Let’s talk about revitalizing our beloved Yonge-Dundas Square at the heart of Toronto.
A new research study on rebranding the square under its new name, Sankofa Square, is out. Called, “Sankofa Square Community Research Study: Public Consultations and insights on the rebranding of Yonge-Dundas Square to Sankofa Square,” it’s supposed to help the city decide how to make the square a more vibrant hub of cultural activities and bring all Torontonians from all backgrounds together.
After vanishing without a trace for close to 10 months, a 15-year-old boy was safely found by police and returned home to his Ajax parents last week.
Just days before, his father Clayton gave an impassioned speech to a Black-led community meeting at a North York church, about what he said was the authorities’ indifference to an increasing number of families who have been urging police to help find their missing children.
… Toronto police field roughly 10,000 missing person calls each year. In many such cases, Patterson said, someone is “either running away from something, or they’re running to something,” and uncovering those factors is key to where police start their search.
Gang recruitment is a significant factor.
One moment, three men are chatting inside a Scarborough jewelry store. The next, the driver of a pickup truck slams into the storefront, instantly shattering the glass and narrowly missing one of the men inside.
Instantly, chaos erupts. The man in a striped shirt is yelling and jumping up and down with his hands above his head. The men briefly run out of the frame. Then, a computer monitor is thrown into the room.
#WATCH: Truck smashes through Scarborough storefront during jewelry heist last night. pic.twitter.com/usFjkIZ1z6
— 6ixBuzzTV (@6ixbuzztv) January 30, 2025
NEW: CHCH News has obtained shocking surveillance video showing three suspects involved in a smash-and-grab robbery at a jewelry store at Burlington Centre on Monday evening.
READ MORE: https://t.co/aC0HmT4tXm pic.twitter.com/saEEB4hH6G
— CHCH News (@CHCHNews) January 28, 2025
Toronto’s rat population is growing faster than the rodents of New York City, Chicago or Amsterdam, according to a new study, illuminating how climate change and urbanization are turbo-charging rat growth in the absence of effective control strategies.
Residents who have complained for years about a perceived rodent surge now have peer-reviewed evidence, published in the journal Science Advances on Friday, that lays bare the scale of Toronto’s problem. Of the 16 cities analyzed, Toronto had the third-fastest growing rat population.
A week after Doug Ford’s Ontario government passed legislation in early December ordering all supervised injection sites within 200 metres of schools and daycares to close, harm reduction activists did the expected and announced they were taking the province to court.
One of the sites being ordered to close in Toronto, the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, held a press conference and introduced the lawyers who will argue on its behalf that the closure of these sites violates the charter rights of drug users.
In the fifteen months since October 7, an absence of leadership has turned Toronto into a city that many don’t recognize. Even more upsetting, for some it has turned into a city where they don’t feel safe.
It seems almost weekly that a Jewish-owned business, community centre or synagogue is targeted by vandalism or protests. A Jewish girls’ school, Bais Chaya Mushka Elementary, has been shot at on three separate occasions. Neighbourhoods have been deliberately targeted for protests because of their Jewish populations.
h/t MP
A union representing some 30,000 inside workers at the City of Toronto says its members have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a strike mandate if bargaining fails to yield a deal.
The union represents city workers in public health, planning, city hall operations, employment & social services, cleaning, court services, ambulance dispatch, child care, 311, recreation programming, shelters, water & food inspection, and long-term care.
CUPE Local 79 President Nas Yadollahi told reporters Tuesday that over 90 per cent of workers who took part in the vote over the weekend opted to give the union a strike mandate.
Expect major Chowfuckery.
On Saturday, Toronto Budget Chief Shelley Carroll defended sending money down the toilet.
She was participating in a budget town hall on NEWSTALK1010.
A caller named David wanted to know why the city keeps its contracting exclusive to a cozy, short list of preferred contractors.
Toronto’s bylaw officers will no longer crack down on cannabis stores that are operating illegally.
The head of Toronto’s licensing department, Carleton Grant, made it clear during Wednesday’s budget committee meeting that due to the lack of funding and dangers of dealing with criminal activity surrounding these storefronts, bylaw officers are “no longer effective” in stifling these shops from running.
In 2018, the city received just shy of $9 million in provincial funding, through the Ontario Cannabis Legalization implementation Fund (OCLIF), to crack down on dispensaries selling products to customers without a licence. In 2024, that funding ran out.
Welcome to Chowtown where criminals rule.
Inflation in Canada might be back down below 3%, but at Toronto City Hall, they haven’t gotten the memo. Mayor Olivia Chow and her hand-picked budget chief, Shelley Carroll, announced a combined tax hike for homeowners of 6.9%.
That’s 5.4% for the property tax increase, plus 1.5% for the city building fund.
Toronto’s proposed 2025 budget includes a 6.9 per cent property tax hike, with Mayor Olivia Chow promising the revenue it raises will enable critical investments in libraries, police, transit, housing and other vital services.
The budget will deliver “change in Torontonians’ lives today,” Chow told reporters inside city hall Monday morning alongside budget chief Coun. Shelley Carroll to launch this year’s budget process.
The 6.9 per cent figure includes a new 5.4 per cent hike, plus a 1.5 per cent increase to the city building fund dedicated to capital expenditures for transit and housing.
One Term Chow.
The proposed 2025 budget for Toronto, and whether it will lead to another huge property tax hike, will be unveiled Monday as the affordability crisis chips away at people’s pocketbooks.
Canada’s Top Job Market Is Saskatoon, Toronto Ranks Near Worst: BMO
Toronto is out and Saskatoon is in—at least for those looking for a robust job market. That’s the take from BMO’s latest labor market rankings of Canada’s 33 largest cities. The country added tens of thousands of jobs, but surging population growth means some cities did worse than others. Places like Toronto saw a sharp erosion of its labor market as its population outpaced its ability to create jobs. More affordable cities like Saskatoon maintained robust population growth, but managed to grow its labor market faster—probably since shelter costs didn’t consume its economy.
Toronto unemployment rises to 8.4% https://t.co/3MU8A8NrgU pic.twitter.com/m57hJXWQvN
— Daniel Foch (@daniel_foch) January 11, 2025
A congestion charge, a long-debated idea in North America, has finally come into effect in New York City and is being praised by experts who say Toronto could benefit from a similar approach .
On Sunday, New York was the first U.S. city to adopt the system after years of studies and delays, joining the likes of London, Stockholm and Singapore which have seen lasting traffic reductions since implementing congestion charges.
One more reason to move out of Toronto.
Anita Dressler expressed the wrong opinion and was fired by the City of Toronto.
The loss of income doesn’t bother her – she was a volunteer.
Dressler does and doesn’t like to talk about her six decades or so of volunteer work. She cherishes the connections she’s made and loves knowing she’s helped many people, but hates to think she’d be seen as a braggart.
Chairman Chow and her band of commie racists have to go.
