The PC government claims Highway 413 will begin construction next year. It’s an unlikely timeline based on an examination of studies that must be done and the fact that basic design of the 59-kilometre highway has yet to be completed.
A recently released recovery strategy from the federal government for an endangered species could put another serious hurdle in the path of the PC government’s controversial pet project.
The City’s MiWay transit system is carrying out a plan for a four percent increase in service hours for 2024 after ridership exceeded pre-pandemic levels. To capitalize on the gradual shift to active transportation in Canada’s seventh largest city, critical projects must take advantage of the multibillion dollar Hurontario light rail transit system set to open in the next year or so.
The tree canopy target, critical to many of the city’s environmental goals and the health of its residents, has been reduced.
Municipal staff estimate the 260,000 trees needed to meet the new target is achievable, but will the numbers add up to a similar impact as the original plan, with serious consequences for St. Catharines if it fails to maintain a protective natural canopy.
As the number of unhoused people in municipalities across the province continues to rise, Ontario’s Big City Mayors have launched a campaign called ‘Solve the Crisis’.
The growing problem in their backyard needs a coordinated effort by upper levels of government, mayors say. A new provincial ministry with designated funding specifically to tackle homelessness, is a starting point.
The development of Mississauga’s eastern lakefront is critical to the municipality’s vision for the future. If done in a world class way, marrying the surrounding waterfront’s sublime natural beauty with human scale urban features, the massive undertaking could be the envy of the GTA.
But after the PC government intervened in the local planning process for Lakeview Village, allowing the development consortium to double the number of residential units in the luxury project, more developers along the waterfront are pushing for the type of hyper-growth that has turned Toronto’s lakeshore into a wall of concrete and glass.
The premature approval of zoned land for 35,000 homes in Caledon will have devastating impacts on the habitat for nearly 25 species at risk, an analysis by The Pointer has found. The disregard for environmental protection is being facilitated by a PC government that refuses to fix the department responsible for protecting the habitat of vulnerable wildlife.
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During a rare summer parliamentary committee meeting, members of the House of Commons status of women committee left sexual assault survivor and advocate Cait Alexander in tears after she shared the intimate details of her story with MPs, only to be sidelined by a chaotic display of political sparring after Liberal MP Anita Vandenbeld railroaded the discussion on Alexander’s horrific experience to debate an abortion rights motion.
It has been projected that ten thousand new students, mostly from abroad, will enroll at the University of Niagara Falls over the next 5 years.
No detailed housing strategy has been developed by the post-secondary institution or the City, raising concerns about where the international student body is going to live in Niagara Falls in the midst of a housing crisis.
A by-election to replace West Lincoln councillor Terry Bell is to be held November 4th.
A critical piece of land in Niagara Falls is moving closer to development, despite hesitation from council and residents.
A council priority since 2011, the municipality has seen modest improvements to its urban tree canopy, a critical asset in the fight against climate change. But recent projections from staff suggest the council-approved goal of planting 100,000 trees may not be achievable.
Rental rates in Mississauga are out of reach for a large proportion of residents. To combat this, the City of Mississauga has approved a new grant program to provide financial assistance to developers who will build affordable rental units.
The multi-million dollar plan is anticipated to bring a minimum of 300 units online over the next three years.
A licensing system currently in the pilot phase at the City of Brampton is trying to identify the city’s small landlords to ensure they are keeping their properties safe and clean—and penalize those who are not doing so. The initiative has inflamed pre-existing tensions over alternative forms of housing in Brampton.
A newly formed association of landlords has criticized the program for hitching struggling business owners with new fees and blaming them for issues they can’t fix.
A large contingent of citizens, upset with the decision-making of their local councillors in Niagara-on-the Lake, have taken to the streets.
Many are upset with the "hidden agendas" of their elected officials, who have approved controversial development projects that they say will change the character of the small town.
Organizations working to eradicate human trafficking are urging the federal government to begin consultations on a renewed approach to ensure vital services for vulnerable survivors are not disrupted.
With the rise of sophisticated criminal networks operating online and around the world in the rapidly growing human trafficking market, experts are calling for preventative measures and more supports for those victimized by these horrific crimes.
Unless quick action is taken to make Brampton more sustainable, the City risks missing its 2030 emissions reduction targets.
The revelation comes after years of Mayor Patrick Brown and councillors only paying lip service to the climate crisis and ignoring the investments that are desperately needed.
The lack of adequate federal and provincial funding has left Peel’s social services unable to help everyone in need with everything from mental health and addiction services, to affordable housing, to emergency shelter support.
Metamorphosis Network, a group of over 100 local organizations, are demanding change after a report showed the gap in funding amounts to millions of dollars annually. In a recent meeting with the Premier, Mississauga Mayor Carolyn Parrish called on the PCs to establish a new funding deal for Peel.
With a task force of five City Council members in place, a review of the municipality's Community Improvement Plan (CIP) is now moving forward.
Development pressures are forcing elected officials to rethink the timeframes for financial incentives meant to spark development in underutilized areas of the city.
A new law touted as the solution to shutting down puppy mills across Ontario is nothing but window dressing, advocates state.
The government currently has no idea how many puppy mills operate in the province, and without a licensing regime to identify them and set detailed standards of care for these animals—which the new legislation lacks—little will change for animals in desperate need of aid.
After years of uncertainty, Premier Doug Ford has indicated during a one-on-one meeting with Mayor Carolyn Parrish that the downtown loop portion of the City’s Hurontario LRT will become a reality.
The pledge follows a financial promise earlier this year from the Province’s 2024 budget that committed to the loop extension, which included beginning the planning and design phase.
After removing a parcel of land with sensitive Greenbelt features from a collection of areas rezoned for development, Caledon council members, led by the mayor, approved the rezoning of the land for residential construction last week. Critical environmental studies have yet to be completed for the lands.
Some experts say the entire plan is dead in the water due to the numerous violations of provincial and federal policies.
It has been over a decade since the 2013 flood decimated Mississauga, Brampton and many other communities in the Greater Toronto Area, causing nearly $1 billion in damage. On July 16th, a downpour of similar proportions hit the GTA, submerging major roadways and sending water cascading into basements across several municipalities.
The City of Mississauga is already investing millions into its stormwater system, so what more needs to be done?
For the third time, Town staff have revamped their timeline for a critical study to create new rules to govern the aggregate industry within Caledon’s borders.
The current timeline has the new regulations being finalized just over three weeks before an interim control bylaw expires and the Town will once again be able to approve new aggregate operations.
The economic cost of the recent flooding across the GTA was as much as $4 billion.
Human nature is hardwired for survival, but we have never been good at the long game.
If the existential threat of the climate crisis is too distant, too disconnected or too inconvenient to change our daily routines, its rapidly increasing cost to each of us might be the key to dramatically shifting our habits.
After public backlash over its unprecedented crackdown of bed and breakfasts across the city, St. Catharines has finally backed off.
Outrageous fines, with little to no notice, were handed out to unsuspecting B&B owners, in what was claimed to be an effort to single out bad actors in the short-term rental market. The move drew significant public response, after it was revealed Mayor Mat Siscoe had met with hotel industry lobbyists who wanted to see the end of short-term rentals.
This week is a special Democracy Watch focusing on Official Plans, the documents that determine future planning and development in a municipality.
Niagara Falls and Welland—the region’s second and third largest municipalities respectively—are currently in the midst of formally updating these crucial documents.
On Thursday, Niagara Regional Council will consider amendments to its Procedural By-law and Code of Conduct as a result of the “exceptionally challenging” meeting of January 25th that saw members of Niagara’s Palestinian community blocked from speaking, leading to outrage across the region.
Last week, the federal government announced a new permanent program that will see $30 billion passed down to municipalities for public transit expansion, prioritizing projects that support new housing.
Mississauga has major higher order transit plans that could move forward if Ottawa delivers funding which would speed up the city’s ambitious urban agenda.
A voluminous report from the Provincial Auditor General, an inefficient laboratory system under Public Health Ontario and a long gestating plan that would see the end of free private drinking water testing in Ontario.
With shades of Walkerton, how the keen eye of a Source Protection employee averted what critics describe as a move that would put communities at risk.
Visual Arts Mississauga is failing to provide the basic needs for one of its deaf students, an application before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario alleges. The case exposes the decades-long failure of the PC government to adequately assist Ontarians with disabilities and its unwillingness to enforce its own laws designed to provide equal treatment to disabled individuals.
The PC government and Association of Municipalities of Ontario do not always see eye-to-eye, but they agree on one thing: many municipalities cannot find enough childcare providers to implement Ottawa’s $10-a-day mandate. A recent letter criticizes the federal government’s child care program for limiting for-profit providers’ participation in the program. Peel was held up as the example of a childcare desert, where non-profit organizations simply cannot meet the demand for affordable care.
After the PC government set the annual rental increase guideline at 2.5 percent for the third consecutive year, local housing advocacy group Peel ACORN is condemning the decision. It creates more incentive for landlords to “renovict” tenants, the group says. It wants Queen’s Park to introduce a sweeping policy of rent control that applies to all residential buildings.
It took the work of dedicated citizen environmentalists to track the source of a supposed chemical spill into the Welland River before the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks took action. Mitigation measures are now in place and an investigation is ongoing.
Environmental groups and councillors are battling a proposal to expand an incineration facility in Brampton that would more than quadruple the amount of waste burned each year. Questions are swirling about the impacts on Brampton neighbourhoods and surrounding ones in Mississuaga’s Malton burrough.
After hearing from several delegates during Thursday’s regional council meeting, elected officials referred their remarks to Peel Public Health to report back to Brampton council in the fall on the potential health implications.
The tragic lessons of the past, such as the Walkerton E. coli outbreak, should serve as warnings about what not to do when managing our water supply and ecosystems across Ontario, says one of the province’s most respected watershed scientists.
The PC government has instead reverted back to the days of poor planning and oversight, putting all of us at risk, to benefit developers who want to strip away critical regulations.
Cathy Simpson dared to challenge libraries. The now former head of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s library system called out an emerging trend within her profession, the repudiation of texts not aligned with progressive views on subjects such as equity.
She argued that reflexive rejection of ideas from the right side of the political spectrum only serves to bolster those waging a culture war to ban books, limit free speech and push authoritarian ideas. For her efforts, she was fired by the board that oversees the community’s main institution of shared learning.
A seemingly innocuous report to provide Thorold Planning staff with the tools to help calculate greenhouse gas emissions, turns into an 18-month odyssey marked by numerous climate change debates, dubious claims from opponents and a lack of municipal staff resources. In the end, staff give Council an easy out.
A recent report presented to the Region revealed “forever chemicals”, found in everyday consumer products, are turning up in Peel’s water and wastewater systems, with no solution to remove them.
While the Region has limited authority to reduce the presence of these chemicals, Health Canada is developing guidelines to mitigate the risk.
Despite the Region of Peel’s own refusal to send waste to the Emerald incinerator located in the Bramalea neighbourhood of Brampton, the company has submitted a proposal to the provincial government to more than quadruple its size, enabling it to burn up to one-third of the waste produced in Ontario.
Research shows producing energy from waste is an extremely carbon intensive process.
As electric vehicle sales stagnate, governments are working with manufacturers to create a greener system for cars. The NDP's transportation critic Jennifer French tells The Pointer the biggest barrier is the lack of charging infrastructure, something that requires a government-led solution, instead of the roadblocks Doug Ford keeps putting up.
Mississauga Council recently voted to extend the City’s agreement for its Automated Speed Enforcement program which uses photo radar to help achieve the City’s Vision Zero goal of dramatically reducing accidents with pedestrians and cyclists.
In a place designed to move residents on high-speed thoroughfares connected to a network of surrounding highways, will citizens and local leaders be open to sacrifices that might be inconvenient for many? The status quo, meanwhile, is putting more residents in harm’s way as the rapidly urbanizing city wrestles with a suburban identity built around the car.
In Niagara Region, some of the area’s council members have expressed troubling, tone deaf attitudes about Indigenous land acknowledgments. Unlike most places across the country, in this border region, backward views expressed by elected officials such as Tim Rigby would shock many Canadians, especially Indigenous and First Nations community members who continue to fight for reconciliation, after efforts to wipe them out by European-Canadians.
Only a week into office as the city’s newest leader, Mayor Carolyn Parrish sat down with Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra to address several issues at the top of her agenda.
The meeting, which included ministerial staff and Deputy Mayor Matt Mahoney, underscores a potential shift in the relationship between City Hall and Queen’s Park.
While the Region of Peel is commending the federal and provincial governments for recent announcements to stimulate home construction, staff point out that these programs must include funding to accommodate residents living in community and low-income housing. It raises questions about the use of taxpayer dollars to fund profits for developers who ignore large segments of the market.
The CEOs of Canada’s top five banks appeared as witnesses at the House of Commons standing committee on the environment and sustainable development June 13.
It was part of work on climate impacts related to the Canadian financial system, after mounting evidence that the banks are fueling the climate crisis while hiding behind empty net-zero promises.
A recent letter from Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Paul Calandra indicates the Province may be heeding the calls from Region of Peel staff and elected officials who have demanded the Province pay for the costs associated with the restructuring of regional government in Peel.
Just a day after being sworn into office the newly-elected head of council, Carolyn Parrish, exercised her strong mayor powers and removed Shari Lichterman as the City’s CAO, replacing her for now with Commissioner of Transportation and Works Geoff Wright, “effective immediately.”
Parrish also rescinded a previous decision that delegated hiring/firing authority to the CAO and granted power to determine the organizational structure of the municipality.
After promising not to hold a summer vote on 12 controversial zoning bylaw amendments to facilitate the development of 35,000 homes, Mayor Annette Groves led a push to approve the plan Tuesday.
Despite the efforts of some councillors and dozens of residents to defer the vote due to serious financial concerns and the lack of information around the surprise plan for the largest development approval in Caledon’s history, the vote passed five to three.
Proposed terms of reference changes that would allow the DEI committee to bring forward recommendations on anti-harassment and anti-hate by-laws or host a town hall on racism are being deemed “out of scope” by Council members and staff.
A recent report to Mississauga council shows the City has improved efforts to reflect one of the diverse municipalities in the world, after a 2021 survey found leadership of the mostly white staff was oblivious to the lack of representation. The City has since prioritized the issue, which impacts the vast majority of Mississauga residents. Equity consultant Andria Barrett is pleased with the positive shift she has seen in the local government.
Caledon residents are organizing across the massive rural municipality, vowing to end the tenure of any council member who supports Mayor Annette Groves’ controversial decision to steamroll approvals for some 35,000 new homes in one of the largest development moves in Canadian history.
A vote will take place Tuesday, after Groves sprang the developer-driven plan on residents out of the blue a few weeks ago, leaving taxpayers stunned. There was no prior consultation with the public, no committee discussion and no council debate. She had the proposed bylaws written by a development lawyer who, it was later learned, also represented a property owner group seeking to build sprawling subdivisions.
