By Dimitrije Martinovic
Dimitrije is a staff with FOCUS MEDIA ARTS CENTRE

The third session of the Community Benefits Learning Series held on November 9, 2021, was again a collaboration between Regent Park Neighbourhood Association, the Regent Park Community Benefits Coalition, Toronto Community Housing Corporation and Tridel Builders.

As many residents know, Tridel Builders was the selected TCHC development partner for phase 4 and 5 of the Regent Park Redevelopment.  What many people may not know is that Tridel Builders has pledged 26.8 million dollars in community benefits.

Therefore the aim of the Community Benefits Learning Series is to provide residents with an opportunity to know what community benefits are and how residents can get involved in deciding how the 26.8 million will be spent.

The third session was facilitated by Pavithra Sulanthar and Walied Khogali, and they were joined by Kumsa Baker from the Toronto Community Benefits Network, Denise Souedian-O'Leary from Centre for Social Innovation, Tereza Todorova, Toronto Community Housing, and Brian Sherwood and Maggie Hall from Tridel Builders Inc.

The presentation covered a number of key community concerns, these included:

* Confronting Anti-Black and Anti-Indigenous Racism in Regent Park
* Community Wealth Building in Regent Park
* Community Priorities Report
* Role of Government
* Engagement Opportunities

The Community Wealth Building presentation was facilitated by Denise Souedian-O'Leary. Denise reported on the feasibility study commissioned by the city of developing a model for community wealth building in Regent Park. Five central recommendations formed the basis of the plan:

1. Develop a full Community Wealth Strategy for Regent Park
2. Engage in Community Wealth Building and Learning Process
3. Build Resident Engagement in Community Wealth Building
4. Create a Social Business Incubator
5. Develop a Community Investment Platform

The purpose of developing a Community Wealth Strategy for Regent Park is rooted in the notion that communities should have locally sustainable economic system and the economic prosperity be equally distributed across the whole community. Additionally, woven into this community wealth infrastructure is the development of the capacity of residents to participate in the governance and oversight of community assets. For example, the Social Business Incubator would act as a platform for locally owned businesses, cooperatives and social enterprises, all uniquely tailored to community needs.

The Community Benefits Learning Series is part of the ongoing process of consultation and collaboration between the various stakeholders (Regent Park residents, TCH, and Tridel Builders Inc.) in their effort to create a workable model for distributing the $26.8 million dollars allocated for community benefits for Phases 4 & 5.