Sean Marshall

Author: Sean Marshall

  • Mapping the 2018 candidates for Toronto’s 47 wards (Updated)

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    September 10, 2018
    This morning, the Ontario Superior Court ruled against Bill 5, finding that the bill  “substantially interfered with the municipal candidate’s freedom of expression that is guaranteed under [Section 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.]”

    Barring a successful provincial appeal (or invoking Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, also known as the Notwithstanding Clause), this is once again the map of council candidates for the October 22 election.

    September 12, 2018
    Oh, never mind. We’re back to the 25 wards because its not as if Doug Ford has anything better to do than override a judicial finding with the Notwithstanding Clause and re-introducing the vindictive legislation. And we may not even get to vote in advance polls.

    Once the new law is passed, there will be two days for council candidates to sign up to run in the 25 wards.


    August 15, 2018

    Bill 5, the so-called “Better Local Government Act,” passed third reading on August 13, 2018, and was given royal assent on Tuesday August 14, despite vigourous opposition from the New Democratic Party. Bill 5 passed without any public consultation that usually takes place with any government legislation, as the Progressive Conservatives used procedural tactics to push through the bill as quickly as possible.

    (A new map of the 25 wards can be found here.)

    This means that legally, the City of Toronto must follow the province’s edict and elect only twenty-five councillors, with wards based on the current provincial riding boundaries. Scarborough Councillor Glenn De Baremaeker has already announced that he will no longer seek re-election.

    I have no intentions of removing the map below, but I will be creating a new 25-ward map and populating it once nominations re-open. I suspect that many council candidates will not re-register, and that there will be many more incumbents facing off against each other.

    There’s a faint hope that a legal injunction could suspend Bill 5. Council candidate and lawyer Rocco Achampong is seeking one, the courts will hear arguments by the end of the month.

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  • Requiem for Ontario’s regional malls

    IMG_8782-001Shoppers World Brampton, 2016, before the Target store was replaced by smaller stores, including Giant Tiger

    Recently, I wrote about the history of Ontario’s downtown malls. Most of these shopping centres, built in the 1970s and 1980s in the downtown cores across the province, failed by the end of the 1990s. The collapse of the Eaton’s department store chain and competition from larger, suburban malls and new big-box retailers drove customers away from Ontario’s downtowns. Only in Toronto and Ottawa, with large downtown office employment, residential development, and good urban transit, did these major shopping malls thrive.

    But that does not mean that all suburban shopping centres are doing well, especially after the loss of Target in 2015 and Sears Canada in 2017. For TVO, I wrote more about how smaller regional malls in Ontario are re-positioning themselves.

    The Brampton house that I grew up in was a ten minute walk from Shoppers World, which, in the 1980s, had a full line department store, Simpson’s, as well as Marks and Spencer, K-Mart (where I had my first paying gig, delivering shopping carts back to the store abandoned in nearby parks), a Pascal hardware store, and two supermarkets, Food City and A&P. Larger, more popular malls like Mississauga’s Square One and Bramalea City Centre were one bus ride away, but Shoppers World held its own, even if it was second tier. By the 1990s, though, it was clear that the mall was in decline: national retailers were leaving and there was a noticeable lack of investment in the property.

    When RioCan REIT purchased Shoppers World in the late 1990s, it made some improvements and attracted big-box retailers like Canadian Tire, Staples, and Winners. Zellers took over the K-Mart store, which was expanded. But The Bay (which replaced Simpson’s) was closed down and the store later demolished. I had left Brampton in 2006, but I was still sad to see my one-time local mall decline. Now RioCan has talked about downsizing the mall, and redeveloping part of the property. Competition from larger, stronger shopping malls, newer retail power centres, the mismanagement of several retail firms, and internet shopping have all taken their toll. Shoppers World isn’t a dead mall, but like many smaller malls, it will be adapting to changing times.

    In the TVO article, I take a look at a few other malls, like London’s Westmount Mall, in similar circumstances.

    ShoppersWorld.jpgShoppers World, 2018. Despite many store vacancies, it’s still a community hub.

  • Major improvements are coming to Scarborough’s waterfront

    IMG_8897-001The Scarborough Bluffs will soon become more accessible

    Over the last few years, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) has been working on an environmental assessment for improvements to much of the Lake Ontario shoreline in Scarborough. Today, the TRCA announced that assessment is now complete, and it calls for major improvements between Bluffer’s Park and East Point Park.

    A new multi-use trail is planned for the bottom of the Scarborough Bluffs, with access points at Bluffer’s Park, the Doris McCarthy Trail, Guild Park, and East Point Park, connecting with the existing path across Highland Creek and the Rouge River to Pickering. In addition, pedestrian and cyclist access down to Bluffer’s Park on Brimley Road will be greatly improved.

    When my partner and I tried to walk along the Scarborough Waterfront in 2016, we found the Waterfront Trail lacking, and the section along Brimley Road quite dangerous. These changes, along with the new seasonal TTC bus service to Bluffer’s Park, will help to make Scarborough’s wonderful waterfront safer and easier to access. 

    The plan also calls for improved erosion control measures, along with interventions to improve land and aquatic habitats, helping to protect one of Toronto’s most spectacular natural features while protecting the natural environment.

    If you were looking for some good news in Toronto, especially with the many recent stories of violence on our streets, this is it.

  • Toronto’s Transit Secrets

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    Earlier this week, I attended a book launch at the Spacing Store at 401 Richmond Street West here in Toronto. While I have been to numerous book launches, often to support friends and colleagues, it was the first time it was for a book that I contributed to.

    As some of you may know, I am an occasional contributor to Spacing Magazine and Spacing’s website. My writing has allowed me to think and learn more about Toronto, and meet fellow engaged Torontonians. Spacing’s latest book, 25 Toronto Transit Secrets, contains stories, photographs, and maps that detail both the history and the operations of the TTC. For my part, I wrote about the ghostly reminders of abandoned streetcar routes, the history of the convoluted Harbord Streetcar, and what happens to the TTC’s streetcars when they’ve reached the end of the line.

    There are many other great stories as well. Read about the TTC’s safety mascot, Barney the Beaver, Toronto’s two ghost stations (Lower Bay and the lesser-known Lower Queen) and a history of the ferry service to Toronto Islands.

    25 Toronto Transit Secrets is edited by Dylan Reid and Matthew Blackett, who both deserve a lot of credit. Any writer knows that their work is dependent on editors not only proof-reading their work, but also providing guidance and support. I am always grateful for their encouragement and providing the opportunity to be published.

  • Where, exactly, is Northern Ontario?

    29496350986_0f43c86857_k.jpgThe French River at Highway 69, where Northern Ontario truly begins

    Last week, the leaders of the three major provincial parties (Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, and the New Democrats) met in Parry Sound, at a debate dedicated to issues specific to Northern Ontario. It was the second of three debates scheduled ahead of the June 7, 2018 general election.

    But is Parry Sound, a town that’s only a two hour’s drive north of Toronto (when free of weekend Cottage Country traffic) really a part of Northern Ontario? That depends on who you ask. Even government agencies disagree. In my opinion, though, Parry Sound isn’t in Northern Ontario, even though the district it’s located in shares some characteristics of this vast part of the province.

    Despite living my entire life in the Greater Toronto Area, I have an affinity for Northern Ontario, particularly the northeastern part of the province. My father’s hometown is Timmins, one of my siblings lives in Sudbury, and I have visited both cities many times. I made a trip up to Sault Ste. Marie to ride the Algoma Central Railway passenger train between Sault Ste. Marie and Hearst and back before it was cancelled, and I still lament the loss of the Northlander, Ontario Northland Railway’s passenger train between Toronto and Cochrane that was terminated in 2012. I even made it all the way to Moosonee, on the James Bay coast.

    The northern part of this province covers a huge area — over 800,000 square kilometres, larger than France, Belgium, and the Netherlands combined — but has a population of just over 750,000. It is even crossed by a time zone boundary. Despite my connection to the region, I had yet to make a proper visit to Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario (I finally paid a visit in August 2019).

    The North includes many First Nations communities accessible only by plane or ice road. Other communities, with names like Dryden, Kapuskasing, Iroquois Falls, and Kirkland Lake, were established to serve mines or pulp mills — resulting in a very different economic landscape than the agricultural and industrial south. In recent decades, many of those mines and mills have closed, eliminating many towns’ only major employer.

    In a province dominated by the urban centres in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, Ottawa, and London, it’s too easy to ignore the North.

    So how do people actually define Northern Ontario?

    Traditionally, Northern Ontario begins at the French River, Lake Nipissing, and at the Mattawa River. North Bay, which calls itself the “Gateway to the North” sits right on this line. For administrative purposes, this includes the entirety of Sudbury and Nipissing Districts, which extend south of the French and Mattawa Rivers, and includes most of Algonquin Park. It also includes Manitoulin Island, which can only be reached year-round from the north, through Sudbury District.

    The Canadian Shield, the defining landscape of most of Northern Ontario, starts further south. Driving north from Toronto on Highways 400 or 11, the shield starts about where Simcoe County ends and Muskoka District starts. But the Canadian Shield also encompasses large sections of the City of Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough, Hastings, Frontenac, and Lanark Counties and the entirety of Haliburton County.

    NOntarioThe various definitions of Northern Ontario, including the county, regional and district boundaries. 

    But the provincial and federal governments both have special economic development funding programs whose boundaries take a more liberal definition of Northern Ontario. FedNor, the Government of Canada’s economic development agency, includes Parry Sound and Muskoka Districts. The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, a provincial agency, includes Parry Sound District, but not Muskoka District.

    Whether Parry Sound and Muskoka are considered part of Northern Ontario is very much a political question. In 2004, the newly elected Liberal government chose to remove Muskoka from the areas eligible for provincial grants meant for northern communities — Muskoka being a reliable Progressive Conservative seat, and the riding of the previous PC premier, Ernie Eves.

    Parry Sound District, while not, in my view, part of Northern Ontario, at least shares some similar characteristics with neighbouring Sudbury and Nipissing Districts. It includes many isolated communities, and apart from the Town of Parry Sound itself, it has a very sparse population. Muskoka, on the other hand, is more urbanized with three larger towns, and is much more popular for recreation, particularly during the summer. Muskoka also has a regional government — the District Municipality — while much of Parry Sound District’s land is unorganized — meaning lands without any municipal government.

    And if one considers Muskoka to be part of Northern Ontario, why not also include Haliburton County, which also has a sparse population and is relatively isolated from the urbanized south? A line needs to be drawn somewhere, and there is no valid reason why Muskoka should ever be considered a part of Northern Ontario. There might be a case for Parry Sound District, but definitely not cottage country.

  • A tale of two university campuses

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    Site of Brampton’s new Ryerson/Sheridan campus

    Last week, the provincial government announced two new post-secondary educational campuses in Toronto’s fast-growing western suburbs, due to open in 2022. Wilfrid Laurier University will be partnering with Conestoga College on a new facility in Milton. Brampton will be getting a new Ryerson University campus in partnership with Sheridan College. Both new campuses, each receiving $90 million in provincial capital funding, will be focused on undergraduate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) programs. Both will host up to 2,000 students once the new facilities are fully operational.

    Despite the many commonalities between the new Milton and Brampton facilities, the announced campus locations could not be any more different. Milton’s Laurier/Conestoga campus (which I previously wrote about as an example of the problems of greenfield institutions) will be located on a new greenfield site on the southwestern outskirts of the town’s built-up area, while Brampton’s Ryerson/Sheridan campus will be located in that city’s downtown core, on a site currently used for commuter parking. But since GO Transit’s free commuter parking has to go somewhere, Metrolinx has been buying up and demolishing houses and offices on a nearby downtown block.

    I compared the two new campuses for TVO

  • Brampton’s multi-use path problems

    IMG_2362-001Recreational Trail: no loitering

    Brampton, my hometown, has a great network of parks, many of which are connected by multi use paths that follow local waterways like the West Humber River and Etobicoke Creek. In suburban neighbourhoods where curvilinear street networks and cul-de-sacs predominate, these paths are necessary as shortcuts for pedestrians and cyclists, and for anyone looking to take a stroll away from the busy arterial roads.

    But these multi-use paths, called “recreational trails” by the City of Brampton, do not properly accommodate all users. And where these paths meet major streets, users must either detour far out of their way to a designated crossing, or attempt to cross a busy roadway. Where Toronto and even other suburban municipalities can get this right, Brampton consistently gets it wrong.

    IMG_2361-001Entrance to Addington Park at Balmoral Drive, Brampton. Part of the Don Doan Trail.

    The first problem Brampton has is the consistent lack of curb cuts where a park path meets any roadway, be it a residential side street or a busier road. Curb cuts are necessary not just for cyclists, but for pedestrians with strollers, or anyone using a mobility device such as a walker or wheelchair. In many cases, a nearby private driveway or a nearby intersection can provide the necessary curb cut, but this is not always the case. Perhaps the reason not to provide the cut is to discourage cyclists or children with wheeled toys crossing without stopping and dismounting, or preventing motor vehicles from entering the path. But it instead encourages cyclists to ride on the sidewalk instead, where most cyclists shouldn’t be, and makes it more difficult for parents with young children, or pedestrians with disabilities from using the paths.
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  • What’s going on in Downtown Brampton?

    IMG_6139-0015 Railroad Street, on the City of Brampton’s heritage registrar, is one of several houses recently boarded up in Downtown Brampton

    Update April 19, 2018: the location for Ryerson’s new Brampton campus was announced this morning. The 2000-student campus, which will be a partnership between Ryerson University and Sheridan College, will be built at the corner of Mill and Church Streets, on the GO Transit parking lot. This explains Metrolinx’s (GO Transit’s parent agency) purchase and demolition of properties south of the rail corridor, on Nelson, George, Railroad, and Elizabeth Streets, which I wrote about below.

    While it remains unfortunate that surface parking will replace housing and offices, at least in the short-to-medium term, at least we now know what’s going on in Downtown Brampton. The downtown campus site, with excellent transit links, is the right location.

    Nearly two years ago, I wrote about how Metrolinx, the Province of Ontario’s regional transportation authority, had purchased several houses and two office buildings in Downtown Brampton. The intention at the time was to build a new surface lot to accommodate GO Transit commuters, a symptom of the commuter transit system’s dependence on providing parking.

    Metrolinx is responsible for GO Transit, the UP Express airport rail link, the Presto farecard, and planning and constructing transit infrastructure in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

    Since my 2016 blog post, three dwellings — 28A and 28B Nelson Street West, a semi-detached house, and 42 Elizabeth Street North — were demolished, but there was little other visible change until this month. Now eight more houses — on Elizabeth Street and Railroad Street have been boarded up and their electricity disconnected, including at least one rooming house that was occupied until very recently. The two office buildings — 29 and 37 George Street — are also emptying out.

    Four of these properties — 30 Nelson Street West, 46 and 50 Elizabeth Street North, and 5 Railroad Street — are listed by the City of Brampton as containing heritage resources.

    IMG_6153-001Offices at 37 George Street are moving out

    So what exactly is going on? Why has Metrolinx purchased twelve homes and two offices in Downtown Brampton? Is it for a surface parking lot as previously reported in 2016? Or does this have to do with recent plans for a new Brampton campus of Ryerson University?

    The City of Brampton has been assembling land and buildings nearby, including 8 Nelson Street West, a six-storey office building above the downtown bus terminal. The city also owns the old Loblaws store on the southeast corner of George and Nelson Street. As Bramptonist‘s Divyesh Mistry found, Metrolinx noted “…continued collaboration between Metrolinx staff […] with the City of Brampton and Ryerson University on the Brampton Station redevelopment.”

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    Houses on Elizabeth Street North recently vacated and boarded up. 

    If this land assembly is, in fact, to support a yet unannounced Ryerson University campus site on this block or on the existing Brampton GO Station parking lot, then this is on the whole very good news, though I remain concerned about the loss of downtown housing, particularly rooming houses and affordable apartments that some of older homes in the area have been divided into. A downtown campus with excellent transit links — GO Transit and several Brampton Transit bus routes — makes more sense than Milton’s plans for a greenfield campus for Wilfrid Laurier University distant from GO Transit’s bus and rail lines.

    IMG_6149-00146 Elizabeth Street North, a rooming house with heritage status, is now boarded up, with the electricity disconnected. 

    Unlike a competing university campus site near Etobicoke Creek backed by New Brampton (a politically influential group of local business and landowners who also opposed the Hurontario-Main LRT route), the GO Station and the Nelson/Railroad/Elizabeth Street buildings are outside the historical floodplain and can be built quicker.

    If the existing GO Transit parking lot were to be used for Ryerson’s Brampton campus, then an alternative parking site would be required — hence the recent purchase and the demolition of these homes and offices. The construction of a new surface lot in an designated “anchor hub” — where rapid transit lines meet and urban intensification is encouraged — would be most unfortunate, but I hope that it will not be a long-term solution. On the other hand, a new university campus is exactly the type of land use that should be located at an “anchor hub.”

    So far, local officials have kept very quiet about the land assembly on the block surrounded by George, Nelson, Elizabeth and Railroad Streets, perhaps waiting for approvals from the province and Ryerson University before making a public announcement. But with residents and office tenants displaced and houses boarded up suddenly, confirmation of these plans should come soon.

  • Pedestrian flags at crosswalks are not a solution

    IMG_0772-001Pedestrian crossing in Dartmouth Nova Scotia equipped with pedestrian flags

    A Toronto Star article this weekend profiled three elementary school students installing pedestrian flags at local residential intersections near their school in Leaside. Pedestrian flags are not a new idea; they have been common in Halifax and other communities in Nova Scotia for several years. (I wrote about this before on my blog after visiting Halifax this past summer.)

    On the surface, it sounds like a good idea. Eleven-year old Arnav Shah describes their use in the Star: “what happens is when a pedestrian comes to cross, they look both ways, the regular stuff, maintaining eye contact with the drivers, and then they put the flag up and walk across. Not only does this make them more visible, but makes them (the drivers) more aware of the problem at hand.”

    Residents have complained about additional traffic in the neighbourhood as impatient drivers use residential streets to avoid transit construction on nearby Eglinton Avenue. Photos in the article show the flags being used at the corner of Rumsey Road and Donlea Drive, near the school. The intersection is already controlled by a four-way stop, it is located in a signed school zone, and the local speed limit is 40 km/h.

    The local councillor, Jon Burnside,  rightly praised the children for taking initative. But he added that “…it’s also a sad commentary on the state of our roads and the way people drive.” He’s right. Burnside further adds that adults “can take some cues from the kids’ creativity.”

    If we need bright flags to cross the street at a designated crosswalk because motorists wouldn’t see pedestrians otherwise, then we’ve failed to provide safe infrastructure. The adults — namely Toronto’s mayor and city council — have resisted investing in safe pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

    The city has put up signs on wide five-lane and seven-lane roads designating them as “Seniors Safety Zones” but has done little to actually make those roads safer for the pedestrians using them. The mayor and the committee responsible for roads and infrastructure rejected making Yonge Street in North York safer and more pleasant to walk and cycle, deferring to motorists instead. And last week, it responded to a child killed while crossing the street in a residential area by closing a walkway to the school yard and not doing anything to slow down motorists speeding in a school zone.

    Simply installing flags at crosswalks for pedestrians to carry would be in line with Toronto’s ineffectual Vision Zero program. While I can admire the children’s action, I would really like to see this taken much farther by the leaders in charge.

    Correction: the local councillor quoted in the Toronto Star is Jon Burnside, not John Campbell. I regret the error

  • The wrong answer to a tragic death of a boy walking home from school

    IMG_6001-001.JPGKennedy Public School, where 11-year old Duncan Xu was in Grade 6. He was struck and killed on an adjacent residential street while walking home on Tuesday, February 27. 

    On Tuesday, February 27, around 3:30 PM, Duncan Xu, an 11-year old boy, was struck and killed by a motorist in a residential neighbourhood in north Scarborough. He was the tenth pedestrian killed on Toronto’s streets in 2018, and the second child killed on their way home from school.

    Duncan Xu was crossing Canongate Trail at Ockwell Manor Drive, near the school, when he was hit by a motorist driving north on Canongate. The intersection does not have a crosswalk, but is only 70 metres north of an intersection controlled by a four-way stop. Canongate Trail a residential street lined with houses, and has a 40 km/h speed limit. The collision occurred right in front of a school zone sign.  Despite its residential nature, Canongate Trail acts as shortcut for non-local traffic avoiding the busy intersection of Steeles Avenue and Kennedy Road.

    I visited the neighbourhood today to better understand the conditions in which a child is killed crossing the street on his way home to school, and the local councillor’s “solution” to that problem.


    Map of the neighbourhood surrounding Kennedy Public School, including the location where Duncan Xu was hit, and the walkway that will close on Monday morning.

    IMG_6027-001Looking north on Canongate Trail at Ockwell Manor Drive, where Duncan Xu was killed. A memorial is at the curb. Note the speed limit sign, as well as the school zone sign, and also the heavy traffic on Canongate. 

    In the Toronto Star, school principal Kevin Liu described the traffic on Canongate as a problem: “I think we’re getting some thorough traffic, not necessarily residents, cutting through this neighbourhood to avoid a left-hand turn at Kennedy and Steeles during rush hours.”

    The school has long had concerns about their students’ safety.  Initiatives implemented in 2017 included new turning restrictions onto Elmfield Crescent, onto which the school fronts, and parking and stopping restrictions to better manage traffic from parents dropping off and picking up their children. A crossing guard is stationed at the corner of Canongate and Elmfield.

    Canongate is wide as far as local residential streets go. There are no attempts at traffic calming, such as speed humps, bump-outs or curb extensions, or effective traffic enforcement. There are several all-way stop signs on Canongate, but these on their own are not effective in slowing down motor traffic; rolling stops are common as well. When I visited the area today, I found that motorists accelerate quickly headed northbound from the Percell Square/Canongate intersection, and the 40 km/h speed limit is often not adhered to.

    Speeding motorist passes memorial to Duncan Xu on Sunday, March 4

    Sadly, the local councillor, Jim Karygiannis (Ward 39), has not championed measures to reduce and slow down traffic on Canongate Drive, despite local concerns. Instead, the councillor decided to unilaterally close a walkway linking the rear schoolyard with Canongate Trail, close to where Duncan was killed. Duncan used the walkway before trying to cross the street.

    Duncan Xu might not have crossed the street at a crosswalk, but he would still be alive had all motorists driven with the due care and speed befitting a school zone as children are heading home.

    The walkway is a convenient route for students to walk to school. It also connects residents to a nearby park. Councillor Karygiannis claimed that he proposed it earlier, but that local residents and the school refused it. Principal Liu said that he never heard about the proposal.

    The walkway from Canongate Trail to Kennedy Public School and a nearby park
    The walkway entrance is across from Ockwell Manor Drive and where Duncan Xu was hit.
    The walkway leads to nearby Sanwood Park

    The walkway Councillor Karygiannis will unilaterally close on Monday morning after Duncan Xu’s death

    On Monday morning, Councillor Karygiannis will make a show of closing the path and put out a media advisory indicating his intent. Orange plastic netting was already placed at both entries to the path, which cuts between two houses in preparation of the closure. But this is a classic case of “Zero Vision,” rather than Vision Zero, measures to improve road safety, such as improved pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and re-engineered roads that the city is at least nominally committed to.

    Councillor Jim Karygiannis media advisory

    Media advisory from Ward 39 Councillor Jim Karygiannis’ office announcing the closure of the pathway

    Closing the walkway will only serve to reduce walking to school, and increase traffic. It will do nothing to solve the problem of fast-moving cars in a residential area, nor will it necessarily prevent children from unsafely crossing the street. It’s the type of inexpensive, easy fix that make politicians look like they’re doing something, but without making the necessary changes to prevent future fatalities.

    Traffic calming measures, such as speed humps, tighter curbs at intersections, extending the curbs out at intersections, and planters would force motorists to slow down, and would be more effective than stop signs. More should be done to discourage impatient drivers from using the residential area as a shortcut. More should be done to encourage students to walk to school, rather than discouraged by closing walkways. Walking audits would allow the community to provide input. And this should be done around every school.

    The safety of pedestrians, especially children, should not be left to half-measures.

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    Updated map of pedestrian fatalities on Toronto’s streets.