Looking Back on Four Years of Progress

Next week marks the final Council meeting of this term, and I’ll be sending one last E-Blast to update you on the important decisions we make before Council rises for the municipal election period. Before we get there, I wanted to continue a tradition I’ve always enjoyed at the end of each Council term: taking a moment to reflect on what we’ve accomplished together here in Don Valley North. 

Four years ago, Toronto was emerging from one of the most challenging periods in its history. We were still recovering from the pandemic while facing rising inflation, increasing concerns about public safety, growing congestion, and significant financial pressures at City Hall. Along the way, our city also experienced a mayoral by-election and a change in leadership.

These were not easy years, but they called for experienced leadership and thoughtful decision-making.

Throughout this term, I had the privilege of serving as Toronto’s Budget Chief, Chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, and the Mayor’s Economic Development and Culture Champion. Those roles gave me the opportunity to help shape some of the city’s most important decisions—from restoring Toronto’s financial stability, to strengthening community safety, to growing our economy and investing in the neighbourhoods we call home.

At every step, my priorities have been guided by what I’ve heard from you. Whether meeting neighbours at one of my park pop-ups, reading your emails, or speaking with residents at community meetings, your message has been remarkably consistent: keep our neighbourhoods safe, make life more affordable, reduce congestion, and continue investing in the services and infrastructure that make Don Valley North such a wonderful place to live.

Those priorities have guided my work every day.

Despite the challenges of the past four years, we’ve made real progress. Together, we’ve strengthened community safety, restored Toronto’s financial footing, supported local businesses and jobs, invested in parks, libraries and community centres, and delivered important improvements across Don Valley North.

Here are just some of the highlights from the past four years.

Keeping Our Neighbourhoods Safe

Keeping our neighbourhoods safe requires a balanced approach. It means ensuring our first responders have the resources they need while also investing in prevention, accountability, and community partnerships.

As Chair of the Toronto Police Service Board, I led the implementation of Toronto’s first sustainable Multi-Year Hiring Plan, ensuring hundreds of new police officers are hired each year while expanding neighbourhood policing and improving emergency response times. Those investments are paying off, with major crime indicators declining and more officers available to respond when people need help.

We’ve expanded the Neighbourhood Community Officer program to strengthen the visible police presence in neighbourhoods and on transit, and here in Don Valley North we opened the Fairview Community Safety Hub - bringing police, community agencies, and youth supports together under one roof - and launched the Youth Community Academy - employing 40 local youth to gain experience with Toronto Fire, Paramedics, and Police this summer as a pathway to future employment.

But public safety is about more than statistics. People deserve to feel safe walking through their neighbourhood, riding transit, visiting parks, or attending community events. That’s why we’ve invested not only in enforcement, but also in youth outreach, violence prevention, crisis response services, and community partnerships that address the root causes of crime before it happens.

Strong public safety also depends on public confidence. Throughout my time as Chair, I’ve pushed to strengthen transparency, accountability and governance. We initiated independent reviews into police culture and allegations of misconduct and antisemitism, adopted a new Strategic Plan for Policing in Toronto, and strengthened the Board’s oversight role to help ensure policing continues to earn the trust of the communities it serves.

We’ve also taken important steps to combat hate by expanding security supports for vulnerable institutions - both with direct funding and through the City’s bubble zone by-law- and launching city-wide initiatives to combat antisemitism, islamophobia and all forms of hate.

Making Life More Affordable

Affordability has become one of the defining challenges facing Toronto families.

As Budget Chief, my goal has been simple: protect the services people rely on while ensuring every tax dollar is spent responsibly. Every budget has started with listening to residents through consultations held here in Don Valley North and across Toronto, because your priorities should shape the City’s priorities.

Together, we’ve found hundreds of millions of dollars in savings while protecting and expanding the services residents depend on.

One of the most significant achievements of this term was helping secure the historic Toronto–Ontario New Deal. By uploading responsibility for the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway to the Province, we fundamentally strengthened Toronto’s long-term financial future and freed up billions of dollars that can be invested in housing, transit and community infrastructure instead of highway maintenance.

We also secured Toronto’s first credit rating upgrade in decades, reducing borrowing costs and saving taxpayers millions of dollars over the life of future infrastructure projects.

At the same time, we focused on everyday affordability by freezing TTC fares for three consecutive years while expanding service, increasing property tax relief for over 28,000 small businesses, supporting student nutrition programs, providing free air conditioning units to vulnerable seniors, expanding the Basement Flooding Protection Program, investing in libraries—including Sunday service at every branch—and extending outdoor swimming hours during the summer.

There is still more work to do, but these investments have helped build a stronger financial foundation while making life more affordable for Toronto families.

Growing Toronto’s Economy

A strong economy creates good jobs, supports local businesses, and generates the revenue we need to invest in the services residents rely on.

As the Mayor’s Economic Development and Culture Champion, I was proud to lead the development of Sidewalks to Skylines, Toronto’s new ten-year Economic Action Plan. This comprehensive strategy charts a path to create quality jobs, strengthen our main streets, attract global investment, and position Toronto as a leader in industries like artificial intelligence and advanced technology.

When global tariffs and economic uncertainty threatened local businesses, I worked with the Mayor’s Economic Action Team to support Toronto employers, strengthen local supply chains, and protect jobs.

We also launched the City’s new Red Tape Hotline, making it easier for businesses to identify unnecessary barriers and helping City Hall become a better partner for entrepreneurs and employers.

Supporting small businesses has remained a priority throughout this term, from increasing property tax relief to promoting Toronto’s neighbourhood main streets, restaurants, tourism sector and local shopping districts.

A growing economy isn’t about statistics—it’s about creating opportunity for everyone and ensuring Toronto remains one of the best places in the world to live, work, invest and build a business.

Investing in Arts, Culture and Tourism

Our arts, culture and tourism sectors don’t just enrich our city—they create jobs, attract visitors and help define Toronto’s identity.

This term, I was proud to lead the development of Culture Connects, Toronto’s first new ten-year cultural action plan in more than a decade. We increased funding for the Toronto Arts Council, strengthened support for festivals and cultural organizations, and laid the groundwork for a stronger creative economy that benefits neighbourhoods across the city.

I also worked with Destination Toronto, Toronto Global and our cultural partners to attract visitors, investment and international events that support local businesses and showcase everything Toronto has to offer.

Keeping People Moving

Traffic and congestion remain among the issues I hear about most often. That’s why we’ve taken meaningful steps to improve how people move throughout our city.

The rehabilitation of the Gardiner Expressway is now running well ahead of schedule, helping reduce the duration of construction impacts. We’ve adopted a new Congestion Management Plan, expanded the Traffic Agent Program, introduced smart traffic signals on Steeles Avenue, and improved coordination of road construction projects across Toronto.

At the same time, we’ve continued investing in public transit by freezing TTC fares while expanding service and investing in transit safety.

Bike Share Toronto has also continued expanding into Don Valley North, making it easier for residents to connect to transit and travel safely around our community.

Investing in Don Valley North

Some of the accomplishments I’m proudest of are the improvements we’ve made together right here at home.

We opened the beautiful Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Community Recreation Centre and Library, creating a new gathering place for residents of all ages, including a new childcare centre.

We’ve upgraded parks across our community, including Bellbury, Ruddington, Leslie, Clydesdale and Havenbrook Parks, with more improvements underway at Willesden and Clarinda Parks. We opened Don Valley North’s first off-leash dog park, advanced the Pleasant View Basement Flooding Protection project, supported North York General Hospital’s long-term care expansion, protected our ravines and waterways through environmental improvements, and continued investing in traffic calming, pedestrian safety and neighbourhood infrastructure throughout the ward.

Each project reflects something I’ve always believed: local government works best when it focuses on the places where people live their everyday lives.

Staying Connected

None of this would have been possible without your participation. This term, my office has:

• Assisted with more than 10,000 resident service requests.

• Published 192 weekly E-Blasts.

• Delivered eight community newsletters.

• Hosted dozens of public consultations, park pop-ups, town halls and community meetings.

• Brought back Summer Celebration, expanded Community Environment Days and neighbourhood clean-ups, and introduced new events like our Winter Bash and Youth Jobs Fair, which employed hundreds of local youth.

While I’m proud of the city-wide work I’ve been able to lead, it’s the conversations with residents that have always mattered most.

Every email you’ve sent, every park pop-up you’ve attended, every suggestion you’ve shared and every conversation we’ve had has helped shape the decisions I’ve made on your behalf.

Thank you for the trust you’ve placed in me over these past four years. It has truly been an honour to serve as your City Councillor.

Next week’s edition will be my final E-Blast before the municipal election blackout period begins on August 1. I’ll explain what that means in more detail next week, but please know that my City Hall office will remain open and available to assist residents throughout.

Read the Full E-Blast