Statement re Power Outage at 77 Howard

Kristyn Wong-Tam

MPP TORONTO CENTRE

March 11, 2025

Honourable Jill Dunlop

Ministry of Education

315 Front Street West, 14th Floor   

Toronto, Ontario 

M7A 0B8

RE: Accommodation in Childcare Licensing Regulations Regarding Temporary Outdoor Play Spaces at the St. Lawrence Co-operative Daycare

Dear Minister Dunlop,

I am writing this letter today regarding a significant concern to families in my riding of Toronto Centre. Specifically, the operator and parents of the children attending the St. Lawrence Co-opertive Daycare has come to me facing challenges in complying with the Ministry of Education’s regulations around outdoor play spaces under the Child Care Centre Licensing Manual and the Childcare and Early Years Act (CCEYA). 

As you know, dense urban communities such as ours in Toronto Centre face unique challenges when it comes to finding adequate and safe space for children’s educational and recreational needs. The St. Lawrence Daycare currently operates within the constraints of limited outdoor space, which is not unusual for downtown Toronto when open space is at a premium cost and deficient in quantity. The daycare is seeking to temporarily expand its outdoor play area to accommodate the growing number of children in their care, yet the regulations, particularly the interpretation of the requirement for “permanent” outdoor space, have presented a significant roadblock for the St Lawrence community.

Parents and daycare workers have been in contact with the Ministry’s Interim Program Advisor, Kristal Sotelo. She conveyed to the daycare manager that despite their best efforts, there is no flexibility within the regulations that would allow for a temporary outdoor play space. While the safety and quality of our children’s care should not be considered lightly, this rigidity has halted the expansion and opening of the St. Lawrence’s Daycare outdoor space. This means that dozens of our children are not getting the care they need, and parents are not getting the support they need. Keeping parents and children out of affordable daycare spaces is not in the best interest of the children and families who rely on this essential service. 

The Childcare and Early Years Act (O. Reg. 137/15) does not explicitly require that  "designated spaces" need to be permanent. This legislation, as outlined in Section 24, mandates that outdoor play space must meet certain size requirements, but it does not specify the permanence of ownership or lease agreement or location. The Act allows for Director approval of alternatives, including smaller or non-adjacent outdoor spaces or the use of rotating schedules to accommodate outdoor play, however. Flexibility is key to ensuring that daycare centres in urban areas can continue to provide safe, functional spaces for children. 

Right now, the St. Lawrence Daycare operates under a lease agreement with the City of Toronto that expires in 2027. While this lease is secure for the time being, the daycare’s current outdoor play space is not sufficient to meet the needs of the growing community. Expanding the play area would allow the daycare to accommodate more children and provide a safe and functional space for outdoor play. Due to the Ministry’s staff rigid interpretations of the regulations, this plan cannot be realized unless exceptions are made. 

There has been a growing concern across Ontario about the availability of affordable childcare. We have seen reports of daycares unexpectedly closing, leaving parents scrambling to find alternative care. Many centres are forced to reduce their capacity due to lack of appropriate space. These closures are particularly damaging to families in urban areas like ours, where access to childcare is already limited. 

Given the urgent need for more daycare spaces in our community, I respectfully ask that you review this case and consider making an exception to the regulation. Allowing for a temporary outdoor play space, or providing greater flexibility for daycare centres in urban areas to meet the requirements of the Act, would help ensure that families can continue to rely on daycare services without the added concern of losing their place in line.

For these reasons, I urge you to consider this request and provide a response, as it would have a lasting positive impact on the well-being of children and families in Toronto Centre and other urban ridings facing similar challenges. If you have any additional questions, contact my office at [email protected] or 416-972-7683.

Respectfully submitted, 

Kristyn Wong-Tam

Member of Provincial Parliament for Toronto Centre

120 Carlton Street, Suite 401

Toronto, Ontario

M5A 4K2 

TORONTO — The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down Doug Ford’s unconstitutional law to limit third party campaign spending. Ford used the notwithstanding law to limit participation from teachers, health care workers, families, labour unions in elections and used taxpayer dollars to continue fighting them in court.

NDP Critic for the Attorney General MPP Kristyn Wong-Tam has released the following statement in response to the ruling:

“Doug Ford is handed yet another defeat in court after he wasted more taxpayer dollars fighting to silence critics and defending unconstitutional laws. Ford is all too quick to pull the trigger on the Notwithstanding clause, especially if it means targeting those impacted the most by his record of bad policies and cuts – like teachers, health care workers, families, unions, and more.

Ontarians deserve a healthy democracy where they can cast an informed ballot. Civil society is a core pillar of Ontario’s democracy that should be allowed to flourish and engage in our elections. This defeat should be a wake-up call for Ford.”

Background note:

The Auditor General’s latest report into government advertising shows $103.5 million spent on government advertising in 2023-24 alone, a significant portion of which was spent on promoting ‘the governing party.’ 

Recently, Toronto and East York Community Council (TEYCC) in the City of Toronto rejected an application by Graywood Group to develop 506 to 516 Church Street which includes a property currently occupied by the iconic local business Crews and Tangos. 

I applaud City Planning and members of the TEYCC for this decision. Graywood made their original application during my time as City Councillor. Through a working group I convened, community feedback from the Church Wellesley Neighbourhood Association, Church Wellesley Village BIA and others helped create design revisions for a 14-storey building with special protections for Crews and Tangos that was approved in 2022. These protections created an improved plan that community stakeholders and residents were supportive of. My staff, alongside City Planning, Heritage and Urban Design worked hard to ensure 2SLGBTQI businesses were protected and that the community’s voice was heard. After my time at City Council, Graywood submitted a new 48-storey application that threw away all our hard work. This is a slap in the face to the community members who worked with Graywood to achieve an outcome that everyone agreed to. 

Graywood’s new application is disrespectful to community concerns and 2SLGBTQI businesses in the Village. It looked as though Graywood was trying to take advantage of changes Doug Ford made to the Planning Act, which took it from bad to worse through legislation like Bill 23. 

Let’s be clear about why this application is different: Crews and Tango is Toronto’s local version of a rainbow-drenched statue of liberty for the 2SLGBTQI community in the Church and Wellesley Village. Some of Canada’s and now the world’s biggest drag performers got their start on the stage of Crews and Tango. It is an economic fulcrum for businesses throughout Church Street, not to mention a culturally and emotionally important space where countless community members had their first experiences as out and proud members of the 2SLGBTQI community. We need housing now - so Graywood should just stop wasting time and honour the first application. Build what was approved and honour the agreed-upon protections that allow for 2SLGBTQI business districts to survive and thrive. This development could create economic shockwaves that threaten essential and increasingly precarious Queer and Trans cultural spaces. 

And let us be clear: the rejection of this application by TEYCC does not guarantee the stability of Crews and Tango or other 2SLGBTQI+ businesses in the Church Wellesley Village on its own. I call on Graywood to not appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal out of respect for our community and its businesses. The Ontario Land Tribunal is a dysfunctional, rigged body with a track record of undermining the City of Toronto’s ability to make sound planning decisions. It needs urgent reforms, many of which I proposed in my Bill, the Fixing Ontario Tribunals Backlogs Act. An appeal would be a disrespectful act of bad faith. 

By refusing to adopt ONDP legislation that supports small businesses and promotes the 2SLGBTQI communities, Ford has repeatedly turned his back on commercial rent control, lower rents, transparency in commercial leases, lower small business taxes, tax credits for victims of crime and increased funding for arts and culture. 

Whether it’s pandering to big box retailers during the pandemic, selling off the Greenbelt to developers or providing preferential treatment to foreign spa owners at Ontario Place, the Ford government has continually ignored the economic challenges facing Ontario small businesses. We can’t trust Ford to stand up for Ontarians against Trump tariffs when he’s never stood up for us before. 

I call upon the Ford government to work with the ONDP to create more support for small businesses. A real Team Ontario response would recognize the unique challenges facing 2SLGBTQI businesses like those in the Church and Wellesley Village. Trump’s tariff threats will affect all parts of our economy, and we need a Team Ontario approach that protects every single Ontarian whose job is on the line.