Search this site

A note about transit: Yesterday, Mayor Tory announced he has negotiated a deal with the provincial government to endorse the Ontario Line subway plan in exchange for avoiding the TTC upload. Understandably, this has left many of you wondering what this means for Don Valley North. The deal is not set in stone — it still needs approval by City Council. Once I've processed the hundreds of pages of reports on this news, I will give you a comprehensive rundown in next week's e-blast. On Tuesday night I visited a local group of Girl Guides to talk about elections and women in politics. They prepared a long list of questions in advance. And for young women ranging from only nine to 12 years of age, they sure had a lot of serious questions on their minds. Here's a sample: Is it hard to balance the job of a politician and a mother? Can we get more subway lines in Toronto? Why are women paid less for the same job as men? Are you paid less? Can we have free ice cream days in the summer? Why don't we have a lot of homeless shelters in Toronto? Can you create a sidewalk just for people riding their bikes? Why did you sell the 407? Do you ever get nervous talking in front of people? There's an animal living on my school's roof. What can you do to get it off? I'm worried about how long it takes to wait at the hospital when I am sick, can we get another hospital? Of course, not all these questions are municipal in nature. Still, they're questions the Guides felt their City Councillor should be able to answer — and we should. Along with school board trustees, councillors are the most on-the-ground, local level of government we have. Priorities Those young girls are not unlike their parents and grandparents — they know what has the greatest impact on their families and they want to know how it will be addressed. After all, they are the "one taxpayer." If you study the graph above, you can see some concerns are strictly in my wheelhouse — snow removal, for instance. But affordable housing is the number one concern for Canadians and the young Guide who asked me why we don’t have enough shelters for the homeless. That is why, when there is a federal election, you see the Mayor inviting each of the party leaders to join him for a chat at City Hall. The Mayor and your local councillor have a duty to speak with government and party leaders to make the city's most urgent needs clear, particularly in regards to infrastructure. I found myself having to explain the word "infrastructure" to the Girl Guides — accommodating our growing number of residents requires building more healthcare, more mass transportation and so on into our communities. These are the things the city delivers together with other levels of government. Close attention “On Monday," I told the Guides, “Your moms and dads will pick someone new to represent our neighbourhood in the House of Commons. And I will have to work with whomever they choose in order to solve problems in Don Valley North — whether that means building more homes, subways or hospitals. That’s why Mayor Tory, myself and all the other councillors pay close attention to what happens in other elections.” I'm counting on you to pay attention, too. While there was great turnout in advance polls across Canada this time, many voters are still undecided. If that's you, I encourage you to use these last few days to take a good look at every party's election platform and head to the polls on Monday. Visit elections.ca for information on where and when to vote as well as what to bring with you.

BY SHELLEY CARROLL This past summer, I was appointed to the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) Board. I’ve been interested in joining the TRCA Board since 2005 — but so were a lot of other councillors. I guess you could say it’s the longest queue I’ve ever joined. The core mandate of Conservation Authorities is to protect people who live in watershed communities from flooding and other natural hazards and to conserve natural resources for economic, social and environmental benefits. Background Throughout the GTA, the TRCA has legislative control of certain ravine lands. Other areas that have been landscaped but lead to a TRCA ravine are managed by the City of Toronto's Parks, Forestry and Recreation department. Good local examples are Duncan Creek Park and Alamosa Park, which both lead to TRCA creeks. The wonderful thing about Toronto’s ravine system is that every councillor has some territory of interest in our Conservation Authority’s mandate. In Don Valley North, the Sheppard subway corridor is the most densely populated area outside the downtown core, but we also have the East Don River and all its ravines and trails. One can spend three hours deep in the East Don Parkland trail — admiring fall colours, feeling a million miles from civilization — and then step out to find yourself at a subway station at Leslie and Sheppard. Our Don River and Betty Sutherland Trails may seem like places where nature is allowed to take its own course right through the city. In reality, ravines and trails need a lot of maintenance. Often, you will find that crucial infrastructure runs through them, especially for stormwater management. Cleared paths need to run through to allow access to the whole ravine from end to end — both for your enjoyment and frequent upkeep. Come budget time in the new year, I have two places to look for our ravine maintenance. High maintenance The TRCA has a new and massive trail strategy. It's funded on a per-capital share basis by the six member municipalities on the board. I’ll be reviewing the multi-year TRCA budget to look for a fair share of attention being paid to our trails, ravines and creeks. But secondly, it will be important to look to the City of Toronto's budget for the other half of this equation. Toronto's Parks budget has its own ravine maintenance strategy but needs to do more to address extreme weather damage, litter pick up and more. If you don’t keep up with it, nature has a way of overwhelming these precious assets Last year, for instance, we were told that a slight enhancement in funding to improve litter control was necessary but Council did not fund it. The price tag won’t go down if we fall behind — the job just gets bigger if we neglect it. With Toronto's Budget season upon us, let me know what you see and what needs attention when you're out on a nature walk in Don Valley North. You are often my best eyes on the street — if you are out to admire the fall leaves this long weekend, please be my eyes on the trail, too. Here's a brief video where Mayor Tory sums up Toronto's ravine strategy. Education One more note for the future — another thing I’m focused on at the TRCA is the future of our precious Outdoor Education Centres. Many parents and grandparents (like myself) fondly remember the value added to our kids’ science education when they visited Forest Valley for the day or took an overnight trip to the Sheldon Valley outdoor education camps. Many of these facilities are on or adjacent to TRCA lands, and TRCA staff are a big part of delivering the science education there. Should the GTA school boards find themselves under pressure to close or stop using some of these facilities due to funding cuts, great early education exposure to environmental sciences will be lost. I’m committed to finding affordable ways to preserve and continue this experiential science curriculum. It gives all our kids a healthy respect for the nature that runs through their bustling city so they will preserve it for their own children one day.

BY SHELLEY CARROLL Up here in Don Valley North, we don't often think of streetcars as an essential part of our commute. Until the Eglinton Crosstown LRT opens, surface rail is something only a subset of us need for travel. When it comes to buying new streetcars, however, each one carries a hefty price tag and it becomes a city-wide budget issue. Even now, years after they first debuted, you can't help but look up as a majestic "new" Toronto streetcar glides past. On King Street they hold more people than we could ever carry on buses, even if we ran them bumper to bumper. When the troubled order of new streetcars first started to arrive, you had to be at King and Spadina and cross your fingers to see one rolling down the track. Now, they're everywhere. And as much as they carry, we actually need more — at least 60 more, in fact, to handle some line expansions and increase passenger volume where needed. Background Back in 2009 when the cars were first ordered, there was controversy. Transit vehicles are manufactured by only a few very large interests from around the world, all of which employ aggressive lobbying tactics when they sniff a big order coming. In a large city government like ours, the lobbyists circle like buzzards for a year or two in advance of a big order. Pretty soon you start to sense who has picked their favourite supplier by the questions they ask in TTC Commission meetings or even in Council committees. Fortunately, modern public procurement law and ethics commissioners have have worked hard to keep political preference out of the process. Lawyers and engineers write up tender documents and follow rigorous procedures to determine which bids are worthy and compliant with the contract terms. Finally, they find the lowest bid and bring it to City Council to check their work and award the contract. That's how Council chose to have the new streetcars manufactured in Thunder Bay by Bombardier. It's known as a Canadian firm, but Bombardier has rail transport vehicles all over the world. The Flexity in Berlin is a standout example. A bump in the road Toronto ran into trouble with its Bombardier vehicles initially. Council imposed a strict Canadian content rule and a lowest bidder process. Bombardier bid well below other manufacturers (by half a billion dollars) by planning to have its major parts manufactured in Mexico, then shipped and assembled in Thunder Bay. They encountered problems with this two-part process, which they had not experienced in their European operations — there, vehicles are built on one site and issues are resolved more easily. Delivery was slow in Toronto and came close to becoming a major crisis. The old streetcars are now being retired just as the last of the new order is delivered. Despite this, last week the TTC received exciting statistics that indicated the new cars were performing exceptionally well, and released these numbers to the public. But the Toronto Star painted another picture which made it necessary for me to call TTC executives into my office. Apples to oranges The senior executives explained to me that The Star was comparing apples to oranges. The publicly-released statistics reflect only the mechanical reliability of the new streetcars. This is done for good reason — to allow the TTC to decide whether they should order from Bombardier again or not, now that the kinks have been worked out and we are receiving good products. But there is another set of statistics that isn't so peachy. This other set of stats takes in more than just mechanical failures — it also calculates service indicators such as Presto reader failures, short-turns, road construction, route disruptions, preventative scheduled maintenance and more. As you can imagine, the results were much lower than a pure measurement of mechanical failure. Because of this explanation, I am prepared to keep an open mind and let staff provide a full report on whether we should order from Bombardier again. And as part of that report, I expect to see TTC staff be very forthcoming about these discrepancies noted by The Star. You deserve an explanation, as well — after all, it's your $360 million the City will be spending to get those 60 new streetcars.

BY SHELLEY CARROLL In this week's e-blast, I'll need some interaction from you. I hope you will join in. City staff are not leaving anything to chance. They've updated the former, politer "Please slow down" lawn signs. Now, "SLOW DOWN!" is our simple mantra for everyone using Toronto's roads. In Don Valley North, we're dedicating a weekend to this — we have two opportunities coming up for you to pick up these cool new signs and help make our streets safer. This Saturday, we are holding a Road Safety Town Hall. It's at Forest Grove Church (in Bayview Village) at 2PM. It's important you try your best to attend this one because our goal is to get all of your remaining concerns on the table. The results of this meeting will form the basis of my team's work with City Transportation staff for the remainder of this term of office. Transportation staff will be on hand to listen to your concerns and help me present the Vision Zero changes happening over the next couple of years. I have to say, Transportation staff really are doing all they can to implement solutions to the current traffic fatality crisis. Be sure to join us on Saturday to share local traffic intel with them and learn more about Vision Zero. Pineway pop-up The work continues on Sunday with a temporary road safety installation on Pineway Boulevard, in front of Pineway Public School. Throughout Don Valley North, several of our schools are in the queue for speed limit reductions and "watch your speed" digital signs. In the meantime, we want to pilot a traffic calming idea. So, starting Sunday afternoon, we will temporarily transform the stretch of road in front of Pineway Public School. The area has been studied by city staff and is eligible for traffic calming measures — residents of the area tell us it's become a dangerously popular shortcut for commuters. The challenge is determining which measures. That's where the international organization 8 80 Cities comes in. They've agreed to help us conduct a little experiment — from September 29 to October 4, drivers will navigate around temporary road fixtures to see if it will help slow down cars and keep the kids and seniors who walk the area safe. City staff will study the impact of the experiment and eventually propose a permanent fix. Join us Sunday at 10AM if you want to help set up the installation and thank the wonderful folks at 8 80 Cities for helping our community. Oh, and if there are any "Slow Down!" signs left from Saturday, we will have them in the Pineway Public School parking lot. Last chance for input Here’s a chance to interact with me without leaving your chair this weekend. I just need you to watch a video and send me your feedback. We met a couple of weeks ago in the community room at Mountain Equipment Co-op (thanks, MEC!) to gather feedback on the renaming of the new public park near Bessarion subway station. Those of you who came had some good advice. About 500 of you have already watched my video (through both YouTube and Instagram) on why we are proposing an Indigenous name — Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ — for this new park. Having watched my video which explains the genesis of the name, a public City survey on the matter showed 80 per cent of the survey respondents were in favour of the renaming. However, those who attended the meeting suggested we circulate the video and ask for your feedback one more time to hear from more people before the matter goes to Council for a final vote. So, please check out my video below and send me your feedback on the proposed renaming. You can email me directly at councillor_carroll@toronto.ca any time between now and Monday, September 30th and I will ensure your comments are recorded for consideration. PB Diary Since our Idea Collection Meeting last week in Parkway Forest and Henry Farm, my staff have been preparing your idea cards to give to City staff to review and come up with cost estimations. While that work is going on, I want to share some Participatory Budgeting (PB) knowledge from around the world. This week, we're looking at Scotland. PB was first piloted there in a neighbourhood in Glasgow more than 10 years ago. Municipal authorities had heard about PB processes happening in Brazil since 1989 and wondered if it could solve the big disconnect between people and government in their own city. Glasgow councillors reached out to Brazil PB organizers for advice and tried it out for themselves. It was a resounding success. Today, Scotland boasts a national Participatory Budgeting office. Processes like the one going on now in our own ward happen all over Scotland every year. Scotland's small size lends itself to deciding a lot of the big infrastructure pieces, planning matters and finances on a nation-wide scale. But residents live in local communities and they need a direct say in their local surroundings. The government of Scotland recognized that a growing number of towns were giving residents that voice through PB. So, in 2015, they announced the "Community Empowerment Act" which provides guidelines for community engagement and incentivizes PB. A community empowerment fund helps local cities run their PB votes so that if they use this democratic decision making, all of the local tax dollars will really go to the winning PB projects. I find this incredibly inspiring. What if, every year, all 25 of Toronto's wards — each with a population larger than most towns in Scotland — used PB to decide how a small amount of local capital will be spent? If it happened every year and your understanding grew, would your neighbourhood ideas start to show equal measures of practicality and visionary thinking? That’s what’s happening in Scotland. Enjoy another video below, delivered this time in one of the most charming accents in the world. Community Events & Notices

BY SHELLEY CARROLL Every year around this time, my younger daughter, Martha, catches me by surprise. We’ll be driving down the Don Valley Parkway and she will say, “There’s an orange one. It’s happening.” Martha looks at the world through the eyes of a painter, so she's always the first person to tell me the leaves are turning. As a City Councillor, I look at it a little differently: it means Yard Waste Season is upon us! The City has a great page on its website that is very simply laid out. It tells you: What is yard waste. What is NOT yard waste. How and when to put it out. What the website might not tell you is what to do when the yard waste program is sometimes overwhelmed and no one comes to pick it up. When that happens, you can phone 311 any time to let them know. But I always appreciate it when you call me, too. During office hours, my staff can address your issue quickly and I get the added benefit of knowing whether or not the service is working well. As you are raking leaves in October, Budget Committee members like myself are reviewing every department’s budget. The first question we ask is, “Were you able to meet the service levels we set last year? If not, why not?” Before we decide to reduce a budget for savings and especially before we consider requests for an increase, we want to know how the service feels on the ground. So, whenever you experience a hiccup in service, give us a call. My team will track your comments and keep me informed. I’m a lucky duck. My husband and I bought a house on a small lot with few trees — we total about a bag or two of yard waste a year. For the Don Valley Northerners who will fill a dozen bags soon, I’ll be thinking about you. I’ll make sure the City is doing its best to collect it promptly and turn it into the free compost we'll offer next spring. PB Diary Now that this year's Participatory Budgeting (PB) process is well underway, I'm going to write a recurring column to update you until the process is complete in December. As you know, we are currently holding a PB process for the Henry Farm and Parkway Forest neighbourhoods because we have $500,000 in community benefit funds to spend there. On Wednesday night we held an Idea Collection Meeting. Local residents came by to submit and discuss their ideas on how to best spend the money. We were also served a delicious dinner provided by a resident of Parkway Forest who is working on starting her own catering business — this is all to say that PB is not just a series of dull meetings. It's actually great fun. Our next step is meeting with City staff to hear their advice on which ideas are doable and how much each will cost. Then we'll meet again to decide which ideas should go on the final ballot. Local residents who want to champion their favourite idea on the ballot will have a month to go out and campaign for it among their neighbours. Before the end of the year, anyone aged 14 and over who lives in either Parkway Forest or Henry Farm will be eligible to vote on their favourite idea. If you want to help out or learn how to make it happen in your neighourhood, contact Mustapha Khamissa at mustapha.khamissa3@toronto.ca. You don’t have to live in Don Valley North to visit our process. I believe PB should be happening in every corner of the City — you could be the PB champion of your ward! Community Events & Notices

BY SHELLEY CARROLL Last spring I got a call from an old friend, Lizette Zuniga, who started the Toronto Community Housing revitalization projects in the Villaways and Allenbury Gardens. She now works for Rooftops Canada, a program that works with the Canadian housing sector and overseas partners to improve housing conditions and build sustainable communities. Lizette asked if, while Council was on recess during the summer, I could join a team of Canadian officials in Durban, South Africa for two weeks to advise the local government on social and affordable housing development. This was a humbling request. After all, we are not moving fast enough in our own city to create affordable housing — what could I offer? Turns out, our experiences here in Don Valley North with two social housing revitalization projects provided useful lessons. Background Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes other neighbouring towns and has a population of about 3.7 million people. However, more than half the population live far outside the urban core in areas known as "townships," which were large swaths of land used to segregate black people during apartheid. When apartheid ended, many white business interests fled the city. This left the inner core underdeveloped and ushered in a wave of organized crime. Twenty-five years later, the port and two oil refineries drive the economy, and city staff are working hard to reduce crime and increase opportunity to realize Durban’s full potential. Durban's local government identified large plots of city-owned land both inside the city and in the townships. They devised a plan to provide social and student housing in the city's core to situate residents closer to work and school. Outside the core they are trying to improve retail, employment and transportation as well as middle-income affordable housing. In the townships, the rationale is to provide housing for families who have begun to succeed but want to stay close to family members still living there. What Durban is doing right Similar to Toronto, Durban has set up a real estate office and corporation to partner with non-government housing builders and operators to develop the homes. The difference is that, unlike Toronto, Durban will continue to own the land once it's developed. And depending on the site, the building operators will be granted 50 or 99-year leases. This is important because it allows the city to hang on to the value of its land while providing affordable housing today. I envy Durban's insistence on long leases. In recent years, Toronto has negotiated with some developers to include a set number of affordable units in their projects — but only for 25 years. In all of these cases, the developer owns the land and controls the fate of the units when the affordable term expires. At 121 Parkway Forest Drive, for instance, I was overjoyed to negotiate a mix of rent-geared-to-income units when I was a rookie on Council. Twenty-five years seemed like such a long time then — now, I fret because 15 of those years have already flown by. The missing middle Now I'm back in Toronto facing the reality of our own housing needs. Mayor Tory and City Council unanimously agree we’ve got to act fast. To that end, we voted last December to activate 11 city-owned plots of land and develop a mix of market-rent and affordable homes on them. Our method of proceeding is not ideal. We will not maintain ownership of these lands like our South African counterparts are determined to do. Furthermore, only 37 per cent of the units to be constructed will be deemed "affordable." These units will, on average, rent for 80 per cent of Toronto’s average market rent. We urgently need more of this "missing middle" range of housing. Many of our kids and grand kids are finding that even with post-secondary educations and jobs to match, salaries are not keeping pace with housing needs. Yet even at the small ratio of only 37 per cent affordable, Toronto affordable housing projects are proving controversial. Facing the facts Since my return from South Africa, three of the 11 Housing Now projects have been the subject of negative consultation meetings. Rather than work together, some community members came to shout "Why here?" and "What sort of people will move here?" I have it on good authority that this is what transpired because my own daughter attended two of these meetings. My eldest daughter is eligible for affordable housing on paper, although no units are currently available for her. She performs a job in one of the best hospitals in North America that she had to go to college for almost three years to qualify for. But in this day and age, even her unionized health sector job does not provide enough for a single mother to pay full market rent. So to answer the question of "what kind" of people will be moving into those units — it's my kid. It's your kid and all of their kids coming along in the next generation. It's time to face the facts: there is no longer any room for NIMBY-ism in the face of Toronto's housing crisis. You'll recall that one of the 11 Housing Now sites is in Don Valley North on Esther Shiner Boulevard. When it's our turn to take our first look at the project in 2020, I hope our community will come together to roll up our sleeves and discuss how to make it work. Change is hard — but our kids are counting on us. Community Events & Notices

BY SHELLEY CARROLL On Tuesday morning, Zoomer Radio called asking if I could go on air to discuss school safety zones. "Why would a radio station focused on seniors' issues want to talk about school safety zones?" I thought. I then remembered that unsafe school drop-off areas are almost always brought to my attention by a concerned senior who has witnessed many near misses between a car and a child. Later that morning, Zoomer called back to say that Mayor Tory would be speaking with them on this important topic instead. That was A-okay with me — it's important for all road users to understand that the Mayor and every member of Council is committed to ending pedestrian deaths. After all, Vision Zero is a non-partisan commitment. WHY SCHOOL ZONES? School zones are evenly dispersed throughout the city. If one of the first things a driver sees on their morning ride to work is a new or updated school safety zone, they will be reminded to pay close attention to everyone using the road throughout their entire commute. By working with over 600 school sites, we hope to gradually adopt safer streets across Toronto. Everyone wants children to be safe — that’s a no-brainer. But pedestrian deaths are happening more frequently these days in every demographic. Despite this fact, "War on the Car" rhetoric still runs rampant. So, I'll say it: we need a war on bad driving behaviour. No politician, traffic planner or police officer is trying to make cars go away. We are, however, fully invested in having people improve their driving habits. HEARING FROM YOU I know many of you are passionate about this topic. That's why my team and I have a couple of events planned this month that will pique your interest. We're holding a Road Safety Town Hall on Saturday, September 28th with Vision Zero staff to inform you about the next phase of this plan and get your feedback. The town hall will be held from 2-4PM at Forest Grove United Church. More details in the poster below. I'm also excited about our road safety pop-up with 8 80 Cities on Pineway Boulevard. From September 29 to October 4, a section of Pineway will be temporarily transformed to show how quick and simple design elements can be introduced to create safer streets for all. This will be one of three pop-up street makeovers in Toronto and is an important step in addressing the neighbourhood’s concerns about speeding and pedestrian safety. The data and feedback gathered from this pop-up will help inform future road improvements in the area. I look forward to meeting you at these events and working with you to make our roads — in Don Valley North and across Toronto — safer for everyone. Park naming update I want to thank the many people who answered the City's recent survey about choosing an Indigenous name — Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ — for the spectacular new park near Bessarion subway station. The response was overwhelmingly positive, which is wonderful news for the Wendat Nation who first made their homes there. Multiple respondents also suggested we follow the lead of New Zealand communities who provided pronunciation guides when they began their own Indigenous renaming strategy. My creative staff team got me out bright and early on Labour Day to shoot the video below. Have a look: If you didn't get a chance to respond to the survey, you can reply to this e-blast and we will make sure your comments are recorded. We are also holding a public meeting next week to tell you more about the story behind the name and gather more feedback. The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 12 at 6PM at the Mountain Equipment Co-op. I understand that previously, the park and the street adjacent to it were given official names without your input. This time, we consulted the Wendat community and now we're consulting you. We hope you can join us. Community Events & Notices

BY SHELLEY CARROLL I was planning on dedicating this first e-blast back after the summer break to a light-hearted roundup of my team's work over the last few weeks. But looking at the news now, I feel that would be disingenuous. I’ve been struggling to find a way to write about the violence in our city this summer. It seems that day after day, another violent incident occurs and we hear the same stale refrain from politicians and officials: "This is just bad guys targeting bad guys. Toronto is a safe city." We've become used to hearing this statement over and over — but it's cold comfort. I don't know about you, but I just can't buy that anymore. I am too devastated by how many of Toronto's youth are becoming drawn into lives of crime in the first place. Reliable supports Whenever we have an uptick in violent incidents in Toronto, we are lucky to have other orders of government rush to invest in our city. Sometimes it’s an infusion of funding for the police service. Other times, it's direct investment in our youth. One of the most generous examples was the "Youth Challenge Fund" created with provincial funding after the notorious "Summer of the Gun" in 2005. City Hall is always willing to administer these violence response funds — our Social Development staff are brilliant at ensuring these funds reach the most effective not-for-profit agencies to get the maximum benefit on the ground. The problem is these dollars are always one-time sums that come in, make a difference — and then evaporate. Children and youth need more permanence and stability in their community supports. Long-term investment It's high time we recognize the best youth supports are the kind that operate year after year. An eight year-old who sees gang life around him needs to know there is a reliable community space nearby where he can feel safe and learn to make better choices. He needs to know that space is going to be there for him throughout his childhood and adolescent years. Programs like this need more than one-time funding infusions whenever our government is nervous. I hope you and I can agree that now is the time to stand up for real investment at the city level to offer our youth better lives. An example of such a program is Pathways to Education. Pathways was founded as a response to the rapid deterioration of the Regent Park community — young people were dropping out of school, joining gangs and becoming victims of gun violence. The program stepped in to provide integrated support for high school students throughout their entire high school career — and the results were groundbreaking. Core to Pathways' success is the fact that it is funded consistently and kids in that community grow up knowing they have a place to go. The path forward We need to take a hard look at what our city provides in the way of spaces and programs for youth to flourish. Where are our gaps? What are we doing about them? I asked for such a review shortly after being sworn into office last year. When it arrives, just in time for Budget season, I will be asking that we respond with committed, continuous investment. We can no longer convince ourselves these incidents only happen in certain parts of town. Despite excellent youth policing in Parkway Forest, we saw a rumble quickly form on a summer evening and a number of young men were injured. We’ve heard of shots fired and shell casings found recently in Bayview Village. Instead of resigning ourselves to a new reality, let's get used to investing in our youth to foster the safe city we all want — for the long term. Community Events and Notices Join us: Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ Park Naming Consultation In an effort to fulfill Toronto's commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, we are proposing a new name for a new park in Don Valley North: Ethennonnhawahstihnen’ [et-hen-nonn-ha-wah-stih-nen’], which means "where they had a good, beautiful life." The name was suggested by the Wendat community to honour the Wendat Nation, who first inhabited the area. We are hosting a public meeting with the City of Toronto’s Park, Forestry and Recreation and Indigenous Affairs Office at Thursday, September 12th at 6:30 PM at MEC North York (784 Sheppard Ave E). Join us and learn more about the story behind the name and the City’s efforts in Indigenous place-making. For more information, visit: shelleycarroll.ca/park-naming.

STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF OUR FORMER MPP, DAVID CAPLAN This morning, I was deeply shocked and saddened to learn of the passing of my friend, David Caplan. David and I worked closely together for many years as representatives for the Don Valleys. He was a champion of his community and dedicated his life to public service. David was one of my strongest mentors in politics. He was an invaluable guide and source of encouragement in every political role I have pursued. He was one of the most devoted fathers I have ever known. I am devastated for his wife, children and family and offer them my sincere condolences. David's loss is felt deeply – both personally and in Don Valley North. He will be missed. Summer sign-off If the scorching heat is any indication, summer is in full swing here in Toronto. There are festivals every weekend, outdoor pools are bustling, and the familiar aroma of a backyard barbecue wafts through every neighbourhood. But for me, summer doesn't truly begin until our annual Summer Celebration. I've been hosting an annual Summer Celebration for several years now – long-time residents will remember it as "Peanut Town," due to its location in The Peanut. For those who've never been, it's a free event my team and I host for Don Valley North residents to ring in the summer with entertainment and good company. The combination of sunshine, music and crowds of people enjoying their community embodies the true spirit of summer to me – and this year's celebration was no exception. Last Saturday, we welcomed hundreds of people at the Oriole Community Centre to enjoy free food, performances and family-friendly activities for what is one of my favourite events of the year. I had the pleasure of meeting many of you – some old friends and plenty of new faces, too. We, along with several community organizations, were treated to a dance show, a cooking demonstration by the Oriole Food Space, a yoga class, hot dogs and ice cream, and the unveiling of a heritage plaque. We were joined by Heritage Toronto to unveil a new historical plaque commemorating the O'Sullivan Hotel. The Hotel was originally located at Victoria Park and Sheppard, and was owned by Patrick O'Sullivan and Ann O'Reilly-O'Sullivan. It first opened in 1860 and remained open until 1954. It was an important landmark of entrepreneurship and placemaking in what is now Don Valley North. I thought the Summer Celebration was a poignant occasion to introduce this new plaque. After all, we're doing placemaking of our own – cheerful and lively events like this serve to strengthen the connection between you and the places you share in our community. When our ward was expanded to double its size, I was initially concerned about losing the personal touch you have come to expect from me over the years. But this Summer Celebration – and all our fantastic events over this past year – have put me at ease. My team and I plan to hold many more like it to continue meeting you and learning about you. I will be signing off this e-blast until the end of August. Council and Committee meetings start up again in the fall, so until then there won't be much to update you on. Rest assured, we're still working hard – my staff are here to serve you. If you have any City-related concerns, please send us an email or call us using the information below. I hope you and your family enjoy a safe and happy summer. If you find yourself looking for things to do in the community, check out the events page on my website at shelleycarroll.ca/events. We'll talk soon. Until then – take care. Shelley Carroll Councillor for Don Valley North councillor_carroll@toronto.ca 416-338-2650 100 Queen St. W, Suite A3

I've told you before that I drive – a lot. When I’m not working, I'm driving my grandsons around to basketball practice. After an evening of driving them, I reflected on the Vision Zero and Cycling Network Plan scheduled for discussion in Council this week. Vision Zero answers the call of many, many residents with plans to make gradual speed limit reductions across Toronto over the next two years, along with measures to make intersections safer for pedestrians. The Cycling Network Plan will connect a number of existing bike lanes and off-road trails, add a few routes and study major routes that have been requested for decades A typical evening I left City Hall at 4 PM on Monday and drove through the East End to pick up my grandson. Along the way I counted cyclists and asked myself: could I share this stretch of the Danforth with cyclists? The answer was simple – I already do, and I'm managing just fine. Installing cycling infrastructure there would make it safer for both drivers and cyclists. After picking up Tristan, we headed to Scarborough, where his teammate lives. As I drove up Birchmount Avenue and then McCowan Road, I wondered: would I be okay if these roads had their speeds reduced to 50 km/h after tomorrow's Vision Zero vote? The answer was yes, because I realized it was 5 PM and at that time it's impossible to go faster, anyway. I picked up another teammate in York Region and managed to get everyone to practice at Francis Libermann High School by 6 PM. That’s a lot of ground covered in the middle of rush hour. The evening wasn’t over, though. I then travelled west to the North York Civic Centre for a community meeting on the Sidewalk Labs proposal. The meeting had already started, but traffic required me to drive at about 50 km/h. I still got there, learned a lot, and then repeated the whole journey in reverse – picking up the boys, taking them home and getting to bed by 10:30 PM. It's possible The point I’m trying to make here is that Vision Zero is possible. If we gradually implement these changes over the next few years, we will manage – and most importantly, fewer pedestrians will be injured. Speed kills in a variety of ways, and not just because a fast car hitting a human has the power to kill. Speed changes the way drivers make decisions; for example, you're at a full stop about to turn left. The faster oncoming traffic is going, the more you focus on those cars as you decide when to turn. When you step on the gas and try to beat the traffic, you may miss that, while you were focusing on those cars, a pedestrian entered the roadway. Often, that is how pedestrians die. I've spoken about Vision Zero many times – but this Tuesday, the importance of achieving its goals hit very close to home. Just before I was scheduled to speak about the Vision Zero report in Council, I received news that a pedestrian in her 60s passed away after being hit by a truck at Don Mills and Cliffwood. The tragedy of this coincidence is not lost on me. I have heard residents' concerns about this area since long before I became their Councillor last December. That's why I asked that the Don Mills and Steeles area be the City's first priority as Vision Zero is rolled out. This is not about assigning blame – this is about saving lives. Let's bring on Vision Zero, now. On a happier note: The new seniors' fitness park at Godstone Park had its grand opening recently and was featured on City News! The project is the result of a Participatory Budgeting process where local residents voted to build exercise equipment to encourage seniors to be healthy and active. I'd like to give a special shout-out to Shirley Kehimkar who worked tirelessly on this project and is a true Participatory Budgeting Champion. Congratulations, Don Valley North! It's so rewarding seeing another successful PB project being enjoyed by our community.

City politicians are addicted to adjusting things. We can’t just create a law or policy and then let it lie – there is often an enterprising councillor wishing to crack open a done deal to tweak "just one small thing." Municipal licensing of taxis is a perfect example of this. Over the years, we’ve debated and changed rules around the rates, licensing and training, brokering and shift driving, age of vehicles, accessibility of vehicles and most recently, the fuel and greenhouse gas emissions of vehicles. Higher standards The issues used to be about improving the experience of passengers and the driver who doesn’t own his cab. These days it’s about applying standards to both the taxi and limousine industry and the newer app-based car services such as Uber and Lyft. In Council next week, the Mayor and Council will look at a report that reviews the effectiveness of the rules we created in 2016 when Uber and its competitors first appeared on the scene. When the report went through the Licensing Committee a few weeks ago, they made dozens of amendments to the 2016 bylaw. The amendment I want to emphasize is the environmental regulation of vehicles – here's why. "Green" taxis In the last days of Mayor Ford's term of office in 2014 – when the Mayor had been sidelined and Councillor Norm Kelly was the city's Acting Mayor – Council tinkered some of our taxi laws and introduced a phased approach to "greening" the taxi industry. The new guidelines required taxi owners and companies to move to low-emissions, fuel-efficient or electric cabs within seven years. (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star/Getty) Flash forward to 2016. Uber had come to town, insisting they were not a taxi service and blatantly functioned outside our rules, claiming "We just run an app; some people use our app to share their cars with other people.” In my view, that’s a taxi. If it walks like a duck... At that time, the green taxi bylaw was still in its early days, so we didn't make any changes then. I regret that now – there are so many ride-hailing apps and drivers on the road today that they represent a significant contribution to our city’s carbon footprint. It’s unfair to hold taxis to account for their fuel emissions and not other services like Uber and Lyft. Shared responsibility Rather than bring the Ubers of the world into the future and require them to use green vehicles, city staff are recommending to simply level the playing field and require all cabs and car services to meet the same emissions standards as your personal car (which are lower). This is because of concern that requiring all vehicles to meet these standards would be difficult to enforce and might result in a legal battle. I don't think that's good enough. This is about the quality of the air we breathe – do we really want to jeopardize that? Collectively, you take your responsibility for clean air very seriously. Don Valley North has one of the highest rates of electric and hybrid car sales in the country. We have one of the highest rates of per capita transit ridership in the GTA. I have to believe you want clean air, and that you want us to meet our environmental goals. In order to do that, we have to take every opportunity to reduce our emissions. We have spent years regulating and raising the quality of taxi cab vehicles. If ride-sharing companies want to come to town and compete with that, they need to admit the cars their drivers use are business vehicles and work to meet our environmental standards. We should aim to achieve equitable treatment of both services – not by lowering our standards but by applying high standards across the board.

BY SHELLEY CARROLL When a virus becomes a worldwide concern, we are all on high alert. We're constantly watching the news and searching for updates online. The potential to go down the internet rabbit hole and start trusting the wrong sources is always there. I was at a bank yesterday morning when a clerk there demonstrated what I mean. On my way to the bank, I heard the latest joint update from our City's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen De Villa, and Minister of Health Christine Elliott. They presented the facts: that the risk to Toronto residents remains low. They stated they are confident of the containment measures being rolled out in China and that international authorities are en route to verify. They also cautioned Canadians and especially Ontarians to not panic in the face of our three confirmed cases, and to simply follow recommended precautions and go about your daily life. The fatality rate from novel coronavirus still appears much smaller than that of SARS in 2003. But my bank clerk heard from another, unverified source that same morning. She proceeded to tell me she heard the virus was being reported as much worse than SARS. She was worried about several local business clients because people were being cautioned to avoid places of Asian commerce or large gatherings of Asian people. I had to tell her, respectfully, that none of what she was saying was true: “You must have accidentally tapped into a fake news site that has an agenda to stigmatize an entire race of people.” Trust only verified sources It's not time to panic here in Toronto. I am including the most up to date advice of the Medical Officer of Health below - I also recommend you follow Toronto Public Health on twitter to receive notification of these updates. If you follow this advice, as of right now you can go to work, go to school, go to church and go to restaurants as you normally would. Speaking of local public health authorities, I can’t resist an opportunity to treat this as a teachable moment. Right now, we are all totally reliant upon the good services of local health authorities to control the spread of this virus. We hang on her every word when Dr. De Villa holds press conferences on updates. And yet, how many of us listen every autumn when this same doctor tells Torontonians to get a flu shot? If we fear viral illness so much, and we can avoid it for free, why don’t we? I’m just about the busiest person around. It cost me about 10 minutes and zero dollars, while I was on my way in to Fairview Mall, to stop at Shoppers Drug Mart and get a quick flu jab. Listening to Dr. De Villa can help keep our whole city safe, so we should continue to heed her advice. She is the one and only factual authority on Toronto's local approach to novel coronavirus. But going forward, we need to remember to take her advice all year, every year. LATEST UPDATES: Statement from Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health: January 29, 2020 Toronto Public Health Q&A – Novel Coronavirus: January 29, 2020 (Also available in Simplified Chinese ) More information available at toronto.ca/coronavirus Community Events & Notices This week I appeared on the season premiere of TVO's Political Blind Date to discuss City Finances with Budget Chief Gary Crawford. If you didn't catch it on TV, it's up on YouTube now. Click here to watch!