Opportunity for positive, visionary change By Mike Layton In the last term of City Council we were up against Rob Ford and Stephen Harper. We found ourselves saying “no” and simply fighting to hold on to our public services. We lost some battles. We watched our waste collection get handed over to the lowest private […]

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Distracted drivers, riders, walkers most vulnerable at intersections By Scotty Robinson Speed is not behind the numerous car accidents, injuries, or pedestrian and cyclist deaths that occur. Our system of too many red lights and stop signs has dumbed down the majority of us, including pedestrians and bikers. It’s like zombie land out there, and […]

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It’s a myth that only the Conservatives can be trusted with managing the economy. Under their “stewardship” we are the only G7 country in a recession, and while Mr. Harper argues how “risky” it is to trust either opposition party with managing the balance sheet, his government has run successive deficit budgets and our economic […]

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I read the September Gleaner article “A haven for children’s literature”, on the 20th anniversary of the Lillian H. Smith library, and I was instantly brought home to my old neighbourhood in Toronto. I remember fondly afternoons spent reading a book in the garden behind the library. Or wintry afternoons spent roaming through the stacks, […]

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Thank you for your article in the August 2015 edition “Breaking bread with friends, Harbord Bakery marks 70 years”. It was a joy to be reminded of the rich history of the Harbord Bakery and how intertwined it is with the neighbourhood. Raffi Kosower, Roslyn Katz, Susan Wisnewski, their families, and the incredibly friendly bakery […]

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I lived above the Harbord Bakery (“Breaking bread with friends”, August 2015) in the early ‘60s. A newcomer to Toronto, I initially saw only space (furnished one-bedroom) and location (close to the U of T) that were right for me; however, I was soon to learn what a legendary roof I had found. The Kosowers […]

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The problem is that the function of arterials is still seen only as moving cars and trucks By Joe Cressy and Albert Koehl Residents of downtown Toronto will soon start to notice an important change on their streets — a change that is going to make life safer for all our neighbourhoods. In the coming […]

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Greenspace, heritage, and integration at top of list as Westbank opens Markham House Westbank opened its Markham House Citybuilding Lab to great fanfare during the Mirvish Village Sidewalk Sale on Sept. 19. Featuring a model of its proposed redevelopment for the site including Honest Ed’s and Mirvish Village, Markham House (610 Markham St.) will be […]

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Just as the stigma surrounding mental illness has started to dissipate, the College Street location of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is facing a crisis of its own. Its landlord, a numbered company owned by Brookfield Asset Management, is playing hardball during a scheduled negotiation in which it is seeking to increase […]

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It’s as though the Conservative Party of Canada is making it up as it goes along. There is very little meat in their policy platform outside of the rhetoric of getting tough on crime, keeping a steady hand on the economy’s tiller, and protecting us from terrorists. The platform plank, the Home Renovation Tax Credit, […]

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In calling for bike lanes on Bloor Street, the Gleaner’s editorial (“It’s really a village, not a freeway”, July 2015) makes an obvious, yet routinely overlooked, point about how transportation planners still rank the movement of (single-occupant) cars far above neighbourhood values. Bloor Street may be officially a highway, or a “major arterial” under Toronto’s […]

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