News   Feb 13, 2026
EX3 Climbs Higher at Exchange District in Mississauga City Centre
 2K     5 
News   Feb 13, 2026
Three Towers Proposed Near Mount Joy GO in Markham
 3.9K     1 
News   Feb 13, 2026
Explainer: Fly Forms
 4.8K     0 

Mayor Olivia Chow's Toronto

"Solve homelessness!"
Council: ok we'll convert a parking lot
"No not like that 😠"

nowtoronto.com

‘They have just shut us out,’ Etobicoke residents sue City of Toronto and local councillor for $1M over homeless shelter site selection - NOW Toronto

A group of Etobicoke residents is suing the City of Toronto and their local councillor over homeless shelter site selection.
nowtoronto.com nowtoronto.com
"The New Toronto Initiative, also known as the South Etobicoke Community Association, says it filed a statement of claim to challenge the site selection of a homeless shelter located at 66 Third Street in Etobicoke.

The claim was filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice against the City, Ward 3 Etobicoke-Lakeshore councillor Amber Morley, and consultant Bruce Davis of Public Progress."
Click to expand...

Spokesperson for the group Dan Perdue tells Now Toronto the lawsuit was a last resort after spending months attempting to engage in conversations with the City, Mayor Olivia Chow, and Morley.

“The best that they have done is provide information sessions telling us what they’re going to do, but there’s been zero engagement, and we have tried everything at every opportunity, and they have just shut us out,” Perdue said.
Click to expand...


I believe city staff in certain divisions have been asked to consider different terminology to use other than "consultation" about a variety of issues, particularly shelters, because people opposed are under the impression they will given the ability to change the plans, when really they're just being informed.
 
Purdue says the group has no problems with the city attempting to offer support to unhoused community members, and has no issue with a shelter in the neighbourhood, but says the main concern is with the site itself.

“What caused us massive concern is that they chose a site that’s 9,200 square feet. The city’s own guidelines are 15,000 minimum, and they’re choosing a site that’s 40 per cent less than their minimum,” Perdue says.

Due to the square footage Perdue says the site may not be able to offer the necessary services tenants will need to be and feel supported.

“We’ve got to be looking at at least a 20,000-square feet facility so that we can assure that when these people come in, they feel safe, they feel supported, and we’ve got mental health support systems,” he said.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, the we care so much that we just wanted them to have all the services, and if they don't get a roof over their head because good isn't sufficient, sucks to be them.

AoD
 
txlseries4 said:
"Solve homelessness!"
Council: ok we'll convert a parking lot
"No not like that 😠"
Click to expand...

Having read the story.

Setting aside merits/motivations for just one moment....

I'm not clear on what the actual legal argument is; someone feel free to link to the Statement of Claim here.

The residents are not entitled to consultation as such on this application, or at least I'm not aware of any wording anywhere that supports anything close to a veto.

On guidelines the City uses for designing facilities, they are guidelines, just like the 'Tall Building Design Guidelines'......they are there to provide.........duh, guidance, they are not regulation, they are not binding.

Seems like another association like the one up at Willowdale/Cummer setting itself up for a fail.

*****

On the merits here, I have no time for opposition to affordable housing. Zero. But I do have time for opposition to shelters, because they are inordinately expensive, and typically offer inferior living conditions that even people in encampments frequently decline.

I would prefer to see permanent, affordable, rental apartments, with subsidies as required to keep that manageable.

I do recognize that we also need some facilities to provide assisted/supervised living arrangements; but I think the City generally provides facilities where treatment isn't mandatory and additions and psychosis are often tolerated.
Which is to say, we need better facilities of this type, where people are actually helped and not warehoused.

I don't have all the details for this site handy to assess it better; but I will say, my instinct here is that any arguments against this facility come off more as disingenuous nimby than concerned citizen.

***

I said this in the Cummer case; that site wasn't ideal for a number of reasons; but it was what could had for free (land) and so it was advanced, "If you want it built somewhere else nearby, prettier, better, divided into two different sites, great, you pay the difference in cost vs the existing proposal, and you find the land, and I can persuade the City to listen."

Same applies here. Don't like, do better yourself, and pay the difference.
 
evandyk said:
Ignoring the casual racism for a minute, I doubt that Brampton has worse drivers than any other GTA suburb. Differences in auto insurance rates by address have more to do with car theft than driving skills.
Click to expand...

Exactly. York Region and the DVP is where I do my most cursing at drivers. And I’m in Brampton – my hometown – quite a bit.
 
ShonTron said:
Exactly. York Region and the DVP is where I do my most cursing at drivers. And I’m in Brampton – my hometown – quite a bit.
Click to expand...

My Aunt lives at McCowan and Steeles and driving anywhere in that area requires your head to be on a swivel. Same for the area around Pacific Mall which is scary to say the least.

My father drove TTC buses for 30 years with a safe driving record that entire time (no at fault accidents). He refuses to drive in Northeast Scarborough because as he says, he knows how to drive but those in that area do not.
 
In recent months I have noticed that the repair of bike rings has really speeded up. I occasionally send it reports of fallen bike rings or missing rings and in recent months these reports get acted on within a few weeks, Good to see, though i still think it would be more cost-effective to avoid having to place so many reports and have a repair team driving around and identifying and fixing problems as they pass or, at least, if two adjacent posts are in need of attention to fix both at the same time!
 
DSCToronto said:
In recent months I have noticed that the repair of bike rings has really speeded up. I occasionally send it reports of fallen bike rings or missing rings and in recent months these reports get acted on within a few weeks, Good to see, though i still think it would be more cost-effective to avoid having to place so many reports and have a repair team driving around and identifying and fixing problems as they pass or, at least, if two adjacent posts are in need of attention to fix both at the same time!
Click to expand...
In Europe, they use temporary vacant store fronts are bicycle garages for the other neighbourhood stores and offices.
 
txlseries4 said:
Barbara Gray, Toronto's Transportation Services General Manager is retiring next Friday, October 24, after 9 years of service

www.thestar.com

‘It’s been a good ride’: Toronto’s transportation manager to retire after nine years

Deputy City Manager Will Johnston announced Barbara Gray’s decision in a letter sent to council members and municipal staff on Friday
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com

Click to expand...

I was waiting for this to be public............ I've been hearing whispers for awhile now, and got confirmation of the letter/date earlier today..........

I'll offer thoughts in due course.

A new permanent hire hasn't been made yet, and Ashley Curtis, her deputy will get the acting gig for at least a few weeks, maybe longer.
 
Absolutely fantastic news I love it. She should take the rest of the dinosaur age thinking group with her along with her as well.

Good riddance, Sayonara, Au Revoir, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
 
Nah, Barbara Gray was one of the better ones, particularly pro-pedestrian and cyclist compared to predecessors. We can of course keep doing better (and there are a lot of dinosaurs both on council and in the civic service), but we did get some major bike and pedestrian improvements in the last decade, at least until Doug Ford decided that his buddies and donors were more important.
 
Amare said:
Absolutely fantastic news I love it. She should take the rest of the dinosaur age thinking group with her along with her as well.

Good riddance, Sayonara, Au Revoir, don't let the door hit you on the way out.
Click to expand...
I don't get this take. What did she do that makes her retirement good news? Toronto is much safer for pedestrians and cyclists since she joined the city. One of the first articles about her in 2016, linked within the article I posted, is titled "New transportation boss says car is no longer king", with the subheading "Toronto’s queen of the road, freshly arrived from Seattle, seen as ally to cyclists, urbanists".

At committees she frequently gives defends complete streets or measures favouring pedestrians or cyclists, her or colleagues do site visits when there is a road fatality, and at Council this month she came prepared and defended the speed camera program.

Sue-Ann Levy even wrote a piece in 2019 about Gray, titled "The war on the car road show, courtesy of Seattle"

There are clearly old ways of thinking within Transportation Services and it's a systemic issue, but thinking she could have rooted it all out -- or someone new will -- seems naive. But it seems to me the bigger obstacle are the car serving councillors who get in the way of progressive policies, often with the final say.
 
You must log in or register to post here.

Back
Top