nations people added the hashtag #not a costume to the #not your mascot hashtag generated after long-time Toronto Blue Jays’ broadcaster Jerry Howarth explained why he has refused to use First Nations nicknames since the 1992 World Series, when Toronto defeated Atlanta. While civil liberties groups raise the issue of censorship and the fine line of juggling cultural sensitivity with freedom of expression, First Nations advocates say cos-
First Nations people are using the hashtag #notacostume to protest Halloween costumes they say perpetuate harmful stereotypes. tumes like “Reservation Royalty” for adults or the sanitized Disney version of Pocahontas as princess for children perpetuate harmful stereotypes and stigmas regardless if they are chosen with good intentions or not. You may think your $49.99
“costume” pays homage or shows respect, but Lakehead’s Chair of Truth and Reconciliation and former Chippewas of Georgina Island resident Cynthia WesleyEsquimaux says the exact opposite is true. “It is a matter of respect, wheth-
THE PLACE FOR
er it is an Indian, Gypsy or Spanish ‘princess’ costume. If someone wants to come to a Pow Wow, dressed in a beautiful shawl, no one is going to say you can’t or you are not welcome to share in our culture. But on Halloween, it is mostly done for humour and parody, and
that lacks respect, is offensive and does not acknowledge this country’s history in the larger context of truth and reconciliation.” They are symbols, ultimately, of the oppression and violence that occurred on this land to make indigenous people go away, says Suzanne Smoke of Biindigen Healing and Arts. A member of the Alderville First Nation and an advocate for missing and murdered Aboriginal women, Smoke says Canadians have been trained and taught to ignore and devalue the worth of indigenous peoples and women are doubly oppressed. “With the Truth and Reconciliation commission and the MMIW report, I think it is time Canadians re-evaluate their treatment of First
See page A5.
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