Three area residents are being looked at by a City committee who will decide if to take action against them for contributing more than legally allowed in the 2022 election of Councillor Amber Morley.

The high-profile residents were tagged by an auditing firm after credit card processing fees under $30 were added on to their allowable limits of $1,200.

A Compliance Audit Committee will decide at its meeting on February 28 if further action will be taken against the Morley supporters, who are accused of breaking municipal election rules.

An external auditor has completed a review of financial statements filed for the 2022 municipal election and identified contributors ‘who appears to have exceeded the contribution limits in the Municipal Elections Act, 1996.’

The Committee will decide if any action will be taken against the contributors.

The funds were donated to Morley in her bid for council in the 2022 municipal election.

The contributors named by an auditor can possibly face penalties.

In letters to the Committee two residents claim they donated the authorized amount of $1,200 and a credit card processing fee of $27 was added on their donations which made them exceed the limit.

Amber Morley was elected to represent Ward 3 in the 2022 municipal election. She defeated Mark Grimes, the only defeat of an incumbent councillor who was running for re-election that year.

Morley is now a Toronto Deputy Mayor, who sits on the Police Services Board, Toronto Public Library, Budget Committee, Board of Health, Infrastructure and Environment Committee, Executive Committee, Etobicoke York Community Council and four other bodies.

Eligible individuals can contribute a maximum of $1,200 to any one candidate during the candidate’s election campaign period. An exception is made for contributions to the candidate for the Mayor of Toronto, to whom individuals can contribute up to $2,500. Where an eligible individual wishes to contribute to two or more candidates, they may do so to a maximum of $5,000 in total.

Individuals cannot provide loans to candidates in the form of monetary or non-monetary contributions. Any unpaid but guaranteed balance in respect of a loan will count as a campaign contribution.

The sums are considered minor amounts and the Morley supporters can receive a warning. But a court for major municipal elections act offences can sentence a person to a $25,000 fine, ban them from running in an election or up to six months in prison.

With the success of professional women’s hockey, a pro women’s soccer league by soon be underway.

The City of Toronto is behind a professional women’s soccer team to represent the City.

Members of City Council at its meeting expressed its support for the establishment of a professional women’s soccer league in Toronto and its commitment to championing gender equity in sport.

Council directed Parks, Forestry and Recreation Department in consultation with FIFA World Cup 2026 to explore the opportunities.

It would “explore opportunities to support the establishment of a professional women’s soccer team in Toronto, including helping to identify potential sites,” Council agreed.

“City Council request the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto Secretariat to advance growing the participation of women in sport as a key legacy opportunity of hosting the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Toronto,” according to a motion seconded by Mayor Olivia Chow.

Women’s professional sports are on the rise in North America, according to Council, and the recent successes of teams as Angel City Football Club in the American National Women’s Soccer League demonstrate that professional women’s sports franchises can draw significant crowds, generate economic activity and build community.

It said Project 8, led by two-time Olympic-medalist Diana Matheson, plans to launch a new Canadian professional women’s soccer league in 2025.

The league is structured to include eight teams across Canada competing in two conferences. Three teams have signed on to the league to-date, including AFC Toronto City, along with teams in Vancouver and Calgary.

AFC Toronto City was founded earlier this year by an experienced team committed to growing the game of soccer in Toronto.  Currently, AFC Toronto City is seeking a potential home field and associated facilities.

“As the City prepares to welcome the world to Toronto for the FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2026, it is important to consider the broader legacy of the tournament,” City officials said.

“A key community-building opportunity is growing the participation of women in soccer,” according to council. “The City can work toward this objective by supporting the establishment of a professional women’s soccer league in Toronto.”

 

A Sixteenth Street man was hospitalized after being hit by a vehicle as he stepped on the road to slow it down, witnesses say.

The incident occurred near Sixteenth and New Toronto Streets just after 3 p.m. on February 21, police said.

The driver remained on the scene.

“He had his hands up and had just stepped out on the street to slow down the car when he was hit,” one woman said. “It was terrible.”

Sixteenth Street was shut for some time and later reopened.

Witness said there has been concerns about vehicles speeding down a stretch of road.

It is not known if or what charges were laid.

Etobicoke’s Centennial Park will play a major role in the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup soccer tournament, the most-watched sporting event in the world, according to the City of Toronto.

Centennial and Sunnybrook Parks will be upgraded to world class facilities and will be used as World Cup training and event facilities for the teams. The matches will be played at BMO Field, which will undergo about $30 million in upgrades in preparation for the games.

A report to the City of Toronto Executive Committee said the FIFA World Cup is the ‘most watched sporting event, with a global viewership of four billion people for the entire competition and upwards of 200 million for each match.’

The 2026 World Cup was awarded to a joint bid by Canada, Mexico and the U.S., with 80 matches to be staged across 16 cities in North America. Canada will host 13 of the 104 games, with seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto

“The World Cup will bring global media attention and positive economic and cultural benefits for the city that will sustain COVID–19 recovery in hard hit sectors, such as tourism, hospitality and entertainment,” according to the report.

The World Cup is expected to create 3,000 jobs, attract 174,000 overnight visitors, who will purchase 292,000 hotel room nights which will generated $3.5 million in municipal accommodation tax. The six matches are estimated to generate $307 million.

“People will travel from all over the world to watch this event and will find a small piece of home on Toronto’s main streets which are filled with the small businesses that drive neighbourhood vitality,” according to the report.

The World cup is estimated to cost the federal and Ontario government some $186 million and the City $77.1 million.

The cost of hosting the World Cup will be partially offset through access to commercial rights and related revenue opportunities delegated by FIFA to event organizers, such as the City of Toronto.

The report said about $40 million will be spent to upgrade facilities for the games. Some $15 million will be used to upgrade Centennial Park and Sunnybrook Parks and $25 million to bring BMO Field up to speed to FIFA’s stringent standards.

“The facilities will be used as competition, training, and festival venues during the 2026 World Cup period,” according to the report.

“The City will enhance City-owned assets at BMO Field and sports fields and facilities at Sunnybrook Park and Centennial Park for training purposes,” according to the report. “This will lead to both increased employment opportunities and access to world-class recreation facilities.”

The report said the upgraded parks will provide long-term community use after the World Cup games.

With a shutdown of the Better Living Centre for the homeless, many have taken to sleeping on neighbourhood streets, including right here in our community.

Hundreds of students and others are forced to walk over a homeless man who has taken refuge at a bus stop in New Toronto.

The man can be seen wrapped up in blankets at the north-east corner of Lake Shore Blvd. W. and Kipling Avenue.

Residents said he has been sleeping there since February 18.

Resident Bruce Bradshaw, who is almost 80, said students from Humber College and Father John Redmond Catholic Secondary School travel by bus and have to sometimes step over the man.

“It is not right,” Bradshaw said. “I saw a mother with a baby stroller having a hard time trying to get by the man on the sidewalk.”

He went to police and called 311 to try and get help for the man without luck.

“The officer went over and checked out the man and said there’s little she can do,” Bradshaw said. “Even the 311 operator said their hands are tied as far as what they can do.”

The pastor of a local church said she has to turn away the homeless nightly because of a lack of overnight warming centres in the community.

“It breaks my heart,” said Pastor Jacqueline Daley, of St. Margaret’s New Toronto church. “When it’s freezing cold we have to turn them away due to a lack of resources.”

Daley knows of homeless people sleeping in cars, bus shelters or in the stairs of buildings.

She cannot send the mostly men to downtown homeless centres or shelter because they are all filled with many refugees.

Social workers worry about what will happen with the homeless when the Better Living Centre is fully closed next month.

“There is a homeless crisis in the City and something has to be done to help those in need,” Daley said.

Toronto shelter officials said they plan to move the homeless to other facilities when the Better Living Centre shut its doors.

The City is considering the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technology to tackle frustrating traffic congestion issues in Toronto.

A City Traffic Congestion Management Plan (CMP) said AI can be used for coordinating traffic signals, detect motorists making illegal stops and a host other uses.

The City said it will cost $1 million daily to Toronto’s economy when the Gardiner Expressway is reduced to two lanes in each direction between Dufferin Street and Strachan Avenue from March to December due to road repairs.

The loss comes from motorists staying away or using other roadways when the Expressway is reduced.

Officials said based on computer simulation it costs an average road user $20 an hour to use a major street.

A Transportation Services Committee said AI can be used to detect parking in intersections and other illegal parking, including stopping or parking in bike lanes. The technology can also be used to monitor traffic lights and movement patterns.

“It will require to test the technologies so it does not negatively impact traffic,” according to the Committee.

The CMP was presented at the Infrastructure and Environment Committee last year and then to a Council meeting last November. It is under study.

To battle traffic congestion the committee is looking at having major construction on roads or highways conducted overnight from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., to lessen inner-city noise and for deliveries to take place off peak during early hours or late at night.

The measures were conducted during the 2015 Pan Am Games and there are plans to repeat them for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Soccer in 2026.

The City has established a Transportation Innovation Zone (TIZ) for the testing of transportation and other technologies in a real-world environment at Exhibition Place. The zone has been working on measures as a moving, self-cleaning sidewalk or QR codes on talking signs at construction zones for those with visual challenges.

“Envisioned is an application that is GPS-based, developed for the blind, deafblind and partially sighted that will voice construction work zone details once the user is in relative proximity to the work zone,” according to the CMP.

Information on the construction signs would include the contractor’s name, duration of the project and wayfinding details if there is a need to divert traffic, pedestrians or cyclists.

Also proposed are traffic red light cameras being used to detect motorists stopped in intersections, no standing or stopping zones, for which fines would increase from $90 to $450 and $500.

The City also wants construction companies to pay more for blocking lanes of traffic or sidewalks during their builds.

“After a major complete street design project is installed, Transportation Services will publish data on completion and feedback from the public for residents and other stakeholders, including emergency services,” the Committee was told.

City officials said they plan to increase construction efficiency while mitigating congestion and inconvenience to the public.

 

The City of Toronto is looking at having parking enforcement officers issue $75 tickets to motorists illegally parked in electric vehicle charging zones.

The Infrastructure and Environment is considering a penalty for motorists who park in electric vehicle charging stations in municipal, on-street and off-street electric parking facilities.

A Transportation Committee has recommended that signs be erected stating Electric Vehicle Parking Space, which will make it a ticketable offence if used by motorists who are not charging their vehicles.

The Committee is seeking to have parking by-laws amended to include electric vehicles.

“No person shall park a vehicle in an electric vehicle parking space in a car-park unless the vehicle is an electric vehicle that is actively connected to the electric vehicle charging station,” according to the proposed bylaw.

The change will be considered by the Infrastructure Committee on February 27 and full City Council on March 20.

Council is also being asked to authorize the City Solicitor make necessary changes so the ticketing can be carried out legally.

Transportation Services has been working with City agencies to review the parking violation notices issued by the City of Toronto and has looked at several Canadian municipalities to compare similar offences and their penalty amounts to those of Toronto.

Transportation officials recommend Council increase the penalties for 123 offences associated with no ‘parking, stopping and standing’ violations.

The penalties will ‘match those of other jurisdictions, encourage compliance, reflect the seriousness of the offence and that all penalty amounts for the violation remain consistent.’

Currently, Parking Enforcement officers cannot ticket or penalize motorists for parking improperly in electric charging stations due to a lack of municipal or provincial regulations.

“This absence of regulatory provisions restricts parking facility operators from ticketing non-electric vehicle’s parking in designated electric vehicle charging spaces, or ticketing electric vehicles parked in designated electric vehicle charging spaces that are not actively charging,” according to the proposal.

It is estimated the City can collect up to $62 million in revenue yearly from tickets issued to motorists illegally parked by not charging in electric vehicle charging stations.

“The Parking Enforcement Unit (PEU) of Toronto Police Service will experience additional financial and operational impacts when the implementation of the parking penalty increases come into effect,” according to the proposal.

The proposal said the PEU will require $150,000 from City funds this year to purchase about 400,000 updated parking tickets as the current stock will be outdated with old penalty amounts.

Proposed is a $75 ticket for a new offence of parking of a vehicle in an EV parking space other than a vehicle not actively engaged in a charging session.

The City of Toronto has about 2,200 public Level 2 and 3 charging station ports. Some 96 per cent of the ports are Level 2 and 39 per cent offer free charges for your EV.

A new baseball hub and pickle ball courts are being proposed among the many changes upcoming for Centennial Park.

Ward 2 Councillor Stephen Holyday in a letter asked the Infrastructure and Environment Committee at its February 20 meeting to consider the baseball and pickle ball amenities to fill the vacancy of a Mini Indy amusement complex that ceased operations late last year.

“The former Mini Indy amusement complex was privately operated for profit, and contained a go-kart track, beach volleyball, and batting cages where visitors, for a fee, could take swings at pitches delivered by a machine,” Holyday told the Committee.

Dozens of workers were laid off and a petition with more than 1,000 signatures were collected to prevent the closure of the Mini Indy, which had been there for decades.

Holyday said park users and residents wanted their batting cages back at the park.

“Public input, including feedback at the consultation in January 2024 for the next phase of park improvements, indicated an interest in seeing the batting cages portion of the Mini Indy amusement complex return to the park,” the Committee was told.

“The batting cages were an enjoyable compliment to baseball and softball players, and the former location was a unique opportunity within the region to practice batting,” Holyday wrote.

The matter will be considered by City Council on March 20 and is subject to actions by the Committee.

His motion requests that staff explore the technical and business potential of reintroducing an amusement type batting cage to the baseball hub within the park.

The removal of the Molson Indy and batting cages were part of a Centennial Park Master Plan ‘for complimentary and supporting amenities that ensure a successful user experience in both the short and long-term’ use of the park.

Also being added to the City’s second largest park is a new water play area, pathways, lighting, cricket pitches and park furniture.

TTC passengers using the Lake Shore streetcar may have to leave a little earlier than normal.

The 508 Lake Shore streetcar, which travels to the Long Branch Loop, may not always be on time in the coming months due to a watermain replacement and TTC track renewal in Parkdale.

The streetcar runs across the City to Neville Park. It travels along King Street and will divert via Queen and Shaw streets, and back to its regular route, due to the construction.

The TTC said the changes are required to replace an aging water main and streetcar tracks along King Street W. between Shaw Street and Dufferin Street.

The TTC said construction is expected to be complete by December 2024.

The 508 Lake Shore streetcar will divert onto Queen Street between Roncesvalles Avenue and Shaw Street.

This work will affect the 63 Ossington, 501A/501C Queen, 504/304 King, and 508 Lake Shore routes.

The 504B King route will run between the Humber Loop and Broadview Station before 10 p.m., and after that time operate between Roncesvalles Avenue and Broadview Station.

In March 2020, the 508 Lake Shore route was discontinued due to the COVID pandemic.

With the completion of infrastructure work west of Roncesvalles Avenue, the TTC scheduled 508 Lake Shore to resume between Long Branch Loop and Parliament Street in October 2023.

The route, one of the longest in the city, began as an experiment in June 1992 to test how attractive it would be to riders. By February 1994, the experiment was deemed a success and additional afternoon rush-hour trips were added. In March 1995, the 507 Long Branch was merged into 501 Queen, the route received its 508 number.

Drivers can expect traffic reduced to a single lane in each direction while the water main is being replaced.

The section of King Street West where crews are working will be closed to through traffic during streetcar track renewal in phases two, four, and five.

During phase three, the intersection of King Street W. and Dufferin Street will be fully closed in all directions while the streetcar tracks are being repaired.

Parking will not be permitted within the work zones.

The TTC said that WheelTrans service will remain accessible in all areas where local traffic is permitted.

By TANYA VIVIDLY

What does local live entertainment look like in our neighborhood. Well for starters it depends on where you go and the vibe of environment that you are looking for.

For February, which is Black History Month, my space of choice was Humber College Lakeshore Campus, at 3199 Lake Shore Blvd. W., in the auditorium of Building A.

I attended an event called Reverberations ll, a celebration of music of the Black diaspora.

The show was divided into three student ensemble sets, the first being a gospel choir performance directed by Natalie Stewart.

The set list included seven songs that uplifted, embraced and enlightened the audience. One patron described it as “high energy church and orchestra with a 3-D audience.”

The band included drums, guitar, keyboard and a choir of 16 singers.

The song that stood out fort me was “He’s not Worthy“ by Sandra Crouch.

The second act was called African rhythm and jazz directed by Waleed Abdulhamid. The set included five songs that combined modern and traditional sounds of calypso, reggae, Congolese rumba, Afro & Latin jazz and funk.

The seven-piece band included a bass guitar, standard guitar, piano, vocals, horns, percussion and drums.

The performance echoed the blending of the old and new world projecting a need for current awareness of times past. As the melodic vocals vibrated with the notes of the bass guitar riffs, many audience members were grooving in their seats. A song that still resonates is “Na -R – Na”

The final set was called rhythm and soul with director Will Jarvis. The band was filled with brass and horns.

This finale was a wave of cool soulful-funk grooves that celebrated the roots of African music.

The band was eager, energetic and free-forming. They embraced the fun and love of music and its beautiful accents. A great classic choice of song was “Move on Up,“ by Curtis Mayfield.

The three ensembles of sound brought an extravaganza of live music to the neighborhood. The music united the masses and lift every voice.

To stay informed about upcoming events at Humber Lakeshore follow them on Instagram or check out their website and look for the media arts calendar.