Subscribe to my City Hall and Community Updates!
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
City Hall and Community Update for September 9, 2016
Hydro One's Clearcut of 29 Trees in Robertson Davies Park [...]
Our letter requesting a Master Plan for the restoration of Yellow Creek and the Vale of Avoca
August 25, 2016 Parks and Environment Committee Re: [...]
City Hall and Community Update for August 24, 2016
Action Needed to Improve Rail Safety This past [...]
Toronto Star: Freight train derailment a ‘wake-up call’ on rail safety, councillor says
Human error blamed for freight train derailment in heart of the city after a Canadian Pacific Railway train collided with another on Sunday morning.
Aug 21, 2016
Ebyan Abdigir
The Toronto Star
A CP Railway freight train derailed near Bathurst and Dupont Sts., early Sunday after two trains collided, causing a diesel fuel spill. CP blames human error for the collision. (ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE / TORONTO STAR)
Human error is being blamed for a freight train derailment in the heart of Toronto Sunday morning that had crews scrambling to contain a diesel fuel leak.
The derailment happened after a train struck the tail of another train at about 5:20 a.m. near Dupont and Bathurst Sts., Canadian Pacific Railway spokesperson Martin Cej told the Star.
No one was injured in the collision and subsequent derailment and the diesel fuel leak, which Toronto police said had not been a threat to public safety, was quickly contained.
Cej said that one car was carrying batteries and aerosols, which are classified as “dangerous goods” under Canadian regulation, but they did not leak, he confirmed.
City councillor Josh Matlow raised new concerns Sunday about freight trains running through densely populated neighbourhoods.
CBC News: Man injured in marijuana dispensary explosion charged in previous pot raid: police
Force of the Friday night blast pushed a couch out of the storefront window
Aug 20, 2016
CBC News
A Toronto police officer talks to Office of the Fire Marshal investigators inside Tweeder Medicinal after an explosion at the marijuana dispensary injured a man on Friday. (Chris Glover/CBC)
Toronto police say a man burned in an explosion at a midtown Toronto marijuana dispensary was among those charged in a large-scale raid of pot shops in May.
Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash said Saturday that a 29-year-old man injured in the blast had been charged with two drug-related offences in the spring. He faces a count of possession for the purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of property obtained by crime.
Metro: Toronto challenges Queen’s Park over affordable housing
City says proposed legislation creates an impossible choice for the city - asking councillors to choose between affordable units and community infrastructure.
Aug 18, 2016
Torstar News Service
Without inclusionary zoning powers, the city has had to find other ways to get affordable housing built. In one case, the city is moving ahead in partnership with Dominus Capital Corporation to build 80 affordable rental units on surplus city land in CityPlace next to the rail corridor.
The city has put the province on notice that proposed legislation to build affordable housing will leave communities without desperately needed amenities such as community centres, park improvements and child care spaces.
While Toronto city council has long pushed for provincial rules that would force developers to create affordable units, a proposal from the province to do just that would exempt developers from paying for other community benefits.
Councillors and city staff say the province is asking them to make an impossible choice — build badly needed affordable housing or secure every day amenities that make communities livable and are increasingly necessary as the population balloons.
