Results tagged “cityoftoronto”

Well, not really. It will live on in political grandstanding and pre-election speeches and in all manner of rhetorical asides for months to come. But, in real, day-to-day terms, it has come to a merciful end. By two 21–17 votes, after a day-long debate, City Council has just approved contracts with CUPE locals 79 and 416.

"To create an urban environment in all parts of the city that encourages and supports walking," states Toronto's Pedestrian Charter, the City "upholds the right of pedestrians of all ages and abilities to safe, convenient, direct and comfortable walking conditions" and also "provides and maintains infrastructure that gives pedestrians safe and convenient passage while walking along and crossing streets."

It's hard to know quite what Toronto will look like by 2030. Detailed plans become harder to formulate the further into the future one goes: contingencies multiply upon contingencies, and predictions are rendered ever more tenuous. There are, however, some trends that seem fair to anticipate and some others that are fair to hope for.

Birthdays, it goes without saying, are occasions to celebrate. Sometimes parties are involved. Sometimes cake. (Or cupcakes!) But they are also moments to reflect, to think about where you are and where you're heading, to make plans and dream of birthdays to come. And so, on the occasion of Toronto's demisemiseptcentennial, we've decided to step back, take stock of the big picture, and start imagining what the future might hold for our fair city.

Today is budget day at City Hall, and the mood is grim but determined. In the face of rising unemployment, swelling welfare rolls, and glum economic forecasts, the rock of weakening revenue and the hard place of increasing social service costs are squeezing the City hard. In a press conference this morning, Mayor David Miller and Budget Committee Chair Shelley Carroll reassured the public that no major service cuts were on the table and that many planned improvements (such as the Tower Renewal program, various environmental initiatives, and TTC upgrades) were going ahead as planned. Miller made a point of contextualizing the pressures the City faces, lambasting the federal government for failing to expand EI eligibility requirements, and reminding us that the hangover of Mike Harris's welfare offloading is being felt to this day.

Photo by Tom Podolec from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Photo by Simone from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

WORDS: Zoocheck Canada founder Rob Laidlaw wants your kids to be as jaded as possible from an early age. To implement this idea, he's releasing Wild Animals in Captivity, a new non-fiction kids book that examines animal life in decidedly un-Disney-like settings. Laidlaw will be speaking to elementary students this morning at the Yorkdale Indigo (3401 Dufferin Street, 10 a.m., FREE). Later tonight, he's giving a lecture at the George Ignatieff Theatre called "The Bond Between Us: Reflections on the Human-Animal Relationship." Polar bear expert Else Poulsen and author Elizabeth Abbott will also be speaking at the event. All proceeds and book sales will go towards Zoocheck Canada. George Ignatieff Theatre (15 Devonshire Place), 7 p.m., $8.

Summer is a time to get intimate with the gritty streets of our little borough, and this is exactly what industrial design students from OCAD have set out to do in their exhibit TORONTO UNBOUND. Together with the design school and the City of Toronto, OpenCity Projects has put together a creative lab to come up with design ideas for Toronto's neighbourhoods, to help foster communication between the members of that specific community and to make those spaces more accessible for other city dwellers.

Jarvis Street, circa 1910. (City of Toronto Archives)

Feeling S.A.D.? Toronto's Christmas spirit wore off weeks ago and waiting outside for the streetcar has become more face-numbing than going to the dentist.

The half-wit OCAD student who planted a fake bomb at the ROM on Wednesday has turned himself in to police and been charged with mischief and common nuisance. Ha, closing a major thoroughfare, wasting the time of hundreds of police and emergency service personnel, and forcing the cancellation of an AIDS gala—what a lovable scamp. The death rates at Canadian Hospitals have now been made public in a report from the Canadian Institute for...