Torontoist » environment

David Miller’s New Mandate

Toronto's former mayor on how world-class cities can save the world.

In the 18 months since David Miller passed the chain of office to Rob Ford, Toronto’s 63rd mayor has been busy—something that, love him or hate him, probably doesn’t come as much of a shock. Through two terms, from 2003 to 2010, Miller was either praised as a city builder, who shaped Toronto into a [...]

LRT to Rain Destruction on Apricot Trees?

A proposed Eglinton West LRT entrance may carve out up to 900 square feet of a local park.

The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard will have its first ever crop of plums and cherries this year, but a proposed entrance for the forthcoming TTC Eglinton West LRT may soon thin the harvest. Susan Poizner, a 10-year resident of the Eglinton West area, used to see Ben Nobleman Park as an empty, underused space [...]

(H)our Earth Anthem

WWF looks to social media for help writing an anthem for Earth Hour.

Rodgers-Hammerstein. Lennon-McCartney. Jagger-Richards. The World Wildlife Foundation is hoping that they can soon add to this list of great songwriting tandems the duo of Huang-Facebook. WWF Canada has enlisted musician Andrew Huang to collect 140-character lyric submissions from social networking platforms Twitter and Facebook and craft them into an anthem for the foundation’s annual Earth [...]

Could the Junction Triangle Become the Next Liberty Village?

An ambitious development could introduce major change to this tiny west-end neighborhood.

While the brownfield on Sterling Road just east of the West Toronto Railpath is known to most as a first-class eyesore, a proposed development might not only revitalize the property, but possibly also the chronically underdeveloped Junction Triangle neighbourhood that surrounds it. That is, if the City of Toronto and corporate interests can agree it [...]

Queen’s Park Watch: Liberals Get Scolded On Electricity

This week the minority Liberals got hammered for not conserving enough electricity and for paying too much to make more of it.

Rookie Ontario Energy Minister Chris Bentley is probably he wishing he hadn’t picked up when Premier Dalton McGuinty called to offer him the job back in October. This week both the Ontario auditor-general and the environmental commissioner scolded the Liberal government for their mediocre performance in keeping Ontario clean, lit, and solvent. In volume two [...]

Wild Toronto, Collector’s Edition

From our archives, the wild and wonderful comic series by Rosemary Mosco, in its entirety.

Wild Toronto was a bi-weekly comic strip by Rosemary Mosco that ran on Torontoist from December 2007 to July 2008 (with one last return visit in December 2008). It cleverly observed and taught us about the animals and plants that live in our city, and we are excited to present the entire collection of Wild [...]

Peter Kent: Environment Minister, Though You Wouldn’t Know It From How He Talks

The Thornhill MP may be toeing the Tory line of silence, but he's hardly doing himself—or us—any favours in the process.

Poor Peter Kent. Those years reading news scripts on Global TV must now seem like the best years of his life. Sadly, the Honourable Minister of the Environment and MP for Thornhill is quickly descending to the level of a punchline. The prime minister’s brain trust has put a watcher on Kent. Melissa Lantsman is [...]

Platform Primer: Environment

In the run-up to the provincial election on October 6, we’ll be comparing the major parties’ platforms on issues that matter to urban voters. The environment is highly charismatic; it keeps us from dying and also is pretty and you can ride snowmobiles through it. Because the provincial government plays a big role in defining [...]

All Aboard the Gravy Train: Nature, Parks, and the Toronto Environment Office

"Gravy":

The whole notion of parks and environment. From the report's introduction: "While some services within the two programs are being delivered at levels somewhat below standard, the majority fall into the Standard+ category. Furthermore, the vast majority of standards have been set by Council or management. As a result, the Committee may consider reducing levels of service and reviewing set standards in order to realize cost savings." The report later notes that "Toronto has less parkland per capita than other Ontario cities, and spends more per hectare of parkland to maintain it, both of which are consistent with the much higher population density," and that 59 per cent of us visit a park at least once a week.

Checking In on Our Urban Forest

Planting community gardens in partnership with the TTC. For Torontonians who were not able to escape the city for the long weekend, there is always the comfort of green spaces like High Park, the Don Valley, or Leslie Street Spit. In total, our city has a substantial urban forest of 10.2 million trees. Not only [...]

Platform Primer: Environment

In the run-up to the federal election on May 2, we’ll be comparing the major parties’ platforms on issues that matter to urban voters. Each party’s key messages, according their respective colours. Image by Michael Chrisman/Torontoist. In spite of our penchant for clubbing baby seals and drowning ducks in toxic sludge, polls routinely suggest that [...]

2010 Hero: Evergreen Brick Works

It’s taken four hundred million years and a fifty-five million dollar budget, but with the opening of Evergreen Brick Works this year Toronto added a new and unique environmental and cultural destination to its catalogue of really cool places to visit.