Mayor Ford defends subway building plan
CP24.com
Mayor Rob Ford is refusing to compromise when it comes to his plan to bury
the entire Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line underground.
In an appearance in front of a busy Scarborough intersection late Wednesday
afternoon, Ford said he remains committed to building subways.
This, despite a proposal from TTC chair Karen Stintz to leave part of the
Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown transit line above ground, freeing up about
$2 billion to put towards extending the Sheppard subway line and building
some sort of above-ground rapid transit on Finch Avenue.
"I campaigned on building subways and I stand behind that commitment 100 per
cent because it is the right thing to do," Ford said. "It is right for
Scarborough, it is right for Toronto, it is right for everybody that lives
in this community."
Ford was joined by like-minded councilors Michelle Berardinetti, Gary
Crawford, Michael Thompson, Mike Del Grande and Norm Kelly on Friday
afternoon. The news conference was held just two days after Coun. Joe Mihevc
told CP24 that he received a legal opinion stating Ford didn't have the
power to unilaterally cancel David Miller's Transit City mass transit plan
and replace it with his subway-based plan upon taking over as mayor.
On Friday, Ford defended those actions, suggesting the future of the city
depends on subways.
"Subways are fast because they don't run on a street and they don't have to
cross intersections at street level and when you make transits faster than
cars people will use it," he said. "Putting trains down the middle of
congested jammed-up streets like the one behind us is not the answer. It is
wrong."
Labor battle could come down to last minute: Holyday
CTV.ca
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday says the city will not lock out some 6,000
unionized outside workers over the weekend, when a negotiating deadline
passes and a work stoppage becomes legal.
Ontario's Ministry of Labor has given negotiators until Feb. 5 before the
city can legally lock out unionized workers or the union can legally go on
strike.
"It's not an automatic lockout by us. We've never even talked about a
lockout, it's always been the union that's talked about the lockout," he
said.
Holyday, chair of the employee and labor relations committee, said on
Tuesday that the city had no intention of locking CUPE Local 416 workers
out, but hopes the impending deadline will lend urgency to negotiations.
Holyday likened the ongoing negotiations ahead of the deadline to a football
game: "In the end, quite often, the game is decided in the last two
minutes."
Cim Nunn, a spokesperson for CUPE, said in a statement that while Holyday
has promised not to lock staff out, he has not promised productive
negotiations.
When the deadline arrives on Sunday, the city can unilaterally change
working conditions and job security clauses for unionized staff.
But CUPE says doing that would endanger the bargaining process and reduce
the level and quality of services.
Mark Ferguson, head of the union, likened any potential unilateral changes
as an "unnecessary provocation."
"There is no need to change the terms and the conditions of our collective
agreement," he said.
"We're in lock-down at this point and we've made ourselves available to the
city at a 24-7 basis and quite frankly, that's what it's going to take to
get this done."
One key clause in question guarantees workers other positions with the city,
even if their current jobs are contracted out.
According to Coun. Giorgio Mammoliti, if the union refuses to talk about the
agreement and the thorny topic of job security, there could be conflict as
the negotiations continue.
"If they say no, they don't want to talk about that, then I think next
week's a different week, and we'll see what happens. It's one week at a
time," he told CTV Toronto.
Bad fuel seizing up car engines in GTA
CTV.ca
A
batch of bad gasoline being sold from a station is causing headaches for
motorists in the Toronto area, and there is concern the problem could get
worse.
Gas sold at the Mississauga Esso station, located at Glen Erin Drive and the
Collegeway, has been blamed for seizing up engines.
For Charles Bates, who also filled up at the station, the speculation will
do little to ease a hefty repair bill for his car.
"The ignition would turn over, but would die almost instantly," he said,
adding that the car would stay running for only a few seconds.
Luca Kulesza also fueled up at the station, and $20 worth of gas cost him
$620 in repairs.
The Calgary-based wholesale company that supplies the station has confirmed
that the fuel is tainted.
Tom McMillan, from the Parkland Fuel Corporation, said that drivers are
complaining that their vehicles aren't starting properly.
It's believed that bad fuel was sold from over the weekend until Monday at
about 1:30 p.m. at the Esso, which is an independently owned and operated
station.
The station has insurance and is now recording claims and taking fuel
samples, McMillan said.
McMillan added that the fuel was delivered clean and was likely contaminated
at the station.
It's not clear what caused the contamination, but MacMillan speculated that
it may be from melted snow.
Drivers who may have fueled up with the bad gasoline can call Esso customer
service at 1-800-567-3776.
'I'm building subways,' Ford says
National Post
With clear indications that a new transit proposal is working its way
through city council offices and gathering support, Mayor Rob Ford set the
stage for a face-off over putting tracks down the middle of suburban
Eglinton Avenue.
"It's the taxpayers in Scarborough. They were quite clear during my election
that they want subways, and I represent what the taxpayers want and that's
what we're going to continue to do," Mayor Ford told the National Post after
he launched the Mayor's Ball for the Toronto Arts Foundation.
The Mayor was referring to the proposal to turn the Eglinton light rail line
from a predominantly underground corridor, to one that pops out onto street
level in the eastern suburbs. Proponents say the modification could save
$1.5-billion, money that could go to extending the Sheppard subway two
kilometers, to Victoria Park Avenue, and building a rapid transit corridor
on Finch Avenue.
"Scarborough residents voted me in to build subways and I'm building
subways," the Mayor reiterated. "I'll do exactly what the provincial
government wants to do. Last time I checked they're going to build subways.
It's started, it's going, and I do what the taxpayers of Scarborough want
... not above ground."
Mr. Ford's words back up what a senior official in his office said on
Tuesday, but clearly there are mixed messages emanating out of City Hall, as
a coalition of councilors pushing for the revised plan work behind the
scenes to coax the Mayor on board - even as his office sows seeds of doubt
among allies.
"My discussions with the Mayor have been collaborative," said TTC Chair
Karen Stintz, who leads the transit rethink that is winning broad based
support at City Hall. Some of Ford's key allies are among those who are open
to changes such as Councilor Michael Thompson and, tentatively, Councilor
Giorgio Mammoliti.
"I recognize that the Mayor feels honor bound by certain things and I'm
hoping that doesn't become an impediment," said Councilor John Parker, a TTC
commissioner whose ward is traversed by Eglinton and who supports the new
plan. "I want this city to be built in a rational, sensible way, and I think
the decisions we make on this project will be critical on both of those
respects."
In the midst of the upheaval, Premier Dalton McGuinty stressed that it will
take a "formal proposal" from the city to get the regional transit agency
Metrolinx to consider changing the blueprint.
At the centre of the deal is a document known as a "nonbinding" memorandum
of understanding, between the Mayor and the Premier, that was signed in
March. The MOU essentially tosses out a former plan devised under former
mayor David Miller that called for light rail on Finch, Sheppard and
Eglinton. The current deal calls for the province to put all its $8.2billion
into an Eglinton light rail line that runs predominantly underground from
Black Creek Drive to Kennedy Station, except for sections at the Don Valley
and approaching Kennedy. Some of the money would go to converting the
existing Scarborough RT into light rail. Meanwhile, the city would assume
responsibility for extending the Sheppard subway, with possibly $650million
from the province if it has it left over.
Mayor asks for delay in sale of TCHC houses
CTV
Toronto Mayor Rob Fords will ask that a plan to sell nearly 700 properties
owned by Toronto Community Housing Corporation to be delayed.
Ford says he will recommend the executive committee delay the sale of 675
housing units for one month to give TCHC time to lay out a plan to fund
critical repairs to city-owned housing.
Last year, the city decided to sell the scattered properties in order to
raise some $222 million earmarked to be used repairing other TCHC
properties. TCHC estimates that there is $650 million worth of repairs
required on their various properties.
"It's unacceptable to me that we would leave people to live this way. We
have to find a way to make the most critical repairs as soon as possible,"
Ford said in a news release.
"I'm very happy with the creative solutions coming out of the new TCHC
board. They're doing excellent work. For the first time ever, the board is
grappling with the real problems faced by residents and is finding ways to
generate the funds needed for repairs."
The decision to sell the 675 units is conditional on TCHC submitting a plan
that would explain how the income would be used to repair other properties,
how the housing units would be replaced and how current occupants would be
accommodated.
Ford says he still supports selling the units but that it is important to
have a plan in place before they move forward.
"I need to ask the board and TCHC to work a little faster," Ford said. "I'd
like them to accelerate their plans to address the repair problem and care
for affected residents so council can consider them at the same time it
reviews the sale of units. That will give councillors the full picture. And,
it will help us get repairs started faster."
From
garbage to greenery
Revitalizing Toronto’s downtown laneways
Globe and Mail
Some days when Nick Cluley steps into the laneway that runs between Massey
Hall and the ING Direct office where he works, he’ll run into a celebrity,
such as William Shatner, grabbing a smoke outside the stage door. But most
of the time, Mr. Cluley sees a conspicuously forgotten strip of the city,
one strewn with trash, dumpsters, used needles and worse.
The 29-year-old Chicago native and manager of the bank’s storefront at Yonge
and Shuter wants to transform the O’Keefe Laneway, which runs south from
Yonge-Dundas Square to the backstage door of the Elgin. His vision is to
turn it into an intimate pedestrian and cyclist-friendly space, featuring
greenery, public art, good lighting, signage and even some small-scale
retailers and coffee houses.
“We think we can turn it into a flexible use space,” he said. “We know
there’s a lot of interest in making something better.”
Over the coming months, a somewhat unlikely partnership – armed with a
$25,000 grant from Ontario’s Ministry of Health Promotion – will solicit the
public’s ideas for revitalizing the laneway, and perhaps creating a template
for other such spaces around the core. Joining ING, the urban mobility
organization 8-80 Cities and the legendary Danish urban design firm Gehl
Architects will develop a plan to breathe new life into a long-neglected
interstice.
ING, which is investing $9,000 in the project, will host public consultation
sessions in February and March on the second floor meeting space of its
funky Yonge storefront. But Mr. Cluley, who sits on the Cyclists Union
board, said the Dutch banking giant isn’t interested in plastering the
laneway with its corporate brand. “We would leave the naming rights up to
the powers that be at the city.”
Toronto’s residential laneways have long been the subject of planning
scrutiny, and have attracted growing interest from architects and
home-buyers looking for gritty urban settings. But many downtown laneways,
still used almost exclusively for commercial loading and garbage, remain
functional and abandoned. “The laneway system is under-utilized and
under-valued,” said local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam, who is a strong
supporter of reclaiming alleys for small-scale retail and housing as a means
of promoting economic development and density.
8-80 Cities executive director Gil Penalosa is a cycling and pedestrian
advocate who once served as the parks commissioner for Bogota, Colombia. He
said the inspiration for this particular project came from Jan Gehl’s work
in Melbourne.
Mr. Gehl, a former Danish planner, gained international fame for banishing
cars from downtown Copenhagen. More recently, he advised New York on
transforming a chunk of Times Square into a car-free zone. Mr. Gehl also
spent many years in the Australian financial hub, working with the local
planning commissioner on a long-term strategy to revitalize its decaying
downtown by promoting café-lined pedestrian zones, lively squares and
laneway redevelopment.
Between 1994 and 2004, in fact, Melbourne’s network of accessible and
revitalized laneways and arcades expanded from a mere 300 metres to 3.4 km.
The city now ranks at the top of global urban livability rankings.
To bring life back into Melbourne’s laneways, the municipality cleaned them
up and found tidy ways to store the dumpsters. It also offered $50,000
one-time start-up grants to entrepreneurs to open shops and cafes, with the
proviso that they keep late hours to promote a sense of safety.
The result is intimate and authentic. “The grittiness really adds something
to the feeling,” said 8-80 Cities director of partnerships and programming
Emily Munroe, who visited Melbourne last fall on a fact-finding trip. “When
we were there, it really did feel like it could work in Toronto.”
While the idea may fire the imaginations of public space enthusiasts, such a
transformation turns on mechanical issues, such as dealing with the garbage.
Mr. Cluley said he’s been talking with Downtown Yonge BIA officials and Ms.
Wong-Tam about finding ways to have the dumpsters emptied during a specified
overnight window and then creating curtains or other means of concealing
them. “It just comes down to the co-ordination of logistics.”
After a frigid stroll up the windswept O’Keefe Friday, Mr. Cluley sounded
confident that the area’s storekeepers, landowners and municipal officials
can clear away the procedural obstacles. “We feel very confident that if we
put a great plan together, it will be executable and something the City of
Toronto can be proud of.”
Pocket 911 calls a growing problem, police lament
CTV.ca
Thousands of pocket-dialed calls are tying up emergency phone lines and
threatening public safety, prompting a police crack down on the growing
number of unintentional 911 calls.
Police launched a campaign Monday encouraging cellphone users to "lock it
before they pocket" to combat the growing number of accidental calls.
Toronto police received 107,000 pocket dials last year, which occur when a
button on a cellphone programmed to call 911 is inadvertently hit while the
device is stored in a pant pocket or purse.
Police also received 116,000 mis-dialed calls, which are non-emergency calls
made to 911.
The high volume of unintentional calls is causing a drain on law enforcement
resources, police said.
For every 911 call made operators must find out if an emergency exists
meaning precious seconds are wasted on accidental calls, Staff Supt. Jeff
McGuire told reporters at a press conference Monday.
"Every time that happens someone with a real genuine emergency is being
delayed," McGuire said. "This is a serious problem."
In a call released by Toronto police, one man mistakenly dials 911 and his
phone proceeds to play a song by hip-hop stars Drake and Rihanna.
"My bad," the cellphone owner said when the operator called him back. "I
call you guys like everyday, man. It's an accident."
To prevent this, police suggested that cellphone users turn off the 911
auto-dial feature on their phone and use the keypad lock before putting the
device in their bag or purse. If an accidental call is still made to
emergency services, however, McGuire said callers should not hang up.
"It's absolutely imperative that you stay on the line and make your
apologies," he said.
Other Ontario police departments also reported receiving a high number of
unintentional 911 calls last year. York Regional Police received 97,886
unintentional calls from cellphones, which accounted for 37 per cent of all
911 calls.
Peel Regional Police received 80,724 unintentional calls between June and
December of 2011.
The Toronto commute named one of the world's worst
The WeatherNetwork.com
Does your commute in and out of Toronto seem long?
That's because, according to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, it
is.
They say many people in southern Ontario have commute times longer than some
of the world's largest cities.
“The Toronto commute right now is one of the worst in the world. At 80
minutes in each direction to and from work it's just horrible,” says Tom
Reynolds, The Weather Network's Traffic Specialist. “We are worse than New
York City, Los Angeles and London.”
Statistic Canada recently reported that the average Canadian commute was 26
minutes in each direction last year, but was significantly longer in cities
like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
Reynolds says the growing population and lack of sustainable planning is
contributing to the problem.
“Here in Toronto what we have is a major growth pattern of 5.5 million
people trying to get in or out of the city, and unfortunately what's
happened is our transit infrastructure has not been developed on an ongoing
basis,” he says.
The 401 is considered to be the busiest highway in North America. There are
too many cars, too many trucks and too few roads. People who are in the 416
area of Toronto downtown are commuting into the 905 area, while the 905's
and the 519's coming into the 416 area.
“That's why you've seen such a huge difference in the volume of traffic,”
explains Reynolds. “What we need is an increased flow of transit, light rail
lines, we need to amalgamate transit companies so that everyone's on the
same page, and that way you would probably get a lot more effective
to-and-from work times.”
The shortest commute time in the world right now for a major city is
Barcelona, Spain at an average of 47 minutes.
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities, a group that represents Canadian
cities, was scheduled to appear in front of the House of Commons finance
committee this week.
Cops target panhandlers
Toronto Sun
Charges filed against aggressive panhandlers is up — way up.
Overall, Toronto Police laid 15,551 charges under the Safe Streets Act in
2010, compared to 13,202 in 2009. It’s a huge increase from 2004 when 2,725
charges were laid.
Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday insisted the city wants to clampdown on begging
and a vote to outlaw it would be a slam-dunk at city council.
But while the Safe Streets Act, introduced in 1999, deals with aggressive
beggars, Holyday is focused on panhandling in general.
It’s up to the province to pass the necessary legislation.
“I think we’d require a legislative change but getting to the point of
requesting the province to do it should be something that is handled
quickly,” Holyday told the Toronto Sun’s Don Peat.
But in the meantime, police have been using the legislation that’s
available.
The statistics show the majority of the charges filed are for aggressive
panhandling — instances in which a beggar behaves in a threatening manner.
“What I’ve heard from the city are questions of ... what can we do to reduce
or eliminate street presence, particularly panhandling, so the question was
what can the police do?” Deputy Chief Mike Federico said.
He said the act allows police to focus on panhandlers that pose a risk or
are a nuisance, but officers can’t do much about passive panhandlers.
“That would require a change in the law to actually to outright ban, to make
it illegal, to solicit or beg or panhandle, and we don’t have a law like
that,” Federico said.
He said a city bylaw can probably be used to keep people moving.
Federico said he wouldn’t be able to quantify the manpower needed to enforce
expansive panhandling laws, nor is it clear how many people are begging.
“The only numbers I can give you with any reliability are the numbers that
we’ve actually charged,” Federico said. Complicating that is it is likely
the same person has been charged multiple times at different times.
He figures the conviction rate is “pretty high,” because if a charged person
fails to appear in court, the court convicts in absentia.
“Like everything else, when it comes to enforcement, the police need to
exercise discretion,” he said. “We need to make sure there aren’t
alternative ways to deal with it before we lay a charge.”
Federico said alternatives include a referral to Streets to Homes, a
city-sponsored program that helps people off the streets or to get required
medical care.
The tough guy approach doesn’t always work.
“They don’t have the means to pay the fine in many cases,” Federico said.
“The consequences of not paying the fine doesn’t have a big impact and those
that do pay the fine, it’s like any other infraction, they pay the fine and
move on.”
He said unless the panhandler commits a Criminal Code infraction, “all we
can do is lay a summons on them and compel them to go to court.”