Ombudsman Asked to Investigate Boys Girls Club

February 14, 2011

Office of the Ombudsman
City of Toronto
375 University Avenue
Suite 203
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2J5

Re: Junction Triangle Boys and Girls Club

To Whom It May Concern:

We are writing to you about the ongoing problems at the Junction Triangle Boys and Girls Club which is managed as an outreach location of the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club located at 180 Westmoreland Avenue. This organization receives substantial financial support from the City of Toronto and its Westmoreland clubhouse is located in a city-owned building.

The Junction Triangle Boys and Girls Club has been operating in a temporary location and offering a limited after-school program for children since the lease expired at their Randolph Avenue location in March 2008. A new clubhouse location was found and the Club began leasing a facility in August 2009 at 45 Ernest Avenue. The new clubhouse would have provided additional space for 120 children and brought the services for young people back to pre-existing levels when the Club was located on Randolph.

After a year of renovations, the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club abandoned the Ernest Avenue location without notice or any neighbourhood consultations. The Club’s departure resulted in the loss of several hundred thousand dollars worth of materials, rent and donated goods and labour. Because the Club had no legitimate reason to abandon the new facility they now face the additional expense of tens of thousands of dollars to settle a legal claim by the landlord for breaking the lease. Citing ongoing legal negotiations with the landlord, the Club is refusing to hold a public meeting or consultations with the Junction Triangle community.

No credible explanation or reasoning for this decision has ever been provided to area residents. The Club has only released limited information about their rationale for abandoning the new clubhouse location. In news reports, the Operations Manager and Board Chair have said that the facility was not zoned for their use despite assurances from the City lawyer and the planning department that everything was in good order.

The Club has also claimed that the new Clubhouse would bankrupt the organization and that it simply cannot afford to open this facility. Yet, the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club is currently building a second floor on their Westmoreland location for $1.7-million in a neighbourhood where children are well serviced by the existing facility which has an indoor pool, gym, library, games room and computer lab. The Club raised more than $745,000 in private donations and $1.1-million from the federal, provincial and city governments. No fundraising initiative for the Junction Triangle clubhouse has been undertaken by the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club.

These actions raise serious questions about the equitable treatment of children from an organization that appears to have a geographic bias favouring their Westmoreland facility and its surrounding neighbourhood. After three years without a clubhouse, the Junction Triangle neighbourhood needs social services for children of all ages. The Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club is either unwilling or unable to fulfill this need and we are asking you to investigate.

Our request comes to you from 25 residents of the Junction Triangle community; parents, community activists, concerned citizens, two former board members of the Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club Board of Directors and one former Board member who resides near the Westmoreland facility. A recent posting on the neighbourhood website www.junctiontriangle.ca by Dovercourt Boys and Girls Club Board Chairperson Vivian Payne is also included for your information. We believe her comments demonstrate the lack of commitment to the Junction Triangle neighbourhood.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Kevin Putnam
Scott Dobson, Marjolein Winterink, Richard Mongiat, Carla Heavenly, Bruce Gavin Ward,
Jeff Winch, William Woolrich, Irmina Ayuyao, Chris Kwaczek, Katie Kwaczek,
Naomi Matsushita, Brenda Heyer, Daniel Poliszczuk, Joanna Bukiejkc, Rio Benitez,
Nellie Benitez, Camilla Latronico, Beth Faris, Warren McPherson, Jennifer Smiley,
Terri Irwin, Jennifer Smerek, David Tindall, Alison Smerek, Sharon Colwell, Mark Colwell

Cc. Ana Bailao, Councillor, Ward 18

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