OSHAWA ROSEMARY - BLOG

OSHAWA ROSEMARY

Free trees for Oshawa Residents! Order by Monday Oct 21st & Pick up by Oct 26th 2019

10/10/2019

The Oshawa Environmental Advisory Committee (OEAC) is helping to expand Oshawa’s tree canopy by providing free trees and shrubs to Oshawa residents and property owners.
Residents and property owners are invited to register online by Monday, October 21 to receive a free tree and/or shrub (up to three per household, limited quantity available). Three species are available for selection:

Basswood Tree (talia americana), a large deciduous tree with easily worked wood and nutrient-rich leaves.
Serbian Spruce Tree (picea omorika), a heat tolerant coniferous tree that grows tall and thin making it suitable for private properties.
Black Chokeberry (aronia melanocarpa) (potted), a shrub that can be planted or remain potted that produces small white flowers and dark berries that can be used to make jams, teas and more.

Residents and property owners must be available to pick-up their plants the morning of Saturday, October 26, or will need to identify the name of the person who will be making the pick-up for them during the registration process.

There are a limited number of the trees and shrubs available. The plants will be distributed in order of registration.

After registration closes on Monday, October 21, all registrants will be notified of the status of their submission via email or phone (depending on the contact information provided). Successful registrants will be notified of the pick-up time and location before Saturday, October 26. The pick-up event will run rain or shine.

Ask to find out more how our taxes are being spent or not spent at the Region

10/6/2019

Time to drill down and find out more… Regional government finances should not be such a mystery.
Here is an additional chart that provides further information that should be of interest. Thank you to those who are sharing this data with others… it is worth drawing attention to especially as now is the time the upper and lower tier municipalities are developing their 2020 Budgets.

Durham Region taxpayers deserve answers why the Region is sitting on so much of their money. Although there are upcoming projects, like the Region’s latest plan for a $200M Anaerobic Digestive Processing Plant, do they justify the Region accumulating such massive savings? Naturally there are always unexpected, pressing expenses, needs, new plans and projects. But municipal governments are obligated to approve a transparent, efficient and taxpayer affordable Budget.

Taxpayers receive no tax deduction for the thousands of dollars they MUST PAY, NOT DONATE, to their local governments and expect clearer financial disclosure. It is time taxpayers are given a full explanation why Regional government is collecting millions over expenses...for huge financial surpluses each year and is not directing some of the Investment Portfolio Billions to the lower tier municipalities who are at the front line with budgets to the bone.

It will be interesting to compare how Durham Region's surpluses compares with the other Regional governments in Ontario. Perhaps the Province has noticed how out of hand Regional financial affairs are and one of the big reasons behind the Regional Review.

Is Durham Region's $2.18 Billion Savings Account Justifiable?

10/5/2019

These numbers are staggering. Municipal governments should not be levying taxes to build a nest egg!

Durham Region’s financials show a $2.14 BILLION investment portfolio and $435 Million in cash...Total $2.575 Billion This is in addition to all the Region's many reserve accounts ear-marked for projects. WHY so much in an investment account? WHAT FOR? Dare anyone suggest over-taxaton? ...Questions that deserve to be answered.

When Greg Milosh went over the Region's past 19 years Financial Statements and presented this slide to Region Council last week, neither Region Chair John Henry nor any of the other 28 members of Region Council batted an eye. Why no discussion or explanation? After all it is the public's money. Time to hear what the Region has been amassing this for, and if it really should be

41% of every Oshawa taxpayer’s property tax bill goes to Durham Region...seriously, where is our money going when the Region takes it? A vast majority of property taxpayers in Durham Region are carrying large debt - when did their tax payments to the Region become contributions to a Region savings plan? How is it justifiable when most taxpayers struggle to pay their mortgage and taxes?

Unveiling of restored Windfields Farms sign at Northern Dancer Memorial

10/4/2019

Official reveal of the restored and relocated Windfields Farm gates pillars and sign!

It is almost a decade since they were taken down from Simcoe St. N. entrance to the former Windfields Farm and put in storage.

Now can be seen on the Ont Tech U property, south side of Britannia Rd. W, opposite the second roundabout west of Simcoe St. N.... offset s/w from the road, entry to Northern Dancer memorial graveyard.

Following the ceremony, I enjoyed a walkabout with Ken Bright, Director of Infrastructure and Sustainability Ontario Tech U, beyond the graveyard, past the Arena, with a tour of the Ont Tech beehives (45!) (and yes they sell the honey on campus and use it in the 'Hive' the new good foods restaurant behind the library) and walked east, to the community garden with a geodesic dome greenhouse. Along the way I snapped pics of some of the 18,000 trees planted (more along the creeks), the solar panels and solar thermal panels that only need daylight not sunlight (some new technology, Ontario Tech is advancing ideas for storing energy) (btw the Sustainability campus is off the grid, with geothermal tied to six buildings) and power generated that isn't used is sold to the grid.

Oshawa Ward 1 Town Hall Tonight!

9/18/2019

The Oshawa Interactive Town Hall Roadshow is touching down tonight at the Delpark Homes Centre, 1661 Harmony Rd. N. (fireside room at north entrance) 6:30 - 8:00 pm.

A great opportunity to speak one-on-one with the various Oshawa staff and Department heads who will be in attendance in one room!

Staff will be there from City branches such as: Oshawa Airport; Finance; Fire Services; Engineering; Operations Works (roads, parks, grass cutting, snow removal, waste, underground services, trees, fleet vehicles); Recreation & Culture; Municipal By-law; Planning and Building Services; together with your Ward Councillors!

Light refreshments will be available for you to enjoy!

Join with your neighbours and come to the Community Centre for this Special September Town Hall!

It's a Perfect time for Oshawa residents to ask questions, state their concerns, give input on programs and services provided by their local government. Time as well to share your views on priorities for the 2020 budget! Staff and Ward Councillors will take notes of your specific service requests and follow up afterwards.

Unable to attend? Please know that you can also share your 2020 City budget priorities online or complete the online survey at ConnectOshawa.ca or on paper at Service Oshawa (50 Centre St. S.) until 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 20. Feedback received from the online and paper budget engagement opportunities will be shared with City Council and staff during the 2020 City budget process. Resident's responses will be kept anonymous and will only be used to summarize overall feedback received from the public.

P.S. A free iPad will be awarded from Oshawa residents 18+ who participate and enter the draw

Tour of Oshawa General Motors Plant and I was wowed!

9/17/2019

Alexander Gates, Executive Director and Curator of the Canadian Automotive Museum and Gregory Johnston, CAM Board Member organized this memorable 3 hour, 2 km walk around tour of the Oshawa GM plant, 900 Park Rd. S. Tuesday morning, September 17, 2019.

I was very impressed by what I saw and learned seeing what goes on in Plants C and D!

GM staff took the picture below of all of us in front of the Godzilla robot lowering a truck cab and box onto the underbody.

Here are some notes of interest re this great experience seeing the car and truck assembly lines in operation:

$1 Billion was spent on the Oshawa GM paint shop, which is the largest in the world! We couldn't see inside it because of hygiene controls, even deodorant can cause quality issues...

In the Flex Plant C the Impala is assembled. It has 6 body styles. The Impala line had a 100% DDR Direct Drive Rate when we were there, which means there was no stoppage and no vehicles had been pulled off the line for defects and sent to the troubleshooting inspection and correction area. (that empty station looked an ad from the lonely Maytag repair man advertisements) All Impalas we saw being assembled were pre-sold.(and it seemed the majority of these cars were painted white!) .

The Truck line has 2 shifts. All metal for the truck cab and beds come from Fort Wayne Indiana body shop. They are shipped over road. . Steel frames are supplied by Formet in St. Thomas. (GM Oshawa looked into rail but found more benefits with truck delivery.) The Flex vehicle has 6300 parts when all put together.

The car and truck bodies are spray painted first, then arrive over the roof from the paint shop and are lowered down onto the moving floor, sans door, hood, The underbody frame is worked on (that is, filled in) upside down (because it's easier that way) adding parts and then flipped over by a robot...robots also put in the chassis and the IP (instrument panel), All the parts are thoroughly inspected for defects in place.

Elsewhere on the line, fluids are added: gas, steering fluid, washer fluid; a robot injects urethane all around the edges of the glass windshields and rear windows before they are lifted and pounded into the vehicle...After several quality checks along the way, as the vehicles leave the line complete, they are driven to an inspection station for checking the wheel alignment and head light alignment..then driven into the Care Centre, where they are tested over speed bumps to check for any noise rattling, and driven through water to ensure there are no leaks.

The Oshawa GM assembly line will be done the end of this year, Then there will be a transition to making parts after for dealers, as well as creating new advanced vehicle technologies (ex. the self-driving...the autonomous test track soon coming to the land between Park Rd and Stevenson at Philip Murray since special new features need to be tested to ensure they are road worthy.

New school on Greenhill! new traffic lights Coldstream! but Grandview crosswalk gone?

9/2/2019

Oshawa's Ward 1 is bustling place! This Labor Day weekend heralds

new doors soon opening - Elsie MacGill public school at 800 Greenhill Ave. named to honour Canada's first practicing woman engineer. In 1927 MacGill was the first female graduate of electrical engineering at the University of Toronto and was also the first woman to earn her master’s degree in aeronautical engineering

new lights soon on - the much awaited traffic lights at Coldstream and Clearbrook Dr., a busy corner with two schools: St. John Bosco to the south west and Ecole Jeanne Sauve to the north east, and Mountjoy park to the north west

but curiously, to the east of Harmony Rd...
why has the Grandview/Greenhill Ave. crosswalk been removed?
(compare Google maps photo from 10 months ago with pictures taken yesterday). A constituent alerted me that this crosswalk is gone. It is a concern and really it's time this intersection has a 4 way stop! Top of my to do list tomorrow is to find out more about what's happening and report back. Happy Labour Day!

Psst..next Saturday, Sept 7th, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. is the 43rd Annual Columbus Community United Church Yard Sale (always the weekend after Labour Day) See notice

Budget process underway! Have your say!

8/28/2019

Oshawa's 2020 Budget is being developed now. Speak up in September, the places and times are below. Ask questions about tax money coming in, where it's going out, how much the City spent last year and how much it plans to spend this year. Give your opinion on priorities. where and what your money should be spent on to help strengthen your City!

Upcoming World FireFit Championships in Oshawa at Delpark Home Centre

8/26/2019

Watch firefighters compete and test their fitness in a course based on real-life emergency situations

Between Tuesday September 10 and Sunday September 15th Oshawa is hosting, for the 4th consecutive year, the Canada FireFit Championships and for the 1st time the World Championships!

Beginning Tuesday at 6;00 p.m. the competition opens with the Charity Relay, which is open to members of the public who are invited to complete in a course identical to the one the firefighters will be competing in.

All proceeds of the Charity Relay go to support the Firehouse Sub Public Safety Foundation Canada.

Over the course of the next five days more than 400 firefighters contestants will be competing individually and in teams. The finals will be held on Saturday and Sunday Sept 14th & 15th (beginning at 10:30 a.m.).

This free event is run by SCOTT FIREFIT CHAMPIONSHIPS and is open to families to attend, with the weekend's child-friendly course "Kids FireFit Zone" sponsored by Firehouse Subs and Tim Hortons, and the RS Rescue Kids Crush Zone. Participants completing the kids relay challenges will receive a Firehouse Subs fire helmet.

There will be food trucks, fire safety information and displays set up on site.

Also note: the North Oshawa Farmer's Market will run all day and the playgrounds, water parks and library branch at Delpark Homes Centre will be open throughout the event.

For more info see oshawa.ca/firefit

North Oshawa Home Depot & John Howard Society fundraise for Durham Homeless Youth

8/24/2019

A special good news story in Oshawa's Ward 1 - On Thursday August 22nd he Harmony/Taunton Rd. Oshawa Home Depot store celebrated its Orange Door Project Fundraising Campaign results, with 100% of the money raised donated to the John Howard Society of Durham Region. JHS members in attendance were Executive Director Dianna Eastwood and Managers Paul Dobbs and David Smith.

The funds raised will support local at-risk and homeless youth. The JHS has two youth residences in Durham, one in Oshawa and one in Whitby. "The JHS Residence program helps empower youth to successful independent living."
For three weeks in June, HD customers were invited to donate $2.00 at the store’s checkout or online at OrangeDoorProject.ca.

Of all the stores across Canada, the hardworking staff at the Oshawa Home Depot north store was 6th for total funds raised! Since 2014 this store alone has raised over $120,000 for this community! Through The Orange Door Project campaign, The Home Depot Canada Foundation supports 120 organizations that are committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness across the country."

"The JHS is a non-profit, social service dedicated to serving men and women, individuals and families, youth and adults with programs in areas such as counselling, employment, literacy, housing, and more. The Residence program is designed to assist youth in learning the skills necessary to live independently in the community. This includes key areas of self-sufficiency such as budgeting, time management, meal and nutrition awareness, job keeping, communication skills, goal setting, problem solving, decision making and more.See www.jhsd.ca for more info about JHS Durham."

"The Home Depot Canada Foundation is committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness in Canada. On any given night, more than 6,000 young people are without a place to call home, making youth homelessness one of the most urgent social issues facing Canadians today. Through The Orange Door Project initiative, The Foundation has pledged $50 million by the end of 2022 to improve housing options, support life-skills development programs, and invest in research that ensures funding is directed to the most effective solutions designed to help youth build brighter futures. For more information, please visit: OrangeDoorProject.ca."