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You may have heard about the Alcohol in Parks Pilot Program that has been proposed to start here in Toronto later this summer. I wrote an E-Blast about this back in May, and we've had a couple of questions phoned in since the pilot was unanimously approved at my Economic & Community Development Committee a couple of weeks ago, including when the pilot will start and which parks are included. Here are the basic details of the pilot program: It will run from August 2, 2023 to October 9, 2023 It will run in 22 parks across the city, each of which had to meet a strict set of criteria to be eligible and were chosen in partnership between staff and the local Councillor Bylaw officers will focus on an education-first approach in all parks, both pilot and non-pilot, to help folks learn the rules Participating parks will receive special beverage recycling containers Park users are still expected to follow all applicable laws and bylaws, including rules against littering, public intoxication, and more It's important to note that the proposed pilot still needs to receive final approval from the Mayor and Council at our session next week, and it could change slightly. Council has a bit of a habit of tinkering with and complicating things. It's my hope that on this occasion, my colleagues will let well enough alone. Parks staff and bylaw enforcement staff are well prepared to supervise and monitor the pilot as designed. A map showing the original 20 pilot locations. Two additional parks have since been added. Click to view a larger version. The pilot was designed in consultation with Toronto Public Health and is based on successful models in other cities. I believe it's a practical, common sense approach. All parks selected have access to washroom and drinking fountain facilities, public transit access, high visibility and accessibility by first responders, and more. We've also put in a rule that alcohol cannot be consumed within two metres of park features like playgrounds, pools, wading pools, splash pads, and more. This pilot was designed to allow folks to enjoy a drink responsibly without compromising the experience of other park users. As soon as the pilot is approved, the City will begin our full outreach and education campaign. The approved parks will appear on the City's website along with the rules for safe enjoyment. Here in Don Valley North, the park that met the strict pilot criteria was Skymark Park at Don Mills and Finch. Of course, you are also welcome to venture out and enjoy a drink in the other parks on the approved list. In the meantime, remember to be courteous in any park you use, pilot or otherwise. Making noise in a park after midnight is not allowed, and can be startling to neighbours. If you're in a pilot park, consumption of alcohol is not a license to behave badly. If you engage in antisocial behaviour, it may be illegal and officers have a right to warn or enforce. For those of you who have concerns about the pilot, I want to remind you that it's just that: a pilot. Alcohol consumption will only be allowed in the selected parks for two months. This will give staff a chance to see whether or not this is something we can accommodate safely without compromising the experience of other park users. They will be monitoring the pilot closely and reporting back to Council with their full findings to help us decide what to do next. We can all have a great time in our local parks, in Don Valley North and across the city, provided we use some common sense and always keep each other in mind. As always, feel free to contact my office with your questions and concerns. ECONOMIC & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT UPDATES: COLLISION 2023 A couple of weeks ago, I attended Collision, North America's fastest-growing tech conference, hosted right here in Toronto. This event caters, unapologetically, to the whole ecosystem of tech start-ups, giants, and investors, and the governments that swirl around them. Some early stats have come back to my office and, while they're unofficial numbers, they show just how successful this event was and what this could mean when we host Collision again in 2024. Up until now, it's been hard to get a sense of this event's impact because the hybrid format used during the pandemic masked attendance. This year, Collision brought together over 36,000 attendees from 118 countries. It’s hard to overstate the economic impact of an event this large. The conference attendees filled up the Enercare Centre and the Beanfield Centre down at the Exhibition grounds, and went on to fill most of the hotels downtown. They feasted on lunch from nearby food trucks and every evening, they went into town to try our world-class restaurants. Across the three times Toronto has hosted Collision, it has brought $188 million into our local economy, including $77 million projected this year. The conference will be returning to Toronto in 2024, and Collision's CEO Paddy Cosgrave is thrilled. When asked, Paddy said that Toronto was the perfect location to foster the connections Collision looks to make: “We’re delighted to be in Toronto for another year, and to welcome a record number of attendees and women-founded start-ups to Canada. This is possibly one of the most diverse conferences we’ve ever run, with hundreds of women-founded start-ups, initiatives such as our Indigenous Attendee Program, and community partners like Black Innovation Alliance helping to broaden representation at tech events.” I wanted to share this success with you because this event flies under the radar, but results in massive amounts of investment into our city and into new Canadian companies. It takes a huge amount of work from our the Economic Development teams at all three levels of government and partners like Toronto Global to land an opportunity like Collision, but it's well worth the time and energy invested. With every regional government presenting local start-ups to the investors and venture capital firms in attendance, this event can really drive economic growth in the GTHA and across the country.

We had our first Council session with Mayor Chow at the helm last week. There were a number of notable items discussed, so let's dive into it. DECLARING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AN EPIDEMIC IN THE CITY OF TORONTO This was the first item of business for the first woman Mayor of amalgamated Toronto. Olivia Chow has spoken and written at length about the domestic partner violence she witnessed as a young woman and how she helped her mother part ways with her troubled and violent father. In the past few years, the isolation and economic challenges of the pandemic have caused a sharp increase in gender-based and intimate partner violence. I was glad to see the Mayor lead Council in formally recognizing this epidemic. If you or anyone you know is experiencing this type of violence, please reach out for help. Below are some resources: TWO STROKE ENGINE SMALL EQUIPMENT: STEPS TO PURSUE A BAN (LEAF BLOWER BAN) Council has supported imposing a ban on all small two-stroke engine garden equipment, like leaf blowers and lawnmowers. This is a move that I first requested back in 2019 at the request of an organized group of residents in Don Valley North. I'm so glad to see Council finally take action on these polluting machines. Staff will now get to work on designing the implementation of a ban and report back to Council in early 2024. This gives you time to consider options for your own lawn equipment, as the ban likely would not take effect before late 2024 or early 2025. If you're planning to replace or upgrade anything, check out some of the cleaner, quieter, electric or battery-operated varieties on the market. WINTER MAINTENANCE PROGRAM FOLLOW-UP As you all know, we had some serious issues with our snow clearing this past winter. Toronto's independent Auditor General has provided us with a comprehensive report that follows up on past recommendations and examines the performance in the first year of our new winter contracts. Long-term contracts like this need ongoing performance management to make sure we're getting our money's worth. We can't blame service failures on the contractors alone if we aren't constantly evaluating and implementing contract penalties when there are failures. As I suspected before even reading this report, my most effective performance evaluators are you, the residents who call and let me know when our winter contractors have let you down. I'll be sure to keep you updated on their implementation of the Auditor General's recommendations. ALCOHOL IN PARKS PILOT PROGRAM I've discussed this program at length in previous E-Blasts (1, 2). Council approved the pilot to begin on August 2, with five more parks added to the list. Staff have created a webpage listing all 27 park locations, the pilot guidelines, and public health information. Between this and media coverage, it will be hard to feign ignorance if you're drinking in the wrong place. The pilot will run until October 9 of this year and then staff will get to work preparing a detailed report on the pilot outcomes for Council to consider. PLANNING FOR AN E-SCOOTER PILOT E-scooters and e-bikes are proliferating across Toronto, with no bylaws to govern their use. Finally, Council has asked staff to design a full micro-mobility strategy to provide much-needed guidance on these vehicles, including helmet use, road and sidewalk safety, and applicable Provincial traffic offences. This will come back early in 2024. In the meantime, if you already own an e-scooter or e-bike, please drive responsibly where bicycles are allowed and wear a helmet. These will likely be enforced bylaws very soon. Pedestrians and disability lobby groups are loudly reclaiming their right to a safe sidewalk. VARIANCE REPORTS: CAPITAL & OPERATING These reports show our actual expenses from 2022 compared to what was budgeted for. We hoped that the issue of unpaid COVID-19 expenses would be resolved by now, but that is not the case. Unfortunately, this means that we must continue to delay state-of-good-repair (SOGR) work and keep our expenditures as modest as possible. A reduction of $300 million in SOGR has been spread across all divisions, but the biggest cuts are to our two largest capital programs: the TTC and our Roads budgets will see reductions of $87 million each. We continue to meet with the Federal and Provincial governments on this issue, as they had committed to cover these COVID expenses. This is also why it's so important for us to keep pushing for additional revenue streams for Toronto. A city as large as ours should have the tools we need to properly fund all of our services and expenses on our own. GRAPHIC IMAGE DELIVERY For years now, my fellow Councillors and I have received complaints about the graphic and traumatizing imagery that folks sometimes receive in their mailboxes. Most often, these are flyers with disturbing, digitally-altered images promoting anti-abortion campaigns. Last year, London, Ontario implemented a bylaw to address this issue. We've asked staff to draft a similar bylaw for Toronto requiring that any graphic materials be concealed in an envelope with a clearly marked warning on the outside, as well as the organization's name. Expect the bylaw to come back to Council in spring 2024. OUR PLAN TORONTO: RECOMMENDATIONS ON SEVENTY EMPLOYMENT AREA CONVERSION REQUESTS This item saw Council consider 70 requests from owners of designated employment lands to convert their properties to mixed uses, including residential. I know this sounds like municipal government minutiae, but it is absolutely crucial to the livability of the whole city. Film studios are just one example of uses permitted in our employment areas. To provide a quick background, employment zones are areas that are only zoned for businesses and economic activity, particularly manufacturing but also things like film studios, office towers, and more. Historically, the Province has upheld our right to protect our designated employment zones. However, every five years they require the City to give employment land owners a chance to make their case for conversion. The Chief Planner and his team review all requests carefully with consideration of our dwindling supply of industrial lands. City Planning then submits their Council-endorsed recommendations to the Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs. As Chair of Economic & Community Development, I worked very hard on this piece. Demand for industrial space in Toronto is rapidly increasing, presenting significant economic opportunity for our city and its residents. Amongst the 70 properties in this report, 23 needed debate and possible recommendations other than a straight refusal. I worked with a small group of Councillors to build consensus around all of the properties up for debate and deliver an omnibus motion to Council, similar to the motion I developed to confirm a City budget before Mayor Tory's exit. Our consensus efforts succeeded and the omnibus motion passed unanimously, with four of the properties in question deferred for further review in October. While none of these properties are in our ward, I want you to know that I'm working hard to preserve them for employment uses. We need housing, heaven knows, but we have thousands of sites left where housing can be built. Contrastingly, we have very limited industrial land and we need to both preserve existing jobs and save space for the creation of new jobs. Torontonians need access to local, good quality jobs in all walks of life. Our next City Council meeting will take place in September. It's usually a jam-packed agenda, and I always look forward to sharing the biggest updates with you.

We’re in the middle of a busy July Council session. I'll have the full rundown of our most notable items in my column next week. Today, I want to share some tips on how to make the most of summer here in Don Valley North. We're lucky to have so many incredible indoor and outdoor spaces to enjoy, and great summer programs on across the ward. Let's dive into everything our neighbourhoods have to offer. PARKS, RAVINES & SUMMER RECREATION One of my favourite things about Don Valley North in the summer is really getting to appreciate our parks and ravines. You may have already seen my signature pink tent in a park near you. Park pop-ups are back, and they're my favourite way to chat with neighbours and hear what’s happening on your street. Keep an eye on your mailbox for a flyer announcing that we're coming to your neighbourhood soon! Keep an eye out for one of my Park Pop-Ups in a park near you! Our parks also offer great summer activities for the whole family to enjoy. If you're looking for a way to cool off on a hot day, you can enjoy one of our pools, wading pools, or splash pads at any of the parks below: McNicoll Park Bellbury Park Oriole Park Bayview Village Park Ethennonnhawahstihnen' Park Parkway Forest Park Van Horne Park Of course, our parks also have great playgrounds for kids to enjoy. What you might not know is that they have other fun amenities for folks of all ages. Many of our parks have facilities like tennis and pickleball courts, baseball diamonds, basketball courts, and more. A few of our parks have outdoor table tennis tables, while others have outdoor fitness equipment. These are all great ways to be active and enjoy the outdoors in our warmer months. You can find a handy map that shows all of our park amenities here: I love seeing community groups take advantage of our parks in the warmer months as well. For example, the Dallington Pollinators are hosting a free Kids Nature Lab in Dallington Park throughout the summer. My office will also be hosting a couple of outdoor movie nights in August. Keep an eye out in the E-Blast for more details on local summer programs happening across Don Valley North. The DVN team does a tour through our ravine system every summer. We also have a wonderful ravine system to enjoy. Our ravine trails are often a few degrees cooler than our parks and backyards, and provide a great chance to connect with nature. I want to give a shoutout to our Newtonbrook Toronto Nature Stewards, who are working hard to remove invasive plants from Newtonbrook Creek. If you're looking for a way to get involved in the neighbourhood and help protect our environment, you can sign up to be a nature steward at the site below: INDOOR SUMMER PROGRAMMING On some of our hotter days, you can take advantage of the great indoor programming happening in our community centres and libraries. I really want to encourage you to check out our brand new Ethennonnhawahstihnen' Community Centre that just opened at Bessarion subway station. Our new community centre shares a name with the nearby park. You can learn more about the naming process and how to pronounce Ethennonnhawahstihnen' in my video below (it's easy once you get the hang of it!): Ethennonnhawahstihnen' CC, and our other community centres, have great drop-in programs. They offer everything from family board game nights to yoga, sports and open gym activities. Use the map at the link below to find your nearest community centre and their specific program offerings: Another great source of summer fun that folks often forget about is our public libraries. You can check out their Summer Reading Club for kids as well as the fun activities they offer over the summer like movie nights, arts and crafts, music classes, and more. Check out our local branches' websites for more information on their upcoming programs: Fairview Library Hillcrest Library Pleasant View Library Ethennonnhawahstihnen' Library STAYING HEALTHY IN HOT WEATHER Finally, here are some tips on how to stay safe and healthy in hot weather. Easy ways to beat the heat include: Drink plenty of cool water even before you feel thirsty Wear loose, light-coloured, breathable clothing Avoid the sun and stay in the shade or use an umbrella Reschedule or plan outdoor exercise during the cooler parts of the day (morning or evening) Avoid intense or moderately intense physical activity Take cool showers or baths or use cool wet towels to cool dow You can also go to an air conditioned place on hot days. If you don't have air conditioning in your home, the City has an extensive Heat Relief Network with spaces that will help you cool off. This includes community centres, libraries, malls, and more. Find your closest cool space at the link below: Summer always feels too short here in Toronto, so I hope these tips help you and your friends and family make the most of our lovely summer months. If you have any tips on how to enjoy summer or upcoming activities in Don Valley North you'd like to share, reach out to my office and we'll be happy to promote them. Stay cool, stay safe, and have fun!

I had dozens of conversations about rooming houses this summer with residents, City staff, and my fellow Councillors. Some of you may remember I wrote about this topic in depth at the end of June, just before Council was set to vote on whether or not to make rooming houses legal city-wide. That item was deferred by the Mayor to allow Councillors and staff to make much-needed improvements to the proposal. Well, the time has come and Council will be voting on this item at our upcoming meeting. Let’s take another look at the history of this issue and the changes that have been made to the rooming house licensing proposal. Since the amalgamation of our six legacy cities over twenty years ago, we have been conducting a rooming house pilot. It’s called downtown. By that, I mean that multi-tenanted houses, or rooming houses as most of us know them, have long been licensed downtown and in small parts of Etobicoke and the legacy City of York. Over the past two decades, we’ve learned a lot. Some buildings downtown have operated as licensed rooming houses for over two decades. We know that if you license multi-tenant houses in one part of town, as we did downtown, it becomes an open invitation for people to operate outside the law elsewhere in the city. They race to buy properties knowing that Provincial power-of-entry regulations will keep municipal inspectors out. We know that where rooming houses are legal, licensing can be strictly enforced through municipal laws and regular inspections that are built into that law. The illegal housing options in these areas dry up and those who try to operate illegally get reported by the licensed operators. This is what has happened in the downtown core, where illegal rooming houses have been rooted out and only 350 licensed houses remain. We also know that there is serious demand for this type of independent, affordable housing all over Toronto. Wherever this type of housing is offered, whether lawfully or unlawfully, the rooms are occupied. They’re a huge draw to students and newly settled Canadians who need to be close to school or work and require short-term, affordable housing. The biggest thing we’ve learned from this massive pilot project called downtown is that licensing rooming houses creates a far better living situation for neighbouring properties and tenants. Licensing requires the property to be upgraded to meet the Fire Code, and it also makes it cleaner and better secured because the operators don’t have to hide what they’re doing. Regular inspections ensure that the building and property are up to snuff. Most importantly, the tenants become legitimate neighbours who can report their landlords for non-compliance and be protected by authorities. Proper inspection and regulation stabilizes the community. Downtown, Parkdale neighbours have actually created a land trust for licensed rooming houses. They want to keep their well-run, neighbouring rooming houses and ward off condo developers from assembling property. Starting the land trust was no easy feat. These residents persisted because they were certain that legitimate neighbours in gentle density preserved their community’s value. The Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust works to preserve affordable housing, including licensed rooming houses, in their neighbourhood. These real life scenarios in licensed parts of the city are almost unimaginable for us in North York, where multi-tenanted houses are illegal. Here, tenants are told by illegal landlords to keep their heads down and not talk to anyone about their housing situation or the house will be shut down. Property and building standards are ignored and tenants have no way to secure improvements. Bylaw officers face a great legal challenge in getting inside because they have no City ordinance for regular inspection, no easy power of entry. Even worse, when multiple illegal rooming houses have poor property standards, absentee homeowners in the neighbourhood tend to follow suit and do little to maintain their property. The only way to change this is to put more bylaw officers on the ground, equipped with a strong set of local bylaws they can enforce. This brings me to the new and improved Multi-Tenant Housing Licensing proposal. When this proposal first came to Council, I told you that I would only support it if it was substantially improved and properly resourced. When I took a bold stand like that, I knew I had to be ready to roll up my sleeves and work hard to get those improvements. When the Mayor deferred the decision to allow time to make those changes, I volunteered to sit on the sub-committee over the summer and get it done. I attended several meetings over the summer with my fellow Councillors and City staff to iron out improvements to the multi-tenant housing proposal. I want to give a shout out to the Mayor’s staff for pulling these meetings together, along with Municipal Licensing and Standards staff and my Councillor colleague, Jennifer McKelvie. Councillor McKelvie’s ward includes U of T’s Scarborough campus, so her challenges are very similar to what we face here in Don Valley North. The most crucial thing we had to address through this subcommittee was the inadequate funding originally proposed to support this new licensing framework. The budget has been adjusted to include 40 additional staff who will be mobilized for three years to work intensively in the areas that will be introducing licensed multi-tenant houses for the first time. This new staff complement will have a huge impact on our neighbourhoods. The additional bylaw officers on the ground will have a ripple effect in tackling other problems, like those we face with single-tenanted homes and Airbnbs. We’re finally going to get the attention we’ve needed for years, but that has never been funded. We also adjusted the proposal to allow for a maximum of six tenanted rooms per house. Rooms will have to be inspected and brought into full Fire Code compliance as a condition of the license. Parking limits will also be much more specific and be made a condition of the license. It will continue to be possible to run multi-tenant houses as large as 12 to 25 rooms downtown, in areas zoned apartment/neighbourhood. This makes sense downtown, where apartment neighbourhood zones include large Victorian homes and sometimes large heritage hotels. In our suburban areas, apartment neighbourhoods are made up of high rises and surrounding townhouses which do not lend themselves to anything over six rooms. The proposal also now includes my motion to conduct a comprehensive review of this program at the end of the three year implementation period. This will include consulting with all stakeholders, including neighbours. This review is key. The goal of this entire initiative is to eliminate illegal forms of housing throughout the city. If, at the time of the review, we haven’t eliminated illegal rooming houses and brought compliance and fire safety to all neighbourhoods, then we’ll have to keep up the additional resources we’re allocating to this proposal. The question I’ve continued to receive from residents is, “Why not pilot this in just a couple of places?” This was proposed a few years ago, and Council rejected the idea based on answers from our staff and other experts. A pilot in one area would leave other areas vulnerable to a wave of illegal housing with no resources to fight it. As I mentioned at the outset of this article, that’s largely what’s been happening for the past twenty years. If you make multi-tenanted houses legal in one part of the city and not the others, illegal houses result. I have one goal: To eliminate unsafe and illegal forms of housing in North York. This improved proposal moves us towards that goal. Planning & Growth Update Growth Funding Tools The City is updating its Growth Funding Tools – the revenue tools that are collected from new development and used to pay for infrastructure and services to meet the needs of our growing population. As constituents, this is an exciting opportunity to learn about the growth funding tools, ask questions, and share your input. What you need to know With more than 3.65 million people calling Toronto home over the next thirty years, we need a plan to pay for our growth today, so our communities can thrive well into the future. This means that as we grow, we’re investing in roads, transit, water and wastewater infrastructure, community centres, parks, childcare and other municipal services. Recently, the Ontario Government enacted changes to how municipalities generate funding from development activity. The changes made through Bill 197 mean that the City must update three primary growth-related funding tools: Development Charges Alternative Parkland Dedication Rate Community Benefits Charges (replaces Section 37 density bonusing) Why is this project important? When new developments (or redevelopments) help pay for services and growth-related capital costs, this ensures we can create complete, livable and vibrant communities without placing the financial burden for new development on existing taxpayers. The funding collected from the above tools is used to help pay for building and improving the critical infrastructure and services that support residents and businesses like roads, sewers, childcare, libraries, parks, and emergency services. How you can learn more and have your say Visit toronto.ca/growthfundingtools and register for an information session Email the project team with your questions or feedback at: GFT@toronto.ca I encourage you join a session and get involved as the City’s updates its growth funding tools. City of Toronto #Vax25 Yesterday, the City announced the launch of #Vax25, a COVID-19 vaccination push to promote vaccine clinics in each of the City of Toronto’s 25 wards on Saturday, October 2. The campaign is focused on continuing Team Toronto’s success helping residents get vaccinated. More than 80% of eligible Toronto residents are now fully vaccinated and more than 85% of residents have at least their first dose. Our clinic in Don Valley north will be located at the Shoppers Drug Mart in Galati's Plaza (5899 Leslie St). I'll be stopping by in the afternoon, so please encourage your family and friends who have yet to receive their first or second dose to come by and get vaccinated! Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below: Correction: In last week's E-Blast, we included a photo of a lawn that was intended to depict overgrown weeds. Some of the plants pictured in the photo are goldenrod, which is in fact a highly beneficial native species for pollinators. Thank you to the residents who diligently pointed out this error. Shelley Carroll Councillor for Don Valley North councillor_carroll@toronto.ca 416-338-2650 100 Queen St. W, Suite A3 Community Events & Notices National Day of Truth and Reconciliation Today, we recognize and observe Orange Shirt Day, and the first National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Today, and everyday, we need to recommit ourselves to unearthing truth and pursuing meaningful reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. In our own community, Indigenous place making is crucial to honour and create space for the original stewards and caretakers of the land. Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Park is a first, but crucial, step towards ultimately achieving this goal. I encourage everyone to take some time today to observe the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Read the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action, read about Phyllis Webstad’s story, or learn more about your own neighbourhood. New Stop Coming to 953 Steeles East Express Bus I have exciting news to share. After a year of hard work, we have secured an additional stop for the 953 Steeles East Express Bus at Leslie St. This stop will be functional starting on November 21, 2021. A stop at Leslie St will serve many in the community, including staff who work at the Chartwell Gibson Long Term Care home and students who attend both the Chiropractic College and Zion Heights Middle School. This stop will also provide access to the East Don Parkland and Duncan Creek Trail, allowing more residents to take advantage of our beautiful green spaces here in Don Valley North. Thank you to the residents who raised this issue with me and to TTC staff for their work to be responsive to the needs of our community and create this new stop. PollinateTO Community Grants Grants of up to $5,000 are available to support community-led projects to create or expand pollinator habitat in Toronto. Projects eligible for funding through PollinateTO include those that: create pollinator gardens and rain gardens on public and private lands, including residential streets, neighbourhoods and school yards enhance or expand existing gardens with native pollinator-friendly plants Native pollinators are under threat from climate change, habitat loss, and other stressors. You can help by creating a pollinator garden! Learn more and apply by November 1, 2021 at the link below: TRCA October Events The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) is hosting a number of events in October. These events cover everything from flooding on the Toronto Islands to workshops on transforming wool into cozy knitwear! Visit the link below to view TRCA's October event calendar: Community Environment Days Do your part to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Drop off items for reuse, recycling and safe disposal at Community Environment Days. The City of Toronto is hosting weekly events at Drop-Off Depots on Sundays until October 31. At the events, you will be to drive to different stations to drop off unwanted items for donation and to dispose of batteries, old paint and other household hazardous waste. Free bagged compost will be available with a limit of two bags per vehicle while supplies last. I also wanted to remind everyone that you are able to drop off household hazardous waste at the City's drop-off depots on days other than Community Environment Days. Check out the City's handy map of all drop-off depot locations and hours for more information. A list of event dates and more information about Community Environment Days is available at the link below: MusiCounts Band Aid Progm Toronto will again be hosting the JUNO Awards in May 2022. MusiCounts is the JUNOS' affiliated charity, focused on making music education inclusive, sustainable, and accessible for youth across Canada by providing musical instruments, equipment, and resources. One of MusiCounts' annual pillars is the Band Aid program, through which under-resourced schools can apply for grants of up to $15,000 that they can spend on musical instruments and equipment at their discretion (including "non-traditional" instruments and equipment used in contemporary genres). Applications are now open until November 25. For more information and to apply, visit the link below: North York Arts: Mental Health Arts Program North York Arts is currently partnering with Workman Arts on a new collaboration to bring arts programming to North York for participants who identify as having lived experience with mental illness and/or addiction. Arts programming will start in January 2022. They are looking for North York-based community organizations to gather input on your community's perspectives. Input is being gathered via a brief survey (5-10 min) and will be used to support program development. To participate in this survey, visit the link below: Toronto Non-Profit Recognition Day There are more than 14,000 nonprofits in Toronto—they are at the forefront of combatting COVID-19 and serving residents across the city. They are also essential to our recovery. On Tuesday, October 5, join the Toronto Nonprofit Network and the City of Toronto in marking the contributions of grassroots groups, collectives, and nonprofits for Toronto Nonprofit Recognition Day. Catch Basin Clearing During fall, many catch basins (also know as sewer grates) become clogged with leaves and other debris. City crews clear catch basins in expected problem locations as well as areas around bus stops, crosswalks and key intersections. Residents are asked to help by clearing debris from the catch basins in front of their homes to allow water to drain off the road. Clearing these catch basins can make all the difference in prevent flooding on your street during heavy rainfall. As you do your fall yard work, please take a moment to clear the catch basin in front of your home. If your street has ongoing issues with flooding and repeatedly clogged catch basins, you can contact 311 or get in touch with my office for support. TTC: Upcoming Closures Subway Closures: Line 1 (Yonge-University) – St. Clair to King Stations (Both Ways) Early Nightly Closure – September 27 to September 30 (closes at 11:00 PM) Line 1 (Yonge-University) – Sheppard-Yonge to Bloor-Yonge (Both Ways) Full Weekend Closure – October 2 and October 3 Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) – Kipling to Islington (Both Ways) Full Weekend Closure – October 9 and October 10 For more information, visit the link below:

There were a number of important items debated and passed at City Council this week. We always have a busy agenda for the first session after summer ends, and this year was no exception. Let’s take a look at some of the most important items affecting our community here in Don Valley North. PROTECTING HEALTHCARE WORKERS Councillor Mike Colle and I put forward this motion to protect frontline workers from harassment by anti-vaxxer protestors. Mike came up to visit Don Valley North this past August, and while we sipped our coffees at Forest Café we talked about these protests happening right in front of hospitals, COVID assessment centres, and vaccine clinics. I told Mike I have absolutely zero tolerance for the threatening behaviours that were happening. I have protested for some causes over the years, but always in locations where there are decision-makers present and where such activities are expected. It is unacceptable to harass healthcare workers and their patients at the hospital door. Our motion passed, which means that the City Manager will work with the Chief of Police to establish a rapid response protocol to these protests. Staff are also going to explore setting up a 100 meter safety zone around hospitals to protect staff and patients from these protests. UPDATE: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR MULTI-TENANT HOUSES (ROOMING HOUSES) Last week, I wrote about this proposal from City staff to regulate and license multi-tenant homes, more commonly known as rooming houses, and the many improvements made to it. I was disappointed that many Councillors had not read the additional report written over the summer or the confidential legal advice provided by our City Solicitor. At times during the debate, it seemed that few had even read the original proposal created over a year ago. As much as the Mayor supports this framework, and knows how badly we need something to change the illegal rooming house situation in the suburbs, it became clear to him that there needs to be better communication delivered to Councillors and their communities before proceeding to a vote. A report outlining the improvements being made to enforcement and implementation, and a citywide communication plan, will return to Council in the first half of 2022. EXPANDING AUTOMATED TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT Council adopted a number of items that will expand various forms of automated traffic enforcement in our city. We voted to extend the use of 70 additional Red Light Cameras that were added back in 2017, as well as to explore ways we can expand the use of our Automated Speed Enforcement cameras to different areas in the city, including senior safety zones. Council also directed Transportation Services and Municipal Licensing and Standards to explore the implementation of an automated “noise radar” system in our residential areas. I’ve heard from many residents in Don Valley North who are plagued by excessive vehicle noise late at night, and I’m glad to see my fellow Councillors looking for creative solutions to tackle this city-wide issue. PERMIT PARKING ON JOLLY WAY (SCARBOROUGH) This item jumped out at me when I read the agenda. Councillor Thompson has a relatively new townhouse development in Scarborough that is asking permission to have on-street overnight permit parking allowed. Staff recommended that we allow this small enclave to apply to pay for overnight parking permits as an anomaly. In 2022, Transportation Services plans to report to Council with a study of permit parking in the areas of downtown and East York where it is currently allowed. They will also explore the impact of allowing permit parking more widely in our suburbs where it is not currently permitted. In Don Valley North, we will have to consider it very carefully. It would be quite a change. IMPLEMENTING PHASE TWO OF THE FEDERAL RAPID HOUSING INITIATIVE AND SUPPORTING “FOR INDIGENOUS, BY INDIGENOUS” AFFORDABLE RENTAL HOMES This was our first meeting of Council since the federal election, and we authorized receipt of nearly $135 million from Phase Two of the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI). Council also authorized the spending of city development charge funding to begin due diligence for upcoming rapid housing projects. This RHI funding is the only way we can keep the Mayor and Council’s commitment to begin construction on another 2000 units of deeply affordable and supportive housing before the end of this term of office. These units will be spread across the city and are crucial to reducing the number of people living in shelters. If we provide permanent housing with supports to help get clients on track, we will be on our way to winding down the many emergency hotels that have been necessary during the pandemic. Council is committed to develop 20% of these units in partnership with First Nations housing providers. In October 2020, Council voted to ensure that 5,200 affordable rental homes are created for Indigenous people by 2030. At our meeting this week, we voted to work with Miziwe Biik Development Corporation to support the creation of these units in partnership with Indigenous-led housing providers. This is an important step in the City’s commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples. 2, 4 AND 6 TEAGARDEN COURT - OFFICIAL PLAN AND ZONING BY-LAW AMENDMENT APPLICATION This development settlement represents some of the worst aspects of the Provincial planning system today. Even more troubling, it happened right across the street from our ward boundary in Willowdale. This goes back to 2017. A developer applied to build a 14 storey building at Teagarden Court and Bayview Avenue. City Planning and local residents felt that the building was too far up the street from the subway to warrant this height. Planning settled with the applicant at what was then called the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT) to reduce the building height to 11 storeys. In 2018, our current Provincial government took office and passed Bill 108, which allows broader density around subway stations. Once this was passed, the developer came right back with a new application to go back to the 14 storey design. Planning quickly brought a refusal report to Council but the developer appealed to the new government’s Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). The OLT has awarded the 14 storeys in a quick hearing. If you read through the Council item, there’s a frustrating amount of confidential content that you cannot access until after the hearing concludes. I continue to stress that far too much of the Provincial planning appeal process is finalized in confidential minutes of settlement. I take my own approach to this confidentiality issue. Developers can choose to share their final offers with the community, so I meet with the developer as soon as a settlement is being drawn up and strongly encourage them to do so. This allows me to hear from the community before Council votes on the settlement in a confidential setting. As you can see, Council has been hard at work tackling a variety of issues that affect our daily lives here in Don Valley North. I always value hearing from the community, so feel free to get in touch with my office to share your feedback on anything I’ve outlined here.

Near the end of the summer, I got a suggestion from a resident at one of our Park Pop-Ups. We were having a discussion about property standards in the neighbourhood, and more and more neighbours joined the conversation as they arrived at the park. Park Pop-Ups are such a great way for me to hear directly from the community about the top issues facing the neighbourhood. Thank you to everyone who came out to one of our park events this summer! This gentleman, a long-time neighbour of the park where we stood, wondered aloud, “Do many people in the neighbourhood just not know the current bylaws? They have changed over the years, after all,” and then suggested, “You should write about it one Thursday.” He’s absolutely right. Some of the bylaws affecting your home were carried forward from the old City of North York, while others changed when we amalgamated to become the new City of Toronto. Many of these bylaws have also been amended and updated over time, so let’s take a look at the ones my office hears about most often. Parking We hear a lot of complaints about parking. Sometimes this is within the City’s bylaw jurisdiction, and other times it needs to be enforced by Toronto Police. When a car is illegally parked on the street, it is enforced by Toronto Police Parking Enforcement. You can report any immediate parking complaints by calling Toronto Police at 416-808-2222 or filing a report online. If the issue is chronic, you’re also welcome to get in touch with my office so we can follow up with Toronto Police and check in with Transportation Services to see if the street would benefit from some parking changes. Parking on the boulevard is not permitted unless you receive permission from the City. When a car is illegally parked off road, it leaves police jurisdiction and becomes a bylaw issue. Parking on your lawn is a pretty clear property standards infraction. Some people may not know that parking on the paved portion of your boulevard is a bylaw infraction as well. This was a common practice back in the legacy City of North York, but now you are not permitted to park on the boulevard unless you’ve received special permission from the City. If you notice cars parked improperly on a neighbour’s property, you can file a complaint by calling 3-1-1 or emailing 311@toronto.ca. Often, removing these cars takes a couple of months, as the bylaw department has to provide a written warning and wait a certain amount of time before serving legal action. You’re welcome to get in touch with my office if it relates to a chronic issue so that we can stick with the case until we get a result. Waste Sometimes it may feel like you need a science degree just to figure out how to properly set out the garbage. We often hear from neighbours about bins being left out for days, overflowing garbage, and oversized and hazardous items being left on lawns or boulevards for weeks. All garbage and recycling must fit in the bin with the lid closed. If your bins are constantly overflowing, it might be time to upsize your bins. Let’s face it, it took us a long time to get from the original blue box, proudly introduced first in North York, to our current three bin system. New neighbours often need a little guidance to learn our current waste collection system. If you aren’t sure what days to set out your bins, you can find out by looking up your address on the City’s collection schedule website. You can also use Waste Wizard to look up which bin an item goes in, and to get helpful tips like tying the frame of a sofa bed closed for safety. Oversized items can be left out right beside your garbage on your pickup day. The curbside service is meant to make note of the item and call it in to be picked up separately. If an item hasn’t been picked up for several days, call 3-1-1 or my office so that we can make sure it hasn’t been forgotten. Household hazardous waste can be picked up through the City’s “toxic taxi” pick-up service or taken to a nearby drop-off depot. The City is currently hosting a series of Community Environment Days at our drop-off depots each Sunday, so you can drop off any hazardous waste and pick up some free compost while you’re at it! Lawn Maintenance Throughout the spring, summer, and fall we take many calls about overgrown grass and weeds around the neighbourhood. If you own your home, you are responsible for cutting the grass and controlling the noxious weeds on your property and the boulevard in front of or beside your house. If you are a tenant renting a house you should have a clear arrangement with your landlord, which should be outlined in your lease, as to who will be cutting the grass. If you are the landlord/homeowner, you are the party that the City will ultimately hold responsible for all property standards and yard maintenance. You must cut and remove the grass and weeds on your property when they grow over 8 inches in height. Toronto has 5,500km of roads. The City is responsible for maintaining grass boulevards that are not adjacent to a home, such as those that run along parks. We have long relied on homeowners doing their part to maintain boulevards in front of their homes because adding residential boulevards to our grass cutting would require millions more in taxation. This would be as good a place as any to say that I’m not entirely happy with the City’s service levels when it comes to the grass cutting we are responsible for. I have raised this issue at budget time for the past five years. I believe that if we invested a little more in grass cutting and weed whacking our parks and curbs, we would see more residents inspired to follow suit. The Bylaw Process It’s important to remember that bylaw enforcement takes a different amount of time for different issues. With grass cutting, notices give homeowners just a couple of weeks to come into compliance, while other issues require more investigation and longer compliance notices. Bylaw enforcement on private property can be a complex legal matter these days. That is why City bylaw staff do as much as possible by moving through the steps of visiting, investigating, and warning before serving legal notices that can start another process entirely. If a bylaw issue is dragging out, you’re welcome to contact my office. Bylaw officers have to protect residents’ personal privacy, but we can get updates on how the case is proceeding. I can also do what I always do when not enough resources are going to neighbourhood service up here in our part of the city: squawk to our various departments and at Council if needed. It’s also important to remember that sometimes, property standards issues can simply be the result of a new neighbour not being familiar with Toronto’s bylaws. Feel free to forward this E-Blast on to others in your community so that they can learn a little more about the rules around maintaining property here in Toronto. What property standards issue do you notice most frequently in your neighbourhood? Click on one of the options below to let me know: 1. Parking on lawns/boulevards 2. Waste and garbage issues 3. Overgrown grass and weeds 4. Other Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. Ontarians are required to show their paper or PDF vaccine receipt along with a piece of photo ID to access these settings. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For those without access to a printer, Toronto Public Library has implemented a program to allow you to print your proof of vaccination for free at any library branch. There are computers and free wifi available to allow people to access and download their documentation. For more information, visit Toronto Public Library's website here: tpl.ca/printfree For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below: Shelley Carroll Councillor for Don Valley North councillor_carroll@toronto.ca 416-338-2650 100 Queen St. W, Suite A3 Community Events & Notices Coffee with your Councillor Join me for another Coffee with your Councillor on Thursday, September 30, at 10 AM. I'll be on Facebook Live talking about some of the big ticket items coming to Council next week. I'll also provide community updates and answer your questions about what's going on in our neighbourhoods. You'll be able to find the event on my Facebook page. I look forward to seeing you there! Tonight! DVN Youth Network Courtside Chat I'll be joining the Don Valley North Youth Network for a courtside event at McNicoll Park tonight! This event marks the launch of the DVN Youth Network, and it will give young people the chance to chat with me and staff about joining the Youth Network, Youth Council, and finding new ways to get involved in the community while playing some basketball! This event will be held by the basketball court at McNicoll Park (215 McNicoll Ave, North York, ON) from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM tonight (Thursday, September 23). Register for Fall Recreation Programs Parks and Recreation is returning to in-person recreation programs this fall! With over 10,000 classes on offer, there’s something for all ages, interests and skill levels. Registration opens at 7 AM on: Saturday, September 25 for Etobicoke, York, and Scarborough Tuesday, September 28 for North York, Toronto, and East York The quickest and easiest way to register for recreation programs is online. Phone registration will also be available at 416-396-7378, beginning at 7 AM on registration dates. Five community centre locations will be open on registration dates for in-person registration support, and Wi-Fi will be available for residents that may want to bring their own electronic devices to the in-person registration sites. Staff will also be on-site to assist with the registration process and register those without their own electronic devices. Locations and hours are available here . The City has made changes to the delivery of recreation programs to help keep you safe, including health screening, contact tracing, masking, physical distancing, cleaning and disinfecting and program adjustments. For more information on Fall Recreation Programs, visit the links below: Community Environment Days Do your part to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Drop off items for reuse, recycling and safe disposal at Community Environment Days. The City of Toronto will be hosting 14 events at Drop-Off Depots on Sundays beginning September 12 until October 31. At the events, you will be to drive to different stations to drop off unwanted items for donation and to dispose of batteries, old paint and other household hazardous waste. Free bagged compost will be available with a limit of two bags per vehicle while supplies last. I also wanted to remind everyone that you are able to drop off household hazardous waste at the City's drop-off depots on days other than Community Environment Days. Check out the City's handy map of all drop-off depot locations and hours for more information. A list of event dates and more information about Community Environment Days is available at the link below: Digital Infrastructure Plan Consultations Are you interested in online privacy, security, data, equity, use of sensors & more? Take part in the City of Toronto's Digital Infrastructure Plan! Two public consultations about the Digital Infrastructure Plan are being held on September 28 and 29. For more information and to register, visit the link below: Youth Virtual Retail Job Fair The CIty of Toronto and the Retail Council of Canada is hosting a virtual retail job fair for youth ages 16-29 on Thursday, September 30 from 11 AM - 3 PM. The Retail Job Fair is dedicated to providing employment and career opportunities for young people in the City of Toronto who are interested in entering the workforce, developing their skills, and potentially pursuing an exciting career in retail. For more information and to register, visit the link below: TTC: Upcoming Closures Subway Closures: Line 1 (Yonge-University) – St. Clair to King Stations (Both Ways) Early Nightly Closure – September 20 to September 23 (closes at 11:00 PM) Line 1 (Yonge-University) – Lawrence to St. Clair Stations (Both Ways) Full Weekend Closure – September 25 to September 26 Line 1 (Yonge-University) – St. Clair to King Stations (Both Ways) Early Nightly Closure – September 27 to September 30 (closes at 11:00 PM) For more information, visit the link below:

Those of you who keep a regular eye on municipal politics likely saw the news that broke on October 1—the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Provincial Government’s decision to cut Toronto City Council in half in the middle of the 2018 municipal election. I shared my thoughts on the ramifications of the Supreme Court's ruling on CityNews. I didn’t write about this right away because it seemed that only a small group was continuing to follow this news, and that most readers would prefer to move on. After all, three years have elapsed while this case worked its way through our court system. However, this decision has major ramifications for our democracy and what my fellow Councillors and I have to do to make sure residents feel a strong connection to their local government, so let’s dive into it. I believe that this is the most important ruling the Supreme Court has made for any municipality in Canada. To give a quick recap, the City of Toronto asked the Court to review whether or not it was constitutionally sound for a Provincial Government to dramatically alter a municipal electoral map three months into an election period, when almost 500 candidates were already registered. It’s important to note here that the City wasn’t asking the Supreme Court to determine the number of wards our city should have. We believe strongly that the conversation about ward sizes needs to be solely between the municipality and its residents. In 2018, the 47-ward map had already received Provincial blessing. The question was specifically, should the Province be able to rip that blessing away halfway through an election period. This was a very tight ruling at 5-4. Five justices took the question of constitutionality very literally. Very simply speaking, they determined that municipalities are creatures of their provinces and that constitutionally, Ontario had the right to act. The four dissenting justices, on the other hand, saw the complexity of the question and its ramifications for democracy across our country. Here are some comments from the dissenting justices in the Supreme Court ruling that particularly struck me: “A stable election period is crucial to electoral fairness and meaningful political discourse. As such, state interference with individual and collective political expression in the context of an election strikes at the heart of the democratic values that freedom of expression seeks to protect, including participation in social and political decision-making… The limitation on s. 2(b) rights in this case was the timing of the legislative changes. Ontario offered no explanation, let alone a pressing and substantial one, for why the changes were made in the middle of an ongoing election. In the absence of any evidence or explanation for the timing of the Act, no pressing and substantial objective exists for this limitation and it cannot, therefore, be justified in a free and democratic society.” (Per Abella J. (Karakatsanis, Martin and Kasirer JJ. concurring)) For those of us who are deeply disappointed with the Court’s ruling, we can only hope that the infamy of the Ontario Government’s actions will deter future provincial governments from disrupting democracy mid-election. Going forward, there are big changes that need to happen to maintain a fair election process in a city with such large wards. I’ve already written about some of these measures in detail, like the need for ranked ballots and campaign finance reform that prioritizes small, local contributions over big donors. These changes are absolutely necessary if we want to give first-time candidates a shot at election, particularly women and racialized candidates who face greater barriers to entering politics. At Council this past June, I urged my fellow Councillors to consider pursuing campaign finance reform. Some of these changes could have already happened through the Mayor’s Special Committee on Governance that I joined at the beginning of the term. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been the political will from the Committee Chair, Councillor Holyday, or the Mayor’s office to enact changes that would level the election playing field. I will continue to pursue these changes in the name of fairness and democracy for as long as it takes. What I want to focus on now is making sure your voice continues to be heard after you’ve cast your ballot. There’s a lot of work that my fellow Councillors and I need to do to make sure residents feel just as engaged with their local government in the 25-ward model. The connection between yourself and your local elected representative is crucial, and making those connections got harder in 2018 when our wards doubled in size. Learning all of the ongoing issues in new neighbourhoods, connecting with residents, and keeping citywide commitments is a new kind of juggling act for Councillors, made even more challenging by the pandemic. The Supreme Court decision means that we must redouble our efforts to master it. Initiatives like participatory budgeting are a great way to give residents direct power over the decisions made in their communities, and it’s something I want to see my fellow Councillors embrace. With development affecting every corner of our city, residents should get to decide how the community benefit money is spent in their neighbourhood. My team and I facilitated a participatory budgeting process with the Henry Farm neighbourhood this past summer. My firm belief in hearing from the community is also why I held over two dozen Park Pop-Ups across our ward this summer, and a number of virtual town halls over the past year on topics that ranged from vaccine rollout to rooming houses. I will keep working on new ways to connect with residents in every corner of our ward, from the 401 up to Steeles, Bayview across to Victoria Park. Many Torontonians didn’t get the Supreme Court ruling they wanted, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the Council they deserve. It’s my job as your Councillor to make sure your voice is heard. I take this job very seriously, and will keep fighting for healthy changes to our democracy for as long as it takes. How would you like to be engaged with between elections? What are your ideas to improve our local democracy? Send your ideas tocouncillor_carroll@toronto.ca Planning & Growth Update RapidTO The TTC and City of Toronto are developing a RapidTO: Bus & Streetcar Priority plan to deliver safe, efficient and equitable bus and streetcar service improvements through transit priority solutions over the next ten years. Transit priority can make bus and streetcar service more reliable, reduce delays and shorten travel times on congested roadways. The first step in the RapidTO plan is to consult with residents and learn what improvements are needed the most, and where they would be most effective. The first public meeting is for people in North York (that’s us), and will take place virtually on WebEx Monday, October 18, 2021, from 6:30 - 8:00 PM. If you are interested in participating and want to learn more, or have specific questions you want to ask, you can register by clicking here: RapidTO: Bus & Streetcar Priority – Virtual Public Meeting #1 (North York) Tyndale Green Community Consultation Meeting Next week is the Community Consultation Meeting for Tyndale Green and its not too late to register to attend. Details and the link to register are below:Tuesday, October 19th, 2021, from 6:30PM-8:30PM. Register by clicking here: 3377 Bayview Avenue- Community Consultation Meeting Our Plan Toronto The City of Toronto is reviewing our Official Plan, which is Toronto’s road map for land use. It sets out our long-term vision, shared values, and policies that help guide decision-making on land development, economic growth, the environment, and more. It’s important to keep the Official Plan up to date to accommodate growth. Toronto is expected to grow by a minimum of 700,000 people and more than 450,000 jobs by 2051. You can join a meeting on October 20, 2021 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (register at this link) or from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. (register at this link) for a city-wide conversation on how we can plan to address the most pressing challenges facing our city over the next 30 years. Please register prior to the event, and watch this short video for an introduction to Our Plan Toronto. If you have questions about any of the above, please contact me at Scott.Prada-Simons@Toronto.ca or (416) 338-2665. Vaccine Clinics at Oriole Community Centre Flemingdon Health Centre will be operating a Covid-19 vaccination clinic at Oriole Community Centre on the following dates: Wednesdays: October 20 & 27 from 12 to 3 PM Thursdays: October 21 & 28 from 11 AM to 3 PM No appointment is required and approximately 50 doses of Pfizer and 14 doses of Moderna will be available at each clinic date. Anyone living, working or going to school in Toronto and born in 2009 or earlier is eligible for a first or second dose. NOTE: Our E-Blast last week included information on flu shot clinics at Oriole CC. Currently, only COVID-19 vaccines are available at Oriole CC. Flemingdon Health Centre hopes to be able to provide flu shots later this month or next month when they become available, but currently they are facing shipment delays. Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below: Shelley Carroll Councillor for Don Valley North councillor_carroll@toronto.ca 416-338-2650 100 Queen St. W, Suite A3 Community Events & Notices Watch out for Coyotes My team has received reports of coyote sightings across Don Valley North. Coyotes generally do not pose a danger to people, but can pose a danger for pets. They are active during the day and at night, particularly dusk and dawn We are approaching the season when coyote sightings are more common, so it's important to be safe and know what to do when you see a coyote. To report a coyote sighting, call 416-338-7297 or email animalservices@toronto.ca. For more information on coyotes, visit the website below: Survey: Ruddington Park Playground Enhancements The City of Toronto is improving Ruddington Park by updating the playground, installing new seating, a shade structure, fitness and Tai Chi equipment. We need your help to design these improvements. The survey will be available until Monday, October 18. Fill it out by clicking the link below: RapidTO Consultation The TTC and City of Toronto are developing a RapidTO: Bus & Streetcar Priority plan to deliver safe, efficient and equitable bus and streetcar service improvements through transit priority solutions over the next ten years. Transit priority can make bus and streetcar service more reliable, reduce delays and shorten travel times on congested roadways. RapidTO: Bus & Streetcar Priority will be developed and delivered through a three-phased consultation process: Phase 1 (October to December 2021) seeks your feedback on bus and streetcar transit priorities. Phase 2 (early 2022) will report on the Phase 1 results and provide a preliminary schedule for Phase 3. Phase 3 (2022 to 2031) will include roadway-specific studies and rolling implementations that take into account the unique needs of each community. How to Participate in Phase 1: Review the consultation materials or watch a video on RapidTO. Register for one of five virtual public meetings held between October 18 to 29, 2021. Each meeting will include a presentation of the consultation materials followed by a Question & Answer period. Complete the online survey. The comment deadline ends on November 28, 2021, at 11:59 PM. Find more information at the link below: Not Down the Drain Do you know what can and can’t go down your drain? Putting the wrong things down your pipes can cause basement flooding; pollute streams, rivers and the Lake; and clog City pipes resulting in expensive repairs. Please don't put grease, wipes and dental floss down the drain. Find out more at the link below: Community Environment Days Do your part to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Drop off items for reuse, recycling and safe disposal at Community Environment Days. The City of Toronto is hosting weekly events at Drop-Off Depots on Sundays until October 31. At the events, you will be to drive to different stations to drop off unwanted items for donation and to dispose of batteries, old paint and other household hazardous waste. Free bagged compost will be available with a limit of two bags per vehicle while supplies last. I also wanted to remind everyone that you are able to drop off household hazardous waste at the City's drop-off depots on days other than Community Environment Days. Check out the City's handy map of all drop-off depot locations and hours for more information. A list of event dates and more information about Community Environment Days is available at the link below: East Don Parkland Construction: Tree Removal Notice Check out my video on the East Don Parkland sewer work and creek improvements. The City of Toronto is carrying out a number of improvements in the East Don Parkland and East Don River (located at 1240 Sheppard Ave E) to improve sewer capacity and renew aging infrastructure. Construction is ongoing and will continue until 2025. The City of Toronto is preparing to start work to replace an undersized sewer, remove the concrete weir, and carry out channel improvements. Ahead of this construction work, trees located within the worksite will be cleared starting mid-October, 2021 and require approximately 4 weeks to complete. Residents will continue to be able to access this park around the worksite. For more information, view the full Construction Notice. To stay up-to-date on this project, visit my website below: Basement Flooding Protection Program on Brian Drive and Other Local Roads The City of Toronto is modifying and upgrading the storm and sanitary sewer system on several local roads in Don Valley North in order to reduce surface and basement flooding. This work also involves replacing the City-owned portion of substandard water services and sewer service laterals, and replacing the watermain in some locations. Work is planned on the following streets: Bowhill Crescent Brian Drive Clematis Road Clipper Road Consumers Road Endsleigh Crescent Flintwood Court Hazelnut Crescent Kamloops Drive Margaret Avenue Patrick Boulevard Pindar Crescent Pleasant View Drive Pondsview Drive Snapdragon Drive Wilkinson Drive William Sylvester Drive For more information, view the full Construction Notice at the link below TTC: Upcoming Closures Subway Closures: Line 1: Finch to Eglinton nightly early closures October 12 to 14 Line 1: Lawrence to St Clair full weekend closure October 16 and 17 Line 1: Finch to Eglinton nightly early closures October 18 to 21 Line 1: Finch to St Clair full weekend closure October 23 and 24 Line 1: Finch to Eglinton nightly early closures October 25 to 28 For more information, visit the link below

On a sunny afternoon this week, I enjoyed a two hour neighbourhood walkabout with some Don Valley Northerners. A few residents of 53-71 Godstone Road had come to one of my Park Pop-Ups late in the summer to share safety concerns about their townhouse complex. After a few incidents of nighttime crime, residents of this complex wanted advice on how to make their neighbourhood safer. My team and I immediately got to work with Toronto Police Services to set up a Community Safety Audit for this group. On Tuesday, a few members of my team and I joined three of our local community police officers and the complex’s residents to audit their townhome neighbourhood for safety and crime prevention measures. I love these safety audits because they get a clear message across: We all have a role to play in community safety, and we can make our neighbourhoods safest by working together. As we walked around the townhouse complex, our community officers were able to point out areas that could benefit from some enhanced safety measures. I’m sure some of you have been invited to a neighbourhood association meeting where a local officer gives tips on keeping your home safe. Their advice tends to be quite standard for single-family homes. When it comes to multi-residential settings like townhomes and apartment complexes, a site walkabout helps the officers spot unique safety challenges depending on how a complex was built. The benefit of doing these walkabouts as a group is that safety enhancements can be addressed no matter who is responsible for them. Every stakeholder is there—my team on behalf of the City, Toronto Police, property management, and local residents. Each of us can contribute to community safety. During this community safety audit, for example, residents showed us that they have locked entrances to their underground garage throughout the grounds of their complex. This is already a great measure to enhance safety, but we learned that the doors are being propped open with a rock or a brick at certain times of day. The property management is going to flag this issue with their groundskeeper to make sure any bricks or stones are removed regularly. Residents are also going to keep an eye out for this and close the door if they notice it’s been left open. There’s no large cost associated with this crime prevention measure, just a bit of neighbourhood awareness needed. Another suggested safety improvement involved my team working with the city to improve nighttime visibility. This complex backs onto a city park, and residents let us know that the park lighting has become quite dim. This has made the park and side entrance of their complex feel less safe. We’re going to work to get this lighting situation addressed ASAP. I also plan to follow up with senior staff on park lighting across the city. If our new LED lighting casts less light over time, I can request a system-wide review at committee to see if the City needs to find a new solution for our parks. This safety audit was for a specific group of residents, but some of the findings will make the wider neighbourhood, and even the whole city, safer as a result. Our community officers from Division 33 were excellent at pointing out other safety improvements that can be made. Some are short-term measures, like replacing older bulbs and installing extra lighting at key locations. Others would be larger, long-term projects such as enhancing some of the interior green spaces to make it more inviting for residents and less inviting for crime. The most important piece of advice the officers had to share costs zero dollars and can start right now: Report all criminal activity to Toronto Police. When something isn’t an immediate emergency, some of us think it’s not worth calling in. It’s important to remember that only reported crime makes it into the statistics that help the Police Chief figure out how many officers each division needs week-to-week. If your car is broken into, don’t just call the garage to see how soon you can have it fixed. Call the Toronto Police Services non-emergency line at 416-808-2222 and let them know it happened. You can even report it online through their Citizen Online Report Entry (CORE). Many of the townhome residents that joined our safety walk weren’t aware of this non-emergency line. They are now, and they will be more inclined to keep their local police officers engaged in their neighbourhood moving forward. I know that different neighbourhoods experience their own challenges when it comes to community safety. The most important thing to remember, whatever your concern, is that we can make our neighbourhoods safest by working together. Don’t hesitate to reach out to my office or local police to share your concerns and seek advice. Chat with neighbours to see if there are steps your community can take together to improve safety. Some things may be as small as alternating the lights you leave on, or cleaning up a communal garbage area. These things may seem small, but they add up to neighbourhoods that look safe and cared for. By getting everyone involved in the conversation, we can make our communities safer for all. Planning & Growth Update RapidTO On Monday, October 18, 2021, City staff held a North York-specific consultation for their RapidTO strategy. The strategy is being developed to find new ways of improving transit in the city. The first round of consultations is intended to ask residents what transit-related improvements would be most valuable for their community and for commuting. Due to a recent update to the WebEx software, a technical issue prevented several people from joining the meeting this past Monday. Since we feel that the residents of North York were not adequately consulted, Shelley has asked City staff to offer a second session—which they have agreed to do. The details of this consultation will be shared with all registrants when it is available. If you would like to be notified of the second session, please contact me at Scott.Prada-Simons@Toronto.ca or (416) 338-2665. For those that were able to attend, there appeared to be a misunderstanding that the meeting was about whether to install a dedicated bus lane along Bayview Avenue. While bus lanes are one of many options that staff may consider studying for other major corridors, no dedicated bus lane was being proposed or will be proposed for Bayview Ave. Other improvements include signal and intersection optimization, and enhancements to the quality of travel such as bus shelters, lighting, and seating. Tyndale Green On Tuesday, October 19, 2021, City staff held the city-wide Tyndale Green (3377 Bayview Avenue East) Community Consultation Meeting. The meeting was very-well attended—so much so that the room capacity was reached, once again preventing many from joining. We understand and share the frustrations that this has caused people, and we will continue to work with residents and city staff to ensure the public is properly consulted on this important project, including looking at the potential of a second Community Consultation Meeting. This was the first step in the application process—there is still plenty more work to be done. Shelley has asked city staff to assemble a Community Working Group for this proposal who will offer additional input to our office, City staff, and the developer, throughout the application process. More details of what the working group will look like and what their mandate will be are still being considered. We will update you when City staff begin to look for members of the working group. In the meantime, if you have a smaller group that would like to discuss this application, even a kitchen table size, we are more than happy to arrange a time to meet. If you have questions about any of the above, please contact me at Scott.Prada-Simons@Toronto.ca or (416) 338-2665. Parkway Forest Vaccine Clinic Anishnawbe Health Toronto, Women's College Hospital, and Toronto Public Health are hosting a COVID-19 pop-up vaccination clinic at Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Road) on Tuesday, November 2 from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM. The clinic is open to everyone age 12 and older, with approved vaccines available. Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below: Shelley Carroll Councillor for Don Valley North councillor_carroll@toronto.ca 416-338-2650 100 Queen St. W, Suite A3 Community Events & Notices Survey: Ruddington Park Playground Enhancements The City of Toronto is improving Ruddington Park by updating the playground, installing new seating, a shade structure, fitness and Tai Chi equipment. We need your help to design these improvements. The survey deadline has been extended to Monday, November 1 to give more community members the chance to participate. Complete the survey by clicking the link below: Waste Reduction Week This year marks the 20th anniversary of Waste Reduction Week in Canada, which is held every October to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable consumption, and a reminder of the many ways we can reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. The City and its Community Reduce & Reuse Program partners will host online events, workshops and webinars open to all residents during the week of October 18-24. A full list of events and registration is available at the link below: Community Environment Days Do your part to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Drop off items for reuse, recycling and safe disposal at Community Environment Days. The City of Toronto is hosting weekly events at Drop-Off Depots on Sundays until October 31. At the events, you will be to drive to different stations to drop off unwanted items for donation and to dispose of batteries, old paint and other household hazardous waste. Free bagged compost will be available with a limit of two bags per vehicle while supplies last. I also wanted to remind everyone that you are able to drop off household hazardous waste at the City's drop-off depots on days other than Community Environment Days. Check out the City's handy map of all drop-off depot locations and hours for more information. A list of event dates and more information about Community Environment Days is available at the link below: Toronto HomeShare Canada HomeShare is a non-profit intergenerational housing initiative that matches older adult home providers with students to live together in a co-housing arrangement. In exchange for affordable ($400-$600 per month) and safe housing close to campus, students contribute up to seven hours per week of assistance around the home and/or companionship for their home provider. Canada HomeShare began as Toronto HomeShare in 2018 and has since expanded to become a national program with sites all across the country. Their goal is to support older adults to age-in-place, reduce social isolation, and address the affordable rental crisis faced by students. For more information on this program, visit the link below FoodShare Toronto: Winning the Right to Food FoodShare Toronto recently launched a Right to Food Campaign calling on the City to update the Toronto Food Charter and realize our right to food. They are hosting a town hall on Friday, October 22 at 2 PM. At this town hall, they will discuss the need for a new food charter that centres the concerns and perspectives of those most marginalized and made vulnerable to food insecurity in Toronto. They will hear from community leaders that are doing the work. They'll also talk about Toronto's current food landscape and the City’s responsibility in addressing barriers to a community-driven and community-determined food system. Finally, they'll discuss the future of food work and the food system in Toronto. If you're interested in this event, you can register at the link below: You're Invited! Pride Toronto's Strategic Plan Pride Toronto's Strategic Plan will assess and identify new goals, values, and priorities to align Pride Toronto with the needs and brilliance of diverse 2SLGBTQ communities, sponsors, and partners. They are looking to hear from intersectional 2SLGBTQ+ communities! The Strategic Planning engagement process includes multiple avenues for community members to share their voices through October 2021. Information shared will be confidential and anonymous. Community Survey Respond to a set of strategic questions that will guide Pride Toronto over the next 3 years and beyond! Click here to fill out the survey by Sunday Nov. 7, 2021 at 11:59 PM. Virtual Input Boxes We invite you to submit your feedback to Pride Toronto’s Virtual Input Boxes. For voicemail input, simply dial 416-927-7433 x112. For email input, send an email to strategicplan@pridetoronto.com. As to improve accessibility, we encourage community members to use the Virtual Input Boxes as an alternative way to respond to the Community Survey. Please note that you may record your responses as audio (.mp3) or video (.mp4) files and submit these via email. Community Pop-Ups We are partnering with beloved community institutions, the 519 and Glad Day, to bring Strategic Planning to you! We invite you to grace us with your presence, and contribute your unique perspectives, on: Thursday October 21st, 2021 from 3 PM-6 PM at Barbara Hall Park (next to the 519) -- click here for our web post and here to RSVP on Facebook Sunday October 24th, 2021 from 3 PM-6 PM at Glad Day Bookshop -- click here for our web post and here to RSVP on Facebook Town Hall The Town Hall will be an in-person opportunity for community members to envision Pride Toronto’s future. Using arts-based practices, get your creative juices flowing as we map our collective approaches to a future of intersectional recovery and transformation. Please join us for the Town Hall at the Pride Toronto offices on Wednesday, October 27th from 4 PM – 7 PM. ASL will be provided. Due to COVID-19 and the Town Hall’s indoor setting, each individual or pod will have max. 60 minutes to make their way through visioning activities. Please register in advance online at PrideToronto.com/TownHall or simply sign in at the door. Click here for our website posting, and click here to RSVP on Facebook! You can learn more about the Pride Toronto Strategic Plan at the link below: TTC: Upcoming Closures Subway Closures: Line 1: Finch to St Clair full weekend closure October 23 and 24 Line 1: Finch to Eglinton nightly early closures October 25 to 28 Line 1: St Clair to College single day closure October 30 For more information, visit the link below:

Those of you who keep a regular eye on municipal politics likely saw the news that broke on October 1st—the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the Provincial Government’s decision to cut Toronto City Council in half in the middle of the 2018 municipal election. I shared my thoughts on the ramifications of the Supreme Court's ruling on CityNews. I didn’t write about this right away because it seemed that only a small group was continuing to follow this news, and that most readers would prefer to move on. After all, three years have elapsed while this case worked its way through our court system. However, this decision has major ramifications for our democracy and what my fellow Councillors and I have to do to make sure residents feel a strong connection to their local government, so let’s dive into it. I believe that this is the most important ruling the Supreme Court has made for any municipality in Canada. To give a quick recap, the City of Toronto asked the Court to review whether or not it was constitutionally sound for a Provincial Government to dramatically alter a municipal electoral map three months into an election period, when almost 500 candidates were already registered. It’s important to note here that the City wasn’t asking the Supreme Court to determine the number of wards our city should have. We believe strongly that the conversation about ward sizes needs to be solely between the municipality and its residents. In 2018, the 47-ward map had already received Provincial blessing. The question was specifically, should the Province be able to rip that blessing away halfway through an election period? This was a very tight ruling at 5-4. Five justices took the question of constitutionality very literally. Very simply speaking, they determined that municipalities are creatures of their provinces and that constitutionally, Ontario had the right to act. The four dissenting justices, on the other hand, saw the complexity of the question and its ramifications for democracy across our country. Here are some comments from the dissenting justices in the Supreme Court ruling that particularly struck me: “A stable election period is crucial to electoral fairness and meaningful political discourse. As such, state interference with individual and collective political expression in the context of an election strikes at the heart of the democratic values that freedom of expression seeks to protect, including participation in social and political decision-making… The limitation on s. 2(b) rights in this case was the timing of the legislative changes. Ontario offered no explanation, let alone a pressing and substantial one, for why the changes were made in the middle of an ongoing election. In the absence of any evidence or explanation for the timing of the Act, no pressing and substantial objective exists for this limitation and it cannot, therefore, be justified in a free and democratic society.” (Per Abella J. (Karakatsanis, Martin and Kasirer JJ. concurring)) For those of us who are deeply disappointed with the Court’s ruling, we can only hope that the infamy of the Ontario Government’s actions will deter future provincial governments from disrupting democracy mid-election. Going forward, there are big changes that need to happen to maintain a fair election process in a city with such large wards. I’ve already written about some of these measures in detail, like the need for ranked ballots and campaign finance reform that prioritizes small, local contributions over big donors. These changes are absolutely necessary if we want to give first-time candidates a shot at election, particularly women and racialized candidates who face greater barriers to entering politics. Some of these changes could have already happened through the Mayor’s Special Committee on Governance that I joined at the beginning of the term. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been the political will from the Committee Chair, Councillor Holyday, or the Mayor’s office to enact changes that would level the election playing field. I will continue to pursue these changes in the name of fairness and democracy for as long as it takes. At Council this past June, I urged my fellow Councillors to consider pursuing campaign finance reform. What I want to focus on now is making sure your voice continues to be heard after you’ve cast your ballot. There’s a lot of work that my fellow Councillors and I need to do to make sure residents feel just as engaged with their local government in the 25-ward model. The connection between yourself and your local elected representative is crucial, and making those connections got harder in 2018 when our wards doubled in size. Learning all of the ongoing issues in new neighbourhoods, connecting with residents, and keeping citywide commitments is a new kind of juggling act for Councillors, made even more challenging by the pandemic. The Supreme Court decision means that we must redouble our efforts to master it. Initiatives like participatory budgeting are a great way to give residents direct power over the decisions made in their communities, and it’s something I want to see my fellow Councillors embrace. With development affecting every corner of our city, residents should get to decide how the community benefit money is spent in their neighbourhood. My team and I facilitated a participatory budgeting process with the Henry Farm neighbourhood this past summer. My firm belief in hearing from the community is also why I held over two dozen Park Pop-Ups across our ward this summer, and a number of virtual town halls over the past year on topics that ranged from vaccine rollout to rooming houses. I will keep working on new ways to connect with residents in every corner of our ward, from the 401 up to Steeles, Bayview across to Victoria Park. Many Torontonians didn’t get the Supreme Court ruling they wanted, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the Council they deserve. It’s my job as your Councillor to make sure your voice is heard. I take this job very seriously, and will keep fighting for healthy changes to our democracy for as long as it takes.

Is the City putting a dedicated bus lane on Bayview Avenue? No. At least not for decades, if ever. There was some confusion around this at a recent RapidTO Community Consultation. Bayview Avenue would be a poor candidate for a priority bus lane because most bus trips on Bayview are shorter and other routes are preferred to take people to the subway. I followed up with staff on this, and they confirmed that they have no plans to alter Bayview Avenue. The purpose of this community consultation was to explore residents’ priorities and prioritize the avenues that will benefit most from this program. Let’s talk about exactly what RapidTO is and what transit priority solutions are being explored for North York. RapidTO is an initiative that Council supported to enhance bus and streetcar transit across the city. While TTC ridership dropped during the pandemic, many of our bus routes are as busy as ever. This was particularly true in the City’s most vulnerable communities, where many residents rely on buses to get to and from their frontline jobs. Through RapidTO, staff are evaluating major avenues to assess which solutions are best suited to create a network of reliable buses and streetcars in every part of Toronto. City staff are in the process of hosting specific RapidTO community meetings for each borough of our city to ask community members what criteria they think should be used to achieve RapidTO. It’s important to remember that this is only Phase One of a three-phase consultation. There will be many more opportunities to provide feedback. North York’s consultation was the first to be held last Monday, and staff ran into some serious technical difficulties. Many residents weren’t able to join the meeting, and those who did weren’t always able to ask their entire questions. While my team and I were not the formal hosts of this meeting, we spent all night on the phone helping people connect. Trust me when I say that we were just as frustrated as the many of you who tried to join. I have demanded that City staff host a second RapidTO meeting for North York residents, which has been scheduled for Monday, November 8 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM. Whether or not you attended the first RapidTO consultation, it has important implications for transportation in our neighbourhoods. There are many different types of transit priority solutions being explored, not just priority bus lanes, that will impact our major roads here in Don Valley North. Let’s take a look at some of these solutions and why they’re important for our city. You may have already noticed some transit signals at intersections across the city. These may or may not use transit signal priority. One solution being considered is transit signal priority. This technology allows transit signals, namely traffic lights, to respond in real time to allow transit vehicles to travel more efficiently and reliably. There are different types of transit signal priority, which can range from streetcars and buses always getting a green light at intersections to “queue jumping” that allows buses to enter the intersection first, moving in and out of stops more easily. Recently, there was a bit of debate around transit signal priority for the Eglinton Crosstown. After a media tour of the new stations, a journalist reported that the Crosstown would not have transit signal priority when travelling alongside cars. I reached out to staff right away to find out what exactly is happening with transit signals for the Crosstown. They explained that the Eglinton line is equipped with a transit signal system that can be turned on when the LRT trains are running behind schedule. However, when they’re travelling on time the system won’t need to be used. This is called limited signal priority, and highlights another solution that may be considered on some roads to help when the bus or streetcar is running late. Other transit priority solutions involve road design, such as creating “bus bays” so that buses can pick up and drop off passengers without holding up traffic. RapidTO is also looking at improvements to transit stops themselves to make them more comfortable, safe, and accessible for riders. An example of a "bus bay", a dedicated short lane where buses can stop to pick up and drop off passengers. Again, I want to stress that the transit priority solutions for specific roadways are not being selected in the current consultation phase. After this first phase of consultation, staff will begin to study specific avenues. When their studies are complete, they will bring their recommendations back to the community for another round of consultation. On some avenues, staff will recommend no change, while on others they might suggest some of the solutions mentioned above. I know that solutions need to be different here in our inner suburbs than they are downtown. In North York, my advice to staff will be to focus their efforts on the longest bus routes, where riders tend to have very long journeys to get to the subway (50 minutes or more). Improvements along these routes are most needed to help both transit riders and drivers have the quickest trips possible. The transit priority solutions being considered through RapidTO are meant to work together to make our transit system as reliable and attractive to riders as possible. In turn, this will make our roads better for all users. I know it may feel hard to believe when you’re stuck in traffic on the DVP, but pre-pandemic 70% of people commuting to and from work travelled by transit. If we don’t look for ways to make our transit efficient, we will no long be able to count on people choosing transit over the car and our traffic problem will only get worse. That would be a recipe for disaster in a city that is well on its way to growing by another one million people by 2050. Building an efficient and reliable transit system is necessary to move people around our city. Without it, our traffic problem will only get worse. RapidTO also helps the City achieve its ambitious TransformTO goals to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions. We need to look at ways to have fewer cars on the road if we want to reduce our emissions and make sure Toronto is still a safe, healthy and vibrant city for future generations. Transit is truly an essential piece in our fight against climate change. I want to thank all of the residents in Don Valley North who took the time to join the first RapidTO community meeting. I know there were some challenges, but I really do hope all of you stay engaged in this process. My team and I are here to make sure your voices are heard throughout this multi-phase consultation so that the City can implement the best solutions possible for our community. North York General Hospital: Visitor Vaccination Requirement North York General Hospital (NYGH) is joining other hospitals in Ontario by requiring anyone visiting or accompanying a patient to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination starting November 15, 2021. Here’s what you should know: Visitors will need to show proof of full vaccination (14 days since receiving the second dose of a two-dose series or one dose of a single-dose series) in addition to passing onsite screening for symptoms and following public health measures like masking at the hospital and our community sites. Limited exemptions will apply for those with medical exemptions approved by NYGH, and for visitors of specific patient populations including children or youth under 18 years of age, patients in labour, or those with intellectual or developmental disabilities among others. The NYGH Seniors’ Health Centre is excluded from this policy as they are governed according to provincial guidance and directives for Long-Term Care Homes. For more information, visit nygh.on.ca/EssentialCarePartnerandVisitorPolicy. Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below: Shelley Carroll Councillor for Don Valley North councillor_carroll@toronto.ca 416-338-2650 100 Queen St. W, Suite A3 Coffee with Your Councillor Join me for another Coffee with your Councillor on Thursday, November 4, at 11 AM. I'll be on Facebook Live talking about some of the big ticket items coming to Council. I'll also provide community updates and answer your questions about what's going on in our neighbourhoods. You'll be able to find the event on my Facebook page. I look forward to seeing you there! Old Sheppard Park Enhancement Complete! I stopped by the Old Sheppard Park playground this weekend to see the new improvements and of course, all the new smiling faces using the equipment! It's always great to see these new playground being enjoyed, especially after so much input from the community. There are a few play items missing, as the supplier is facing some delays due to the impacts of the pandemic. Parks & Recreation didn't want to postpone opening the playground, as it is still safe for people to use. These additional items should be put in soon. Survey: Ruddington Park Playground Enhancements The City of Toronto is improving Ruddington Park by updating the playground, installing new seating, a shade structure, fitness and Tai Chi equipment. We need your help to design these improvements. The survey is open until Monday, November 1. Complete the survey by clicking the link below: Pedestrian Crossing Reminder We've had a few residents contact my office with concerns about pedestrians starting to cross the street while the red hand is flashing or the countdown has already started. Please remember to be safe when crossing and only begin to cross when the "walk" indication is shown. For more tips on how to safely cross the street, visit the link below: Community Environment Days Do your part to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Drop off items for reuse, recycling and safe disposal at Community Environment Days. The City of Toronto is hosting weekly events at Drop-Off Depots on Sundays until October 31. At the events, you will be to drive to different stations to drop off unwanted items for donation and to dispose of batteries, old paint and other household hazardous waste. Free bagged compost will be available with a limit of two bags per vehicle while supplies last. I also wanted to remind everyone that you are able to drop off household hazardous waste at the City's drop-off depots on days other than Community Environment Days. Check out the City's handy map of all drop-off depot locations and hours for more information. A list of event dates and more information about Community Environment Days is available at the link below: EcoFair Toronto 2021 The 13th annual EcoFair (Nov 4-7) is free, informative, family-friendly and fun! Register for online eco- webinars, films, games, workshops, and exhibitor booths showcasing non-profits and businesses. Visit the website for details about the in-life bike ride and all EcoFair events. Learn about solutions, celebrate progress, promote change, and be inspired to take action in our own lives. A more sustainable future awaits! For more information and to register, visit the link below Ontario Garlic Week Ontario Garlic Week has come just in time to ward off the vampires this weekend! From October 29 to November 7, restaurants, breweries, theatres and drive-ins across the province will create and sell a food or beverage item using Ontario grown garlic. For more information and ideas on how to celebrate, visit the link below: UHN NORC Ambassadors Program UHN OpenLab is looking for seniors to partner with on a new aging in place initiative. The NORC Ambassadors program is an initiative of University Health Network’s OpenLab that aims to partner with senior residents to transform their high-rise buildings into vibrant communities that support healthy aging in place. They are currently recruiting new groups to work with in early 2022, and are looking for residents who are interested in forming an 'aging in place' group in their own building. If you are interested in learning more, please contact Giselle at 437-290-8033 (a local Toronto number) or giselle@uhnopenlab.ca. You can also learn more at the link below: Toronto Youth Cabinet: Employment & Equity Survey The Toronto Youth Cabinet is proud to launch our Equity & Employment Sustainability Survey. The survey was created by youth, for youth to highlight the many barriers and inequalities Toronto youth face in the areas of employment and equity. The survey will paint a clear picture of the reality many youths face in the city. The Toronto Youth Cabinet was established in 1998 by Toronto City Council. It is the official youth advisory body to the city that promotes youth participation in municipal affairs and policy development. To access the survey, visit the link below: TTC: Upcoming Closures Subway Closures: Line 1: Sheppard-Yonge to Eglinton nightly early closures October 25 to 28 Line 1: St Clair to College single day closure October 30 Line 2: St George to Woodbine late opening October 31 Line 1: Finch to St Clair weekend closure November 6 to 7 Line 1: Osgoode to King late opening November 14 For more information, visit the link below:

I can’t believe that 2021 is almost over. While the year may be winding down, Council is just as busy as ever. We’ll have to meet tomorrow to finish our agenda, post Remembrance Day, but here’s a rundown of the most notable items from this session so far Improving Winter Access to Toronto’s Parks for 2021-22 Last winter, it was great to see so many people enjoying our parks. As more people got out for winter walks, we heard loud and clear that we need more winter maintenance on our park trails and pathways. Council has asked staff to request this service improvement in their budgets in January and determine how to safely clear snow in environmentally significant areas. Supporting Small Businesses by Extending CaféTO & Creating a Small Business Property Tax Subclass I don’t know about you, but I’ve loved the wonderful al fresco dining opportunities that came through the CaféTO program. Council has ordered a review of CaféTO with the goal of developing guidelines to make our street cafes permanent post-pandemic. I think it’s time for us to accept that we’re a large enough city to join other global cities in offering these patios. Look at the photographs below, which show outdoor dining in London, Paris, Washington DC, and Toronto. Try to guess which is which. Council also voted to move forward with a 15% property tax reduction for small businesses. We know how hard they’ve been hit by this pandemic. This new small business property tax subclass will come into effect in 2022, and will support around 25,000 small businesses across our city. Cultural Festivals Funding Program At long last, City staff have developed a transparent set of rules for how public dollars are distributed to non-profit groups that want to hold cultural festivals. This framework has set out three streams of funding depending on the size, sophistication, capacity, and community impact of the event. There are some very well established festivals in the city that receive funds, like Pride, Luminato, and Toronto Caribbean Carnival, but it has been challenging for small, emerging groups to access funding to host new festivals. This framework aims to change that and help emerging groups go on to raise funds on their own more easily. Inclusionary Zoning: Official Plan Amendment and Implementation Guidelines Council voted to move forward in presenting our Inclusionary Zoning proposal to the Province for Ministerial Approval. I voted in favour of Councillor Layton’s amendment to set aside a larger number of affordable units in each development and phase in this policy more quickly, but it failed 18-8. Still, Council passing this policy should be viewed as good news. We went with the most conservative approach, which means the Province should turn a deaf ear to the development lobbyists who want to see it even more watered down and approve our policy to start supplying affordable units in all new development applications of 100 units or more. Updating the Definitions of Affordable Rental and Ownership Housing City Planning staff want to crisp up the definition of affordable housing and put it right into our Official Plan. I welcome this, as much more affordable housing is set to be built in the coming years, both through inclusionary zoning and on a case-by-case basis. Over the past decade, whenever affordable units were approved here in Don Valley North, I’ve had to explain affordable housing at community meetings without solid policy language to back it up. Now, we have an official definition and income thresholds that better match the average incomes of qualified working people today. The table below shows the proposed eligible incomes and what rent they would be charged in the last column. 2022 Shelter Infrastructure Plan & Community Engagement Review Staff from Shelter, Support and Housing Administration (SSHA) gave an update on the current state of shelter infrastructure across the city. They admitted there’s not a lot of certainty about the future. Staff have a framework to help those experiencing homelessness transition to permanent housing, but this depends largely on available funding for housing supply, support, and rent supplements. In order to meet pandemic distancing requirements and support those in crisis, SSHA continues to operate 48 emergency facilities. These are far from ideal to run a supportive program. Council has extended delegated authority to SSHA staff to help wind down these facilities and create smaller, safer, and more successful programs. While the full report is linked above, below is a slide show that gives a great summary of our current homelessness crisis and how it changed over the pandemic. Contract for Waste Collection Services in Etobicoke Tomorrow, Council will consider awarding a contract worth $88 million to GFL for another seven years of curbside collection in Etobicoke and I think I know how the vote will go. I suspect Council will endorse the award, because many Councillors are not in the mood to make big changes while in the throes of pandemic recovery. However, thanks to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee, that won’t be the end of the story. When the contract award was considered at Committee, the members heard that the private sector savings of $411 million per year promised back in 2013 have evaporated. In fact, the cost of garbage pickup in the west is now slightly higher than east of Yonge St., where City workers still do collection. It gives me no pleasure to say I told you so. The Committee ordered a comparison study of all of our service districts for garbage collection and it will be back early in the new year. I’ll write a full column on it at that time. If my colleagues are smart, they’ll set politics aside and be honest about the real cost of privatizing our garbage collection. Celebrating 100 Years of North York To end on a lighter note, my fellow North York Councillors moved a motion to have the City prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the incorporation of the Township of North York. I can’t wait to see the great celebration City staff will put together with local residents and community groups. Oriole Community Centre: Vaccine & Flu Clinic COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots are now available at Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Road). The clinic is open on: Wednesdays from 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Thursdays from 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM No appointment is needed. COVID-19 first and second doses are available to anyone born in 2009 or earlier. Flu shots are available to anyone 6 months and older. This clinic is a collaboration between North York Toronto Health Partners, Working Women Community Centre, North York Harvest Food Bank, Toronto Public Health and Flemingdon Health Centre. Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below:

November 4, 2021 City Council is on its way to adopting one of the most important pieces of policy developed this term: Inclusionary Zoning. This is absolutely essential to addressing Toronto’s housing affordability crisis. Without policies like Inclusionary Zoning, soon there will be no realistic way for our kids and grandkids to live in our city. I don’t know about you, but I want my grandkids to be able to live nearby. We need a range of housing options in our neighbourhoods. Inclusionary Zoning is designed to create more affordable housing options, both rental and ownership, across Toronto. It’s been used in hundreds of cities across the United States, Australia, and parts of Canada, and it works best in cities where there is strong demand for housing. We know Toronto fits that bill. This policy defines what is considered affordable and requires developers to set aside a certain percentage of housing units as affordable in any new development. I want to be clear about what we mean when we say affordable housing. Too often, we use “affordable housing” as a catchall in Toronto to describe very different housing options. Inclusionary Zoning is focused on creating more housing at a specific point on the housing spectrum: This policy is intended to create housing for households that earn too much to be eligible for social housing, but can’t truly afford market rents or market housing prices. These “low-to-moderate income households” generally earn between $35,000 and $88,500 per year, depending on the household size. We’re talking about young people working their first full-time jobs and families with one or even two income earners. Many of our essential workers, like Registered Nurses and Early Childhood Educators, earn in this range. Currently, these folks find themselves paying well over 30%, often over 50%, of their monthly income on housing costs. That is not affordable or sustainable. As many of you will remember, here in Don Valley North we have been including a number of affordable units in larger developments for some time now. This has been a personal priority of mine since I first became Councillor. Inclusionary Zoning will see these affordable units created across the city in a way that reflects Toronto’s unique challenges and keeps in line with Provincial regulations. 121 Parkway Forest Drive is an affordable rental building here in Don Valley North built all the way back in 2006. The previous Provincial Government first announced Ontario would have Inclusionary Zoning in 2016, but took until 2018 to enact regulations just before the Provincial election. Shortly after, the new Provincial Government quickly undertook legislative changes to limit the number of areas that Inclusionary Zoning could be applied to, and required municipalities to present Inclusionary Zoning policy plans by summer 2022. They also passed Bill 108, which prioritized density around transit stations and changed the way municipalities receive community benefit funding from new developments, funding which was previously used to support affordable units in new buildings. The Province has restricted Inclusionary Zoning to the areas around major transit stations. I have worked closely with Mayor Tory to ensure that the Sheppard Subway Corridor is studied as part of this plan after the initial submission to the Minister. This will ensure that the Inclusionary Zoning plan works for Don Valley North. City Council will be considering the Inclusionary Zoning proposal next week. It proposes that we: Phase-in affordable housing requirements for new developments from 5-10% in 2022 to 8-22% in 2030. This provides time for land values to adjust and the amount of affordable housing required to incrementally increase. Require the affordable units to remain affordable for 99 years, ensuring that this stock of housing is not lost over the short term. Provide a clear transition period to account for developments that are already underway. Monitor this policy continually over its implementation to ensure it’s achieving the goals it set out to achieve. City staff developed this plan through extensive research and consultation with the community and various stakeholders. The result is a framework that balances the Provincial expectations with the needs of our city. The only piece left to work out is making sure these affordable units go to those who need them most. I remain very concerned that we continue to negotiate new affordable housing for hard-working young people and families, but are still not transparent about who gets to live in those units. Right now, when affordable units come up in new developments, the developer is required to hold a lottery to determine who gets to live in them. You can sign up on the City’s website to be notified of these lotteries, but there is no queueing. You simply roll the dice each time the next development with 20 or 30 affordable units comes up. I moved a motion back in 2019 to have staff explore how to create a better system to allocate these units. With Inclusionary Zoning set to deliver tens of thousands of affordable units for decades to come, we need to come up with a fairer system fast. City Planning put together a video highlighting some unique Toronto rental experiences that show just how important Inclusionary Zoning is. We can’t beat ourselves up over our housing affordability crisis, but we do need to act now to tackle it from every angle. Consider this: If we had put Inclusionary Zoning in place back in 2011, we would have created over 30,000 new units of affordable housing over the last decade. That’s why I support this proposal, which will create thousands of affordable units and keep them affordable into the next century. We need this policy to stabilize our housing market and create realistic options for hardworking Torontonians. Our kids and grandkids deserve some hope that that they will be able to stay in the city they love. Oriole Community Centre: Vaccine & Flu Clinic Starting Wednesday, November 10, COVID-19 vaccines and flu shots will be available at Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Road). The clinic is open on: Wednesdays from 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Thursdays from 1:30 PM - 5:30 PM No appointment is needed. COVID-19 first and second doses are available to anyone born in 2009 or earlier. Flu shots are available to anyone 6 months and older. This clinic is a collaboration between North York Toronto Health Partners, Working Women Community Centre, North York Harvest Food Bank, Toronto Public Health and Flemingdon Health Centre. Vaccine Passports Proof of vaccination is now in effect for select non-essential settings in Ontario. If you need to print or download your proof of immunization, you can do so by visiting covid19.ontariohealth.ca or calling the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900. For more information on the vaccine passport, visit the link below: