Hi Neighbour!
Road Rage and Shots Fired
On Monday morning, during our staff meeting at our North York Civic Centre office, we noticed the flashing lights of first responder vehicles on Yonge Street across from Mel Lastman Square. A member of our team received a message from her friend in a nearby office tower that there were shots fired outside and they were instructed to shelter in place.
Many of you may have seen the news photo of a Kia car flipped onto its roof after colliding with another vehicle on Monday. Two occupants were taken to hospital. This combination of what appears to be road rage, a collision, and shots fired from another vehicle near Yonge and Empress is deeply concerning. I am grateful no one was shot and my thoughts are with the injured for a smooth recovery.
I’m sure many have noticed that people seem to live with a higher level of anger after the pandemic. It could be the impact of isolation or the pressures of increasing cost of living. I think we need to think about how to dial down the underlying anger and frustration that is bubbling at large. How do we instill kindness in a city that used to be known as “Toronto the Good”?
I will be exploring how we can increase the coverage of Traffic Agents to increase enforcement - especially outside the downtown core.
Car Accident at Willowdale & Wedgewood
Later, on Monday afternoon, I was on my way to Cummer Lodge for an information session about modular supportive housing that is coming. As I was driving Northbound on Willowdale Ave., I was on speaker phone with my husband who was driving southbound on Willowdale with our kids. He was at Centre and Willowdale and I was approaching the lights at Cummer. We laughed that we might be able to wave at each other if the stars aligned on our timing. Suddenly, I heard a bone-chilling sound of metal being crushed. After a moment of silence, I heard my husband yell, “Kids, get out of the car, now!” My husband and kids were broadsided by someone trying to cross Wedgewood. My family’s car jumped the curb and crashed into a backyard fence.
Some of the residents who came out told me there had been several accidents in this area and that something needed to be addressed. This was news to me and something I have committed to look into. Some residents said we should add lights to that intersection, although I am not sure of the feasibility given the proximity to Yonge/Cummer. Another suggestion was to restrict drivers from driving straight through Wedgewood and require people to turn left or right onto Willowdale. I will be exploring this with Transportation in the days to come, along with a further analysis of traffic accident data in our whole community.
Here is what I am grateful for:
I was 1 minute away and able to care for my kids as one of them was screaming in shock.
No one was seriously injured.
No one was walking on the sidewalk at the moment, which could have resulted in serious injury.
Many thanks to the resident who called 911 immediately
Many thanks to those who stayed to check in on my family, provided water, and offered for us to wait in their homes.
The residents who stayed to give witness statements.
There is much to be grateful for despite the traumatic event that totalled our car. Situations like this remind us of our fragility, that life as we know it can change in a flash. It also showed me the kindness of people in our neighbourhood.
Driver Behaviour Complaints
I hear a lot of complaints about driver behaviour in our ward, knowing that many who use our streets are driving through our neighbourhood and not residents of Willowdale. I think we need stronger enforcement across our community. It is something many residents are asking for and by extension something my staff is consistently requesting of the city. Unfortunately, we are always competing for resources and must therefore work together. If you see ANY situation that needs attention, please call 311 which creates the data that informs how resources are allocated. Even if enforcement does not happen right away, every 311 is critical to getting resources allocated to our community!
As a result of the road rage collision and hearing that there have been numerous collisions near Willowdale Avenue and Wedgewood, my office is examining Traffic Collisions Open Data on the TPS Public Safety Data Portal. This data reveals many collisions near the intersection of Willowdale and Wedgewood since 2014. We will be reaching out to Transportation Services and TPS for next steps to increase road safety across our ward.
Apologies to the Jewish Community
I was saddened I was not able to join our Jewish community on Monday evening due to the above mentioned accident. It has been an emotional time as we reflect on the pain carried by so many, especially in light of the alarming rise in Anti-Semitism we have seen increase across our city and country. My thoughts and prayers have been with you.
Tired of Overnight Waste Collection?
Does overnight waste collection disrupt your sleep? We’ve had several residents living in condos close to commercial plazas on Yonge who are often awoken late in the night with the thud of metal containers being dropped by garbage trucks. If you share this concern, No More Noise Toronto (NMNT) would like to know more through a public survey. Overnight waste collection noise will be discussed on October 23rd at City Hall. Answering questions about your experience and how it impacts your health will help communicate the problem to City Councillors and staff.
The survey is anonymous and will take less than 5 minutes to complete. View the results on their website after October 17th!
Click Here to take the short survey.
Click Here to take the full survey.
NMNT is a grassroots organization that is taking a data and process-oriented approach to tackling noise pollution in Toronto. Visit their website at NoMoreNoiseToronto.com for more information and to sign up for Noise News!
Toronto Fire Services Celebrates 150 Years!
Before it was established, fire services were provided by volunteers. In February, for the second consecutive time, Toronto Fire Services (TFS) received Accredited Agency Status from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI) and the Centre for Public Safety Excellence, Inc., recognizing commitment to continuous quality improvement and delivery of world-class fire protection services that meet the needs of Toronto. The City of Toronto is the largest city in North America to be recognized with an internationally accredited fire service under CFAI and is one of only 310 agencies worldwide to earn CFAI Accredited Agency status, which is now valid from 2024 through 2029. We should be proud of this service. We are grateful to the many women and men who put their lives on the line to help us stay safe!
Toronto Police Service Board
A surprisingly brief (7 hours vs. 12 hour) police board meeting. Here are some highlights:
Victim Services: 2024 Highlights - Victim Services shared a presentation on their important work to support 18K victims in the past year including 3,557 children and youth. They recently launched an “Ask for Angela” campaign that worked with staff from Shoppers Drug Mart and Loblaws to train them. “Ask for Angela” started in the UK whereby victims who feel unsafe in a situation can ask for help discreetly by asking for Angela. They also work with the TDSB to run a symposium that equips young people with information around Safety, Mental Health and Resilience. Victim Services shared how a student who attended the symposium was able to flag a fellow student who was being lured to the school principal.
Victim Services is available to any Torontonian who can self refer. If you have been a victim and need support, please feel free to reach out to Victim Services. They are a not-for-profit and rely on fundraising to support their important work. Click Here to see their slide deck presentation.
Analytics - Every meeting TPS provides an overview of Year-to-Date data. The good news is the average response time to a Priority 1 call has decreased from a previous high over 22 minutes to 17.4 minutes. The bad news is that 32 Division is now the outlier with the highest response time to a Priority 1 call currently at 22.8 minutes (down from 23.2 minutes last month). The service recently added a cohort of new recruits to Division 32; however, they are still in the training window and are expected to have an impact on the response time when they have been fully onboarded. Additionally, I was told there would be another group of new recruits joining with the next Toronto Police College Graduation.
It is interesting to note that the areas with the faster response times are areas that have Neighbourhood Community Officers. Our neighbourhood does not have one as this program was removed from our community several years ago due to budget constraints. If our goal is faster response times, we should increase, not decrease, funding for community officers. I look forward to building a strategic plan that reflects this and will advocate for it to be included as a consideration in the multi-year hiring plan.
The other concerning statistic is related to Intimate Partner Violence. The Year-To-Date number of Intimate Partner and Family Violence incidents has increased by 500+. This is upsetting to hear, especially with our declaration of Intimate Partner Violence as an epidemic last year. We were told that the November TPSB meeting will include a deeper dive into Intimate Partner Violence data which can better inform where we should be focusing our prevention efforts.
Other good news is that the incident counts for Auto Theft, Break & Enter and Stabbings have also all gone down.
ARAP report at TPSB Meeting - In our efforts to bring more transparency and engagement with the board, the Anti Racism Advisory Panel that I co-chair provided an update as part of the agenda.
Billy Bishop
PortsToronto must meet a federal regulatory requirement to have Runway Safety End Areas (RESA) at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (BBTCA) by July 12, 2027. RESAs are level ground past the ends of a runway created to mitigate the impact when an airplane over or under shoots either end of a runway. Airports in Canada are now required to have a minimum of 150 metres of safety length beyond runway ends. While an agreement for the airport was signed in 1983, the location has served as an airport since WW2.
PortsToronto is conducting an Environmental Assessment to evaluate 3 options that would prepare natural, compacted open areas. The Engineered Material Arresting System was not considered viable by PortsToronto because this is new technology and has not been used in Canada within our cold climates.
Option 1: Minimum landmass to meet regulatory requirements. $61-64 M. Construction cost only, covered by PortsToronto. This is based on concept design, and doesn't include insurance, management and financing costs. (Class D estimate)
Option 2: Minimum landmass and additional taxiway. Cost estimate $93-97 M. Construction costs only.
Option 3: Minimum landmass, taxiway, utility corridor, sound barrier and underground utility corridor. $169-175M. Construction costs only.
None of the options impact the Marine Exclusion Zone. None of these options extend the runway.
Due to the tremendous financial investment required to meet compliance, there is a desire to update the Tripartite Agreement for Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport which currently expires in 2033. Residents who live near the airport including those who have organized under the Parks Not Planes banner want a thorough review of the use of the island as an airport and do not want the City to rush into extending the agreement without due process.
After a full day of debate, council voted to amend the Tripartite Agreement to permit the landmass extension that meets the RESA compliance requirements consistent with Option 1. In addition, PortsToronto is required to fulfill the following conditions:
Complete the RESA Environmental Assessment,
Leverage the expertise of Toronto and Region Authority and Aquatic Habitat Toronto throughout detailed design and implementation,
Develop a RESA construction management plan that minimizes community disruption including overnight work,
Develop a traffic management plan related to construction activities.
Other things to look at for Council:
I will share the final results of this week’s council meeting next week.
Warmest Regards,
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