SEE MORE:
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
In November of last year Mayor John Tory announced a new small business tax that was meant to reduce the property tax burden that small businesses must pay to the city. In theory, this meant an across the board decrease of 15 per cent for properties that met two criteria: lot size and value. It turns out however, that the methodology chosen by the city is so flawed that it appears that as many as 20 per cent of properties will not get the break even though they meet the requirements.
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
SEE MORE BY BRETT LAMB:
Tags: Annex · Editorial · Opinion
New projections warn that the new and more contagious variant of the coronavirus could result in Ontario seeing 40,000 new infections per day in February. Meanwhile, the province has announced a state of emergency allowing the government, with the support of cabinet, to introduce new public health orders more quickly. This could be a good thing, depending on how the powers are used. It’s hard to be hopeful, though, when the province is led by a premier who seems so determined to deliver mixed messages and sweeping regulations riddled with enormous loopholes.
The iconic El Mocambo Tavern sign is shining once again, and is back home on Spadina Avenue after a long restoration. Michael Wekerle, the club’s owner, and Mayor John Tory turned the sign on in a ceremony on November 15. Construction continues inside the club, which is set to reopen later in 2019.
By Albert Koehl
Is City Hall’s preoccupation with facilitating the movement of cars now just a bad habit that can no longer be rationalized in light of actual travel modes by residents?
According to the numbers, among other reasons: yes.
Every once in a while, someone gets mad as hell and decides not to accept the status quo. It’s a small act of rebellion that can shake things up, bringing sanity and common sense to a situation that has gotten well out of hand.
I love a good history lesson.
PHOTO BY NOELLE?DEFOUR/GLEANER NEWS: TTC chair Josh Colle (Ward 15, Eglinton-Lawrence), David Mirvish, and Mayor John Tory mark the impending closing of Honest Ed’s by unveiling a poster mimicking the discount store’s signature advertising style at the Bathurst Street entrance of Bathurst Station on Nov. 1. The store will officially close on Dec. 31.
PHOTO COURTESY BRITISH COLUMBIA CENTRE FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIV/AIDS: After a spirited debate on July 14, city council voted 36 to 3 to establish three Supervised Injection Sites throughout the city. According to research from the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, supervised injection facilities can reduce public drug use and overdose deaths, as well as increase access to addiction treatment. People who use safe injection sites are 30 per cent more likely to enter detox programs and 70 per cent less likely to share needles.
By Annemarie Brissenden
If residents at the well-attended town hall on rail safety were looking for the federal government to commit to diverting railway tracks out of dense urban neighbourhoods, they came away disappointed.
The previous Conservative government ran repeated deficits though it liked to pretend it didn’t, and the federal Liberals now inherit not only that fiscal reality but also an economy in recession, and something must be done. The relative price of the Canadian dollar does nothing to assuage one’s worry. Notwithstanding the overheated residential real estate market in Toronto and Vancouver, the economy is stalled.
Tags: General