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    Illustrated
    Chronicle of
    Fletcher
    Generations

    David Fletcher
    Chapter 38:
    June 1996 to
    Sept. 1997


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Chapter 38:
June 1996 to
Sept. 1997

  • 38.1 Introduction: Second Trip to Russia: 1996 (4 of 11)
  • 38.2 Lillooet & Trips Criss-crossing Continent, 1996
  • 38.3 New Roof for 485 Manning Ave. (..of..)
  • 38.4 Opposing the Harris Government: Days of Action
  • 38.5 Joanna (4 of 5)
  • 38.6 Living at 30 Charles Street: Yorkville
  • 38.7 OISE Full-time Studies at OISE, 1996 to 1997
  • 38.8 Thesis Option #4: Student Portfolios on Web
  • 38.9 Architectural Writing
  • 38.10 Return of the Stone of Destiny, 1996
  • 38.11 YUFA Strike, Spring, 1997
  • 38.12 Summer, 1997 at Lillooet
  • 38.13 New Second Floor Bathroom for 485 Manning
  • 38.14 My Art During this Period, 1996 to 1997
  • 38.15 Fletchers & Macknesses During this Period
  • 38.16 My Chess During this Period, 1996 to 1997
  • 38.17 Design for Renovation of 51 Beaufort
  • 38.18 Zeitgeist: Politics & Society, 1996 to 1997
  • 38.19 Culture, Books, Films, & TV: 1996 to 1997
  • 38.20 Summary, Conclusions, Connections, Goals, Omissions, & Regrets

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38.1 Introduction: Second Trip to Russia: July, 1996

38.1.1 Introduction

38.1.2 Solidarity with Russian Teachers' Unions

Having corresponded with colleagues in the Russian Teachers' Union for several years, I travelled to meet with them and learn more about the situation of teachers in Russia.

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38.2 Lillooet and Trips Criss-crossing the Continent: Summer, 1996

38.2.1 Introduction

38.2.2 Trip Out West, June, 1996

38.2.3 Banff

We stopped at Banff because I particularly like it --especially the large hot springs pool at the Banff Springs Hotel.

38.2.4 Lillooet, Summer, 1996

38.2.5 Vancouver

Joanna and I would often drive down to Vancouver for the day.

38.2.6 Work Accomplished on the Dacha, summer, 1996

38.2.7 Return Trip Back East, August, 1996

38.2.8 Yellowstone

That August, 1996, we spent two days at Yellowstone National Park. The western parts were still showing signs of the terrible fire back in 1988. Click here or on the map below for a more detailed Yellowstone map

38.2.9 Chicago

While in Chicago, Joanna and I visited some of the sites that my grandfather Jim would have seen in 1893. The site of the World's Fair, the Haymarket area, the Loop, etc.

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38.3 New Roof for 485 Manning Ave.

    Date:Tasks performed this period
    , 1979purchase, moving in
    April, 1980breaking concrete in backyard
    May, 1980digging hole
    26 May, 1980removing excavated soil, concrete
    31 May, 1980pouring footing
    4 June, 1980concrete block foundation wall
    20 June, 1980concrete columns on East side of garage
    3 July, 1980brick around garage columns
    7 July, 1980West concrete block wall on garage
    early August, 1982structure of addition and roof completed.
    August, 1982enclosure of addtion completed room.
    Fall, 1982upstairs apartment completed.
    1983major work on downstairs apartment.
    1984completion of grade-level living room and basement.
    1986Completion of the downstairs and moving upstairs.
    1995new roof, new skylights.
    1996new bathroom on second floor.
    2002new bathroom in basement.
    2005completion of basement bathroom
    30 July, 2005fire on roof
    Fall, 2005repairs by HOPE contracting
    2006covered workspace in backyard, studio in garage, finishing touch-up to whole house
    late August, 2006 showings, and sale 30 Aug.



38.4 Harris' "Common Sense Revolution"
and Our "Days of Action"

38.4.1 Introduction

38.4.2 The Conservative Government's "Common Sense Revolution"

Soon after Harris and the Conservatives were elected they started the legislative program known as the "Common Sense Revolution".

38.4.3 Our Opposition: the OFL's "Days of Action", 1996

38.4.4 Education Day of Action

On 25 October, 1996, the University of Toronto was shut down as an act of solidarity with labour and social justice groups in their efforts against the Provincial government's cuts to education and social programs.

38.4.5 Toronto Day of Action

On Saturday, 26 October, many of us teachers at Oakwood met at the CNE grounds to march together. Over 200,000 workers, students and other youth marched past the convention site of the ruling Ontario Conservative party in Toronto.

38.4.6 Metro Days of Protest

Unions showed their strength during the October 22-27 Metro Days of Protest against the austerity and anti-union drive of the 17-month-old Conservative government. This was the fifth and largest in a series of actions organized by the labor movement since last December.

      Days of Action, 1996


      Date:City
      February, 1996Hamilton
      October, 1996London
      26 October, 1996Toronto
      October, 1996North Bay
      October, 1996Peterborough
      October, 1996Sudbury
      October, 1996Kitchener
      October, 1996Windsor
      1 May, 1996St. Catherines
      October, 1996.
      October, 1996.
      October, 1996.
      October, 1996.
      October, 1996.

These successful mass demonstrations and one-day regional strikes in several major Ontario cities soon prompted widespread calls for the OFL to mount a province-wide general strike. But in April 1996, OFL President Gord Wilson emphatically declared there was no question of the unions seeking to bring down the Harris government. "I accept," said Wilson, that Harris "has a constitutional mandate" to govern.

Following the success of the Toronto Days of Action in October 1996, thirteen unions, representing about a third of the OFL's total membership, announced they were withdrawing from the anti-Tory mobilizations. Fearful that the anti-Tory movement was taking too radical a direction and might escape the bureaucracy's control, the dissenting unions demanded the OFL scale down the protests and shift its resources to returning the NDP to power at the next election, slated for 1999 or 2000.




38.5 Joanna

38.5.1 Introduction

38.5.2 Joanna




38.6 Living at 30 Charles Street: Yorkville

38.6.1 Introduction

38.6.2 Life at 35 Charles

Life at 35 Charles, apartment 305, was good. Withing the distance that I would go to take Chico for a walk there were 5 movie theatres, two dramatic theatres, over 100 restaurants, the Metro central library, major department stores, the univeristy campus, and the list goes on and on. First and foremost, it was downtown. Across the street was the Manulife Centre, with its Indigo bookstore and Varsity Multiplex Theatre. The Manulife tower can be seen in the background (centre) in the photo below.

Just North of my Charles Street apartment and Manulife Centre is Bloor Street. The photo below shows the South-East corner of the intersection of Yonge and Bloor --looking down Yonge Street. Visible on the West side of Yonge, at the far right on the photo, is the second of the two Charles Street residences (30 Charles Street).

The next photo is of the main entrance of Raymond Moriama's Metro Central Library on Yonge Street just North of Bloor.

Just to the North and West of my Charles Street apartment and Manulife Centre is Yorkville.




38.7 Full-time Studies at OISE (Year off at OCI) Sept. 1996 to June 1997

38.7.1 Introduction

38.7.2 Returning to OISE

In 1991 I had started my Ed.D at OISE. I had only done a few courses, though, because my full-time teaching with THESTUDENTSCHOOL turned out to be more onerous than I had imagined. And so the completion of my course work had been postponed until I was able to take a leave of absence.

38.7.3 Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

This year was my first leave of absence from TDSB teaching (semesters five and six at Oakwood C.I.). From Sept. 1996 until Sept. 1997 I would not teach with the TDSB, except for occasional teaching. I could afford an unpaid time off during this period because of my saving money from my full-time teaching and because of my two scholarships. One from the University of Toronto and another from my union, the OSSTF. I also had the rental income from my house, both upstairs and downstairs of 485 Manning Ave.

Courses Taken
at OISE:
1996 - 1997



Date:Course:Description:
Fall, 1996EDT1300F "Foundations of Curriculum".
Fall, 1996EDT1503F "Computer Applications in Education".
Fall, 1996FAH1222F "Andrea Palladio"Allena Payne taught this Fine Arts graduate course on the great Renaissance architect.
Spring, 1997EDT1131S "Labour Education"D'Arcy taught the in-school teaching about unions and the education of union members.
Spring, 1997EDT1515S "Computers in the Curriculum"covered evaluation of software
Spring, 1997FAH1750S "Theories and Criticism of the Modern Movement in Architecture"Payne covered roots of Modernism


Thesis Research Work-in-progress




Next section
Chapter 38:8
1997 to 1998

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