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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
The Globe and Mail: Scarborough subway takes back seat in Toronto transit debate
February 10, 2015
The Globe and Mail
Oliver Moore
An attempt to get more information about the controversial subway proposal for Scarborough was quickly squelched at Toronto city council Tuesday.
Councillor Josh Matlow had put forward a series of "administrative inquiries" asking about costs, ridership projections and other key issues. Some of the answers he got from staff fell short, he argued, and he sought to have the questions referred for further debate.
CBC News: Council votes against sending Scarborough subway questions to executive
February 10, 2015
CBC News
Toronto city council voted this morning not to send questions asked by Coun. Josh Matlow about the Scarborough subway extension back to the executive committee, effectively ending any possibility of reopening the debate.
Late last month, Matlow submitted the questions to city staff and council, which focus largely on the sunk costs of the project and how Mayor John Tory's SmartTrack plan might affect ridership.
Council could have voted to forward the information to the executive committee, who could have then theoretically decided to reopen the debate about the controversial project. Instead, they voted to receive the information, essentially meaning it will go no further and will remain shelved.
City Centre Mirror: Toronto councillor Josh Matlow expected to rehash Scarborough subway debate
February 9, 2015
City Centre Mirror
David Nickle
One thing John Tory said he didn’t want to see happen in 2015 was a rehashing of the 2013 debate over building a subway in Scarborough.
But that is what is likely to happen this week if St. Paul’s Councillor Josh Matlow gets his way.
Matlow was one of the most vocal opponents of council’s 2013 plan to scrap a provincially funded light rail line to replace the crumbling Scarborough RT line running east from Kennedy Station with a three-stop subway line.
Matlow had questions about the plan then, and in 2015, after the election of pro-subway Mayor John Tory, Matlow has more. Broadly speaking, five more.
Toronto Star: Answers needed on Toronto’s ill-judged Scarborough subway plan: Editorial
February 9, 2015
Toronto Star
It’s widely understood that Toronto’s planned Scarborough subway extension is a bad deal for the city. But residents don’t yet know how rotten it really is. It’s time they found out.
Councillor Josh Matlow is endeavoring to fill in the blanks at a city council meeting starting on Tuesday. Relying on a rarely used provision in council’s rules, he has submitted five “administrative inquiries” demanding answers from staff on key subway-related questions. The public would be well-served if Matlow succeeds.
It’s remarkable how much still remains unknown about an ill-judged decision that had a fully funded, ultra-modern, seven-stop light-rail line replaced by a three-stop subway that will cost the average Toronto household a total of at least $1,200 in additional property tax.
Toronto Star: Scarborough subway ridership and costs are unsolved mysteries
February 9, 2015
Toronto Star
Jennifer Pagliaro
More than year after council voted to build a subway instead of light rail in Scarborough, it remains unclear how many people will actually ride it and what it will cost to operate.
But on Monday, Mayor John Tory said he wants stay the course on the subway plans, brushing off questions over a lack of information ahead of s council meeting this week.
“I’m committed to is the present plan for the Scarborough subway, I believe it is the right thing to do,” Tory, who promised to make the subway a priority during the campaign, told reporters after touring a TTC maintenance facility Monday. “I don’t want to re-open this debate and go back to do what we do so well in this city — which is debate things to death.”
Toronto Sun: Rider estimates for Scarborough subway project sought
February 5, 2015
Toronto Sun
Shawn Jeffords
TORONTO - The controversial Scarborough subway project will be back on the docket at city council next week, with one of the project’s opponents demanding answers to key questions about ridership and financial viability.
Councillor Josh Matlow, who represents Ward 22 (St. Paul’s), has asked for clarification on a number of aspects of the planned project from city staff in a series of five so-called “administrative inquiries.”
He said he hopes that those questions will help provide councillors with key pieces of information on the three-stop subway project.
“Let’s get real,” Matlow said. “Let’s have this conversation based on facts and then take action based on facts. So my intent is not to re-open this debate. My intent is to get transit to as many Scarborough residents as possible at the quickest possible date.”
