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May 19, 2022 In my Council highlights last week, I glossed over a couple of staff reports on Provincial policy changes that have huge impacts on the planning process for every municipality in Ontario. I promised I would dive into them this week, so here we go. The two pieces of policy are Bills 108 and 109. They have pretty rosy titles: Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act (2019) and Bill 109, the More Homes For Everyone Act (2022). Both were pushed through the Legislature as fast as humanly possible without feedback from residents, city planners, Councillors, or anyone else for that matter. Premier Ford announced the More Homes For Everyone Act this past March. I know we have a range of interest levels when it comes to development in our neighbourhoods. Some of you get very involved in the process, while others aren’t as inclined. However you feel about development, these Bills have major impacts on the City’s bottom line and therefore on your wallets. You might want to voice your concern. Bills 108 and 109 change the planning process in two main areas. The first, which has the greatest potential to impact your quality of life, is the changes to development charges and community benefits that help accommodate population growth in our city. The second, which is getting the most airplay, is the changes to the approval and appeals process at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). Let’s start with development charges. Development charges (DCs) exist to make sure that growth pays for growth. They cover the cost of upgrading our infrastructure, like our roads and sewers, to make sure they can accommodate thousands of new Torontonians every year. Since amalgamation, the City of Toronto has been struggling to make our development charges (DCs) match the real cost of growth. When the Province ordered us to amalgamate, it gave the City one shot to set a DC rate. For whatever reason, that first Toronto City Council set our rates relatively low compared to the rest of the GTA. We get to review these charges every five years, and we’ve been incrementally raising our DCs ever since to try to catch up. Despite this, we’re still behind other GTA municipalities, and still slightly behind the rising cost of infrastructure. Under Bill 108, the DCs and Section 37 Benefits we currently receive to accommodate growth will be combined into one single charge, called Community Benefit Charges (CBCs). Paired with changes from Bill 109, the direct financial compensation the City receives from developers to pay for growth will be reduced to about one third of what it is now.https://mcusercontent.com/20fc6cc5985488a0159b8fd0c/images/9f82381a-d0c1-2e60-16da-1a8e75ec3932.png Click on the image to view a larger version. These financial changes will take effect on January 1, 2023. Worse still, the changes will apply to developments based on when they’re approved by Council or the OLT, not based on when they first applied. Here in Don Valley North, we have development applications that are being held up at the OLT until as late as June 2023. Bill 108 means that if one of these developers had offered, for example, $2.5 million for community impacts when they applied in 2022, by the time the OLT hearing is complete in 2023 the developer will only have to pay about $850,000. I can’t stress enough how much of a loss this is for our community. The second change has to deal with the appeals process itself. I understand that any Provincial government needs an appeals process. However, we need to ask ourselves who these rule changes are made for. In this case, the changes seem like they are very much for developers and not for the community. To give a brief history lesson, in my time as Councillor the Provincial process for development appeals has gone from terrible, to slightly better, to really promising, and now we’re right back to terrible. It’s also gone through several name changes. The old Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) conducted what were called De Novo hearings, where they would consider an application from scratch and ignore any work that had been done with the community. Most OMB decisions were in favour of the developer. In 2017, the OMB was abolished and replaced with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). Let me tell you, City planners jumped for joy when they heard the news. The new LPAT would only let developers appeal if they could prove that a municipality had made a legal error or contradicted the Province’s planning policy. Even more significantly, the LPAT required developers and cities to work together until a mutually agreed upon settlement could be reached on all planning appeals. With the announcement of Bill 108 in 2019, our current Provincial government cut the collaborative LPAT process off at the knees when it had barely had time to prove itself. The LPAT was replaced with the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), which had several negative impacts on local planning. This included, but was not limited to: Requiring citizens who participate in OLT hearings to retain a professional and bring proper evidence according to policy, making it much, much harder for residents to be involved in the appeals process. Lowering the bar for filing an appeal, so that developers no longer have to prove an error in law. This effectively brings back the De Novo hearings from the OMB days. Reducing the amount of time an applicant has to wait to file an appeal, and reducing the amount of time a City is afforded to respond. Here in Don Valley North, we’ve already seen developers rush to file appeals before the community process has wrapped up. Introducing punitive legislation for Cities, requiring them to refund part or all of a developer’s application fees if the City does not respond within 120 days. That last rule change, #4, has massive impacts here in Toronto. Currently, your local city planner costs you zero property tax dollars. When a developer applies, their application fees include the cost of reviewing the application, conducting a community consultation process, and engaging any additional professional advice as needed. For a large, high-density application like Bayview Village Mall, for instance, the application fee might be as much as $400,000. This year, Toronto will take in roughly $42 million in planning revenues to support our Planning department that is 470 strong. However, once these Bills come into effect, we risk losing all of that application fee revenue if City staff don’t get back to the applicant within 120 days. This means that City Planning will have to drastically reduce the amount of time they spend getting professional advice from Transportation Services, Toronto Water, TTC, and other departments. It will also reduce the amount of time they spend in community consultation. The Provincial election is your chance to tell every party that you want developers held accountable and want neighbourhoods to have a say in the planning process. The bottom line is that these changes will have massive ramifications for our city and our neighbourhoods. They mean developers are paying less for the growth at your expense, and that you have less of a say in the planning process. The Provincial Government did not seek your input, or mine, before introducing these changes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell them how you feel now. Election Day is coming up, and this is your chance to let every party looking for your vote know that you don’t want your neighbourhood voice curtailed in the planning process and that you don’t want your hard-earned property tax dollars spent to save developers money. Growth should pay for growth, and developers should be held to account. More Homes for Everyone? My Advice is to Read the Fine Print In my Council highlights last week, I glossed over a couple of staff reports on Provincial policy changes that have huge impacts on the planning process for every municipality in Ontario. I promised I would dive into them this week, so here we go. The two pieces of policy are Bills 108 and 109. They have pretty rosy titles: Bill 108, the More Homes, More Choice Act (2019) and Bill 109, the More Homes For Everyone Act (2022). Both were pushed through the Legislature as fast as humanly possible without feedback from residents, city planners, Councillors, or anyone else for that matter. Premier Ford announced the More Homes For Everyone Act this past March. I know we have a range of interest levels when it comes to development in our neighbourhoods. Some of you get very involved in the process, while others aren’t as inclined. However you feel about development, these Bills have major impacts on the City’s bottom line and therefore on your wallets. You might want to voice your concern. Bills 108 and 109 change the planning process in two main areas. The first, which has the greatest potential to impact your quality of life, is the changes to development charges and community benefits that help accommodate population growth in our city. The second, which is getting the most airplay, is the changes to the approval and appeals process at the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT). Let’s start with development charges. Development charges (DCs) exist to make sure that growth pays for growth. They cover the cost of upgrading our infrastructure, like our roads and sewers, to make sure they can accommodate thousands of new Torontonians every year. Since amalgamation, the City of Toronto has been struggling to make our development charges (DCs) match the real cost of growth. When the Province ordered us to amalgamate, it gave the City one shot to set a DC rate. For whatever reason, that first Toronto City Council set our rates relatively low compared to the rest of the GTA. We get to review these charges every five years, and we’ve been incrementally raising our DCs ever since to try to catch up. Despite this, we’re still behind other GTA municipalities, and still slightly behind the rising cost of infrastructure. Under Bill 108, the DCs and Section 37 Benefits we currently receive to accommodate growth will be combined into one single charge, called Community Benefit Charges (CBCs). Paired with changes from Bill 109, the direct financial compensation the City receives from developers to pay for growth will be reduced to about one third of what it is now. Click on the image to view a larger version. These financial changes will take effect on January 1, 2023. Worse still, the changes will apply to developments based on when they’re approved by Council or the OLT, not based on when they first applied. Here in Don Valley North, we have development applications that are being held up at the OLT until as late as June 2023. Bill 108 means that if one of these developers had offered, for example, $2.5 million for community impacts when they applied in 2022, by the time the OLT hearing is complete in 2023 the developer will only have to pay about $850,000. I can’t stress enough how much of a loss this is for our community. The second change has to deal with the appeals process itself. I understand that any Provincial government needs an appeals process. However, we need to ask ourselves who these rule changes are made for. In this case, the changes seem like they are very much for developers and not for the community. To give a brief history lesson, in my time as Councillor the Provincial process for development appeals has gone from terrible, to slightly better, to really promising, and now we’re right back to terrible. It’s also gone through several name changes. The old Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) conducted what were called De Novo hearings, where they would consider an application from scratch and ignore any work that had been done with the community. Most OMB decisions were in favour of the developer. In 2017, the OMB was abolished and replaced with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT). Let me tell you, City planners jumped for joy when they heard the news. The new LPAT would only let developers appeal if they could prove that a municipality had made a legal error or contradicted the Province’s planning policy. Even more significantly, the LPAT required developers and cities to work together until a mutually agreed upon settlement could be reached on all planning appeals. With the announcement of Bill 108 in 2019, our current Provincial government cut the collaborative LPAT process off at the knees when it had barely had time to prove itself. The LPAT was replaced with the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), which had several negative impacts on local planning. This included, but was not limited to: Requiring citizens who participate in OLT hearings to retain a professional and bring proper evidence according to policy, making it much, much harder for residents to be involved in the appeals process. Lowering the bar for filing an appeal, so that developers no longer have to prove an error in law. This effectively brings back the De Novo hearings from the OMB days. Reducing the amount of time an applicant has to wait to file an appeal, and reducing the amount of time a City is afforded to respond. Here in Don Valley North, we’ve already seen developers rush to file appeals before the community process has wrapped up. Introducing punitive legislation for Cities, requiring them to refund part or all of a developer’s application fees if the City does not respond within 120 days. That last rule change, #4, has massive impacts here in Toronto. Currently, your local city planner costs you zero property tax dollars. When a developer applies, their application fees include the cost of reviewing the application, conducting a community consultation process, and engaging any additional professional advice as needed. For a large, high-density application like Bayview Village Mall, for instance, the application fee might be as much as $400,000. This year, Toronto will take in roughly $42 million in planning revenues to support our Planning department that is 470 strong. However, once these Bills come into effect, we risk losing all of that application fee revenue if City staff don’t get back to the applicant within 120 days. This means that City Planning will have to drastically reduce the amount of time they spend getting professional advice from Transportation Services, Toronto Water, TTC, and other departments. It will also reduce the amount of time they spend in community consultation. The Provincial election is your chance to tell every party that you want developers held accountable and want neighbourhoods to have a say in the planning process. The bottom line is that these changes will have massive ramifications for our city and our neighbourhoods. They mean developers are paying less for the growth at your expense, and that you have less of a say in the planning process. The Provincial Government did not seek your input, or mine, before introducing these changes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t tell them how you feel now. Election Day is coming up, and this is your chance to let every party looking for your vote know that you don’t want your neighbourhood voice curtailed in the planning process and that you don’t want your hard-earned property tax dollars spent to save developers money. Growth should pay for growth, and developers should be held to account. Planning & Development Updates Coming to North York Community Council – May 24, 2022 3377 Bayview Avenue (Tyndale University) Markee Developments and Tyndale University have filed an Ontario Land Tribunal appeal. As a result, City Planning and City Legal staff have written a Request for Directions report that recommends that Council direct City staff to attend in opposition to the application in its current form. In the report, City Planning outlines a number of issues, including but not limited to height, massing, parkland, heritage impact, site organization, and natural heritage conservation. As part of the OLT appeal process, the City will continue conversations with Markee and Tyndale to address these issues. The full Request for Directions report can be viewed here. Interested parties can submit their feedback directly to North York Community Council on this item via email by clicking the report link above and clicking "Submit Comments" button at the top of the page. Ultimately, the Ontario Land Tribunal is now the decision-making authority for this proposal. Residents interested in learning more about participating in the Ontario Land Tribunal process can access the Tribunal's own guide for participation here. 23 - 29 Greenbriar Road A new development application on the east side of Greenbriar Road, south of Sheppard, is proposing to replace four two-storey rental buildings with a 10-storey residential building with 169 units, including the required 22 rental replacement units. The Preliminary Report, which outlines the application and only requests for City Planning to come out to consult with the community, is available here. The meeting is currently being scheduled for some time in June. Notices will be mailed out by the City Clerk and we will include the registration details for the virtual meeting in a future E-Blast. Should you have any questions about the process for this application, please don't hesitate to be in touch. You can also sign-up for site-specific updates at the link in the title above. For questions on the specifics of the application, you may contact the City's Planner reviewing the application directly: Michelle.Charkow@toronto.ca Upcoming Community Meetings City Planning staff will be hosting a number of virtual community meetings in the coming weeks to hear from residents about development applications in/around the ward and the Official Plan Review. You can join each meeting online (via WebEx) or call in by phone. Registration links are below: 22-36 Greenbriar Road Wednesday, May 25 @ 6:30 PM This application proposes the redevelopment of the eight existing 2-storey semi-detached dwellings with a new 24-storey residential building containing 351 dwelling units. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. 500 Sheppard Avenue East: Monday, June 6 @ 7:00 PM This application proposes the redevelopment of the site with a 35- and 39-storey mixed use building with a total of 928 dwelling units. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. Official Plan Review – North York Town Hall Monday, May 30 @ 6:00 PM The City of Toronto is updating the Official Plan for Toronto 2051. The Official Plan is a City Planning document that acts as Toronto’s road map for land use and development. It sets out a long-term vision, shared values, and policies that help guide decision-making on land development, economic growth, the environment, and more. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. As always, our office will keep you informed and involved after the initial community consultation on each application. Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) & Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Rd.) North York General Hospital is running two walk-in vaccine clinics in our area in May and June: Oriole Community Centre every Wednesday (12:00 - 3:00 PM) and Thursday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) Parkway Forest Community Centre every Wednesday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Anne Lalonde, our Don Valley Northerner of the Week! Anne has been a volunteer with Meals on Wheels for nearly 20 years, delivering nutritious meals to vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities here in Don Valley North and across the city. Anne's commitment to improving food access in our neighbourhoods and looking out for those who are most in need is truly admirable. Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominatingto councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

We’re in the midst of another busy Council session. Read on to learn more about some of the major items we considered and what they mean for us here in Don Valley North. ConnectTO Program Update We are making progress on improving reliable internet access in the communities that need it most. These days, high-speed internet access is essential in our lives, but the major telecommunications companies are reluctant to bring high-speed internet to lower income neighbourhoods where residents can’t afford their services. This limits access to education and employment opportunities, commerce, government services, and much more. ConnectTO is our program to provide equitable access to broadband. We are behind most of the GTHA municipalities in creating a Municipal Broadband Network, or MBN, but Council adopted a report that directs staff to press on and work with other orders of government to fully realize this important program. Considering All Growth-Related Funding Tools at Executive Committee & City of Toronto Review of Bill 109: More Homes for Everyone Act, 2022 These items are both in response to two Provincial Bills that have massive impacts on how developers operate in our city. The first, Bill 108, will change our planning procedures with respect to development charges, parkland dedication funds, and the abolition of Section 37 funds. The Mayor’s Executive Committee will discuss these changes in-depth later this month because they have serious financial impacts on the City’s ability to make sure our infrastructure keeps pace with growth. Our Chief Planner, Gregg Lintern, submitted a report to Council outlining possible negative impacts from another piece of Provincial legislation, Bill 109. This is called the More Homes for Every Act, but has been nicknamed the No Rules for Applicants Act on social media. These two Bills are of major significance to Don Valley North, so I will be dedicating next week’s E-Blast to them entirely. In the meantime, when Provincial candidates come to your door, tell them that you expect the Provincial government to make sure that developers pay for the impact they have on communities. We need housing, but we also need to make sure our neighbourhoods are liveable and properly serviced. Implementing Tenants First: Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation Council moved forward with the creation of a new special corporation to manage Toronto’s low-income seniors housing. Many don’t know that the City operates 83 buildings that offer subsidized apartments for seniors who can live independently with minor supports. The needs in these buildings are quite different than in our Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) family complexes. Our new Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation (TSHC) will be better equipped to make sure these buildings best served residents’ needs. Modular Housing Initiative: Phase Two - 175 Cummer Avenue The Mayor and City Council unanimously approved a three-storey building that will see approximately 64 units of housing created for those exiting homelessness by the end of 2021. This modular housing building is nestled in front of a TCHC apartment building, and next to a City-run long term care home. A local non-profit housing provider will manage the building and provide support services to tenants under an agreement with the City. A rendering of the modular housing initiative at 175 Cummer Avenue. In the past, the Province has passed Ministerial Zoning Orders so that these small supportive buildings pass quickly to alleviate our homelessness crisis. However, this building went through the normal zoning process to accommodate the neighbouring community’s wishes. In the event that the local community files an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), Council has requested that the Tribunal expedite the scheduling of the first hearing. 2022 COVID-19 Intergovernmental Funding Update Our City’s Chief Financial Officer informed Council that we still haven’t received the 2022 COVID Relief Funding we requested from both higher orders of government. A large volume of capital work is being put on hold in case the funds don’t arrive. We know that deferring capital work is never a good idea as it really piles up. For example, it took the City ten full years to complete the capital work that was delayed to fund Mayor Lastman’s three years of 0% tax increases. I’m going to check in with City staff to see which projects may be delayed here in Don Valley North and will keep you informed as the year progresses. Ombudsman Toronto 2021 Annual Report Council received its annual report from the Toronto Ombudsman, the office where you can go if you want to dispute the way the City handled an issue or complaint. This year, the report notes a trend: most issues could have been resolved by existing policy, but the policy was not well-known by the community or City staff, leading it to be inconsistently applied. I take this as my marching order to push for improvements and make sure that all of our policies are applied fairly across our city. Cancellation of Security Guards at Six City Parks Before Council started, a news story broke that wasn’t on our agenda: the hiring of private security firms to prevent encampments in downtown parks. I was very torn on how to vote on this motion to delay their hiring. The six parks aren’t in Don Valley North, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t affected. I spent a long time talking to Councillor Bailao, who was involved in piloting a healthier approach to encampments in Dufferin Grove Park. There, security guards are well-trained to sensitively monitor the camps and protect both campers and Streets to Homes staff while they work out proper housing plans. During the pilot, staff were able to re-house 25 campers and credit the guards with making that outcome possible. The violent encampment teardown we witnessed last year cannot ever happen again. Councillor Bailao and the City Manager assured me that will not be the approach taken in these six parks. Proper housing is the goal of this program, so I voted against any delay. Member Motions Below, I’ve provided a quick rundown on some of the other notable Member Motions from this Council session: Protecting Community Input in the Planning Process This motion asks the Provincial Government to require any applicant that appeals to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) to host a community consultation with City Planning and the local Councillor in advance of the first OLT Case Management Conference. This ensures residents understand the OLT process and see if they wish to participate in the proceedings. Actions to Prevent Auto Theft This motion asks the Federal & Provincial Governments to work with the automotive and insurance industries to take additional measures to prevent auto thefts, which are an increasing problem in our neighbourhoods. Endorsing Bill 60, the Safe and Healthy Communities Act (Addressing Gun Violence) City Council is voting to endorse this Provincial Bill, which will see hospital- and community-based violence intervention programs covered under the Health Insurance Act and require that Boards of Health have programs and services for reducing gun violence in their communities. Support for Bill C-233, “Keira’s Law” Councillor Fletcher and I moved this motion to endorse a Federal Bill that will strengthen the measures in our Criminal Code to better protect women and children from domestic violence. Request for Exemptions for Canada Day Celebrations at Mel Lastman Square To end on a lighter note, Councillor Filion and I moved this motion to prepare for some exciting Canada Day celebrations at Mel Lastman Square. I hope you and the whole family will be able to make it out to enjoy the fireworks! Pleasant View/Brian Village PB Results! I want to thank each and every person who came out on Saturday to vote in our Pleasant View/Brian Village Participatory Budgeting (PB) process. My team has counted the ballots and I'm happy to announce that the winning projects are: Revitalize Clydesdale Playground (54 votes) Pollinator Gardens in Two Local Parks (28 votes) Sheppard Ave Boulevard Improvements (26 votes) Install Cabana & Benches in Muirhead Park (18 votes) The ones which were not successful are: Turn 3-on-3 Basketball Court into 5-on-5 in Van Horne Park (17 votes) Paint Mural Outside Pleasantview Community Centre (2 votes) We will be working with Parks staff to get these projects implemented as soon as possible and look forward to updating you on their progress. Again, thank you for your participation and all your ideas and feedback. Planning & Development Updates Upcoming Community Meetings City Planning staff will be hosting a number of virtual community meetings in the coming weeks to hear from residents about development applications in/around the ward and the Official Plan Review. You can join each meeting online (via WebEx) or call in by phone. 2135 Sheppard Avenue East (Building C) Wednesday, May 18 @ 6:30 PM This application proposes a 12-storey mixed-use building with 277 residential units, commercial space, and a daycare facility on the ground floor. The developer previously received Ontario Municipal Board approval for a 4-storey commercial building on this site as part of a 2014 decision on the larger mixed-use site. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. 22-36 Greenbriar Road Wednesday, May 25 @ 6:30 PM This application proposes the redevelopment of the eight existing 2-storey semi-detached dwellings with a new 24-storey residential building containing 351 dwelling units. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. Official Plan Review – North York Town Hall Monday, May 30 @ 6:00 PM The City of Toronto is updating the Official Plan for Toronto 2051. The Official Plan is a City Planning document that acts as Toronto’s road map for land use and development. It sets out a long-term vision, shared values, and policies that help guide decision-making on land development, economic growth, the environment, and more. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. Save the Date: 500 Sheppard Avenue East Monday, June 6 This application proposes the redevelopment of the site with a 35- and 39-storey mixed use building with a total of 928 dwelling units. We will be sure to share registration information once available from City Planning. As always, our office will keep you informed and involved after the initial community consultation on each application. Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) & Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Rd.) North York General Hospital is running two walk-in vaccine clinics in our area in May and June: Oriole Community Centre every Wednesday (12:00 - 3:00 PM) and Thursday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) Parkway Forest Community Centre every Wednesday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Mahitab Adham and Amy Brown-Coleman, our Don Valley Northerners of the Week! Mahitab and Amy are both members of the Kingslake PS Traffic, Parking, & Safe Arrival Committee and the School Council, where they work hard to make sure that students and families from every part of the neighbourhood can travel to school safely. They are always working to share information with other parents to make sure the school community feels connected. Thank you, Mahitab and Amy, for all of the work you do for the neighbourhood! Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Summer might not technically start until June 21st, but here in the city I like to think it kicks off over the May long weekend. That’s when many of our city amenities open back up and most of us get in the summer mood. Well, what a start to summer we had! My team and I were at the Old Cummer GO Station for our first Community Environment Day when the storm hit. This week, I want to share some helpful tips and reminders to get you ready for the summer season, and also make sure you have the information you need to respond to any outstanding issues from the storm. We got our tent packed up just before the storm hit, but my team had to run to 311's rescue when their tent went down on Saturday. I know that many of our neighbourhoods were hit quite hard by the storm. I spent a few hours each day driving around the ward and reporting any downed power lines and damaged trees that I saw. Given the severity of the storm, it will take a few more weeks for City crews to complete the non-emergency cleanup work. Rest assured that our crews are still working around the clock to remove the most hazardous debris. Toronto Hydro has also been working tirelessly to restore power to over 100,000 homes that lost power over the weekend. If there are still major outstanding issues on your street from the storm, like fallen tree branches blocking the road/sidewalk or ongoing power outages, feel free to reach out to my office. My team will be happy to follow up with staff and assist. It’s important to remember that the City only cleans up debris from City-owned trees. If a tree has fallen in your backyard, or elsewhere on private property, you have to contact a tree service company or arborist to assist. One of the worst fallen trees I saw in our neighbourhoods over the weekend. I also wanted to share some tips to help you be prepared for the next extreme storm we have. Unfortunately, this type of weather is happening more and more often due to global warming. It’s important to be prepared for these type of weather events as we move into our hottest season. Preparing for a storm (when you have warning): Keep on top of yard maintenance (e.g. trim tree branches to limit breakages) Secure loose items in the yard (cushions, umbrellas, light patio furniture, etc.) Check your roof for any loose tiles or shingles, and repair as necessary Secure your garbage and recycling bins, as you don’t want garbage thrown across your lawn After the storm: Never drive through a flooded roadway Stay at least 10 metres away from downed power lines and report them immediately to Toronto Hydro (416-542-8000) or to 911 Keep clear of areas that have been hit badly by the storm, as there’s still a risk of falling debris Continue to listen to local radio and television stations for updates Check in on your neighbours, especially seniors and people living with disabilities, to see if they need assistance This helpful video from Toronto Hydro shows what you need to do during a power outage from a storm. Thankfully, summers aren’t all storms. There are so many things to look forward to here in Don Valley North. A great place to start is your local park. Many of them are home to great amenities, like playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, soccer fields, and shady areas to sit with your family. As an added bonus, as of this past Saturday, our City splash pads are now open. Our pools and wading pools will open later in June, but for now you can take your kids to cool off at a splash pad on a hot day. Let me say that I know our parks are looking a bit rough right now. Our Parks department delayed the hiring of our seasonal staff to save money as we’re still facing pandemic budget constraints, but rest assured that grass cutting will start soon. It can be hard to feel motivated to take care of your own property when our parks and boulevard are looking overgrown, but please remember that property owners have to keep your grass and weeds below 20 cm high. There are also a number of exciting events happening in the City in the coming weeks, starting with Doors Open Toronto this weekend. This is a great chance to check out our city’s architectural treasures, including our own Historic Zion Schoolhouse here in Don Valley North. A number of other events will be coming back this summer for the first time since 2019, including the Pride parade, food festivals, Summerlicious, and more. My team and I are back out under the big pink tent to chat with you about what's going on in your neighbourhood. Of course, you’ll also see me and my team out in the neighbourhood more and more in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on your mailbox for an invitation to a local park pop-up, and keep an eye on your inbox for news about more exciting summer opportunities in my weekly E-Blast all summer long. A Quick Update on Local Development We had our May meeting of North York Community Council this past Tuesday, and considered a number of development applications that promise affordable housing. As I mentioned in the E-Blast last week, we don’t need aggressive Provincial legislation to attract developers to build affordable housing. What we need are funding programs that make sure the torrent of development applications we receive every year include middle-income affordable housing. Of course, we also need to make sure that any development proposal that includes affordable housing is still put through the proper planning process. The application at 3377 Bayview Avenue (Tyndale University) is a good example of this. The developer has filed an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT), and my fellow Councillors and I approved City staff’s advice to oppose the application at the hearing. The current application proposes 1550 units of housing, half of which are to be affordable (a rate at which households making $40,000 – $80,000 would be spending about 30% of their before-tax income). I still very much want to see affordable rental units created, but there are many City Planning and community concerns that still need to be addressed, including traffic planning, more family-sized units, preserving landscape and cultural heritage aspects, and height and density. Until these concerns are addressed, City staff wanted direction to oppose. Planning & Development Updates Upcoming Community Meetings City Planning staff will be hosting a number of virtual community meetings in the coming weeks to hear from residents about development applications in/around the ward and the Official Plan Review. You can join each meeting online (via WebEx) or call in by phone. Registration links are below: Official Plan Review – North York Town Hall Monday, May 30 @ 6:00 PM The City of Toronto is updating the Official Plan for Toronto 2051. The Official Plan is a City Planning document that acts as Toronto’s road map for land use and development. It sets out a long-term vision, shared values, and policies that help guide decision-making on land development, economic growth, the environment, and more. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. 500 Sheppard Avenue East: Monday, June 6 @ 7:00 PM This application proposes the redevelopment of the site with a 35- and 39-storey mixed use building with a total of 928 dwelling units. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. As always, our office will keep you informed and involved after the initial community consultation on each application. Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) & Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Rd.) North York General Hospital is running two walk-in vaccine clinics in our area in May and June: Oriole Community Centre every Wednesday (12:00 - 3:00 PM) and Thursday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) Parkway Forest Community Centre every Wednesday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Sandy Chin, our Don Valley Northerner of the Week! Sandy was nominated by a neighbour who always sees her taking initiative to better her community. Sandy regularly cleans up litter in her local parks, and is also active on her condo board and on the Bayview-Sheppard Neighbourhood Alliance. Thank you, Sandy, for all of your involvement in your community! Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Have you ever driven along the 407 or the Gardiner Expressway and wondered about the super-sized billboards you whiz past? It may seem like they’re just slapped up anywhere, but there are limits on billboard signage here in the City. Right now, however, there’s an application to put a super-sized digital billboard in a prohibited area right here in Don Valley North. While it may not seem like the most important thing, I think you should be concerned. Let’s take a look at our city’s sign bylaws and why they should stick to the book when it comes to this application. A similar size and style of billboard on the Gardiner. In 2010, then-Mayor David Miller and Council used our new City of Toronto Act powers to collect a tax on billboards. At the same time, we had staff design a strict sign bylaw to control the location, size, proximity, and speed of image changes of billboards. This bylaw was key, as it ensured that we wouldn’t inadvertently fill the city with visual pollution just to balance our books with the new billboard tax revenue. Like with most laws and bylaws, there is an appeals process. Advertising companies apply to the Sign Variance Committee when they want to build a billboard. If they don’t like the Committee’s decision, they can appeal to City Council. Currently, Council is reviewing an appeal to allow a massive digital billboard at the westbound ramp to the 401 at Leslie Street. Now, I don’t really mind these giant digital billboards when they’re out on the 407. There’s such a large green buffer surrounding the highway that they don’t compete with many distractions. Here in the city, I despise them. On a high-volume highway in a densely populated area, like the Gardiner, these billboards are so distracting that they can be downright dangerous. This is how large each proposed billboard would be. This gets a bit technical, but here is the exact language from the sign application review that affects our ward: To establish regulations for a sign with two rectangular sign faces, each with a vertical dimension of 4.27 metres and horizontal dimension of 14.63 metres, sign face area of approximately 62.47 square metres each (three times larger than permitted by the Sign By-law); a height of 22.86 metres (more than twice as high as permitted in the Sign By-law); for the two sign faces to be built in a "v-shaped" configuration, which is typically prohibited by the Sign By-law; built within 60 metres of a Commercial Residential ("CR") Sign District; and, located within 250 metres and facing properties within CR, Institutional ("I"), Open Space ("OS") and Residential ("R") Sign Districts, which is also prohibited by the Sign By-law. ("The Proposed Sign”) Essentially, this is describing a digital Super-Billboard at Leslie and the 401 that is three times larger than what the City usually allows. Each sign would be 14 feet high and 48 feet across, placed 75 feet in the air. The height of these billboards is important to the applicant, because the taller the installation, the more time cars have to absorb the images from a distance. The problem is that it also means the light from the billboard will cast into more and more residential windows. Some of my Council colleagues downtown regularly take complaints about light pollution from residents living near similar signs on the Gardiner. A map showing the proposed location of the super-sized billboard. The proposed location contravenes a number of points in the sign bylaw: It’s too close to North York General Hospital, the residential towers in Concord Park Place, and homes in Henry Farm. It’s also too close and too bright for homes on the other side of the highway, which I’ve brought to the attention of my colleague Councillor Robinson. It’s also too close to the 401 itself, which City Council declared as a prohibited zone for third party signs back in 2010, knowing that signs here would not contribute positively to the city’s appearance. Knowing that there are a number of bylaw contraventions in this application, the applicant and his lobbyist are being very clever. They’re offering to remove five older billboards around the city in exchange for the approval of this billboard. I understand why this is a tempting offer to other Councillors, but it’s not a good deal. The problem with this removal offer is that it takes away smaller, older billboards that have already been deemed “legal non-compliant”. This means that the current signs are allowed, but if they’re taken down no one would be able to put up new ones. The applicant is offering to take these down because these five signs have become less profitable and are no longer in demand by advertisers. The applicant thinks this is a fair trade for a giant billboard in an area that is not permitted and sadly, our Provincial Government agrees. Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney has indicated that she thinks this is a fair trade, but I disagree. The advertising industry is playing a game of “Go Big or Go Home”. They know that smaller, static billboards don’t grab attention anymore, so they’re doing everything they can to keep your attention while driving. If we don’t take a stand now, this new Super-Billboard location in the heart of Don Valley North will open the floodgates for several more across the city. Next stop, the Don Valley Parkway. We have an opportunity to take action on this issue right now, before City Council casts the final vote on this matter. Click the button below to send an email to the Mayor and all of my fellow Councillors to let them know how concerned you are about this. Be sure to forward this to your friends, too. Our community needs to make it known that we don’t want to see this giant, distracting, and polluting fixture on the busiest section of the 401. Planning & Development Updates Upcoming Community Meetings 500 Sheppard Avenue East: Monday, June 6 @ 7:00 PM This application proposes the redevelopment of the site with a 35- and 39-storey mixed use building with a total of 928 dwelling units. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. You can join each meeting online (via WebEx) or call in by phone. As always, our office will keep you informed and involved after the initial community consultation on each application. Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Rd.) & Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) North York General Hospital is running two walk-in vaccine clinics in our area in June: Parkway Forest Community Centre every Wednesday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) Oriole Community Centre every Thursday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Mahnaz Ghalib, our Don Valley Northerner of the Week! Mahnaz has helped bring so much vibrancy to the neighbourhood through Friends of Dallington Park and Dallington Pollinators, including establishing the park's community garden and helping create its new shade structure/ rainwater harvesting system. Thank you, Mahnaz, for helping promote sustainability and a connection with our environment for neighbours of all ages. Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

June 16, 2022 If you turn on Newstalk1010 or CP24 during the 2 days each month when City Council meets, you might come away with the impression that City Council seems to disagree on a lot. The truth is, on average, City Council deals with between 150-300 different items over 14 hours of proceedings spread between two days. The overwhelming majority of these items are passed unanimously. How does this happen? On the first day of Council, Speaker Nunziata walks Council through each section of the agenda, taking “holds” (items on which Councillor wishes to ask questions of City staff or debate). At the end, Council votes to adopt all items not held by a Councillor. In this month’s meeting, this reduced the number of items before Council from 180 to just about 50. You might ask, “How could Council possibly deal with so many important items so quickly?”. The answer: much of the work on these items is done during the month leading up to Council. Most items go before a Committee, where members of the public come and speak directly to members of Council and then Councillors debate in-depth on how to address those issues. Following that, individual Councillors have countless briefings, meetings, and phone calls with stakeholders, staff, residents, and Councillor colleagues to receive and share information, draft motions for Council, and rally support. Sometimes this work even spills over on to Council days. That’s how Council was able to deal with over 30 additional items on day one of Council this month. Members Motions are the second largest chunk that are dealt with on the second day of Council. It is a tool that can be used to bypass the usual committee process, if the item is deemed urgent by Council. Many of these are technical in nature, such as allocating community benefit funds or accepting funds from other levels of government. Some are more substantive and lead to debates on their own. Overall, Council will give serious debate to about a dozen or so major items over two days before making decisions. And only one or two of those will end up making the evening news. SO WHAT DID WE COVER THIS MONTH?: Approved over 900 units of affordable housing through the City’s Open Door program Advanced planning on the Waterfront East LRT and Eglinton East LRT in Scarborough Approved dozens of road closures and construction mitigation measures to accommodate the Province’s Subway program being delivered by Metrolinx Requested the Province share more information about the planning and process for the Sheppard Subway extension (something I have repeatedly moved motions on at the TTC Board and at Council, in addition to running a campaign on) Provided City staff authorization to proceed with the Province’s new Blue Box Program Supported my direction to the City Manager to enhance accountability of City staff by ensuring that when you call 311, City staff can’t close the ticket without a clear and verifiable resolution to the matter; no more closing tickets without solving your problem Re-allocated millions of dollars of community benefit funding from around the city to park enhancements, public realm improvements, and affordable housing, including a project in collaboration with our Indigenous community Made amendments to our Official Plan to strengthen provisions around the role of the environment and climate change mitigation into how we grow as a City Directed staff to improve access to public washrooms, water fountains, and properly maintained park space earlier in the year Improving access to pickle ball, an increasingly popular racquet sport, particularly for our seniors Converted our Rent Bank loan program into a grant program, providing stronger short-term assistance to those struggling to afford rent and preventing them from sliding into homelessness Taking steps to protect the ability of tenants to open their windows during the summer UPDATE ON 401/LESLIE SIGN: After receiving hundreds of communications from you, our local community, outlining our concerns about the third party sign being proposed at the 401 and Leslie, Council agreed to defer all sign matters until next month so that they can be properly briefed by City staff and better understand how inappropriate this sign is for our community. I thank everyone who has written in and will keep you all posted on next steps as this comes back to the July Council meeting. Planning & Development Updates Upcoming Community Meetings 23-29 Greenbriar Road Monday, June 20 @ 6:30 PM This application proposes the redevelopment of the site with a 10-storey residential building with a total of 169 dwelling units, 22 of which are purpose-built rentals. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. You can join each meeting online (via WebEx) or call in by phone. Pleasant View Library Consultation Wednesday, June 22 @ 6:30 PM There are exciting changes coming to Pleasant View Library, including a new Digital Innovation Hub and a substantial renovation. Join our office, Library staff, and the project architects to learn more about the project and ask your questions of staff. Visit the library or email pvstaff@tpl.ca to receive a WebEx invitation to participate. Meet Sabrina Wong, our Don Valley Northerner of the Week! Sabrina is the Youth Representative on the Henry Farm Community Interest Association (HFCIA) and the Co-Chair of the Don Valley North Youth Council. Sabrina's involvement shows her deep dedication to her community and her desire to help youth get more involved in our city. Thank you, Sabrina, for everything you do. Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominatingto councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Another Provincial election has come and gone. Whether or not you decided to vote this time, we know that last Thursday’s results have huge impacts on the lives of every single one of us and the city we live in. One of the biggest challenges we’re facing as we try to move past this pandemic is affordability across the board: housing, transportation, education, healthcare, and so much more. When it comes to an issue this big, we have to look past party politics. Every party platform had strong points on how to make life more affordable, and I believe it would be wise for Premier Ford to make sure good ideas don’t go to waste. Below, I’ve provided a rundown on some of the key platform points that I think my former Council colleague, Doug, should consider to make sure young people, families, seniors, and all Torontonians can afford to stay in the city they love. I send it along with my sincere congratulations and best wishes for the next four years. Housing At this point in time, we all know there is a housing crisis. The Conservative government outlined much of their plan to address housing affordability through their most recent budget. They’ve created a Housing Affordability Task Force, and have promised to take action on key issues like prioritizing Ontario homebuyers over foreign speculators, cracking down on unethical developers, and committing to introduce a housing supply action plan every year for the next four years. Generally, I feel that this government has focused too much of its efforts on making approvals easier for developers and has required too little of the private sector in the way of affordable housing. That's why I think the Premier should make good on his debate promise and work closely with the Green Party's Mike Schreiner on realizing some of that party's housing plan, including a stronger emphasis on inclusionary zoning, creating affordable and liveable local communities, rent control, and a larger focus on publicly-built affordable units and further green retrofits on buildings. Healthcare Premier Ford has promised to invest $40 billion over the next ten years in hospitals and healthcare infrastructure, supporting more than 50 major hospital projects that would add 3000 beds. I hope to see those investments made where the need is growing fastest, like right here in Don Valley North. Our own North York General is the best of its kind and is ready with a plan to accommodate our growing and aging population.I would also encourage the Premier to take a look at a point from the NDP platform to increase funding for Community Health Centres as part of his healthcare spending. These preventative centres, like our own Fairview Community Health, are the best bargain in government in what they save in down-the-road healthcare costs. There are a couple other policies that I think are worth considering. Not only do they make healthcare more affordable for you, but they also reduce healthcare costs for the Province in the long-term. Almost all parties had a focus on increasing access to mental health services. This would save our emergency departments and police services millions that are currently being spent every year helping persons in crisis. The NDP also promised to bring mental health, pharmacare, and dental care coverage into OHIP, so you don’t have to pay with your credit card. The PCs need to begin working on a plan to implement the promised federal dental and pharmacare programs so that we’re ready for a seamless transition down the road. Education & Child Care Here at City Hall, we were tremendously relieved when the Premier finally signed a child care agreement with the Prime Minister. The lower fees introduced this year, working towards $10-a-day child care by September 2025, is a huge step in making life more affordable for Ontario families, and making sure parents, especially mothers, can get back into the workforce following the pandemic. When we talk about affordability for young people and families, we can’t ignore the cost of higher education. All of the other major parties promised to reinvest in OSAP and eliminate interest on student loans. I can’t stress enough how vital this is to our economic recovery. Low-income families need stronger student supports, and young people need to be able to pursue an education without facing a mountain of debt at the end. I hope the Premier considers at least a temporary boost to OSAP funding as part of his post-pandemic economic action so that students and their families can get on with filling important skill shortages in Ontario. Transit With the price at the pumps continuing to sit at record highs and a need to cut our carbon emissions ASAP, creating affordable, reliable transit needs to be a top priority for every party. Our re-elected government has committed to significant investments in transit infrastructure over the next ten years: $61.6 billion to be exact. This includes breaking ground on the Ontario Line, advancing planning work for the Sheppard Subway extension, and designing the Eglinton Crosstown west extension to Pearson International Airport. While getting information and transparency on some of these plans has been a challenge, the City is ultimately always ready to cooperate to help improve and better connect our local transit. The big piece that’s missing for me, and the one that is absolutely necessary to rebuild ridership on our system, is the operational funding we’re sorely missing. There is no point building shiny new lines if the subways, streetcars, and buses we have aren’t running reliably. The NDP promised to implement a 10-minute service guarantee on the system and reduce the cost at the fare box. Similarly, the Liberal party promised $1 rides until ridership builds back up. Both ideas are worth considering to help build back our transit system. Elections give us a chance to consider different visions for the future of our province. They also tend to be a time we get caught up in our differences when ultimately, most of us want very similar things. I can’t think of a person I’ve talked to in my time as Councillor who doesn’t want to keep living in the city they love, and doesn’t hope that their kids and grandkids will be able to afford to do the same. We have a lot of work ahead of us to make this a reality. Now that the election dust has settled, it’s time for every level of government to work together to make life more affordable for all. Changes to Provincial Mask Mandate This week, the Province of Ontario announced that most of the remaining provincial mask requirements will be lifted on Saturday, June 11. This includes the current requirement to wear masks on transit. The City of Toronto encourages residents to continue to wear masks while riding the TTC, and when in other vulnerable settings. Masks will continue to be required in long-term care and retirement homes. The Province will also issue guidance on June 11 on when masks should be worn in hospitals and other healthcare settings. Full details of today's provincial announcement are in the Ministry of Health statement in the link below: Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Rd.) & Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) North York General Hospital is running two walk-in vaccine clinics in our area in June: Parkway Forest Community Centre every Wednesday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) Oriole Community Centre every Thursday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet En Xia Wei, our Don Valley Northerner of the Week! Mrs. Wei is the president of Xiyanghong Happy Seniors, a group focused on promoting active living and a sense of connection to seniors in Don Valley North. Mrs. Wei has worked tirelessly to provide excellent activities and programming to the community, and helped the group adapt to offer virtual programming during the pandemic. Thank you, Mrs. Wei, for your incredible enthusiasm and deep dedication to our community. 介绍这周的当河谷北好邻居 – 魏恩霞。魏女士是夕阳红快乐家园的会长，该组织致力于促进老年人在当河谷北区的健康生活和归属感。魏女士孜孜不倦地为社区提供出色的活动和节目，并在疫情期间为会员们提供线上活动。感谢魏女士，感谢你们对我们社区的热情和奉献。 Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Earlier this week, I joined a local neighbourhood association’s AGM and was asked what City Council is doing to address the housing shortage here in Toronto. The next evening at one of my Park Pop-Ups in another corner of the ward, a group of residents gathered around me to tell me that they are very concerned about the housing crisis, and what it means for them and their families. It struck me after these events just how much community concern around this issue has grown in every corner of Don Valley North. I can’t attend a community meeting anywhere in our ward without someone saying I must do something about Toronto’s affordability crisis, and people are concerned about affordability and access to housing at every different point on the housing spectrum. We have some real opportunities on the horizon to implement a range of policies that can work hand-in-hand to truly tackle this crisis. As your Councillor, it is always my goal to work with you to make sure these opportunities turn into real, practical solutions to create liveable communities here in Don Valley North. If we look at one extreme end of the housing spectrum, we know that it is more cost-effective to create supportive housing options for those experiencing homelessness than it is to rely on the shelter system. Even before the pandemic increased the costs of operating shelters, the annual cost of a supportive housing unit was almost half of the annual cost for a shelter bed. Providing stable housing also makes it more likely that folks experiencing homelessness get access to other services they need, especially if those services are located on-site. Click on the image to view a larger version. Finland really provides the shining example of this “Housing First” policy. By creating modest accommodations for those experiencing homelessness and making sure to connect them with a range of support services, they are on track to completely eradicate homelessness by 2027. Here in Toronto, we’ve started to create more modular and supportive housing to better support our homeless population and work towards our goal of 2000 new supportive units by the end of this year. We need to keep looking for opportunities to create more of these types of units. Not only does modular and supportive housing best help those experiencing homelessness, it also frees up funding to reinvest in other housing programs. A video from the City showing what modular supportive housing looks like. The type of housing I probably get the most questions about, especially from young people and seniors living on a fixed income, is affordable housing, both rental and ownership. As I’ve mentioned before, when we say “affordable”, we aren’t referring to government-subsidized units. We’re talking about units that middle-income earners can reasonably afford, which includes a large portion of our population here in Toronto. I am always looking for opportunities to negotiate affordable units, both rental and ownership, into new developments in our ward. By working together with the community, we’ve created hundreds of newly-approved affordable units, from Bayview Village Mall on one end of our ward to Lansing Square on the other. I’ve also been working closely with the Mayor on his Housing Now initiative, which includes a proposed site here in Don Valley North that will see over 600 affordable rental units built. While we’ve made good progress, it’s not enough to rely on negotiations with individual developers to secure more affordable housing when we’re facing a crisis of this magnitude. That’s why policies like Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) are so important. IZ will require that a percentage of units in any new development be affordable. While our area isn’t included in the first phase of implementation, I’ve directed staff to study IZ along Sheppard Avenue. Their report will come back at the end of this year, and will mark another step towards creating more affordable housing in our neighbourhoods. We have another great opportunity on the horizon to create more affordable housing options in our communities. Staff are hard at work on the Expanding Housing Options in Neighbourhoods (EHON) initiative, which looks a range of low-density housing types like garden suites, duplexes, triplexes, and low-rise apartments. This is often referred to as “missing middle” housing, and helps create a more diverse range of options in neighbourhoods that would otherwise be unaffordable to many. I’ve been getting more and more questions about this type of housing lately, especially from seniors who are looking to downsize but want to stay in their neighbourhood and people hoping to create a unit for a parent or other family member to live nearby. I’m eagerly waiting to see staff’s recommendations on this initiative, and will be sure to update you through this E-Blast after we consider them at our City Council meeting next month. A drawing of what Garden Suites could look like next to different types of housing. Whenever we look at solutions like all of the ones I’ve mentioned above, we cannot implement them without good community planning. We need to make sure that any plan to add more housing options in our neighbourhoods takes into consideration the needs of both current and future residents. The investment of neighbours in these solutions is key to making sure the housing options available to us are implemented well. While I wish that the City could tackle the housing crisis on our own, the reality is that we need to work with every level of government, and especially the Province, to truly address this crisis. We need the help of the Province to make sure Toronto has the funding tools it needs to properly invest not just in affordable housing, but also the roads, transit, and parks we need to go along with it. We also need more investments in schools to accommodate the growing populations in our neighbourhoods. Allowing the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to collect development charges to help fund new schools (which is already allowed for the Toronto Catholic District School Board) would be a good start. We need to see action from the Province on these key pieces so that the City can make housing more affordable while keeping our neighbourhoods liveable. If you aren’t worried about affordable housing for yourself, I would bet good money that you’re worried about affordable housing for your loved ones, whether that be your children, grandchildren, parents, or siblings. I want to hear about your concerns and make sure we’re addressing them, so come out to community meetings, respond to this E-Blast, and give my office a call. By working together, we can turn these opportunities into solutions that will create affordable, liveable neighbourhoods here in Don Valley North for generations to come. Planning & Development Updates Prepared by Tom Gleason, Chief of Staff Coming to North York Community Council – June 28, 2022 10 Ruddington Drive Novi Properties has filed an Ontario Land Tribunal appeal for this application. As a result, City Planning and City Legal have written a Request for Directions report that recommends Council direct City staff to attend in opposition to the application in its current form: a 14-storey rental apartment building with 182 residential units on the west side of the site and a 10-storey condominium apartment building with 127 residential units on the east side of the site. In the report, City Planning outlines a number of issues, including but not limited to built form, setbacks/site organization, parkland, servicing, tree preservation, and transportation impacts. As part of the OLT appeal process, the City will continue conversations with Novi Properties to address these issues, including looking at alternative building forms for the condo building on the eastern side of the site. The full Request for Directions report can be viewed here. An Ontario Land Tribunal Case Management Conference ("CMC") is scheduled for July 11, 2022. 1181 Sheppard Avenue East Concord Adex has filed an Ontario Land Tribunal appeal for this application. As a result, City Planning and City Legal have written a Request for Directions report that recommends Council direct City staff to attend in opposition to the application in its current form: a 22-storey office tower and a 33-storey residential tower with 452 residential units connected by a 5-storey podium. In the report, City Planning outlines a number of issues, including but not limited to height, massing, parkland, phasing of the residential vs office tower, transportation impacts, and proper transit integration. As part of the OLT appeal process, the City will continue conversations with Concord to address these issues and the necessity for any future building to have a direct connections to Leslie Station and the soon to be relocated Oriole GO station. The full Request for Directions report can be viewed here. Interested parties can submit their feedback on either of the above items via email by clicking the report links above and clicking "Submit Comments" button at the top of the page. Ultimately, the Ontario Land Tribunal is now the decision-making authority for these proposals. Residents interested in learning more about participating in the Ontario Land Tribunal process can access the Tribunal's own guide for participation here. 1001 Sheppard Avenue East (Block 7) A revised development application from Concord Adex at 1001 Sheppard Ave E (on the south side of Sheppard, immediately east of Bessarion Station), is proposing to revise the current OMB-approved plan for two eight-storey towers with a 24-storey west tower and a 29-storey east tower atop a 6-storey podium with a total 686 residential dwelling units. The site is currently the location of the Concord Adex sales centre. The Preliminary Report, which outlines the application and only requests for City Planning to come out to consult with the community, is available here. The meeting is currently anticipated to happen later this year, after the election blackout period. For questions on the specifics of the application, you may contact the City's Planner reviewing the application directly: Ingrid.Fung@toronto.ca 1800 Sheppard Avenue East (Fairview Mall) As Shelley wrote about back in April, a new development application from the mall owner, Cadillac Fairview, is proposing a multi-phased redevelopment of the existing site which includes a total of 12 new buildings, with height ranges between 18- and 58-storeys, 7,840 square metres of parkland dedication, a multi-use trail, new public and private streets, and a total of approximately 4,700 residential dwelling units. The existing CF Fairview Mall would be retained. The Preliminary Report, which outlines the application and only requests for City Planning to come out to consult with the community, is available here. When this application was first received, Shelley made the following statement: "Last week, Cadillac Fairview announced that our own Fairview Mall will be the latest to follow a growing trend in Toronto and North America: the redevelopment of shopping centre parking lots into mixed use and residential buildings. Similar projects are already underway at Yorkdale, Sherway Gardens, Cloverdale and Galleria malls. Don Valley North is no stranger to this sort of development. Bayview Village Mall had its own master plan approved by the Ontario Land Tribunal back in 2020. All these projects are a reflection of the changing economics of shopping centres. In order to sustain and continue to attract major stores, malls are looking to bring more residents on-site and create community hubs. Even now, Fairview Mall is a key community, economic, and transportation hub for our community, supporting thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of transit riders daily. Any proposed development plan needs to acknowledge this reality and engage the community in envisioning how the redevelopment can best support the needs of current and future residents. As Toronto continues to grow, especially around key locations like Don Mills subway station, we need to work collaboratively and creatively to build strong, transit-oriented communities with built-in community assets like greater local job opportunities, community spaces, expanded libraries, child care, and parks. But this work can't be done without the community. That's where you and I come in to work together. Over the coming months and years, I hope you will join me and City Planning in this process. In July, we will have the first of many community meetings to shape the future of this important site for decades to come. Be sure to reach out to my office if you'd like regular updates on this project in particular." The meeting is currently being scheduled for July 11, 2022. Notices will be mailed out by the City Clerk and we will include the registration details for the virtual meeting in a future E-Blast. Given the significance of this application for our community, attendance at this meeting is strongly encouraged. Should you have any questions about the process for this application or wish to sign-up for site-specific updates, please don't hesitate to be in touch. For questions on the specifics of the application, you may contact the City's Planner reviewing the application directly: Michelle.Charkow@toronto.ca Committee of Adjustment – Survey on Public Participation in Hearings In 2021, City Council directed City Planning to conduct a review of the Committee of Adjustment. The goal of the review is to identify recommendations to improve the effective participation of both the public and applicants in the public hearing process. Members of the public are invited to provide feedback on participation at the Committee of Adjustment through the following survey: The survey is open until June 30, 2022. The survey is designed for residents who have participated in a Committee of Adjustment hearing either in support or opposition to an application. Once this review is complete, the City Planning Division will report on the recommendations to the Planning and Housing Committee. Upcoming Vaccine Clinics in Don Valley North Parkway Forest Community Centre (55 Forest Manor Rd.) & Oriole Community Centre (2975 Don Mills Rd. W.) North York General Hospital is running two walk-in vaccine clinics in our area in June: Parkway Forest Community Centre every Wednesday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) Oriole Community Centre every Thursday (4:00 - 7:30 PM) First, second, third, and fourth doses are available for those eligible. For more information, visit the link below: Meet Jean Probyn and her grandson, Matthew McCarvell, our Don Valley Northerners of the week! Jean is the Volunteer Chair for the Bayview Village Association, and can always be seen at BVA events keeping morale high and making sure volunteers feel more connected to the neighbourhood. Matthew is an ever-present volunteer with the BVA, and is always willing to lend a helping hand to better the community, whether that’s planting trees or helping neighbours with their shredding. Thank you, Jean and Matthew, for promoting volunteerism in your neighbourhood and helping make every community event you participate in such a success. Nominate a Neighbour! Do you know someone in your neighbourhood who makes a difference? Nominate them for Don Valley Northerner of the Week! To submit a nomination, please send a short blurb (~100 words) about the person you are nominating to councillor_carroll@toronto.ca. My team will contact you if we select your nominee as Don Valley Northerner of the Week!

Day Two of our November City Council session is wrapping up, so I thought I'd summarize some key developments for you here. I've received lots of positive feedback from readers about the last couple of "Council highlights" e-blasts, so I will make this a recurring monthly series after each Council session. Here's what you need to know: Surface Transit Network Plan Update Council agreed to move the Toronto Surface Transit Network Plan (STNP) along to the City-wide consultation phase. At the meeting, however, it sounded like a number of Councillors aren't feeling much like going along for the ride. The STNP is led by the City's General Manager of Transportation Services to evaluate key avenues throughout the inner suburbs to determine if any could be redesigned to accommodate dedicated bus lanes. Almost every avenue being reviewed would need alteration, widening and more to accommodate dedicated or rapid bus lanes. Staff will continue to review their potential, including looking for more minor improvements such as queue jump lanes for buses and improved signalization. Then, they will reach out to you for your opinion. There were a number of councillors who claimed this would be impossible in their areas, even though we haven’t even seen completed designs. I voted to continue the preliminary design work and do the consultations. I think you will be able to form your opinions better once you can actually see what is being suggested. Avenues that are considered first priority are Jane Street, Steels Avenue West, Finch Avenue East and Dufferin Street. All could proceed, depending on community input, as early as 2024. Future corridors beyond these would be consulted on in a few years' time. Preserving Ranked Ballot Elections I've talked about ranked ballots in-depth already. As you may know, I moved a protest motion when Premier Ford removed the right of municipalities to determine whether or not they wanted to have ranked choice voting in their local city elections. The motion passed quite handily in Council yesterday. It bears repeating that, once again, I was able to count on the Mayor’s influential support. John Tory has consistently supported this democratic reform since he was first elected. Response to COVID-19: Persevering Through Resurgence The Toronto Medical Officer of Health was stuck in her office, answering endless questions from us Councillors while drama unfolded in Etobicoke. While a restaurant owner made a very public show of defying the Premier’s order to shut down indoor dining, we discussed how to turn around this very dangerous resurgence of the virus. In answer to my question, the good Doctor de Villa confirmed her public health team are constantly reviewing their communications strategy to find more forceful and impactful ways to express the need for everyone to follow these new directives. Fair Pass Program - 2020 Update There is some good news at last on the Fair Pass, our transit discount program for low-income Torontonians. While the program launched in 2018, funding will ultimately be required from other levels of government to fully implement it. The program is currently offered to anyone who receives OW or ODSP. Clients receive a specially-programmed PRESTO card to access discounted TTC fares. The cost is calculated based on actual ridership data, and when you swipe the card, the discount is noted and subsidized by the City. Lower TTC ridership during the pandemic has left the City with additional funds for the program. As a result, City Staff are recommending adding the next phase in the 2021 City Budget, which includes eligibility for any working Torontonian who qualifies for childcare subsidies or who meets the low-income measure plus 15 per cent. This program is going to be vital to getting people back on their feet post-pandemic. Response to Proposed Regulations under the Child Care and Early Years Act For this item, I am including a link to City Staff’s very easily-digested slide deck. The presentation clearly lays out the issues our Children's Services department has with the provincial government's recently proposed changes to the child care system. Whether you use child care or not, this is an issue for all of us. Right now, parents are desperate for child care centres to just be open. Due to the pandemic, they are not able to organize and protest changes that might be unhealthy for their kids - I suspect this is why the provincial government has chosen this moment to embark on changes that would really challenge our ability to deliver quality child care with our many not-for-profit partners. Pooling together age groups while simultaneously raising the ratio of adults to children in the room is ill-advised. Parents, grandparents and future parents should let their representatives know that “Building Back Better” after the pandemic means helping parents go back to work, safe in the knowledge that their kids are being well cared for. Reducing the State of Good Repair Backlog and Enhancing Cycling Lane Maintenance This report shows we are grossly under-investing in the state of good repair for our roads, both major and local. However, we can look at it in a good news way: it shows we have seen City staff improve in their ability to spend capital dollars on roads when they have the right tools. Transportation capital staff now have their own equipment to quickly and affordably assess the conditions of roads across the city. This allows them to put the dollars into the repairs themselves. They further submit that it may be possible to be even faster and more affordable if they allow in-house City crews to do local road improvements and leave the major repairs to the big-gun private firms. While all the recommendations passed, I find it amazing that five councillors voted against the recommendation that staff further study the in-house option to make sure savings are truly possible. To me, the issue here is savings and more roads getting repaired. This should be the least ideological item of the day. Ombudsman Toronto Report - Enquiry into How the City of Toronto Handles Homeowner Third-Party Liability Claims for Basement Flooding and Sewer Backups This Ombudsman report is worth a good read-through. Over the years, many Don Valley North residents have made liability claims, particularly after our most traumatic storm on August 19, 2005. If you are one of those people, you will appreciate the Ombudsman’s recommendations. Councillor Nunziata has moved that the report be brought to the next meeting of the appropriate Standing Committee in January so that residents will have the ability to speak to the report if they wish. When that meeting is scheduled, I’ll announce it in this e-blast. We are lucky in Don Valley North to have been amongst the earliest basement flood mitigation projects. I’ll confess to being a bit of a raging Councillor back in 2006 to make that happen. These days, significant sewer backups and basement floods have become a rare occurrence. You should still remember to call my office if this happens to you, though - my team will gladly help you and suggest the best steps to take. Opposition to the Government of Ontario's changes to Conservation Authorities This one is crucial to any Don Valley resident who is a fan of our spectacular natural ravines. Our local ravines are the main reason I stepped up to sit on the Board of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). This is the multi-governmental body appointed to provide stewardship over watersheds and ravines. The TRCA Board includes councillors from all of the applicable municipalities but also citizen members, appointed based on environmental expertise. This balances out some of the politics that might otherwise dominate. TRCA staff play a very important role in protecting against over-development of our naturally significant lands. We have two coming up in Don Valley North alone, where TRCA has the authority to determine where the top-of-bank is on a ravine. For example, they can require an applicant to push development back 10 metres. But what happens when a developer applicant and the municipality band together and decide to proceed with a project against TRCA advice? Currently, the TRCA can register an appeal to the same provincial tribunal known as the LPAT, which residents and cities appeal to when they disagree with a development. The provincial government has introduced a Bill that would remove citizens from the Board as well as the ability of Conservation Authorities to appeal developments or even register to be a party to LPAT. The City of Toronto is joining other member municipalities in registering our disapproval of this Bill. Read TRCA's statement on their website here, which goes in-depth about how the approval of this Bill would endanger our precious ravines. That's all for the November Council session. Our next and final session of the year will be on December 16 and 17, where we will be discussing the 2021 rate-supported Budget. Stay tuned. Upcoming Community Meetings 1 Herons Hill Way: Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 6:30 pm City Planning staff will be hosting a virtual community meeting to hear from residents about this development application. The application is proposing a 39-storey mixed-use building with 350 residential units and 292 square metres of office space on the ground level. The existing 2-storey office building would remain. You can join the meeting online by WebEx or call in by phone. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. 3377 Bayview Ave: December 7, 2020 at 6:30 pm Some residents living in the Bayview Woods-Steeles neighbourhood may receive a notice in the mail this week about a potential development proposal on the property of Tyndale University. Tyndale and Markee Developments are exploring the creation of a residential community, including affordable and purpose-built rental housing, on underutilized lands on campus. No formal application has been submitted yet to the City. To join their virtual information session, please email hello@tyndalegreen.ca. Development Updates 630-686 Finch Avenue E There is a development application at 630-686 Finch Avenue East for a 12-storey, mixed-use building with 206 residential units and 897 square metres of non-residential space. The applicant organized two meetings this past week with residents immediately north and south of the site. As this is at the preliminary stage of the application process, City Planning staff are requesting to schedule a separate community consultation meeting to hear from more residents and community members. Once there is a confirmed date and time, we will share the meeting information with you in an upcoming e-blast. 25 Leith Hill Rd There is a development application at 25 Leith Hill Road for a 31-storey residential building with 294 residential units. The existing 15-storey rental building would remain. As this is at the preliminary stage of the application process, staff are requesting to schedule a community consultation meeting to hear from residents and community members. Once there is a confirmed date and time, we will share the meeting information with you in an upcoming e-blast. Questions or comments? Shelley and I know that these virtual community meetings are not an ideal way for City Planners, the applicants, or us to hear from you about your concerns. City Planning staff are working hard to make the public consultation experience as safe, accessible, and user-friendly as possible during these challenging times. If you have any questions or comments about any development applications in the ward, please feel free to contact me at ryan.lo@toronto.ca or call 416-338-2665.

Residents of Toronto have been invited to many public consultations lately. It can be nerve-racking to learn about changes that may affect your daily lives. The trick to keeping calm while tuning in to these virtual meetings is knowing when the "thing" — whatever it is — will likely happen. In the past, the City of Toronto could be justly criticized for consulting too late in the planning of a project. Residents and business owners felt as if they were invited to a "Show and Tell" instead of a consultation. That needed to change, and it has over the last couple of years. While urgent matters do arise from time to time, changes led by the City as well as private sector applications all need to stand before the community well in advance of projects breaking ground. Transform Yonge The "REimagining Yonge" project is a perfect example of this past problem. Also known as "Transform Yonge," this is a project to update the stretch of Yonge Street between Sheppard and Finch Avenues. It would finally create the Avenue that would complete the North York "downtown core" that former Mayor Mel Lastman and his North York council once envisioned. The idea came before Toronto City Council in 2017, at a time when there was not much awareness around the project beyond the immediate neighbourhoods in Willowdale. There were a number of concerns raised when the project was first presented to Council. It was determined that City staff should further refine and consult on it. The finished product was presented this week to the Infrastructure and Environment Committee and will be debated in City Council before we break for the holidays. Since 2017 there have been a number of consultations, thankfully most of it just before the pandemic made community meetings difficult. Despite this, there is still some misinformation about this plan to make Yonge Street a true entertainment and shopping destination. I’m going to let the local councillor, John Filion, debunk some of that. Here is an excerpt from his latest e-blast: Safety in mind That was a long excerpt, but who better to describe this project than the local councillor who has been working with his staff and community members to develop this vision of Yonge Street for many years? John explained the current challenge very succinctly with: “When you give motorists a highway, they treat it as such.” Because of that highway feel, there have been 143 collisions involving pedestrians and an additional 16 involving cyclists over the past nine years in the Transform Yonge area. Ten of those resulted in death or serious injury, not including the tragic events of the van attack. On a cold evening in February, just before the pandemic locked us all down, I joined Councillor Filion and a community group to walk just half of the area from Finch Avenue down to Mel Lastman Square. They stopped me at a number of fatal collision sites to explain how a road redesign may have changed the circumstances and saved multiple lives. When we got to the Square, we lit candles for the dead. My thoughts There is an additional thought I’d like to add that I think is an important consideration for us in Don Valley North. If Transform Yonge were being proposed for this very year, I would be concerned. However, the plan does not have construction scheduled until 2026, at which time we will be better prepared for construction on Yonge Street. For a long time, thick construction along Eglinton Avenue has challenged every major north/south avenue. Once the Eglinton Crosstown is up and running, Leslie Street, Bayview Avenue and Bathurst Street to the west will be able to accommodate us during the execution of this exciting new proposal. I know many of you are concerned about the disruption this project would bring, which is understandable. But consider this — whether we like it or not, North York is rapidly becoming a major entertainment, employment and residential hub, especially along this particular stretch. Pedestrian and vehicle traffic along Yonge on any given day (pre pandemic, that is) was already becoming unsustainable. A redesign, while initially bothersome, would ultimately make everyone's lives easier. So, let's keep our minds open and look forward to change that is truly in the best interest of our city and its residents.

2021 Rate Supported Budgets – Toronto Water & Solid Waste One of the big items before Council this month was the Rate Budgets for 2021. Our Rate Budgets are done on a cost-recovery basis: the utility rate you pay covers just the cost of delivering the service and the capital plan to keep clean water moving and keeping our waste facilities functioning. Pre-Pandemic, both Toronto Water and Solid Waste were targeting a 3% rate increase to keep up with the demands of a growing population and aging infrastructure. Ultimately, staff decided to cut the increase in half due to the financial distress faced by many across the city. This required finding efficiencies, as they do every year, and pushing out some infrastructure work. I support this balanced approach to affordability while maintaining our much-needed capital plan. One efficiency I was not supportive of was the elimination of the annual Solid Waste calendar. Why? It's a false economy. We would save the money of printing calendars that tell you what to put out, in which bin, and on which days, but it's a major loss to the education that needs to take place around waste diversion. It's a particular loss for those without regular internet access. At Council, I fought to save the calendar in its current form but my motion failed by one vote and the calendar will be cut from the budget. Fortunately, the 2021 version is already printed and being delivered. It will be your last one. Next year you will get a general info calendar but your local bin schedule will be enclosed in your water bill once a year. You will have to keep an eye out for it, or access this info online. Vacant Home Tax As I wrote about last week, City Council debated whether to move forward with a Vacant Home Tax and there were lots of councillor worries. “What about Snowbirds who are away for 6 months? What about the investor who bought condos to rent out but can’t seem to rent them? What about a home that sits vacant for a year because the owner passes away intestate and the family has legal work to do?” All of these questions can be addressed in the report coming back next year from our Chief Financial Officer with proposed solutions. An implementation plan is coming back to Council in 2021 so that we can fully understand the details and logistics of the proposal before we vote on collection. REimagining Yonge What a difference a few years of deeper work and consultation makes. The new and improved plan, called REimagining Yonge came to council with a recommended design (see my E-Blast on the topic). With refinement and understanding, the project is now being vocally supported both locally and city-wide. Last week a local ratepayer president appeared on the front page of the North York Mirror in support of the new design. The design and implementation details still need to be worked out so you will not see shovels in the ground before 2026. In the meantime, the newly formed Willowdale BIA can rebuild and recover from the pandemic year and begin planning around accommodating patrons during construction. RentSafeTO The City continues to build on its enforcement program for multi-residential apartment buildings. These are buildings of three storeys or more that were purposely built for rental. Toronto has more of these buildings built between 1955 and 1970 than any other North American city. It has always been a challenge to empower tenants to report landlords to the city for inadequate treatment, and given the city's limited power and slow progress, tenants are easily discouraged in their pursuit to improve their living situations. Often, tenant inquiries do lead to Municipal Licensing and Standards opening enforcement files on a landlord. These files can be active on a number of fronts but due to confidentiality rules, the tenant doesn’t know that any accountability is happening at all. Now Toronto will be the first of its kind to introduce a publicly posted apartment facility rating system. Similar to the Pass/Fail Public Health rating for restaurants, RentSafeTO will require landlords to post a Building Inspection rating in the front entrance of their buildings. In order to get their property reclassified and get a better sign posted, they will have to do the recommended improvements and pay a re-inspection fee, which will help fund enhanced inspection. This system will come into effect on June 1st, 2021. Vehicle Noise Enforcement Following my motion directing staff to work with Toronto Police Services on curbing late-night street racings, Councillor Filion came to me to add to this initiative an effort to control the noise generated from souped up engines. I am happy to second his motion. When the noise bylaw comes up for review, this might be added to the list of measures we need to make. It might just be possible to leave windows open on a warm night and feel like you are trying to sleep near Daytona Beach on Spring Break. Non-competitive Contract with Ernst and Young Councillor Fillion also drew my attention to this report and I have followed up with yet more scrutiny of my own. I defy any of you to read the link immediately above here and explain to me what exactly it delivers to the city for a handsome ‘Success Fee’ of $5.5 million. This contract was too far down the track for us to convince our colleagues to turn back but we have attached more stringent evaluation criteria and report-back dates for this success fee. It is an entirely new road to go down in shifting your property tax dollars out into the hands of major corporations. Sometimes just shining a light on a report written in bafflegab, as was the case here, leads all of Council to take their oversight role to heart and begin to closely follow a large expenditure such as this. Emergency Housing Action This week Council will look at many actions on emergency housing and shelter needs. As the pandemic numbers and hospitalization continue to climb and the outdoor temperature drops, actions are evolving to respond. I will work on a comprehensive update on these actions over the holiday. In the meantime, please consider putting yourself into a lockdown the way you did last spring, when it seemed we were beating this virus. Our hospitals are quickly becoming overwhelmed and are preparing for the worst. I read something on the signboard of a local church this week that was so meaningful, I had to pull over and take a photograph. I'll be back next week with a year-end wrap-up. As the holidays approach, my office will still be available to serve you, though response times may be slower as staff switch off holiday time. Our normal response times will be back up and running to serve you in the New Year. If your matter is urgent, please contact 311 immediately.

Last year at City Budget time, before the pandemic was even named, we asked City Staff to look at whether we should follow the lead of Vancouver and introduce a Vacant Home Tax (VHT). Staff's report on VHT will be discussed at Executive Committee today and debated in Council next week before we break for the holidays. Any mega-city will have a certain amount of speculation as property values will always be higher than neighbouring markets. Cities like Toronto or Vancouver, often in global top 10 lists of great cities, attract real estate speculation both at home and globally.https://www.thestar.com/news/city-hall/toronto-eyes-vacant-home-tax-though-some-say-it-will-do-little-to-boost-affordable/article_ab7d45c0-0947-5bce-8c0c-c3bca1f7ecb0.html#:~:text=Toronto%20is%20proposing%20a%20tax,as%20%2466%20million%20in%20revenue.&text=At%20a%20rate%20of%20one,year%2C%20according%20to%20the%20mayor. Foreign investors in the Toronto residential real estate game pay the same property taxes and land transfer taxes as you do. But they can cost you as well — it's great to sell your home for an inflated price, but if foreign speculation drives up prices, where is your next home going to be? If investors leave that property sitting vacant, they are not only shortening supply on the buy/sell market, they are also taking away rental opportunities. Here’s the thing about applying a steep vacant home tax: it incentivizes owners to activate their empty properties by renting them out or selling them and moving on. In Don Valley North, a number of high-end properties sit empty year after year, leaving the neighbourhood feeling less animated and less safe.https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/bridle-path-shooting-life-threatening-injuries-man-police-1.5236065 Nowadays, when careers can take families all over the globe, even high-end properties don’t need to sit empty. The housing situation in Toronto is so tight that there are families in every income bracket looking for homes to rent or own. There is a word of caution to consider. We shouldn't get used to the revenue generated by the VHT — in fact, the most successful VHT would be one whose revenue shrinks year over year as more empty homes become occupied. In other words, this is not a tax grab designed to balance Toronto’s budget. In their report, City Staff indicate there's reason to believe the problem has slowed somewhat during the pandemic, as speculators unload their properties in anticipation of a real estate crash.https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2020/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-158978.pdf But in Don Valley North, residents report that homes are still empty and they fear the house next door will stay empty long into our post-pandemic economic recovery. That empty house could also become part of another problem as a short-term rental party house. At City Hall, we have the option of receiving this report on VHT but not taking action until 2022. I hope you will agree with me that we should proceed with a Vacant Home Tax program right now. It will lead to proper investigation and follow-up and the tax can pay for that follow-up. Who knows what else they will unearth — this same investigation team could be the answer to our challenges with Airbnb. Long-term care advocacy On a different note, I read a news article with my cornflakes the other day that frustrated me to no end. You will recall that early in this pandemic, I promised you that I would advocate loudly for improvements to long-term care (LTC) in Ontario. I said I wouldn’t forget about it after the crisis had passed. Here we are, months later, in a second wave of outbreaks and deaths in over 100 LTC homes. Recently, the federal government opened discussions with provincial premiers about increasing funding directly to long-term care. Prime Minister Trudeau indicated these dollars would go towards improving quality of life for LTC residents and ensure employees make a living wage. He made it clear that his goals include a national standard of care in LTC and funding would be contingent on committing to meet those new standards. However, as reported in the Toronto Star, the premiers of Saskatchewan, Quebec and our own Doug Ford are balking at the idea of having national standards. I say: be afraid, be very afraid. I thought — and I'm sure many of you did, too — that these premiers wanted to improve their systems. I will be letting our local Member of Parliament, Han Dong, know that I expect his government to attach strings to any funds they are sending to Ontario to improve long-term care homes. You might want to do the same. If the federal government wants to bring their dollars into this field to solve the most glaring failings, they have a right to ensure their investment hit the target. This is the level of accountability the residents of long-term care, their families and employees deserve. Team announcement Years ago, I went to Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone to ask if he would promise not to hold it against me if I stole a key member of his staff. “I really need him more than you right now,” I plead. The very wise Joe P. responded, “These wonderful young people are not indentured servants. We see them grow and then we have to watch as they follow opportunity.” It’s time for me to watch as one of my team follows a wonderful opportunity to work with one of my favourite women in government, Minister Carolyn Bennett. Ani Dergalstanian has been editing my weekly column and dressing up this E-Blast along with many other duties, for the past two years. If you have enjoyed these communications, you have Ani’s dedication and professionalism to thank. Myself, Tom and the whole DVN team will miss her terribly but we are also proud to watch as Ani takes Ottawa by storm.

I hope everyone had a holiday that was safe and warm, and most of all, quiet. For me, it was too quiet. Throughout my adult life, I’ve never sat at a Christmas table of fewer than seven people. My husband, Sandy, and I fantasize about an empty nester Christmas while we wash up after a Christmas dinner that is never less than eight people but usually more. This year, I set my long table for just three. My grandchildren and their Mom quarantined at their house while my husband, our youngest, Martha, and I were done opening Christmas crackers in seconds flat. I promise I’ll never wish for an empty nest again. Now, let us all dedicate ourselves to bringing about a much better year’s end for 2021. Vaccines I was not surprised to hear that one of our first calls into the office last Monday morning was a senior resident concerned about the vaccination program. The woman that called our office is over ninety years of age and proud that she and her husband are still independent in their own home. You can imagine how these two have felt throughout this awful pandemic. They understand their high risk status fully and have taken every precaution to navigate their day-to-days. What she called to ask about was how they might get vaccinated on a priority basis, even though they do not live in a long term care home. There is no central website where you can find out how and when you will get vaccinated unless you fit into a specialized group, such as healthcare workers or long term care workers and residents. More so, the Provincial plan to get the general population all vaccinated by September is still unknown. While all levels of government play a role in getting the vaccine to you, the City's role in coordinating distribution is quite limited. Here's a tweet from Mayor Tory that attempts to explain: "Much of the vaccine rollout is beyond our control but I am determined and I know Chief Pegg and everyone on our Immunization Task Force are determined to do all we can at the municipal level to get as many people vaccinated in our city as quickly as possible." –Mayor John Tory The City's role has been limited to supporting the very end of the process: getting needles into arms, not participating in prioritizing and distribution. At the moment local public health units are not part of planning the vaccine distribution and in my view, they should be. Toronto Public Health is your local public health unit in charge of preventative health whose core mandates include increasing awareness and trust in vaccination programs, and then delivering them. They are used to working in concert with the pharmacies now permitted to administer flu shots and Local Health Networks which include doctors, hospitals and local community health centres. Instead, in this time of crisis and urgency, Ontario’s Premier has enlisted Rick Hillier to oversee design and delivery of the program. Once our Chief of the Defense Staff, Retired General Hillier might seem like a good management choice even though he has no medical systems experience. Let us hope so. As the vaccination program moves towards vaccinating the general population, I have no issue with waiting myself so that our community members over 75 can be made safe as soon as possible. I feel certain that if Toronto Public Health were granted a stronger role in distribution, they would prioritize within the general population based on age and other risk factors. I’ll be letting our local Member of Provincial Parliament know that it’s my expectation that Toronto Public Health should have a bigger role in the vaccination program, and you should contact him as well, if you agree. Trails & Ravine Systems Since returning to work, we’ve also been hearing from many of you about the snow clearance and maintenance of our precious Don Valley North trails and ravines that many have been enjoying especially during the lockdown. They are great natural assets for our community, just check out these beautiful bird photos from Gary James of the Bayview Village Association, a daily cyclist and hiker along Newtonbrook Creek: We have heard some confusion around Mayor Tory's announced WinterTO Plan with enhanced clearing of parks trails during lockdown. In Don Valley North, some knowledge and patience is required. Our understanding of the Mayor’s instructions to City staff is that the concentration is on making paved pathways through City parks safer and less slippery. Our natural trails and ravines, on the other hand, are a bit of a maze of Parks governed trails that lead to environmentally sensitive Toronto Regional Conservation Authority lands, where trails may be cleared less often, or not at all. The TRCA works to protect natural settings and their staff does not like to overuse heavy equipment down in the ravines, especially if the weather is milder and snow intermittent. When they move in to do major erosion control projects, that will be disruption enough. In the meantime, my team and I will be working with City and TRCA staff to try and see what solutions can be possible to make the trails more accessible. In the meantime, the City's Winter Plan tells you where you can access paths within our parks system that receive winter maintenance. While we encourage you to lockdown as much as possible until we see a downward trend in COVID numbers, if something is specifically impeding your outdoor fitness and enjoyment, let us know and we will try to get city staff on it ASAP. Upcoming Community Meeting 630-686 Finch Avenue East: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 6:30 pm City Planning staff will be hosting a virtual community meeting to hear from residents about this development application. The application is proposing a 12-storey mixed-use building with 206 units and 897 sqm of non-residential gross floor area. You can join the meeting online by WebEx or call in by phone. Please register here and you will receive further instructions by email. Proposed Changes to Minister's Zoning Order Powers The Ford government is proposing to expand the authority of the Minister's Zoning Order to bypass municipalities' site plan control process for development applications and remove the requirement to give public notice when using this power.Typically, the City uses the site plan control process to control technical yet important details of a proposed development, such as traffic access, waste management, and drainage, to ensure that the site is properly designed. These proposed changes will override City Council and City Planning's role and ignore public input in the development process. Shelley and many other Councillors have already voiced their strong opposition to these changes last October. We urge you to voice your concerns by emailing MPP Vincent Ke and submitting a comment to the Province before January 30, 2021.