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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
The Globe and Mail: Stage set for new battles over Scarborough subway, LRT
February 5, 2015
The Globe and Mail
Oliver Moore
Only a bit late for Groundhog Day, the biggest transit battles of Toronto’s last council term are about to pop up again.
A light rail project in the city’s northwest and subways for Scarborough will both be on the table at next week’s council meeting, according to the agenda published Thursday.
Councillor Josh Matlow put forward a series of “administrative inquiries” that demand answers from the city manager about the viability and logic of an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line farther into Scarborough. Among them, he wants to know how much the city has budgeted for the sunk cost in return for assuming the project, a secret figure that insiders peg at close to $85-million.
The city assumed responsibility for these costs when it voted to turn the provincially funded LRT into a subway. The city has balked at the bill presented by the regional transit agency Metrolinx, insisting it should be smaller.
Toronto Star: Real costs of Scarborough subway, cancelled LRT to resurface at council
February 5, 2015
Toronto Star
Jennifer Pagliaro
Councillor Josh Matlow has raised questions over the numbers used to justify the Scarborough subway and the cost of cancelling an LRT alternative.
Questions over the real cost of the Scarborough subway and what the city owes for cancelling an LRT alternative will resurface at Mayor John Tory’s second city council meeting next week.
Sixteen months after councillors under former mayor Rob Ford voted to change direction and endorse a three-stop subway plan over the fully funded seven-stop light-rapid-transit line, staff will face questions about both the justification for the subway and the costs.
Councillor Josh Matlow, a staunch supporter of the LRT and one of 20 councillors who voted against the subway switch, has filed five administrative inquires to be heard next week.
City Hall and Community Update for February 5, 2015
City-School Boards Working Group I believe that as the City [...]
Toronto Star: Councillors kept in the dark about millions owed for cancelled Scarborough LRT
January 23, 2015
Toronto Star
Jennifer Pagliaro
Councillors say they have been kept in the dark for more than a year about the costs of cancelling the Scarborough LRT, after the city has already budgeted for what could be $75 million owed to the province.
Councillor Josh Matlow, a vocal opponent of the Scarborough subway, said council was never briefed on the real cost of doing an about-face on light rail.
“I’ve been asking for a lot of information for a long time that was never forthcoming,” he said Friday. “I think the public should be very concerned about the dearth of accountability and transparency.”
