Ontario Place after tree removal - satellite view

Over 850 trees bulldozed at Ontario Place under cover of darkness, as Province releases Therme lease details

Under cover of darkness, Infrastructure Ontario began the removal of 865 trees at Ontario Place on the evening of Wednesday, October 2, 2024. Within a single day, workers had cut down the vast majority of those trees.

The work—which includes the removal of every single tree on the western portion of the waterfront site adjacent downtown Toronto—is part of the approximately $200-million in site preparations that taxpayers are funding to prepare the land for Therme, an Austrian spa company, to develop a stadium-sized indoor waterpark on the site.

The next day, October 3, the Province released the details of its 95-year lease with Therme, which journalists and grassroots organizations have…

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Rachel Chernos Lin

I want to make a difference in people’s lives. I want to make sure we have safe, clean, accessible, affordable, and friendly neighbourhoods where communities and businesses can thrive.

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Habiba Desai

As a dedicated advocate for community safety and development, I am running for City Councillor in Ward 15 to address key issues affecting residents’ quality of life. My platform focuses on four core goals: 1) enhancing public safety, 2) empowering local communities, 3) protecting women’s rights and safety, and 4) preserving spaces like the Ontario Science Centre.

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Anthony Furey

I want to be the councillor for Don Valley West so I can provide effective representation to the residents on the local issues that matter to them. I know the area well and am proud to have team members on my campaign from across the ward who represent the many distinctive communities that make up Don Valley West.

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Dhruv Jain

I am running to be our next City Councillor because I’m passionate about building family-friendly communities with diverse housing options, infrastructure and transit that works for everyone, and safe neighbourhoods with vibrant, green parks.

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Sam Robinson

I want to be the City Councillor for Don Valley West to continue the legacy of my mother, Jaye Robinson. Over the last 14 years, I witnessed her deep commitment to this community, from improving road safety to preserving parks and supporting local businesses, all with a focus on fiscal responsibility. I was involved in all of her campaigns and saw firsthand how she worked with residents to address key issues..

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Evan Sambasivam 

I was born and raised in Don Valley West. I love our community, but I’m worried about what I’m seeing in the city. I’m worried about the cost of housing, and the lack of affordable options that match the needs of our communities. I’m worried about traffic congestion, poor planning, and the decline of the TTC. Toronto is supposed to be a global city, but it’s harder to get around than ever before.

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Shakhlo Sharipova

I am committed to building a stronger, more connected Ward where no one is left behind. Whether it’s housing, food security, traffic or development issues, community engagement, or access to city services, I want to make sure that every resident’s voice is heard, and their needs are met. Together, we can overcome the challenges we face and build a community where everyone thrives.

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Sheena Sharp 

I want the city to meet the challenge of climate change and Housing in all its forms; more family housing, housing for homeless people, and cheaper housing. I have worked as an architect for 30 years. I can see what the city is doing does not work, yet we need action at the city level. I think I can contribute a missing perspective at the council table.

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Jason Stevens

Having served in a few elected positions and recently going before the city’s budget committee in 2024 I believe my knowledge of local, provincial and federal politics, government officials and business will help me connect residents with problem solvers in a timely fashion.

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Dan Trayes

I want to be councillor to help and give back to the community. My goal is to combine my lived experiences as well as my work experience pertaining to the job of councillor in order to achieve results for the community as a whole.

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Lesley Stoyan

My robust list of accomplishments in the previous section showcases my experience and expertise, but what makes me an ideal candidate for City Councillor is my profound passion for my city, and my fierce drive to fight to keep it independent from partisan politics, and complicated provincial and federal agendas.

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Northern District Library where TLAB meets

TLAB Annual Report

We congratulate Chair Dino Lombardi on his continuing leadership of the TLAB. It is important to remember that Toronto has a unique (in Ontario) distinction in having its own tribunal to decide on appeals of Committee of Adjustment decisions. Other municipalities in Ontario are dependent on more remote exigencies of the Ontario Land Tribunal!

2023 was a milestone in the life of the TLAB as it was the first full year following the Provincial elimination of third party appeals (mostly by residents and resident associations) as a result of the passage of Bill 23. 

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Public meeting

Improving Community Consultation

This will confirm that in principle we support (with one significant reservation), the staff report and its recommendations, including:

Planning and Housing Committee to request the Executive Director, Development Review, in consultation with the Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, to continue to undertake stakeholder consultation on potential policy amendments to address ongoing legislative changes and report back to Planning and Housing Committee by the end of Q2 2025.
We appreciate that City Planning is attempting to ensure a balanced and effective public consultation regime under difficult circumstances. In that regard, the report notes the rapidly changing (and seemingly haphazard) legislative environment directly affecting development review – such as Bill 185 eliminating mandatory pre-application consultation PAC). The latter process represented an innovative approach by the City to address the revised review deadlines and punitive application fee refunds imposed by the Province.

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Urban sprawl at Derry & Thompson in Milton

In Ontario, it’s harder than ever to appeal local developments

Groups frustrated by the Ford government’s “sledgehammer” approach limiting development appeals say they’re now powerless to prevent urban sprawl, loss of farmland, and squandered green space in the province.

Among other changes, Ontario’s Bill 185, known as the “Cutting Red Tape to Build More Homes Act” limits third-party challenges to municipal plans and zoning heard by the Ontario Land Tribunal and dismissed appeals scheduled after April 10. The new rules were introduced by the provincial government to expedite construction of 1.5 million homes by 2031.

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Vancouver 4-plex

Could a housing revolution transform Canadian cities?

A new type of home called a fourplex is being hailed as the answer to Canada’s acute housing shortage. But why is there so much opposition?

Proponents of fourplexes, which include the Canadian government, hope they will spread out across the country. They want them to provide the “missing-middle” between large apartment buildings and single residency houses.

(The) opposition centres on a fear that long-existing Canadian suburbs of single-family homes will have their character irretrievably changed if fourplexes are forced upon them.

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Yonge and Eglinton houses with construction in background

City of Toronto comments on Bill 185

FoNTRA is in strong support of the Recommendations in the Report from the Interim Chief Planner and Executive Director, City Planning, as amended by the Planning and Housing Committee on May 9, 2024.

We are particularly concerned about especially the removal of residents’ right to appeal Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) decisions, which amounts to a serious loss of our democratic rights as citizens.

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Major Streets Map 3

Major Streets Study – FoNTRA responds

FoNTRA supports the general intent of the Major Streets initiative as being a logical framework to pursue opportunities for increased density in Neighbourhoods. However the proposal is presented as “one size fits all”, and no effort has been made to determine if the framework works in the varied street and settlement configurations, and transportation infrastructure, and cultural landscapes across the City. The methodology is not like that of an area planning study. It is simply an overlay of a standard set of permissions on the Official Plan Map 3 that shows road width.

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Queen's Park Ontario

More Darkness in Ontario’s Democracy

In Canada, after an election first ministers write mandate letters to their cabinet colleagues, laying out deliverables their departments should achieve. Some governments make them public (Trudeau, McGuinty and Wynne in Ontario), but others don’t (Harper, Ford). A newly-elected government traditionally outlines its program in its platform and speech from the throne; mandate letters may be more specific. Even if they are not made public, they can provide direction to the bureaucracy. If made public, they can be used to hold the government accountable.

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