Stay in-the-know on all things Toronto with these highlights from the TorontoToday reporting team this week.
Toronto now has a Christian Heritage Month
On Thursday night, Toronto city councillors voted in favour of establishing Christian Heritage Month in December. The decision came after a lobbying campaign from former Coun. Jim Karygiannis on behalf of the non-profit organization Christian Music Festival.
TorontoToday reporter Aidan Chamandy witnessed the heated debate — and tears — that accompanied the vote.
Taylor Swift captivates Toronto crowd on opening night
Taylor Swift is in Toronto for her ever popular Eras Tour concerts — and TorontoToday didn't miss out. Reporter Alex Flood and deputy editor Eva Zhu attended the opening night of Swift's six concert run on Thursday to snap pictures and interview fans about the excitement around the star's three-hour spectacle.
Flood, who was not a Swift fan before attending the concert, even became a convert after the show and detailed his experience about developing into a Swiftie in this week's Newbie Notebook column.
MAP: Why Kensington has more than its share of collisions
TorontoToday’s data reporter Patrick Cain crunched the numbers on a decade of police collision data and city traffic counts to produce a map of downtown's 20 most collision-prone intersections, in relation to traffic levels. He found while Kensington Market has less overall vehicle traffic than many other parts of the city, its streets see a disproportionate number of collisions that are reported to police.
Tearing up bike lanes will cost nearly $50 million, city staff report says
Debate about Bill 212 continued this week as City Hall staff released a report claiming the Ford government’s plan to rip out bike lanes along Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue will cost $48 million.
Staff also said travel times for drivers will increase during removal and reconstruction, while the elimination of bike lanes along some of Toronto’s busiest streets will result in “minimal improvements in travel times.”
23 arrested in connection to Queen Street West shooting
Toronto police this week arrested 23 people after a shooting in the downtown Queen West neighbourhood on Monday night. Eight people, including a 16-year-old, are facing firearms related charges in connection to the shooting. Police seized 16 guns, including handguns and rifles, after the incident which saw an unmarked police vehicle struck by the gunfire.
Are e-bikes more dangerous in the winter?
TorontoToday reporter Kathryn Mannie took a deep dive into the TTC's effort to put a seasonal winter ban on e-bikes. The proposal for a ban, which was brought forward after an e-bike caught fire inside a Line 1 subway car on New Years’ Eve last year, could leave gig workers who commonly use the mode of transport out in the cold. But are e-bike batteries really as dangerous as some people believe they are?
City makes it harder for tenants to be ‘renovicted’
Starting next summer, Toronto landlords will need to apply for a licence before evicting a tenant to renovate a unit, according to a new city council bylaw. A "renoviction" (a joining of the words renovation and eviction) occurs when a landlord uses renovating the unit as an illegitimate reason to end a tenancy. The new bylaw comes into effect on July 31, 2025.
