Councillor Matlow's City Hall & Community Update: February 2025
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City Hall and Community Update for April 26, 2016
Rail Safety Town Hall Meeting, Tomorrow!
Disasters over the past several years in Lac Megantique, in Northern Ontario, and the United States have demonstrated the risks involved with moving hazardous materials, such as crude oil, by rail. That's why I've been working with local residents and community organizations for several years now to convince the federal government to put responsible regulations in place to protect Canadians. You can read my 2014 motion to City Council on this important issue here.
In 2015, I wrote a letter, signed by my colleagues to urge the then-Transportation Minister Lisa Raitt to enact significant safety measures. This commitment was recently renewed with my letter to Hon. Marc Garneau, the new Minister of Transportation, that was also signed by Mayor Tory and all councillors representing wards that are traversed by the CP rail line. I commend the new government for actively listening to our concerns and am very hopeful they will soon move forward with necessary measures to protect residents living near rail corridors.
The urgent importance of our initiative has been recognized by the Toronto Star and other media outlets. Now is the time for action to protect our communities!
Also, I am pleased to have been asked by local MPs Carolyn Bennett and Chrystia Freeland to moderate a conversation at public meeting with Minister Garneau. Please join me for this important event at 6:30pm on Wednesday, April 27 at Walmer Road Baptist Church (188 Lowther Avenue).
Deer Park Accessible Playground Groundbreaking Ceremony
Deer Park Public School was one of the many schools that had its wooden play structures removed a decade ago due to safety concerns. The few play stuctures on site are inadequate for the special needs students at the school and in the wider community.
That's why I was happy to support the efforts of local parents, and Trustee Laskin, to contribute funds through a motion toward a new, fully accessible playground at Deer Park last year. This new playground will ensure that every child in the community will be finally able to play with their friends, rather than sit on the sidelines.
This morning, the community celebrated the start of this important project with a groundbreaking ceremony that I was honoured to participate in. I look forward to the project being completed soon and seeing children of all abilities enjoying the new playground!
Reuse, Recycle, Safely Dispose: Ward 22's Community Environment Day
Please join me at my annual Community Environment Day event. I hope to see you there!
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2016
Time: 4pm - 8pm
Location: North Toronto Memorial Arena parking lot (174 Orchard View Blvd)
Community Environment Day helps reduce the amount of reusable, recyclable or household hazardous waste going into landfill. The program provides a convenient way for you to drop off reusable and recyclable items such as clothing, small appliances, non-perishable food, electronics, etc. You can drop off household hazardous waste for safe disposal. By doing these things, you will also help support charities, schools, the local "sharing" economy and create new "green" jobs. For more information, please click here or call 311.
Ward 22's Davisville Village Farmers’ Market Opens for Another Season!
I'm delighted to support AppleTree Markets, a local Ward 22 non-profit organization, that will once again be transforming June Rowlands Park into a vibrant "town square" for the fifth year of our community's popular farmers’ market at June Rowlands (Davisville) Park. The market is a place where you are sure to see friends and neighbours, while buying fresh produce, fish, meats, chocolate, and so much more.
This season, the market begins on May 10th and will operate weekly on Tuesdays between 3 and 7pm. I look forward to seeing you there!
Jane's Walks 10th Anniversary
Interested in learning more about the city's distinct neighbourhoods and diverse cultures? This year, volunteers from across the city will be leading Jane's Walks, a celebration of the legacy Jane Jacob's left on our city.
Two Jane's Walks will be occurring in Ward 22, and best of all, they're free! The first, "Trains, Trams and Roads in Summerhill and Deer Park," will be a one-hour walk led by Ken Brown on May 7. You can find out more about this walk here. The second, "Retracing Stop Spadina", will be a two-hour walk led by HiMY SYeD on May 1 and 7. You can find out more about this walk here.
For more information about Jane's Walks and many other events happening around Toronto, please click here.
Funding Opportunity for Community Groups
The City is encouraging non-profit organizations that address community safety or access, equity and human rights of equity-seeking groups to apply for two different grant programs.
Access, Equity and Human Rights (AEHR) Investment Funding
The Access, Equity and Human Rights (AEHR) Investment Program provides short-term funding to community-based projects that act on human rights, accessibility, equity, discrimination and hate crime concerns in their neighbourhoods and communities. (Deadline for application is at 11:59pm, June 8.)
Community Safety Investment (CSI) Funding
The Community Safety Investment (CSI) program provides short-term funding of 1-3 years for outcome-focused activities that build community capacity for violence prevention and increase safety for the most vulnerable groups in Toronto. Priority will be given to community groups that help seniors, youth most vulnerable to involvement in serious violence and crime, newcomers, undocumented workers and Neighbourhood Improvement Areas (NIAs) (Deadline for application is at 11:59pm, June 15.)
An information session for these grant programs will also be held May 4 at City Hall from 10am-12pm.
Province Backs Away from Problematic Childcare Regulations
I’m pleased to report that the Province has responded to the sincere concerns from parents and the City’s Children Services by backing away from proposed changes that further compromised the affordability and accessibility of childcare. These regulations would have lowered the age groupings for infants and toddlers, that would have lead to a reduction of over 2000 child care spaces and increased fees for parents.
These impacts are outlined in detail in this report prepared in response by the City.
Updated Ward 22 Development Page
To ensure you are informed and engaged about development proposals being proposed for sites near your neighbourhood, I've created an interactive webpage.
My Proposed Developments webpage has recently been updated to reflect current development applications and, as always, contains locations, staff reports and public meeting notices. Additionally, the map now shows the boundaries of the Urban Growth Centre surrounding Yonge and Eglinton, as well as the designated Avenues (portions of Eglinton Avenue West, St. Clair Avenue West, Yonge Street, Mt. Pleasant Road and Bayview Avenue). These are all areas where the Province is directing growth. Clicking on any of them will provide links to more information about the ward's Avenues/Urban Growth Centre, as well as links to the City's Official Plan and local secondary plans.
Please click here to learn more about what you can do to help free Toronto from the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
For ongoing council and community news, my contact information, along with a calendar of events, please visit www.joshmatlow.ca. Click here to read my previous city hall and community updates.
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Councillor Matlow's City Hall & Community Update: January 2025
Show Your Support for a Charter City - Sign our Petition and Register to Depute
At Executive Committee on Tuesday, January 28th, Councillor Jamaal Myers and I are moving a motion “Toward Municipal Autonomy and Effective Local Governance” and we need your help! Show your support for a charter city by signing our petition, registering to speak, and submitting written comments for the committee meeting.
It’s time to start fighting for Toronto’s future. You can register to depute or submit written comments at Executive Committee on January 28th here and you can sign our petition to send a message to your local Councillor and Mayor here.
Councillor Matlow's City Hall & Community Update: December 2024
Focusing on Real Solutions to Toronto's Traffic Gridlock
Every day, too many Torontonians find themselves stuck in traffic gridlock, this is unacceptable. While there are many reasons for this, such as a lack of much-needed transit expansion over generations, along with the continuing need to provide people with more options to get around. I am actively calling for change. Far too many of our city's curb lanes are occupied for 2 or 3 years at a time for construction staging. I don't believe this is acceptable and I am calling for change.
Please read this thoughtful Toronto Star story about this priority.
