Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer noted for his neo-futuristic style. Saarinen is known for designing the Washington Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D. C. the TWA Flight Center in New York City, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, he was the son of noted Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. Eero Saarinen was born on August 20, 1910, to Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen and his second wife, Louise, on his father's 37th birthday, they immigrated to the United States in 1923. He grew up in Bloomfield Hills, where his father taught and was dean of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, he took courses in sculpture and furniture design there, he had a close relationship with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames, became good friends with Florence Knoll. Saarinen began studies in sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France, in September 1929, he went on to study at the Yale School of Architecture, completing his studies in 1934. Subsequently, he toured Europe and North Africa for a year and returned for a year to his native Finland.
After his tour of Europe and North Africa, Saarinen returned to Cranbrook to work for his father and teach at the academy. The firm was "Saarinen and Associates", headed by Eliel Saarinen and Robert Swansen from the late 1930s until Eliel's death in 1950; the firm was located in Bloomfield Hills, until 1961 when the practice was moved to Hamden, Connecticut. Saarinen first received critical recognition, while still working for his father, for a chair designed together with Charles Eames for the "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition in 1940, for which they received first prize; the "Tulip Chair", like all other Saarinen chairs, was taken into production by the Knoll furniture company, founded by Hans Knoll, who married Saarinen family friend Florence Knoll. Further attention came while Saarinen was still working for his father, when he took first prize in the 1948 competition for the design of the Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis; the memorial wasn't completed until the 1960s.
The competition award was mistakenly sent to his father because both he and his father had entered the competition separately. When the Committee sent out the Letter stating Saarinen had Won the Gateway Arch Competition the Letter was mistakenly addressed to his Father. During his long association with Knoll he designed many important pieces of furniture including the "Grasshopper" lounge chair and ottoman, the "Womb" chair and ottoman, the "Womb" settee and arm chairs, his most famous "Tulip" or "Pedestal" group, which featured side and arm chairs, dining and side tables, as well as a stool. All of these designs were successful except for the "Grasshopper" lounge chair, although in production through 1965, was not a big success. One of Saarinen's earliest works to receive international acclaim is the Crow Island School in Winnetka, Illinois; the first major work by Saarinen, in collaboration with his father, was the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, which follows the rationalist design Miesian style, incorporating steel and glass, but with the added accent of panels in two shades of blue.
The GM Technical Center was constructed in 1956, with Saarinen using models, which allowed him to share his ideas with others, gather input from other professionals. With the success of the scheme, Saarinen was invited by other major American corporations such as John Deere, IBM, CBS to design their new headquarters or other major corporate buildings. Despite their rationality, the interiors contained more dramatic sweeping staircases, as well as furniture designed by Saarinen, such as the Pedestal Series. In the 1950s he began to receive more commissions from American universities for campus designs and individual buildings. Saarinen served on the jury for the Sydney Opera House commission in 1957 and was crucial in the selection of the now internationally known design by Jørn Utzon. A jury which did not include Saarinen had discarded Utzon's design in the first round. After his father's death in July 1950, Saarinen founded his own architect's office, "Eero Saarinen and Associates", he was the principal partner from 1950 until his death in 1961.
Under Eero Saarinen, the firm carried out many of its most important works, including the Bell Labs Holmdel Complex in Holmdel Township, New Jersey, Gateway Arch National Park in St. Louis, the Miller House in Columbus, the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport that he worked on with Charles J. Parise, the main terminal of Washington Dulles International Airport, the new East Air Terminal of the old Athens airport in Greece, which opened in 1967, etc. Many of these projects use catenary curves in their structural designs. In 1949-1950, Saarinen was hired by the then-new Brandeis University to create a master plan for the campus. Saarinen's plan A Foundation for Learning: Planning the Campus of Brandeis University, developed with Matthew Nowicki, called for a central academic complex surrounded by residen
St. Clair Avenue
St. Clair Avenue is a major east-west street in Toronto, Canada, it was laid out in the late 18th century by the British as a concession road, 2 kilometres north of Bloor Street and 4 kilometres north of Queen Street. St. Clair Avenue has two sections; the western section extends from Moore Park in the east to Scarlett Road in the west, a distance of 10 kilometres. An eastern section picks up on the far side of the Don Valley at Taylor Creek Park, extending for 7 kilometres to Kingston Road. Like all streets in Toronto which cross Yonge Street, St. Clair is divided into separate East and West sections, each with its own street numbers beginning at Yonge Street. Unlike most other concession-road streets in Toronto, St. Clair does not extend west into Etobicoke, due to the northern arc of Dundas Street crossing the Humber River near its western terminus, forming a link to Burnhamthorpe Road, its approximate equivalent arterial. St. Clair Avenue West has heavy public transit traffic. Over half the commuters in rush hour traffic travel by the 512 St. Clair streetcar line which connects with St. Clair subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University and St. Clair West station on the Line 1 Yonge-University subway.
St. Clair Avenue takes its name from Augustine St. Clare, a character from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin; the Grainger family, who rented a farm near the present-day intersection of Avenue Road and St. Clair, had viewed a stage production of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Two members of the family and Edwin, adopted names of two characters as their middle names as each boy had no given middle name. Edwin added Norton to his name, Albert chose St. Clare, although he used the incorrect spelling of St. Clair, as it was used in the theatre program; as a joke and Albert made street signs using their names and posted them at Yonge and St. Clair; the St. Clair sign survived for a while and the name became adopted as the name for the 3rd Concession Road; the first known printed use of the St. Clair name was in an 1878 publication, Illustrated Historical Atlas of the County of York. In 1913, a Roman Catholic church was built in the Earlscourt District, named after the actual Saint Clare. St. Clare's Church is at 1118 St. Clair Avenue West, on the north side of the street, east of Dufferin.
The parish opened the St. Clare's Catholic School, an elementary school, next door in 1910; the first European settlement on St. Clair was at Yonge Street, where the Heath family bought land in 1837. A thriving neighbourhood, Deer Park, was established by the 1850s; the next settlement was about 5.5 km west, at Old Weston Road, where settlement of Carlton Village began in the late 1840s. The western end of St. Clair experienced substantial development, with the municipalities of West Toronto, Earlscourt and Oakwood established there; these municipalities were annexed by Toronto between 1908 and 1911, the western section of St. Clair Avenue became managed by the City of Toronto. To stimulate development along what was largely a rural road, the city's Toronto Civic Railways built a streetcar line from Yonge Street to Caledonia Road by 1912; this included the construction of a bridge across Nordheimer Ravine as well as what was termed the Lauder Fill: the burying of the western branch of Garrison Creek, the final section to be routed into the city's stormwater system.
The growth of the inner suburbs of Leaside and Moore Park prompted the city of Toronto to approach the operators of Mount Pleasant Cemetery in 1912 with the goal of extending the short Mount Pleasant Road south through the cemetery to connect with St. Clair. Though the operators refused, they accepted the city's offer of $100,000 in 1915; the muddy road was opened to traffic in 1918. The construction of the Vale of Avoca through the first half of the 1920s prompted the new Toronto Transit Commission to extend the St. Clair streetcar line east to Mount Pleasant Road and north to Eglinton Avenue. From 1937 to 1952, St. Clair West formed part of provincial Highway 5A, providing an alternate route between Islington and Yonge Street that avoided the congestion of Bloor Street. By 1952, St. Clair was developed enough. Much of the development from this era survives. St. Clair West is one of many streets in Toronto which has experienced little development since an initial building boom; the exception is the intersection with Yonge Street, which has experienced heavy nodal development since the opening of the St. Clair subway station there in 1954.
The buildings there include the world headquarters of George Weston Foods Inc. St. Clair now intersects with two more subway stations, Warden Station in the east and St. Clair West Station near Bathurst Street; the Toronto Transit Commission decided to upgrade the St. Clair streetcar to a dedicated right-of-way to increase service reliability when the streetcar tracks were approaching the end of their lifespan in the early 2000s. In October 2006, construction started on the right-of-way in the centre of St. Clair. St. Clair Avenue was one of the few streets in Toronto wide enough to accommodate a dedicated right-of-way without reducing the width of traffic lanes; the project was important for St. Clair West not only for the transit upgrades, but because it involved a
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch Queen Elizabeth II. The person of the sovereign is shared both with the 15 other Commonwealth realms and the 10 provinces of Canada, but resides predominantly in her oldest and most populous realm, the United Kingdom; the Queen, on the advice of her Canadian prime minister, appoints a governor general to carry out most of her constitutional and ceremonial duties. The commission is for an unfixed period of time—known as serving at Her Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the normal convention. Beginning in 1959, it has been traditional to rotate between anglophone and francophone officeholders—although many recent governors general have been bilingual. Once in office, the governor general maintains direct contact with the Queen, wherever she may be at the time; the office began in the 16th and 17th centuries with the Crown-appointed governors of the French colony of Canada followed by the British governors of Canada in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Subsequently, the office is, along with the Crown, the oldest continuous institution in Canada. The present incarnation of the office emerged with Canadian Confederation and the passing of the British North America Act, 1867, which defines the role of the governor general as "carrying on the Government of Canada on behalf and in the Name of the Queen, by whatever Title he is designated". Although the post still represented the government of the United Kingdom, the office was Canadianized until, with the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and the establishment of a separate and uniquely Canadian monarchy, the governor general become the direct personal representative of the independently and uniquely Canadian sovereign, the monarch in his Canadian council. Throughout this process of increasing Canadian independence, the role of governor general took on additional responsibilities. For example, in 1904, the Militia Act granted permission for the governor general to use the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian militia, in the name of the sovereign and actual Commander-in-Chief, in 1927 the first official international visit by a governor general was made.
In 1947, King George VI issued letters patent allowing the viceroy to carry out all of the monarch's powers on his or her behalf. As a result, the day-to-day duties of the monarch are carried out by the governor general, although, as a matter of law, the governor general is not in the same constitutional position as the sovereign. In accordance with the Constitution Act, 1982, any constitutional amendment that affects the Crown, including the office of the Governor General, requires the unanimous consent of each provincial legislature as well as the federal parliament; the current governor general is Julie Payette, who has served since 2 October 2017. The Government of Canada spells the title governor general without a hyphen; the Canadian media still use the governor-general spelling. As governor is the noun in the title, it is pluralized. Moreover, both terms are capitalized; the position of governor general is mandated by both the Constitution Act, 1867 and the letters patent issued in 1947 by King George VI.
As such, on the recommendation of his or her Canadian prime minister, the Canadian monarch appoints the governor general by commission issued under the royal sign-manual and Great Seal of Canada. That individual is, from until being sworn-in, referred to as the governor general-designate. Besides the administration of the oaths of office, there is no set formula for the swearing-in of a governor general-designate. Though there may therefore be variations to the following, the appointee will travel to Ottawa, there receiving an official welcome and taking up residence at 7 Rideau Gate, will begin preparations for their upcoming role, meeting with various high level officials to ensure a smooth transition between governors general; the sovereign will hold an audience with the appointee and will at that time induct both the governor general-designate and his or her spouse into the Order of Canada as Companions, as well as appointing the former as a Commander of both the Order of Military Merit and the Order of Merit of the Police Forces.
The incumbent will serve for at least five years, though this is only a developed convention, the governor general still technically acts at Her Majesty's pleasure. The prime minister may therefore recommend to the Queen that the viceroy remain in her service for a longer period of time, sometimes upwards of more than seven years. A governor general may resign, two have died in office. In such a circumstance, or if the governor general leaves the country for longer than one month, the Chief Justice of Canada serves as Administrator of the Government and exercises all powers of the governor general. In a speech on the subject of confederation, made in 1866 to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada, John A. Macdonald said of the planned governor: "We place no restriction on Her Majesty's prerogative in the selection of her representative... The sovereign has unrestricted freedom of choice... We leave that to Her Majes
Architecture of Finland
The architecture of Finland has a history spanning over 800 years, while up until the modern era the architecture was influenced by currents from Finland's two respective neighbouring ruling nations and Russia, from the early 19th century onwards influences came directly from further afield. Finnish architecture in turn has contributed to several styles internationally, such as Jugendstil, Nordic Classicism and Functionalism. In particular, the works of the country's most noted early modernist architect Eliel Saarinen have had significant worldwide influence, but more renowned than Saarinen has been modernist architect Alvar Aalto, regarded as one of the major figures in the world history of modern architecture. In an article from 1922 titled “Motifs from past ages”, Aalto discussed national and international influences in Finland, as he saw it. Our Finnish forefathers are still our masters." In a 2000 review article of twentieth century Finnish architecture, Frédéric Edelmann, arts critic of the French newspaper Le Monde, suggested that Finland has more great architects of the status of Alvar Aalto in proportion to the population than any other country in the world.
Finland's most significant architectural achievements are related to modern architecture because the current building stock has less than 20% that dates back to before 1955, which relates to the reconstruction following World War II and the process of urbanisation which only gathered pace after the war.1249 is the date given for the beginning of Swedish rule over the land now known as Finland, this rule continued until 1809, after which it was ceded to Russia. However, under Russian rule it had a significant degree of autonomy as the Grand Duchy of Finland. Finland declared independence from Russia at the time of the Russian Revolution; these historical factors have had a significant bearing on the history of architecture in Finland, along with the founding of towns and the building of castles and fortresses, as well as the availability of building materials and craftsmanship and on, government policy on issues such as housing and public buildings. As an forested region, timber has been the natural building material, while the hardness of the local stone made it difficult to work, the manufacture of brick was rare before the mid-19th century.
The use of concrete took on a particular prominence with the rise of the welfare state in the 1960s, in particular in state-sanctioned housing with the dominance of prefabricated concrete elements. The vernacular architecture of Finland is characterised by the predominant use of wooden construction; the oldest known dwelling structure is the so-called kota, a goahti, hut or tent with a covering in fabric, moss, or timber. The building type remained in use throughout Finland until the 19th century, is still in use among the Sami people in Lapland; the sauna is a traditional building type in Finland: the oldest known saunas in Finland were made from pits dug into a slope in the ground and used as dwellings in the wintertime. The first Finnish saunas are what nowadays are called "smoke saunas"; these differed from modern saunas in that they had no windows and were heated by heating up a pile of rocks by burning large amounts of wood for about 6–8 hours, letting the smoke out through a hatch before entering to enjoy the sauna heat.
The tradition of wood construction - beyond the kota hut - has been common throughout the entire northern boreal coniferous zone since prehistoric times. The central structural factor in its success was the corner joining - or "corner-timbering" - technique, whereby logs are laid horizontally in succession and notched at the ends to form secure joints; the origins of the technique are uncertain. Crucial in the development of the "corner-timbering" technique were the necessary tools an axe rather than a saw; the resulting building type, a rectangular plan comprising a single interior space and with a low-pitched saddle-back roof, is of the same origin as the megaron, the early Greek dwelling house. Its first use in Finland may have been as a storehouse, a sauna and domestic house; the first examples of the "corner-timbering" technique would have used round logs, but a more developed form soon emerged, shaping logs with an axe to a square shape for a surer fit and better insulation. Hewing with an axe was seen as preferable to sawing because the axe-cut surfaces were better in abating water penetration.
According to historians, though the principles of wooden construction may have arrived in Finland from elsewhere, one particular innovation in wooden construction seems to be unique to Finland, the so-called block-pillar church. Though ostensibly looking like a normal wooden church, the novelty involved the construction of hollow pillars from logs built into the exterior walls, making the walls themselves structurally unnecessary; the pillars are tied internally across th
Georges Vanier
Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation. Vanier was educated in Quebec. In 1906, he was valedictorian. After earning a university degree in law, he served in the Canadian army during the First World War. Subsequently, Vanier returned to Canada and remained in the military until the early 1930s, when he was posted to diplomatic missions in Europe. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Vanier once again became active in the military, commanding troops on the home front, until the cessation of hostilities in 1945, whereupon he returned to diplomatic circles, he was in 1959 appointed as governor general by Queen Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker, to replace Vincent Massey as viceroy, he occupied the post until his death in 1967. Vanier proved to be a popular governor general, with his war record earning respect from the majority of Canadians.
Vanier was born in the Little Burgundy neighbourhood of Montreal to an Irish mother and a French-Norman father, who raised Vanier to be bilingual. After graduating from high school, he attended Loyola College, receiving in 1906 a Bachelor of Arts degree in church devotional fellowship, went on to earn in 1911 his Bachelor of Laws degree from the Montreal campus of the Université Laval. Vanier was called to the Quebec bar that year and, though he took up the practice of law, he considered entering the Catholic priesthood. But, with the outbreak of the First World War, he decided that offering his service to King and country should take priority and thereafter enlisted in the Canadian Army. Vanier took on a prominent role in recruiting others helping to organise in 1915 the French Canadian 22nd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, of which he was commissioned as an officer, which in 1920, became the Royal 22e Régiment. After Vanier, for his efforts, received the Military Cross on 3 June 1916, he continued fighting in the trenches.
In July 1917, he was appointed a knight of the French Legion of Honour. In late 1918, he led an attack at Chérisy and was shot in the chest and both legs, resulting in the loss of his right leg due to a shell blast, his recovery was lengthy, though he spent it in France, refusing to be evacuated while his fellow soldiers remained fighting. With the cessations of hostilities, Vanier was mentioned in dispatches and was awarded a second Military Cross for his bravery during this action: Captain George Phileas Vanier, D. S. O. M. C. 22nd Battalion, Quebec Regiment, Canadian Infantry For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. The battalion commander having become a casualty, this officer organised the remnants of the battalion which had suffered the previous day, led the men in the second attack with great dash, he was first wounded in the side, but carried on until wounded in both legs. He was further appointed to the Distinguished Service Order: Captain George Phileas Vanier, M. C. 22nd Battalion, Canadian Infantry, Quebec Regiment For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
As second in command he led a portion of the battalion to the capture of a village. The O. C. the battalion being called to the command of brigade, this officer took charge of the battalion and led it with great skill to the attack and capture of a large village. His courage and will to conquer imbued all under him with the finest fighting spirit. Thereafter, Vanier once more found employment practicing law. On 1 April 1920, he received a regular commission as a major in the Canadian Militia. On 29 September 1921, he married Pauline Archer and the couple had five children, including Thérèse Vanier and Jean Vanier. For four years beginning in 1921, Vanier acted as aide-de-camp to Governor General the Viscount Byng of Vimy, leaving this post when he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and took command of the Royal 22e Régiment at La Citadelle. Vanier occupied that position for only one year before again becoming aide-de-camp for Byng's viceregal successor, the Marquess of Willingdon. In 1928, Vanier was appointed to Canada's military delegation for disarmament to the League of Nations and, in 1930, was named secretary to the High Commission of Canada in London, remaining at that post for nearly a decade—approximately half of which he spent serving the man who would immediately precede him as governor general of Canada, Vincent Massey.
It was during that period, in the tumultuous year of 1936, that King George V died and his son, Prince Edward, Prince of Wales and abdicated in favour of his younger brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York. On 12 May 1937, along with his son, watched from the roof of Canada House the coronation parade of their new king, George VI. In the procession below, Vanier would have seen one of the future governors general of Canada, Harold Alexander, the personal aide-de-camp to the King. In 1939, Vanier was elevated to the position of the King's Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France. However, with the outbreak of Second World War and the Nazi occupation of France in 1940, Vanier and his wife fled to the United Kingdom and back to Canada in 1941, where he was commissioned as commander of the military district of Quebec and began an early policy of bilingualism in the army; the next year Vanier was promote
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most calcite or dolomite. Marble is not foliated, although there are exceptions. In geology, the term "marble" refers to metamorphosed limestone, but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. Marble is used for sculpture and as a building material; the word "marble" derives from the Ancient Greek μάρμαρον, from μάρμαρος, "crystalline rock, shining stone" from the verb μαρμαίρω, "to flash, gleam". This stem is the ancestor of the English word "marmoreal", meaning "marble-like." While the English term "marble" resembles the French marbre, most other European languages, more resemble the original Ancient Greek. Marble is a rock resulting from metamorphism of sedimentary carbonate rocks, most limestone or dolomite rock. Metamorphism causes variable recrystallization of the original carbonate mineral grains; the resulting marble rock is composed of an interlocking mosaic of carbonate crystals.
Primary sedimentary textures and structures of the original carbonate rock have been modified or destroyed. Pure white marble is the result of metamorphism of a pure limestone or dolomite protolith; the characteristic swirls and veins of many colored marble varieties are due to various mineral impurities such as clay, sand, iron oxides, or chert which were present as grains or layers in the limestone. Green coloration is due to serpentine resulting from magnesium-rich limestone or dolostone with silica impurities; these various impurities have been mobilized and recrystallized by the intense pressure and heat of the metamorphism. Examples of notable marble varieties and locations: White marble has been prized for its use in sculptures since classical times; this preference has to do with its softness, which made it easier to carve, relative isotropy and homogeneity, a relative resistance to shattering. The low index of refraction of calcite allows light to penetrate several millimeters into the stone before being scattered out, resulting in the characteristic waxy look which gives "life" to marble sculptures of any kind, why many sculptors preferred and still prefer marble for sculpting.
Construction marble is a stone, composed of calcite, dolomite or serpentine, capable of taking a polish. More in construction the dimension stone trade, the term "marble" is used for any crystalline calcitic rock useful as building stone. For example, Tennessee marble is a dense granular fossiliferous gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone, that geologists call the Holston Formation. Ashgabat, the capital city of Turkmenistan, was recorded in the 2013 Guinness Book of Records as having the world's highest concentration of white marble buildings. According to the United States Geological Survey, U. S. domestic marble production in 2006 was 46,400 tons valued at about $18.1 million, compared to 72,300 tons valued at $18.9 million in 2005. Crushed marble production in 2006 was 11.8 million tons valued at $116 million, of which 6.5 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate. For comparison, 2005 crushed marble production was 7.76 million tons valued at $58.7 million, of which 4.8 million tons was finely ground calcium carbonate and the rest was construction aggregate.
U. S. dimension marble demand is about 1.3 million tons. The DSAN World Demand for Marble Index has shown a growth of 12% annually for the 2000–2006 period, compared to 10.5% annually for the 2000–2005 period. The largest dimension marble application is tile. In 1998, marble production was dominated by 4 countries that accounted for half of world production of marble and decorative stone. Italy and China were the world leaders, each representing 16% of world production, while Spain and India produced 9% and 8%, respectively. Italy is the world leader in marble export, with 20% share in global marble production, followed by China with 16%, India with 10%, Spain with 6%, Portugal with 5%. Dust produced by cutting marble could cause lung disease but more research needs to be carried out on whether dust filters and other safety products reduce this risk; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set the legal limit for marble exposure in the workplace as 15 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has set a recommended exposure limit of 10 mg/m3 total exposure and 5 mg/m3 respiratory exposure over an 8-hour workday. Acids damage marble, because the calcium carbonate in marble reacts with them, releasing carbon dioxide: CaCO3 + 2H+ → Ca2+ + CO2 + H2O Thus, vinegar or other acidic solutions should never be used on marble. Outdoor marble statues, gravestones, or other marble structures are damaged by acid rain; the haloalkaliphilic methylotrophic bacterium Methylophaga murata was isolated from deteriorating marble in the Kremlin. Bacterial and fungal degradation was detected in four samples of marble from Milan cathedral; as the favorite medium for Greek and Roman sculptors and architects, marble has become a cultural symbol of tradition and refined taste. Its varied and colorful patterns make i
Toronto City Council
The Toronto City Council is the governing body of the City of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. Members represent wards throughout the city, are known as councillors; the passage of provincial legislation in the summer of 2018 established that the number of wards be reduced from 44 to 25 and that they be based upon the city's federal electoral districts as of the year 2000. While the federal districts have been redistributed since the ward boundaries remain the same; the city council had at its peak 45 members: 44 ward councillors plus the mayor. On September 19, 2018 an Ontario Court of appeals granted a stay order of a previous court decision that would have prevented this reduction, thus re-establishing the move to 25 wards; the actual court appeal of Bill 5 has yet to be scheduled, but was heard subsequent to the municipal election on October 22, 2018. The current decision-making framework and committee structure at the City of Toronto was established by the City of Toronto Act and came into force January 1, 2007.
The decision-making process at the City of Toronto involves committees. Committees propose and debate policies and recommendations before their arrival at City Council for debate. Citizens and residents can only make deputations on policy at committees, citizens cannot make public presentations to City Council; each City Councillor sits on one committee. The Mayor is entitled to one vote. There are three types of committees at the City of Toronto: the Executive Committee, Standing Committees and other Committees of Council; the City posts agendas for council and committee meetings on its website. The Executive Committee is an advisory body; the Executive Committee is composed of the Mayor, Deputy Mayor, the chairs of the seven standing committees who are appointed by the Mayor and four "at-large" members appointed by City Council. The role of the Executive Committee is to set the City of Toronto's priorities, manage financial planning and budgeting, labour relations, human resources, the operation of City Council.
The Executive Committee makes recommendations to city council on: strategic policy and priorities governance policy and structure financial planning and budgeting fiscal policy intergovernmental and international relations Council operations Human resources and labour relationsSeveral committees report to the Executive Committee: Budget Committee, Affordable Housing Committee, Employee and Labour Relations Committee. Source: City of Toronto Following the sudden decision by the Provincial government to reduce the size of City Council in summer 2018, the committee structure is under review. There were eleven other committees; the seven standing policy committees were: There are four other committees that report to Council: Source: City of Toronto All members of Toronto city council serve on a community council. Community Councils report to City Council but they have final decision-making power on certain items, such as front yard parking and appointments to local boards and Business Improvement Areas.
The city is divided into four community councils. Their meeting locations are as follows: Etobicoke York – Etobicoke Civic Centre North York – North York Civic Centre Scarborough – Scarborough Civic Centre Toronto and East York – Toronto City Hall The current council term began on December 1, 2018. In 2014, the Mayor's salary was $177,499 and Councillors was $105,397. Starting January 1, 2017, the Mayor's salary was increased to $188,544 and Councillors to $111,955, a 2.1 per cent change. The Office of the Mayor is located on the second floor at Toronto City Hall; the general public and media can access it via stairs. The current staff of the office consists of: Chief of Staff - Luke Robertson Deputy Chief of Staff - Courtney Glen Principal Secretary - Vince Gasparro Executive Assistant to the Mayor - Dee Dee Heywood Executive Assistant to the Chief - Karen Cooper Executive Director of Communications & Strategic Issues Management - Don Peat Executive Director of Budget & Finance - Sophia Arvanitis Director, Legislative Affairs - Edward Birnbaum Senior Advisor, Legislative Affairs - Daniela Magisano Senior Advisor, Legislative Affairs - Matt Buckman Senior Advisor, Tour - Emily Hillstrom Advisor, Constituency Affairs - Farnaz Patel Advisor, Communications - Avi Yufest Advisor, Communications & Tour - Louise Brunet Special Assistant, Outreach - Kema Joseph Special Assistant, Constituency Affairs & Tour - Abinaya Chandrabalan Special Assistant, Constituency Affairs & Outreach - Cindy Lee Special Assistant, Communications & Tour - Gabe Ciufo Assistant, Constituent Affairs - Steevan Sritharan Current members of the Committee: Paul Ainslie Ana Bailão Gary Crawford Denzil Minnan-Wong Frances Nunziata James Pasternak Michael Thompson John Tory The committee existed in the old City of Toronto beginning in 1969.
Before that Toronto had a Board of Control, as did former cities North Etobicoke. Vacancies in a council seat may be filled in one of two ways, either by the holding of a by-election or through direct appointment of an interim councillor chosen by the council in an internal vote; the council is allowed to decide which process to follow in each individual case. The process results in public debate, however; the by-election process is seen as more democratic, while the appointment process is seen as less expensive for the city t
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