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Toronto Star: What became of Toronto’s push for free public Wi-Fi?
Trying to find a free connection in Toronto is difficult — but it's available in places such as London, Fredericton.
April 19, 2016
Vanessa Lu
The Toronto Star
Customers at a Toronto Tim Hortons use public Wi-Fi. Some smaller cities in Canada have had more success in providing free public Internet access instead of Toronto, which continues to strive for more Wi-Fi at city parks and facilities as well as in community housing. Photo: AARON HARRIS / FOR THE TORONTO STAR.
Compared to other cities around the world, free Wi-Fi can be hard to come by in Toronto.
Pop into a chain coffee shop or fast-food joint and you’ll probably be able to connect. Both Metrolinx and the Toronto Transit Commission are trying to offer up more access, but it’s still limited.
It’s a far cry from the experiment launched in New York earlier this year where free high-speed public Wi-Fi was made available through street kiosks. Using the city’s now outdated pay phone infrastructure, LinkNYC hopes to cover the whole city in the next 10 years, providing affordable access to an increasingly essential service.
But Toronto was already thinking ahead to the need for such a service back in 2006, when Toronto Hydro Telecom offered up the free service for six months in the downtown core.
Toronto Star: Toronto considers apartment licensing to crack down on bad landlords
City council set to explore a “Rent Safe” landlord licensing system to improve tenant quality of life.
April 9
Laurie Monsebraaten
The Toronto Star
Phuc Dinh and Hoa Le, once refugees from Vietnam, say they've had to buy four space heaters to deal with the constant cold in their apartment on West Lodge Ave. in Parkdale. Photo: GEOFFREY VENDEVILLE / TORONTO STAR.
Toronto is contemplating a licensing system for apartment buildings — similar to the city’s Dine Safe restaurant program — to give inspectors more teeth when landlords fail to meet minimum property standards.
The proposed Rent Safe program would apply to about 3,300 rental buildings with 10 units or more that are three storeys or higher, according to a city staff report. Condos and co-ops would be excluded.
If approved by council next fall, it could be in place as early as January 2017.
Toronto Star: City takes rail worries to new transport minister
Mayor John Tory and 17 councillors urge Marc Garneau to act on slew of concerns ignored by previous government.
April 6
Jessica McDiarmid
The Toronto Star
This July 6, 2013 file photo shows smoke rising from railway cars carrying crude oil after derailing in downtown Lac Megantic, Quebec. The disaster killed 47 people. Photo: PAUL CHIASSON / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Mayor John Tory and a coalition of Toronto city councillors are taking their fight to bolster rail safety in the city to the recently elected federal government.
The mayor and 17 councillors whose wards rub up against the busy CP rail line that traverses the city’s core signed a letter sent to Transport Minister Marc Garneau on Monday, urging the Liberal government to introduce further safety measures.
The municipal coalition calls for an overhaul of regulations pertaining to safety management systems, the oft-criticized procedures by which the railroad industry, to some extent, regulates itself.
The councillors want a faster phase-out of older-model tank cars used to carry dangerous goods, currently set to be off the rails by 2025. They call for slower train speeds in urban areas, consideration of alternative routes to bypass densely populated regions and tighter rules surrounding insurance to ensure complete coverage in the event of a disaster.
Global News: ‘We’re leaking money’: Toronto missing out on $26M in outstanding water bills
April 5
Peter Kim
Global News
Lars Baron / Getty Images
TORONTO — A recent auditor general’s report reveals that missing information within the water collection database and a lack of procedures for prioritizing high-value overdue accounts is partly to blame for the more than $26 million dollars yet to be collected from businesses and homes in Toronto.
“You’re absolutely right if you’re suggesting that it’s quite remarkable that so much money is in arrears to the city,” said Councillor Josh Matlow, who sits on the Audit Committee.
“It just seems like we’re not just leaking water, we’re leaking money.”
Toronto Sun: Next stop for Scarborough subway? Above ground?
Council orders staff to look at whether subway could be built above ground.
March 31, 2016
Shawn Jeffords
Toronto Sun
Mayor John Tory at press conference on the Scarborough subway Thursday January 21, 2016. (Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun)
The City of Toronto is now studying whether the Scarborough subway could be built above ground.
Amid a slew of transit planning measures approved by city council Thursday. Councillor Josh Matlow got council to agree to having city staff and Metrolinx study the feasibility of running the subway extension “at-grade” entirely or in portions.
Matlow told council he wants transit planning to be done from with all options examined by experts and costed appropriately.
“What I hear from reasonable people, who’ve not been manipulated by those who perhaps didn’t tell them the whole story, is that want us to do it in a way that is based on evidence and facts, that’s honourable and honest,” Matlow said.
680 News: Changes made at petting zoo following public complaints
March 20, 2016
Faiza Amin
680 News
A photo showing a camel in a tight pen, surrounded by his feces has prompted a petting zoo operating in Toronto to make some changes.
On Sunday, the owner of Tiger Paw responded to concerns that animals weren’t being taken care of at his petting zoo.
In a statement to CityNews, Tim Height said, “A camel doesn’t move around a lot, they like to lie down. To us it’s not an issue, but if we find out the public has an issue, we don’t mind changing it.”
