Big dreams for 'Little Ethiopia' dashed
27 July, 2010 | By Natalie Stechyson (Globe and Mail)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Improvement Association says multicultural Danforth-Greenwood
area too varied for one group to have special designation
In the soft tones of his traditional Amharic language, Samuel Getachew
orders lunch - flatbread and a minced-beef dish - from the waitress at
Wazema Restaurant.
"We say Toronto is diverse," he said with a flip of his hand. "But we don't
even have an area named after an African country in the entire city."
Toronto, a place where half of the population was born outside of Canada, is
sometimes called a city of neighbourhoods. Italian, Greek, Korean, South-
Asian, Chinese and Portuguese people all have pockets of town to call their
own. Even Malta - a small island country off the coast of Italy - has a few
blocks named after it in the Junction.
Mr. Getachew, 33, has been fighting the biggest Business Improvement
Association in the city for more than a year to designate four blocks for
Ethiopians. He has met with city councillors and the mayor to no avail. He's
collected nearly 600 signatures on a petition he started in January. He's even
running for city council this year to gain support for a so-called Little
Ethiopia, which he proposes would stretch from Greenwood Avenue to
Monarch Park.
At this point, he'd settle for a street sign, he said. Anything to give Toronto's
approximately 11,000 Ethiopians a sense of place.
The Danforth-Mosaic BIA says that place is not at Danforth and
Greenwood. Patricia Silver, the executive director, insists it would be unfair
to rebrand the 500 multicultural businesses in the Danforth-Mosaic under a
single country. She said it is important to honour all the businesses in the
BIA.
There are 11 Ethiopian restaurants in the area that Mr. Getachew is
proposing to rename. There are also a number of other ethnic eateries: four
of them Moroccan; one Spanish; one Middle Eastern; seven Italian; 25 Asian;
five Greek; and one Irish pub.
Like the name suggests, the area is a mosaic. And in keeping with that idea,
one country cannot stand out.
"It's not little anything," Ms. Silver said. "It's grand everything."
In order to rename an area, or even get a street sign, an area's BIA must
approve the proposal and recommend it to city council. Usually, the
neighbourhood has one predominant culture. Ms. Silver said Mr. Getachew's
heart is in the right place, but the BIA will never vote to turn such a
multicultural neighbourhood into Little Ethiopia.
"You can walk the whole world in our four kilometres, and we think that
other areas in Toronto really can't offer that."
John Kiru, the executive director in charge of Toronto's 68 BIAs, agreed.
"I think he's pushing up-river here," he said.
In Wazema Restaurant, Mr. Getachew and his friend, Tewobros Kassa, tear
off strips of sticky Ethiopian flatbread and scoop spiced minced beef and
lentils from the platter in front of them.
Mr. Kassa, who has lived in Canada for 21 years, said he's been wishing for
a Little Ethiopia since he was a young boy. He can vividly recall driving into
Los Angeles on vacation and seeing a sign for Little Ethiopia on the highway.
"You feel like you're home," he said.
Mr. Getachew said feeling at home is something worth fighting for.
Courtesy
27 July, 2010 | By Natalie Stechyson (Globe and Mail)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Business Improvement Association says multicultural Danforth-Greenwood
area too varied for one group to have special designation
In the soft tones of his traditional Amharic language, Samuel Getachew
orders lunch - flatbread and a minced-beef dish - from the waitress at
Wazema Restaurant.
- He gazes out the
window of the
Ethiopian eatery at
the shops and
restaurants lining the
intersection of
Danforth and
Greenwood avenues
as he waits for his
meal.
"We say Toronto is diverse," he said with a flip of his hand. "But we don't
even have an area named after an African country in the entire city."
Toronto, a place where half of the population was born outside of Canada, is
sometimes called a city of neighbourhoods. Italian, Greek, Korean, South-
Asian, Chinese and Portuguese people all have pockets of town to call their
own. Even Malta - a small island country off the coast of Italy - has a few
blocks named after it in the Junction.
Mr. Getachew, 33, has been fighting the biggest Business Improvement
Association in the city for more than a year to designate four blocks for
Ethiopians. He has met with city councillors and the mayor to no avail. He's
collected nearly 600 signatures on a petition he started in January. He's even
running for city council this year to gain support for a so-called Little
Ethiopia, which he proposes would stretch from Greenwood Avenue to
Monarch Park.
At this point, he'd settle for a street sign, he said. Anything to give Toronto's
approximately 11,000 Ethiopians a sense of place.
The Danforth-Mosaic BIA says that place is not at Danforth and
Greenwood. Patricia Silver, the executive director, insists it would be unfair
to rebrand the 500 multicultural businesses in the Danforth-Mosaic under a
single country. She said it is important to honour all the businesses in the
BIA.
There are 11 Ethiopian restaurants in the area that Mr. Getachew is
proposing to rename. There are also a number of other ethnic eateries: four
of them Moroccan; one Spanish; one Middle Eastern; seven Italian; 25 Asian;
five Greek; and one Irish pub.
Like the name suggests, the area is a mosaic. And in keeping with that idea,
one country cannot stand out.
"It's not little anything," Ms. Silver said. "It's grand everything."
In order to rename an area, or even get a street sign, an area's BIA must
approve the proposal and recommend it to city council. Usually, the
neighbourhood has one predominant culture. Ms. Silver said Mr. Getachew's
heart is in the right place, but the BIA will never vote to turn such a
multicultural neighbourhood into Little Ethiopia.
"You can walk the whole world in our four kilometres, and we think that
other areas in Toronto really can't offer that."
John Kiru, the executive director in charge of Toronto's 68 BIAs, agreed.
"I think he's pushing up-river here," he said.
In Wazema Restaurant, Mr. Getachew and his friend, Tewobros Kassa, tear
off strips of sticky Ethiopian flatbread and scoop spiced minced beef and
lentils from the platter in front of them.
Mr. Kassa, who has lived in Canada for 21 years, said he's been wishing for
a Little Ethiopia since he was a young boy. He can vividly recall driving into
Los Angeles on vacation and seeing a sign for Little Ethiopia on the highway.
"You feel like you're home," he said.
Mr. Getachew said feeling at home is something worth fighting for.
Courtesy
Social Determinants of Health
THE CANADIAN FACTS
THE CANADIAN FACTS
- 07 May, 2010 (Juha Mikkonen
and Dennis Raphael) - The
primary factors that shape the
health of Canadians are not
medical treatments or lifestyle
choices but rather the living
conditions they experie...More
Ethiopian Enters Toronto City Council Race
- 15 April, 2010 (Tadias)
- Samuel Getachew, an
Ethiopian-born
Canadian citizen, has
announced his
candidacy for the 2010
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| Related Stories The battle for Little Ethiopia IS THERE ROOM FOR A LITTLE ETHIOPIA ON THE DANFORTH? 20 July, 2010 | By Josh Hume “Over the past decade a satellite community has coalesced around the Danforth and Monarch Park area where a number of Ethiopian restaurants call the strip home, including Rendez-Vous, Wazema, Blue Nile, and Lalibela.... Read More Does Little Ethiopia belong on Danforth? 6 July, 2010 | By Samuel Getachew "Along the Danforth from around Greenwood to Monarch Park, there are about 16 Ethiopian Canadian businesses and their contribution is very visible. We are owners and tenants of the many buildings found in the area.... Read More. |
