Councillor Matlow's City Hall & Community Update: November 2024

Announcing Extended Hours at our Libraries

Libraries are about books, but they’re also a place for learning and coming together in every neighborhood. It was a pleasure to join Mayor Chow at Wychwood Library to announce our plan to expand service to 7 days a week, 12 months a year, at all 100 branches!

Breaking Ground for the Davisville Community and Aquatics Centre

I'm so pleased to announce that construction has started on the new Davisville Community and Aquatics Centre. It was a pleasure to join so many people at the groundbreaking ceremony that were instrumental in launching this project, including Trustee Laskin, local parents, residents associations, city staff and many others.

Midtown residents can look forward to a "state of the art" pool complex that includes:

• A 25M pool
• A leisure/ kids pool
• Gym access
• Community programming space that can be permitted by local groups 
• An active rooftop

Empowering Toronto with a City Charter

Doug Ford’s latest overreach into municipal jurisdiction is another reminder that Canada's constitution was written when our country was largely an agrarian society. Large cities like Toronto are now responsible for delivering transit, roads, social housing, recreation, and other services residents rely on every day. Yet the province can overturn any of our considered and debated decisions on a whim. This constant meddling undercuts local democracy and threatens civic engagement.
 
Whether you agree or not with a new development, a bike lane, or a new tax, the level of government making the decision should be accountable to you. Toronto needs a new deal with senior levels of government that ensures we have the rights and abilities necessary for 21st century cities to thrive and achieve results for residents. Common in the United States and elsewhere, Charter Cities have supreme authority over “municipal affairs.” Also referred to as “Home Rule”, a Charter City’s law concerning a municipal affair will trump a state law governing the same topic.
 
It's time for Canada's largest city to have the tools it needs to effectively chart its own course to decide how we grow, get around, support each other, and improve our quality of life. A City Charter will also assist in making the division of roles and responsibilities between senior levels of government and City Hall more transparent and therefore more accountable to the public.
 
I will be moving a motion on this issue at the next meeting of City Council.

Protecting Tenants from Rent Price-Fixing

With vacancy decontrol and the Ford government’s removal of rent control on buildings constructed after 2018, Toronto renters are all too aware of escalating prices for vacant units and annual double-digit rent increases on an apartment they’re already renting. With a structural housing supply shortage driving rent inflation, landlords are said to pass on massive rent increases to tenants according to what the market will bear. But what if these large increases are not solely the machinations of the “free market”, but rather the product of illegal price collusion between landlords facilitated by the same algorithmric pricing software currently subject to antitrust investigations in the United States?

In the U.S., the FBI is investigating property management software company RealPage for illegal algorithmic rent setting through its software Yieldstar. The Department of Justice launched a lawsuit last August, claiming that the AI software allows landlords to collude on their rents, avoiding fair competition in the market. The influence of RealPage across U.S. rental markets was significant: it set roughly 60% of prices in the D.C. area, and 70% in Phoenix, Arizona.

A recent CBC investigation found that Yieldstar software has been in use by landlords and property managers in Canada since 2017. Reporting has documented its use by property management company GWLRA, as well as Dream Unlimited and its property manager Rhapsody Living. In response, the federal government recently announced that it is launching an investigation into price-fixing by landlords using algorithms through the Competition Bureau.

The full extent of this software’s use in the Toronto rental market is unknown, nor do we have a full picture of who is using it. That’s why I was successful in getting support for my motion that directed City Staff to employ all the tools at its disposal to ensure fairness for renters by taking action against landlords who cheat to illegally drive up their profits.

Putting the Breaks on Auto Theft: Taking Immediate Action to Keep our Neighborhoods Safe

Every night, too many Torontonians go to bed worried about whether their car will be stolen or if their home will be broken into.

The surge in auto thefts and home invasions has even led to some residents hiring private security at their own expense- personally spending tens of thousands of dollars in enhancing security measures for their properties and those of their neighbours. That’s not acceptable and concrete actions must be taken to protect our communities.

I was pleased to join Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw and Superintendent Ron Taverner to announce the ongoing results of Project Thoroughbred, an investigation into auto thefts and fraudulent Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs), a number that uniquely identifies each individual vehicle.

Through Project Thoroughbred, investigators have uncovered a scheme involving the registration of fraudulent VINs by employees of Service Ontario. These fake VINs were used to sell stolen vehicles to unsuspecting buyers at a significant discount. The investigation has also revealed the existence of "chop shops" across the city, where stolen vehicles are dismantled and prepared for shipment overseas. Vehicles brought into these facilities are quickly dismantled, making them difficult to trace and reducing the chance of detection. Additionally, investigators recovered stolen vehicles from shipping containers destined for overseas locations. I remain in close communication with our Toronto Police Service and commend the work of our local police divisions on continuing to identify and arrest members of suspected auto theft rings. I’ve also met with the Vice President of the Insurance Bureau of Canada to learn more about their advocacy for policy and regulatory changes.

While there have been increased measures at our national borders and ports, and additional funding to help curb auto theft, there is much more that needs to be done.

This is why I moved a motion at City Council, that received unanimous support, on the following recommendations to senior levels of government:

1. Update current and mandate new technological standards and security features for all vehicle manufacturers.
2. Eliminate the ability for any citizen to register a vehicle on another person’s behalf without power of attorney.
3. Prohibit anyone from relying on a New Vehicle Information Statement to register a vehicle, limiting this registration mechanisms to only licensed dealers.
4. Expedite outgoing screenings at all ports.

The way to combat auto theft is to prevent it from happening in the first place by screening our ports, using technology and cracking down on fraud, along with bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.

Every level of government needs to work together on concrete actions to support national, provincial and local police services’ efforts to protect our residents. This is a serious and all too common problem affecting cities across Canada -and will take an all hands on deck approach to get results.

Providing Safety and Convenience for Midtown Residents: Moving Forward with a Pedestrian Scramble at Yonge and Eglinton

The high-rise neighbourhood surrounding the Yonge & Eglinton intersection is one of the most densely populated areas of Toronto. A count taken by the City on May 24^th of this year found that 40,372 pedestrians crossed the intersection in one day -the highest total observed at any intersection in Toronto between 2020-2024. During peak periods there are often queues at corners leading to residents waiting more than one traffic light phase just to cross the street.
 
While the local community is still waiting for Metrolinx to open the Eglinton Crosstown LRT, construction is finally finished at the Yonge & Eglinton intersection. Now is the right time to start the process to install a pedestrian scramble to provide safety and convenience for pedestrians at this intersection.
 
That’s why I’m pleased that my motion requesting staff to report on the feasibility of implementing a pedestrian scramble after the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is operational was supported at Council last week.

Supporting Vibrant Main Streets with Small-Scale Retail

The vibrant, small-scale retail on our city’s main streets support our local economy and vibrant, walkable, affordable, and successful neighbourhoods. Unfortunately, we’re losing these cherished streetscapes to the all too familiar block-killing banks, giant dentist offices and drugstores brought in by large-scale redevelopment. As the City seeks to both add more housing supply on our main streets and encourage sustainable long-term economic growth, we need to ensure that we protect the small-scale retailers that breathe life into our neighbourhoods.
 
The loss of small-scale retail is happening across the city, and our Midtown community has not been spared. A year ago, a development proposal was submitted for an entire block of Yonge Street between Hillsdale Ave and Manor Rd. The developers were only willing to replace 3 of the 12 small businesses currently on that block. This strip has a barbershop, a bike store, restaurants and more.
 
The impacts to our community of losing this fine-grained retail are significant: innovative entrepreneurs are unable to start businesses in large, unaffordable spaces leading to reduced investment in the local economy, less cultural diversity, and boring main streets that lack the shops and services residents rely on. Unfortunately, the City lacks the legal ability to mandate small-scale retail units because of the narrow powers granted to us by the province (see the earlier post about a charter city). However, I have moved a motion on the Yonge Street application requesting that the developer provide at least 6 retail units. I am hopeful that this compromise will be supported by the applicant. I have also moved an amendment to the City’s economic development strategy asking for a long-term plan to address this issue before it’s too late.

As our city grows and adds new housing, we need to get our main streets right. This should not be a contest between these two priorities: housing and small-scale retail. If we choose to, we can have new housing units above vibrant, affordable, walkable and successful main streets.  

A New Renoviction Bylaw for Toronto 

At City Council in November, Council passed a new renoviction bylaw inspired by the City of Hamilton that protects tenants from being unfairly renovicted from their homes. The purpose isn’t to deter landlords from improving units or to make renovations when they are required. Instead, the goal of the bylaw is to prevent “bad faith” renovictions, where renovation is used as an excuse to displace tenants and jack up rents. This bylaw ensures fairness in our rental market, protecting tenants amidst an affordable housing crisis in our City.
 
The new bylaw requires landlords to obtain a renovation license, a condition of which requires them to provide the City a plan to compensate tenants while they are temporarily displaced either through rent-gap payments or by finding them temporary accommodations. Landlords will also now be required to pay severance compensation for people who don’t choose to return to the unit after it is completed, and have to give adequate notice for any changes that occur.

I was thrilled to work alongside my Council colleagues at Planning and Housing Committee in the process of improving this bylaw, including Councillor Paul Fletcher, as well as City staff at Toronto Buildings. I also want to commend tenant advocacy groups, including ACORN, for their tireless advocacy on this critical issue. Together, we can make a City where tenants are able to live in stable and secure affordable housing.

Fighting to Expedite Roof Repairs at the Wychwood Barns 

Anyone who visits the beloved Wychwood Barns, as I often do, knows that the scaffolding that was installed around the concrete pillars of Barn 5 has been hugely disruptive, especially for the Farmer’s Market. When I reached out to City staff to inquire about timelines for fixing it, they said that the repairs wouldn’t be done until early 2027. This is timeline is completely unacceptable, and I have been strongly advocating to City staff, including the General Manger of Parks and Recreation, to find ways to expedite this work.
 
So far, the response from staff has been that the project is highly complex. There is significant concrete damage to the pillars, creating risks that require the scaffolding to remain in place until any repairs begin. There is also a requirement to ensure any remediation work aligns with the heritage status of the building, which adds more delays. Regardless of the project’s complexity, I believe that City staff should be responding with much more urgency given the highly detrimental impacts for users of the Barns.
 
There is a larger issue at play here: a major reason why the City struggles with infrastructure projects is due to its over-reliance on contracting-out, which seeds layers of consultants and contractors used for almost all aspects of a project. In this case, the city hired one consultant to determine if there was a problem, did another procurement round to determine the scope of the problem and the recommended solutions, and will need another contractor to actually complete the work. In practice, this adds layers of bureaucracy and significant costs and delays. I am actively working on addressing the systemic issues with our broken procurement system at City Hall so that the Barns can be fully enjoyed by our community as soon as possible and these wasteful practices are put to an end.

Please Support the Abiona Centre for Infant & Early Mental Health

I am pleased to share the following message from the Abiona Centre, located at 1102 Broadview Avenue. They are looking for community support for a holiday donation drive and scholarship fundraiser. 

Holiday Donations Drive

At Abiona Centre, we are dedicated to creating a better future for vulnerable pregnant and parenting young mothers and their children, from birth to age six. We believe that by supporting these families, we are strengthening the entire community.  

Our infant and early childhood mental health programs give young mothers the tools they need to build secure relationships with their babies, cope with life’s challenges, and find the help they need to succeed. However, we can’t do it alone. We need the support of caring individuals like you. 

By donating, you can make a direct impact on these families' lives. Items that would be incredibly beneficial include: 

• Gift cards (grocery stores, Shoppers Drug Mart)  
• Hygiene products (for both parents and children)  
• Children’s activities (toys or workbooks)  
• Baby developmental toys (blocks, stacking toys, push and pop)  
• Creative art projects (family-friendly)  
• Self-care items (socks, robes, pajamas)  
• Diapers (size 1-6, pull-ups), formula, wipes  
• Bottle warmers, breast pumps  
• Financial contributions

Your generosity helps ensure that young mothers have access to the essential resources they need to care for their children and thrive as families. Every donation, no matter how small, makes a big difference in their lives. 

Thank you for your consideration and support. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of young moms and their children.

6th Annual Humewood Community Scholarship Fundraiser

We are very pleased to start our 6^th Annual Humewood Community Scholarship Fundraising Drive! Our fundraising goal again this year is $5,000 and the campaign will continue until December 31, 2024. 
 
This scholarship was specifically designed for young mothers who use the impressive range of parenting support and educational services offered at the Humewood and Broadview Campuses of the Abiona Centre For Infant & Early Mental Health. As a result of last year’s fundraising drive, $1,000 was dispersed to each of the 6 young moms who met the scholarship criteria.
 
Over the last 5 years, a total of 28 young mothers have received the Humewood Community Scholarships to pursue post-secondary education at accredited colleges and universities. We thank you so much because these were funds that you, the community, contributed!
 
TO DONATE, please click on the link below:
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/abionacentre/p2p/HCS2024 or click here or scan the QR code at the bottom left of the banner.  A donation of any amount is very much appreciated. Donations of $20 and over will receive a tax receipt. Please note that the CanadaHelps website may take a few seconds to load.
 
Thank you in advance for the community’s continued support for this initiative. 

Supporting our Long-Term Care Homes

The Castleview Wychwood Towers are part of a network of city owned long term care homes providing vital 24-hour resident-focused care to our aging population. We need to make sure that each resident has adequate time with PSWs and staff to ensure their needs are met. However, it is impossible for the City of Toronto to retain staff if they’re not paid fairly or are underpaid compared to other jurisdictions and hospitals, even hospitals in Toronto. The funding issues and staffing shortages at Castleview are a very alarming example of what’s happening at long-term care homes across our city.

To support our aging residents, we need to support the staff in our long-term care homes with fair compensation and working conditions. I will continue actively working with the General Manager of Seniors Services and Long-Term Care to resolve these issues. 

You can read more here. 

Woodgreen Trades Program for Women

Virtual Community Consultation for 267-275 Merton Street

The City of Toronto’s Development Review Division has received an application to permit a 40-storey mixed-use purpose built rental building with 494 dwelling units, of which 30% will be affordable rental units at 267-275 Merton Street. 

Join a virtual community consultation meeting where you can view information panels, provide comments, ask questions, and speak with the project team. 

Virtual Meeting Details
Meeting Date: December 2, 2024 from 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Join online by Webex
Visit www.toronto.ca/CPconsultations for the registration link and instructions on how to join. 

Join by Phone
Dial 1-416-915-6530 and enter

Meeting ID:
2869 543 4849
Passcode: 69246487

For more information about how to join the meeting and how to participate visit www.toronto.ca/HowToEngageOnline.

"A Christmas Carol" at St. Michael & All Angels

New Mural at Garrison Creek

A new mural at St.Clair Ave W and Atlas Ave celebrates the lost history of Garrison Creek. In this mural, artists Ian Wright & Julia Prajza represent what St. Clair Ave looks like today, countered with what it would have looked like if Garrison Creek still flowed above ground. It was a pleasure to partner with the Hillcrest BIA.

African Art Sale and Holiday Market