Not just buildings By Joe Cressy If you’ve ever made your way to a development meeting in Ward 20, you’ve heard me talk about the need to build community as we grow and change. With almost one quarter of all proposed development in the entire city occurring in our ward, we’d be leading ourselves astray without this focus. This has […]

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Canadian cities receive only 10 cents for each tax dollar they pay By Mike Layton With all the talk about tolls and taxes, I feel I need to admit something: I don’t mind paying taxes. The reason I don’t mind paying taxes is simple — taxes are the price we pay for living in a […]

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Travels with daughter enable fresh look at community By Mike Layton Growing up in our neighbourhood, I thought I knew it inside and out, but I’ve spent the last year seeing it through a new set of eyes. Joined by my daughter, Phoebe, I have developed a new understanding of our community. You may have […]

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Favourites include carol singing, winter solstice We asked our local representatives how they spend the holidays. Councillors Joe Cressy (Ward 20, Trinity-Spadina) and Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina), Toronto District School Board Trustee Ausma Malik (Ward 10, Trinity-Spadina), and our MPP Han Dong (Trinity-Spadina) shared their favourite traditions, their proudest achievement of the year, and […]

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READ MORE: CHATTER: Ground-breaking bike lanes launch on Bloor Street (August 2016) NEWS: Bikes blessed for another season (June 2016) FOCUS: An early advocate for bike lanes (June 2016) NEWS: Bike lanes for Bloor Street (May 2016) The faster we lower speeds, the more lives we save (October 2015) Early brewer the basis for Bloor […]

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Dangerous summer for Toronto pedestrians and cyclists By Mike Layton Recent statistics from the Toronto Police Service show a disturbing trend — collisions between vehicles and pedestrians and cyclists are on the rise. Since June 1 of this year 542 pedestrians and 541 cyclists, a total of 1,083 people, have been hit by drivers (cars) […]

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The Annex’s cycling community celebrated the unveiling of the Bloor Street pilot bike lane project on Aug. 12. Speaking at the unveiling, Mike Layton (Ward 19, Trinity-Spadina) noted that talks of a Bloor Street bike lane date to 40 years ago, when cyclists were taking to the streets even though the city had no bike […]

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By Brian Burchell Spurred on by a recent spike in drug overdose deaths, Toronto City Council voted 36 to 3 on July 14 to establish three Supervised Injection Sites (SIS) throughout the city. Typically run through public health clinics, such sites provide a space for clients to self-administer drugs — which they supply themselves — […]

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By Mike Layton The phone started ringing in my office almost immediately. Why is the Alex Duff Memorial Pool closed during the hottest days of summer? Why wasn’t the pool fixed earlier in the season? Why doesn’t it look like anyone is working on it? All valid questions that deserved answers. And especially when the […]

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Christie Pits to get new playground equipment By Geremy Bordonaro The second phase of the Christie Pits renewal is set to begin. New playground equipment will be installed, the two basketball courts will be merged, and the park will be made more accessible. The work comes on the heels of the first phase — completed […]

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Plan to transform underutilized space [pullquote]“This is a major greening initiative for the neighbourhood”—Jonathan Da Silva, Bloor-Annex BIA[/pullquote] By Annemarie Brissenden Bloor Street West is about to get a whole lot greener, and it’s all thanks to the trees. Currently confined to box planters, Bloor Street’s trees are suffering. The concrete boxes — sometimes known […]

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