More Conservative partisan advertising

I'm sure many residents of Eglinton-Lawrence are getting rather tired of receiving mailings from out-of-riding Conservative MP's -- an open abuse of the spirit of the rules on communications from our elected officials. We've certainly been receiving a string of complaints from local residents who are unhappy that their tax dollars are being used for a blatantly partisan advertising spree on behalf of an unelected Conservative candidate.

The latest mailing seems especially pandering and is generating some wider attention:

Opposition decries Tory attack ads
sent to Jewish voters

One wonders if Eglinton-Lawrence Conservative candidate Joe Oliver will demonstrate some integrity by denouncing this unending stream of junk mail pouring into our riding. Having seen Mr. Oliver on the campaign trail in the last campaign, he certainly came across as a decent sort -- although it's hard to know what any of his personal opinions are given the central party boilerplate that dominates his website. Perhaps he should ask the PMO for some talking points on how to square his party's talk of fiscal responsibility with this sort of pork-barrel waste.

Developments at Dufferin and Lawrence

It looks like the wheels are turning behind the scenes over how big the development at Dufferin/Lawrence will be:

Councillors ready to fight large development at OMB

North York councillors are willing to work out compromises with a landowner proposing a 1,700-unit residential neighbourhood at Dufferin Street and Lawrence Avenue but will fight the plan at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) if a settlement can't be reached.

An OMB hearing has been set for next February to look at the mixed-use development at 3083-3101 Dufferin and 770 Lawrence, which includes retail space and 1,700 residential units in a combination of tall apartment buildings, mid-rise buildings and townhouses.

[...]

Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit - Project Update and Consultations

Another round of open houses for the Eglinton Transit City project. Our local open house id the last of these, December 10th, at Beth Shalom Temple -- just a short ways from Eglinton West station.

The City of Toronto and TTC are pleased to be hosting seven Open Houses across the study corridor for the Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit Project.  Please see the attached notice for details.

At the Open Houses,  staff will present the preferred design for both the underground and street level segments of the line. For the street level segments, final stop locations and traffic management strategies to provide fast and reliable LRT service will be displayed.

All Open Houses will be held from 6:30pm to 9:00pm.  Details are as follows:

November 23
York Memorial Collegiate (cafeteria)
2690 Eglinton Avenue West

November 24
Etobicoke Olympium (2nd floor Lounge)
590 Rathburn Road

November 25
Northern Secondary School (cafeteria)
851 Mount Pleasant Road

November 26
Richview Collegiate (cafeteria)
1738 Islington Avenue

December 2
CNIB Conference Centre
1929 Bayview Avenue

December 8
Don Montgomery Community Centre
2467 Eglinton Avenue East

December 10
Beth Shalom Synagogue
1445 Eglinton Avenue West

Following the last round of consultation, public feedback and additional analysis, some key improvements have been made. The proposed station at Brentcliffe has been relocated to Laird Drive to best serve the Leaside Community.  Furthermore, the design for the surface section of the line west of Keele Street  has been updated to maintain a series of left hand turns from a number of north-south streets onto Eglinton. Please see the attached notice for more information.

Public Consultation Reports from previous Open Houses  are posted on the project website. Please visit www.toronto.ca/transitcity and click on "Eglinton Crosstown LRT". The reports are located at the bottom of the page.

Direct Link to the Eglinton Crosstown LRT page:  http://www.toronto.ca/involved/projects/eglinton_crosstown_lrt/index.htm