June 17, 2016

Chris Fox

CTV News

The Scarborough subway extension will cost $900 million more than initially thought, Mayor John Tory has confirmed.

The cost of the one-stop extension of Line 2 from Kennedy Station to Scarborough Town Centre was initially pegged at $2 billion, however on Friday the mayor told reporters that further analysis by city staff has revealed the price tag to be $2.9 billion.

The increase in budget, Tory said, is due to engineering and planning work that has recently been conducted.

Previously the city had based its estimate on a ballpark figure for a three-stop subway extension that was scrapped back in January.

June 16, 2016

Jack Landau

UrbanToronto

The former Imperial Oil Building at 111 St. Clair Avenue West has stood as an important landmark in Toronto's Deer Park community since it opened in 1957. Following the office building's closing in 2005, developer Camrost-Felcorp embarked on the ambitious endeavour of converting the Mad Men-era structure into a condominium development, renamed as Imperial Plaza.

Imperial Plaza viewed from the east on St. Clair Avenue, image by Jack Landau

Since celebrating last year's official openings of an LCBO location and a Longo's 'Urban Market' on the ground floor of the development, the two retail spaces have worked together to foster a lively environment on this stretch of St. Clair Avenue West. The two retail spaces are resplendent with paired original murals by the late York Wilson called 'The Story of Oil', preserved from the original office lobby, as well as a number of gorgeous historical flourishes throughout, their preservation overseen by heritage specialists ERA Architects.

Matlow describes subway extension as 'Toronto's longest hole'

June 7, 2016

CBC News

Coun. Josh Matlow says he won't support new taxes while the Scarborough subway plan steams ahead (CBC)

​Coun. Josh Matlow took another verbal swing at the Scarborough subway extension Tuesday afternoon while debating a motion that would see city staff look at new taxes to help balance future city budgets.

At City Hall Tuesday, the councillor for Ward 22, who is a longtime foe of the proposal to extend the subway line, asked councillors to have staff take another look at the cost of the plan and whether that money could be better spent in other ways.

Councillor cries foul about notices asking renters to oppose an “apartment tax,” against their own best interests.

June 4, 2016

Laurie Monsebraaten

The Toronto Star

Proposed new rules would require annual inspections for apartment buildings and require landlords to make sure maintenance plans are in place. Photo: Richard Lautens / Toronto Star file photo

Toronto landlords are urging tenants to oppose a licensing system for apartment buildings, claiming the proposed annual fee of $12 to $15 per unit “will increase the rents and taxes paid by tenants without improving the quality of rental housing.”

The campaign, sponsored by the Greater Toronto Apartment Association, advises tenants to email councillors on the issue before the initiative — intended to give the city tools to crack down on bad landlords — is debated at their meeting this week.

But Councillor Josh Matlow, head of the city’s tenant issues sub-committee, is crying foul. “I’m really concerned about a campaign based on misinformation,” he said of the landlord-sponsored website and door-hanger notices that began appearing in apartment buildings Thursday.

“The landlord lobby is claiming this is a new city hall tax on tenants, which it is not. It is a fee on landlords to cover the cost of a licensing system to ensure tenants have a safe, healthy and respectful places to live,” he said.

Local residents question wisdom of spending billions for subway with homes threatened by tunnelling

May 31, 2016

Jennifer Pagliaro and Ben Spurr

The Toronto Star

One Scarborough resident whose home may be expropriated for a subway extension said Tuesday that "it doesn't really make sense spending all this money" to replace the Scarborough RT (pictured). Photo: Marcus Oleniuk / Toronto Star File Photo

As the city unveils the first detailed plans for the one-stop Scarborough subway, residents whose homes are threatened by tunnelling are questioning why the city is spending more than $2 billion for transit they worry is not justified.

At private meetings Tuesday, the city and TTC officials revealed the recommended alignment and station location for the subway extension to Scarborough’s city centre. That recommendation is to tunnel east from Kennedy Station along Eglinton Ave., north on Danforth Rd. to McCowan Rd., ending north of Ellesmere Rd. with a new station to be located in the middle of the parking lot now at the southwest corner of the Scarborough Town Centre.

But plans to cut just west of McCowan Rd. before Ellesmere Rd., tunnelling under a section of detached family bungalows that may need to be expropriated, has left some residents asking bigger questions. That was the case at a meeting of just under a dozen concerned neighbours who convened with city and TTC staff.

May 14, 2016

Terry Davidson

Toronto Sun

A rainy and damp Saturday didn’t stop Mayor John Tory and a couple hundred others from gettin’ down with the Skinnamarink.

The crowd came out to midtown’s June Rowlands park for the official opening of a music garden in honour of famed children’s trio Sharon, Lois and Bram.

Sharon Hampson and Bram Morrison — two-thirds of the iconic group known for songs like Little Rabbit Foo Foo, One Elephant Went Out to Play and, of course, Skinnamarink — treated kids and adults alike to a sing-a-long in the park to celebrate the occasion.

Their friend and fellow member, Lois Lilienstein, died of cancer in April 2015.

Hampson and Morrison acknowledged that Saturday’s honour was, for them, a bittersweet occasion.

May 10, 2016

Peter Kim

Global News

Rather than flooding the city with 3-1-1 calls complaining about issues in their buildings, tenants may soon have a new tool to help them live with dignity.

City staff released a framework Tuesday for licensing landlords that includes requiring them to maintain the interiors and exteriors of their buildings, and clean common areas as a condition for approval.

Landlords will also need to notify residents of service disruptions in a centrally located posting board.

READ MORE: ‘We were naive’: Canadian landlords share their worst tenant stories

“This isn’t about going after good landlords. There are many in the city. [But] there are far too many, almost parasitical companies that come into Toronto, buy up apartment buildings, remove the superintendent and keep the building in disrepair,” said Councillor Josh Matlow, chair of the city’s Tenant Issues Committee.

“That’s not fair to so many tenants who deserve to live in a quality home.”

April 20, 2016
The South Bayview Bulldog

The 51st Annual General Meeting of the South Eglinton Residents and Ratepayers Association was well-attended Wednesday night in the gymnasium of Manor Road United Church. President Andy Gort said that after many years at this location, it was the last time SERRA would meet there. Renovations to the church and the sale of half the property to make a public park means SERRA will have its AGM in the newly finished Sanctuary of Manor Road Church next year. The meeting heard from Josh Matlow (Ward 22) who reviewed many issues such as transit plans, the proposed Davisville Hub and a number of developments of concern.

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.

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.