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Josh in the Community
My Staff and I are here to assist you with any questions or concerns you may have about your neighbourhood and/or your home. We’re working every day to make our community safer while improving Midtown’s parks, main streets, and the many valued services we rely on including recreation, childcare, and waste collection. I hope to see you out in our community soon!
Josh at City Hall
On your behalf, I am advocating for a more thoughtful, creative, and responsible approach to policy issues at City Hall. I take very seriously the responsibility to make informed decisions that are based on evidence, community consultation, and the merits of arguments – rather than partisanship. I will continue representing our community at Council meetings on transit, tenant concerns, childcare, green space, and other issues that matter most to Midtown residents. Or, you can reach us by phone at 416 392-7906.
Current News Updates
Pride Flag Raising, City Hall, June 22, 2015
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City Hall and Community Update for June 16, 2015
First Meeting of Tenant Issues Committee This Thursday The first [...]
Toronto, East York consider 30 km/h speed limit on residential streets
Published on Sun Jun 14 2015
Toronto Star
Ben Spurr
A group of downtown councillors is set to consider a sweeping proposal to slow traffic on residential roads, though city transportation experts are advising against it.
If it’s approved, the speed limit on all local streets in East York and the old city of Toronto would be reduced from 40 to 30 km/h, affecting some 387 km of road.
Councillor Josh Matlow (open Josh Matlow's policard) first proposed the 30 km/h limit last August, a month after 7-year-old Georgia Walsh was struck and killed by a van in Leaside. He argues the lower limit would make roads less dangerous, and cites a 2012 Toronto board of health report that stated pedestrians have an 85 per cent chance of death if hit by a vehicle going 50 km/h, but the risk decreases to only five per cent at 30 km/h.
“When I hear about a kid being hit, there’s an indescribable pain that you feel,” Matlow said. “And if there are clear recommendations on substantive steps that we can take to make our neighbourhoods safer, then I feel a responsibility to act.”
My Position on the Gardiner Expressway East
Dear residents, I’ve always appreciated many aspects of the [...]
Lawton Parkette Public Meeting Update
On Thursday, May 28 at 7 pm, I hosted a [...]
Toronto Star: Scarborough subway routes narrowed to three choices
The Toronto Star
May 27, 2015
Jennifer Pagliaro
With concerns over how to make the Scarborough subway work with SmartTrack, the city has narrowed the options — leaving Mayor John Torywith little choice.
In a presentation sent to councillors Wednesday and obtained by the Star, city staff say the original nine route options for the Scarborough subway have been short-listed to just three: a Midland Ave., McCowan Rd. or Bellamy Rd. corridor.
Among them, Tory’s best choice to avoid duplicating SmartTrack’s route is picking the one farthest east, along Bellamy Rd. — a decision that could cost taxpayers at least $600 million more.
“Due to political interests that favoured a three-stop subway — that’s getting more costly every day — our city planners have been asked to become contortionists, trying to fit extremely expensive square pegs into round holes,” said Councillor Josh Matlow, who has been the most vocal critic of council’s decision to back former mayor Rob Ford's push for a subway.
