Toronto is busy planning for yesteryear Mayor John Tory doesn’t think much of me. He doesn’t even acknowledge my existence. In fact, he said there are incredibly few of me. The “me” in this case is a parent without a car. Yet I know for a fact that I am not alone. The endless discussions […]

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The danger of equating pop culture with the periodic table This neighbourhood is known for great people and I’m lucky enough to call many of them neighbours. I had the pleasure of joining some friends for dinner recently. After dinner, the gracious host pulled out a game and continued their after-dinner tradition of playing the […]

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Invest in transit and public works, not roads and parking If all goes according to plan — and with the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) it never does — Torontonians should enjoy time-based transfers starting in August. It’s great news for transit users but critics — who claim it’s an unfair subsidy — are livid. “How […]

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Governments must move sooner to address issues big and small By Terri Chu If it’s nobody’s problem, does it really need to be solved? Scientists are once again sounding the alarm about the untenable amount of plastic in the world’s oceans. It is estimated that there will soon be more plastic in the ocean than […]

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Researchers shouldn’t have to spend their time asking for money The federal government recently announced that it provided $1.6 million to the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) to great fanfare. It is enough to keep it running through 2019. It seems like such a paltry amount considering we spent half a billion dollars to […]

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What’s left out is just as important The data is in on the Bloor Street pilot bike lanes, and it seems to support keeping the lanes. (Now that the bike lanes are in, even on a pilot basis, it’s a little surreal to me that anyone actually wants to pull them out.) But speaking of […]

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We need to plant more than we harvest As we turn our attention to going back to school, it’s nice to reflect on the ways we can reduce the waste that we generate during the school year. According to one survey, the average school in the United States uses about 2,000 sheets of paper per […]

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Delicious mulberries were at the height of season in early July for the Annex Residents’ Association’s (ARA) first ever Mulberry Festival. Organized by Trees Please, an ARA working group, and sponsored by the association and COBS Bread, the event drew about 70 to 80 participants who celebrated the urban forest and a love of mulberries. […]

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Toronto shouldn’t have to pay for roads used by non-Torontonians I love a good history lesson. The Green Party of Ontario is floating a wonderful petition to implement road tolls on the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) and Gardiner Expressway. I haven’t been shy about being a fan for congestion control purposes. It likely won’t be […]

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Time to end the car era By Terri Chu While I grant you that visiting a place for a mere two days can’t possibly do it justice, I was more than happy to leave Madrid after what felt like a very long 48 hours. Despite great cuisine and historic vistas, the city felt destroyed by […]

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Governments need to change behaviour through policy By Terri Chu This past Earth day, the planet surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. I remember being taught in primary school that 350 ppm was the magic number we weren’t supposed to reach. We sang songs about loving the earth and […]

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We need to change ingrained cultural practices Food waste is a $31-billion problem. Every year, roughly 40 per cent of perfectly edible food that is grown and imported is thrown away. Of that, households account for half of the problem. Discarded food usually takes the form of unwanted leftovers, imperfect food deemed unsalable, oversupply, and, […]

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