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Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
By Mike Layton
It is with great pride that I have the privilege of serving on the City of Toronto’s Budget Committee, which allows me the opportunity to help shape the direction of services over the coming year. Simply put, the annual budget is a chance for Toronto to set priorities as a city and take action on what needs to change.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
By Jessica Bell
Australia is my original home, and it is experiencing a climate catastrophe. Armageddon fires are still burning up the country. Half a billion animals are dead. Towns have been destroyed. Billions are needed for rebuilding.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
In May 2020, the Annex Gleaner celebrates 25 years of publishing. In celebration, we are republishing highlights of our past; this feature, Fear of High Buildings Groundless by city-building columnist Alfred Holden, is from May 2001. As thirteen developments are going up in the Annex area it appears Holden’s views were prophetic.
Tags: Annex · Columns · History
By Terri Chu
I was mildly optimistic when Toronto City Council officially declared a “Climate Emergency”, in October, 2019. How naïve I was to think that an “emergency” meant that something might actually happen. The situation appears to me as though teenagers are dialing 911 and screaming in terror into the phone while the operator on the other end says: Please hold, your call is important to us.
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Tags: Annex · Editorial · Columns · Opinion
By Jessica Bell
After ordering the longest break in almost 25 years, Doug Ford finally let Queen’s Park get back to business last month. While the government signalled they would take a more tempered approach, the legislation the government has introduced shows the premier is continuing his destructive path.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
By Mike Layton
Development in Toronto is continuing to boom. However, we are not building affordable housing at the same pace as we are luxury condominiums. Our waiting lists for affordable housing continue to grow and we are now above 100,000 names on the active waiting list. Last year we only managed to house people in 522 units, while 6,181 names were added to the list.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
On November 11, Canadian leaders extolled the virtues of soldiers who lost their lives defending the ideals of democracy. On that day, we might have told the story of the nearly 2,000 Canadian soldiers who fought to defend Hong Kong against Japanese invasion in 1941. Five hundred of those soldiers did not come back, and many others returned deeply scarred after living as prisoners of war.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
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Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
By Mike Layton
Before the weather goes below zero, and the fall rain turns into ice and snow, I thought I could take a moment to talk about a topic that will be top of mind for many Ward 11 residents in the coming months – snow removal.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
Bling bling! Jaws dropped and the media was bedazzled by the newly unveiled Toronto Raptors championship rings on October 23. For the team’s opening game, each player was awarded a golf-ball of 10 karat gold covered in 14 carat diamonds, and the nearly 20,000 fans watching at Scotiabank Arena were given replicas. Instead of being star struck, I feel sick. Instead of celebrating the making and baring of those rings, we should be denouncing them and the culture that clouds the story they really tell.
Tags: Annex · Columns · Opinion
By Michael Layton
Since the province decided to cut Council in half, there has been a clear trend of decision making that aims to marginalize the City of Toronto and its residents’ voices on many critical issues. The trend continued this month as the province revealed details of their plan to try and steal our subway, and made life-and-death decisions about addiction treatment.