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At North York Community Council on Tuesday, my Council colleagues and I heard a very touching speech on an item that really struck a chord with me. It was the story of a basketball net installed in honour of a resident’s late father for her kids to shoot hoops at the end of the driveway on a quiet cul-de-sac. Last year, the resident’s husband passed away as well, and the basketball net is the family’s connection to their father and grandfather. Since the hoop hangs over the street a little bit, it needed to come to Community Council for the required permissions, which we happily supported. This resident’s story really got me thinking about our roads—both how they’re used and who they’re used by. Back when many of us were kids, the streets were part of our playground. These days, I hear from so many parents who are scared to let their kids play in the streets the same way they did, and with good reason. We see far too many injuries and deaths on our roads, whether they be drivers, cyclists, or pedestrians. Safety needs to be our number one priority when we think about our roads. That’s why the City has been hard at work implementing its Vision Zero plan with the goal of completely eliminating road-related casualties. A key part of the plan is reducing the speed limit on local roads to 30 km/h. The City has been gradually rolling out these speed limit reductions, and we’ll see changes here in Don Valley North at the end of next year as staff work their way east across North York. Vision Zero also tackles road safety using tools like speed humps, school and senior safety zones, and road designs to force people to drive more safely and slowly on our local roads. Here in Don Valley North, I’m always looking to work collaboratively with parents, school principals, and City staff to work out solutions to hyper-local issues. Just this week, we passed new traffic safety measures around Kingslake Public School and Lescon Public School to help make pick-up and drop-off time safer for students and parents. We’ve also done pilots at Hillmount and Pineway Public Schools, and are working with Brian Public School on possible traffic safety solutions for that longer street as well. I met with Principal Small at Lescon Public School just last week to talk about much-needed traffic safety measures for the community. All in all, my goal is to make our local streets safe for families by working together to find solutions that work here in the suburbs. But what about the major arteries that get us to work, school, and out to fully enjoy the city? I’m glad you asked. We know that congestion is a major issue here in Toronto. It’s an issue that cities all over the world face, and as traffic gradually makes its way back to pre-pandemic levels, it actually feels worse than before. I know I feel it as I drive around the ward each day, and especially when I’m on basketball duty for the grandkids. We all got used to the lull of the pandemic, and I know that none of us missed sitting in a standstill on the DVP. So how do we solve this very real challenge? For this issue, I’m going to point to a report from the Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) that lays out a number of congestion solutions, some of which are better suited to Toronto than others. For instance, I don’t think something like road pricing is the right fit our neighbourhood. Other solutions, like improving traffic signals using smart technology, are a great tool to help our traffic flow more smoothly and intuitively. Better yet, solutions like investing in public transit and expanding transportation alternatives like ridesharing, carpooling, and strategically placed active transportation opportunities can work together to reduce the number of cars on the road, making commutes easier for everyone, including those of us who need to drive. There’s a great video my staff sent me about this: A TikTok that really highlights why drivers need to be invested in public transit and other measures that help get cars off the road. So how would these solutions play out here in Toronto? Many of them are already underway. The City already has smart technology operating at some of our intersections, and we’ll see the number of smart signals increase in the coming years. However, when it comes to improving traffic across the City, our number one priority should always be transit. Here in Don Valley North, this means seriously investing in better transit for our neighbourhood and building the Sheppard Subway extension ASAP. I’ve been advocating for the Province to commit to a firm plan and timeline for this much-needed extension at every turn since Doug Ford announced his transit plan back in 2019. This line will serve the rapidly growing communities along Sheppard from the 404 out to McCowan, and will also serve our own Consumers/Parkway Centre business park, the city’s largest employment area outside of the downtown core. As we know, even once the Province finally provides a detailed plan for the Sheppard Subway extension, it will take time to build. That’s why we need an “until-the-subway” plan. Early in the term, I convened our DVN Connects Transit Roundtable, made up of residents from across the ward of all backgrounds, to focus on interim solutions for our neighbourhoods. These conversations can be tough, and people might not always agree on the solutions we should pursue, but when you bring passionate people together some great new ideas can emerge. A DVN Connects meeting from the start of the term. The last piece of the puzzle is one that I’ve been talking about quite a bit over the last couple of years: addressing the state of our base TTC system and the service that we run right now. We will never attract ridership back if we run poor service that doesn’t meet the needs of our communities. We need to focus on improving service, making the system safer to ride (especially for women, who make up the majority of riders), and being responsive to shifting needs. It’s all the more important that we do this now while we have some financial support from other levels of government. We have a perfect example of this right here in Don Valley North, and one that I’m working to address this month at the TTC Board: the 51 Leslie bus. Back in 2013, that bus would arrive every 13 minutes during rush hour. Now, it’s every 26 minutes, and that’s if it’s on time. Google Maps will actually tell you to take an Uber from Leslie Station instead of taking the bus, and that just doesn’t make sense. We need to provide service that is convenient for people, otherwise they’ll continue to choose to drive when they don’t need to. One thing’s for certain—we have great mobility and transportation options here in Don Valley North. You’re never too far from a transit stop, a highway on-ramp, or a beautiful trail. While we’re making slow and steady progress every day, we must never stop looking for ways to improve everyone’s ability to get around our neighbourhood and our city safely and efficiently. It’s a key piece in making our neighbourhoods liveable for all. Planning & Development Updates Prepared by Tom Gleason, Chief of Staff Upcoming Community Meeting 2500 Don Mills Road: Tuesday, July 5 @ 6:30 PM City Planning staff will be hosting a virtual community meeting to hear from residents about this development application. The application is proposing a mixed-use development consisting of two towers (30- and 39-storeys), atop a four-storey podium, with 823 residential units and 982 sq. m of retail at grade. You can join the meeting online by WebEx or call in by phone. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. As always, our office will keep you informed and involved after the initial community consultation. Coming to North York Community Council – July 8, 2022 71 Talara Drive City Planning is recommending that City Council approve the revised development application at 71 Talara Drive, which would demolish the existing 3-storey rental building and construct a 23-storey tower (down from the initial 27-storey proposal). The revised proposal also better transitions away from the neighbourhood and aligns with existing setbacks. The redevelopment would completely replace the existing 29 rental units and current tenants would be provided with a comprehensive Tenant Relocation and Assistance Plan, in addition to the right to return to the new building. Through negotiations, $2.25M in Section 37 funding has been secured for community facilities in the neighbourhood. This will be the last new Section 37 agreement for this community, as the Province has mandated a transition to the new, lower Community Benefit Charge. Shelley will be writing more about this in the coming weeks once City staff release their full proposal for the new charge. The full report can be viewed here. Interested parties can submit their feedback on this item via email by clicking the report link and clicking the "Submit Comments" button at the top of the page. For questions on the specifics of the application, you may contact the City's Planner reviewing the application directly: Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca Committee of Adjustment – Survey on Public Participation in Hearings In 2021, City Council directed City Planning to conduct a review of the Committee of Adjustment. The goal of the review is to identify recommendations to improve the effective participation of both the public and applicants in the public hearing process. Members of the public are invited to provide feedback on participation at the Committee of Adjustment through the following survey: The survey is open until July 7, 2022. The survey is designed for residents who have participated in a Committee of Adjustment hearing either in support or opposition to an application. Once this review is complete, the City Planning Division will report on the recommendations to the Planning and Housing Committee. Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) North York General Hospital & Flemingdon Health Centre are continuing to operate the walk-in vaccine clinic at Oriole Community Centre every Thursday in July from 5:00 - 8:30 PM. First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Aidan D'Souza, our Don Valley Northerner of the week! Aidan is a recent graduate of Seneca College, where he was deeply involved in his community. Aidan was on the Varsity Cross Country team, and has been instrumental in helping promote a sense of community on campus. A member of our last Youth Council cohort, Aidan also sits on several boards, including for eCampusOntario and the Canadian Youth Road Safety Council. Thank you, Aidan, for your deep dedication to advocating for youth in your community! Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Next week, our City of Toronto Auditor General is going to do something she’s never done before: present her findings on the internal workings of the Toronto Police Service to City Councillors. Toronto was the first municipality to install an independent Auditor General, but the Toronto Police Service was always a no-go zone. All of that changed in the summer of 2020 when Toronto and cities across the globe reckoned with much-needed changes to policing. The Auditor General’s first deep dive into police operations is an examination of 911 dispatch. In my view, this is one area that provides a great opportunity to look at alternative models that can deliver greater service in a more cost-effective way. Transferring the management of 911 dispatch away from the police and into the City, as is done in many other jurisdictions, will help us keep costs down and improve emergency response times by ensuring the service is fully-staffed. It also aligns with Council’s commitment to look for opportunities to de-task the police, bring down their significant budget, and improve police culture. I look forward to the City’s Manager’s report on 911 dispatch that is coming forward soon. Back to the City’s independent Auditor General: How is it that she is only now reporting on the internal workings of the Toronto Police Service? Previously, the Auditor General had to stay out of the police service in deference to the Ontario Police Services Act. However, there are plenty of administrative areas of policing where the Police Act does not constrain management choices. In response to calls for changes to policing in summer 2020, Councillor Thompson, Mayor Tory, and I introduced large-scale changes to the way policing and community safety is tackled in Toronto. We all felt that if the Police Board invited the Auditor General to investigate certain matters within the force, the resulting changes would be thoughtful and therefore effective. A photo from the press conference where Mayor Tory, Councillor Thompson and I announced our motion for police reform in June 2020. Over the last two years, City staff and the police have worked together with community advocates and organizations to make several fundamental changes to how we keep communities safe. This includes: The creation of a non-police community safety response for people in crisis, currently piloting in four police divisions Increased investments in the Poverty Reduction Strategy and Confronting Anti-Black Racism Strategy Increased transparency on the Toronto Police budget The expansion of the Mobile Crisis Intervention Team program A robust consultation process to select the next Chief of Police The adoption of body-worn cameras for enhanced accountability In addition to these measures, we created a new accountability table to oversee all of this work and gave the Auditor General the ability to come in and dig into the administration of police services. The full list of action items and their progress is being reported publicly by both the City and the Police Service: All of this work has required consistent collaboration. For that, I would like to thank Denise Campbell, the Executive Director of the City’s Social Development division; Acting Police Chief James Ramer; Ryan Teschner, Executive Director of the Toronto Police Services Board; Jon Reid, President of the Toronto Police Association; and, most importantly, Mayor Tory for his role on both the Police Board and Council, where he has worked to move these initiatives forward with buy-in from all stakeholders. Having served on the Police Board alongside the Mayor last term, I know how challenging these reform efforts can be. The Mayor’s leadership has been significant. All of these pieces are part of an ongoing process to continuously improve policing and community safety on a city-wide basis. They’ve also had some immediate impacts closer to home. One change I want to highlight, and one that has been called for by racialized Torontonians for some time, is the expansion of the Neighbourhood Officer program. Here in Don Valley North, we had seen this important police role reduced. Our long-time Neighbourhood Officer, Dale Swift, was spread very thin. He has now trained up three new officers for our community and has transitioned to a new role supporting the program on a larger scale. I want to thank Officer Swift and our residents here in Don Valley North who have helped expand this important program. Me and my team at a community safety audit with community members and our local neighbourhood officers this past fall. All of this positive change has given me and my team greater capacity to work in partnership with the community and local police to find locally-led solutions to community safety concerns. We’ve helped facilitate community safety audits, neighbourhood safety walks, enhanced youth programming and community supports, and local initiatives like the Sparroways Wellness Committee, which was formed in response to local gun violence in the summer of 2018. These partnerships help us focus on common sense solutions that are low in cost but high in impact—things like improved lighting, maintenance, and best practices for keeping people and property safe. Going forward, it’s going to be important to stay vigilant and make sure we maintain and expand our investment in alternative models of community safety. Early interventions are always the most effective tools to keep our community safe, and often they do not require the involvement of police. Programs like the City’s FOCUS Tables have been putting social service organizations in the driver’s seat when it comes to supporting those most at risk. My goal is to continue to work with you to find local solutions to keep our neighbourhoods safe. I had the great opportunity to meet with the Black Community Consultative Committee of Toronto Police Services last weekend. Finally, I would be remiss to not talk about the major story about the police from last month: The collection of race-based data has proven what Black and racialized communities have been saying for decades—that they are at a disproportionate risk for police violence across all types of encounters. As someone who sat on the Police Board when we developed the policy for collecting this data, I’m glad that it is proving the necessity of the reform work we have ahead. The next step before is accountability and action. There will always be a Toronto Police Service on duty to serve and protect you, but with a difference. It’s not enough that Chief Ramer has apologized to our BIPOC residents. We need to transform our police force to rebuild trust in police for all Torontonians. I will leave you with this fantastic clip from Dr. Notisha Massaqoui, the expert who led the development of the Race-Based Data Collection Strategy at Toronto Police Services, on what we need to do next: {embed twt vid here} Planning & Development Updates Prepared by Tom Gleason, Chief of Staff Upcoming Community Meeting 1800 Sheppard Avenue East – Fairview Mall: Monday, July 11 @ 6:30 PM City Planning staff will be hosting a virtual community meeting to hear from residents about this development application. The application is proposing a Masterplan Concept consisting of four phases of redevelopment around the existing CF Fairview Mall. The proposal would create approximately 4,700 new residential units, up to 40,000 sqm of additional non-residential uses, and three new public parks. The Phase 1 Proposal would replace the existing expansive surface parking lots, driveways, and a portion of a five-storey parking structure with three high-rise buildings of 58, 48, and 38 storeys. You can join the meeting online via WebEx or call in by phone. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. Garden Suites Now Permitted in Toronto The City of Toronto Garden Suites Bylaw is in full force after the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) dismissed an appeal earlier this week. The Garden Suites Bylaw and Official Plan Amendment were adopted by Toronto City Council on February 2, but were appealed shortly after. On June 2, the OLT heard a motion from the City to dismiss the appeal. Permits for the construction of garden suites can now be issued, provided the application complies with the Bylaw requirements and all other applicable law. Any garden suite proposal that does not meet the Zoning Bylaw requirements can seek a minor variance application at the Committee of Adjustment. Through that process, City Planning staff review the application to determine if the proposed variances are appropriate and meet the intent of the Official Plan policies and the Zoning Bylaw. For more information on Garden Suites, visit the link below: Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) North York General Hospital & Flemingdon Health Centre are continuing to operate the walk-in vaccine clinic at Oriole Community Centre every Thursday in July from 5:00 - 8:30 PM. First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Julie Boarder and Derek Allen, our Don Valley Northerners of the week! Julie and Derek were nominated by a neighbour who is so appreciative of all the community events and initiatives they lead. Julie and Derek host great events all year round, from their hugely popular movie night in the park each summer, free pumpkin giveaway and colouring contest at Halloween, and clothing drive for those in need each winter, to name a few. Thank you, Julie and Derek, for all the ways you give back to your community here in Don Valley North! Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

This week’s Council session is the final one of the term. It means saying farewell to some long-time colleagues, both on Council and in the public service. It also means a record-breaking agenda with hundreds of motions that Council wants to get through before the election hiatus. We’re currently on day three of what will likely be a four day session. Below, I’ve provided a rundown on the items with the biggest impact on our community here in Don Valley North. Let’s dive in. 401/Leslie Sign I want to applaud the hundreds of members in our community who wrote in to oppose the massive digital billboard proposed at Leslie and the 401. I knew our community would come together to fight this dangerous, distracting eyesore. As your Councillor, I did everything I possibly could to fight the all-powerful sign lobby and stop this installation on your behalf. My comments at Council on the 401/Leslie sign. City staff were on our side, too. They recommended against any billboard being added to the 401, both here in Don Valley North and over in Councillor Perruzza’s ward at Wilson and the 401. Unfortunately, Mayor Tory and a thin majority of Council approved the billboard application. I’m disappointed in this outcome, and I know our community is as well. Updates to Chapter 349, Animals The many updates to the Animal Bylaw passed, though without the provision that would have outlawed domestic cats roaming at large. I’m aware that the community is divided on this issue: many will be disappointed that this was taken out of the proposed changes while others will rejoice. I want to thank all of you on both sides of the issue for getting in touch with my office to share your opinion. I amended the committee recommendations to take this piece out and ask Animal Services to study it further. In the end, it comes down to what City staff can realistically do to enforce a bylaw like this. After spending the past two weeks working with staff to understand what’s possible, it became clear that we need to work hard to increase the number of cat owners who license and microchip their pets if we want to join other GTHA municipalities in having an anti-roaming bylaw for cats. Staff will report back on gains being made on those fronts in the New Year. Report from Mayor’s Roundtable on Anti-Asian Racism Stamping out Anti-Asian racism must always be a priority, and it has been a particular focus for our city since the beginning of the pandemic. Mayor Tory and Councillor Lai convened a community roundtable to set out a course of action to tackle this issue. I joined former Councillor Wong-Tam (centre) and Councillor Lai (right) at the Stop Asian Hate rally in March last year. The big win I want to focus on is the expansion of Chinese language translation services provided by the City. Here in Don Valley North, over 30% of our community speaks Mandarin or Cantonese. My team has been providing translation services when requested, but it’s great to see that this will be a more standard practice provided by the City starting next year. Update on Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement for Ontario We are continuing to make progress on implementing the Federal $10-a-day child care system, but we need to continue negotiations with the Province on a few important details. I worked with our Children Services Director and former Councillor Janet Davis, both child care experts, to amend this motion to ensure that the City keeps advocating for increased funding and oversight to ensure that we are offering affordable, high-quality child care to all families. Growth Funding Tools: Development Charges, Community Benefits Charge, & Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate There were a number of items passed that considered how our City is going to respond to Provincial changes to our Growth Funding Tools. Across the board, these tools are what allow us to fund the infrastructure and services required to support population growth from new developments. These Provincial changes drastically reduce the amount of community funding we will receive from developers for things like parks, community centres, and other important community spaces. We’re talking about a reduction of about 70%. This makes it all the more important that we update our other growth funding tool: Development Charges (DCs). DCs are long overdue to be increased in Toronto. I touched on this in a May E-Blast—essentially, these fees are in place to ensure our local infrastructure, like roads and sewers, keep pace with growth. Our fees here in Toronto are significantly behind those in other municipalities, so we did approve a substantial increase at Council, but it will still keep us slightly below the GTHA average and will be phased over several years in light of current economic uncertainty. This will ensure our City has the proper resources to respond to continued growth in the coming years. The proposed phase-in schedule for Development Charges. Click on the image to view a larger version and the full report. 680 and 688 Sheppard Avenue East - Request for Directions The applicant at 680-688 Sheppard Avenue offered a third vision of their development just days before Council. My team and I worked hard to make sure the terms were public, and even dropped flyers to the surrounding neighbourhood offering to meet outdoors and talk through the newest proposal. City Planners have worked to achieve significant carve-outs for the community. The new building, if approved, would be between 55 – 107 feet away from the condo living rooms to the west. The building has also been terraced down on the east to protect the residents on Whitaker Crescent and reduced at the rear to eliminate shadow impacts on St. Gabriel's Church. Based on these gains, City Planning has recommended that Council support the revision at the Ontario Land Tribunal. Potential Expansion of Oriole Gymnasium In the mid-2000s, when the City designed the expansion of Oriole Community Centre, the expanded gymnasium was cut from the project due to lack of funds. Since then, we have negotiated enough funding from local developments to finally begin the process of expanding the gymnasium to meet the needs of our growing community. More details will come forward during our next City Budget process in the winter, and I look forward to getting the ball rolling on this huge win for our community. Many folks joined us for Neighbours Night in the Oriole Community Centre Gym last month. This is a great community hub already, and can be made even better. Exploring a Joint City-School Facility on Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Lane With all of the development we’ve seen along the Sheppard subway from Bayview to Leslie, there is a pressing need for a new public school in the area. I have worked with City staff to pool some available community benefit funds to support the creation of a new joint City-school facility on the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) site south of Bessarion Station. However, we can’t do this alone. I look forward to having the City take the lead on bringing the TDSB and Province to the table to get much-needed action in our community at this site. Social Impact Hubs: Repurposing Space for Charitable Use The City is looking to expand access to affordable space for charitable organizations. The Social Impact Hub model is not new to Don Valley North. Several years ago, I worked with North York Harvest to establish the Oriole Food Space in Oriole CC. This has proven to be a very successful model for better integrating key community services directly into the neighbourhoods they serve, and I look forward to seeing more communities benefit from this. Creating A Dogs Off-Leash Area in the Pleasant View Community After extended conversations with Parks and Toronto Water, City staff will be consulting our community on a possible Dog Off-Leash Area in Old Sheppard Park. This idea was first proposed back in 2015 during a Participatory Budgeting Pilot run by the City Manager but unfortunately, after residents voted for this project, staff declared that the parks in the area did not meet the requirements. After significant continued interest in the dog park during our last Pleasant View PB process, I worked with staff to resolve previous location issues to make this a possibility for our community. Now, it will be up to the Pleasant View neighbourhood to review the design and share feedback when City staff come out for consultation early next year. A few other notable motions from Council: After much public outcry, City Council has called on the Roncesvalles Village BIA to keep the original name of the Roncesvalles Polish Festival In honour Aga Khan’s forthcoming visit, Mayor Tory and Deputy Mayor Minnan-Wong led Council in assigning the ceremonial name “Aga Khan Boulevard” to a portion of Wynford Drive The City will be working with students, post-secondary institutions, and other stakeholders to determine how best to build more safe and affordable housing for students. This will help relieve pressures on our rental market and reduce the number of commuter trips to campus. Planning & Development Updates There are many new developments at various stages of the planning process in our ward. My team and I have created a web page with the most recent updates on every single active application, which you can view at the link below: Fourth Doses Now Available for All Adults 18+ As of Thursday, July 14, individuals age 18 and older who received their third dose (first booster) five months ago are eligible for a second booster dose. This group joins previously announced eligible high-risk groups, which includes individuals aged 60 and older, immunocompromised individuals, and First Nations, Inuit or Métis peoples. Individuals who have been infected with COVID-19 need to wait three months before receiving their next dose. Appointments cam be booked through the provincial booking system online or by phone: Online: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/ Phone: 1-833-943-3900 For more information on vaccines, visit the link below: Photo credits to Marlene Duhig Meet Gary and Geri James, our Don Valley Northerners of the week! Gary and Geri are true community champions in Bayview Village, constantly organizing fun events and advocating for important changes in the neighbourhood. Whether it be through Geri's tireless work with the Bayview Village Association, or Gary's stewardship of our local ravines, neighbours can always rely on them to work hard to improve our community. Gary and Geri often lead community members on guided walks of the ravine and diligently report concerns they see to help protect our environment. Bayview Village and our local ravines are all the better because of their efforts. Thank you, Geri and Gary, for all that you do. Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

On Monday evening, over 100 neighbours joined the first Community Consultation Meeting for the proposed redevelopment at Fairview Mall. What’s proposed would have a significant impact on our community: 12 new towers built over four phases, with approximately 4700 new units, four new public parks, and a number of new roads. Those of you who joined the meeting voiced a variety of concerns about the current proposal, and I share many of them. We have a lot of work to do together to turn this proposal into something that works for our community. A preliminary rendering of the Fairview Mall Redevelopment, with the Phase 1 buildings highlighted and future phases ghosted out. With this proposal, Fairview Mall becomes the latest to follow a growing trend in Toronto and North America: the redevelopment of shopping centre parking lots into mixed-use and residential buildings. Similar projects are already underway at Yorkdale, Sherway Gardens, Cloverdale and Galleria malls. Don Valley North is no stranger to this sort of development either. Bayview Village Mall had its own master plan approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal back in 2020. All these projects are a reflection of the changing economics of shopping centres. In order to sustain and continue to attract major stores, malls are looking to bring more residents on site and create community hubs. We know that Fairview Mall is a key community, economic, and transportation hub for Don Valley North. It supports thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of transit riders daily. Any proposed development needs to acknowledge this reality and meaningfully engage our community in envisioning how this redevelopment can best support the needs of current and future residents. As our city continues to grow, especially around key locations like Don Mills Station, we need to work creatively and collaboratively to build strong, transit-oriented communities with built-in community assets like greater local job opportunities, community spaces, expanded libraries, child care facilities, and parks. But this work can't be done without the community. That's where you and I come in, to work together. At the Community Consultation Meeting, City Planning, the applicant, my team and I heard many concerns from the dedicated residents who took the time to join and share their feedback. The first thing I want to make clear is that the proposed redevelopment will not touch the mall itself, Fairview Library, or the medical building at Fairview Mall Drive and Don Mills Road. Those are all important community spaces, and while they will be impacted by the proposed changes to the surrounding area, you can rest assured that the proposal does not seek to change those buildings themselves. We heard a number of concerns about the impact that this redevelopment will have on traffic. City Planning and Transportation Services staff share these concerns, and will be reviewing the transportation study submitted by the applicant to make sure it accurately reflects the impact this proposal will have on our roads. A few community members also suggested reviewing the number of resident parking spaces to reduce traffic impacts. Fewer parking spots for new residents means fewer trips in and out on Don Mills and Sheppard. While it may be worthwhile to look at the number of residential parking spaces for the new buildings, the community was loud and clear in stating that we need to preserve and enhance parking for the mall itself, and make sure there’s adequate visitor parking for the new buildings to prevent spillover into the surrounding neighbourhoods. A preliminary rendering of the streetscape around the Phase 1 towers. Affordable housing was the other major concern we heard from residents, and it’s one that comes up in every community consultation meeting we have these days. In the current proposal, the applicant has not committed to any of the housing being affordable. At the meeting, one community member asked: “Cadillac Fairview is wholly owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, so how many new teachers will be able to afford to live in these proposed buildings?” Cadillac Fairview really should have an answer to this question. In my mind, we should aim for 10% of these units to be affordable for middle-income earners, whether rental or ownership. We also need to look at how many two- and three-bedroom units are on site so that we can ensure there is space for families. Community members also made it clear that they want to see better architecture and design for the buildings proposed in the first phase. It’s great to see that effort has been made to have shorter podiums and a nicer streetscape to mirror the mall, but there’s more opportunity here to design buildings that are creative and add something beautiful to our community. Parks and school space also came up. While new public parks are proposed, there are no parks included in the first phase of the development and no commitment on when the over 1500 new units from Phase One will be serviced with new park space. A preliminary rendering of the Phase 1 towers. These concerns about design, parks, and adequate community amenities really get to the heart of one of the key issues with this proposal, in my mind. When we considered the application at Bayview Village Mall, we were able to tackle the site holistically. We all understood how the different aspects of the site fit together and City Planning could work with the community and applicant to reshape the overall vision. Here, at Fairview Mall, we have a master plan concept but only have an application for the first phase. That means we’re not able to tackle the site as whole, and we risk losing key opportunities to reshape and improve whatever happens at this site. Fairview Mall is too vital to our community to get this wrong. It matters to everyone, from those of us old enough to remember the mall’s moving sidewalks, Simpsons, Loblaws, and Bittner’s Deli, to the many newer residents who course throughout Fairview Mall daily as part of the first and last mile in their transit commute. To ensure that we have the time and ability to work together on reshaping this proposal, I have directed City Planning to bring forward a new Public Engagement Strategy for this application at the next meeting of North York Community Council in January. We simply must move beyond the prescribed virtual consultation meeting to something more collaborative, active, and fruitful. I sincerely hope you will join me in these efforts. I am so grateful for and indebted to the residents from all over Don Valley North who showed up in such numbers for what I’m calling Fairview Mall Meeting #1. We deal with rapid growth in our community every day. You all showed Cadillac Fairview, just by logging on, that we are serious about demanding a robust community process for and major revisions to this application. This is just the beginning of the process. I want to keep this conversation going, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to my office with your question or concerns, and to sign up for site-specific updates. It is my job to keep you informed and engaged, and to make sure our community has every opportunity to collaborate on this application. I look forward to all the work we will do together to shape the future of Fairview Mall. Local Transportation Updates There are a number of ongoing and upcoming road construction projects in our ward. Below are updates on some of the major projects here in Don Valley North: Cummer Avenue Road Reconstruction Road reconstruction and infrastructure improvements on Cummer Avenue are ongoing. The goal of this project is to improve traffic safety and enhance the overall experience for people taking all modes of transportation. The current expected completion date for this project is October 2022, as the project has experienced labour disruptions and unexpected site conditions. These types of improvements take time, and I greatly appreciate how engaged local residents have been every step of the way to help improve the neighbourhood. For more information on this project, visit the link below: Road Resurfacing on Hobart Drive The City of Toronto will be resurfacing Hobart Avenue from Van Horne Avenue to Seneca Hill Drive. This is part of the City's effort to renew aging roads and sidewalks for current and future needs. The project will include digging up the road surface, re-aligning maintenance holes and catch basins, repairing sidewalks and curbs, and repaving the road surface. Work is scheduled to begin in late summer 2022 and end in summer 2023. Residents in the affected areas will receive a complete Pre-Construction Notice by mail in the coming weeks. Sheppard Avenue East Road Reconstruction Sheppard Avenue East is in need of road resurfacing and reconstruction due to poor condition of the road. In Toronto, roads are resurfaced every 25-35 years and reconstructed every 50-100, years presenting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the City to improve the design of the street. Thank you to everyone in the community who has taken the time to share their feedback on the proposed plan for the portion of the road reconstruction from Bayview Avenue to Leslie Street. Based on the feedback from our community, staff are refining the design and will come back for another community consultation meeting later this year. I will share more updates in future E-Blasts, and you can find more information on this project at the website below: Fourth Doses Now Available for All Adults 18+ As of today (Thursday, July 14), individuals age 18 and older who received their third dose (first booster) five months ago are eligible for a second booster dose. This group joins previously announced eligible high-risk groups, which includes individuals aged 60 and older, immunocompromised individuals, and First Nations, Inuit or Métis peoples. Individuals who have been infected with COVID-19 need to wait three months before receiving their next dose. Appointments cam be booked through the provincial booking system online or by phone: Online: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/ Phone: 1-833-943-3900 For more information on vaccines, visit the link below: More Info: VaccinesMeet Jeanne Hopkins, our Don Valley Northerner of the week! Jeanne has worked tirelessly to preserve Don Valley North's history, both through her work with the North York Historical Society and by authoring two books documenting the storied neighbourhoods of Bayview Village and Henry Farm. Jeanne's passion for local history and her continued commitment to spreading historical awareness in her neighbourhood are a great service to us all. Thank you, Jeanne, for everything you do to commemorate Don Valley North! Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Updates are grouped by neighbourhood BAYVIEW VILLAGE 500 Sheppard Proposed: 35 and 39-storey mixed use building with 928 units. Community Consultation held in June 2022. Status: Under review by City staff. City Planner: Jenny Choi - Jenny.Choi@toronto.ca Bayview Village Mall (2901 Bayview) Status: Approved by Provincial Tribunal in 2020. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. Redevelopment will maintain existing shopping centre but add two six-storey and one 20-storey building on the north side of the mall and a 29 and 30-storey building on the south side with 1030 units. A public park and direct access to Bayview TTC station are also included. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca 589 Sheppard Proposed: 14 storey mixed use building with 160 units and relocation of Thomas Clark House (heritage building) to front on Sheppard. Community Consultation held in June 2021. Status: Under review by City staff and awaiting resubmission from Applicant. City Planner: Michael Romero - Michael.Romero@toronto.ca 1 Greenbriar & 635 Greenbriar Proposed: 11 storey mixed use building with 134 units. Community Consultation held in January 2022. Status: Under review by City staff and awaiting resubmission from Applicant. City Planner: Michael Romero - Michael.Romero@toronto.ca 11 Greenbriar Proposed: 4-storey residential building with 29 units. Community Consultation held in March 2022. Status: Under review by City staff and awaiting resubmission from Applicant. City Planner: Michael Romero - Michael.Romero@toronto.ca 23-29 Greenbriar Proposed: 10-storey residential building with 169 units. Community Consultation held in June 2022. Status: Under review by City staff. City Planner: Michael Romero - Michael.Romero@toronto.ca 22-36 Greenbriar Proposed: 24-storey residential building with 351 units. Community Consultation Meeting held in June 2022. Status: Under review by City staff. City Planner: Michael Romero - Michael.Romero@toronto.ca 71 Talara Status: Approved by City Council in July 2022. Will next undergo technical detail review by City staff. Development will demolish existing low-rise rental building and construct a 23-storey residential building with 281 units, including rental replacement units. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca 680-688 Sheppard Proposed: Applicant made final settlement offer to City in July 2022 for a reduced 22-storey building with transition to 12-storeys at north side of site. The settlement offer significantly reduced the floorplate of the building with 481 units and setbacks and carve-outs were included to reduce massing and shadowing impacts on community. Status: Applicant has appealed proposal to Provincial Tribunal, with a hearing scheduled for January 2023. City Council adopted the City Solicitor's recommendation to accept the settlement offer given the changes and the risk of increased height and massing at the Provincial Tribunal. City Planner: Heather Au – Heather.Au@toronto.ca 699 Sheppard Status: Approved by City Council in July 2021. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. Development will demolish existing building and build a 12-storey mixed use building with 169 units. City Planner: Sarah Ovens – Sarah.Ovens@toronto.ca Concord Park Place Proposed: Block 7 proposes 24 and 29-storey mixed use buildings with 686 units. Community Consultation to take place in early 2023. Status: Under review by City staff. Concord's Park Place Masterplan was approved by Provincial Tribunal in 2013. Blocks 11 (29 and 18-storeys with 330 units), 12 (36 and 33-storeys with 362 units), and 15 (31, 27, 19-storeys with 990 units) are currently under construction. City Planner: Ingrid Fung – Ingrid.Fung@toronto.ca (Block 7) Marian Prejel – Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca (All other Blocks) 1181 Sheppard Proposed: 22-storey office building and 33-storey residential building with 452 units. Status: Applicant has appealed proposal to Provincial Tribunal. City staff are opposed to current application and will be continuing discussions to address a number of issues on the site, particularly the connection to Leslie TTC station. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca DON VALLEY VILLAGE 1650 Sheppard Status: Approved by Provincial Tribunal in 2020. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. The development will maintain existing rental building and construct a new 31-storey residential building with 319 units. Site was part of context plan that includes a new public park and two new public streets. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca 2500 Don Mills Proposed: 30 and 39-storey mixed use buildings with 823 units. Community Consultation held in July 2022. Status: Under review by City staff. City Planner: Jenny Choi - Jenny.Choi@toronto.ca 2600 Don Mills Status: Approved by Provincial Tribunal in 2020. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. The development will maintain existing rental building and construct a new 33-storey residential building with 354 units. Site was part of context plan that includes a new public park and two new public streets. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca 12-24 Leith Hill Status: Approved by City Council in January 2022. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. The development will maintain existing rental building and construct three blocks of townhouses with 48 units on the west side of the site and an 11-storey residential building with 121 on the east side of the site. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca 25 Leith Hill Proposed: 31-storey residential building with 294 units. Community Consultation held in February 2021. Status: Under review by City staff and awaiting resubmission from Applicant. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca Fairview Mall (1800 Sheppard) Proposed: Masterplan Concept of 12 buildings between 18 and 58-storeys with 4,700 units and three new public parks over four phases. No existing buildings would be demolished. The first phase proposes three buildings of 38, 48, and 58-storeys. Community Consultation held in July 2022. Status: Under review by City staff. New Public Engagement Strategy forthcoming in January 2023. City Planner: Michelle Charkow – Michelle.Charkow@toronto.ca 20 Godstone Proposed: 6 and 12-storey residential buildings with 369 units and the retention of the existing centrally located 15-storey apartment building. Status: Under review by City staff. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca PARKWAY FOREST 123 Parkway Forest Proposed: 29-storey residential building with 339 units and five three-storey townhouses to replace existing townhouses. Community Consultation held in February 2022. Status: Under review by City staff and awaiting resubmission from Applicant. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca PLEASANT VIEW 1 Heron's Hill Proposed: 34-storey mixed-used buildings with 334 units and preservation of existing 2-storey office building. Community Consultation held in December 2020. Status: Under review by City staff. City staff have recommended lands be converted from employment to mixed use with requirement to increase amount of employment space on-site. City Planner: Derrick Wong - Derrick.Wong@toronto.ca 2135 Sheppard Proposed: 11-storey mixed use building with 275 units. Community Consultation took place in May 2022. Status: Under review by City staff and awaiting resubmission from Applicant. City Planner: Philip Liu - Philip.Liu@toronto.ca Lansing Square (2550 Victoria Park) Status: Approved by City Council in July 2021. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. The redevelopment will include a new 18-storey commercial office building, six residential buildings with heights of 40, 30, 25, 35, 6 and 4 storeys with 1591 units, and a new public park. City Planner: Derrick Wong - Derrick.Wong@toronto.ca 2450 Victoria Park Status: Approved by Provincial Tribunal in in 2020. Currently going through technical detail review by City staff. The redevelopment will demolish the existing commercial building and construct four mixed-used buildings of 28, 24, 20, and 11 storeys with 1056 units. City Planner: Philip Liu - Philip.Liu@toronto.ca 245 Yorkland Proposed: Four 45-storey mixed use buildings with 2140 units and new public park while maintaining the 12-storey office building and demolishing 3-storey office building. No Community Consultation has yet taken place. Status: Under review by City staff as to compatibility with employment zoning and other City policies. Staff will report in Q1 2023 with a Preliminary or Refusal Report. City Planner: Heather Au – Heather.Au@toronto.ca BAYVIEW WOODS-STEELES Tyndale University (3377 Bayview) Proposed: 14 residential buildings, the majority of which range in height from 6-storeys to 8-storeys, with three buildings having heights of 11, 15, and 20-storeys with 1530 units. Also included are a daycare, café, and flexible use spaces to be used by Tyndale University Status: Applicant has appealed proposal to Provincial Tribunal. Hearing has been scheduled over 3 weeks in July 2023. City staff are opposed to current application and will be continuing discussions with Applicant and Parties to the hearing to address a number of issues on the site. City Planner: Marian Prejel - Marian.Prejel@toronto.ca 6 Foxdale Proposed: five two-storey detached dwellings and new street off of an existing court. Status: Awaiting resubmission from Applicant. Community Consultation took place in June 2021. City Planner: Aileen Keng - Aileen.Keng@toronto.ca 10 Ruddington Proposed: 14-storey rental building with 182 units and a 10-storey condo building with 127 units while maintaining existing rental building. Community Consultation took place in June 2021. Status: Applicant has appealed proposal to Provincial Tribunal. City staff are opposed to current application and will be continuing discussions to address a number of issues on the site, particularly with condo building. City Planner: Philip Liu - Philip.Liu@toronto.ca 630-686 Finch Proposed: Applicant made final settlement offer to City in February 2021 for a reduced 11-storey mixed use building with 238 units. The settlement offer significantly improved setbacks from neighbourhood and reduced massing and shadowing impacts on community. Status: Applicant has appealed proposal to Provincial Tribunal, with a hearing scheduled for in early 2023. City Council adopted the City Solicitor's recommendation to accept the settlement offer given the changes and the risk of increased height and massing at the Provincial Tribunal. City Planner: Derrick Wong - Derrick.Wong@toronto.ca

Nov 24, 2022 It is my pleasure to write the first E-Blast column of the new term. I know many of you have missed these weekly updates, and I'm glad to be starting up again to make sure our community stays informed about the issues that matter most. It is a huge honour to be returned to office to represent Don Valley North for another four years. I know that with that honour comes a lot of hard work, and that the years ahead won't be easy. We are continuing to see troubling signs of poor economic health across the globe and I know we are feeling it deeply here in Toronto. At the same time, COVID-19 continues to affect our communities and the way we live our daily lives. The City's finances will continue to feel the pressure of these challenges, and there will be no shortage of issues to address at Council. As always, the goal is to deliver direct service to all of you to improve your quality of life. My husband Sandy joined me for my Declaration of Office at City Hall yesterday. This term, I will be joining the Mayor's Executive Committee and will act as Chair of the Economic and Community Development Committee. This is a committee with a broad set of responsibilities. It is primarily focused on social cohesion and the economy, with a mandate to strengthen communities, neighbourhoods, and economic opportunity. I'm looking forward to working with my Council colleagues to create jobs, support businesses, and build thriving communities here in Toronto. As Mayor Tory and Council were just inaugurated yesterday, committees have not started up quite yet. The real work begins next week, and after that there will be much more to report to you. As always, I will use this column to keep you informed of any and all work that may impact us here in Don Valley North. And while my new role as Chair may sound like something that will take up all of my time, my wonderful team and I will still be here to support you with both your local and city-wide concerns. We wrapped up our first Council session of the term today. I'm looking forward to a productive four years ahead. Now, I want to turn to a piece of Provincial legislation that has captured the attention of municipalities across Ontario: Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act. This is the latest instalment in the Province's Housing Supply Action Plan that aims to create 1.5 million new homes over the next ten years. In our fast-growing ward, the impact of this Bill will be significant. There has been plenty of vocal opposition to Bill 23 across the province, from Mayors, Councillors, Chief Planners, residents associations, conservation groups, and more. The Bill was amended slightly during its second reading this week, but in its first iteration it had several dangerous components, listed in a report from City staff to Council from November 3rd. The biggest impacts of this Bill are that it: Reduces municipal revenues needed to fund growth-related infrastructure Diminishes housing affordability and rental housing replacement protection Erodes sustainable and resilient development practices Overrides Council's decisions on official plan matters Decreases parkland amount and quality that the City can secure Threatens the City's ability to protect built and natural heritage Requires the upzoning of neighbourhoods and lands around transit stations Introduces further changes to the development review process Limits appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal and Toronto Local Appeal Body Many in our neighborhood complained about increased street racing on the 401 and the DVP over the pandemic. It is clear that we are in a housing crisis, and we need to build more homes. However, we're not going to get out of this crisis by gutting the tools that cities use to add more affordable housing, protect renters, meet our climate goals, and fund the delivery of critical new infrastructure to meet the needs of those residents. As I wrote this column, amendments to Bill 23 were still being announced. City staff prepared an update to their first report, which was presented to Council today. While there are some improvements in the second reading of this Bill, there are still a number of pieces to be concerned about, namely the reduction in the Development Charges that currently cover the cost of new and upgraded infrastructure needed to support growth. Rest assured that I will continue to keep you updated on this Bill as it moves towards its third reading in the coming weeks. The news clip above outlines some of the major concerns municipalities have about Bill 23, especially surrounding Development Charges. These Provincial changes will have a serious impact on our city and our neighbourhoods, but not all hope is lost. To close off, I want to share a great piece of advice from Guy Matthews, the Manager of our North York Planning Office. Guy attended a local residents' association town hall with me yesterday evening. At the meeting, he reminded us that while the Province has shortened the time frame to consider development applications and reduced opportunities for community consultations, we still have the ability to talk to each other to get the best results possible for our neighbourhoods. My office and our City Planners are still here to work with you on each and every application. Reach out to my office as soon as you have a question or concern about a change coming to your neighbourhood. Your input and lived experience in the area will help ensure the best results for our community, and is the ammunition our planners need to keep fighting for our growing city. If we continue to work together, I'm confident we can build a Don Valley North that is liveable for all.

Last week, my fellow Councillors and I got a jolt in the middle of our final Council session when the Toronto Star broke the story that Premier Ford is drafting legislation for a “Strong Mayor” model in Toronto and Ottawa. Just like in 2018, Doug wants to meddle in our governance system in the middle of election time. Council did a lot of fretting over this, and even moved a motion about it, but I noticed something interesting when I went out in the community the following week. I held three of my trademark Park Pop-Ups and spoke to dozens of neighbours, and the subject of a Strong Mayor never came up. I always appreciate hearing from neighbours at our Park Pop-Ups. Understandably, not many folks spend time fretting over the internal workings of City Council. However, the biggest ramification of a new Strong Mayor system has to do with exactly why anyone comes out to a Park Pop-Up in the first place—to have their voice heard. We don’t know exactly what powers will be granted under the Strong Mayor system yet, but there is the potential that they will reduce the voice of Councillors and, in turn, their communities. I want to make sure that no matter how our governance system changes, your voice still has an impact at City Hall. To provide a brief history, Toronto already has an almost Strong Mayor model. Since the City of Toronto Act was enacted in 2007, our Mayor has functioned differently than those in smaller Ontario municipalities, so much so that the media nicknamed our system a “Robust Mayor” model. Toronto’s Mayor can appoint his own Executive Cabinet, has almost complete control of Council agendas, and is free to express his opinions while decisions are being debated because he appoints a Speaker to chair Council meetings. Our Mayor may only have one vote, but he is in the driver’s seat when it comes to which issues we focus on and how we go about addressing them. Local Councillors have the power to submit motions to Council, but the speed at which these motions will be addressed depends a lot on how the Mayor feels about it. A perfect example is dangerous and noisy speed racing on our streets and highways. I moved a motion about this in October 2020, when it was clear that the lockdown was emboldening these dangerous highway racers. It was a huge problem for us here in Don Valley North, but not top of mind for the Mayor and most of his Executive. I got the ball rolling, but it took another motion from Councillor Filion in December 2020 and still another from Councillor Fletcher in June 2021 to cause a rising echo and get real action on this at City Hall. It may have taken several months, but today we’re seeing greater action being taken on excessive noise and danger from street racing and stunt driving by our own Municipal Licensing and Standards (MLS) team, Toronto Police Services, the Ontario Provincial Police, and other GTA services. Hundreds of arrests and vehicle impoundments have taken place and will continue throughout the summer. Action like this is truly driven by Councillors and their communities consistently speaking up on the issues that affect their neighbourhoods the most. Many in our neighbourhood complained about increased street racing on the 401 and the DVP over the pandemic. If we move to a Strong Mayor model, the devil will most certainly be in the details of the new legislation. Will I still be able to move a last-minute motion on an emergent issue like street racing? Will the Mayor still need a vote from Council to refer the motion to staff to delay action, or will he have unilateral powers to do so, as is the case in most Strong Mayor cities? Will I still be able to advocate regularly for your property taxes to be invested wisely or, as is the case in New York City, will the City’s finance staff become the Mayor’s staff and only meet with Council once per year to present a finished budget? If this is what the Premier is proposing, I would ask all of you to think beyond Mayor Tory. He’ll likely be here for the next four years and we all have an idea of how he would react to the new powers, but what about future mayors? What about troubled ones? Corrupt ones? Incompetent ones? So, while the idea of changing municipal governance rules may seem like inside ball, these changes will have real impacts on how much say you get on what happens at City Hall. If Premier Ford’s idea of improving our local democracy is to take away the power of Councillors to directly advocate for you, then we’ll have a Strong Mayor but not a Strong City. My fellow Councillors and I discussed the additional changes we'd like to see if the Province decides to change our governance system. Since the proposed legislation has not been made public yet, Council drafted a motion to suggest conditions under which Toronto City Council might be able to function in a better way under the new Strong Mayor system. I still have grave concerns about this change, but I worked together with councillor McKelvie and Mayor Tory’s staff to help author the motion that passed with a strong majority: City Council request the Province of Ontario to consult with the City of Toronto on governance prior to granting additional authorities to the City commensurate with Strong Mayor governance models, and request greater autonomy and decision-making authority, including but not limited to: traffic safety measures; planning and housing matters; cannabis and liquor licence application approvals; and revenue raising measures and budgeting measures, in particular, revenue tools that grow with the economy and are used in every municipal system that includes a Stronger Mayor model. City Council affirms its position that any changes to Toronto’s local elections or its governance structure should be decisions made by Toronto’s City Council. It is essential that we not only maintain but enhance your voice at City Hall, no matter what curve balls the Premier throws at us. There has been a noticeable decrease in civic engagement over the course of the pandemic, which is why City staff are hard at work on initiatives to help you have more of a say on local issues. For example, the City is conducting a consultation on how we do consultations. I know that sounds a little crazy, but we need to improve how we hear from you in a rapidly changing city, especially when it comes to virtual vs in-person consultations. Please be sure to take part in this consultation—have a say about how you get to have your say. Councillors and City Staff do their jobs better when you are heard. It's been a while since we've been able to have in-person consultations. Make sure you share your feedback on how the City can best engage with you. And what if the Premier’s Strong Mayor governance change comes to pass in September, in the middle of our own municipal election? I say we work together to strengthen local democracy as much as possible. For instance, Strong Mayors in Chicago and NYC provide local Councillors with $1 million annually to hold Participatory Budgeting exercises, allowing local residents to decide how to spend those public funds on their neighbourhoods’ priorities. In San Francisco, the Mayor and Councillors have been elected by ranked ballot for years and locals love it. In NYC, radical reforms to the campaign donation scheme has cleaned up the election system and made it far more accessible for women and racialized candidates to run for office. It is programs and policies like these that will ensure the local community still has a powerful voice under a Strong Mayor model. In my view, we should be implementing measures like these regardless of what the Premier decides. After amalgamation, local neighbourhoods began to lose their voice in a mega city. Whatever mayoral model we end up with next term, we need to make sure that your voice still holds power. After years of working with the passionate residents of Don Valley North, I can tell you with absolute certainty that strong local voices are the best thing we can have in our local democracy. Our Final E-Blast With the municipal election coming up, this is the last week that I am able to send out my weekly E-Blast. If you can believe it, this is our 183rd E-Blast of the term. I want to thank each and every one of you who has taken the time to read this column, whether you’ve been getting them for years or you subscribed last week. I truly hope it’s not only helped you get important information when you need it most, but also helped you feel more connected to our wonderful community here in Don Valley North. My office is still available to assist you with any questions or concerns, so please stay in touch and never hesitate to reach out. - Shelley Planning & Development Updates Our Plan Toronto: Recommended Official Plan Amendment for City-wide Employment Policies and Conversion Requests There was one item of local significance that City Council go to on Friday, after last week's E-Blast went out: Land conversion requests. The Province mandates that we undertake what is called a Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) of our designated employment lands every five years. Ontario cities have the right to protect their employment lands, but in each MCR the City and the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) also review requests to convert employment lands to mixed uses. It’s important that conversion requests are reviewed all at one time in the context of cumulative impact. Preserving employment lands is critical to the continued economic vitality of this city: there are about 8,000 hectares of land providing 400,000 jobs in Toronto. During this MCR, over 150 requests for conversion were received, including half a dozen in Don Valley North. Locally, these are concentrated in the Consumers/Parkway Centre Business Park, lands which are subject to the ConsumersNext Secondary Plan. In this first report to Council, only one request is being recommended by City Planning for conversion: 1 Heron’s Hill. In my conversations with staff and as outlined in their report, there are several reasons why they are recommending this request be approved. Unlike any of the others, this request came in prior to the MCR launch and prior to ConsumersNext Secondary Plan coming into force. This means it’s not fully subject to that plan. Secondly, 1 Heron’s Hill includes a sliver of land fronting along Sheppard Ave E where other residential uses exist and were permitted in the last MCR. Finally, staff reviewed both city-wide and site-specific economic analysis studies around the types of uses and amount of employment that can be sustained on a site. After all of these considerations, staff make a recommendation. When they recommend approval, they attach conditions as they’ve done for 1 Heron’s Hill. For 1 Heron' Hill, these conditions include the following: Require a minimum of 3,340 square metres of employment gross floor area on the land prior to or concurrent with residential uses; Require the Heron's Hill Way Extension to Boneset Road Connection; Require a minimum of 520 square metres of Privately Owned Publicly- Accessible Space ("POPS") in addition to parkland dedication; Require the majority of car parking to be located below grade; and, Require prescribed rates of affordable housing (7% of units as affordable ownership or 5% affordable rental). Even though Council has adopted planning staff’s recommendation to convert, this site must now go through a rigorous Community Planning process. I expect there to be another community meeting in the New Year as a status update from City Planning. I will be sure to keep you posted on the timing so that you can come learn more and share your feedback. What of the other conversion requests in the business park? They don’t have the same mitigating factors as Heron’s Hill, and since they are deeper into the park, they represent a fundamental threat to both the ConsumersNext Secondary Plan that was worked on by the community and to the future employment growth we hope to see there. City Planning will report back on these requests in the New Year and it is my hope that they take a stand for our Secondary Plan. I know that I can count on you to stand with me to do the same. Park Improvement Updates There are many exciting projects ongoing and underway in our local parks. My team and I have created a web page with the most recent updates on every project in the ward, which you can view at the link below: Fourth Doses Now Available for All Adults 18+ Individuals age 18 and older who received their third dose (first booster) five months ago are eligible for a second booster dose. Individuals who have been infected with COVID-19 need to wait three months before receiving their next dose. Appointments cam be booked through the provincial booking system online or by phone: Online: https://covid-19.ontario.ca/book-vaccine/ Phone: 1-833-943-3900 For more information on vaccines, visit the link below: We started Don Valley Northerner of the Week because I wanted to recognize some of the amazing people who make a difference in our community. Over the past few months, I've had the pleasure of meeting so many wonderful residents who have made Don Valley North a better place for all. From offering virtual programming during the pandemic and guided tours of our ravines, to being a voice for fellow students and even making a garden the crown jewel of the block, our communities are truly more vibrant and connected because of their efforts. Thank you to everyone who graciously accepted the award, and especially to those who took the time to nominate someone in their community who they appreciate.

Dec 8, 2022 A couple weeks ago, I touched on Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, and the many unwelcome changes it makes to our planning process. While this most recent Provincial housing bill has been all over the news, today I want to take a step back and talk about its predecessor: Bill 109, the More Homes for Everyone Act. This bill also drastically changes our planning process here in Toronto, and our planning department has recently spelled out exactly what our city needs to do to meet the new Provincial requirements. Let's dive into it. Bill 109 passed last spring and was framed as the result of the Premier's Housing Affordability Task Force. This Task Force was meant to suggest ways to streamline the development approvals process and use any resulting savings to create more affordable housing. The Premier brought together respected academics, affordable ownership housing creators, and leading realtors from across the province to sit on the task force. Notably, not a single City Planner from anywhere in Ontario was included to lend their first-hand experience. While some recommendations of the task force were welcomed, others were criticized for giving too much advantage to private sector developers and not doing enough to generate a range of affordable housing opportunities. We need to build more housing all along the housing spectrum, and that requires a range of strategies that weren't fully reflected in the Task Force's recommendations. The Province incorporated many of the Task Force's recommendations into Bill 109. The most notable change, and the one that has the biggest impact on the development process, is a new penalty that comes into effect on January 1, 2023 and could cripple city budgets and particularly planning departments. Bill 109 sets impossibly tight timelines for cities to consider, consult on, revise, and approve development applications. If cities do not meet these timelines, applicants will have the power to demand a partial or full refund of their application fees. The Bill 109 Application Fee Refund Schedule. Click on the image to view a larger version. It's important to note that application fees are not a revenue tool, but a cost-recovery mechanism. They fully cover the cost of the staff time and City resources required to review development applications, meaning that we don't need to draw on your property taxes to fund our planning department. The chart above shows what percentage of application fees will be refunded if the city does not make application decisions within certain timeframes. City Planning could potentially lose up to $70 million per year in fees as a result of these penalties if we don't make big changes to our planning process. I'm sure you can understand that the timelines spelled out above are very tight. Our current planning process usually sees the first community consultation meeting held around four months after a development application is filed. Now, we'll need a final decision on an application by that time to avoid a refund. To use a local example, the buildings at Parkway Forest were approved after a rigorous, 18-month community planning process that was supported by a $400,000 application fee. Under Bill 109, that entire process would have to be completed in less than a quarter of the time at the risk of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clearly, we need to make substantial changes to our planning process to meet these deadlines. Our Chief Planner, Gregg Lintern, recently presented a report to Executive Committee outlining these process changes, which are shown in a helpful diagram below: Our Chief Planner has presented the most workable solution to this new legislation possible. Under the new system, applicants will be required to meet with the City before formally submitting their application. This gives an opportunity to flag basic issues before the application clock starts ticking. We're also going to try out hosting multiple community consultations on a given evening to make the best use of our planners' very limited time. The diagram also shows one of the biggest changes we're making to meet the Province's new timeframes: getting rid of preliminary reports. You might recall this term from many of the development updates I've shared through this E-Blast. Preliminary reports were the first report prepared by staff on a development, and were considered at local community councils before the final report was considered at City Council. Under the new system, City Planning will provide more public information online earlier in the development process to make sure our communities stay informed and make sure Councillors are engaged from the start. This also means that Councillors need to be very proactive in engaging the community. As you all know, I've been sending out detailed development updates in my E-Blast for years. I hope other Councillors follow suit to make sure our communities stay informed under our new model. The Chief Planner has also requested to hire 150 new employees to ensure we can properly review applications within the new timeline. This includes new city planners, transportation planners, parks planners, and engineers. These would have been welcome resources even before the current spate of Provincial interventions in our planning process, and I intend to support this request wholeheartedly. Changes to the community consultation process are necessary to meet the new timelines set by the Province. There is merit in streamlining our development process. We're in a housing crisis, and we need to get a diverse range of housing options built ASAP. However, what the Premier's Task Force failed to make clear is that there are many additional factors contributing to Toronto's housing affordability crisis beyond the timing of approvals. Most notably, the number of housing units approved does not necessarily correspond to the number constructed. On average, Toronto approves about 28,000 residential units per year, but only 15,000 get built. If the Premier felt it was necessary to give cities tight timelines to approve applications, I'd like to see him hold builders to the same standard to ensure they get started on construction right away to actually get housing built. Here in Don Valley North, I'm blessed to have so many community groups engaged in local development. The process changes wrought by Bill 109 and the follow-up Bill 23 are going to make it harder for our community to be involved in the planning process, but I am committed to do everything I can to keep you engaged. Things will be quiet over the holidays, but I'll be back with a comprehensive development update for all of you in the New Year to make sure we're ready for the many applications coming our way in 2023.

Jan 12, 2023 This is our third budget since we began living with the realities of the pandemic. As Mayor Tory, City Council, and really all of Toronto embark upon this process together once again, I think we need to consider it in a different light. When this all began in early 2020, there was a lot of talk about a hundred years ago: "What about the Spanish Flu?"; "How did they cope in 1918?"; "What did they learn, and what can we learn from them?". We didn't ask what one or two specific politicians did during that pandemic. We looked back a century and held the whole society to account. I believe that is how people will look at this pandemic and all of us one hundred years from now. What will be our legacy? I don't just mean the Mayor's, or the Premier's, or even mine. What will they say about all of us? Did we suffer losses and cope for a couple of years, and then all get cranky because the city was never quite the same again? Or did we find ourselves at a tipping point and collectively realize that we need to fundamentally change the way our city works so that we can all move forward without leaving anyone behind? I believe we are at that tipping point right now. The economy is still reeling, cases and variants keep coming, and there is still nothing quite "normal" about the way we work or live. City Hall continues to try to address those challenges while keeping your services intact, but we have never been made whole from COVID impacts. We are still carrying over $1.4 billion in pandemic-related expenses on our books, without a municipal funding source or any committed relief from the other levels of government that have the taxation tools to cover it. A graph showing the COVID-19 budget impacts we've faced since 2020. Click to view a detailed version. Facing all these pressures, the City has little choice but to keep its annual property tax increase in line with inflation. Most of the announcements Mayor Tory made last week about budget investments are for service needs that have been put off for a long time, such as investments in our emergency services. These cannot be put off any longer as our population continues to grow. This year's property tax increase is comprised of 5.5% that will go to operating City services and 1.5% that will go to capital infrastructure projects that can't be delayed any further. That combined increase of 7% will still place your property tax bill in the middle of the pack in terms of both neighbouring and major cities. A chart showing Toronto's residential property taxes in comparison to other large GTHA municipalities and major Canadian cities. Click to view a detailed version. The fundamental problem with property tax increases is that they can never fill the gap in the City's finances that has been dogging us and holding us back since amalgamation in 1998. Even if we had a steep increase every year, we would only be just keeping pace with inflation at best. Moreover, in times of booming economy, property tax is the one kind of tax that doesn't get a boost—it's based on your address, not whether your income has increased. It was apparent before, and the past few years have made it even clearer: Toronto needs a new and steady source of income. Imagine that each year, the City has an additional $500 million to operate and expand the TTC. On top of that, imagine there is still anywhere from $250 to $400 million that can go straight to infrastructure improvements and state-of-good-repair for our roads. Now, the real cherry on top: imagine that none of that comes from your property taxes or from debt. This could be a reality for Toronto if we were to introduce a 1% municipal sales tax. This is the norm for many other major cities. A municipal sales tax provides an annual, sustainable source of funds drawn from residents based on their ability to spend. Sales taxes also introduce a way to collect revenue from regional neighbours that use our city every day but contribute nothing to our upkeep. Years ago, in 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper reduced the GST by 1%, and then by another 1% a year later. Prior to that, Ontarians paid a combined sales tax of 15%. None of us felt a financial windfall from that reduction. Poverty was not eradicated throughout the land. At the time, then-Mayor David Miller and several others across Ontario suggested that 1% should flow to municipalities so that we could use it to build transit and repair bridges, but it fell on deaf ears. The politics of the day were different and the economy was thriving. Today, we find ourselves in very different circumstances. Folks across the political spectrum are calling for better funding sources for cities—even former Conservative leader Tim Hudak is advocating for a municipal sales tax. In this post-pandemic era, I know that the Federal and Provincial governments want to tighten their own spending and reduce deficits. Allowing us to collect our own revenue and sustain ourselves is really the best solution for them as well as for City Hall and Torontonians. The needs of a city as big of Toronto go far past what property tax alone can sustain, and those needs are only becoming larger and larger. Today, not only do we have to nurse our city back to health, we must run a full-service transit system even though ridership is only at 60% of what it once was. Our shelter, support and housing system will cost us $700 million next year as we try to build rapid, accessible housing and better shelter accommodations for our new standard client load of over 9000 people seeking beds. On Sunday night, when we hold our North York Budget Town Hall, you will learn more details about the expenditures our city must undertake. Then, I think an urgent conversation is in order. An inflation-driven property tax increase might get us through the year, but it won't buy us a brighter future. Only a big city revenue source like one cent on the dollar would do that. We need to start talking it up all over town. As a community, we need to map out how we will go about getting permission to fundamentally change our City's funding system to one that is fair, and one that everyone can afford no matter their circumstances. Let's take action now to find a way to build a truly vibrant and sustainable city for generations to come, without relying even more on your property taxes.

Dec 15, 2022 Last Friday, Mayor Tory released his 2023 Housing Action Plan. Yesterday, a strong majority of City Council adopted that plan—a decision that marks a fundamental shift in how we approach housing in our city. Gone is the century-old style of imagining a city as a vast expanse of single-family homes, limiting everything else, like apartments, retail, office, and institutional uses, to small, special zones. Now, we're looking to make housing more affordable and accessible by creating a diverse range of homes across our city. The 2023 Housing Action Plan authorizes staff, led by our Chief Planner Gregg Lintern, to explore how quickly we can execute a number of proactive housing creation actions. Staff will prepare a report that will detail how we can use a combination of our own changes and those already imposed by the Provincial government to contemplate all forms of housing wherever the infrastructure can support it. It will also look to prioritize the expedited approval of affordable housing opportunities in our city. This report will first be presented to the Planning and Housing Committee in March of next year, and will then make its way to Council. Below, I have listed a number of recommendations from the Mayor's Housing Action Plan that impact us here in Don Valley North so that we can discuss them before our Chief Planner reports back in March: A. Amend the City-wide zoning by-law to be more permissive from a housing opportunities perspective; D. Amend the Zoning By-law to increase zoning permissions on major streets; E. Amend the Zoning By-law to create transition zones between commercial and residential areas; F. Increase density within neighbourhoods through additional permissions including but not limited to multiplex permissions and removing exclusionary zoning; H. Develop community housing intensification plans that support and grow existing co-op and non-profit rental homes plus add capacity for the sectors to be able to operate the new homes; J. Create a post-secondary housing strategy in partnership with post-secondary institutions on increasing the availability of student housing; K. Develop a strategy to engage with School boards to encourage the creation of housing on their lands; M. Revisit approved Housing Now sites with the intention of increasing housing supply and supporting affordable housing delivery; O. Ensure intensification is considered through the lens of complete communities and the growth of infrastructure necessary to support livability, inclusion, sustainability and prosperity. Taken together, these changes seem pretty overwhelming. What we need to remember is that some of these changes are already contained in the Province's recent housing bills: Bill 23, the More Homes Built Faster Act, and Bill 109, the More Homes For Everyone Act. Making amendments to the City's zoning bylaw makes it clear that we are very willing to play ball on the points of Provincial legislation that would actually create more housing. However, that doesn't mean we won't be critical of other aspects of that legislation. The last recommendation listed above is the Mayor's very pointed departure from Provincial direction. As I discussed in an earlier E-Blast, the Province no longer allows us to require developers to invest adequate amounts for community infrastructure. By including recommendation O., the Mayor is ensuring that we will apply a lens of infrastructure adequacy when we consider development applications. Where it is lacking, intense applications will not get smooth rides through Council. A photo of the Council Chamber during our meeting yesterday. There is a major second part to the Mayor's Housing Action Plan, and one that will certainly impact us here in Don Valley North. I'm talking, of course, about the city-wide licensing and regulation of Multi-Tenant Houses (Rooming Houses). I know that for some, this will be a stressful change. Rest assured that implementation will be gradual over the next three years, and that City staff have done a lot of work over the past year to better understand the best way forward with this licensing program. For instance, when we last considered this proposal back in the spring, I had serious concerns that we were not going to have enough bylaw officers to properly carry out this licensing regime, particularly in North York and Scarborough where rooming houses have been entirely illegal for so long. I advocated very strongly to hire more bylaw officers dedicated to overseeing multi-tenant houses, and I'm happy to report that enforcement staffing for this program has been generously enhanced. I was also glad to see a motion from Deputy Mayor McKelvie that adds a requirement for operators to have an adequate parking plan in place for these homes. Parking issues are often the first complaints my office receives on properties that turn out to be rooming houses, and this addresses that common issue. An illustration of a multi-tenant house. The new Multi-Tenant Houses licensing regime is largely the same as what has already been effect downtown for 20 years, except that it has parking requirements and stipulates a maximum of six dwelling rooms per licensed house in the suburbs. The general plan for implementation is: 2023: Hiring and training MLS officers and managers for the newly-licensed regions and doing outreach and education to known operators. 2024: Move towards bringing current operators into compliance, and begin taking applications from new operators. 2025: Ramp up the work to bring ultimatums to bad operators, as tenants will have many more options to live multi-tenant houses that are run legally. I'm simplifying, of course, but don't worry. I will revisit this topic many times as the specifics of implementation roll out. What's important to remember is that the legal quagmire that has existed around rooming houses for so long is about to end. By licensing rooming houses, we will finally have the ability to inspect these homes to ensure they are safe for tenants, and the resources to deal with unsafe and poorly kept homes. The courts will also be more inclined to hear our cases when we have a bad operator, as there will be viable alternatives for the tenants living there. We are giving ourselves the tools to increase housing options, protect tenants, and deal with issues that impact neighbours when they do occur. I know that a lot of changes are coming, and quickly. I'm keeping in mind some guiding principles of my own as we embark on Mayor Tory's brave plan: This plan sets ambitious targets for the next decade. That's good. We need to build more homes faster for our own kids, grandkids, and all of our growing city. More housing doesn't have to mean endless towers. This plan will see different types of housing built, and we'll get used to hearing words like multi-residential transitions, affordable, supportive, and modular. (Think of that beautiful co-housing development in Vancouver that I wrote about last summer!) The wonderful co-housing building I explored in Vancouver. From the street, you'd never know this building contained 31 housing units. I will always work to bring a suburban lens to housing actions. We need to know that housing will come with the infrastructure needed to support us. We need to protect renters who may have already found something affordable in Don Valley North. We need to maintain our current affordable options for newcomers, students, and families relying on social assistance. Lastly, I will be committed to making sure that whatever new forms of housing appear are built right, whether that be a tower, multi-plex, garden suite, or rooming house. We may be changing what can be approved, but our strong building standards are still in place. What is it Mike Holmes says? "Make it right." As our families grow up, our kids need and deserve to be able to afford to live in a range of housing types nearby. I am confident that the Mayor's ambitious plan will move us towards a Toronto that is more affordable and liveable for generations to come.

Since it was launched last week, the biggest issues in the 2023 budget have risen to the surface. After the sticker shock of learning that the proposed property tax increase will keep pace with inflation, community conversations centred on the Toronto Police Services budget and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) budget. Let's dive in. Investments in Community Safety & Updates on Alternates to Policing Mayor Tory announced big investments in community safety this year, with a proposed $48.3 million increase to the Police Services budget. Since this announcement, there has been much talk that the road to a safer city is not through policing. If this year's budget approach was through conventional policing alone, I would agree. But that is not the case. This budget also funds initiatives that help facilitate the move away from policing for certain community work. To make our city safe, we need to invest in the social services that help prevent crime, continue to work on community-based alternatives to policing, and make sure our emergency services are up to snuff. Our police service has long been under pressure to reform, especially to address widespread evidence of racial profiling and to change police response to people experiencing mental health crises. Recommendations to do so have come not just from the community but from Provincial commissions and public inquiries as well. Some of that reform work has been happening since 2015, when tasks like crossing guard management and waterfront lifeguarding were shifted from the police over to the City. Where tasks can't be diverted from police, cuts and efficiencies within central operations are used to fund further modernization efforts. As of late, the biggest reforms are happening in mental health response. Based on expert opinion and learning from successful practices in other jurisdictions, some mental health crisis response is now being undertaken without any police involvement at all. This is part of a pilot program called the Toronto Community Crisis Service. For almost a year now, City staff have partnered with four respected community agencies to respond to mental health crisis calls when it is determined that police presence may not be necessary or preferred. Calls can be dispatched from 911, 211, or directly from community partners, and trained teams of crisis workers are sent out to respond. Council will soon get an annual progress report on the pilot, which has been incredibly effective thus far. I've included a summary of their activities below: A few stats from the first six months of the TCCS. Click to learn more. At present, Toronto may need more police officers due to population growth, retirements, and past budget-caused reductions in the number of officers. However, the TCCS pilot bodes well for the future. Staff are hard at work preparing this program for eventual city-wide expansion, and the success of the program shows that other activities currently handled by police could become community agency tasks in future. In the meantime, the Toronto Police Service has 700 fewer officers deployed now than it did in 2010. This budget proposes putting 200 officers back on the street, including 16 new Neighbourhood Officers, to provide the kind of safety services that only police can. This investment will also hire additional special constables and 911 operators to improve lagging service and response times to make sure police are getting to you as quickly as possible in an emergency. TTC Budget Shortfalls The budget for the TTC is a bit more complex. Our transit system has been lacking the kind of ongoing operating funding that every other major transit system in Canada receives from their respective Provincial governments since 1995, creating a backlog of issues. If the TTC was already underfunded before the pandemic began, it doesn't take much to imagine the state it's in now. It has become utterly unclear which services are being reduced each day as our transit system continues to navigate a deep hit to fare box revenues. For those of you who take the TTC, I don't need to tell you this—I'm certain you're seeing it when you ride the system. This year's budget needs to be more transparent to allow the TTC Board, the Mayor, and Council help the system properly recover. Early in the pandemic, our Federal and Provincial governments agreed that keeping the TTC running could be included in COVID expenses. This allowed us to reverse driver layoffs and make sure that Toronto's frontline workers had reliable service to get to our hospitals and long-term care homes, something I fought hard for as a TTC Commissioner. While parts of our city are starting to return to something closer to "normal", the TTC continues to feel the impacts of reduced ridership. Unfortunately, the money to help the system along has not flowed from the Federal or Provincial governments as expected. Without other government supports, gaps in service are being decided on a week-by-week basis and are not always announced. By reducing the hours of drivers and operators, and not filling positions after retirement, the TTC's actual spending in 2022 was about $75 million short of what was budgeted. How much of that shortfall is resulting in buses that short-turned on you, or streetcars that just don't show up? The less consistent our service is, the more likely transit riders are pushed to rideshares and other forms of transportation to get from A to B. We also need a reliable transit service to help facilitate a more robust return to work, especially in our business district. This will help bring our city core back to life and support hundreds of small businesses. I believe this is possible even with greater flexibility in work hours and work-from-home options, but CEOs can't ask for more hours in the office if their employees can't rely on our transit system to get them there. This year's budget does make some investments in the TTC, including rehiring special constables that were reduced during the pandemic and introducing additional Streets-to-Homes outreach workers to help those who have been seeking refuge on the TTC. While these measures are important, they don't address the service shortfalls we're seeing. More advocacy needs to be done to address service gaps and attract riders back to the system. TTC leadership can't tell us everything is fine and ask for funding at the same time. TTC CEO Rick Leary needs to be far more transparent and share exactly where the system is suffering in full-colour detail. Then, the TTC Chair and his entire Board can help us become better, louder advocates for all that is needed to get the system back on its feet. We know that our City budget doesn't provide enough to fully support our transit system. As I detailed in last week's E-Blast, we need to keep pushing for funding solutions beyond property taxes to keep the TTC and our whole city viable in the long-term.

This morning, I participated in Mayor Tory's Economic Recovery Advisory Panel. I am glad to be joining this group, which includes a very well thought out range of stakeholders in our city's business community. They have been engaging with the Mayor, the City Manager, and other City staff for several months to discuss the resources and actions needed to achieve a fulsome economic recovery in the City of Toronto. This work is as urgent now as ever, and there is a lot of work to be done. It's no secret that we continue to face significant economic challenges as a result of the pandemic. We are starting to see some upwards trends in certain areas of the economy, but these are not spread evenly across sectors. If we want to not only recover but prosper as a city, we need to take an exhaustive approach and make sure we are tackling these economic challenges from every angle. The best place to start? Ensuring that our downtown core is re-animated and vibrant. This is paramount to the economic health of not only our entire city, but our province and country as well as the core represents almost 10% of the country's GDP. In the downtown central business district, there has been about a 40% return to office. Folks working from home, whether it's a few days a week or every day, are still receiving their paycheques, but what is the broader cost of them rarely venturing into the office? Is there an impact on the food court where employees used to grab a quick lunch? The dry cleaner that doesn't have as many shirts to press? On the garage attendants, daycare centres, and the transit system they used to take every day? Absolutely. There is a normal churn of Canadian businesses opening and closing every year. Typically, about 7000 – 12,000 new businesses open each year, with a similar number closing as businesses either merge with each other or shut down. In 2020, nearly 30,000 businesses closed as a result of the pandemic. While we're seeing a promising rebound in the total number of active businesses here in Toronto, we know that certain areas are still very hard hit, and the slow return to the core has had a continued impact. Graphs showing pandemic impacts on active businesses and business openings/closures. This is reflected in our city's employment numbers. Some areas have more than rebounded, and you can probably guess what they are—finance, tech, and online retail have seen the largest gains. Then, there are other sectors that have not rebounded at all, and continue to have tens of thousands fewer workers than they did pre-pandemic. This includes transportation and warehousing, but the hardest hit sector by far has been hospitality and food services. The sectors with larger numbers of lower-wage workers are the ones that have not recovered fully. At our panel this morning, we discussed the need to re-animate the downtown core at length. While businesses and members of government alike agreed that workplaces may shrink, and new mixes of use might be necessary, we need to make sure we're striking the right balance. Every sector has a vested interest in a vibrant downtown core—activity there forms the backbone of our restaurant, tourism, and arts industries, but also impacts retail sales and the operations of thousands of small businesses that cater to downtown workers. It also has a huge impact on our transit ridership. More importantly, the trends we see downtown set the tone for activity in the rest of our city—if the core falters, that ripples out to us in the suburbs. Here in Don Valley North, we have the second largest employment zone outside of the downtown core: Parkway Centre. It's the area nestled between the 404, Victoria Park, Sheppard, and the 401. Before the pandemic hit, the Parkway Centre Business Association was working on a strategy to enhance its space and attract more A-class office space. This area, like business parks and employment lands across the city, is struggling to get their plans back on track against a backdrop of economic uncertainty and the changing nature of work. We need to do everything we can to support the long-term sustainability of areas like Parkway Centre to ensure the long-term health of all areas of our city. Part of our Parkway Centre Business Park. I wish there was a simple solution to getting our city's economy back to where it was pre-pandemic. The reality is, we are still working on finding the best ways to reanimate the downtown core and get our city back on track. We have to acknowledge the reality of hybrid work, and create spaces that employees want to come back to. This is one of the driving missions of the Mayor's Advisory Panel, and we will continue to work with City Planning and private sector panel members to find creative solutions wherever we can. If we can get folks back out into the city, we can get on with ensuring our economy comes back strong without leaving any sector or community behind.