By Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrije is a staff with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE.

The area commonly referred to “Toronto Centre” - the boundaries of which encompass parts of Bay St. to the west, Bloor St. And Rosedale Valley Rd. to the north, over to the Don River in the East, and down to The Esplanade to the south – is in the midst of a massive transformation. This includes the Regent Park Revitalization, the St. Jamestown  Revitalization, the Moss Park  Revitalization, but also the George Street  Revitalization, and the extension of The Ontario Line by Metrolinx that will see a subway station in Moss Park.

These can only be considered unprecedented changes to an area of the city that has for the-most-part been “neglected of overlooked” for decades. And while these changes may be a boon to the area, they do also raise certain tensions. Large scale developments generally lead to increased property values, which lead to higher rents, which lead to the displacement of those who have been priced out those neighbourhoods.

In neighbourhoods like Regent Park, St. Jamestown, Moss Park, and St. Jamestown residents are determined to stay and fight for their rights to live where they have made a home for themselves and their families. Here, they are also determined to change the housing options that available to them - housing that is affordable, rent geared to income, and rent to own.

In the Toronto Centre Developments meeting, three guest-speakers presented alternative models for housing, community organizing, and how community benefits agreements can be used to empower communities through a more inclusive redistribution of economies.

The first guest-speaker Miru Yogarajah, from the Parkdale Peoples Economy, is a network of over 30 community-based organizations and hundreds of community members collaborating to build decent work, shared wealth, and equitable development in Parkdale. The Parkdale People’s Economy is building just local economies through a participatory Community Planning Process; a Community Land Trust model; a local currency program Co-op Cred program; a movement for Community Benefits; and a community-based food distribution and procurement initiative through Community Food Flow project.

The next speaker was Kumsa Baker, is the Director of Campaigns at the Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN). The TCBN is a coalition of community organizations, grassroots groups and socila enterprises, labout unions, construction trades training centres, and workforce development agencies whose goal is to negotiate Community Benefits Agreements as part of new urban inrastucture and development projects in Toronto.

And the final speaker was Gagan Nijjar, who is a Community Benefits Researcher with Toronto Community Benefits Network (TCBN). Gagan's expertise includes research and policy work on sports, anti-racism, equity diversity and inclusion.