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Newsstand: April 9, 2013
High of 15 today! We'll just ignore those reports of a storm later this week. In the news: Premier Wynne says Ontario needs tolls and taxes to pay for transit, City Hall is getting a bike station, Doug Ford could win a seat in the Ontario Legislature, and a 10-minute grace period for parking could soon be mandatory.
If the province wants new transit, it will need to enact tolls and taxes to pay for them, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said on Monday. GTA-area transit infrastructure “needs tens of billions of dollars over the next 20 years,” Wynne said in a speech at the Toronto Region Board of Trade, and any levies that could be enacted would be earmarked to improve public transit and roads. “I believe that any investments from new revenue must be entirely and transparently dedicated to transportation projects so that the cost is tied to a measurable result,” she said.
A new bike station at City Hall will feature 380 secure bike spaces, free air tools, change rooms, and four showers. The station—which will be the second in the city—will be constructed in the Toronto Parking Authority garage at a cost of $1.2 million. The project was approved earlier as part of the revitalization of Nathan Phillips Square but hit a snag when all City divisions were ordered to cut operating costs by 10 per cent. On Monday, a motion was introduced to waive the loss of TPA revenue associated with the construction of the station over 24 parking spaces, and it passed the City’s government management committee. Council will vote on the motion in early May.
A new poll shows that city councillor Doug Ford (Ward 2, Etobicoke North) would win a provincial seat in the riding of Etobicoke North in an election, giving the Progressive Conservatives their first seat in the 416 since 1999. The telephone survey by Forum Research found that Ford would garner 46 per cent of the vote while Liberal incumbent Shafiq Qaadri would get 39 per cent and a NDP candidate would get 14. The province could face an election in May or June if the minority Liberal government fails to pass its budget this month.
Toronto’s government management committee voted on Monday to make a 10-minute grace period for parking tickets mandatory. The committee voted to ask Toronto Police Services to order parking enforcement not to issue drivers tickets on city streets until 10 minutes after their paid parking has expired. Currently, the City will cancel a parking ticket received less than 10 minutes after your paid parking expired, but does not stop parking officers from issuing the ticket. The motion now has to pass city council.
The article previously stated that the City would cancel a ticket issued ten minutes before your paid parking expired. That doesn’t make any sense. We meant to say after the paid parking had expired. The correction has been made above.