Here’s a short list of things that happened shortly after provincial transit agency Metrolinx announced that — whoops, our bad — the fare price of their Union-Pearson Express rail line was set too high. First, the union representing TTC workers called for a public inquiry into Metrolinx, suggesting the mea culpa on the airport line was proof the agency can’t manage projects. Union head Bob...
We need to talk about the absurd cost of police in Toronto
Insignia of a senior officer of the Toronto Police Service. Coun. Michael Thompson stood up and delivered the most important speech of his political life midway through last week’s debate on the 2016 city budget. “We are at a crossroads, in my view,” he explained, “where either this council decides they are concerned about the cost of policing or, in fact, they decide that they’re not concerned.”...
Will city planners survive the politics and keep on calling the shots in Toronto?
Jennifer Keesmaat. Six months ago, it looked like Toronto chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat was on her way out at city hall. At odds with Mayor John Tory after endorsing the removal of the eastern section of the Gardiner Expressway, her job security was a question mark. But a lot can change in six months. Keesmaat hasn’t just stayed on the job, she and her planning department have taken on new...
Toronto is subsidizing its most wasteful people with garbage bin rebate
When city hall’s budget committee approved the 2016 budget last week, there were a bunch of proposals that didn’t get the thumbs up. A program to increase TTC bus reliability? Not in the budget. Money to cover the increasing cost of food for student nutrition programs? Nah. Requested funding for the offices keeping councillors accountable? Come on. Of course not. But one piece of new spending did...
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