ArchiveJanuary 2015

By: Metro Canada Published on Fri Jan 16 2015 You could be forgiven for assuming that Toronto doesn’t have a real, long-term strategy for supporting the city’s homeless. Over the past few weeks, it’s looked as if the city is operating shelter services on an ad-hoc basis…like they were caught off guard. You wouldn’t think anyone would be surprised by the fact that Toronto has a homeless...

By: Metro Published on Mon Jan 12 2015 It may have been bitterly cold outside, but last week I actually felt warm feelings toward city hall. That sounds weird, I know. I’m still struggling with it. I’m way more accustomed to criticizing local government than I am to praising it. But after four Ford-filled years, it’s important to note that — for a week at least — there was mostly good news coming...

During the Mayor Rob Ford era, my city council scorecard — which tracks how often councillors vote with the mayor on major items — was a very exciting spreadsheet — that's high praise. I find most spreadsheets at least a little exciting. It tracked rapidly shifting political alliances. It told the story of how Ford managed to lose almost every single one of his allies. It...

By: Metro Published on Mon Jan 05 2015 A year ago, Toronto and its surrounding towns and cities had just weathered a nasty ice storm. You probably remember the prolonged power outages, the cancelled flights and the general chaos. It wasn’t a super-fun time. For me, though, the most enduring memory from the storm comes from something that happened after the ice melted. On Jan. 17, 2014, mayors and...