This lady just won't quit.
The 50-year-old Don Mills Centre mall she fought to protect has been demolished, cleared to make way for an outdoor lifestyle centre, and the multibillion-dollar company she's taking on says the planned development is cutting-edge, it's trendy and, most importantly, it's already been approved.
But it hasn't stopped Simone Gabbay, the 50-year-old who spearheaded a group who call themselves the Concerned Don Mills Residents for Maintaining the Don Mills Centre Indoor Mall.
With a core group of about two dozen supporters, Ms. Gabbay has committed the past 10 months to fighting for Cadillac Fairview Corp. Ltd. to rebuild an indoor mall. Though her initial battle was lost, she remains the company's most vocal and active opponent -- driven, she said, by the responsibility she feels to the people affected in her community.
Without the indoor mall that she says acted as a community centre for the area, Ms. Gabbay said she worries for the many elderly and disabled people who spent so much time there.
"Before the mall opened [in the morning], there were people exercising and running there, and on the weekend people with wheelchairs were there with their caregivers, that's no longer available in all types of weather," Ms. Gabbay said in an interview from her home. "An outdoor square could be defined as a community centre, but that's not strengthening it, it's weakening it."
During the campaign for last month's municipal election, Ms. Gabbay's efforts captured the attention, and ultimately the support, of city council candidates Peter Kapsalis and Tony Dickins, both of whom failed to unseat Councillor Cliff Jenkins in Ward 25.
"It is a very big issue in the area, that's what I got from going to doors in the area," said Mr. Dickins, who is the director of the National Institute of Broadcasting. "It was her passion and her emotion that really struck a chord during the election campaign."
Mr. Kapsalis, who joined the group in November after seeing firsthand during his canvassing how upset people were over losing the mall, added that "no one thought it would come down, it was quite devastating for the area."
The group is now seeking legal representation to sue the city.
Ms. Gabbay said the planned development violates the city's secondary plan -- plans specific to the neighbourhood -- by altering the character of the area.
"We're definitely gaining some momentum now," said John Blair, a member of the group.
"Simone and I do not know what no means. We only know yes for an indoor mall. This is not stopping."
Their determination shows little sign of waning, but all admit they're up against some pretty steep odds.
A spokesman for Cadillac Fairview says the issue was over a year ago, and that they've received hundreds of letters of support for the outdoor retail development. The mall's physical structure, he says, was in decline and something had to change.
"She may have the support of a small group in the community," said spokesman Heath Applebaum, "but there's also a larger group in the community who don't agree with her."
One of those people is Terry West, president of the Don Mills Residents Inc., a ratepayers group of about 1,000 homes. Mr. West said his group is moving forward with plans to propose the inclusion of an indoor community centre in the upcoming phase two of the development.
"There are some people in the community who feel that they want to force Cadillac Fairview into building a covered mall, and they're still quite reasonably vocal," Mr. West said. "But one has to be realistic about it when you talk to the legal people about it, and when you talk to Cadillac Fairview, they're quite committed to the outdoor lifestyle shopping centre."
While Ms. Gabbay said she isn't opposed to Mr. West's idea, she feels a community centre should not come at the cost of the indoor mall. So the fight continues, with Ms. Gabbay leading the charge.
In the last year, she has committed at least 15 hours a week to her campaign. She has sacrificed her own work as a freelance writer and author, missing deadlines and risking ties with clients and her publisher.
She's sent out hundreds of notices to members of the community, city and media, and has written letters to area councillors, MPP Kathleen Wynne, the mayor and even the Governor-General, asking for their help with her fight. When numerous letters to Mayor David Miller elicited no response, she sent him a bouquet of flowers. (He still hasn't responded.)
Ms. Gabbay says her home is filled with piles of papers and news clippings, she has followed city council meetings, development reports and Ontario Municipal Board hearings, all for the first time, with her 11-year-old son Benjamin, who is home-schooled, in tow.
"He's had a tremendous year in learning about city politics and how developers operate," she said, adding that her son even designed a website for the group.
Friends and supporters say Ms. Gabbay is tireless, passionate and committed.
"The city needs more people like Simone who are prepared to stand up and be counted," said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, whose Ward 34 borders the site. "Simone is quite a remarkable woman to start this organization and the revolt against Cadillac Fairview."
Ms. Gabbay next plans to write letters to Premier Dalton McGuinty and the Ontario Ombudsman, hoping to garner some political weight for her campaign.
In the next year, she said, she will write a book so that the history of the mall, the redevelopment and the campaign to stop it isn't forgotten.
"I personally am exhausted, but I had to do this for me," she said. "It was a spiritual calling because when I saw what they were planning to do and what they have done to the community, this injustice, I couldn't let it go."