Toronto’s Budget Chief & City Councillor for
#DonValleyNorth
. Mayor’s Economic Development & Culture Champion. Building a Toronto for our kids’ future.
I just heard a conservative strategist say, “Let’s face it, affordable childcare only helps 3% of the population.” Tell that to every Cdn grandparent who constantly picks up resto tabs, holiday costs, kids clothing costs, groceries, all cuz their kids pay $1600/mo for daycare.
Are you serious, right now, Caroline Mulroney? You just created thousands of latch-key kids with another tragic Friday Afternoon Cut announcement. Should their moms have to quit their jobs, I guess you will direct them to the SallyAnn for a Christmas Box.
#onpoli
#FordCuts
"There are still too many folks out there who can't afford to buy presents for their children this holiday season. That's why the work of charitable groups like the
@salvationarmy
and so many others, in communities across Ontario, is so important." -
@FordNation
@ThatEricAlper
I know this is obscure, but if you read The Outsiders in junior high school, You just couldn’t believe how well they nailed the casting when the movie finally arrived. Let’s just say every FFCoppola movie nails it’s casting.
I’m confused. This same
@erinotoole
that says
@JustinTrudeau
is endangering our health by calling an election, forced a confidence vote in an attempt to force an October 2020 Election as the second wave ramped up with no vaccine.
#cdnpoli
How could hundreds of people who watched 5 hours of
@thehipofficial
on
@PrimeVideo
‘s new doc series, all still need to stay together and sing afterwards? That’s the Tragically Hip for you.
@TIFF_NET
#tiff2024
Every parent who has ever relied on an education worker (ie all of us) knows that a $200 cheque can’t change your life but a properly compensated and productive education worker can change your child’s life forever.
#onpoli
What is this man talking about. The last year I chaired the City of Toronto Budget, there were 5,415 Toronto employees on the Sunshine list. After 4 years of Doug Ford sitting on the Budget Committee, that number more than doubled to 11,282.
#onpoli
#TOpoli
#VoteLiberal
They call this the sunshine list, but for hard-working people of Ontario, there is nothing sunny about it. Liberals insiders and fat cats are getting raises while real folks in Ontario haven’t gotten a raise in years.
#onpoli
#PCPOLdr
I heard a great thing about
#childcare
plans today. “If you were trying to build a great healthcare system, would you build great hospitals or would you give a bunch of cash to the sick people?” Think about, then look at the platforms.
#cdnpoli
#Elxn44
#TOpoli
Dear
@LisaThompsonMPP
, our public service in Toronto are not politicians. Under their code of conduct, they can’t tweet you back that you are wrong & their numbers are FACTS. Your tweet was tantamount to calling our City Manager a liar.
#Apologize
#ChildCareCuts
#onpoli
#TOpoli
I’ve just seen a pedestrian hit by a car at Victoria Park & Finch. I’ve pulled onto Ernest Ave to park my car & stop shaking. It’s dark, raining & cars are speeding past me on this local road. Drivers! It’s up to us! We’ve got to change this!
#DonValleyNorth
#VisionZero
#Toronto
Hey, if the Province is going to keep on incentivizing alcohol consumption (now it’s Happy Hours) maybe we should use our City of Toronto Act power to tax alcohol sales to fund the TTC operating budget.
And you can try, Pierre, to disguise your big ‘freedom’ finish in your speech that was clearly for the Convoys by saying it’s a quote from Deifenbaker, but we saw what you did there.
#Conservatives
Could we pause all of the politicians for a moment and have Ulli Watkiss, Canada’s largest City’s clerk who presides over Municipal Election services tell us if this is even possible this long after opening the call for candidates on a legally adopted set of boundaries.
#TOpoli
Kudos to
@brianstelter
for covering the Branson flight in a questioning way. Billionaire space travel in an age of extreme inequality on the ground. “We’re seeing a Gilded Age but it is not being scrutinized and covered in media as a Gilded Age.”
So in order to make up for the $3 billion loss of revenue from carbon pricing cancellation, they’ll cancel expansion of higher learning in Ontario. The Climate will continue to worsen but fewer people will be learned enough to connect the dots. 🤦🏻♀️
#onpoli
#TOpoli
How does a veteran politician who has run about 10 campaigns still not know that you can’t campaign on school property when kids are around. How is that even possible?
#onpoli
Struggling to understand. A) Toronto is not re-opening. Province just took us from Phase 3 back to ‘modified’ Phase 2. B)I was not informed at my last commission mtg that TTC no longer had a goal of social distancing when I asked if laid off workers could be returned.
#TTC
@biaginger
@JayeRobinson
Hi Victoria. As the city re-opens, social distancing will no longer be possible on our vehicles. As such, if you feel that a vehicle you are on is overcrowded, I would suggest getting off and boarding the next one. Apologies for the inconvenience. ^FR🧭
If the Premier has that kind of money to spend, why doesn’t he just buy back the 407, lower its rates and maximize its drivership? Surely it would be easier than threatening green belt lands and fighting environmental lawsuits forever??
This new $10-billion 400-series freeway will upend 55 km of prime farmland & conservation land across the Toronto region. This superhighway is intended to unleash another generation of sprawl. Its proponents are land speculators. Our GreenBelt is at risk.
I’m facepalming as conservatives like Doug Ford and Erin O’Toole suddenly rage that manufacturing & jobs have been pushed to China & all over the globe when ‘our people here at home need these opportunities’. What were these outsourcing super fans thinking for the past 20 years?
So
@CityCynthia
asked me to join her panel for coverage of Premier Ford’s cabinet unveiling & swearing in tomorrow. Now looking at the TV guide & wondering what the heck I’ve gotten myself into!
#TOpoli
#onpoli
By now it should be clear this was never a simple case of revenge. This is reminiscent of the famous Snobelen Strategy: You’ve got to create a crisis, make it look broken, then you can extract whatever you want from it. In this case, it’s Toronto.
#TOpoli
#Bill5
#NotWithStanding
As I resign my Council seat to devote full time to my provincial campaign in
#DonValleyNorth
, I thank the Toronto Public Service, the
@Ward33Team
, the 3 Mayors & so many Councillors that I served alongside & most of all, Ward 33 constituents for the honour of serving!
#TOpoli
It is now ten years since a councillor that voted to stop
#TransitCity
dead, now informs us that if you delay transit improvements thirty years, the cost actually escalates. Imagine that.
#TTC
#TOpoli
#TOcouncil
In the face of a $1.8 billion shortfall, we have found over $600 million in savings and proposed a balanced budget that protects frontline services while investing in transit, housing, and community safety.
#BudgetTO
Your constituents will never forget that you gave the finger to our judiciary and trampled people’s rights. The City IS building housing, transit, infrastructure RIGHT NOW while your government does nothing but distract and pose with grins on your faces.
#Bill31
#TOpoli
#onpoli
The
#ForThePeople
Government is working overnight on second Reading debate of the Efficient Local Government Act, Bill 31. By passing this bill, it would help Toronto City Council work more efficiently so we can build more housing, public transit and infrastructure.
#onpoli
For months I’ve been Covid swabbed weekly to have essential caregiver status in my Dad’s LTC. I’ve seen this line rise, fall, rise and fall again. This is the best Friday night yet. Keep the faith. We’re getting there.
@JohnTory
#GetVaccinated
#COVID19Ontario
Do Not Spend One Thin Dime of My Provincial Income Tax on Your War On Environmentalism. : Ford plans taxpayer-funded TV ad blitz opposing Trudeau’s ‘carbon tax’ via
@torontostar
#onpoli
Next up for the morning: Listening Tour in Brian Village. Here’s an idea: upgrade Pleasantview Park, but save the classic 60s North York rocket ship and give it a new coat of paint! What do you think?
City Council has voted in favour of banning gas-powered leaf blowers across Toronto. Thanks to the many community groups who helped push for this. Here's what will happen next: 🧵1/4
Yes,
@brianstelter
! For Trump equating COVID Deaths with Traffic fatalities is ridiculous. If Traffic fatalities were doubling & serious injuries tripling daily, we would be acting on it. For the sake of all other nations, please continue Pandemic Response.
#COVID
ー19
“On the night Ford was elected he promised to govern for all the people...Right now, those statements seem about as worthless as Toronto’s 47-ward maps for the upcoming election.” :Ford’s troublesome view of what listening means via
@torontostar
#TOpoli
Things to remember when we are paying our garbage bin fees: Canada’s top paid CEO in 2020 was GFL CEO, Patrick Dovigi. He earned $37,310,000 last year. Toronto contracts out garbage pick up west of Yonge St and Patrick’s employees empty those bins.
#TOpoli
I just saw an awkward, post-meeting press conference with our Mayor
@JohnTory
and our Premier, who continues to use the twitter handle
@fordnation
, 🤦🏻♀️. Wow. What stone-faced expressions and subdued tones. Get a body language expert in here, STAT.
#TOpoli
#onpoli
Dear John, Never make a governance change that wouldn’t serve the community in any scenario. Like say, what if the Strong Mayor turned out to have a Crack Problem and dubious friends. Their damage, your fault, Forever.
#TOpoli
Today’s reminder:
TTC workers are essential and have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to transport other frontline workers who cannot afford to stay home.
When will our TTC workers be vaccinated?
@TTCHelps
@TTCStuart
Want to stop Ford?
Only Shelley can stop Ford.
Thanks
@TOAdamVaughan
for the strong words to support!
On Thursday, vote Shelley Carroll and keep
#DonValleyNorth
from going Ford.
Oh
@Janet_Davis
, in your inimitable style you finished your last day at work sending a heartfelt thank you to Toronto’s Public Service. But out of our 15 years working together, this is the moment I’ll never forget: Yo,
@Drake
, congratulate a sister on her retirement!
#TOpoli
People started lining up all around
#FairviewMall
at 4:15 this morning to get one
#RapidAntigenTests
kit each. Same yesterday and it will be the same tomorrow. Honestly,
@fordnation
, why don’t you just mail one to every Ontario household and be done with it?
Headed over to the Long Term Care home before work today with a little homemade sweetness for my Dad. Jack Baskerville, or Captain Kangaroo as he was known to friends and colleagues, turned 94 today.
Scarborough residents are now shouting to Coyncillor McKelvie and Mayor Tory: “Tax us and build the LRTs we want. Bring back the $50 per car, bring back a transit levy and Tax Free Municipal Bonds.
#nothappycampers
out here at
#TransitFantasyCamp
#onpoli
#TOpoli
I’ve heard from countless
#TTC
riders concerned about crowding and safety on our system. With back to school and return to work around the corner, it’s time to do more.
That’s why I will be moving to restore full service at the next TTC Board Meeting to ensure a safer ride.
Yeah, cuz who wants an Order of Canada expert Board Chair, a vaunted University President and the leader of one of the top Pension Funds in the country representing your government on the Waterfront? 🤦🏼♀️
#o
polo
#TOpoli
Thank you to the residents of
#DonValleyNorth
for trusting me to continue as your Councillor for another term. Nothing gives me more pleasure than being your representative at City Hall and delivering results for all of you.
Looking forward to continuing to work hard together 💖
Daily reminder, another day passed without a vaccine solution for TTC workers.
How about this? Some are already eligible by age & may already have their shot. Let’s make ALL transit workers eligible with their employee badge and a health card. Any pharmacy, right now.
#TTC
It's with a heavy heart that I share that my dad, Jack Baskerville, passed away on Monday. It was his 96th birthday.
"We never lose our loved ones. They accompany us; they don't disappear from our lives. We are merely in different rooms."❤️
Are you now rewriting your transit plan again
@fordnation
!?! Your deal with Toronto builds a Scarborough extension to Sheppard but your Staff tell us the Sheppard Extension from Don Mills Stn is 2041 at the earliest and currently UNFUNDED. This is not a game!
@JohnTory
#TOpoli
Why in heavens name would the Province make the Conservaton authorities ineligible to defend ravines in Municipal Planning decisions at LPAT? Defending ravines and source water lands from development is kind of WHY THEY EXIST under legislation.
@fordnation
@vincentkempp
Proposed amendments to the Conservation Authorities Act would significantly reduce our role in permitting, planning, and enforcement. Please read TRCA’s preliminary response to the proposed Conservation Authorities Act and Planning Act amendments:
I am honoured to serve as Toronto's Budget Chief and Economic Development & Culture Champion. This is a pivotal moment for our city, and I look forward to working with
@MayorOliviaChow
and Council to build a budget that delivers for Torontonians.
Oh,...yeah,...and while we are all distract by the number of wards on a map,...stuff happens,...memo after memo after memo after memo...
#onpoli
#TOpoli
Today, an Eglinton Crosstown LRT passed by me at Victoria Park on a test drive. I whooped and then cried because it has meant so much in my City Hall time. My sister, on my speaker phone, understood completely.
@MetrolinxSpox
@Kathleen_Wynne
@ChefWendyB
@warrenyuill1
@fiendishbanjo
@anthonyfurey
We are a funny bunch in Toronto. When potentially live hydro wires are entangled in storm debris, & they warn us not to go near it, we don’t conspiracy theorize that it’s all a ploy to earn overtime. We make tea and hot chocolate for the Hydro Safety workers when they arrive.
Damn,
@mattgallowaycbc
You made me went and played ‘Fish Head’ from The Vinyl Cafe. Now I’m sitting here crying and thinking how much easier this Lockdown would have been if Stuart McLean told me a new story every week.
#StayHome
#staysafe
K, you’ll remember we said in 2007, the right to collect a 1 cent muni sales tax was the efficient answer as in other world class muni economic regions. Now we’re headed for a uniquely long downturn & we’ll need a tool where only those with spending power left are impacted.
Covid 19 is acting as an accelerant for existing trends everywhere. No surprise that it’s revealing Toronto’s mounting dysfunction. It’s been a long time coming. You can’t have a region of 6+ million people with infrastructure built for 2.
From the nurses: "It is clear that this government is targeting public-sector workers who are female for wage suppression. It has exempted those in male-dominated professions, such as firefighters and police, from the effect of the bill."
Reminds of that day in Toronto City Council when Doug Ford shot me withering look and grumbled, “Do you have to read everything?”
#TOpoli
#onpoli
#NoDoFo
I have consistently advocated for
#TTC
to do more for rider and worker safety, including increased service & vaccine priority for frontline workers. I cannot support this move from ATU’s current leadership.
ATU members, now is your time to speak up.
I’m not buying the valuation of $3.9 billion including real estate & air rights over TO subway stns.
#Bill31
is distracting us all from THIS!: Taking over TTC subway would be ‘quite straightforward,’ says Metrolinx CEO via
@torontostar
#TOpoli
#onpoli
230,000 low income families’ paths were transformed by free tuition grants for their kids. Now it’s over. Now we have the lowest funded colleges & unis: Ford government cuts student aid under cover of tuition cuts
#onpoli
#TOpoli
Living with a pandemic is hard to do when you are also living with Autism. But today was a good day. My daughter Martha got to go for dim sum on her birthday, her favourite treat, and it felt like they opened just for us.
@CBCHereandNow
Today’s reminder:
TTC workers are essential and have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to transport other frontline workers who cannot afford to stay home.
When will our TTC workers be vaccinated?
@TTCHelps
@TTCStuart
Has this guy never travelled to York U? Even if he drove, how did he miss the giant subway station open less than 2 years? Hells Bells, even Line 4 Sheppard Subway is still less than two decades old. So what decades is he talking about?
#DonValleyNorth
#TOpoli
#onpoli
#TTC
Transportation Minister Jeff Yurek is now on Metro Morning. Responding to the first question, he repeats the false claim that Toronto hasn't built subways in decades.
The city's last subway expansion project opened in late 2017.
Last night, a resident told me they have no hope of living in the neighbourhood they grew up in. I've heard my grandkids say the same thing. As Councillor, it's my job to find solutions so families can grow and age in place. Garden Suites are part of the solution
#TOpoli
@GraphicMatt
I just want to remind people that all 4 of my budget years were balanced as of the launch in December, didn’t have MLTT and provincial upload $s but still built up a property tax reserve of $364million, to buffer us through the Global Financial Crisis. But I’m not bitter. 😏😏😏
“Such designs, whether there’s an elevator or stairs, allow for more family-friendly housing with multibedroom homes”
Building a future for our grandkids means making sure they have space to grow up down the street from us.
Let’s make this change for our families.
Hey
@TSN1050Radio
, due to scheduling beyond our control, I listened to that
@Raptors
historic 4th quarter in the car with my 2 grandsons. Last 3 minutes we parked & listened. I’ll never forget it. Thanks for the great commentary & my new best memory!
#WeTheNorth
Currently, Doug is sitting in a home in Sarnia, promising everything but no costed platform. He takes shots at the costing of the Liberal platform, shots at the errors in the NDP platform but he still has no costed platform.
#eightmoresleepstogo
#onelxn
#onpoli