History
FODE was created in 1993 in the pre-amalgamation borough of East York. The group's original name was "Friends of the Don East York". The name was shortened in 1998 after amalgamation eliminated East York as a separate municipality. The group was modelled after the Task Force to Bring Back the Don, which at the time was limited to the area within the borders of the old city of Toronto.
As a non-governmental organization, they lobbied East York Council to be more environmentally aware, especially with respect to the East York Official Plan and other planning issues. On environmental issues, they opposed the building of the Leslie Street extension. During this time, they persuaded the TRCA to designate Crothers' Woods, which lay directly in the path of the planned extension, as an Environmentally Significant Area (ESA). The plan was to extend Redway Road, and is now part of a plan to build a bus-only road as part of the Don Valley Transportation Master Plan.
In 2004, FODE attained charitable status. While this limits their ability to perform advocacy work—Canadian charities are not supposed to be politically active—it does allow the organization to raise funds more easily.
Read more about this topic: Friends Of The Don East
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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