Public Mayoral Forum to discuss the State of Heritage - August 30th
On Monday, August 30th, Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Association will host a public mayoral debate at St. Lawrence Hall to discuss the state of heritage in Toronto in 2010.

Paul Bedford, former Chief Planner for the City of Toronto and Adjunct Professor of City Planning at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University, will moderate the debate.

Heritage Toronto and the Toronto Historical Association have run a series of community consultations throughout the City that will result in a report of what Torontonians see as significant issues relating to heritage preservation. The information collected through the consultations and public input will be used to develop a heritage report card, with key issues being raised at the debate.

The report card will also be accessible to the public and media in the fall. Issues raised so far at the consultations include a lack of: staff resources and funding that the City provides toward heritage conservation; understanding and education of our decision makers and senior levels of municipal and provincial government on the heritage designation process and; sufficient tools, such as strong protective statements in the City's Official Plan that will ensure heritage conservation is caught early in the development process.

Candidates that have been confirmed for the event include Rocco Achampong, Rob Ford, Joe Pantalone, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman and Sarah Thomson.

A short questionnaire seeking opinions on the state of heritage is available on the Heritage Toronto website: www.heritagetoronto.org