New $100 coin honouring our courageous Veterans is now available from the Canadian Mint.

Veterans and active full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces will be able to travel for free year-round on GO Transit beginning in March next year.

The Ontario government said they are introducing a transit relief program for veterans and full time Canadian military members that will begin on March 1.

Michael Parsa says there are also plans to extend the free fares to UP Express in the future.

Parsa said the government is increasing the amount that eligible veterans and their family members can receive each year through the Soldiers’ Aid Commission from $2,000 to $3,000.

The money covers costs such as health-related expenses, home repairs and moving costs, as well as personal items such as clothing for those in financial need.

He said veterans have made tremendous sacrifices to make Canada and Ontario what we are today and deserve the government’s unwavering commitment to their well-being.

City officials say FIFA World Cup soccer fans will generate millions in revenue to city coffers.

Some hopes are dashed as promised updates to Centennial Park to make it into a world-class FIFA World Cup practice facility has been slashed.

FIFA has reduced training site requirements at Centennial Park from two training pitches and field houses down to one for the duration of the tournament in Toronto in June 2026, according to City documents.

The reduction results in net savings in capital expenses allocated to training sites, operations including safety and security budgets, according to the City.

Savings from the training site capital budget will be reallocated to other World Cup requirements including BMO Field, or Toronto Stadium, as it will be called during the matches.

Some residents are disappointed that Centennial Park will not receive much-needed upgrades as promised.

FIFA has now downgraded the number of training facilities required in Toronto, freeing up funding for a city struggling to foot the broader bill.

“The City is now going to have to backfill that money and manage the pressure about the planned and ongoing work in the park,” Stephen Holyday, the councillor for Etobicoke Centre, told CTV Toronto.

The Centennial Park FIFA training facility is in the final design and tendering phases, according to the city, with completion slated for March 2026.

FIFA is freeing up funding for a city struggling to foot the broader bill.

It will cost Toronto almost $380 million to host the 2026 World Cup, the largest and most-watched international soccer tournament that is held every four years in host countries.

City officials

Sketch of Norbu at a recent hearing. He was ordered to remain in custody. Sketch by Pam Davies-CBC.

A man who set an aspiring nurse on fire on a TTC bus at Kipling Station in an incident that rocked the City is still a threat to the public and will have to spend more time in custody.

Tenzin Norbu, 35, was found not criminally responsible for the horrendous June 2022 death of Nyima Dolma, 28, a caregiver and nursing student, who was also born in Tibet.

Dolma was a beloved up-and-comer who was working her way up in Canada. She had only been here for about five years.

The two did not know each other that fateful day, in which Norbu may have been hallucinating, a panel has ruled.

Nursing student Nyima Dolma will never have a chance to pursue her dream.

An Ontario Review Board (ORB) in October ruled that Norbu, who has a lengthy history of mental illness and aggression, should remain in custody as he still poses a significant threat to the public.

The ORB hearing was held last August at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), where Norbu is being held.

He was charged with murder and found not criminally responsible for setting the budding nurse on fire with lighter fluid aboard a bus just over two years ago. She died in hospital from her injuries 18 days later, three months away from completing her nursing degree.

Tenzin Norbu is to dangerous to let out on the streets. Courtesy photo.

Norbu stands to receive privileges as walking around the CAMH grounds while “indirectly supervised.”

The five-member panel ruled he could be gradually given privileges to leave his unit at the facility for other parts of the hospital.

The brutal incident shook the city with people taking precautions on public transit.

A Go Fund Me page raised thousands of dollars to help with the funeral of the soon-to-be nurse.

Councillor Morley has seconded a motion to protest Premier Ford’s plan to remove bike lanes.

Ward 3 Councillor Amber Morley is taking on Premier Doug Ford over the removal of controversial bike lanes.

Morley, a cyclist, has seconded a motion by Councillor Dianne Saxe taking Ford to task for straying from his lane by stepping on Toronto infrastructure claims.

The motion which will be considered by City Council on November 13 calls for the City Manager to write a letter to Ford protesting ‘the overreach’ of his anti-bike-lane Bill 212.

The Bill will give the Ontario government the power to restrict and remove bike lanes that use a lane of traffic in a bid to curb vehicle congestion.

The motion if approved will see a letter of protest from Council asking Ford “to respect municipalities’ jurisdiction to manage compete claims for its own infrastructure.”

Premier Doug Ford has said he will remove bike lanes on busy streets to ease traffic congestion.

It calls for the withdrawal of proposed Section 195.2 of the Highway Traffic Act, that is before the Ontario Legislature.

The motion states that Toronto, with a population of 2,794,356 in 2021, is the fourth-most populous city in North America.

“Our population, our economy and our government are larger than those of every Canadian province except British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario,” according to the councillors.

It said Toronto is one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities and the economic engine of Ontario, providing large subsidies to the province and other parts of Canada.

“Toronto provides a disproportionately large share of the revenue of the provincial government,” it states.

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Ward 3 Councillor Amber Morley says the province is overstepping its reach into the handling of City infrastructure.

The City of Toronto owns, pays for, maintains and operates most of the infrastructure that allows ‘this goose to lay its golden eggs, in an environment of overwhelming and competing demands,” the motion declared.

“Managing and allocating this public infrastructure so as to appropriately balance these competing demands is a central function of municipal government,” the councillors said. It is “essential to allow us to do the jobs we were elected to do.”

They said Bill 212 is an ‘attack on the people of Toronto, proposing to wastefully tear up millions of dollars of newly constructed roads, to distort how Council balances demands for street space, climate action, affordability, road safety, tree cover and quality of life.”

The province plans to remove the bike lanes on busy streets to improve traffic flow and increase small business sales.

Artist Damian Agostini has been ordered by the City to pack up his unique art and leave Humber Bay Shores much to the dismay of residents.

A popular artist whose unique pieces of driftwood art have awed many residents over the years at Humber Bay Shores has been ordered by the City to pack up his brushes and leave.

Damian Agostini has been for years making beautiful driftwood sculptures of birds and other wildlife near the pathway running along Lake Ontario at the Humber Bay shoreline.

The City has banned the lakeside art claiming the works pose a threat and danger to its workers.

Piece of the artist’s lake art that has garnered many art-loving fans.

The ban comes as the City recently unveiled a massive piece of Indigenous art called ‘Campfire’ in the same area overlooking downtown office buildings.

Agostini took to social media to thank area art lovers who appreciated his work.

“I want to take this opportunity to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the support and love that I’ve received,” he wrote. “I have a great time sharing my art with you.”

Art fan AJ Jx said the City asked the artist to leave.

Bird on a tree by Damian Agostini on the lakeside at Humber Bay Shores.

“Everyone that has had the opportunity to see a new art piece on daily basis has been blessed,” AJ Jx wrote. “The City should focus on more important things than what this man has accomplished.”

Catherine Woodward thanked Agostini for his ‘absolutely amazing creations,” which Mercedes Riestra said was great art.

“It was such a pleasure to admire your talent during my dog walks,” Marcella Racic wrote.

High-rolling Toronto Councillors earn $128,000 each yearly and say they deserve more.

Toronto City Councillors now earn about $128,000 yearly and there are calls for a pay increase due to their large ridings and heavy workloads.

A motion to increase the compensation and office budgets of the City’s 25 Councillors will be considered by Council on November 13.

A motion by Councillor James Pasternak, seconded by Councillor Chris Moise, is seeking an updated review of Councillor compensation; to adjust their payments to their counterparts, and regularly review their compensation, and that of their office staff.

Council “request the City Clerk to report to City Council by the fourth quarter of 2025 on options to modernize the job descriptions, salary bands, and the compensation envelope for staff in Members’ offices,” according to the motion.

Councillors say they have the largest ridings and a high work load and deserve more pay.

It said in 2018 Toronto City Council was reduced from 44 to 25 councillors by the provincial government.

“Toronto now has perhaps the most populous wards of any major city in in North America and Europe,” according to the Councillors. “In order to manage this volume of work, at its first meeting of the 2018-2022 term of office, Council increased their staff budgets.”

Council requested the City Manager and the Chief People Officer to report back on the motion at the December 17, 18 and 19 City Council meeting.

Some residents are crying foul since Mayor Olivia Chow said the City is broke and Toronto Councillors are among the better paid politicians in the province.

Mayor Olivia Chow earns more than $206,000 yearly and the Toronto Police Chief in excess of $230,000 annually plus office perks.

Councillors earn about $128,000 yearly, depending on the committees they sit on. Mayor Olivia Chow earns about $206,000 yearly.

Regionals councillors outside the city earns about $40,000 yearly. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is paid about $410,000 yearly.

A federal MPP earns a base salary of $116,550 and additional responsibilities come with more money, ranging from $16,000 to $50,000.

The politicians are also eligible for one of the best pension plans in Canada.

In addition, the estimated salary for Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw is $237,508 yearly plus the perks that comes with the office, as car and driver.

Some 15 towers with more than 6,000 housing units are planned for Sherway Mall parking lots.

Maybe we will get a TTC subway stop at Sherway Gardens Mall yet.

The CF Sherway Gardens Mall is moving ahead with plans to build mixed housing on its massive parking lots and again prepare for a possible extension of the Bloor Danforth subway line.

City officials are seeking Council’s urgent directions on amendments to the Sherway Gardens Secondary Plan at an upcoming Ontario Land Tribunal hearing on December 9.

“City Council’s consideration of this matter is urgent and should therefore not be deferred,” according to a motion to be considered by City Council on November 13.

Sherway Gardens Mall is seeking approval to redevelop its surface parking lots into a mixed-use community in which 15 new towers ranging from 17 to 45 storeys are proposed, including parks.

Part of the Sherway site will be a transit hub for a potential extension of the
TTC Bloor Danforth subway line.

The development will create more than 6,200 residential units and over 14,000 square metres of new retail and office uses, according to the developers.

The plan calls for a transit hub at the northwest of the site to allow for the extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line from Kipling Station.

At one time there were major calls from residents and political leaders for the subway to be extended to Sherway, but that has since faded.

Also planned is a multi-use trail with pedestrian and cycling infrastructure along the entire Queensway frontage of the site.

South Etobicoke residents have long been calling for an extension of the Bloor-Danforth subway line for faster commutes.

And a private ring road around the mall would be designed to City standards and dedicated as public streets through redevelopment.

“The surface parking lots surrounding the mall would be redeveloped with a mix of uses to create a walkable and more hospitable pedestrian environment,” according to planners. “The lands where the existing shopping centre is located were designated Mixed Use Areas to maintain the retail focus of this part of the precinct.”

Development in the forms of tall condos and townhomes are also taking the place of vehicles at Cloverdale Mall, Dixie Outlet Mall, Yorkdale Mall, Fairview and others.