Do You Support Restoration of Swan Lake and Swan Lake Park? A local group of residents, the Friends of Swan Lake Park, are lobbying Markham Council to support the restoration of Swan Lake and Swan Lake Park. The group wants Council to address poor water quality issues in the Lake, the invasive plant species in Swan Lake Park and to commit to a long term restoration plan for all of the environmental elements in Swan Lake and Swan Lake ... Read More
Dear residents, neighbours and friends of Ward 5, Markham City Council has been asked by staff to consider a temporary measure that would see a selection of 4 lane roadways reduced to 2 lanes to accommodate dedicated cycling lanes. This issue will be discussed at the upcoming Development Services Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 8th. The full staff report can be reviewed at this link: Traffic Operational Changes Related to COVID-19 Markham Roads Being Considered Markham staff has ... Read More
The Great Outdoors...a cure to all that ails us 2020 has been very stressful and challenging for most of us. The year certainly has not been what we expected or hoped for. Though the weather has not been the greatest, the stay at home orders throughout Ontario, across Canada and most of the world has been upsetting and possibly frightening. We have certainly had to rethink the time we do leave the house, curbside pickup, shopping for groceries and even ... Read More
Dear residents, neighbours and friends of Ward 5, There have been numerous tragic consequences of the pandemic, namely many of our most vulnerable, our beloved seniors and special needs residents have been hardest hit. Many have lost their lives. We will mourn with the families who have suffered these loses. Thankfully Markhaven has announced there are no cases of COVID in their facility over the Victoria Day long weekend. We must continue to be vigilant to ensure it stays that way. For ... Read More
This is week 8 of the stay at home order. I am not sure we can thank our Health Care and Front Line heroes enough for all they are doing for us. Staying at home has brought new challenges and anxiety we have never experienced before, I know that some of our behaviours have changed as well. We're watching more television, Netflix, movies and with that goes snacking, eating, drinking. The nicer weather is almost on us, our kids will want ... Read More
Wikipedia explains the arts as the human application and expression of creativity through skills and imagination in order to produce objects, environments and experiences. Most of us have a in interest in some form of The Arts, a quiet or loud voice that enjoys music, film, theatre, dance, art, literature. We hang our children's finger paintings on the fridge, we doodle and sketch, we read, sway, dream in technicolour. With our busy lives managing our own and children's schedules, there is often no time to take ... Read More
Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, anxious and stressed by the demands of family and working from home OR from being laid off and perhaps not having enough money for payments and groceries. Our thoughts focus on getting through the day alone, missing family and friends or juggling our children's home schooling while working, possibly caring for seniors or worrying about seniors who are alone. For those of us who are still working, especially our Health Care professionals, in Hospitals and ... Read More
Ward 5 Councillor Andrew Keyes was spotted pulling out household garbage from a beautiful wooded area in our Ward 5 community. He and his assistant Michelle were practising physical safe distancing while cleaning and greening. While they were able to collect a lot of trash, there were many items they couldn't collect ... bricks, concrete, tiles, yard waste, fencing, lumber FOLKS, we have to do better. We can not dump our household waste, renovation material, hazardous items (yes paint cans and ... Read More
#stayathome – Loss of human 'touch' greatest impact of working from home during COVID-19 crisis Heidi Riedner, Markham Economist & Sun - February 25, 2020 It hasn’t exactly been business as usual during stay-at-home measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The challenge of staying connected has meant a shift in day-to-day operations for those still working. Markham Stouffville Hospital President and CEO Jo-anne Marr, for example, tweeted that communication is key during the fight against COVID-19. “We’re holding ... Read More
Update: 9th Line construction was delayed, and is now scheduled for completion this summer - 2020. This fall will see road construction on 9th Line south of 16th Avenue. York Region is finally implementing left turn lanes on 9th Line at Tiers Gate/White’s Hill Avenue and at Fincham Avenue. This should have been done when the road was originally widened, but at least it's getting done. The construction is scheduled to take place from September to Summer of 2020. ... Read More