City Hall and Community update for June 10, 2016

New Report Reveals Low Ridership Expected for “Express” One-Stop Scarborough Subway

My position on the Scarborough Subway is well known. The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that the previous plan for a 7 stop, grade-separated LRT (which would run in its own corridor- no traffic lanes removed and no traffic signals) would serve Scarborough residents’ transit needs much better than a subway, and would be fully funded by the provincial government. In other words, far more people served with rapid transit for far fewer tax dollars.

Earlier this year, Mayor Tory presented a new Scarborough transit plan that to replace the 3 stop subway with a one stop subway and use the savings to build a 17 stop LRT from Kennedy Station to the University of Toronto Scarborough campus. I commended Mayor Tory at the time for recognizing that the evidence simply did not support the previous subway plan for Scarborough, but that I still had a number of questions about the new plan.

Primarily, that $2 billion (costs are approximate at this point) for a one stop subway extension is too high. This concern has increased with the release of new projections from City Planning showing only 7,300 riders would use the subway during the busiest period.

Too put that in perspective, that number is less than a quarter of the capacity for a subway and less than half that of an LRT. The level of ridership projected for the one stop subway is similar to a busy bus route. Toronto has several unfunded commitments and a dearth of resources to complete them. I believe our city council must take an honest, evidence-based and fiscally-responsible approach when setting priorities.

I will continue to work with the mayor and my council colleagues on a plan to provide better service for Scarborough residents, including further investigation into whether the subway could travel at-grade through its own corridor as part of a network approach to transit planning that must include a funded Relief Subway Line to support our existing overcrowded system.

For more information on the new one stop Scarborough subway, please see this article.

City Initiative to Support Tenants Moves Forward

As the Chair of Toronto’s Tenant Issues Committee, I have been working with tenants from across our city, Acorn and the Federation of Metro Toronto Tenants Associations, on an initiative to better ensure that landlords keep their multi-residential buildings in good repair. After many months of hard work, I was pleased that the vast majority of my colleagues at Council voted this week to move forward with consultation on landlord licensing.

This new initiative is aimed at ensuring that Toronto renters have safe, clean and healthy homes that have adequate heat, functioning appliances, and are free of bedbugs. In short, the basics. It will help give the City of Toronto tools it needs to make landlords follow the law.

The proposal would apply to all buildings that have at least 3 storeys and 10 units. Given that there are 3,300 apartment buildings that fit this criteria in Toronto, it is safe to say that we will never have enough property standards inspectors to effectively enforce our by-laws on a complaints basis as is the current practice. The proposed licensing system would take a pro-active approach, similar to the City’s successful DineSafe program, by requiring landlords to submit cleaning and maintenance plans coupled with random audits.

This initiative has the potential to greatly improve the lives of many tenants in our community. That’s why I was disappointed to see that the Greater Toronto Apartments Association (the landlord lobby) target tenants with a campaign of misinformation to shamefully manipulate tenants into advocating against their own interests with flyers claiming that City Hall was about to implement an “apartment tax”.

Part of the recommendations might include a small fee that the City of Toronto would charge landlords (not tenants) to cover the cost of the program. The Executive Director of Municipal Licensing and Standards stated that it would be very unlikely that the landlords would be able to pass this cost on to tenants. Further, this opinion was echoed by a spokesperson the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing last week.

I would certainly never support any measure that would raise rents on Toronto’s tenants and will continue to fight to keep rents affordable and for safe, healthy and respectful homes.

For more information please see this article.

School Fun fairs and BBQs

Me and my daughter Molly having fun at a recent school fun fair

My family and I have enjoyed seeing so many of you at the many local school fun fairs and BBQs over the past month, including events at:

• Eglinton
• Maurice Cody
• Brown
• Cottingham
• Deer Park
• Hodgson
• Oriole Park
• Forest Hill

A special thanks to all the hard-working parent volunteers and school staff who made these great community events possible. Please join us between 10:30am-3:30pm at Davisville PS next Saturday, June 18!

Belsize Drive's Glebe Manor East and West Parkettes Improvements Update

I'm pleased to announce that construction on the parkettes is wrapping up and they look remarkable!

It was a great pleasure to work with local residents to make much-needed improvements to the parkettes while still retaining their natural beauty. These enhancements include clearly delineated entranceways, new flowerbeds and sitting areas, mulch-covered natural paths and tree canopy replacement. Importantly, the drainage issues that have plagued the east parkette have also been addressed.

You may have noticed there is still fencing enclosing portions of the parkettes, despite construction now being completed. I have been informed by the project manager that this fencing is necessary to protect newly re-seeded areas in the parkettes and will need to remain a while longer, to ensure adequate seed rooting.

Toronto Attains Global Age-Friendly City Status!

During my first year as our city councillor, I initiated the City of Toronto’s Seniors Strategy: a proactive, holistic and inclusive initiative that seeks to create a truly accessible, respectful and age-friendly Toronto.

Since its inception two years ago, 86 of the 91 recommendations have been either partially or fully implemented, including the provision of seniors’-centred social services at appropriate TCHC buildings, and an increase in home visits by City paramedics.

Having since been appointed the City of Toronto’s Seniors Advocate, I am working on the next phase of the Seniors Strategy. I am proud of the major steps we have taken, but there is still more work to be done.

In recognition of the recent successful implementation of Toronto’s inaugural Seniors Strategy, I am delighted to announce that on February 22, 2016 the World Health Organization (WHO) pronounced Toronto the latest global city to be awarded the status of a WHO designated Age-Friendly City!

Toronto's inclusion in the WHO's Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities speaks to our city's commitment to serving seniors in an equitable, respectful and inclusionary way to improve their quality of life and support their full participation in civic life. I look forward to working alongside the WHO and all of our partners to continue to develop, enhance and implement our Toronto Seniors Strategy.

In my role as Toronto's Seniors Advocate, I was delighted to present the WHO plaque at City Council on Tuesday. Thank you so much to all of the City staff and community partners whose great efforts contributed to this milestone achievement!

Toronto Seniors Summit

As Toronto's Seniors Advocate, I recently met with Ontario's Minister Responsible for Seniors, Mario Sergio, to discuss a wide array of priorities to Toronto's seniors. At this meeting, we also agreed to organize a Seniors Summit to celebrate the achievements of the Ontario and Toronto Seniors Strategies so far and discuss next steps to continue to improve the lives of our growing elder population.

Please join me at 10am-2pm on Saturday, June 18 for the Toronto Seniors Summit at City Hall!

The summit will be a half-day event for provincial, municipal and community partners including:

• an overview of seniors strategies by the elected officials of Toronto and Ontario
• a seniors celebration of Toronto's recent World Health Organization designation as a Global Age-friendly City
• an open discussion of what seniors can do to advance their needs and interests in their community
• an informational opportunity with City Division and community partner info booths

Full details about the Toronto Seniors Summit are available on the event flyer.

I encourage you all to come, support and participate!

Happy 35th Anniversary to Montgomery Place!

My daughter Molly and I deeply enjoyed joining residents of 130 Eglinton Avenue East last weekend to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Montgomery Place.

This is a seniors' residence and remarkable Toronto Community Housing building - a truly special vertical neighbourhood in the heart of Midtown.

Shop, Dine and Wine on Mount Pleasant!

Come on out to the Mount Pleasant Village "Shop Wine and Dine" event on Thursday, June 16th from 5-8pm. There will be great food, music, and sidewalk sales on Mt. Pleasant Road between Davisville and Eglinton Avenues. The Red Carpet will be rolled out just for you! Kids can be dropped off at Kidnasium for the full 3 hours for $35. Festivities hosted by the Mount Pleasant BIA.

Community Consultation: Proposed Provincial Growth Plan

The Provincial Growth Plan is a powerful document that affects all citizens in Toronto by directing planning and growth policies. The Province is revising the plan and taking written comments from the public and City until September 2016.

An open house community consultation will be held at the Toronto Reference Library on Monday, June 27th from 5-8 pm.

Do you own property in the City of Toronto? You’ll be receiving an updated Property Assessment Notice in spring 2016.