My years with the Beach Village BIA (2010-2016) were my first foray into volunteering, lobbying, and advocacy, and my first time on a board of directors. The board has changed over the years, but regardless of the board’s membership I was frequently the sole voice of opposition to many ill-considered policies and plans, and found myself often…
This is what I like to call “auto-waste”, and it’s a policy of FAR too many businesses, organizations, and charities in the Western world. Basically it means that no matter how you sign up for something, for example entirely online, the entity you signed up with will automatically send you a bunch of wasteful paper…
I learned ALOT from my campaign: about running a campaign but also about the community. Knocking on doors and meeting people you’d otherwise never have occasion to meet really gets one in tune with their neighbourhood. Here are some of the lessons I learned, split into community and personal: Community lessons: – the Beach is…
As I clean up and sort out the mess in my office post-campaign I am appalled by all the waste. Hundreds of unused flyers, dozens of unused window signs, leftover buttons, stacks of paper from canvassing. So much paper and ink for such short use to be disposed of. It was tough running an environmental…
First of all, congrats to all the candidates, for having the courage to put themselves out there and making an effort to reach out to the community. We had a slate of incredible and dedicated people, the ward was going to be in good hands no matter what. And kudos to Brad Bradford, he certainly worked…
For years people have been talking about the state of Queen St in the Beach, with our empty storefronts looking derelict and decrepit and dragging down the whole strip. But this is not unique to Queen, it’s a problem across the city. Danforth was very lucky to have DECA, who made a concerted effort to fill…
Big thanks to Denise Angus for hosting the candidates and taking the time to do these thorough and in-depth interviews. It was a rare chance in this campaign to have the time to speak comfortably at-length about certain local issues.
The Heartwood development at Queen and Woodbine (the old Shell Station) violates our urban design guidelines as it will block the view of our historical heritage fire hall clock tower.
I try to beautify our neighbourhood any chance I get. Programs like StreetARToronto are important in covering all our grey concrete, and Community Centre 55 has been doing great work with young artists.
Too many of our streets lack proper ground markings and curb cuts to direct pedestrians and warn cars where there are pedestrian spaces.
Climate change becomes more undeniable every day, and carbon emissions are the main culprit. The city can be doing much more to ensure the public service is not contributing more to this escalating problem.
New developments around Eastdale and Lumsden are going to add a lot more density in an already dense area, right next to an ecologically sensitive ravine. We need to ensure development respects its surroundings and that infrastructure like mass transit will not be overloaded by new additions.
Toronto’s affordable housing is strained, and we need to keep up with repairs and add new units. Inclusionary zoning is a start, but we need more freedom to build the housing Toronto needs.
The Woodbine Cycle Track has been a valuable addition to cycling infrastructure, but is riddled with design flaws that are causing confusion and unsafe conditions. I have written a comprehensive report outlining the flaws with full solutions.
Parking on Queen has been an issue for a long time, and after doing an audit of street parking for the Beach Village BIA years ago I have identified areas where more parking can be added.
There is a serious lack of available affordable child care in our city. As the father of a toddler about to enter daycare I know the frustration of being on a waiting list since before my son was born. As councillor I will push for more funding for public and non-profit daycare.
I filed my nomination to run for council a mere 2 hours before Ford made his first surprise announcement about changing the wards. I speak elsewhere on the site about the folly of this move, even if one forgets there is a lawsuit in the works, the main problem for Toronto will be getting enough…
