ICONIC VINTAGE PIECES . CUSTOM DESIGN . RESTORED ANTIQUESOntario EnergyBoard

Commission de l’énergiede l’Ontario

ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD NOTICETO CUSTOMERS OF UNION GAS LIMITED

Union Gas Limited has applied for pre-approval of coststo construct facilities along its Dawn to Parkway gas

transmission system.

Learn more. Have your say.

Union Gas Limited has applied for pre-approval of the cost consequences toinstall three new compressors and associated facilities along the Dawn-Parkwaytransmission system. The total estimated cost of the project is $622.5 million.

An average residential customer would see the following annual bill impact startingin 2018:

Residential Customer – Service Area Approximate Bill Impact

Southern Ontario (Windsor to Hamilton) Decrease of $6.50All other areas served by Union Gas Limited Decrease of $8.25

Other customers in Union Gas Limited’s service area, including businesses, may alsobe affected.

The cost of the project is expected to increase M12 rates that apply to customersmoving gas through Union Gas Limited’s transportation system to areas outside UnionGas Limited’s service area.

THE ONTARIO ENERGY BOARD IS HOLDING A PUBLIC HEARING

The Ontario Energy Board (OEB) will hold a public hearing to consider the applicationfiled by Union Gas. We will question Union Gas on the case. We will also hear argumentsfrom individuals and from groups that represent the customers of Union Gas. At the endof this hearing, the OEB will decide whether to pre-approve the costs as requested in thisapplication.

The OEB is an independent and impartial public agency. We make decisions that serve thepublic interest. Our goal is to promote a financially viable and efficient energy sector thatprovides you with reliable energy services at a reasonable cost.

BE INFORMED AND HAVE YOUR SAY

You have the right to information regarding this application and to be involved in the process.

• You can review the application filed by Union Gas on the OEB’s website now.• You can file a letter with your comments, which will be considered during the hearing.• You can become an active participant (called an intervenor). Apply by August 4, 2015

or the hearing will go ahead without you and you will not receive any further notice ofthe proceeding.

• At the end of the process, you can review the OEB’s decision and its reasons on ourwebsite.

LEARN MORE

Our file number for this case is EB-2015-0200. To learn more about this hearing, findinstructions on how to file letters or become an intervenor, or to access any documentrelated to this case, please select the file number EB-2015-0200 from the list on the OEBwebsite: www.ontarioenergyboard.ca/notice. You can also phone our Consumer RelationsCentre at 1-877-632-2727 with any questions.

ORAL VS. WRITTEN HEARINGS

There are two types of OEB hearings – oral and written. The OEB will determine at a laterdate whether to proceed by way of a written or oral hearing. If you think an oral hearing isneeded, you can write to the OEB to explain why by August 4, 2015.

PRIVACY

If you write a letter of comment, your name and the content of your letter will be put onthe public record and the OEB website. However, your personal telephone number, homeaddress and e-mail address will be removed. If you are a business, all your information willremain public. If you apply to become an intervenor, all information will be public.

This hearing will be held under section 36 of the Ontario Energy Board Act, 1998, S.O. 1998c.15 (Schedule B).

BREAKINGTHESTORIESTHATMOVE THEBUSINESSWORLD.

tgam.ca/robmag

T H E G LO B E A N D M A I L • S AT U R DAY , J U LY 2 5 , 2 0 1 5 O A11NEWS •

On a tiny street in northwest-ern Toronto, a telltale mark

is appearing on more and moredoors: two dented semicircles,left by the impact of a batteringram.

Police are using SWAT-styleraids in an attempt to rid thepublic-housing complex of theguns that have increasinglybecome a fact of life there. Theweapons frequently turn up instrange places, from cubbyholesto backpacks casually abandonedin backyards, sometimes surpris-ing even residents who havebeen unwittingly harbouringthem.

These guns – often shared com-munally, sometimes used forgang initiation – pose an investi-gative challenge to police, whohave been coming to the homesof some of the street’s den moth-ers to search for weapons.

“You’re in your bed, and youhear your door fly,” Janet Deli-sser, a mother of three whosehome was raided by police in thespring, said. “All I could see wasguns pointing on you, lightsshining.”

Gun crime in Toronto is up thisyear, with an increase of 57 percent in shootings causing injuryor death over last year, policesay.

The danger became all tooclear two weeks ago when 14-year-old Lecent Ross was shotand killed while she was visitingneighbouring children on James-town Crescent in northern Etob-icoke, the second shooting deathon the street in four months.There were no parents in theroom at the time. Police have noupdate on the case, and investi-gators continue to treat Lecent’sdeath as suspicious, althoughthey have not ruled out the pos-sibility it was an accident.

Early last Saturday morning, of-ficers raided at least three houseson Jamestown Crescent. Policewouldn’t confirm whetherLecent’s death and the raids werelinked.

Lately, the search warrantsbring them to some of the chil-dren’s and teens’ favourite spots,reflecting what appears to beever-younger recruitment intogangs.

“Some of our issues are thatyoung people have access toguns,” Superintendent RonTaverner, unit commander ofToronto Police 23 Division, said.“It’s sort of an evolution of gangs– they bring people up throughthe ranks, if you will.”

Jamestown comprises three- tofive-bedroom houses, typicallyoccupied by families, and thatfact defines the character of thestreet: Kids are a fixture, ridingbikes and scooters down thestreet before abandoning themon the front lawns of friends’small brick townhouses as theyrun in unannounced. These samechildren are sometimes targetedto hold or transport illegal weap-ons.

Keaton Austin, a pastor atAbundant Life Assembly on Dix-on Road, said it’s older, adultmen bringing guns into the com-munity. “If the police catch anadult, they know it’s hard-core[penitentiary]. … And he knowsthe kid isn’t going to the peniten-tiary,” he said. “It’s a slap on thewrist and the kid’s gone.”

One woman whose house onJamestown Crescent was raidedlast Saturday offers neighbour-hood children meals, and some-times even a safe place to stay.She said she was shocked to seeher children’s rooms turnedupside down.

“I’ve seen the raids happenaround here forever, and I’vestood back and watched think-ing: ‘Oh my god, they must feelhorrible,’ ” said the woman, whoasked that her name not be usedbecause she feared she would besearched again for speaking pub-licly about police actions in theneighbourhood. “Never in my

wildest dreams, never did I be-lieve that would ever be me.”

She said police were looking forsomething that they said couldhave been hidden in her housewithout her knowledge, whichshe insisted she would neverallow. “Because I don’t want tosee [the kids] dying on thestreet, apparently that puts me ina position where people cancome in and hide things in myhouse,” she said. “It’s the most ri-diculous thing I ever heard.”

Supt. Taverner said he is awareof guns being passed around andhidden. Sometimes, he said, theyare stashed in common areas orburied, and police work withToronto Community Housing topatrol for weapons. Residentsalso sometimes call to reportthem.

Ms. Delisser said that, when herhouse was raided, the policephysically searched everyonebefore they could leave thehouse, including her 11-year-olddaughter. Police turned up noth-ing, but her house was “demol-ished,” she says, her children’sbelongings tossed out of theirdrawers and the contents of herkitchen cupboards emptied ontothe counter.

“Somebody came with informa-tion that somebody lives here, orhe comes here, and he mighthave left something here withme knowing or without meknowing,” she said.

Ms. Delisser wasn’t totally sur-prised after finding a gun stashedin the storage space next to herfront door. She had no idea howit got there, she said.

The gun looked real, and aftershe called police to report it, theylater told her it was a powerfulpellet gun, the kind that wouldserve as a realistic threat duringa holdup.

Police also sometimes hit thejackpot: A backpack of guns wasfound hidden in a neighbour-hood backyard last year.

Patricia Crooks, a communityoutreach worker who runs anafter-school program for childrenin the area, said kids might beasked to do “favours” for oldercriminals without fully under-standing the consequences.“Maybe they want to be in thegangs. Maybe they don’t want tobe in the gangs. They could bescared into it,” she said.

The process of recruitment is

not clear, but one thing mostpeople seem to agree on is thatthe children are getting youngerand younger. “As young as 13.This is ridiculous. These arebabies,” Ms. Crooks said.

Allan Bowen, known to James-town residents as “Pastor Al,” isthe senior pastor at AbundantLife Assembly. He has worked inthe community for years, andsaid there is “deep sorrow”around the trauma the policesearches often leave behind.

However, he has also presidedover the funerals of young peo-ple shot to death. “When you seeit from the idea of getting gunsoff the street, guns that have putsomeone in the casket, guns thathave taken someone’s life – thenyou understand the bigger ra-tionale for the raid,” he said.

But as for whether the policeapproach to the searches is justi-fied, “people around the neigh-bourhood will tell you no,” Mr.Bowen said.

Maureen Archibald, who livesclose to the house where Lecentdied two weeks ago, said the vio-lence in her neighbourhoodweighs on her, but so does theuncertainty around whose homemight be searched next. “It’sstressful. We don’t know what’sgoing on. … If they come kickdown my door in the night whileI’m in a deep sleep, I won’t beable to take it,” she said.

“If I had the money, I would beout of here.”

LAW AND ORDER

Police raids unnerve Jamestown momsKids believed to be enlisted by gangs to transport and stash guns – with the result that bedrooms are getting torn apart

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SELENA ROSS MADELINE SMITH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Janet Delisser is one of the growing number of residents who have had SWAT-style visits from Toronto police, looking for guns and other contraband. Shelater found a pellet gun stashed in storage space next to her front door. She had no idea how it got there, she said. J.P. MOCZULSKI FOR THE GLOBE AND MAIL

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