1967
Other communities (eg. Don Mount) were threatened at the same time as Trefann Court. Below are a few of the impressive guerrilla tactics mentioned in the Trefann Court’s 1967 newsletter. (FYI, Board of Control is now called Executive Committee.)
- ON AUGUST 27th we picketed the homes of Mayor Dennison, the members of Board of Control and Mr. Piccininni, the alderman for Don Mount. We protested against the underhanded methods used by the city and asked that city not proceed with the evictions against the remaining resident owners.
- ON SEPTEMBER 6th a group of about 100 residents from Trefann, Don Vale and Don Mount entered the Board of Control room. Mr. Jim Renwick, representing the group, asked to be heard. The Board refüsed to listen and walked out and we staged a three-hour sit-in in the Board room. Rogers, the property commissioner, turned off the lights in the room, in an attempt to intimidate us. Renwick was evicted by plain-clothed policemen. We got angry but it was no riot!
Afterwards we marched around City Hall square. We asked them to stop the evictions and to call a special council meeting to deal with compensation. While we picketed City Hall, the Board sent us a letter telling us to come back the following week and try out luck in City Council. - ON SEPTEMBER 15th we built a shack on the City Hall Square during the welcome ceremonies for the Italian President, Mr. Saragat. The shack represented what the City is offering to the people of Don Mount.
1995
At 90 Sumach is a 6 story warehouse and rehearsal space built in 1957 for the CBC. Several Shuter and Sumach St residents were opposed to a planned conversion of this warehouse to condos, as summarized in this 1995 newsletter. We expressed these concerns at City Hall (1992-1995): the development was twice refused by Planning Advisory and Land Use Committees, but narrowly approved 9-7 at City Council, where the developer’s lawyer improperly influenced the vote. To get City Hall approval, the developer grudgingly agreed to “setback” the north face of 90 Sumach, by 22 feet. Our appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (April 1996) was unsuccessful, since we didn’t have funds to hire independent professional expert witnesses. Conversion of 90 Sumach to condos was completed in 1999.
2008
- Twice a year, the Trefann Court Residents Association (TCRA) will invite everyone in the neighbourhood to a general meeting. A meeting agenda will be available in advance, and meeting minutes will be prepared – both will be available on this website. In addition, TCRA may organize meetings about specific issues affecting our neighbourhood.
minutes: Feb 28, 2008 - Periodically, TCRA’s newsletter will be delivered door-to-door; electronic copies of all printed newsletters are also available on this website. For the most current information, residents are encouraged to check this website, or contact us via email. Another source of neighbourhood information is the our Trefann e-news list, which is also “free for all” (in more ways than one).
newsletters: Feb 2008 | July 2008 - Initially, TCRA will not charge membership fees, although the association will need some source of funds to pay for the website, printing of newsletters and flyers, etc. At some future time, TCRA may provide some “members-only” features, such as a facility for electronic information sharing and discussion.
2025
We were surprised to learn on May 22 that our City Councillor Moise renamed Sumach-Shuter parkette, without consulting with Trefann Court residents. Persons who grew up in Regent Park and Trefann Court and who are familiar with its long history of community activism, were also shocked by this stealth renaming. Read more…