Come join us for a Queer Picnic Sat, Aug 1, 2-6pm on Church St to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Gay Picnic Day—Canada’s first Pride! There will be grass, sandboxes, and even my mini inflatable pool! Bring your picnic blankets, camping chairs, and most importantly, your friends! (1/2)

Before he was Scrooge he was…McDuck

Yes, many opposition MPPs do this, and once again so far nobody outside of the PC caucus has been caught improperly using the "special circumstances" provision of MPP expenses.

Candice Lepage@cinn48.bsky.social · 2w ago

C) sleep in your huge office if you need to stay close.

The flakey sketchy anon survey monkey (!) the federal government put out on the Island Airport, their "consultation," ends Friday. If you haven't yet be sure to still fill it out. There are places you can add your own thoughts like "this survey is faulty and skews towards done deal" and etc.

Public consultation on the future of Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

surveymonkey.ca

In case you haven’t heard, we’re now making videos for our local Brompton shop, Pedaal Bikes + Coffee! #BikeTO youtube.com/shorts/oPz_6...

Condo Life with a Brompton Bike

YouTube video by Pedaal Bikes + Coffee

youtube.com

Building more planters on Church Street! More flowers to come. Public space deserves to be beautiful!

To stave off depression from missing fun stuff because of the smoke, I’m going to see THE ODYSSEY the dumbest way I can: in ULTRA AVX, DBOX, LASER PROJECTION. I don’t know what any of that shit means.

Huh, who knew - #BikeShareTO operators are not supposed to be parking in bikeways to do their work, and their training specifically instructs them not to. They have all received a "firm reminder". #BikeTO

Can I Pet Your Dog?@kristineff.bsky.social · 3w ago

Update: received a response from the director of Bike Share. The salient part: It is not our policy to have vans block cycling lanes. In response to your feedback, we have firmly reminded all of our staff members who re-balance our bikes that they should not be blocking bike lanes - ever.

SEE ALSO:

kanchan@kayehm.bsky.social · 3w ago

Never understood how/why #BikeShareTO got away with illegally parking in bike lanes to do their work. Especially at night when there's only one lane for people cycling to merge into. Especially at intersections, on a hill, on a night with 2 nearby concerts letting out when there are other options.

Never understood how/why #BikeShareTO got away with illegally parking in bike lanes to do their work. Especially at night when there's only one lane for people cycling to merge into. Especially at intersections, on a hill, on a night with 2 nearby concerts letting out when there are other options.

I reference this often.

Robert Lepage, PhD., P.Eng.@rtmlepage.bsky.social · last yr.

Happy #wildfire #smoke season to all those who observe. Fun fact, PM2.5 are particles so tiny they seep into your blood through your lung alveoli. These particles then oxidize the inside of your blood vessels causing all sorts of damage. Wildfire smoke is a major source of heart attacks and stroke.

Any thoughts or condolences for the families or the community? Or are we just propping up the police who failed to stop a shooting and catch the shooters despite charging the event a massive bill for safety? Who is he avoiding pissing off here???

The barriers here are what is stopping cars from driving in the bike lane. So basically, “traffic will be better when I make it easier for you to break the law” Like what is he actually saying with this?

Church Street Pedestrianization ribbon cutting & press conference this morning to celebrate most of the street furniture built & painted! I got to talk to media about the need for more ped streets & a more flexible “can do” framework that problem solves instead of saying no.

Okay Toronto started the public survey on Church Street pedestrianization. I need you to tell the city it’s great. We only got 92% positive on Kensington market and it failed, let’s blow that out of the water. haveyoursay.toronto.ca/churchstreet

Church Street Pedestrianization Pilot

Learn more about the Church Street Pedestrianization Pilot and provide feedback on the impacts and outcomes by September 7, 2026.

haveyoursay.toronto.ca

I think this thread is good but also I think there is a risk around trust in medical science if the bad actors aren’t dealt with. If you’re in science and you know of papers that should be retracted but aren’t… that kind of thing is going to impact you too in the years to come.

Helen Pearson@helenpearson.bsky.social · last mo.

NEW: Is there a 'crisis' of public trust in science? It can feel that way — with attacks on research in the US and growing rejection of vaccines. I investigated for @nature.com - and found some surprises. My feature article is out today and a short🧵here www.nature.com/articles/d41...

I hope that the “report” that will come to council about pedestrianization in Toronto will lay out that we cannot treat pedestrianized streets and pilots as “festivals.” The cost and staff effort is far too high. They must be treated like any other street. Just without cars and designed for people.

Phil@philmarfisi.bsky.social · last mo.

The outrageous requests from police are the main story here but why on God's green earth did the organizers have to pay *$63,000* in permit fees and payments to the Toronto Parking Authority? Our cities need to find a way to reduce fees and red tape for car free public spaces.

The outrageous requests from police are the main story here but why on God's green earth did the organizers have to pay *$63,000* in permit fees and payments to the Toronto Parking Authority? Our cities need to find a way to reduce fees and red tape for car free public spaces.

Budget for Toronto’s Church Street pedestrianization pilot project more than triples due to policing, security costs

Police say requirements for any future such projects will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

thestar.com

Anyways, here's some coverage by the CBC on Toronto City Council voting in favour of expanding car-free streets! I'm at the end (2:09) talking about how the city is too risk-averse and that every other major city in the world has figured out pedestrianization –– and we can too!

"Not only was it dishonest, it was reckless and irresponsible," says Matlow of Ford's speed camera ban. "When it comes to the safety of our communities — and our children, of course — nobody should be playing around with that. What the premier did was really shameful."

Councillor Rachel Chernos Lin appears to be asking questions about road safety and crossing guards while driving.

Lynda Barry did not squeeze your heart and simultaneously explain the point of all art with the barest of line drawings so you could tell me that AI is "inevitable."

Olivia Hill@machineiv.bsky.social · last mo.

Sam Raimi didn't strap a Super 8 camera to a 2x4 so you could tell me that AI is "inevitable."

pedestrianized church street is a hit. advocacy works!

From what’s been reported, it sounds as though they’re making it up based on their own preferences and not established guidelines/best practices. And that seems really bad! Leaves them open to major inconsistencies from one job to the next.

The thing that’s really bothering me is the absolute lack of explanation of how this works. Can cops just come up with a figure? Why? Do they have to provide a rationale?

Nor did Metro Morning host Chris Glover ask any questions about that. Why would the TPS be demanding extra money to police a stretch of road that has simply been pedestrianized. All to do with the additional costs of the project.

Well, Cllr Moise certainly didn't use his platform on Metro Morning just now to criticize the TPS for extorting the city over the Church St pedestrianization. Mostly bragged about negotiating a smaller ransom.

Just a straight up hold up. Pedestrianized streets need fewer cops, not more, because the cops don't need to pretend to be policing traffic violations. The idea that pedestrian zones require more policing than car sewers which also have, you know, pedestrians, is nonsense. #TOpoli

Shawn Micallef@shawnmicallef.bsky.social · last mo.

The police demanded full time paid duty. The greatest legal shakedown in Ontario. www.thestar.com/news/gta/cit...

Heard a couple of people ask why the street was closed and Mark and the ambassador crew had to try to explain to them that it wasn't for a particular event but was just for living, for people. They were amazed. That's how strange an idea this is in Toronto.

Mark Shaw@markshawtoronto.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Day 3, church street pedestrianization!! This morning we busted out the chalk

The World Cup is happening in Toronto, and we thought the streets would be chaos. Were they? Well, not if you're on a bicycle! #BikeTO youtu.be/_hL6jfFqTEQ

World Cup City Tour: Toronto on a Brompton

YouTube video by bromptoning

youtu.be