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Mayor Olivia Chow's Toronto

While not exactly Toronto......when looking for a place to deposit return-to-office info, I see more recent discussion here than most other threads....

I offer the following, Dell has issued a directive from on high than anyone within commuting distance of a Dell office is expected in 5 days a week beginning March 3rd, 2025.

Tech was thought to be one of the less likely to impose this by many, so I think its news worthy and relevant to this thread in respect of everything from Toronto office vacancy to TTC ridership.

While I expect Canadian business will continue to lag vs some U.S. giants, we seem to be following their trendline closely, just about six to twelve months behind.
 
Northern Light said:
While not exactly Toronto......when looking for a place to deposit return-to-office info, I see more recent discussion here than most other threads....

I offer the following, Dell has issued a directive from on high than anyone within commuting distance of a Dell office is expected in 5 days a week beginning March 3rd, 2025.

Tech was thought to be one of the less likely to impose this by many, so I think its news worthy and relevant to this thread in respect of everything from Toronto office vacancy to TTC ridership.

While I expect Canadian business will continue to lag vs some U.S. giants, we seem to be following their trendline closely, just about six to twelve months behind.
Click to expand...
My office simply does not have the capacity for it. Unless they are expecting AI to start letting them shed jobs... if anything we are adding headcount.
 
So while it seems like the common sentiment is to move everyone to in-office more than 3 days a week now. Our company after years of only doing 1 day every 2 weeks today decided to not renew the lease and go WFH permanently.
to be fair it was in markham at hwy 7 and town center. not exactly prime real estate.

I think its a point to how "aaa office space" like the well and 160 front is doing so much better than lower tiers like in industrial parks. Banks are included in this. If you dont invest in your offices your employees will be less inclined to visit the office.

Even up there in Markham, the company had to pay for free breakfast and lunches to encourage people to commute
 
Northern Light said:
While not exactly Toronto......when looking for a place to deposit return-to-office info, I see more recent discussion here than most other threads....

I offer the following, Dell has issued a directive from on high than anyone within commuting distance of a Dell office is expected in 5 days a week beginning March 3rd, 2025.

Tech was thought to be one of the less likely to impose this by many, so I think its news worthy and relevant to this thread in respect of everything from Toronto office vacancy to TTC ridership.

While I expect Canadian business will continue to lag vs some U.S. giants, we seem to be following their trendline closely, just about six to twelve months behind.
Click to expand...
What's considered commuting distance?
 
generalcanada said:
So while it seems like the common sentiment is to move everyone to in-office more than 3 days a week now. Our company after years of only doing 1 day every 2 weeks today decided to not renew the lease and go WFH permanently.
to be fair it was in markham at hwy 7 and town center. not exactly prime real estate.

I think its a point to how "aaa office space" like the well and 160 front is doing so much better than lower tiers like in industrial parks. Banks are included in this. If you dont invest in your offices your employees will be less inclined to visit the office.

Even up there in Markham, the company had to pay for free breakfast and lunches to encourage people to commute
Click to expand...
I'm not surprised by the necessity of such bribery. Having to work in (never mind commuting to) the suburbs is one of my nightmares.
 
Towered said:
What's considered commuting distance?
Click to expand...
1 hour per business insider article.
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In this week's Economist.

Walk down the passage connecting the subway on 34th Street-Herald Square to a commuter line bound for New Jersey and you will almost certainly see people sleeping rough. The tunnel is a warm spot on a bitter January night. A team of police officers and psychiatric clinicians approach the sleepers to check how they are doing, and if they agree, transport them to a shelter. The clinician may also determine if they need more pointed help, whether they want it or not.

This is part of the city’s overnight homeless-outreach programme, Partnership Assistance for Transit Homelessness (PATH). They offer a bed, often giving the person a choice of borough and type of shelter. If a team determines someone might be in severe mental distress, and may be a danger to themselves or to others, their consent is not needed.

Involuntary commitment laws in New York state go back decades, but the idea fell out of favour after the closing of asylums. Over the past few years politicians in New York who were opposed have embraced it. Since 2022 Eric Adams, the city’s mayor, has instructed police and first responders to hospitalise people with severe mental illness who are incapable of looking after themselves. Kathy Hochul, the governor, has announced plans to “add more teeth” to the state laws on involuntary treatment and is promising more money. This builds on what is already happening in New York City.
Here a culture change is under way, says Brian Stettin, the mayor’s adviser on severe mental illness. “It’s just not going to be acceptable anymore to walk by people who are in a psychiatric crisis and are in desperate need of medical care.” It takes a lot to rattle New Yorkers. But seeing someone on the subway who is in distress, is not wearing shoes and may also be shouting profanities at passengers will do it. Straphangers have been shaken by attacks on the subway: at the end of January a homeless man shoved a woman into the path of a moving train; on New Year’s Eve security cameras recorded a man in Manhattan being shoved onto the tracks just as a train entered the station. Subway riders used to stand near the platform edge to quickly hop onto the train. Now they have taken to hugging the walls until the train arrives. Although subway crime has fallen and Mr Adams has deployed police to ride the rails overnight, the perception is different.

Mr Stettin says there are relatively few people who require involuntary care: the health department maintains three lists of 50 people who have been identified as the most challenging cases (he knows most by name). Police and clinicians also haul off other people if they are deemed a danger to themselves or others. Still, the number of people with severe mental illness ought to be manageable, and the programme can already point to successes.
 
I used the SafeTTC App this morning to report someone exposing himself (pants hanging much too low, rather than something more deliberate) in Dufferin Station. They responded within 2-3 minutes and said they were sending someone, though since the guy was doing it right next to the ticket booth, someone should have been there already.
 

Toronto council to debate axing Tesla taxi subsidy amid Donald Trump’s tariff threats​

Mayor Olivia Chow said she is moving a motion Tuesday afternoon to remove the subsidy that taxi drivers are eligible for, specifically for the Elon Musk-owned Tesla brand.

From https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/toronto-council-to-debate-axing-tesla-taxi-subsidy-amid-donald-trumps-tariff-threats/article_7683d6d6-e888-11ef-a60a-eb55cbf75fe7.html
City council is expected to debate a motion at today’s meeting that will propose getting rid of the Tesla subsidy for taxi drivers amid economic threats from the U.S.
“I will introduce a motion this afternoon that will remove Tesla eligibility for subsidies,” Mayor Olivia Chow told reporters Tuesday morning ahead of the council meeting that will debate the 2025 budget.

“People can still continue to buy electric vehicles,” Chow said. “I see no reason why the city should subsidize the purchase of Teslas.”

Other types of electric vehicles, such as from Ford or Chrysler, will not be affected.

If the motion passes today, it will go into effect March 1.

Chow said the city provides $4.85 million in grants to eligible taxi owners to buy electric vehicles.

“Feel free to buy them, but no reason that we should pay millions in grants,” she said.

When asked if Tesla was being singled out because the company’s owner Elon Musk is part of the Donald Trump administration, which is threatening Canada with punitive tariffs, Chow said: “It’s a very popular brand.”

“You can draw whatever conclusion you want,” she added.

An early draft of the motion seen by the Star proposes to “temporarily remove Tesla vehicles from the eligibility for enrollment in the incentive program for vehicles for hire effect March 1, 2025 and promote all other electric vehicles that continue to qualify for the program, until such time as the U.S. trade action had ended.”

This follows last week’s city council meeting marked by patriotic speeches and members unanimously approving a plan for a “comprehensive, multi-faceted ‘Buy Local, Buy Canadian’ campaign” that would encourage residents and businesses to purchase “locally made Canadian goods and services.”

Both the Tesla motion expected Tuesday and the “buy local” motion are part of measures Chow announced last week that the city would take in response to what she referred to as Trump’s “senseless” trade war.
Click to expand...

The city should stop accepting advertising for Tesla, and all other Elon Musk companies, on TTC and city vehicles and properties.
 
Last edited:
W. K. Lis said:

Toronto council to debate axing Tesla taxi subsidy amid Donald Trump’s tariff threats​

Mayor Olivia Chow said she is moving a motion Tuesday afternoon to remove the subsidy that taxi drivers are eligible for, specifically for the Elon Musk-owned Tesla brand.

From https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/toronto-council-to-debate-axing-tesla-taxi-subsidy-amid-donald-trumps-tariff-threats/article_7683d6d6-e888-11ef-a60a-eb55cbf75fe7.html


The city should stop accepting advertising for Tesla, and all other Elon Musk companies, on TTC and city vehicles and properties.
Click to expand...
Or charge them a surtax!
 
The Budget has passed with only minor tweaks as seen here in Cllr Carroll's motion:

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Councillor Holyday lost a slew of votes on cutting enhanced services, and raising TTC fares.

Councillor Bradford lost a motion on cutting taxes for some businesses further

Councillor Crisanti saw a motion to reduce the property tax rate ruled out of order.
 
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