Friends of Toronto BBQ

Inviting all who are interested to find out more about Canada living and working!


















Date: 23 Jan 2010 (Saturday)

Time: 4-6pm

Place: Chuan Park Condo BBQ Pit (Next to Club House)

For more information, pls email to : Torontoteam@gmail.com

Toronto’s 2010 Capital Budget and 10-Year Capital Plan funds infrastructure and creates jobs

The infrastructure that supports the many services delivered to the residents and businesses of Toronto got a major boost today as the proposed 2010 Capital Budget and 10-Year Capital Plan were introduced by City staff at a meeting of Toronto’s Budget Committee. The proposals speed up job creation and the maintenance of City infrastructure by moving more capital spending into the first five years of the plan. The 2010 capital budget and 10-year capital plan introduced today totals over $16 billion with $2.4 billion earmarked for 2010 and over $2.5 billion budgeted for each of 2011 and 2012. The City’s total capital budget plan, including Water and Waste Management is $25.7 billion over the next 10 years.

The proposed budget and plan includes funding for the ongoing maintenance and replacement of the City’s major infrastructure such as transit, roads and bridges, police stations and emergency communications systems. The capital budget also funds ongoing environmental initiatives, improvements to the waterfront and Toronto’s many parks, trails, libraries and community centres. Maintaining the City’s assets is an important component of the capital plan. Over the next 10 years the City will spend $9.9 billion - more than 60 per cent of all capital spending - to maintain the City’s existing assets.

More than 50 per cent of the City’s 2010 capital budget and 10-year plan (over $8.7 billion) will go towards the infrastructure required for the operation, maintenance and expansion of the TTC. The proposed capital budget will pay the cost of major infrastructure for the TTC, including new streetcars. In total, the 10-year capital plan sets aside over $11.7 billion for transportation in Toronto (including TTC) - more than 70 per cent of the total capital budget.

“We continue to make the right investments to support our city,” said Mayor David Miller. “The initiatives we have undertaken over the years to improve the quality of life in Toronto continue to serve our city well and the plan introduced today ensures those investments can and will continue.”

“These are times of almost unprecedented financial challenges and governments must do all they can to maintain services, create and maintain jobs and protect the economy,” said Councillor Shelley Carroll, Chair of the City’s Budget Committee. “The City must make these investments while keeping spending at an affordable level. The Budget Committee and Council will review the proposed capital budget to ensure the City gets the most out of a capital budget program that it can truly afford.”

“The City continues to meet the challenge of maintaining the City’s existing assets and invest in the projects that meet the demands of growth,” said City Manager Joe Pennachetti.

“Funding the needs of our capital budget programs will be done through a mix of financing strategies that closely match the lifespan of projects and keep the City’s total debt within Council approved guidelines,” said Cam Weldon, Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer.

In December 2008, Toronto City Council adopted a capital budget for 2009 and a 10-year (2009-2018) capital plan totalling $25.9 billion. Over the 10-year period, the plan will create or maintain approximately 300,000 jobs. In the plan introduced today, more spending has been moved into the first half of the plan. Recent City of Toronto stimulus partnership agreements with the Federal and Provincial governments have enabled the City to accelerate its capital programs and create jobs at a time when they are most needed. The majority of City funding for these programs comes from the City’s capital budget plan. To meet the requirements of this funding capital budget investments be accelerated in 2010 and 2011.

The City and Federal governments recently announced funding for more than 500 infrastructure projects that will begin construction across Toronto as soon as possible, including upgrades to roads, water and sewage infrastructure, public transit, municipal buildings, community centres, and cultural facilities. More than half a billion dollars will be invested, with the Federal Government contributing about $200 million through the federal Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, and the City providing the remaining two-thirds of the cost.

In addition, the City and the Provincial governments recently announced $80 million in funding for more than 100 projects through the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) and the Ontario Recreation Program. Approximately $40 million of the projects funding comes from the City with the remainder being funded by the Federal and Ontario governments.

To meet the requirements of stimulus funding from the Federal and Provincial governments, and meet the needs of the TTC, Council approved the acceleration of capital budget investments in 2010 and 2011 and therefore the capital budgets for the next two years will increase.

Details on the partnership funding for these programs and the need to accelerate capital investments and information on the specific projects can be viewed in the report that was approved by Council at its meeting last September: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/cc/bgrd/cc40.10.pdf

A web based map with all of the projects can be viewed at: http://www.toronto.ca/stimulus_fund

The capital budget addresses several categories of funding. In total, the capital budget plan proposed today dedicates 61 per cent to funding the maintenance of City assets, 24.5 per cent to projects required to meet the demands of growth and 9.8 per cent to enhance existing programs, with the balance going to meet the needs of health and safety or legislated requirements.

To accelerate capital plan spending in the next five years; the City will accelerate borrowing during this period. In accordance with the City’s Long-Term Fiscal Plan Toronto City Council has established an affordability guideline that limits the City’s debt (including principal and interest) to 15 per cent of the property tax revenues forecast for any given 10-year plan period. The City’s current tax supported debt is approximately $2.4 billion to the end of 2009.

To properly fund the capital needs of the City needs of the next five years, meet affordability guidelines, protect the City’s excellent credit rating and take advantage of the very low interest rates now available for longer-term loans, the City will refinance parts of it current and future debt by paying down existing debt, and borrowing funds for selected projects on 30-year terms as opposed to the current 10-year term. The 30-year debt will be used to finance long term assets such as subway tunnels and subway cars. This means that the period of time for which money is borrowed will more closely match the life span of the infrastructure being built or purchased.

Municipalities can only borrow money to pay for capital projects - not day-to-day operating expenses.

At present, the City borrows money for shorter terms meaning that higher re-payments are made in shorter periods for major infrastructure which has a much longer life span than the term of the loan. Moving to this financing strategy for some of the City’s borrowing needs will also help manage the pressures of debt repayment on the annual property tax base. Repayment of principal and interest on the City’s debt continues to be the second highest expense on the annual property tax bill. Lowering the annual debt payments, and spreading them out over a longer period, will allow the City to direct more property tax dollars to services each year and less to debt repayment. To implement this approach the City will use the proceeds of the Toronto Hydro promissory note, which had been dedicated to two specific areas of investment (Spadina subway and Waterfront development), and pay down approximately $600 million of existing debt. The projects previously funded from this reserve will be refinanced for that amount over a 30-year period and only when the funds are actually required.

In their remarks at Budget Committee today, both Mayor Miller and Councillor Carroll spoke about the importance of the continued partnership with both the Federal and Provincial governments that is required for the City of Toronto, and all Cities in Canada, to succeed. Councillor Carroll recently appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance pre-budget consultations in Toronto and detailed a series of recommendations that will assist the federal government in preparing the next budget. Read the full presentation here: http://wi.toronto.ca/inter/city/newsrel.nsf/d632920b56e322cb85256dad00585dad/fdf7106884cdbff98525765800738d3e?OpenDocument

The City has both a capital and operating budget. The capital budget funds major infrastructure and the operating budget pays the day-to-day operating costs for City services such police, fire, emergency medical services, employment and social service programs, libraries, transit, and includes costs such as wages, fuel, hydro, supplies, etc. The operating budget will be considered beginning in February, 2010.The presentation made today at Budget Committee can be viewed at http://www.toronto.ca/budget2010

more details at : http://wx.toronto.ca/inter/it/newsrel.nsf/9da959222128b9e885256618006646d3/797039395965bce3852576630062de4f?OpenDocument

Presbyterians Launch 'Every Church Plant a Church' Thrust

Audrey Barrick Nov. 12 2009

The Presbyterian Church in America is pushing its "every church plant a church" campaign to help bring more people to Christ

Launched this year by the denomination’s domestic mission arm, Mission to North America, the thrust was designed to create a grassroots church-planting culture in the PCA.

"We’re not inventing any new methodology here but we’re crystallizing concepts we’ve clearly seen God use, and encouraging people to take more steps in this direction," said Fred Marsh, associate coordinator of MNA, in the denomination’s byFaith magazine.

Church planting is considered one of the most effective ways to "bring in a harvest."

According to research by David T. Olson, author of The American Church in Crisis, new churches grow faster than established churches and have three to four times the conversion rate per attendee than do established churches. They are also historically the best method for reaching each emerging new generation.

Additionally, planting new churches promotes the health of parent churches. Olson points out that the traits that cause a church to plant a new church (such as a desire to evangelize and minister to their community) are the same traits that will cause the parent church to grow.

"The best way to make known the name of Christ is by planting new churches. It's the best way to promote world missions. It's the best way to promote the health of existing churches," said David Sherwood, senior pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Providence, R.I.

Mission to North America notes that Trinity and other churches that have been successful with church plants are not megachurches with superstar pastors. These pastors are just ordinary people responding to God's call to advance the Gospel through planting churches, the mission agency emphasizes.

Since 1970 the rate of church planting has been increasing but only marginally. The net gain in churches over the last eight years has been about one sixth of what would have been needed to keep up with population growth, according to Olson's research.

Meanwhile, mainline denominations have rediscovered church planting, missiologist Ed Stetzer said at the release of the "State of Church Planting USA" study in 2007. Some of the national churches that have a church planting emphasis, particularly in North America, include the Reformed Church in America, Assemblies of God, Presbyterian Church in America, the Baptist General Conference, and the Missionary Church.

The number of churches in the PCA has grown from 1,288 in 2004 to 1,372 in 2007. The denomination's mission arm has developed resources to help every church become involved in church planting to impact communities across North America.

http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091112/presbyterians-launch-every-church-plant-a-church-thrust/index.html

What are the job trends to 2009?

It is difficult to predict with accuracy which occupations will be in demand in the future and how many jobs will be created in these occupations. Economic conditions, technological developments, demographics and consumer behaviour will continue to influence the labour market, the occupational composition, and the kinds of job opportunities that will be available. Assessing industry trends is the first step in figuring out the potential for growth or decline in occupations or changes in skill requirements.

Projections to the year 2009 indicate that the main source of new job creation will continue to be the service industries. Taken together, the health care and social assistance; wholesale and retail trade; professional, scientific and technical services; education services; accommodation and food; transportation and warehousing; public administration; information, culture and recreation; business, building and other services; and finance, insurance and real estate sectors will account for over three-quarters of the projected new jobs in the economy. The manufacturing and construction sectors are projected to contribute 19 and 3 percent respectively to new job creation. Primary resource industries and utilities will make a very modest contribution to projected job creation (see Figure 6).

More info at: http://www.ontariojobfutures.ca/employment_trends.html

The Suburbs
Best Places to Live in Toronto

Toronto is a huge, sprawling city which offers any number of neighbourhood-characteristics and different lifestyles.

Our criteria for selecting good places to live may seem pedestrian to our more avant-garde readers, but they are focused around the fact that the majority of people prefer living in areas with low crime rates, good schools for their children - if they have any - and good access to the downtown (central city) area of Toronto.

We'll specify what we think are some of the best places to live in Greater Toronto. If we don't mention somewhere, that doesn't mean you should strike it off your list. There are a large number of neighbourhoods you could choose in Greater Toronto that meet our criteria. From these, we've picked our personal favourites and listed them in alphabetical order.

You should consider our suggestions as starting points. Some places we suggest, such as Markham, have large populations. Even though we think Markham - and others - are great places to live, they can be big places, and you will naturally find some neighbourhoods suit you better than others.

Farther from the city there is more space for new homes to be built, so you will find much of the area's rapid population growth has been accommodated in places outside the city of Toronto but within commuting distance of downtown Toronto.

Many new-build homes have appeared in Richmond Hill, Markham, Vaughan and a number of other areas. These are often referred to as cookie-cutter developments on the basis that the houses have as much individuality as cookies cut using the same cutter. These developments of detached, family homes tend to offer smaller gardens and less individuality in housing styles than older developments. Nevertheless, the rooms in these houses can be generously sized and the developments offer many families all the facilities they want and the opportunity to experience a considerably better lifestyle than their home countries could offer.

The Beaches

The Beaches lies on the shore of Lake Ontario, just a few kilometres east of Toronto's financial/commercial district. Streetcars from the Beaches take half-an-hour or so to reach the commercial district. The area offers its residents (and large numbers of visitors) a thriving, family friendly, cafe culture, with plenty of restaurants and bars. The area can become too busy at times for some residents.

Most of the Beaches' 20,000 residents have British Isles ancestry. Britons and other Europeans continue to make up the majority of newcomers. About one-tenth of the Beaches population is made up of visible minorities - the main groups are Chinese and South East Asian.

You will need to budget $600,000 to buy an average detached home in The Beaches, and more for the most sought after parts. $400,000 to $500,000 will buy you a small semi-detached house. Crime levels in the sometimes very busy Beaches, while never high, are not as low as in our other choices.

Bloor Village West/ Roncesvalles/ High Park
Bloor Village West, Roncesvalles and High Park are three different neighbourhoods which lie adjacent to one another. Housing in all of these areas is expensive - expect to pay $500,000 or more for an average home. Most of the population in each of the neighbourhoods has British Isles ancestry.

Bloor Village West is known for its quiet, leafy streets. It has plenty of restaurants and bars and lies about 30 minutes from Toronto's commercial district by subway. About one-sixth of Bloor Village West's population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

Roncesvalles was once known as Toronto's Polish neighbourhood. Again, it is a leafy area with large, traditional homes in quiet streets. Homes are cheaper here than in the adjoining High Park. About one-third of Roncesvalles' population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

High Park's centrepiece is the 400 acre park from which the neighbourhood takes its name. Families who can afford a million dollar homes and who wish the convenience of a location close to the commercial heart of the city but with plenty of trees and parkland gravitate to High Park. About one-sixth of High Park's population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

These neighbourhoods have good transport connections and are about 20-30 minutes from Toronto's business district in rush hour.
Burlington at Christmas


Burlington

The city of Burlington lies on the shore of Lake Ontario about 50 km (30 miles) south-east of Toronto. From Burlington the GO train takes 45 to 50 minutes to reach Union Station in the heart of Toronto.

Most of Burlington's population of 164,000 have British Isles ancestry. Less than ten percent of the population are visible minorities.

The city's residents enjoy the use of almost 3,000 acres of park land, eight golf courses, four indoor and two outdoor pools, three splash pads, seven ice pads, and six community centres.

A typical detached house in Burlington will cost about $450,000.

Leaside

Leaside is regarded as one of Toronto's top areas. It is a wealthy, leafy area known for its quality of life, good schools and convenient access to Toronto's commercial heart by road (The Bayview extension). Leaside homes are expensive - you will need to budget over $1 million for an average, detached home in sought after streets here.

Most of the current population has British Isles ancestry and it remains a popular choice with wealthier British immigrants.

About one-tenth of Leaside's population are visible minorities - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.
Markham

The town of Markham lies about 17 km (10 miles) or half-an-hour by GO train north of Toronto's commercial centre. 30 years ago, Markham was a small, semi-rural town but since then it has grown remarkably quickly.

At the time of the 2006 census, Markham's population was 261,000 and it has been growing since by an average of about 10,000 people each year. The town claims for itself the title of Canada's high technology capital - with some justification, given the presence of Apple, IBM, Lucent, Motorola, Toshiba and Sun Microsystems amongst others.

Buyers should budget about $500,000 for a typical, detached home in Markham or about $325,000 for a semi-detached house.

About two-third's of Markhams' population are visible minorities. More than half of Markham's population is Chinese or South Asian by ancestry and the town is a popular choice with Chinese/Hong Kong immigrants.

Oakville
The town of Oakville lies on Lake Ontario's shore, about 35 km (22 miles) or 35 minutes by GO train, south-west of Toronto's commercial centre.

Oakville's prosperous population is predominantly of British Isles ancestry and the town remains popular with newcomers from the UK. Visible minorities make up slightly less than one-fifth of the population - the main groups are South East Asian and Chinese.

The town has 2,500 acres of parkland, good schools, large numbers of play areas for children and two boating marinas.

Older homes tend to lie at the southern end of the town, closer to the lake. A large number of new houses have been built in the northern part of Oakville and these cost less than those in the southern part of town. Buyers should budget about $550,000 for a typical, detached home in Oakville - although homes tend to be more expensive in the older part of town, nearer the waterfront.

Richmond Hill
The town of Richmond Hill lies about 25 km (15 miles) or half-an-hour by GO train, north of Toronto's commercial centre. At the time of the 2006 census, the town's population was 162,000 and growing rapidly.

Richmond Hill's prosperous population have diverse backgrounds, with visible minorities making up half of the population. The main minority groups are Chinese and South East Asian.

Richmond Hill has over 166 parks offering facilities such as nature trails, playgrounds, sports and athletic fields, picnic areas, tennis courts. The town also has 1360 acres of natural, environmental area for recreation.

About $450,000 - $500,000 buys a typical, detached house in Richmond Hill.

Vaughan

The city of Vaughan lies about 21 km (13 miles) north of Toronto's commercial centre.

At the time of the 2006 census, the town's population was 238,000 and growing rapidly. Vaughan's population was just 30,000 in 1981. It is expected to exceed 300,000 by 2021.

The city's largest employers are the Wonderland amusement park, which employs more than 3,000 people, and UPS (United Parcel Services) employing 2,000 people.

More people in Vaughan identify themselves as Italian or Jewish by origin than by any other ethnicity. Visible minorities make up just over a quarter of the population. The main minority groups are Chinese and South East Asian.

Buyers should budget around $500,000 to buy a typical detached house in Vaughan or about $360,000 for a semi-detached house. Detached houses account for almost 80 percent of all residential property in Vaughan.
source:http://www.livingin-canada.com/best-places-to-live-in-toronto.html

Gathering @ Rescue 911 - Canada Mission 2009

The home of Richard & Yuet Mei was graced with maple leaves of sorts on an extraordinary Friday - Sept 11, 2009.

Almost everything from food to literature were stamped with the iconic symbol of a maple leave. The Canada flag hung by the living room. One could almost smell Canada.

This night, those who were interested to live, work, study or be involved in missions in Canada came together. We took away amazing facts of Canada and deepen our burden for the land through a time of fun-filled interactive quiz.

It was interesting to learn that Joseph Pope, the then-Under Secretary of State proclaimed the dominion of God over Canada since 1921.
Today we see the phrase, A Mare usque ad Mare (latin)" from sea to sea" inscribed on Canada's coat of arms, a motto taken from psalm 72:8 "he will rule from sea to sea and from river to the ends of the earth"

Pastor Ben shared from his heart, a vision for Canada, as follows:

1) North America is the largest English speaking continent in the world. It constitutes over 5% of the world population. That's 335 million people in a world of 6.6 billion.

2) By igniting church planting here, we influence the world for Christ for years to come. U.S is the world's sole superpower. Hollywood is a culture capitol. Montreal is the key french-speaking global city. Toronto is an influential global city.

3) North America is the only continent where Christianity is not growing. Since China and India have larger population, U.S is the 3rd largest mission field.

4) It is place where a huge vacuum was created by three generations influenced by secular humanism. But people are searching for meaning, security and significance. In a 2000 survey, 10% of adults in Canada regularly attend a church worship service.

















He concluded his sharing with the word from Habakkuk 2:14 "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea".






















David Kong & Richard both gave first hand encounter about their recent trip to Toronto. One get the home away from home feeling knowing where to get chinese groceries, cheap & very good japanese food and that food court is actually available in Canada!






































Jabez gave a stirring testimony on how God moved him to trust him time and again for his preparation to land in Hope Montreal.

















That night, sweet memories filled our hearts (sweet cookies and Nanaimo bars filled our tummies!). We made meaningful conversations among new found friends. We certainly look forward for the next gathering - where Friends of Canada would come together, with one heartbeat, join together for the work of God in the golden land of maple leaves.

















Specially for Friends of Canada (F.O.C)
Contest: Who baked the Nanaimo Bars???
If you knew who was behind the Nanaimo bars on "Rescue 911", email/leave a comment on this blog/sms Sharon. A blessed F.O.C reader will recieve a gift on our upcoming Friends of Canada gathering in Jan 2010.

Trivial: Friends, remember those exquisite Nanaimo bars you ate? Here's a little piece of history to go along with it. Apparently, Nanaimo is the name of a beautiful city in British Columbia. A housewife who lives in this city entered a recipe for chocolate squares magazine contest and won. It is now been made famous in Canada and regarded as one of Canada's favourite confections! For those interested in baking, here's the link - http://www.joyofbaking.com/NanaimoBars.html

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Rescue 911 - Canada Mission Night

Rescue 911 is an exciting Canada Mission "Meet & Mingle" event set in a cosy home environment. You can expect ALL things Canada! Snacks, drinks, music, games, friends and all (well, almost :)) you wanna know about Canada!

If you're interested to find out more about doing missions in the 2nd largest country in the world, or just to find out more about studying, work or live in Canada, we welcome you to join us!

Mark your calendars for Sept 11, 2009. Friday, 7.30pm

RSVP now! torontoteam@gmail.com