Emily Barker is a fourth-year journalism student in the online stream at Ryerson University. Hailing from Binbrook, Ontario, Emily has a special interest in fashion, entertainment and travel journalism. She has recently taken an interest in covering breaking stories as well.
Currently living in Toronto, Emily loves being part of the diverse and vibrant city.
Emily enjoys cooking and has a strong interest in Latin culture. She recently traveled to Colombia where she spent two weeks in Bogotá.
Over the past year, Emily has written for RyersOnline.ca and Global360.ca. She will soon be starting an internship at Sweetspot.ca.
See a multimedia profile of Emily produced by Martha Jack.
The Ryerson Students' Union held a rally Thursday in an attempt to show that students support the closing of Gould Street and to show students what it would be like if the street was closed.
Emily Barker / RyersOnline Staff
A representation of what the Gould and Victoria intersection could look like.
“We are gathered here today to show that we at Ryerson want to close Gould Street from Victoria Street to Church Street,” shouted Ryerson Student Union vice president of finance and services, Chris Drew, atop one of the highest rocks in Devonian Square. Throughout the rally, Drew carried a metal shovel, symbolizing the digging up of Gould Street.
With both the school and the City of Toronto behind this plan, the Ryerson Students’ Union (RSU) arranged the Jan. 24 rally without a permit.
Emily Barker / RyersOnline Staff
Drew, along with the RSU, is campaigning to close the street for three reasons: to create more student space on campus, to provide a safer area for the Ryerson community and to benefit the environment by discouraging students from driving to school.
Ryerson president Sheldon Levy with former RSU president Muhammad Ali Jabbar
“(Closing down Gould Street) has been an ongoing issue,” RSU president Nora Loreto said. “It was kicked up again when we had a general meeting in April of last year where students voted overwhelmingly in closing it down.”
The first rally to close Gould Street could not come at a better time. In the last week the school has made tremendous advances to its Master Plan, leading up to Premier Dalton McGuinty announcing today that Ryerson will receive $45 million from the province.
The closing of Gould Street would definitely work into the Master Plan, which is focused on student space and building more of a downtown community.
“We want to be able to create a more community based campus and we think that we can do that through closing the street down,” Loreto said. “It’s something that people are talking about for sure and with Sheldon Levy it’s not so much about if, but how. We’re fighting very hard to shut the whole thing down.”
Shortly after noon, students that were gathered at the Close Gould
Emily Barker / RyersOnline Staff
Street tent at the corner of Gould and Victoria Streets marched up to Church Street, chanting “What do we want? Close the street! When do we want it? Now!” and “Who’s campus? Our Campus!”
Students march from Victoria Street to Church Street to show support in the closing of Gould Street.
The event was attended by many supporters including Ryerson president Sheldon Levy, former premier of Ontario, Bob Rae and members of various activist groups in the city. Michael Louis Johnson, a member of Streets Are For People, the group that is responsible for Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market, brought his trumpet to play in the march from Victoria Street to Church Street.
Not everyone was so supportive of the rally.
“Excuse me!” a professor shouted at Johnson from a third floor window in Kerr Hall South. “Students are trying to write a test up here and they can’t concentrate with your horn!”
The students who stood blocking the Victoria, Bond and Church Street intersections also faced some resistance from unhappy drivers.
One truck driver at the Church Street intersection, who was trying to get to the Metropolis building at Victoria and Gould waited nearly 10 minutes to be let through before giving up. Another driver, who was trying to turn onto Gould Street off of Bond Street argued with students for a few minutes before making a u-turn and throwing a glass bottle of orange juice from his car window. The bottle hit the ground, but didn’t break.
At 12:55 p.m. an officer of the Metro Toronto Police force arrived at the
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Emily Barker / RyersOnline Staff |
| Chris Drew points out a parking ticket on an illegally parked car on Gould Street. |
During the 10 minute break between classes, Drew, Loreto and other supporters encouraged students to walk on the street instead of on the sidewalks.
“The street is ours! Walk on the street!” Drew yelled to students.
Despite the encouragement, some students were still hesitant to step off the sidewalks. Drew grabbed one female student off the sidewalk and danced with her, tango style, to show her that she could get to class by walking down Gould Street.