With warm weather on the horizon, ensuring our parks are accessible for everyone is a top priority for my office. I have some positive updates to share about encampments in our ward as well as strategies for how we can keep our parks busy and thriving.
I am happy to share that after years of advocacy and a year and a half since my motion was adopted by Council, we now have a comprehensive City-Wide Dog Off-Leash Strategy in place. I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Toronto Dog Park Community, Paws for Parks, and the residents of Toronto Centre for their persistent advocacy and input throughout this process.
As your Councillor, I'm building a Toronto that's safe, livable, affordable, and commutable - for all of us.
After hearing from you at the door, on the street, at community events, at our town halls, and from letters and emails you’ve sent to me, my team and I are working hard to deliver.
Here's how this year's City budget will work for all of us:
Recently, the Friends of Allan Gardens (FOAG), in partnership with the City’s Parks and Recreation department, released the newest iteration of the envisioning document that will serve as the masterplan for the future of Allan Gardens. This initiative, "Growing with the City," reflects our shared and ongoing commitment to engagement, fundraising and stewardship in the development of cultural and capital projects within the park and in service of the people that use it.
At the end of March, five safe consumption sites across Toronto are slated to close as a result of the Community Care and Recovery Act, which prohibits safe consumption sites within a 200 metre radius of schools and child care centres. As we prepare for this change, I wanted to provide an update and answers to some frequently asked questions.
I take great pride in the strides we have made here in Ward 13 to connect encampment residents to housing, particularly with the successful resolution of the Allan Gardens encampment last October. To date, Allan Gardens remains free of any new encampments. Our dedicated City staff have displayed remarkable persistence and resolve, and for that, I thank them.
Our Encampment Dashboard provides updates encampments in parks, how we’re managing them, and outlines City’s new encampment protocol.
Toronto now has a new Encampment Protocol with a multi-divisional approach to respond to the complex needs of those living outdoors.
As many of you know, reviving the Historic Queen East BIA is a key priority since it will play a key role in the revitalization and development of
the area.
Our City has been working with the local Indigenous community to develop the Indigenous Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Canada’s largest incubator supporting First Nations (status and non-status), Inuit and Métis entrepreneurs and innovators.