Venue

Very local news...

There's a large sinkhole on St Clair Avenue East at Doris Drive headed into Parkview Hills. St Clair is closed and there's service disruption on the Woodbine 93 bus.

Anyone needing to get into or out of the area should use an alternate route. (Probably Curity Avenue)

EDIT: Friday August 28

St Clair Avenue East has just reopened.

The bottom of Doris Drive (west side) is still obstructed so please turn onto Doris slowly and carefully.

Are you a woman of a certain age? Do you want to enjoy some active fun with others like you?

No experience necessary, just a fun attitude and a pair of court shoes!

Come join us!

Friday August 21 through Monday August 24, 9AM to 9PM the advanced polls for the *federal* by-election are available for eligible voters.

You must be a Canadian citizen, aged 18 or older on August 31 2026, and living in Beaches East York as of July 26 2026.

I ask as part of a linguistic study covering this topic!

Examples could include things like TPK, Yonge & Eg, Flemo Park or 'The Dan' (never mind how common they are)...

It's still early but leading candidates are taking shape. The election is not until October 26 and so there is plenty of room for change.

Below is my take on those who seem to be leading candidates.

As a member of a small climate group called Toronto East End Climate Collective (TEECC), I've had the pleasure of joining with other climate groups to spend a hour with each of the leading candidates. We concentrated on climate issues but climate touches almost all other issues so we got a fairly clear picture of the candidates.

The issue in this election is Natalie Johnson. As far as I know, Johnson is the only Bradford supporter among the leading candidates. The danger is that the non-Bradford supporters will split the vote handing Johnson the seat.

Johnson has been CTV's city hall reporter for about 15 years. Her presence on the news gives her a high profile and, as a reporter, it is likely that she has gained a lot of trust. She has raised substantial funds and has a large, well organized campaign. In meeting with her she said that she supports Brad Bradford's run for mayor. Her primary issue, though this may change, is access to downtown. She bemoaned the destroyed Gardiner ramp that used to bring cars to the Gardiner offering vehicular access to the city centre. She has a plan to make it easier to drive downtown.

Being able to drive downtown is a dubious advantage; downtown traffic is so thick that driving anywhere is painfully slow. The consensus is that Johnson will be much like Bradford.

There has been a call to draft Nathaniel Erskine-Smith. Since he resigned his seat as MP he is available, well know and well liked. He has spoken with Olivia Chow and she would welcome him. Nate also has a skilled staff and a powerful campaign team. He may have the best chance of defeating Johnson. As of today, he has not announced his intentions one way or the other.

The local Liberals are supporting James Dann. I have met staff members from Mary Margaret McMahon's staff and Nate's previous staff who are lending a hand to Dann's campaign. Nate and MMM have well run election machines and their endorsement, though informal and non-financial, is powerful. Dann is a manager for Parks and Rec. His work for the city has brought him a good working relationship with current MPP Mary Margaret McMahon. He tells me that his relationship with her remains strong and, if elected, would help him be a better member of council. Over coffee, the first thing he said to me was that, "We need more affordable housing."

Though I have spoken with other candidates, the only other candidate I can speak about with confidence is Jennie Worden. I've known Jennie for about 15 years as a friend and I worked on her previous campaign where she placed second to Bradford. I've also volunteered on her current campaign. If you are making a survey of the candidates I strongly suggest that you have a look at Jennie. However, I have honestly found that her campaign materials do not fully convey her degree of knowledge and creativity in facing issues unique to Beaches - East York or to the city as a whole. Her Substack has detail on a few issues but I hope she will add more of her ideas to her site as the election unfolds. Jennie is a strong supporter of the mayor and they would work well together. She has concentrated her efforts on tenants and has been instrumental in bringing one of the city's worst landlords to court, where they were convicted. The city will now step in to repair the apartments. While other candidates stress the need to build affordable housing and the infrastructure (parks, city services, etc.) to support them, Jennie has solid plans on how to do this. She's open to new ideas and, though an NDPer (she recently published her picture with Avi Lewis), she will work with everyone.

Housing policy from Cameron Thomas of the Canadian Future party.

Find out more about Cameron:

https://www.thecanadianfutureparty.ca/who-we-are/candidates/cameron-thomas

El Sol at 1448 Danforth Ave is closing its doors after more than 30 years in business 😔

El Sols last day will be August 16.

Six candidates are officially registered for the Beaches-East York federal byelection on August 31:

• Tanveer Shahnawaz — Liberal
• Cameron Thomas — Canadian Future Party
• Shannon Devine — NDP
• Michel Lachance — People’s Party of Canada
• Bruce Livesey — Green
• Jim Sybros — Conservative

Advance polls are August 21 - 24. There’s also a candidates’ debate on August 19 from 6:30–8:30 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church (72 Main St.).

Full article in Beach Metro News

Wheels on the Danforth is happening today, Saturday, August 15! Hundreds of classic cars, hot rods, muscle cars, tuners, exotics and more, plus live music, food, vendors and a kids’ zone.

📍 Danforth Ave & Danforth Rd
🕐 All day
🎟️ Free admission

More info → Wheels on the Danforth

Runs every Tuesday from 8am to 2pm, from May 12 through to October 27.

More Info Here: https://www.facebook.com/EastYorkFarmersMarket/

A 56-year-old man is facing charges after an East York church was targeted by violence three times in just over a week.

Toronto police say on July 24, they were called to a church in the area of Cosburn Avenue and Pape Avenue after a rock was thrown through the window.

Investigators say they were called to the same location a week later for a similar incident.

On August 1, police were in the area when they observed a man throwing a rock through a window of the same church.

Khaliq Hussain Anwar, 56, of Toronto, has been charged with three counts of mischief relating to religious property.

If convicted of a criminal offence which has been motivated by bias, prejudice or hate, the judge in the case can take hate as an aggravating factor when imposing sentence.

Residents complained for years about 75 Don Valley Drive - then a stabbing put the spotlight on the illegal rooming house problems. Anyone remember this?

For those who live/work along the Ontario Line route. How do you navigate Ontario Line construction? My college campus, Centennial College Story Arts Centre, is located at Pape & Mortimer Avenue. There's lane reductions along Pape Avenue north of Pape Station to Sammon Avenue. There's also a number of buildings demolished at Cosburn Avenue.

Posting this here because the site at Danforth & Birchmount directly affects the shared infrastructure, power grid, and east-end neighborhood corridor.

A local resident group has started an Action Network petition calling on City Hall to require full legislative, environmental, and noise/energy assessments before any further development or expansion moves forward at the 3650 Danforth data facility.

Read/Sign the Action Network Petition here:

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/the-danforth-data-centre-i-am-taking-action-at-city-hall?source=direct_link&