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FORUM: Exciting spring initiatives (Apr. 2025)

April 22nd, 2025 · No Comments

Many promising plans for parks and the 501 Streetcar returns 

By Dianne Saxe

Isn’t spring wonderful? Thank you to everyone who came out and waved during the rainy St. Patrick’s Day parade.

March was a tumultuous month, including Trump madness, snow removal, March Break, tariff chaos, city staff strike threat, a federal election call, a contentious council meeting and a Yorkville fire that destroyed heritage homes and melted fire trucks.

On the plus side, it is very exciting that some of my initiatives have come to fruition. March 17 was the grand opening of the Nancy and Ed Jackman Performance Centre at 877 Yonge Street. This collaborative community theatre space beneath supportive housing features a state-of-the-art performance hall, a rehearsal and recording space, a greenroom, and offices to support Tapestry Opera, Nightwood Theatre, and dozens of other artists. It could not have happened without the innovative leadership and partnership of St. Clare’s, Nightwood Theatre, Tapestry Opera, local residents, donors, and city staff. It will dramatically increase cultural opportunities in midtown.

March 24 saw the kickoff for the long-awaited Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre (Visit the website to join the community advisory committee). Plus, the Weston family has offered to fund exciting upgrades for Queens Park North.

My successful motions at the March council meeting included the following:

A redesign of Pricefield Park to go with the pink grapefruit fountain under construction at Scrivener Square.

Funding arrangements for a new park at 819 Yonge Street, the previously uncelebrated intersection of Yonge Street which marks the historic Indigenous Portage Trail. A tentative design is being reviewed with First Nations, in hopes of construction in 2026.

A new partnership agreement for Paul Martel Park.

Requiring parks and recreation to install gates at Paul Martel Park to allow the Indigenous park guardians to lock the gate at night to protect the native plants.

A Ward 11 pilot project to allow food to be sold from trailers, not just trucks.

Directing staff to report on how to take effective action on long-derelict buildings, instead of leaving them boarded up indefinitely.

Directing staff to report on how to improve protections for rooming house tenants threatened by demovictions. Toronto’s affordable housing is being lost at an accelerating rate and rooming house tenants are particularly vulnerable. 

A plan for enforcing our anti-idling bylaw.

Directing transportation services to require the owners of 135 Glen Road to remove their giant wall from public property because it breaches the Ontario Heritage Act.

Providing additional funding to the Kensington Market Community Land Trust (KMCLT) to acquire and renovate affordable rental housing in the Market. With my help, the Trust has reached three significant milestones: raising $1 million in community bonds, buying more affordable rental housing, and publishing the report KMCLT as Place Keeper.

One issue raised by KMCLT applies across Ward 11: the need for better succession planning by small businesses. 

The Toronto Public Library (TPL) has agreed to host a workshop on small business succession planning if appropriate volunteers will lead it. If you are interested in giving such a workshop, please apply on the TPL website. 

In TTC news, I am proud to deliver results for Ward 11. Upgrades at Spadina station are well underway:

The Spadina streetcar line is back in operation with enough power to support accelerated service.

Work is underway to improve how TTC performance is measured in ways that matter to riders.

My fare enforcement initiative is bringing cheating rates down. Fare cheats deprive the TTC of essential revenue and undercut the willingness of others to pay. They also cause many subway delays and drive paying customers away. The SafeTTC app now makes it easy to report harassment, panhandlers, and other safety concerns on the TTC. Enforcement will get another boost this month with 31 additional special constables.

A bubble zone law to protect religious minority institutions in Toronto has been delayed again. Please don’t forget to answer the survey on the City of Toronto website.

Dianne Saxe is city councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale.

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Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion