April 6th, 2024 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: The “Get it Done Act” should get Ford out (Feb. 2024)
Premier Doug Ford’s latest gimmick is his pending “Get it Done Act.” Ford is banking on Ontario voters having short memories, being easily duped, and not minding at all being bribed with their own money. This latest omnibus legislation is a dog’s breakfast of silly, shiny objects designed to distract from a string of failures and flip flops that appear to have been authored by the premier himself.
The Act aims to constrain future Ontario governments from introducing a carbon tax without a referendum. Of course, we only have a carbon tax, the federal one, because Ford scraped the former government’s cap-and-trade policy and had no climate change plan of his own. Ford fought the feds on the federal tax all the way to the Supreme Court and lost. It’s not likely that this government is serious about addressing climate change or is really prepared to even acknowledge it as a crisis. The threat of a provincial carbon tax is not a real one. The omnibus bill is also completely toothless, as any future government can simply repeal it.
The legislation also aims to make licence plate renewals automatic. Apparently, the province’s 2022 move to relieve drivers of the $120 annual licence fee has not gone so smoothly. It costs the Ontario treasury $1.2 billion in revenue annually. The province says over one million vehicle owners did not appreciate that they still needed to renew their plates even though there is no fee. This created much confusion as many were given $1000 tickets for driving with expired permits. Even for those who renewed, no new stickers were provided. Those who travel out of province appear to be driving on expired permits which attracts extra jurisdictional fines and unnecessary police interactions.
The “Get it Done Act” also promises to prohibit tolls on provincial highways. Of course there are no tolls, or plans to have them, on provincial highways except on Highway 407. The Act will not touch the 407 which was created by another Conservative government, then led by Mike Harris. We have Harris to thank for building a highway that few Ontarians can afford to use.
It’s no wonder such useless legislation is conjured up. The premier needs to distract voters lest they reflect on his string of failures and reversals, such as:
Bill 124, the wage restraint law introduced in 2022 holding public-sector workers to a one per cent pay increase per year. It was struck down this month by the Ontario Court of Appeal on constitutional grounds. Ford had promised it would save Ontario taxpayers $9.7 billion, but instead it will cost them $13.7 billion according to Ontario’s financial accountability officer. Thanks Doug. It was a terrible law to begin with as it drove workers such as nurses away creating a myriad of new problems. The wage restraint bill was also very inequitable as it applied to nurses and teachers, female dominated professions, but did not apply to fire fighters and police officers, male dominated professions. Hmmm…. In any case, it’s just another failed Ford stunt that will cost you billions. And the nurses that left the province are probably not coming back any time soon.
On the promise to dissolve the Region of Peel and make Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon independent cities Ford has reversed course. When the former mayor of Mississauga, Bonnie Crombie, who supported dissolving Peel, took the reins of the Ontario Liberal Party, Ford promptly abandoned the plan. As Crombie is a serious threat to Ford, he has already started the election campaign to oppose her and does not care what good policy he needs to ditch along the road to re-election.
The largest of the government’s policy reversals has been its 180-degree turn on redeveloping sections of the Greenbelt. Ford ran afoul of the auditor general, the integrity commissioner, public opinion, and is now being investigated by the RCMP. Shady land deals appeared to have happened by developers who were “in the know” about Ford’s plans to convert protected lands into subdivisions. He has now reversed course.
Ford spends more time going backwards than forwards, then spends energy on folksy populism such as the “Get it Done Act.” It’s just a lame attempt to get voters to change the channel. It’s time to change the channel on this premier altogether.
April 5th, 2024 · Comments Off on FORUM: Eventful new year at city council (Feb. 2024)
Budget, development planning, and safety, fill agenda
By Dianne Saxe
Winter weather is always challenging for city staff. Thank you again to all of our frontline workers in emergency response, shelter and outreach, and construction, who are hard at work in winter conditions. I arrived back at my desk more determined than ever to tackle the city’s challenges.
At this time every year, city hall is dominated by the city’s budget. Toronto is squeezed unmercifully between an inadequate, inflexible revenue source (property tax, which doesn’t grow even when property values do) and soaring financial demands. With only 9 cents of every tax dollar, we face aging infrastructure, spiraling construction costs, a growing population, plus about $1.5 billion needed for poverty reduction, which should be paid for by the Ford government. At the same time, many residents are facing financial hardship and feel unable to pay the city more.
The city is doing the best we can to balance these difficult pressures while protecting current service levels, despite serious financial traps, including:
The federal government is flooding the city with refugee claimants that it doesn’t look after and won’t process for more than two years. Their number doubled last year and is likely to double again this year. Even if the feds pay $250 million, as proposed, that would only shelter about 5000 refugee claimants. We have 5,800 now and are on track for over 10,000 this year, with no end in sight. No one has a plan to house or pay for them.
High quality infrastructure is indispensable for a prosperous community. But we are spending so much to shore up the province’s inadequate social services that we can’t fix our infrastructure. We are so far behind on critical repairs to roads, parks, arenas, etc. that costs and breakdowns are going shockingly higher. Expect exponential cost increases, worsening roads, and dropping reliability.
We’re almost completely off-track regarding climate, neither meeting climate reduction targets nor getting ready for what’s ahead. Both mean worse health and bigger costs ahead.
I don’t officially sit on the Budget Committee. But, to protect your interests and to strike the right balance between needs and ability to pay, I read every budget document and asked tough questions at every Budget Committee meeting. We had a great Ward 11 Townhall on the budget in January. I also read all your emails to me on the topic— thank you for caring enough to write! The final budget will be determined by the mayor, perhaps with minor tweaks by council, because of the strong mayor powers imposed by Doug Ford.
Many of your comments focused on the proposed police budget, arguing for increases to deal with hate, auto theft, and break-ins, or decreases to fund other priorities. A detailed Budget Note sets out the CFO’s rationale. A discrepancy of $12.6 million is identified between city staff and TPS budget proposals, $1,174 billion versus $1,186.5 billion net, respectively. At once, $59.7 million in funding is provided to offset added pressures in the 2024 Police Budget, equivalent to a 5.2 per cent increase. Please join me at my Feb. 15 Ward 11 Townhall to discuss safety, auto theft, and policing in our ward.
Meanwhile, I secured some wins for you at committees. Relevant to the Annex, in light of high-profile controversies at 300 and 316 Bloor St. W, the Planning and Housing Committee agreed to consider limiting how much extra height Committees of Adjustment give high-rise developers as “minor variances.” The Infrastructure and Environment Committee (IEC) agreed that bike lanes should be “safe and passable” for bicycles, not just for cars. And IEC agreed that we should obtain a net gain for endangered species when developers put replacement habitat on ity property. This builds on my success ensuring that two chimneys will be built for chimney swifts in Budd Sugarman Park, instead of just one.
Finally, there are some construction notices to report in and around the Annex. Laneway reconstruction will proceed at Albany Ave, Poulter’s Place, Barbara Barret Lane, Herrick St, and Loretto Lane. The work is due to be completed by August, weather dependent. Think of how much better these streets will look with new paving, sidewalks, and permeable treatment!
We invite you as always to reach out to our staff with questions and concerns. Happy New Year to everyone in Ward 11 once more.
Dianne Saxe is city councillor for Ward 11, University-Rosedale.
April 5th, 2024 · Comments Off on FORUM: Report confirms Ford government failures (Feb. 2024)
Independent auditor general annual report paints troubling picture
By Jessica Bell
The auditor general’s office authors an annual report that does a deep dive into a select list of government agencies, departments and government-funded or -regulated institutions to see if they are working as they should. Here’s the lowdown on the office’s latest report.
Hospitals struggle with doctor and nurse shortages, resulting in emergency room closures.
There were over 200 unplanned emergency department closures involving 23 hospitals, mostly in rural areas, in the past year. The closures were mostly due to nursing and doctor shortages. Emergency department wait times remain long, with patients waiting an average of two hours to be assessed by a doctor, up 30 minutes in the last 10 years. How can this be happening in Canada? We treasure our public health care system.
The government is not consultin with the public on environmental decisions.
The Conservatives made drastic changes to energy, land-use planning, and housing without meaningful public consultation.
Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights says that Ontarians have the right to be informed and to participate in decisions that affect our land, water, air, and wildlife, from expanding gas plants to permitting sprawl on thousands of acres of farmland. This isn’t happening in Ontario.
The relocation of the Ontario Science Centre is based on flawed evidence.
The decision to relocate the Ontario Science Centre was based on preliminary and incomplete costing information that excluded key costs and proceeded without full consultation from key stakeholders or a clear plan for the existing site.?
The Conservatives crowed that moving the Ontario Science Centre would save money; however, the auditor general’s report suggests that 90 per cent of the claimed savings come from the lower costs of operating a much smaller science centre with less exhibition space.
The process was rigged to reach a predetermined conclusion. The question is why?
The Conservatives are not doing enough to address homelessness.
As downtown residents we see the homelessness crisis firsthand when we walk down the street, take the TTC, or visit an emergency room. We know our city and province are not doing enough to house people.
In 2021, the auditor general released a damning report on the government’s approach to addressing homelessness, concluding the government has no plan to reduce or end homelessness.
It’s two years later, and the government has failed to implement even half of the auditor general’s modest recommendations to address one of Ontario’s biggest moral and social failings.
The report also found that the province’s lack of support for people transitioning out of jails, hospitals, and the child welfare system is a contributing factor to the number of people who are homeless, along with low social assistance rates and the high and escalating cost of rent.
The Conservatives are embracing unsustainable land-use planning.
The auditor general found that the region is building too much sprawl and not doing enough to increase density, improve transit, and protect our farmland and greenspaces.
The AG’s follow-up report concluded the Ford government had neglected most of the auditor general’s recommendations on how it could track its progress on land-use planning, implementing just one of 12 recommendations. No surprises here.
Condo residents need better consumer protections.
Thousands of Torontonians live in condos, sharing everything from elevators, air, and party rooms. Some of these buildings are so big they have multimillion-dollar budgets and house as many people as small towns. Just like there’s rules for towns, there needs to be sensible, fair, and enforceable rules to ensure we get condo living right.
I have been working with other MPPs to improve condo standards because we get many complaints from condo residents. Some of the most common complaints are about illegal Airbnbs, massive hikes in condo fees, condo boards that refuse to hold fair elections, property managers that don’t do their job, and new buildings rife with flaws and defects, from poor ventilation to flooding. Many are incredibly angry to learn that there’s little they can do to fix their problems.
The auditor general’s latest progress report shows that while some progress has been made to improve protections, Ontario still has a long way to go to ensure condo residents can seek redress if they have a concern with their condo board, property manager, building developer, or neighbour.
In the coming months, other MPPs and I will collaborate with the auditor general’s office to improve the performance of these sectors. I look forward to hearing your comments or feedback on these matters.
Jessica Bell is the MPP for University-Rosedale and the Official Opposition’s Housing Critic. She can be reached at jbell@ndp.on.ca or 416-535-7206.
April 5th, 2024 · Comments Off on HISTORY: Dupont building was a purpose-built car factory (Feb. 2024)
Examining the old and new: Toronto’s first Model T assembly plant
Pictured above at left: a 1915 Ford Model Roadster model; middle: 672 Dupont at Christie where these models were assembled; and at right: a 1915 Ford Model T Coupe. Both cars are on permanent display at 672 Dupont and it’s free to visit!
By Mia Keskinen
At the turn of the 20th century, Toronto was considered a car manufacturing town; now, this is a distant memory. Evidence can still be found today, as the location of Toronto’s first Model T factory was at Dupont and Christie streets.
In 1915, a Ford Model T assembly plant and show room was built at 672 Dupont St., now owned by Faema, a commercial coffee equipment supplier. Each of the five floors were built with reinforced flooring to support the weight of the automobiles being assembled. Each floor also had a different purpose. The first floor was the showroom. Model Ts, which were only available in a sleek black colour, retailed for a significantly lower price than vehicles today. They cost $360, which equates to $9,566 in today’s dollars. Currently, Faema’s displays two of the original Model Ts in its windows and a sign that details the vehicle’s history, giving Toronto residents a glimpse into the past.
Henry Ford, who lived from 1863-1947, was a notable inventor and industrialist. He created the Ford Motor Company in 1903. On Oct. 1, 1908, Ford invented the Model T, the first automobile that would be mass-produced on an assembly line and would make record sales of over 16 million automobiles over the next 20 years. Given the high demand for the Model T, the Ford Motor Company expanded internationally. In Canada, it built assembly plants in Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Toronto.
The plant on Dupont was built at that site because of proximity to the rail line. Loading docks facing the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks were located on the second floor, as this floor was created for imports and exports.
Parts were brought in by train, and cars were shipped throughout Canada and the world, especially the British Empire. The third and fourth floors contained the assembly line. This facility also manufactured right-hand drive cars that were exported to several British colonies, including India and Australia. Finally, the fifth floor was a paint shop where each Model T was painted a sleek black colour. Perhaps most surprisingly, the roof also had a test track for the finished product.
In the mid-1920s, the Ford Motor Company relocated its operational facilities to a factory close to Danforth Avenue and Victoria Park Avenue. There is significantly less public knowledge about this plant as it did not establish the same notoriety as Toronto’s first assembly plant. The original building, at 672 Dupont St., has stood the test of time. Both its exterior (vivacious red bricks) and its interior, are in pristine condition due to Faema’s historical preservation efforts. This building is a true hidden gem and is testament to the Annex’s industrial period in the early 20th century.
Comments Off on HISTORY: Dupont building was a purpose-built car factory (Feb. 2024)Tags:General
The image on (on page 1 of our printed edition) was taken in 1923, at the former Toronto Skating Club. Silhouettes of two couples hand in hand on the ice offer a glimpse into the city’s rich figure skating history.
Each person in this image was dressed to the nines, speaking to the glitz and glamour of the 1920s. The men in the photo were dressed in perfectly polished black suits typical of the times.
This old building occupying 568 Dupont Street now houses the posh Queen’s Club, self described as Toronto’s oldest indoor tennis club, but was once a skating venue. MIA KESKINEN/GLEANER NEWS
The ladies were adorned in alluring garments, and with skirts flying, they swiftly danced across the ice in iridescent black boots for all eyes to see.
Occasionally, it was possible to catch a glimpse of lustrous, and for the time, valiant, ebony stockings with each pirouette, each sudden movement.
The tradition of two pairs dancing on the ice together to entertain an audience was originally called Fours. The Fours competition was born in Ottawa and could be considered the first international skating competition.
Canada joined the International Skating Union in 1894, and in the mid-twenties to early-thirties skaters from the club made history. Cecil Smith was among them. She was the first woman to represent Canada at the Winter Olympics in 1924. Maude Smith and Jack Eastwood skated as a pair and placed second at the national championship in 1929 and 1933. Constance Wilson-Samuel competed in three Olympics and won Canada’s national championship nine times. All these athletes called the Toronto Skating Club home.
Founded in 1895, the club had exclusive rights to the Victoria Arena on Huron Street on Monday evenings and Friday afternoons.
In 1921 they built their own skating rink at 568 Dupont Street. This facility served as a rehearsal spot for skaters who trained for the popular annual winter carnivals held at the Toronto Skating Club. Beginning in 1912, these carnivals helped the club raise funds to build the facility at 568 Dupont St.
According to the website Hiking the GTA, an estimated $50,000 was raised in 1921 which enabled the club to finish construction. However, due to the seasonal nature of this sport, the club could only collect revenue throughout six months of the year.
MIA KESKINEN/GLEANER NEWS
Eventually, through mergers, the club would become the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. It is now located at 141 Wilson Ave.
The property at 568 Dupont St. (just east of Loblaws at Dupont and Christie) had a historic plaque on the corner, but it was stolen a couple of years ago, only to be replaced recently. The building at 568 Dupont Street stands just two buildings east of Toronto’s original Model T factory (the first mass-produced automobile in history). The Queen’s Club, Toronto’s oldest indoor tennis club, purchased the Dupont Street property in 1957, transforming it into a non-profit indoor tennis club.
Although people would be far more casually dressed in a modern picture, these trailblazers of figure skating paved the way for the passion for the sport that remains prevalent in Canada. The building at 568 Dupont St. still breathes life, and the history of sportsmanship remains, inspiring present and future generations to include sport in their daily life.
December 23rd, 2023 · Comments Off on NEWS: Receipt checks raise retail conflict (Dec. 2023)
Shoppers Drug Mart faces backlash against receipt checks
A Shoppers Drug Mart employee paces behind a patron while they process their self checkout. BRIAN BURCHELL/GLEANER NEWS
By Alexa Méndez
Customers at Shoppers Drug Mart at Bloor and Spadina are logging their complaints online against random requests from staff to show they paid for their goods. Online reviews of the store at 360A Bloor St. W. say the location is one where visible minorities are likely to get profiled and harassed by employees, and in mid-June, customers united on social media to voice their concerns about the introduced receipt-checking practice at Loblaw-owned grocers. Shoppers is a subsidiary.
“If they were to do it, I think it’s best to do it with everybody,” said Sofia after stepping out of Shoppers Drug Mart. “If you’re not checking everyone’s receipt, then it’s going to feel like a personal attack.”
Kirsty Niglas-Collins, lawyer at Unified LPP, a Toronto law firm, said stores should consider their responsibilities under the Ontario Human Rights Code.
“Even if a store intends to interact with every customer,” said Niglas-Collins, “very often these practices become selective. Once a practice becomes selective, it is, in my view, likely to become discriminatory.”
Some customers feel that Shoppers Drug Mart has wrongly assumed there has been an increase in shoplifting because there are fewer cashiers and customers are using reusable bags.
“I live in the area. Most of the time [when] I go to this Shoppers there’s only one lady at the cash [register], and every now and then, there’s that security guard who stands by the self-checkout,” said Miles, another Shoppers Drug Mart customer.
According to Statistics Canada, police-reported shoplifting increased by 31 per cent between 2019 and 2022.
Some customers assume an increase in shoplifting has led to receipt checks, and they believe it does have the potential to be a successful loss prevention practice but has to be executed differently.
“I understand why they check, but at the same time, you could just base it off of your personal bias and just be like ‘Oh, this person looks suspicious,’” Sofia said.
Maithilee is among the customers who question how individuals are selected to show their receipts.
“I am noticing that some people do get checked. Some people maybe not. I honestly would like to know what it’s based on.”
Niglas-Collins said, “Stores should consider their contractual relationships with shoppers and whether they have a basis to conduct receipt checks.”
In the past three months, other customers have resorted to Google reviews to express their experiences with receipt checks.
“There was [an] undercover security person standing at the end of the self-serve,” Fern commented under the Google reviews of Shoppers Drug Mart at 360A Bloor St. W. “He said, ‘I need to verify your receipt.”
According to customers, the security guard conducting the receipt checks initially wore a vest that read asset protection, but more recently, the security guard no longer wears a role-identification vest other than a security uniform.
In response to this, some customers believe that Shoppers Drug Mart should be more transparent about receipt checks.
“If it’s someone that works for a company or a corporation, I feel like they definitely have to be more open,” Sofia said.
Niglas-Collins said that although she is not aware of cases regarding receipt-check discrimination, she is “aware of cases concerning ID checks, ticket checks and applications for jobs or housing that all featured discrimination as a result of a selective practice.”
In response to the Gleaner’s request for a statement, Shoppers Drug Mart’s regional loss prevention specialist and district asset protection manager, Linda Ringuette, said “Thanks for reaching out, but I’m not interested.”
Comments Off on NEWS: Receipt checks raise retail conflict (Dec. 2023)Tags:Annex · News
December 23rd, 2023 · Comments Off on EDITORIAL: AG confirms Ford rigged Science Centre analysis (Dec. 2023)
In an annual report, Ontario’s Acting Auditor General (AG) Nick Stavropoulos contradicts the conclusions of the government’s stated “business case” for moving the Ontario Science Centre to Ontario Place. It turns out the “savings” the government promises taxpayers is anything but.
Infrastructure Ontario announced this past week that moving the Science Centre to a new, smaller waterfront building would save $277 million over 50 years. This argument comes months after the Doug Ford government announced the move, so it is something of an afterthought. The AG report strongly disagrees with the government’s case.
According to the AG, there was no serious discussion with the City of Toronto, or the Toronto Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). Together the city and the authority are the landlords to the province with a 99-year lease for the existing location. And according to that lease, the province may only operate a science centre on the site and is contractually obliged to maintain it. The province also failed to consult with users including school groups and suburban parents who may not want a smaller science centre located in the traffic hell that is the waterfront. The province after all is close to opening the Eglinton LRT which has a stop called “Science Centre.”
The province has now backed away from its plan to demolish the existing centre on Don Mills Road. The AG estimates that $257 million is needed to repair the existing repurposed structure. Since the government likes to borrow from distant future savings in its arguments, that’s $369 million over the next 20 years. The report also says the government conveniently omitted “parking costs, financing, legal and other transactional costs.”
The fact that the new Science Centre is only half the size of the existing one is not considered. It’s the other elephant in the room. It’s an apples-to-oranges comparison.
Aside from the aforementioned deficiencies and convenient omissions in the government’s case identified by this independent assessment, it is not widely acknowledged that the order of operations is all wrong here. This is classic Doug Ford with echoes of the Green Belt fiasco, the dissolution of Peel Region, and privatization of health care. The decision to move the centre was taken long before the stated reasons to do so were conjured up.
The real reason of course is to provide cover so the premier can justify spending $370 million on a parking garage for the private spa being built by the Austria-based Therme group at Ontario Place. That parking expense, not surprisingly, is not reflected in either business case. But you will see it with your tax bill; it just won’t be itemized.
To distract voters when the AG report was published, Doug Ford reached into his bag of shiny objects and offered banning puppy mills and pulling out of the plan to dissolve Peel Region. He concluded the week with a familiar go to: let’s sell beer out of corner stores, a variation on his other abandoned commitment—“buck a beer.”
Lest too much light be shed on the flaws in the government’s plans, the ruling conservatives passed a motion to bypass debate and public hearings on the bill to redevelop Ontario Place. The opposition says the skipped hearings and the absence of an opportunity for debate is undemocratic and suggests “the government is hiding something.” No kidding.
The provincial government should go back to the drawing board and take a serious look at the investments needed to renew the existing science centre facility and decouple it from the private spa which is clearly driving this flawed proposal.
December 23rd, 2023 · Comments Off on A hectic first year in University-Rosedale
Housing, new greenspaces, traffic, and construction dominate
By Dianne Saxe
A year ago this November, I was privileged to become your voice at Toronto city council. My office has been working hard to improve Ward 11 on issues including homelessness, development, community space, climate action, and making Toronto a greener, more affordable place to live. Walks in the Annex provide a moment to appreciate local bookstores, restaurants, parks, and heritage buildings. I enjoy discussing all these issues with constituents at countless community events and have put forward or seconded more than 60 motions at council and committees.
The questions we hear most often from the Annex relate to affordable housing, greenspace/ trees, and traffic.
Affordable housing is key for many people. Premier Ford continues to prevent Toronto from forcing developers to provide affordable housing, so I join my colleagues in calling on other levels of government to support the housing needs of the city. I also strongly support Mayor Chow’s generational housing plan and was proud to amend it to request that new housing support Toronto’s climate and air quality commitments by being -free of natural gas use.
On greenspace, I’m working closely with parks and recreation to obtain new parks and playgrounds in the Annex, to better maintain what we already have, and to plant new street trees wherever possible. We had successful public consultations for the design of the new Huron-Washington playground and the new park at Sussex and Spadina. I hope to see both built next year. We are also getting some progress on installing adult exercise equipment in Sibelius Park.
Traffic is terrible everywhere downtown and has been made worse by an overwhelming amount of construction. Some is for new condos; much is for the provincial transit agency Metrolinx; and some is for essential repairs and upgrades to roads and water mains. To better manage this chaos, I obtained council approval to establish a construction hub to cover much of the Annex. I ensured that the once-in-a-generation road reconstruction of Bloor from Avenue to Spadina will improve safety for pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists. (It’s great to see this work ahead of schedule; the new bike lanes are already heavily used.) I arranged to have crosswalks repainted to make life easier for our hard-working crossing guards. And I persuaded the council to treat road fatalities as seriously as we treat construction deaths, with better investigations that lead to remedial measures. Traffic deaths are not “accidents”; they are foreseeable consequences of poor road designs that don’t take safety seriously.
We are working closely with police and transportation services on the large number of complaints about heavy traffic in residential areas and road traffic violations. Data is important for focussing scarce enforcement resources, so I encourage you to report traffic violations at: https://www.tps.ca/services/online-reporting/. Parking violations should be reported at: https://www.tps.ca/services/online-reporting/parking-complaint-access/. Council has also simplified the process of installing speed humps, in order to force drivers to slow down to the speed limit. If you would like to see speed humps installed on your block, please get a petition signed by your residents’ association and at least 25 per cent of homes on your block, and I will ask transportation to put your block on their list.
Other recent improvements include:
Funding free WiFi for the common spaces at Toronto community housing’s 250 Davenport.
Persuading council to support a national Youth Climate Corps.
Working with the TTC to bring in fare integration with GO and other nearby transit systems, starting Q1 next year.
Unearthing dormant Section 37 funds and putting them to productive use.
Convincing the TTC to take less of Paul Martel Park during construction of its new Spadina Station streetcar platform.
Arranging to use development charges so the developer will build a much-needed and expanded subway concourse for Line 2 at Spadina Station.
Honoured to cut the ribbon when the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts opened its wonderful new B Street collaborative hub (support, rehearsal and recording space) for emerging artists at Bathurst and Dupont.
As we look ahead to 2024, we know that there is much to do to build the city we want to live in. Thank you for working with my staff on hundreds of questions and ward improvement ideas. Together, we can continue to build a safe, beautiful, and tolerant city that showcases our values of inclusiveness and generosity. Join me as we continue this journey of growth and opportunity.
Dianne Saxe in councillor Ward 11, University–Rosedale.
December 23rd, 2023 · Comments Off on Where’s Ontario’s student housing plan?
Students are particularly vulnerable to weak rental laws
By Jessica Bell
Justin is a graduate student studying pancreatic cancer at the University of Toronto. He’s one of thousands of students who live in our downtown neighbourhoods. When his building was bought by corporate landlord, Harrington Housing, he became a victim of neglect and harassment designed to drive him out of his rent-controlled home.
“I’ve had to live through unlivable conditions,” Justin told me. “I’ve had to walk down the stairs in the dark for months because they refused to fix the lights in the hallway. I’ve had to go to bed cold when they failed to maintain the boilers. I’ve seen my neighbors try for weeks to get a working fridge. My neighbors have been locked out of the building because the landlord changed the locks and didn’t give some tenants new keys.”
When tenants give up and move out, Harrington rents out individual bedrooms in each apartment for astronomical prices. A “deluxe” 115-square-foot bedroom in a basement apartment costs $310 a week. That’s not deluxe; it’s exploitation.
In September, I hosted a student housing forum at the University of Toronto, as part of our work to provide input into the Ford government’s quiet consultation process to address the student housing crunch. At the forum, students spoke of being illegally evicted by landlords, sleeping two to a bedroom, and the astonishingly high price of rent. While some students live on campus for their first year, most students live in private-market housing.
Welcoming and keeping young people is good for our province. If we want students to come and stay, then housing must be safer, more stable, and more affordable. Here’s how we can do it.
Ontario needs to enforce its rental laws. Currently, renters like Justin have nowhere to turn if their landlord is breaking the rules. Police don’t intervene. Provincial and city bylaw officers rarely step in, and it can take two years for the Landlord and Tenant Board to hear a tenant’s case. Even when a tenant wins, the fines are small, and many landlords don’t pay them.
Ontario needs to pass stronger rental laws, starting with strong rent control on all homes, including vacancy control so there’s a cap on rent hikes between tenancies. Rent control is the single most effective way to stabilize rent for 1.7 million Ontarians and curb illegal evictions. Student housing is exempt from rent control, as are homes first occupied after 2018.
Ontario should restrict short-term rentals to people’s primary residences in most areas. There are thousands of short-term rentals in investment properties being listed for 28 days or more on platforms like AirBnB. These homes are often not for tourists, but residents who can’t find a permanent home. By renting out bedrooms on a short-term basis, Harrington Housing is one of many companies taking advantage of big legal loopholes.
Ontario needs to address its housing supply shortage and spur the construction of 1.5 million homes. The government’s housing affordability taskforce offers some sensible recommendations on how to proceed, including recruiting people to a construction career, and zoning reform to speed up the construction of apartments near colleges and universities.
Ontario cannot rely on the private sector alone to meet our housing needs because new private-market housing is expensive. In Toronto, a 490-square-foot apartment at the new Waverley building at College and Spadina costs $2900 to rent. Justin can’t afford that; not many can.
To build the kinds of homes Ontarians need, governments should get back into the job of financing and building non-market and affordable housing, including housing on public land. Canada did this well after World War II and should do so again.
Making housing, including student housing, affordable, requires a comprehensive approach.
Justin has decided to stay and fight to keep his apartment, and he’s also getting politically involved, like many others. Their involvement in the political process is necessary. The affordability of our city is at stake.
Jessica Bell is MPP for University-Rosedale and the Housing Critic for the Official Opposition at Queen’s Park.
READ MORE BY JESSICA BELL:
FORUM: Engage in the political process and change can happen (Fall 2023)
December 23rd, 2023 · Comments Off on FOCUS: Grading our Greenspace (Dec. 2023)
Compiled by Alexa Méndez
Rejuvinated Queen’s Park looking north. MIA KESKINEN/GLEANER NEWS
Each year the Annex Gleaner reviews the abundance of parks in our coverage area using a variety of criteria. While there is no decisive “winner” of the grading, letter grades are assigned to convey the quality of the parks considering aspects such as upkeep, design, and amenities. The reviews accompanying the grades also let the reader know what makes each space unique.
This collection of park reviews contains the second nine parks reviewed this year, with more gradings to come in future editions of the Annex Gleaner
Queen’s Park
47 Queen’s Park Cres.
Grade: A (Last year B)
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Reasons to go: Queen’s Park is the friend that always gives and doesn’t expect anything back. The trees are the skyscrapers of the park, a subtle shield from the city’s vibrance. This park has a space for everyone—dozens of benches for uninterrupted pondering, leaf-carpeted paths for your daily strolls, and picnic tables for a change of scene during your lunch break. Even the dogs aggressively pull away from their leashes to get a sniff of the flowers blooming all around the park. It’s certainly a spot where you feel mesmerized by your simple surroundings of trees, squirrels, and people gracefully walking through.
Overheard: “That’s a skateboard rider,” a child points out, fascinated as the skateboard smacks against the concrete.
Did you know: The 15-foot statue of King Edward VII in the center of the park’s roundabout was originally located in Delhi, India for 56 years before it was installed in Toronto in 1969.
Jay Macpherson Green
255 Avenue Rd.
Grade: A- (Last year B+)
Time: 1:45 p.m.
Reasons to go: Jay Macpherson Green is on the corner of Avenue Road—often swarmed by cars—and Macpherson Avenue, a street lined by gorgeous Victorian homes. Though when the roads get lonelier, it’s harder to overlook the trees towering over the path, and even harder to ignore their invitation to stop and sit under them.
Overheard: A jogger softly panting as he passed through the park.
Did you know: Jay Macpherson was a poet and professor at Victoria College.
The well-appointed Sergeant Ryan Russell Parkette features a coveted water fountain. ALEXA MÉNDEZ/GLEANER NEWS
Sergeant Ryan Russell Parkette
250 Avenue Rd.
Grade: B+ (Last year B+)
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Reasons to go: Sergeant Ryan Russell Parkette may be your next stop after passing through Jay Macpherson Green right across the street. This park offers a safety blanket for children—a fenced playground—and it truly provides peace of mind for those minding them. The park also has a water fountain, a necessity for little ones after a day outside.
Overheard: “Just say excuse me,” a mother reassures her child while trying to get past a group of teenagers on the sidewalk.
Did you know: The Davey Mounsey Memorial Fund pays tribute to law enforcement, fire, EMS and military members through donating life-saving defibrillators to public buildings. The fund’s 133rd donation was in honour of Sergeant Ryan Russell, who died in the line of duty in 2011.
Boswell Parkette
4 Boswell Ave.
Grade: C+ (Last year B)
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Reasons to go: Boswell Parkette can be easily missed because it’s squeezed in between two buildings, tucked behind a bus stop, and well, its size. This small parkette may be limited, but it’s a great spot to wait for the bus or take a quick break. It is impressively well-maintained—a garbage bin nearby and a generous selection of greenery.
Overheard: An employee unloading bricks into a wheelbarrow on the back of a truck.
Did you know: Boswell Avenue—named after Toronto mayor, Arthur Radcliffe Boswell—was formally named Victoria Avenue.
Playful and creative Taddle Creek Park continues to shine. MARISA KELLY/GLEANER NEWS
Taddle Creek Park
40 Bedford Rd.
Grade: A (Last year A)
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Reasons to go: Taddle Creek Park is a breath of fresh air. Its playground has just enough for every little one to be content for as long as they’ll allow themselves. It’s the space you feel drawn to stay in for a while longer, and luckily there are numerous benches. It would be wrong to not mention the showstopper of the park, The Vessel, a sculpture made of 4 km of stainless-steel rod. This sculpture is a water-carrying vessel that truly ties the park’s personality together.
Overheard: “Can you come and take it for the rest of the way?” a man holding a wooden sculpture yells to a woman across the street.
Did you know: Taddle Creek was one of the many water sources that the Anishinaabe Nation or Ojibway-speaking people of the region drew from.
Philosopher’s Walk is a truly beloved park described by our reviewer as simply “romantic”. HAILEY ALEXANDER/GLEANER NEWS
Philosopher’s Walk
78 Queen’s Park Cres. W.
Grade: A+ (Last year A+)
Time: 4:30 p.m.
Reasons to go: Philosopher’s Walk is the walk you need after studying for hours, attending back-to-back meetings, or sinking into your mattress for too long. The ancestral trees will truly make you feel as if you have escaped to a scene in Narnia or Harry Potter. A walk can be a cure for many things. Is that what they say?
Overheard: “See! I told you,” said a man in excitement to somebody on the phone.
Did you know: Taddle Creek flowed through what is now Philosopher’s Walk, and the only bit left of Taddle Creek remains in the pond at Wychwood Park.
Modern playground equipment activates the Huron Street playground making it a great stopping place for kids on their way to and from school. ALEXA MÉNDEZ/GLEANER NEWS
Huron Street Playground
495 Huron St.
Grade: B- (Last year C+)
Time: 12:00 p.m.
Reasons to go: Within minutes of arriving, the playground was swarmed by dozens of children. A few swiftly climbed their way up the spider web climbing net, while others raced to the two web swings or curiously roamed the park. This park is a great stopping place on the way to and from school, but it feels like that’s all it is. It’s a fairly small space with only a few picnic tables and benches, so there is not an open invitation for all caregivers or passersby to sit down. Considering all the excitement and determination to play, the water fountain station is greatly used at this park.
Overheard: A little boy screaming when a few birds flew gracelessly over his head.
Did you know: Dogs don’t have to miss out on the fun thanks to the fenced leash-free area!
Robert Street Park
60 Sussex Ave.
Grade: A+ (Last year A-)
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Reasons to go: Robert St. Park is a friend to all. Even as you’re stepping over your feet to get to class on time or speed walking to catch your subway, this park manages to lure you in. It does nothing in particular—it has a field, a few benches, a few clusters of shaded Adirondack chairs—but you are drawn by how the community shares this space. You may get a glimpse of young girlhood—a dozen girls sit on the grassy hill, braiding one another’s hair and sharing secrets. Perhaps you will sit at one of the many benches along the outside of the grass field and listen to a group of young boys argue over who is keeping the right score in their game of frisbee. It’s a unique spot that has a space for everyone—alone or with company—and some may say the revitalization of Robert Street Park was worth the wait.
Overheard: “I’m open,” a boy yells out to his friend during an intense ultimate frisbee game.
Did you know: The University of Toronto invested in a geoexchange system to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by drilling 153 boreholes extending 850 feet below Robert Street Park.
Huron Washington Park
406 Huron St.
Grade: B+ (Last year No Grade)
Time: 1:00 p.m.
Reasons to go: Huron Washington Park is a fenced playground with a variety of play spots for children. The main emphasis is on the playground structure and the swing set. It’s a fairly small park with no greenspace within the fenced area, but it’s a great spot for children to have fun. This area has a lot of foot traffic, but it’s a quiet place for a city park!
Overheard: “The sun is so hot,” a boy says to his friend while taking a break from throwing their football around.
Did you know: Dorothy Peebles was recognized as a lifelong, compassionate activist and her memorial tree is in Huron Washington Park.
December 5th, 2023 · Comments Off on ON THE COVER: Pretty cool (Fall 2023)
It’s great that the Bloor Annex was recognized as one of “The 40 coolest in the world” by Time Out – a leading global hospitality publication based in the U.K. Over 12,000 people voted for which places should be in the top 40. Only two in Canada were selected.
