June 2026
Dear Neighbours,
Happy June! With summer now in full swing, there’s so much happening in our ward and across Toronto.
Here are the top three things you should know this month:
1. The people of Toronto want and deserve a say in the future of our waterfront. Doug Ford’s “gravy jet” plan for Billy Bishop Airport is this generation’s Spadina Expressway. It would have transformative and largely irreversible impacts on our downtown and waterfront, including: massive traffic congestion, air and water pollution, increased cancer risks and lung damage, paving over parkland and perhaps Hanlan’s point, less housing, and loss of pleasure boating. Without any public mandate, Ford is seizing Toronto’s land, our rights, and our seat at the airport table. That is why I fought for a public referendum to give a voice back to Torontonians. Since my colleagues turned it down, the only option left is to lobby your local MP. Only the federal government can stop the gravy jet plan now and save Toronto’s waterfront.
2. Road safety matters. To get some control over the unlicensed motorcycle-like vehicles that bomb down sidewalks and bike lanes at high speed, Council agreed to my motion to require them to be licensed under the Highway Traffic Act and directed staff to come back with bylaw changes to prohibit them in cycling infrastructure. Once adopted, these changes would require riders to either license and insure their mopeds/ motorcycles and ride them in general traffic, or switch back to speed-limited e-assist bicycles if they want to ride in bike lanes.
3. It goes without saying that Sneaky Dee’s is iconic; it has been a pillar of our city’s modern cultural and music scenes for almost 40 years. Feist, Broken Social Scene, Tokyo Police Club, and the Cowboy Junkies all cut their teeth as regulars at Sneaky’s. It’s where the Barenaked Ladies got their big break in 1989. If we didn’t have Sneaky Dee’s, many giants of our Canadian musical landscape would not have walked so tall, nor reached so far, on the world stage.
City planning staff recommend approval of a rezoning Application for the Sneaky Dee’s site which came to May’s TEYCC meeting. This evoked a huge outpouring of public love for Sneaky Dee’s, and outrage that it might be lost to yet another condo tower. To make sure that we’re doing everything we can to preserve this magical music venue, I deferred the application to the July 8/9 TEYCC meeting. Until then, I’m working with the developer and Sneaky Dee’s owner so that there will be a written and binding agreement between them that ensures Sneaky Dee’s survival. We’re working together to build a city for people to live, grow, and raise families – and that’s important. But as we build, it’s also important to preserve and protect that which makes Toronto so special.
In other news:
Our parks keep getting better. The new Gallery Park has opened at Dundas and McCaul, kitty-corner from the AGO. This anchor for the Relic Park system honours art, memory and community. It is particularly beautiful at night, when the architectural relics and indigenous ironwork are evocatively lit. A new active leisure park has also opened at Ossington and Dupont.
Cormier and Associates have finalized their redesign of Pricefield Park, with a better playground and a central rose sculpture for Rosedale. Construction is to start in 2027.
Improvements are underway and planned at Christie Pits. The baseball diamonds have been repaired; their paths will be upgraded shortly. The basketball courts will be redone this fall. Design work is underway for an upgraded playground, a splash pad, and safety netting for the professional baseball diamond. And consultations continue on the skate spot.
Effective by-law enforcement is essential for a successful city, but challenging due to limited resources, high staff turnover, population growth, court backlogs and the drug crisis. Much of this is beyond the city’s control, but we can and should improve enforcement staff training. Due to my motion, now we will.
The 2026 rain barrel subsidy program has closed after selling out due to high demand. If you have a barrel, please use the water or let it drain on dry days so that you have room to collect water the next time it rains. That’s how a rain barrel benefits our sewer systems and reduces beach pollution.
We should not be silent about hate, including virulent antisemitism. Thank you to community leaders who are taking action, including the recent antisemitism summit hosted by Rosedale United Church (Then and Now) and the learning resource supported by the Ontario Arts Council (Bridging Worlds).
Heat is our top climate health risk, and this could be a brutally hot summer. AC was a luxury in Toronto’s old climate; now it is increasingly essential. Hundreds of thousands of tenants still swelter, since the city cannot force landlords to provide AC without making tenants pay for it. Instead, the city is asking the federal government for retrofit funding and meanwhile will install portable AC for 2,400 high-needs seniors and new parents.
Climate breakdown makes winter more challenging too. The annual snow report showed how staff managed January’s off-the-charts snowfalls. In short, ploughing was faster, but snow removal is still painfully slow, and more needs to be done as the weather gets wilder. Click here for information on 16 improvements underway or planned, as well as those (like ploughing laneways) that don’t fit in the budget.
A new report from the Auditor General shows that, since I began to chair the TTC Audit and Risk Management Committee, management of the TTC has improved. Instead of unresolved audit findings steadily piling up, the TTC is getting to grips with its chronic issues and starting to get them under control. There is still a lot of work to do, but it’s good to see progress, and I continue to focus on safety, reliability, and timeliness.
Lastly, and on a more pleasant note, I’d like to highlight Ward 11’s network of cultural gems. They’re unique in our city, and I am proud to keep enriching them.
I was delighted to fund our second new live performance venue: a Mirvish Village home for the much-loved Bad Dog Theatre. After years of construction, it is great to see Mirvish Village coming back to life, with a treed streetscape and people lining up for Pizzeria Badiali. Honest Ed’s Park is coming soon.
I was also excited to visit the reinvigorated El Mocambo, which Toronto came so close to losing last year.
Wishing everyone a Happy Pride Month!
Sincerely,
Councillor Dianne Saxe
May 2026
Dear Neighbours,
Here are my top three things this month:
- Council has strengthened RentSafeTO, to better protect tenants in apartment buildings (≥three storeys / ten units), and to focus enforcement on the worst landlords. Rating criteria have been refocused on serious breaches, in time for the new red/yellow/green system. Staff expect about 76% of buildings will have green ratings (satisfactory); 21% will be scored yellow (needs improvement) and 3% will be scored red (needs significant improvement).
- My climate action this Earth month included:
- I strengthened the Electrification Advantage Report, which came to Council as a compromise document between Toronto Hydro, The Atmospheric Fund, and Environment, climate and forestry.
- I ensured that the EV charging report will include opportunities to use bidirectional Electric Vehicle charging to meet Toronto’s peak electrical demand, thus reducing the cost of electricity.
- I brought OMERS back to IEC to present its annual climate action progress. Board Chair George Cooke confirmed that this annual summons, and the questions that I ask, materially influence OMERS to continue its climate commitments.
- I represented the Climate Caucus in Ottawa at Clean Electricity Lobby Days, working with labour, environmental, and indigenous groups to build federal support for clean electricity.
- I helped ensure that Toronto’s Congestion management plan recognizes the key roles of transit, cycling/bike lanes and walking.
- Toronto is, at last, switching our streetlights to LEDs and starting to fix the wiring. This will reduce climate pollution, costs, crashes and crime, which is why most other North American cities have already switched. More than 80% of our roads do not meet current lighting standards, and large parts of our streetlighting system are past their useful life.
- I joined many Earth Day events, including community cleanups and the GlobeWalk.
- The City has chosen five teams, led by Canadian architects, to propose designs for the Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre, 1010 Yonge Street. At my request, this is Toronto’s first design competition for a recreation centre since 1987. Each team must design “a vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming destination while advancing global best practices in design and sustainability in alignment with Toronto Green Standards and TransformTO Net Zero Strategy”. A public exhibition of the five designs is planned for Fall 2026.
In other news:
I’m pleased to let you know that work on speeding up transit is paying dividends. For example, my parking changes on Bathurst have allowed a 1/3 speed improvement for the northbound bus between Bloor and Dupont. In turn, Council support for putting transit first has spurred the TTC to launch a comprehensive program to increase streetcar speeds across the city.
We’re delivering more comfortable transit: Within weeks of Council adopting my funding motion, the TTC installed 49 new benches in Ward 11 subway stations from Castle Frank to Christie. Thank you!
I’m also working with the Chief Engineers of the city and the TTC to speed up construction projects and to be more considerate of their effects on the surrounding community. For example, the Bay/College intersection reopened weeks early, and the planned open cut across Yonge for the Rowanwood watermain has been cut from two months to two weeks.
But while the city, the TTC, and I are working hard for you, Doug Ford’s latest attacks on Toronto (Bill 98) will steal our share in the Billy Bishop airport, turn Little Norway Park into a parking lot, put at risk the viability of the waterfront and planned billions in housing development, and impoverish the TTC for the benefit of suburban voters. If you want to help try to stop Ford, I ask that you reach out to your MP and make your voice heard!
Despite Ford’s behaviour here at home, the global trend remains clear – clean, cheap renewables are winning, per Ember’s Global Electricity Review 2026. Even before Trump’s war turbocharged the case for freedom from fossil fuels:
- 📈 World renewable power generation overtook coal in 2025 for the first time in 100 years.
- 🔥 Coal-powered electricity is losing market share in every major region of the world. Total fossil fuel power generation fell by 0.2%.
- 🔋Battery storage deployment rose 46% year-on-year, while pack prices fell 45%.
Turning back to local matters, I want to congratulate the Rosedale United Church and the Royal Conservatory of Music for winning Toronto Heritage Grants for restoring their lovely buildings.
And good news, kids – there will now be more ice cream (and other) vendors in selected parks! David Balfour, Ramsden and Christie Pits are leading candidates in Ward 11.
Intensive work is underway on many elements of the Queen’s Park North concept plan that is coming to Infrastructure and Environment committee June 10, especially the Urban Forestry Management Plan, the business plan for the proposed Cafe, and the heritage statement.
Thanks to watchful BIAs, to better parking enforcement, and to higher fines, drivers aren’t blocking our bike lanes as often.
Lastly, I was immensely proud to stand up for the AIDS community at Council so that they can be heard (June 7 at Economic and Community Development Committee) on their vision for changes to the AIDS Memorial in Barbara Hall Park. Thank you to everyone who wrote in to our office on this issue. Together, I think we made an important difference for the community on this project.
April 2026
Hello Neighbours,
I hope you’ve been enjoying the first signs of spring around the neighbourhood. There’s certainly been a lot of exciting things happening across University-Rosedale – here are a few important updates:
1. It’s exciting to see the new west entrance to Ramsden Park under construction. It will feature an open space, a tree, a new path to the new crosswalk across Avenue Road, better lighting and (I hope) public art. Also good to see the renovated dog park with new gates and fences, and refreshed wood chips, as well as the new rinks and tennis surfaces.
2. Improving Service Excellence. My hard work pushing for better responses to 311 requests now means faster action and better tracking. A Service Standard Dashboard is now open, letting you see the status of all 311 requests, using various filters, and a list of service standards. For the rest of 2026, data will refresh monthly, going close to real-time in 2027. Meanwhile, the Service Excellence report shows progress in implementing “Closing the Loop” and in using 311 service requests to focus maintenance of parks and potholes.
3. In response to several recent home invasions, I hosted a community meeting with~300 residents, where we were joined by representatives from the Toronto Police to discuss what the police are doing, how the public can help, and how best to protect our homes. The HoldUp Squad, 53 Division and other police units described the extra measures they are taking, the arrests being made and how individuals and security companies can provide information. The most helpful advice for direct personal action was to install safety film on accessible glass surfaces and steel frame inserts on exterior doors. Vehicle immobilizers, bollards and wheel boots have reportedly prevented auto thefts, though steering wheel clubs are often defeated. Council supported my request for a swift police report on all police actions being taken or that should be taken to deter, investigate, solve and report outcomes on these deeply disturbing crimes.
In other news:
4. As planned, the March Council approved all my s.37 motions: capital upgrades for ten affordable housing buildings run by St. Clare’s and by TCHC; accessibility, HVAC and performance improvements for cultural gems TRANZAC, the Annex Theatre and the Al GreeIn Theatre; heritage conservation at the lovely Heliconian Hall; public art at the Toronto Reference Library and Toronto Western Hospital; Huron Garden upgrades; benches and wayfinding at our TTC Line 2 stations, and a “Bathurst Gateway” to kick off the Little Italy Master Streetscape.
5. My other successes at March Council include:
a. Improvements to the Queens Park North design approval process to guarantee that valuable mature trees will not be harmed, and to review the business plan for the café. The concept plan will now come to the Infrastructure and Environment committee for approval on June 10.
b. Recognizing Chinatown as a cultural district. The draft Chinatown Planning Framework (vision) will come to TEYCC on April 1.
c. Strengthening the Ravine strategy.
d. Amending the tree bylaw to improve enforcement and to better protect both exceptional trees and the smaller trees that will create tomorrow’s canopy.
e. Directing a review of opportunities to support nonprofit food co-ops such as our own much-loved Karma Co-op.
f. Cutting through procedural obstacles concerning Portage Park.
g. Protecting short-term parking for businesses in the Rosedale BIA.
h. Supporting the Bum Run (colorectal cancer fundraiser).
i. Examining the review process for Artificial Intelligence Data Centre proposals.
j. School safety pavement markings.
k. Renewing and improving the Evergreen Brickworks lease.
l. Making Lennox two-way between Markham and Palmerston.
m. Granting heritage protection to the lovely University College building.
n. Traffic calming turn restrictions for Euclid Avenue.
o. Bringing the Kensington Market Heritage Conservation District into effect by settling the outstanding appeals.
6. Unlimited clean water on demand is one of the blessings of living in Toronto, and it depends, among other things, on adequate pipes. After a year’s delay due to underground obstructions, the Rowanwood Watermain replacement project is getting underway. The current watermain is undersized, cast-iron (i.e. brittle), and 100 years old. I am doing everything I can to minimize adverse impacts from this noisy, disruptive, inconvenient, but necessary project.
7. Reverend Wendell Gibbs of the First Baptist Church and I cohosted an interfaith potluck dinner of clergy to explore how to build bridges between communities to reduce racial/religious hate and violence. More meetings are planned, and an interfaith planting event at Wigwamen, as well as a “One Toronto” Ward 11 interfaith walk on May 7. I hope you will join us.
8. In 2024, TAF and I persuaded Council to reduce zoning obstacles to energy efficiency and renewable energy. Will we get the first of these zoning amendments before the end of the term? Watch for Phase 1 of Zoning for Low-Carbon Technologies, a comprehensive review of Toronto’s City-wide Zoning By-law 569-2013 with a focus on climate action.
9. Yes, we know there are potholes everywhere, making many roads unpleasant or treacherous. The annual pothole repair blitz is underway. Please report large potholes to 311.
10. The Audit and Risk Management committee that I chair at the TTC is triggering management improvements, particularly in safety, in transit priority, and in competing demands to repair and upgrade infrastructure. Last year, for example, I insisted on the TTC’s internal audit looking at the accuracy and usefulness of information provided to customers, e.g. when to expect the next bus. The resulting investigation and report are leading to noticeable improvements, with more to come.
11. 2025 was another record-breaking year at BikeShare, with 7.8 million rides and revenue of $17.1M. That includes 216,256 rides in the first BikeShare year on the Toronto Islands. Many new docking stations, bikes, and user features will be added this year, especially in our bike-focused ward. BikeShare’s new motto: “Get there happy!”
12. I’m grateful for the outpouring of support from the public, as well as the police, for my proposal to reduce fraudulent abuse of accessible parking permits.
13. Save the Date: Our first community environment day will be May 10 at Central Tech. Our annual Spring Spectacular and sapling giveaway will be at Christie Pits on May 17!
March 2026
Top three things you should know this month:
1. City Budget:
The mayor’s 2026 Budget was finalized February 10: a $18.9 billion operating budget and a 2.2% tax increase.
The top budget expense is better transit, with no fare increase, more service and a 47-ride fare cap. Better emergency services, longer library hours, the Toronto Arts Council, air conditioners for low-income seniors and a tax break for small businesses were also funded, plus we gave many millions in waived development charges to build affordable housing. Most other programs were flatlined. The major cuts were in capital spending, such as a one-third reduction in the long-awaited renovation of the Toronto Reference Library.
For the hard-working, chronically underfunded Cecil Community Centre, I successfully negotiated an extra $279,100 in the 2026 operating budget (16.9%) plus a one time extra $100,000 through a budget motion. I also obtained $32,500 to augment climate action grants.
2. Transit getting better:
In addition to the extra operating funds, it’s not every month that a major new transit line opens in Toronto! After 15 years and $13B, we were all relieved that the Eglinton Crosstown (Line 6) soft opening went well. Always some bugs to fix, but it’s clean, comfortable, occasionally beautiful and faster than the bus.
Meanwhile, work continues to speed up our streetcars. AI, signal adjustments, parking changes and extra supervisor attention are helping to reduce bunching and gapping. And per my October motion, the Spadina streetcar now has signal priority over left-turning vehicles at Dundas, College and King, with more to come. The same lessons are now being rolled out to other lines, including LRT Lines 5 (Eglinton) and 6 (Finch West).
3. Putting dormant funds to work:
With needs so great and money so tight, I’ve been working even harder to unlock Section 37 community benefit funds that were left unused by previous councillors. At the request of the Bloor Annex BIA and local residents, I’ve already released funds to upgrade Seaton Park and authorized a new partnership agreement. Thanks to the BIA, this park is already cleaner and safer, and it will soon be better still.
Next will be millions for capital upgrades for ten affordable housing buildings run by St. Clare’s and by TCHC. With Ford blocking Toronto from requiring developers to include affordable units in new buildings, it is more important than ever to look after the affordable housing we already have.
Then I’ll be funding other exciting upgrades across our community, including: accessibility, HVAC and performance improvements for cultural gems TRANZAC, the Annex Theatre and the Al Green Theatre; heritage conservation at the lovely Heliconian Hall; public art at the Toronto Reference Library and Toronto Western Hospital; Huron Garden upgrades; benches and wayfinding at our TTC Line 2 stations, and a “Bathurst Gateway” to kick off the Little Italy Master Streetscape. None of these great projects could have been realized without my help.
In other news:
- Blue Bin Litter As a result of the terrible Blue Bin service being provided by Circular Materials and GFL, I have received reports of excess litter. If you see excess Blue Bin litter once the snow melts, please let us know. We can request extra street sweeping this spring.
- I successfully moved for a report on options to curb the rampant abuse of accessible parking permits that so many of you have reported.
- Snow: In Toronto, major storms that dump >25 cm of snow in one day happen less than once a decade, with a virtually 0% chance of more than 40 cm a month. This year we had a record-breaking 90 cm of snow in two storms in 10 days, during prolonged intense cold. I know people are tired of snowbanks, particularly cyclists and those who want to park on the quiet streets that receive snow removal last. But please be kind to our hard-working staff. City crews have done everything they can, working nearly 24/7 since these giant storms, ploughing after every snowfall and snow removal in between. Snow removal is frustratingly slow and expensive, especially when it has to be paused for each new snowfall. Thank you to everyone for your patience.
There are particular challenges for people in laneway houses, since the city does not clear snow from laneways. I have directed staff to report on the cost to improve winter access to these homes. - Nature conservation excellence. In partnership with volunteers like the Toronto Nature Stewards, Toronto is making real progress in cleaning up our ravines and replacing invasive species with native plants. Check out the encouraging Ravines progress report. And the outstanding Toronto Region Conservation Authority has issued its impressive and inspiring annual report. Join them for the delicious annual sugarbush celebrations.
- Protecting more trees. I successfully negotiated approval in principle to start protecting younger trees, among many other improvements to our Tree Bylaw.
- We had an excellent public meeting on the Indigenous shelter going in at 720 Bathurst Street. 100+ neighbours visited each table, asked questions, met Na-Me-Res, and read testimonials from neighbours of their Vaughan Road shelter. Staff were impressed how many attendees asked: “How can I help?”
- The West Chinatown Planning Framework is on track to come to Council in April.
- I successfully moved for a report on options to curb the flagrant abuse of accessible parking permits that so many of you have reported.
- The Pits Parks Public Life Study is now posted, with concepts for upgrades at Christie Pits, Bickford Park and Art Eggleton Park.
- At residents’ request, rush hour left turn restrictions have been approved for Bathurst & Barton; Euclid & Harbord, and Euclid & Bloor, and two way traffic will be restored on part of Cumberland Street. Signs should be installed this spring.
- Global clean energy advances. In 2025, renewables produced more power than coal globally for the first time ever, largely due to ever-cheaper solar panels, batteries and wind turbines, and determined moves away from fossil fuels in the global south. China’s carbon emissions are falling even as power demand grows. There is so much cheap solar power that every Australian now gets three hours of free electricity every afternoon.
- The city is extending outdoor skating on artificial rinks for a few more weeks, Click here for more information. And please take note: lake ice is no longer safe.
Best wishes for the Lunar New Year, year of the fire horse.
At the request of YWCA Toronto, I am going to rename the walkway next to their headquarters to honour the amazing Heather McGregor, who is retiring after 3 decades of extraordinary service.
February 2026
Happy February!
February marks the Year of the Horse – a symbol of energy, independence, and forward momentum. It’s a powerful reminder that winter can be about action, and connection with community. February is packed with ways to beat the winter blues right here in our Ward, including Chinatown’s vibrant Lunar New Year celebrations!
Here are the top three things you should know this month:
1. City Budget
The mayor has proposed an $18.9 billion operating budget for 2026, with a modest 2.2% total tax increase. While a low increase, it comes at a cost: some maintenance and capital projects will be deferred, which could lead to higher long-term costs and a less reliable city infrastructure. On the bright side, this budget promises no cuts this year to most city programs and some will improve: especially TTC (better service, no fare increase, fare capping), libraries (more hours) and emergency services (police, fire, ambulance, mental health crisis teams). The mayor also honoured her previous multi-year funding commitments, e.g. the Toronto Arts Council received the second of 5 planned $2 million increases.
2. A Path Off the Streets
The City has purchased 720 Bathurst Street, formerly owned by the Centre for Social Innovation, to provide shelter and support for Indigenous men seeking to get off the streets. About 30% of those living in downtown encampments are indigenous, and experience has shown that they find more stability when they live in a dedicated indigenous-run facility with culturally sensitive supports. Na-Me-Res, the future site operator, has an excellent track record running a similar shelter at Vaughan and St. Clair, both in terms of success for the residents and in terms of being a good neighbour for the surrounding community. The first community drop-in meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on February 12 at 720 Bathurst Street. Neighbours are encouraged to attend, ask questions, and learn how this important project will support both residents and the wider community.
3. Breaking snow records
January 15 was Toronto’s heaviest one day snowfall since Mel Lastman called in the army! The record-breaking January 25 storm meant 90 cm of snow on our streets, all in intense cold. Despite this unprecedented challenge, I’m grateful so many of you noticed better snow clearing this year–thanks to skilled and committed staff, major investments, better coordination, oversight and accountability, proactive emergency declarations and snow removal, surge staffing, and parking enforcement seven days a week, our office worked closely with Winter Services to resolve urgent issues quickly.
We know there is still a lot of snow on roads, sidewalks, bike lanes and parking spots. Snow removal has begun on both arterial and residential streets, and is likely to continue for many days, with salt going forward as the weather warms.
We also strengthened winter support for people experiencing homelessness, and I want to thank Cecil Community Centre for again serving as an emergency warming site during the coldest days.
Other Highlights in the Ward
Crossing Guards: Congratulations to our own Khevin Enriquez, named Ontario’s Favourite Crossing Guard! He protects children attending Huron Street Public School and Jesse Ketchum Public School, which is much harder now that Ford has taken away our speed cameras. It is thanks to people like Khevin (and to the speed cameras) that our kids are able to walk to school with greater confidence, care, and protection.
Recycling Transition: As of January 1, recycling in Toronto has shifted to the province’s new system. Residents’ feedback is essential for improving the program. You can share suggestions with Jennifer Kerr, Director of Community & Media Relations at Circular Materials (JKerr@circularmaterials.ca).
Seaton Park: On January 19, we had a productive meeting about the Bloor Annex BIA stepping in to help maintain Seaton Park. With city resources stretched, this partnership ensures the park remains safe, welcoming, and well-maintained for everyone.
Bickford Centre: Seaton Village residents have requested stronger city involvement at the Bickford Centre (Grace and Bloor). Unfortunately, there was never a signed agreement giving the city access to the gym and pool. At my request, Parks staff are now beginning negotiations with the Toronto Lands Corporation to secure a new lease. This process will take 8–12 months but is a key step toward improved community access.
Queen’s Park North: After extensive public consultation, a staff report will go to March Council to finalize an agreement with U of T and the Weston family for upgrades to Queen’s Park North, including intensive tree protection, a flower garden, a washroom and cafe, and respecting the park’s heritage. The staff report will be posted by March 3, followed by another public consultation meeting, and will be considered at Executive Committee on March 10. The detailed tree inventory will be published shortly.
Climate Action: While some major climate measures fell short in this year’s budget, several important climate initiatives continue, including electric ferries, LED streetlights, cleaner city vehicles, expanded BikeShare, improved transit, energy-efficient buildings, tree planting, heat relief for seniors,, and zoning changes that support greener, transit-oriented neighbourhoods.
Finally, congratulations to the University of Toronto, recognized for the fourth time as one of the most sustainable universities in the world – a reminder that leadership in sustainability starts at home and inspires others.
January 2026
All best wishes for a good new year. So glad to see the days starting to lengthen again.
Top three things you should know this month:
1.Speeding up Transit: The Mayor and Council have
finally joined my campaign to speed up surface transit, after the brand new $3.5B Finch West LightRapid Transit line turned out to be slower than the bus. As a TTC board member, I was appalled to learn about this only after the opening, and to get confusing and contradictory answers about why. You may have seen me on TV telling our provincial overlords not to open Line 5, Eglinton Crosstown, until it is faster than the Eglinton bus. The international peer review of our streetcars, which told us that Toronto has the slowest streetcars in the world, also told us what to do about it. A lot is about giving transit priority over cars, such as the changes I pioneered on Dundas Street, which are now being expanded into other wards.
Parking Lots into Housing. As timber walls rise out of the old parking lot at 35 Bellevue, a College Street parking lot 4 blocks away will now become badly needed purpose-built student housing. Too many students face multi-hour commutes and/or are crowded into illegal rooming houses, and our universities cannot afford to build enough housing for all. The city’s Academic Housing Strategy, U of T leadership, and our Housing Secretariat call for off-campus student housing, as good quality, close to campus, close to transit, and as affordable as possible. Staff advised that this new building will help meet that need and should be open by fall 2029.
Saving Climate Action: Together with citizen activists, I helped rescue the possibility of a mandatory Building Emission Performance Standard (BEPS), the backbone of TransformTO, which was due in December. Instead of the long-promised bylaw, staff were forced to present an old-style “climate plan” of hopes for voluntary action, unfunded capital projects, existing green standards that may not survive the year and “blame Ford and Carney” excuses. Due to public outrage, the Mayor eventually allowed a BEPS report to be promised for 2027, although with no commitment that it will lead to action. I also faced a bitter fight trying to ask Toronto Hydro how much we could save money and reduce pollution from the dirty Portland gas plant by using storage, renewables and price incentives that shift expensive peak electrical demand. The provincial agency that should have answered that question, the IESO, largely ignored the opportunity. We’ll now get a partial answer in the spring.
In other news:
Six years after Toronto quietly dropped the role of Chief Resilience Officer and abandoned preparing for climate breakdown, the city is ready to start talking about it again. The Climate Change Resilience Workplan is a plan to eventually develop a Climate Change Adaptation Actions Plan, as and when the mayor or other governments are willing to fund it.
As a first step, the Climate Risk Assessment concludes that extreme heat is the top climate breakdown risk to the health and well-being of Torontonians, especially to the unhoused, and to tenants without air conditioning. (Extreme precipitation (flooding) is likely to cause the most infrastructure and financial damage.) The city is taking some measures to protect tenants from extreme heat in their units, with a Maximum Temperature Bylaw for Rental Units due back to Council by July.
Land Transfer Tax has gone up again for the most expensive 2% of Toronto’s houses, those over $3 million, to help pay for transit and housing. When a $3.5 million house sells, it means $4500 in extra tax. That will be a hardship for some, not for others. An income tax would be fairer, but the province won’t allow it.
City leadership has again refused to do anything more to protect the Jewish community from rallies and protests, despite a rising tide of violence and threats in Toronto and abroad, including the attack on Bondi Beach, and the three armed men who were accused of stalking Jewish women on the streets of Toronto.
Council adopted a pedestrian-friendly vision for the future of the well-loved block of Elm Street between Yonge and Bay.
The city’s primary sewer contractor was suspended for five years from working for the city after being caught falsifying invoices. We take cheating the public seriously.
Council supported my motion condemning Ford’s attack on our conservation authorities, including wasting millions to force a confusing new name and wasted expenses onto the internationally renowned TRCA.
The City will support any public interest litigation against Bill 60, which made it easier to evict tenants.
The City has acquired 720 Bathurst Street to become a residential facility for Indigenous men transitioning from homelessness, and has committed that it will be a good neighbour to the surrounding community, run by a skilled and experienced Indigenous agency. This will not be a drop-in/injection site like TNG’s 260 Augusta Ave. Watch for more information in January.
In response to numerous requests, I have been working to protect three key environmental features of the sensitive Glen Stewart Ravine, including a 10 m setback from the top of its bank (as recommended by the TCRA), groundwater flow into the creek, and stormwater runoff from the Kingston Road development site.
Toronto police data show a large drop in serious crime across the city, including the lowest murder rate we have seen since 1974, when the population was about a quarter lower. However, concerns over crime remain high, and I am working with the police to address the rash of break-ins in some parts of our community.
December 2025
Hello Neighbours,
Season’s greetings to one and all! It’s been a busy time ofyear as we work towards the holidays.
Top 3 things to know this month:
1. EHON – To give more people places to shop, play, learn or work close to home, Council has eased zoning rules for three kinds of local businesses:
a) Home-Based Businesses are already permitted in almost all homes, including apartment buildings/condos. (There are a few exceptions, e.g. music/dance instruction is limited to a detached house, a doctor’s office must be on a ground floor). Now, home-based businesses will be able to hire up to two employees and operate from auxiliary buildings on-site (eg garage). Schools, artist studios, offices, service shops or custom warehouses will now be able to see clients on-site. This will help more Torontonians start or grow a business from their home.
b) Small commercial activities (generally 150 m2 or less) will now be permitted on the ground floor in residential areas on Major Streets. These can include an art gallery, artist studio, custom workshop, school, massage therapy, medical office, office, performing arts studio, personal service shop, pet services, production studio, recreation use, religious education use, retail store, retail service, service shop, wellness centre, and eating establishments with a small patio.
c) In the old City of Toronto, very small retail stores (110 m2 or less) will again be possible on
corners of Community Streets, or next to schools, parks or commercial sites. The stores may have interior cafes but no patios or on-site food preparation. These zoning bylaw changes should come into effect in the coming months, and their impact will be monitored for two years. Uptake is expected to be gradual.
The federal and provincial governments have announced incentives to help individuals and businesses invest in clean equipment, which typically save money over time but have a higher upfront cost. For example:
a.Individuals can claim rebates of up to $200 on high-efficiency ENERGY STAR appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, laundry equipment, and induction stoves to replace old electric models. See the Home Renovation Savings website. TAF’s solar/ storage concierge service for homeowners is moving towards a full launch in Q1 2026.
b.Businesses will be able to immediately write off 100% of capital expenses for clean energy
generation and energy conservation equipment, and for zero-emission vehicles. They may also be able to claim a federal Clean Technology Investment Tax Credit.
c.There are significant new incentives for verified energy savings by large electricity users; see XLerate.
Doug Ford’s latest moves include abolishing the speed cameras that save children’s lives in school zones and that pay for road safety measures like crossing guards (Bill 59). His Bill 60 makes it easier and faster for landlords to evict tenants, as well as giving Metrolinx a freer hand to ignore city bylaws and to take city assets; further cuts the development charges that pay for infrastructure; reduces city control of the CNE; threatens the city’s ability to give pedestrians or transit priority over cars; and undercuts our authority to impose height limits on new buildings. His Bill 68 will weaken conservation authorities, forcibly amalgamate most, and waste millions of dollars (and decades of reputation-building), making the Toronto Region Conservation Authority change its name. The Ford government is also considering cutting its contribution to the Canada Ontario Housing Benefit, the key rent subsidy that allows the most needy to move out of homelessness into stable housing. Cutting this rent benefit will mean more severely distressed people in shelters, on the TTC and in our parks.
In other news:
Our Hospital for Sick Children, while celebrating its 150 anniversary, has been recognized
as the world’s top pediatric hospital. Congratulations!
Metrolinx’s Finch West Light Rail Transit should finally open to TTC riders on December 7.
Yes, there were serious safety, congestion, and privacy issues with Magna’s robot spy cars that operated in our ward this summer, just as I predicted. The city is trying to persuade the province to do a more responsible job of regulating autonomous vehicles. Will they listen? No sign yet.
Toronto is making it cheaper and faster to build missing middle housing. Pre-approved plans for garden and laneway suites are already available at no cost to simplify and speed up infill homes. Pre-approved plans for four-unit and six-unit residential buildings are on schedule to be available in June. And per Council’s direction, the Chief Building Official has just approved the third single-exit-stair design for an infill building this year, as architects and urbanists have long requested. Single-exit-stair buildings cost less, have more usable interior space and are more comfortable to live in.
In December, Council will consider zoning options for the new Avenues in Ward 11: Christie, Dupont, Bathurst, Ossington, Dundas and small pieces of Sherbourne and Bloor East. These streets are about 20 m wide and have 10-minute or better TTC service. Per the approved Avenues Policy, staff propose to rezone properties currently used as residential to Apartment Neighbourhoods, and to CM (Mixed Use) where the current use includes commercial. In our ward, this will not change permitted building heights; Avenues are also Major Streets where new buildings can already be the width of the street (i.e. six storeys).
a.NB: to comply with provincial law, there must be a further zoning change in the spring that increases maximum heights for new buildings close to subway stations, i.e. within “Protected Major Transit Station Areas”.
I was proud to represent Toronto at C40’s 20 anniversary summit. C40 has been extraordinarily successful in helping cities around the world collaborate on climate action. 75% of C40 cities have reduced climate pollution more than their countries have, with knock-on benefits for human health, affordability and the quality of life. With the US turning away from both global leadership and clean technology, China and the cities of the Global South are now leading the charge. For example, Toronto’s electric bus fleet has 1,000, and Shenzhen has 16,000.
I also represented Toronto at two United Nations Environment Programme meetings on cities and nature. To learn more about Toronto’s impressive work growing our urban forest, don’t miss a recent article by Kim Statham and Jane Walsh.
Did you know that Toronto has issued 7 green bonds for a total of $1.3B to build green infrastructure? To see what the money has been used for, check out the 2025 Green Bond Newsletter.
Despite considerable drug overdoses among younger males in some parts of Toronto, overall death rates in Toronto are lower than in the rest of Ontario, and Torontonians’ life expectancy continues to rise. According to the Medical Officer of Health, age-standardized all-cause mortality for Toronto for 2023 was 542.8 per 100,000, compared to 664 per 100,000 in the rest of the province. Lots to be grateful for in our city. Many happy returns to everyone for the coming holiday season!
November 2025
Top three things to know this month.
After decades on the wish list, the West Annex Heritage Conservation Study has kicked off to community acclaim. This fascinating study of 1500 homes in angorgeous area is underway because I unlocked $270,000 for it, money that was earmarked for it in 2010 but left dormant by previous Councillors.
Fast, fun, healthy, convenient and cheap, BikeShare keeps smashing records. Annual membership costs only $105 /year ($5/ year for TCHC tenants) for unlimited rides; it’s the best bargain in the city. BikeShare now has a citywide network of 1,042 stations and 10,251 bikes, including 2,319 electric-assist bikes, and a hassle-free Valet Service at key stations. (2 out of 3 riders prefer electric!) Combined with more and safer bike lanes, ridership is on track to reach 8.1 million trips this year, including nearly 200,000 new users. (Imagine how much worse traffic congestion would be with 8 million extra car trips!) This extraordinary success is fuelling an ambitious new strategy to attract 1,000,000 riders and to transform how people get around our city.
a. improve public awareness of applicable rules;
b. expand the deployment of sidewalk safety decals;
c. report whether and how to require vendors and lessors of motorized micromobility devices to provide customers with legal and safety information, and
d. report on the feasibility of requiring motorized micromobility devices (not un-motorized bicycles) to be licenced. My motions to improve the regulation and enforcement of motorized micromobility devices were approved by Council, including instructions to:
In other progress:
Compassion in action: Ward 11 now has more than a dozen shelters and drop-in centres for the homeless, more than 22 other wards. We also have 2,839 affordable, RGI and supportive homes with long-term protection. Another 100 are under construction (including 78 supportive homes for the homeless); 245 more will start construction soon. Waiting lists are far too long, but these achievements are worth celebrating, considering the city’s limited resources and the obstacles Doug Ford puts in our way.
Per an emergency order from the Fire Chief, the city cleared tents and trash from 103 Bellevue (St. Stephens). 14 troubled people finally accepted offers of shelter. The principals of nearby schools advise that this has made a “night and day” improvement to the safety of children and teachers.
311 is the best way to report a problem with city services. University Rosedale is always one of the busiest wards for 311 service requests, twice as busy as some suburban wards. While a growing number use 311’s convenient web, email and mobile channels, most people still phone, with the average call now answered in 50 seconds. Due in part to my extensive lobbying, 311 service is improving in other ways too, e.g. 311 can now accept park requests, and a new dashboard shows how fast requests are dealt with. On their way: quicker intakes and live tracking of what gets fixed.
Why did the Harbord/Hosken reconstruction create such prolonged disruption for businesses and residents? I fostered accountability by requiring staff to acknowledge what went wrong and to listen to the painful stories of affected residents and businesses. It is good news that staff have learned important lessons and implemented better methods (2025.IA33.1 – Harbord/Hoskin Reconstruction); cost reductions are important, but not all that matters.
College Park’s park has been renewed and reopened. I can’t wait to skate there again.
The Toronto Parking Authority has approved modest increases in parking rates and hours on bus and streetcar routes in Ward 11. These changes should improve parking availability for local businesses and residents, while reducing interference with bus and streetcar reliability. The changes do not affect those with residential parking permits for the relevant street, who are still exempt from the Green P rate.
I’ve arranged to honour “the ravine lady”, Margaret Scrivener, with a new parkette next to Scrivener Square. MPP Scrivener, the second woman in Canada to hold a cabinet position, was an outstanding champion of protecting Toronto’s ravines from development. Scrivener Square is already named for her, but almost nobody knows it. Women are conspicuously lacking from most Toronto place names, and it’s still very hard to protect our ravines.
Trump’s attacks on Canada are hurting in many ways, including discouraging American visitors, but Canadians are staying home, and European visits are up, so Toronto’s visitor spending and hotel room bookings rose again this year. We are also doing well in attracting large conferences.
I honoured the late Mel Watkins with Mel Watkins Lane. His energetic defence of Canadian economic sovereignty has never been more timely.
5,000 people attended Toronto’s first Climate Week. It was a great success with 70 plus events and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable crowd, culminating in a forks-up cooking challenge, an insightful climate communications seminar and climate-related artworks at Nuit Blanche. Toronto Climate Week will be an annual June event starting in 2026. And I’m proud to have contributed to the excellent Clean Cities Communications research.
Electric vehicle registrations across Ontario are up 24% in one year, and up 17% across Toronto. In Ward 11, EVs are up 20%, despite many “garage orphans”, (no private driveway or garage), and the 100% tariffs on cheaper, better Chinese EVs. Fastest EV growth: Rosedale and the Annex. E-assist bike use is growing even faster.
Congratulations to the nine inspiring winners of our first Circular Food Innovators awards.
Renewable power continues to surge across the world, and produced more power than coal for the first time in the first six months of 2025.
October 2025
Hello neighbours,
3 top things you should know in Ward 11 this month:
North of Bloor, parking changes this fall will make the Bathurst bus faster and more reliable. (see page 16 for more details.) In the spring, RapidTO Bathurst streetcar lanes will be installed fromDundas to Bloor.
Harbord/ Hoskin reconstruction is wrapping up, after sustained pressure from our office. We’ll have an official opening to celebrate. But it was allowed to drag on far too long and to cause far too much neighbourhood disruption through lax contracting practices. I have submitted an administrative enquiry seeking a formal investigation. And I’m trying to get benches installed on some of those puzzling concrete pads.
The Rowanwood large water main project will begin again this fall. A few months ago, the excavation had to be paused when a sheet steel obstruction was discovered deep underground. While it is essential to replace the old, undersized water main, the excavations will be disruptive to residents in the Rowanwood area and have already cost many well-loved trees. Engineering Services has promised not to repeat the mistakes it made on Harbord. We’ll be keeping a close watch.
In other news:
I’ve cut some more red tape. During the 2024 budget, staff admitted that the Bid Award Panel caused unnecessary cost and delay to city construction projects without any offsetting benefit. I pushed to get rid of the BAP; as of October 1, it’s gone.
After two years of my motions and pestering, we have finally had an education and enforcement blitz aimed at those who ride motorized micromobility vehicles (bikes, scooters, mopeds, etc). Although overdue, this was a good start, and I am pushing staff to build on it. The Infrastructure and Environment Committee passed my further motions to improve rider education, to try to compel vendors of these devices to give buyers information about rules and risks, and to look at licensing all motorized micromobility devices that operate on our streets.
Navigation apps are causing heavy cut-through traffic and speeding across Ward 11, including in the Castle Frank, Barton, Roxborough, Elm and Euclid areas. We cannot legally prevent non-residents from driving through residential neighbourhoods. Wherever possible, and as requested by communities, we are fighting dangerous speeding with speed cameras, bumpouts, planters, crosswalks and humps. I am open to adding turn restrictions and one-way mazes when communities agree that they want them, although these measures have knock-on effects and local opinion is often divided. In the Euclid area, the City is collecting more data; two rounds of traffic monitoring are scheduled in the next few months. And we will be asking residents if they want a one-way maze.
The City of Toronto’s Parks and Recreation Department has informed me that the Ramsden Park skating rink should open by January 1, and the basketball court will be restored by spring. The Bill Bolton Arena roof is just about finished, and the dressing room heating system will be replaced in February.
The Markham Street reopening (Lennox to Bloor) has been delayed again, but it might happen in November (hurry up, Westbank!). Do you think it will beat the Eglinton Crosstown?
The Toronto Preservation Board has refused a Heritage Act application for the large wall that was illegally built on public property at Glen Road and Whitney. Council has already directed that the wall be removed.
We are working with MLS to fine-tune bylaw enforcement for minor breaches by smallbusinesses, so that we don’t keep losing well-intentioned small businesses such as the much-loved By the Way Café.
The City is buying fifty-three electric Zambonis to keep our skating rinks in good order with less noise, climate and air pollution. I’m lobbying to get some for Ward 11.
September 2025
Hello neighbours,
Here are the 3 top things you should know this month:
I’m opening a constituency office at 622 College Street! It has taken years to find an office in Ward 11 that we can afford, that is convenient for constituents, and that meets city accessibility and security requirements. Now it just needs WiFi, furniture, phones, lighting, etc., which should all be done in a few weeks. Come by and say hello!
Here’s some more good news!
If, like me, you find the news depressing, I heartily recommend subscribing to Fix The News. It’s not just your imagination: most “news” really has become more negative. In the last two decades, headlines denoting anger increased 104% and headlines evoking fear surged 150%. This is making us all feel grimmer about the present and more hopeless about the future. In fact, there is a lot of good news. I find Trump, etc., easier to bear when I also know that people are swimming again in the Seine, and that New York’s six-month-old congestion pricing scheme has produced the fastest environmental improvement of any policy in US history while reducing congestion and producing enough revenue to fund upgrades to the subway, several hundred new electric buses and improvements to regional rail. PLUS: clean renewables are growing so explosively that they will beat coal as the world’s top source of electricity next year.
The TTC got federal and provincial support to buy 55 made-in-Canada subway cars for Line 2 (Bloor subway). This will keep most of the ~$2.8 billion of public money in Ontario, keep Ontario workers employed and hopefully speed up delivery of the sleek new trains. Meanwhile, TTC’s new CEO is hard at work empowering staff and resolving problems.
2.Toronto Hydro is running much better, a change I’m proud to have helped create. One year into its new CEO, renewal is spreading with a new Board chair, new Board members, new senior staff and a newly open and inclusive culture. Staff turnover is down, engagement is up, and the strategy is shifting to a stronger focus on electrification and resilience, with a close eye on affordability. It is no accident that Toronto Hydro delivered such high reliability through this summer’s climatebreakdown heat waves. Learn more here.
The Ford government has finally allowed most of Toronto’s 2021 official plan amendments to come into force to encourage affordable housing and other real estate development close to subway stations. However, as usual, Ford’s approval comes with a poison pill: confusing and poorly designed changes (without consultation) that give developers a freer hand and prevent the city from requiring accessible or visitor parking in many buildings. To learn more, see page 19 and join our Townhall.
In other news:
Happy New Year to everyone celebrating this month! May we be inscribed for a good year.
We’re making good progress on park upgrades in Ward 11. The revitalized Ramsden Park tennis courts are receiving rave reviews, and (after my intervention), the Bill Bolton Arena roof repair went smoothly without disrupting summer skating. The design competition for Ramsden Park’s Community Recreation Centre has been launched with a Request For Architect Qualifications, and the Ramsden Park skating rink upgrades are on schedule. At Pricefield Park, data is being collected about soil conditions, and survey results are being incorporated into a new design; the new grass looks great at Vermont Square and Sibelius Square; encampments have been removed from several parks, and we have a signed contract for the new park at 819 Yonge Street. Seaton Park looks great now that the Bloor-Annex BIA has taken over its maintenance (thank you!), and the plan for electrical upgrades at Yorkville Village Park is almost complete. Scheduled for September: the new Honest Ed’s Park should be completed; the Evergreen Brickworks Children’s Garden should reopen; and College Park’s turf repair should begin. I am still pushing to get construction started on the Huron-Washington playground and the new park at Sussex and Spadina. Relic Park on Dundas should open this year.
Construction is underway for the Avenue Road Safety Coalition’s long-awaited pedestrian crossing of Avenue Road at Ramsden Park. The crossing includes permanent concrete bump-outs on both sides of Avenue Road where pedestrians can wait safely for a chance to cross the road. The lights should be operational in October. This crossing will lead directly to the new entrance to Ramsden Park, scheduled to be built next year. Putting pedestrian safety first in this way is only possible because last year we returned Avenue Road to four traffic lanes from Dupont to Bloor.
Installation of the new RapidTO Bathurst streetcar lane from Lakeshore to Bloor should begin by early October. Construction staging details should be available mid-September.
Speeding up the Bathurst bus north of Bloor will be back on the agenda at Toronto and East York Community Council on September 18, as well as other local traffic issues. The agenda will be posted on September 11 here.
Traffic monitoring confirms that installing bike lanes on Avenue Road between Davenport and Bloor has improved safety for both cyclists and pedestrians without increasing travel times for motorists, except that illegal speeding has been reduced.
If you are having recurrent problems with illegal parking in your neighbourhood, please file your complaint directly with the police here and encourage your neighbours to do the same. Multiple complaints trigger enforcement.
Bike lane maintenance and enforcement are improving, with more tickets issued to thoughtless drivers from January to August than in all of 2024. And the city is finally making some effort to keep mopeds out of bike lanes. Much more to be done, though.
The controversial wall on public property at 135 Glen Road, Rosedale, will be considered by the Heritage Preservation Board on September 22 and by Planning and Housing on September 25, giving concerned neighbours two opportunities to be heard. The application should be posted here on September 17.
August 2025
Hello Neighbours,
What a month July was! I’m thrilled that we had a very productive City Council session, with real progress on RapidTO Bathurst and more shelter space for Toronto’s homeless.
Three top things this month:
1.The Incredible new Biidaasige Park
2.Faster transit on Bathurst
3.Bringing back the Vale of Avoca
Bringing back the Vale of Avoca
A century ago, the Vale of Avoca ravine near Yonge and St Clair was a popular destination park, with trails, lawns, flowers, and trees. Today, the Vale is still an important refuge from the city’s noise and heat, but it is suffering badly from erosion and neglect. The rough trails are being eaten away with every storm; trees are falling as the slopes collapse; access stairs are broken. After all of Ford’s financial cuts, the city cannot afford more than an occasional bandaid, even though thousands of new condo units are expected nearby. I am therefore delighted to partner with the Midtown Ravines Group to restore the Vale to a beautiful, accessible, walkable park that links the Don River trails to midtown. This coalition of residents’ associations has agreed to raise $40 million for capital and maintenance in the Vale, but first, they need a high-quality plan. I successfully negotiated with Councillor Matlow and with staff to jointly fund a $1.5 million redesign to achieve ecological, recreational, and flood management objectives. With any luck, the plan and consultation will be completed next year, and construction can begin in 2027.
Other community improvements I helped deliver this month include:
a) $200,000 in s. 37 funds to build a signalized pedestrian crossing across Avenue Road at Ramsden Park;
b) $109,000 in s. 37 funds to build a recording studio and accessible doors in the new performance centre at 877 Yonge;
c) $883,625 in s. 37 funds (which leveraged $1.6 million from Ward 13 and $3 million from the capital budget) to rebuild the Rosedale Valley Multiuse Trail and to plan a safe exit from it (para 7);
d) Evicted tenants should get better information from the Landlord and Tenant Board;
e) Six suburban homeless shelters will now be built.
f) Several encampments were cleared;
g) Noise exemptions have been tightened for loud events at Christie Pits.
h) The Dafoe Urn will be reinstalled at Craigleigh Gardens Park.
i) Kids’ baseball diamonds will be improved at Christie Pits.
j) The developer of 126 Avenue Road committed to indoor garbage pickup and to allow the flower shop to return.
k) The City will take small steps to discourage greenwashing in ads on city assets; and
l) The University of Toronto can install district clean energy pipes for its climate-positive
campus at the same price (free) that Enbridge can install fossil gas pipes.
With summer half over, I hope you’re taking time for whatever makes summer joyful for you and your family. Have you swum or paddled at Ward or Cherry Beach? Watched a play at the Fringe or outdoors? Joined a neighbourhood potluck? Folk-danced in your park? Tasted Ward 11’s best ice creams? Do let us know what summer treats you love best.
Biidaasige Kudos to everyone who has worked, since 1989, to Bring Back the Don. (Glad I could help.) After 35 years and $1.5B, it is exhilarating to celebrate the restored Don River and the first 50 acres of Biidaasige Park. This extraordinary transformation of what used to be industrial wasteland protects the Port Lands from flooding, opens them up to host a new community, brings back nature and creates an inspiring new park. The playgrounds are Toronto’s best (e.g. waterplay, zip lines, climbing structures, upside-down trees); the Indigenous art is moving and playful; the riverside walks are gorgeous. Fish and kayaks have found the river; birds and butterflies have found the wetland; some of the century-old seeds sprouted. Join me there for our community tour and picnic at 5 pm on August 17 (see p. 13). You can get there by bike, transit, car or kayak.
Bathurst After intense consultations, data gathering and door-knocking, my office, the TTC, and the city will speed up transit on Bathurst. July Council approved four key steps:
Bathurst will get a dedicated streetcar lane from Lakeshore to Bloor. This will enable the TTC to enhance the reliability, speed, and frequency of the Bathurst streetcar, with a target of a six-minute headway this fall.
From Bloor to Eglinton, the northbound bus is trapped in traffic from about 2 PM every afternoon. On September 18, staff will recommend to the Toronto East York Community Council which parking, turning, and signal changes will speed up the afternoon northbound bus, while leaving some parking to support local businesses. Most changes should be implemented this fall. I successfully implemented this targeted approach for the Dundas streetcar.
Staff may recommend temporary measures to improve transit during FIFA. This could include temporary bus lanes. After FIFA, City staff will recommend long-term next steps. If the data justifies it, this could include time of day or permanent bus lanes; by then, we will know whether my targeted measures have made enough difference for transit riders. Special thanks to the five Bathurst/Dupont businesses that wrote in support of this targeted, data-based approach: Summerhill Markets, Flur, Qatar, She Said, and Tattoo People. Please give them your support.
July 2025
Dear Neighbours,
Thanks to everyone who cheered and waved
at the Pride Parade, enjoyed a Taste of Little
Italy, revelled at the Jazz Fest, browsed the
Rosedale Arts Fair, cheered for Orphan Annie,
waved a flag on Canada Day and decluttered
at our Community Environment Day. I really
appreciate your enthusiasm and support, and
your great questions at the door and at the
Townhall.
Our June Council was dominated by a
downtown v. suburb dispute about missing
middle housing. To gently increase density
and to qualify for federal housing funds, staff
proposed to allow low-rise houses in
“Neighbourhoods” across the city to be
converted into or replaced by buildings with
up to six residential units (sixplexes). The
existing limit is four. Staff predict that this
would mean a gradual introduction of more
housing choices: perhaps 1% of houses will
add more units each year.
Multi-unit homes are already common in Ward 11, and are part of what many love
about it. In Ward 11, sixplexes will be no taller than 1 to 4-unit homes; our
neighbourhoods already have higher than suburban height limits. Other zoning rules,
such as setbacks, will remain unchanged, making many lots too small for sixplexes.
Canada’s first supertall
building tops out at 1 Bloor W
After a difficult debate, sixplexes were approved for downtown (wards 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
and 19) and for ward 23 (Scarborough North); other wards can opt in.
Other notable items on the Council agenda included:
More paramedics to bring down ambulance delays (EX24.6)
More school meals for hungry kids (EX24.3)
Turning money-losing parking lots into housing or parks (EX24.4)
Appointing two great people to the Toronto Hydro board (NC 18.1)
Annual reports on TransformTO (climate action) (IE22.9) and Vision Zero (road
safety) (IE22.4)
Getting strategic about parking (IE22.2)
Privacy issues re: Magna’s robot cars recording passersby’s faces for private use
and profit (IE22.1)
A downtown-east Homelessness Addiction Recovery and Treatment centre (not in
ward 11) (HL25.2)
Better security in GreenP parking lots (IE22.13)
Reducing salt pollution (IE22.5) and
Improving traffic during repairs at King and Church (MM31.17)
Meanwhile, climate breakdown brought our first miserable heat wave. Our office
protested unwarranted pool closures and supported people suffering from extreme
heat. Knowing that much more extreme weather is coming, I was delighted to launch
Ward 11’s first mini-forest, on the west edge of Queen’s Park North. Trees provide clean
and cool air and water, and make our city more liveable. We need many more of them!
If there is a young tree near you, please help by watering it deeply in hot weather.
June 2025
Hello Neighbours,
What an incredible month! Thank you to everyone
who enjoyed our spring fling in Christie Pits; it was
a joy being out in the fresh air with thousands of
constituents – I handed out 1000 coupons for free
ice cream, and my staff magicked up even more hot
dogs and burgers! The Yorkville BIA’s floral
sculptures were even more fabulous than last year’s,
and Mayfair was its usual joyful success in Rosedale.
Star pitcher Ayami Sato pitched her historic first
game for the Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team on
Mother’s Day. It was a great day for women’s
leadership in University Rosedale, still the only
riding in Canada led by women as councillor, mayor,
MPP and MP.
Community safety was the major theme of the May Council meeting. SafeTO
summarizes the City’s substantial efforts to make Toronto safer. Here is a key
summary of what was done last year, and here are additional priorities for 2025.
It’s a lot, but it is not enough; the City can only do so much when the province won’t
do its job. Downtown BIAs are struggling to cope with theft and social disorder from
rampant drug use and mental illness (both provincial responsibilities). The
Kensington BIA, in particular, reports many more drug users around TNG Community
Services now that other downtown injection sites have closed. I have asked city staff
to do whatever we can to respond; we don’t want to sleepwalk into the catastrophe
that has overcome Pandora Avenue in Victoria, BC. I’ve also asked again for better
bylaw enforcement against unlicensed vendors, in the hope of bringing back
Kensington’s much-loved Pedestrian Sundays.
Council also adopted a ‘Social Infrastructure’ bylaw. This allows houses of worship, schools, and
daycares to have a modest demonstration-free zone around their entrances, which the courts
have ruled is permissible under the Canadian Charter of Rights & Freedoms. I understand the
overwhelming grief and anger that many feel about the immense human suffering in Gaza,
Dianne’s Desk
but no one here in Toronto can put an end to this conflict. And so, I do not accept that this
grief and anger are rightly directed at our city’s Jewish children as they enter their daycare.
To hear my comments during this debate, see the link on page 6.
UofT has again shown that a reliable TTC is essential to the economy and the liveability of
Toronto, and that every dollar of investment in the TTC provides the city with $7 in benefits.
One essential element of a reliable TTC is to let streetcars and buses get through on time,
instead of being stuck in traffic. In some places, this requires an exclusive lane, as for the
Spadina streetcar. In other places, we can make it work by restricting parking and left turns,
as on Dundas (Chinatown). Negotiations are continuing to find the best solution to improve
transit speed and reliability on Bathurst while protecting local businesses and services.
As promised during our fall town hall, the Public Life Study of Christie Pits, Bickford Park, and
Art Eggleton Park is now available here. It gives an excellent snapshot of who uses these
popular parks and what improvements are most desired. I’m already making progress on
items like reducing noise from large events, adding picnic tables and improving
maintenance.
It’s becoming increasingly urgent to get on with replacing our street lights. Toronto is the
last major city in North America still using obsolete, inefficient, high-maintenance lamps
instead of modern LEDs. Replacement parts are increasingly hard to find. More than 80% of
our underground street lighting wiring is past its design life and has failed at more than
10,000 locations, and poor lighting reduces safety. Better-lit intersections have fewer crashes
and less crime. Furthermore, the cost of the upgrades will be more than paid for through
maintenance savings alone. That’s why I am bringing a motion asking the mayor to include
streetlight updating in her 2026 budget.
I also continue to put dormant section 37 funds to use across the ward. For example:
A $235,000 will go towards free Wi-Fi for tenants of five more Toronto Community
Housing buildings.
$1.2 million to the Kensington Market Community Land Trust will keep 16 apartments
affordable indefinitely.
$20,000 to the historic Heliconian Club will mean new accessible washrooms and will
unlock their eligibility for federal historic preservation funds.
Part of the Rowanwood Watermain project has been delayed by another unforeseen
underground conflict. Meanwhile, I was shocked to discover that construction workers were
using fake parking permits to illegally park their personal vehicles on neighbourhood streets.
Dianne’s Desk
I intervened, and the city promptly replaced its contract administrator and will fine the
contractor.
It’s been a cool spring but lovely, with magnificent displays of cherry blossoms, tulips,
magnolias, redbuds, and crabapples. Thank you to the gardeners who beautify Ward 11.
May 2025
Hello Neighbours,
Everyone seems happier in May: the days are longer, the weather is
lovely, and flowers are springing up everywhere. To everyone who
celebrated Passover or Easter, I hope that you had a wonderful time
with friends and family! Thank you as well to everyone who joined our
Community Cleanup at Fred Hamilton Park
One of the key items approved at April’s Council meeting was to
upgrade how we manage congestion and coordinate construction
that blocks streets and sidewalks. Higher lane occupancy fees, more
traffic agents, and stronger coordination, etc. are already noticeably
easing congestion and reducing travel times.
Parks staff tell me that their most divisive, emotional issues usually revolve around off-leash dogs.
Toronto has about 600,000 dogs. Many of them live downtown with no private outdoor space and
play in parks, ravines, and schoolyards. Two reports that may help passed Council in April. One
improves the management of ~350 dangerous dogs. The other is a strategy for dedicated offleash spaces where other dogs can exercise and socialize. The new dog strategy standardizes
criteria for new off-leash dog areas, their hours, and when they can be used by commercial dog
walkers. It will also improve maintenance and enforcement. For our town hall on the topic, click
here.
Youth voices matter. At the request of young activists, I persuaded Council to allow 16 and 17-
year-olds to vote in neighbourhood polls. These are not formal elections, which are governed by
provincial law, but a form of local consultation. Vote16 sees this as a step towards the eventual
enfranchisement of 16 and 17-year-olds. In April, Council approved an implementation
Travel times have already improved and will now improve further. It was also great news when
the Superior Court issued an injunction preventing the Province from ripping out the Yonge,
University and Bloor bike lanes during the court process. The judge noted ‘compelling’ evidence
that bike lanes improve safety, and do not worsen congestion, despite the Province’s ‘anecdotal’
claims to the contrary. Thank you to Cycle Toronto & Ecojustice for bringing the lawsuit, and to
each of the volunteer experts.
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process which will come into effect this fall. Young people will inherit the consequences of
our decisions, so I’m glad to help give them a larger voice in that future.
Much of my work this month was focused on making TTC more reliable. Buses and streetcars
are often caught in traffic. The two main solutions are to give transit vehicles their own
priority lanes (RapidTO) and priority getting through intersections. Consultation will take
place this month for the proposed Bathurst and Dufferin RapidTO lanes, which are essential
for rapid, reliable transit on these key routes during FIFA and beyond. But the cheapest and
fastest thing the City can do is to give transit vehicles priority green lights at intersections. I
was shocked to learn that only half the intersections on our 20 busiest bus and streetcar
lines have signal priority equipment. Worse, 1 out of 4 of those are broken, and most of the
remainder are out of date. I am pushing hard at the TTC and at Council to get this fixed.
Transit vehicles need real priority, not just a fig leaf.
Every month for the rest of the term, I am donating my salary increase to a worthy charity in
Ward 11. Let me know your favourite and why.
I look forward to seeing everyone on May 18 for our Spring Spectacular at Christie Pits Park.
This year, we will go ahead rain or shine!
April 2025
Isn’t spring wonderful? Thank you to everyone
who smiled and waved during the rainy St.
Patrick’s Day parade.
March was a tumultuous month, including
Trump madness, snow removal, March Break,
tariff chaos, city staff strike threat, a new Prime
Minister, a federal election call, an application
to unionize Councillors’ offices, a contentious
Council meeting and a Yorkville fire that
destroyed heritage homes and melted fire
trucks.
On the plus side, it is very exciting as some of my initiatives come to fruition. March 17 was the
grand opening of the Nancy and Ed Jackman Performance Centre at 877 Yonge Street. This
collaborative community theatre space beneath supportive housing features a state-of-theart performance hall, a rehearsal and recording space, a greenroom and offices to support
Tapestry Opera, Nightwood Theatre, and dozens of other artists who were kicked out of the
Distillery District in 2022. It could not have happened without the innovative leadership and
partnership of St. Clare’s, Nightwood Theatre, Tapestry Opera, local residents, many donors,
city staff and myself, and will dramatically increase cultural opportunities in midtown.
March 24 was the enthusiastic kickoff for the long-awaited Ramsden Park Community
Recreation Centre. The presentation is here; applications are being accepted to join the
community advisory committee here. Plus, the Weston family has offered to fund exciting
upgrades for Queens Park North.
My successful motions at the March Council included:
Hard-fought permission to accept the donation of an exciting Claude Cormier and
Associates redesign of Pricefield Park, to go with the pink grapefruit fountain under
construction at Scrivener Square;
1.
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Providing additional funding to the Kensington Market Community Land Trust to acquire and
renovate affordable rental housing in the Market. With my help, the Trust has reached three
significant milestones: raising $1 million in community bonds, buying more affordable rental
housing and publishing its report “KMCLT as Place Keeper”.
One issue raised by the KMCLT applies across the Ward: the need for better succession planning
by small businesses. Many owners of our best-loved local businesses are graying and few have
written succession plans. The Toronto Public Library has agreed to host a workshop on small
business succession planning if appropriate volunteers will lead it. If you are interested in giving
such a workshop, please apply here. ProBono Ontario is graciously assisting us to develop
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simplified legal materials for this workshop. They also provide small businesses and non-profits
with some free legal help.
In TTC news, I am proud to be delivering results for Ward 11:
·Upgrades at Spadina Station are well underway.
·Spadina streetcar line is back in operation with enough power to support more frequent
service.
·Work is underway to improve the Key Performance Indicators used to measure TTC
performance in ways that matter to riders.
My fare enforcement initiative is bringing cheating rates down. Fare cheats deprive the TTC of
essential revenue and undercut the willingness of others to pay. They also cause the majority
of subway delays and drive paying customers away. The SafeTTC app now makes it easy to
report harassment, panhandlers and other safety concerns on the TTC. Enforcement will get
another boost this month with 31 additional special constables.
A bubble zone law to protect religious minority institutions in Toronto has been delayed again.
Please don’t forget to answer the survey.
Good news for April: Watch for Toronto bike lane inspectors to finally start doing their jobs on
bicycles! And the long-awaited plan to phase out noisy two-stroke engines will come to
Infrastructure and Environment Committee on April 9.
And thank you to the Toronto Arts Council for their shoutout. Glad to hear that my personal
donation was so influential in kicking off donations to their newcomer artists program.
IPCC ramping up work on cc and cities here.
Complex funding arrangements for a new park at 819 Yonge Street, the previously
uncelebrated intersection of Yonge Street, the spine of Toronto, with the historic Indigenous
Portage Trail. A tentative design is being reviewed with First Nations, in the hope of construction
in 2026.
A new partnership agreement for Paul Martel Park
Requiring Parks and Recreation to install gates at Paul Martel Park and allowing the Indigenous
park guardians to lock the gate at night to protect the native plants in its Indigenous Botanical
Garden;
A Ward 11 pilot project to allow food to be sold from trailers, not just trucks;
Directing staff to report on how to take effective action on long-derelict buildings, instead of
leaving them boarded up indefinitely;
Directing staff to report on how to improve protections for rooming house tenants threatened
by demovictions. Toronto’s affordable housing is being lost at an accelerating rate, and rooming
house tenants are particularly vulnerable. High land values make it appealing for rooming house
landlords to get out of this low-margin business, and it is their right to do so. But can’t we do
more for the displaced tenants?
A plan for enforcing our anti-idling bylaw;
Rectifying the lease at 877 Yonge Street to bring the ground floor to life and to correct the legal
status of the Jackman Theatre space;
Directing Transportation Services to require the owners of 135 Glen Road to remove their giant
wall, which breaches the Ontario Heritage Act, from public property; and
March 2025
Dear neighbours,
February’s cold and snowy weather has left many of us yearning for spring. While my family is
eager for warmer days, we’re still trying to squeeze in one last outing on skis or skates.
Snowdrops will emerge soon through the snow drifts, and children are looking forward to March
break.
New Roles and Cultural Highlights
I’m honoured to have two new roles added to my dance card: Trustee of the Art Gallery of
Ontario (AGO) and Vice Chair of The Atmospheric Fund. These globally significant institutions
enhance Toronto’s livability while strengthening our international connections and reputation.
Don’t miss the AGO’s exciting Hip-Hop show, running until April 6. I even took a hip-hop class!
2025 City Budget
The 2025 City Budget was finalized on February 11. For many Torontonians struggling with
affordability, we know that any tax increase is challenging. (If you are a low-income
homeowner, apply for tax or rate relief here or contact our office for assistance.)
But costs are rising fast for the City too. This budget is a step in the right direction, but our
finances remain fundamentally broken. Watch my budget speech here.
We’re doing our best to meet the needs of our 21st-century city despite wildly unsuitable
financing rules set by the Baldwin Act of 1849. The province has us in a stranglehold and refuses
to give us any of the tools we need to address our repair backlog, handle the countless
responsibilities they’ve downloaded onto our overburdened systems, or provide the services you
deserve.
Yet, as I told Council, people who pay higher taxes expect better services. We continue to work
to make the city more efficient, and I was glad to see the Budget fund multiple initiatives that
Ward 11 cares about, including:
TTC fare freeze and service improvements
Affordable housing
Extended hours for parks, libraries, and youth hubs
Prioritizing infrastructure repairs
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Ford, Trump and Tariffs
Doug Ford’s cynical midwinter election wasted nearly a billion dollars without changing much
or creating a meaningful plan to defend us against Trump and Musk. The City is preparing for
turmoil and uncertainty by maintaining our remaining reserves and focusing on local
purchasing. We also stopped allowing new Teslas to qualify for taxi purchasing incentives. No
more public money should go to Musk.
Parks and Recreation Updates
I’m excited to announce progress on some important parks projects:
Ramsden Park Community Recreation Centre: Join the kickoff meeting on March 24 at 6 PM at
55 Belmont. Our ward is one of the city’s most park-deficient and one of the few without a full
Recreation Centre, but this long-awaited Centre went nowhere until I blasted through a
standoff with Solid Waste. The six-year delay has doubled costs, but at least consultation and
design can now begin. What do you most want in our Recreation Centre?
Pricefield Park: My precedent-setting motion at March Council will allow a developer to
donate a park design by Claude Cormier & Associates, renowned Canadian designers of
beloved parks like Sugar Beach and the Berczy dog fountain. Thank you to the nearby
community that kickstarted this redesign in 2023, working with a landscape design class at
Toronto Metropolitan University.
Budd Sugerman Park: Work should begin in April on a new habitat for graceful, endangered
chimney swifts.
Affordable Housing
Affordable housing remains a top priority, despite Ford overruling the city and wiping out
5,000 affordable homes. I am working with residents to block the displacement of tenants
from affordable rooming houses on St. George. OPA 453 gives some protection to rooming
house tenants but not enough to keep dozens of our neighbours from losing their homes. I’ll
be advocating for better protections for rooming house tenants at Council.
February 2025
Dear neighbours,
It’s still cold, but I’m glad to see the days getting longer! Thank you to
everyone who joined our skating/doughnut party, as well as those who
attended our town hall on the City of Toronto’s climate plans for the
next five years!
The 2025 Budget was January’s top priority at City Hall. Since Ford’s
“strong mayor” legislation, which makes the budget the ultimate
purview of the mayor, councillors have a limited role in its formulation.
However, the annual Budget Committee is a great opportunity to hear
what residents want from their city, and to look hard at what each
department can deliver.
Thousands of Torontonians had their say. Most requested more funding for a variety of things:
paramedics, TTC, tenants, childcare, homelessness, cyclists, parks, small businesses, the arts,
climate, TCHC, etc. It was daunting to listen to this avalanche of urgent needs, knowing the city
cannot meet all of them (for a refresher on property taxes, click here). Other residents
objected to city taxes, or to funding choices like the FIFA games, policing or Sankofa Square.
I think the mayor presented a responsible budget, in most ways. It included TTC service
improvements, new buses and a fare freeze – which will bring TTC operating and capital
funding from the City to $1.4 billion. Some climate actions were funded that should deliver
good results, including a bulk purchase/installation program for home heat pumps. The
allocation of additional resources means libraries, pools, and washrooms will be cleaner and
open longer, more kids will get fed, emergency response will improve, and more supportive
housing will be built. I’m still working on getting a little more money for nature.
Much of the rest of the budget is going to the unglamourous but essential work of
infrastructure repair. Mayors Ford and Tory put off repairs and they trapped us in a spiral of
obsolete equipment and compounding costs. The 2025 budget slows this spiral, but there
remains a large backlog of expensive repairs, which impacts our ability to build anything new.
Our city desperately needs revenue sources that grow with the economy so we can meet our
responsibilities. We can’t keep burning the furniture by giving up municipal assets, such as the
Gardiner/ DVP upload.
Meanwhile, my team and I continue to address thousands of calls and emails on
encampments, parking, crime, heritage, libraries, parks, noise, traffic, etc. At the request of the
community, I helped to arrange improved security at the Chinatown Green P lot and at 35 Elm
(TCHC), and the city’s first residential street cargo bike corral was installed in the Annex. We
are coordinating work with 311, Transportation, TTC, Hydro, TPA and the police to improve the
reporting and cleanup of hate graffiti (e.g. Nazi swastikas). We have held community
meetings on items such as the Toronto Western Hospital surgical tower, long-term care beds
for Belmont House, and improving pedestrian safety on Price Street. Some of my staff have
also been handing out meals to those living outdoors.
I continue to relentlessly advocate for progress on a long list of projects that are bogged
down in process and resource constraints. And there is some good news. After 10 years, the
Kensington Market Heritage Conservation Plan will finally be approved! Construction this year
should renew the Rosedale Valley multi-use trail, rebuild the Huron-Washington playground
and create a new Moccasin Project Park at Sussex and Spadina. The Glen Road pedestrian
bridge should finally open (as well as perhaps Metrolinx’s Eglinton Crosstown). Step-by-step, I
am getting action on another Indigenous park on Yonge, a new Elm Street streetscape
design, blocking cut-through traffic on Collier Street, parking enforcement in bike lanes, the
much-needed Ramsden Community Centre, hostile vehicle defence for the MNJCC,
completing the redesign of Pricefield Park, etc. None of it is easy, cheap or quick, and Premier
Ford’s cuts mean ever fewer resources and less local input on what gets built.
I am therefore grateful that this Lunar Year of the Snake is a propitious year for intelligence,
strategy, patience, persistence and precision. We will need them all. Happy new year to
everyone celebrating, and thank you to the Chinatown BIA for again hosting such exciting
New Year celebrations!
January 2025
Dear Neighbours,
Happy New Year and best wishes for a fresh start
in 2025. Good to see so many of you when door
knocking, at food banks and at end-of-year
celebrations. Thank you for every good cause you
support, and for your every act of kindness.
311: I am making some progress in getting the
busiest city divisions (Solid Waste, Transportation,
Water, Municipal Licencing and Standards, Urban
Forestry) to provide more timely, accurate
responses to the hundreds of 311 complaints that
we file for you. Staff say I am the only Councillor to
insist on seeing how our complaints are resolved.
The results are so embarrassing that I now have
the City Manager’s backing for a “change
management process” to drag these divisions
into recording meaningful responses. We will keep
following up and keep you informed.
Congestion: Evidence about the true causes of traffic congestion keeps piling up (spoiler
alert: it’s not bike lanes that >16% of Ward 11 use each day). Don’t miss Damien Moule’s clear
and helpful: Don’t Blame Bikes: An Intersectional Analysis of What Really Causes Toronto
Traffic. Higher road encroachment fees for developers (coming soon) should help. Plus there
is Uber, whose 80,000+ often-empty vehicles create 14% of downtown traffic while its drivers
(who often break traffic rules) struggle on less than $6/hour. The mayor keeps promising to
do something about Uber, but action has again been deferred.
Double-dipping: To the understandable fury of many, our ward is Toronto’s hotspot of
developer double-dipping. Developers obtain zoning for a particular building, often by
settling with the community, then get more from a committee of adjustment after a cursory
hearing. Examples in just over a year: 700 University Ave; 11 Yorkville Ave; 316 Bloor St W; 478
Huron St; 874 Yonge St; 292 Dundas St W; 33 Avenue Rd; 1235 Bay St; 888 Dupont St; 5
Scrivener Sq.
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This doesn’t have to keep happening. Toronto could require double-dippers to either honour
their deals or come back to Toronto City Council and the community, instead of shortcutting
through the committee of adjustment. A year ago, I persuaded Toronto City Council to
consider doing something about it. Unfortunately, the Planning and Housing Committee
prefers to keep allowing double-dipping (2024.PH17.12) and attacked me for pressing the
issue on your behalf.
S. 37: I continue to put dormant s. 37 money to good use.
78 units of supportive housing have just broken ground at 35 Bellevue. Two years ago, at
the request of groups like the Kensington Market Community Land Trust, I pledged all Ward
11’s section 37 affordable housing funds to this project. This seed funding, and my strong
support, attracted enough City and federal funds to make this long-discussed project a
reality: owned by the City, leased by Kensington Market Community Land Trust and operated
by St. Clare’s Multi-Faith. Vulnerable residents should be able to move in next year.
Thank you to ABCRA /GYRA for supporting upgrades to Toronto’s oldest library. The Yorkville
Library (Carnegie, 1907) is in disrepair. Renovations 2025-2030 will improve safety and
accessibility. With the extra million dollars that I have provided in section 37 funds, TPL will
also: add WiFi; advance heritage preservation; upgrade the main door; improve outdoor
lighting, seating and landscaping; and enhance its program room with a kitchenette and
new furniture.
Old section 37 funds are also at work at the TTC, where tiles are being upgraded at Dupont
station; an RFQ is being issued for the Indigenous mural that will brighten the Spadina station
tunnel.
Parks: Thank you to everyone who attended my community meeting on Christie Pits. Glad
that PFR has promised to improve the kids’ baseball diamond and accessibility. Staff have
also promised to improve noise and off-leash-dog enforcement, especially if residents file a
311 complaint every time. To influence how PFR balances neighbours’ desires for quiet use of
the park with permitting those across the city to gather there for large or noisy events, please
fill out the Christie Pits survey and encourage your neighbours to do the same.
Meanwhile, I continue to negotiate to find a way forward on Pricefield Park, Vermont Square,
Bellevue Square and others and to find more places to plant trees.
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December Council: The most controversial item on our agenda was how much to relax
zoning rules against non-residential land uses in residential neighbourhoods, PH17.2. Lots of
people would like more neighbourhood corner stores but not if they sell alcohol or cannabis,
which Doug Ford makes us powerless to prevent. At the request of many Residents’
Associations, Toronto City Council sent this back to our new Chief Planner for more
consultation.
Other challenging items included: increasing the number of private rentals to be subsidized
with costly tax holidays (Purpose-Built Rental Incentives); excess heat limits for tenants;
whether to by bylaw strike a fairer balance between the right to protest and the right of
Jewish and other minorities not to be harassed over a foreign war we did not start and
cannot control; the exploitation of Uber drivers and the congestion that they cause; the
infuriating collapse of John Tory’s bad deal with Metrolinx for SmartTrack; the expensive
explosion of refugee claimants in our shelters, forcing others into homeless encampments;
the rejected Ombudsman’s report; protecting critical bird habitat on the Toronto Islands; and
whether to make a sweeping declaration of “economic and social rights” for low-income
residents without defining their meaning or consequences. I also look forward to adding the
Board of the Art Gallery of Ontario to my many other civic responsibilities.
Thank you to parking enforcement star Officer Sabrina Gloetzig for allowing me to cycle with
you in the snow as you ticket scofflaws for blocking bike lanes. Furthermore, a big thank you
to the eager students of Palmerston Junior School for visiting me at Council. School groups of
any age: you are invited too!
December 2024
Dear Neighbours,
As we approach the winter solstice and the many holidays that surround it, I hope that you are getting time with family and friends to enjoy the wonderful activities across University-Rosedale. The 120th Santa Claus parade cheered up more than 750,000 people, including 2000 volunteers. Thank you to everyone who waved, smiled and said hello. The annual Cavalcade of Lights brought moments of joy and wonder as the seasonal lights went on in Koreatown, Little Italy, Rosedale and Nathan Phillip Square. The new Sherlock Holmes Walk and murals have turned a precarious alley behind the Toronto Reference Library into an artistic asset. And Taylor Swift’s six concerts were a huge sparkly success, with TTC and city staff making sure that all fans got home safely. Everyone I know who snagged a ticket is still exhilarated.
Thank you for all the invitations to holiday parties and volunteer events supporting food banks and other social services! I look forward to attending as many as I possibly can. Furthermore, watching the Zamboni back at work in front of City Hall, I’m looking forward to seeing many of you soon on skates.
Our popular November Townhall looked at Toronto’s frustrating traffic congestion, what causes it (spoiler alert: population growth and construction), and what the city is doing about it. Our ward is particularly affected because we are a hotspot of new housing developments, while many of our pipes and wires need upgrading. I encourage you to watch the video or review Roger Browne’s excellent PowerPoint. Congestion is also a major challenge to on-time bus and streetcar service, so I am working with TTC and Transportation to change turning and parking rules, and to build out bus lanes, where pinch points keep buses and streetcars from getting through. This requires a careful balance between local parking and loading needs and those who need their bus/streetcar to be timely and reliable. We are still making adjustments to get this right in Chinatown; thank you to the Chinatown BIA and TTC for working closely with us.
The City is saving lives by improving street lighting in areas with many nighttime collisions. Speaking of saving lives, thank you to the University of Toronto, the University of St. Michaels, OCAD University and Toronto Metropolitan University for supporting our bike lanes, and for bringing the strength of their research to combat Ford’s empty slogans. And thank you to the many, many people around the ward who keep asking how to help. In other traffic news, we are improving control of reckless speeding on residential streets with our two tools: speed humps and tickets. At community requests, speed humps have been installed on Markham, Hallam, Sussex and Wells and should go in next year on Chicora, Lowther, Marlborough, Brunswick, Dale, Devonshire, Manning, Barton, Berryman, Castle Frank, McLellan, Beatrice and Clinton. Requests from other streets keep coming in.
Enforcement is also improving. Year-to-date, the Toronto Police Services Vision Zero Enforcement Team have issued 42,929 tickets, including 18,593 for speeding. Even more should be issued once the cheaper, faster administrative penalty system for speeding tickets starts on January 20, 2025. This avoids delays and dropped charges in the courts, and allows the city to double our speed enforcement cameras to 150. I am also having some success in improving street furniture, including a dozen new benches, and in street painting and signage.
Thank you to the hard-working volunteers who have successfully represented their neighbourhoods through prolonged negotiations on high-profile and controversial high-rise developments. I was proud to take neighbourhood consensus to Council for approving 38 and 40 Walmer Road and strong, defensible grounds to refuse 69 Yorkville.
Congratulations to the quarter of Toronto homeowners who have already made their vacant home tax declaration. The process is so smooth this year that few people have needed assistance. Let us know if you would like us to come to your condo building or group to help people make their declaration or just to meet your members.
My family and I have had great meals recently at new-to-us restaurants Hawker and Actinolite. Let us know if there’s a well-loved little restaurant near you with excellent vegetarian food or fish – we’ll try it out!
November 2024
Hello neighbours,
Two years after the 2022 election, I am proud of the work I am doing for you and the improvements we have made together. I feel especially satisfied for having earned a reputation at City Hall for doing my homework, following up and causing “good trouble”. My focus throughout my tenure has been on substantive interventions, listening carefully, and giving thanks and praise when it is due. Speaking of which, thank you to everyone who helped make this year’s Halloween joyous for children of all ages. It was lovely joining the great turnout Wednesday for our Halloween Movie Night under the stars in Ramsden Park, enjoying snacks in the beautiful gazebo that I installed this year. I enjoyed showing my grandson the fun decorations, inventive costumes and warm community spirit in the Annex. (Did you see my spider-dog?) Regretfully, the much-loved Harbord Village Residents Association (HVRA) pumpkin fest had to skip this year while Harbord Street is reconstructed. Thank you to Seaton Village Residents Association (SVRA) for helping fill the gap with their Vermont Square pumpkin fair. Thank you also for your outstanding and articulate engagement.
University-Rosedale speaks up! You notice, you care, and you say so. You make more 311 calls than any other ward, plus you write and call me hundreds of times a day, seven days a week. We do our best to keep up with this avalanche and to provide the best service we can. If we have missed your email or are late getting back to you, please don’t take it personally. Just send us a polite reminder and we will try again. A great opportunity to have your say comes with the annual city budget. Thank you to everyone who participated in the preliminary consultation in October. There will be more intensive consultations in January, once the chief financial officer releases his draft 2025 budget. After detailed hearings, the mayor will bring her budget to Council on February 11, though many of her key initiatives will be announced in advance. She has already announced, for example, that the city will spend hundreds of millions more dollars on shelter and homelessness, but will still have difficulty keeping up with the flood of refugee claimants and other newcomers.
Meanwhile, I am doing what I can to accelerate our multi-faceted Housing Action Plan, with its ambitious goal of 65,000 new affordable homes. Much of this depends on federal and provincial cooperation which is not yet forthcoming, but we are doing a lot with what little we have. Check out my presentation on the plan and let us know if you have questions. Thinking of taxes: It’s time to make your 2025 vacant home tax declaration. The process is much simpler this year; watch for the instructions in the mail. Would your condo board, church or other group like us to come hold a clinic to make it easier for your members? Please let us know and we will be glad to come.
What else can we do together to make Toronto better?
Bike lanes: Many of you have asked what you can do about Doug Ford’s fact-free attack on our bike lanes, as he tries to distract voters from his own failures. This is a matter of old-fashioned political organizing. Sign CycleTO’s petition, and join a group whose values you share. Reach out to people in Doug Ford’s riding, and in potential swing ridings with Conservative MPPs. Premier Ford does not listen to Council, but he might listen to his caucus and constituents.
Late leaves: Fall’s extraordinary warmth has been pleasant if we ignore what it means about climate weirding. Except for food prices and our billion-dollar summer floods, Toronto has mercifully escaped the worst of this year’s extreme weather. Our warm fall only produced thirsty trees, duller colours and leaves that fall late. Late-falling leaves may clog gutters and catch basins when ice and snow arrive, freezing together into rough lumps. Street maintenance crews will do what they can, but it would be wise to clear your catch basin if it’s clogged.
Water bills: If you pay a water bill, the transmission unit that sends your meter readings to the city may have failed (battery problems). These units have saved the city more than $300 million; now we must spend part of those savings to replace the broken units or function without them. Details on what to do have been mailed to every water customer. If you need help to resolve an unexpectedly large water bill or to find and read your water meter, call the special line at 311; if that doesn’t work, ask our office.
Noisy garbage trucks: Do you lose sleep because of night-time private waste collection, which the previous Council exempted from the noise bylaw? If so, please report it to 311; sleep is essential to health. Working with No More Noise Toronto, I have successfully compelled Municipal Licencing and Standards to start addressing these complaints, but nothing will happen unless you file a complaint. If the problem repeats, please report it again.
Vaccines: It’s time to get your Covid and flu shots, to reduce the risk of serious illness. Get them from your family doctor or pharmacist.
Do you need a volunteer for tree planting, Christmas giveaways, or other public services this fall? Does your school, church or other group hold an event where my team and I can meet your members? Please invite us and we will come when we can.
Thank you so much for including us!
October 2024
Hello neighbours,
Fall is a lovely time in University-Rosedale. Mornings are cool, summer gardens yield a few more delights (my cherry tomatoes are still ripening), and leaves are starting to turn yellow, orange and red. Fresh fall apples are crisp and tart; farmers’ markets are bursting with produce and looking ahead to Halloween. I always enjoy fall celebrations, such as the Annex Residents’ Association Corn Fest, BENA’s social and the HVRA Fall Fair’s auction and concert. Thank you to everyone who said hello.
Fall is also, of course, when the pace of work at City Hall snaps back into high gear. Having no Council in August plus a limited Council in September means a heavy agenda every October. Flashpoints at this Council will likely include fixing the vacant home tax; Ports Toronto’s request to add safety buffers to the Toronto Island Airport; the perennial topics of congestion and housing; and whether to give up on an ambitious redevelopment of the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.
Some of my own motions will also be on Council’s agenda, including on:
· A Compliance and Enforcement strategy for bylaw breaches that worsen congestion and safety;
· Higher maximum fines for road obstructions;
· Zoning obstacles to home energy efficiency, energy storage and renewable energy;
· Protecting tenants of older buildings from lead contamination in their drinking water;
· A promising building-based approach to curbside EV charging for garage orphans;
· Allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in neighbourhood polls (not general elections), and
· Refusing greenwashing ads that conflict with Toronto’s climate commitments.
I will also be making section 37 motions to fund mass timber affordable housing in Kensington Market and to beautify the forthcoming pedestrian space on Avenue Road between Davenport and Dupont.
At the TTC, I am having some success in two critical areas: fare enforcement and traffic congestion that reduces bus and streetcar reliability. After an education blitz, tickets for fare cheating are up sharply to ~1000 /month, halfway to what they were in 2019. As part of the process of closing most crash gates, which are widely abused, legacy tickets/ tokens can only be used until December 31. On traffic congestion, I am coaxing TTC staff to work more effectively with city staff, and to document the worst pinch-points.
In other TTC news:
· TTC welcomed Greg Percy (former Metrolinx CEO) as interim CEO. He is already making an excellent impression!
· Hillcrest Yard celebrated its 100th anniversary with a popular open house.
· Work is underway to add cameras to catch drivers who pass open streetcar doors.
· Because of my swing vote, staff will propose options for continuing free public WiFi after December 31, when Rogers will shut off the old, collapsing WiFi technology.
· The TTC Board adopted my motion to pre-screen advocacy advertising from fossil fuel greenwashers like the Pathways Alliance, and to refuse such advertising unless the advertiser proves it is true. Thus, at long last, the TTC will stop lending its brand and credibility to false, misleading claims that the billionaire tar sands companies are compatible with our net zero commitments and a liveable future. This decision, apparently the first of its kind in North America, was quickly followed by Montreal’s transit system, which has been musing about such action for months. Thank you to CAPE, TCAN and StandEarth for their inspiration and support.
It’s great to have my office team almost back in full force, with Tasneem, Sydney, Daniel and Anne joining William, Christian, Ben and Andrew, plus Cameron part-time for the school year. Holli, Jessica, Quinn and Teodoro are thriving in their new gigs and send everyone their best wishes.
September 2024
Hello Neighbours,
It’s been a wonderful summer in University-Rosedale. It was great to see so many of you at spectacular late-summer events like the Yorkville Mural Festival, the first Korea Town Street Festival, the Chinatown Festival, the Toronto Outdoor Picture Show and the Toronto Dragon Festival, and enjoying delicious local food at the Bloor Borden Market and our many CafeTO patios. Thank you to everyone who helps to make our community so vibrant. As for myself, I relished my opportunity to have thrown out the first pitch at the last game of the season for the Toronto Maple Leaf Baseball Club game with the assistance of my grandson. He is much better at baseball than I am!
I’m proud to be delivering so many improvements constituents have requested across the Ward, such as the new mural being painted on the Summerhill underpass, new bike lanes on Avenue Road, and construction wrapping up on Bloor Street between Avenue and Spadina, and on University southbound from College to Queen. Repair work on the Spadina streetcar line has been disruptive but essential and will mean better service for years to come. Construction will start soon on pedestrian safety upgrades on Avenue Road between Dupont and Davenport, on upgraded water mains and cycle tracks on Hoskin/ Harbord, and on University northbound from Queen to College. Consultation will start soon on the supportive housing project I have helped bring to Kensington Market, and on long-awaited upgrades to Dupont Street.
Of course, better infrastructure is essential but not enough. For walkers and cyclists to move safely around our ward, we also need a dramatic improvement in traffic law compliance and enforcement. This is something that I work on every month. As many of you will be aware, a young cyclist was tragically killed on Bloor Street in July close to a construction bin that blocked the bike lane without a permit. This event has shocked the conscience of our community, and should never happen again. City staff responded to this tragic event by issuing startlingly inadequate tickets to the accused companies, which they can pay off for as little as $200. I was horrified to discover that this happened because Toronto City Council has never used its decades-old authority to set meaningful fines for the road encroachment part of the Municipal Code.
I have therefore submitted a motion to the next full Council meeting asking staff to propose serious maximum fines (hopefully $100,000 each) for serious breaches of key parts of the Municipal Code, and to authorize substantial fines against corporate officers and directors in appropriate cases. I have also asked staff to shorten the turning lane, to increase the clarity of road markings, and to boost inspections of this high-risk area.
Another life-and-death matter is the Province’s recent decision to close down half of Toronto’s safe injection sites, including the one in Kensington Market. The epidemic of homelessness, mental health crises, and drug addiction in Toronto continues to affect everyone it touches – those living with it, their families, as well as the community as a whole. I see and hear of these difficulties every day, particularly in view of the province’s recent decision to close down a significant portion of safe injection sites around the city. These closures pose a significant risk to those in need and may cause more public drug usage in unsafe conditions. The Provincial Government is offering little money to improve addiction treatment, and far too little to meet the overwhelming need we see on our streets and encampments. The province has also offered no incentive for drug users to keep turning in their used needles. This could mean many more used (and potentially infectious) needles littering our streets, parks and playgrounds after March 31, 2025. In light of this decision, it’s imperative that the Province provide more funding to the city to offset the effects of losing these sites. While health care is a provincial responsibility, I am asking Toronto Public Health and the mayor for solutions to this entirely avoidable threat. Furthermore, I will continue to push for meaningful partnerships with other levels of government for proper funding for the care, treatment, and housing of those who need help.
Off-leash dog parks are not matters of life and death, but they are deeply important to many people. This fall, Council will consider staff’s recommendation for a Dog Master Plan, including criteria for which of the 70+ off-leash dog parks should be open to licenced commercial dog walkers with four dogs or more. People who live next to a park must put up with some disturbances from park users, but those disturbances should not be unlimited. Right now, commercial dog walkers are welcome in about 2/3 of Toronto’s off-leash dog parks, especially parks with buffers around them and/or limited hours, such as Don Valley Brickworks, Bickford, Nordheimer and Vermont Square. Downtown, commercial dog walkers are generally barred from off-leash areas next to homes, such as Huron, Breadalbane, Craigleigh, and Hillcrest. Ramsden Park was the major exception in my Ward, an anomaly that I closed (for now) at the request of the ABC Residents’ Association.
I know this has caused inconvenience for some commercial dog walkers and their clients, and confusion for many dog lovers. Toronto already has too few areas where dogs can play, including my own beloved pet; that’s why Council asked for clear criteria and a Dog Master Plan. Meanwhile (subject to dangerous dog orders):
– Anyone can walk leashed dogs through almost all parks, outside off-leash areas.
– Anyone walking their own pet can go to any off-leash dog park, including Ramsden.
– Anyone walking three or fewer dogs can take them to any off-leash dog park, including Ramsden.
– 49 off-leash dog parks are open to commercial dog walkers with four to six dogs, including some that are not far from Ramsden Park by transit.
Wishing everyone a happy September, and be sure to enjoy the fall colours!
