Newsletters

Upcoming Community Meetings and Events!

Manor Road Co-op Nursery School Fundraiser


Manor Road Co-op Nursery School is pleased to announce their first fundraiser of the 2015/2016 school year! Renowned children’s entertainer Kayla (www.kaylamusic.ca) will be playing a show and the school’s community will be making a pancake breakfast.


They will also have a 50/50 Draw and a fun photographer in attendance, so feel free to have the little ones dress in costume!


Please join me for some of these fun activities supporting a great community service at 9:30am on Saturday, October 24.

TO BE RESCHEDULED: Glen Edyth Park Improvements Meeting

Please note that the public meeting at 7pm on Wednesday, October 21 in the Toronto Archives to discuss playground improvements at Glen Edyth Park (mentioned in my previous communiy update) will need to be post-poned at this time.

I'll be sure to share the new date for this community consultation with you, once confirmed, and hope to see you there!

Manor Road United Church Town Hall Meeting


At 6:30pm-8:30pm on Wednesday, October 28, Manor Road United Church wants to share would like to share their Church renovation plans, which require site specific amendments to City of Toronto By-laws, with you.


I am delighted to attend this meeting to provide an update on our new public park that we're going to establish on land formerly owned by the Church. I hope to see you there!

Halloween Haunted House at Deer Park Library

The Deer Park Library would like you to join them for a Halloween fright with a walk through their room of spooky things!


This all-ages children's event will take place on Saturday October 31 from 2pm-4pm at Deer Park library (40 St. Clair Ave East), Room 204.


For more information on all upcoming class and program offerings at Deer Park Library, please click here.

Ward 22's Pumpkin Parade!


Please join me, my family, Apple Tree Markets, friends and neighbors, for a community gathering at Glebe Manor Square East (between Harwood and Forman on Belsize Drive) 6:30-8:30pm on November 1st.


This is a fun community event where kids come in costumes, parents often bring drinks and everyone brings their pumpkins for an encore performance from Halloween the night before. I've arranged for your pumpkins to be picked up by the City if you'd like to leave yours at the park!

Annual Ecumenical Christmas Food Drive


Churches in Rosedale, Moore Park and Leaside are again sponsoring a Christmas Drive (the 44th consecutive) to assist local food banks and agencies that are in urgent need of help at this time of year.


Flyers are delivered to area households on Saturday, November 21 and donations are then picked up on the following Saturday, November 28. There are two locations. The first is Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church  (OLPH) on St. Clair Avenue East, one block west of Mount Pleasant Road. The other is St. Cuthbert’s  Church  on Bayview Avenue, south of Millwood Road near Humphreys Funeral Home  -  please note that this is a changed location from Leaside Presbyterian because of the LRT construction on Eglinton Avenue.


Times on both days are from 9:30am until around 1pm. Donations are sorted and packed at OLPH with same-day delivery to recipient food banks and agencies. Last year, around 15,000 items were collected and we hope to do even better this year as, unfortunately, the demand is still great. Upwards of 300 volunteers are required and community hours are available for high school students who require them for graduation or other reasons.


Also, two area Sobeys stores (St. Clair Avenue just east of Yonge Street and Wicksteed Avenue near Laird Drive) are again supporting this effort by holding in-store drives throughout the Christmas season. These sources typically add another 10/15,000 to the overall total


It is a fun event for both families and young persons and supports a worthwhile cause to benefit the less fortunate members of our community.


If further information is required, please contact the Campaign Chair, Brian Kearney, at 416-972-0585 or by e-mail at [email protected].

SAVE THE DATE: Age-Friendly Town Hall


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.


Now, I'm delighted to host an upcoming Age Friendly Town Hall along with the Toronto Council on Aging (TCA) to develop this important initiative further.


This town hall meeting will be a rallying point for seniors and issues of aging in Midtown Toronto, an information sharing event and a point of departure for TCA to talk about the Age Friendly Project and get community champions and volunteers on board to help with this important initiative.


I plan to hold this event at 7pm on Tuesday, November 24 in the Multipurpose Room at North Toronto Memorial Community Centre (200 Eglinton Avenue West).


I hope to see you there!

SAVE THE DATE: Councillor Matlow's Free Toronto from the OMB Town Hall


The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) is a quasi-judicial, un-elected and un-accountable provincial body that has the final say on all planning decisions in the province of Ontario. The tribunal's powers to overrule decisions made by our elected municipal representatives are anti-democratic and often lead to planning decisions that support the interests of the development industry over those of our communities and our city's official plan.


As you are aware, our midtown neighbourhoods are facing an unprecedented number of development applications. While our community understands that a reasonable amount of intensification is appropriate, developers are proposing new condominiums that are too high and dense for the neighbourhood and, in many cases, appealing to the OMB at the first opportunity. The provincial government is mandating higher densities in areas such as Yonge & Eglinton but they are not taking into consideration the added stress on fully-enrolled schools, narrow streets and sidewalks and an already over-crowded subway system.


Please save the date – Tuesday, January 26 at 7pm - for a town hall meeting I plan to host, to further discuss, and take action, this important issue facing our community and city. I will share more details with you as soon as they become available.


In the meantime, you can learn more about my efforts to free Toronto from the OMB, and how you can help, here.

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.


City Hall and Community Update for October 9, 2015

Dear Resident,


With our kids going back to school and workplaces back at full speed (perhaps except for when the Blue Jays are playing), the month after Labour Day can be a very busy time. The last few weeks at City Hall have been no different, where Council has debated important issues, including voting reform, support for Syrian Refugees, combatting traffic and gridlock, transit and the future of Old City Hall.

City Hall and Community Update for September 17, 2015

Taxis, Uber, etc. An evolving ground transportation industry

At city hall's Licencing and Standards Committee, of which I'm a member, there was a debate and vote this week regarding the approach the City of Toronto should take to regulating taxis, limos, Uber and their competitors. This is a subject that jurisdictions around the world are currently grappling with.

Community Update for July 15, 2015

Update on Midtown Power Outages


I've heard from many of you that recurring power outages over the past several months have been disrupting your daily lives, from resetting alarm clocks to damaging electronic devices. My family and I have also been affected by these outages and share your frustrations, not only about the inconveniences they can cause but also the dramatic increase in the frequency at which they are occurring compared to past years.

City Hall and Community Update for June 16, 2015

First Meeting of Tenant Issues Committee This Thursday


The first meeting of the new Tenant Issues Committee will be this Thursday, June 18, 7-9pm, at City Hall in Committee Room 2. Tenants make up over 50% of Toronto's residents and have specific rights and responsibilities that are governed by City of Toronto by-laws and provincial legislation. Tenants have the right to live in a clean, well-maintained home and deserve fair representation when being faced with unfair rent increases or eviction.

City Hall and Community Update for May 8, 2015

Power Outages Today


I understand that there has been some power outages in some eastern portions of Ward 22 and surrounding areas this afternoon.  I have been in contact with Toronto Hydro, whose staff have indicated that they have been working to resolve these issues by this evening. I understand these issues may now have been resolved.

Lois Lilienstein- Our community is grateful

Dear residents,

I was preparing an e-newsletter for you on an array of local and city hall issues but there is a one specific reason I'm writing to you this evening. I will send my regular update to you on Monday.

I am very saddened to share with you that Lois Lilienstein, of the beloved children’s music trio Sharon, Lois & Bram, passed away last night due to a rare form of cancer. She was at peace, surrounded by family and friends.

As part of the Toronto-based group, Lois had delighted children (and their parents) since 1978, introducing many of us to a love of music.  Many of us know her best from the Elephant Show which originally aired on the CBC during the 1980s and has lived on for generations of children in reruns. It is a testament to the timeless appeal of Sharon, Lois, & Bram’s music that many of our kids, and those of us who grew up being entertained by them, can recite the “Skinnamarink” verbatim three decades later.

Lois has been recognized for her talents winning both Junos and Gemini awards during her long career. In 2002 the trio received the Order of Canada, making the Chicago-born Lois one of the few non-Canadians to receive this honour.  Last year, I had the privilege of honouring their legacy as longstanding members of our Midtown community, and to children everywhere, by naming the playground at June Rowlands (Davisville) Park after Sharon, Lois and Bram along with Toronto's only park sign shaped as an elephant. I am heartened that the Lois was able to perform at the concert for the playground naming ceremony and that her family was in attendance to watch her. That concert was a special day for my family as I know it was for many others in our neighbourhood and from other parts of our city and indeed, from across North America.

As we work as a community to move forward with more exciting improvements to this playground, I intend to find an appropriate way, with her family, to further recognize the late, and forever loved, Lois Lilienstein. Along with Bram and Sharon, Lois helped make so many childrens' lives magical and musical. I was certainly one of those kids.

With love and condolences to her family, friends, Sharon, Bram and all who have been touched by her music,

Josh

City Hall and Community Update for April 2, 2015

Dear residents,


I hope you find my most recent update to you below interesting and informative. City Council just concluded a three day meeting that was productive but clearly demonstrated to me a need to improve the way council conducts our city's business. I share Mayor Tory's interest in raising the level of civility and decorum during our public debates and better placing council's focus on Toronto's priorities. I am still optimistic, despite the behavior of a few, that this new era at city hall will be one we can be proud of.

City Hall and Community Update for March 13, 2015

Dear residents, I've enjoyed seeing so many of you recently at community events, while I've been visiting local small businesses, meeting residents in the community or simply walking in our neighbourhoods, parks or ice rinks with my family. I'm also happy to tell you that it's been a busy and productive time at city hall with a renewed spirit of cooperation and optimism. That being said, I remain focused on our local priorities and the many real challenges facing our city by taking what I hope is an accessible, honest, determined and evidence-based approach to public policy decisions.

Take action

Sign Up for Updates
Contact our Office
Contact 311

Connect with Josh

About

Information

City Hall

Email:
Phone: 416-392-7906
Address:
100 Queen Street W, Suite A17
Toronto, ON M5H 2N2
City of Toronto
311 Toronto