Letters

A thank you to good Samaritans

A huge thank you to the good Samaritans that stopped to help me after a very bad fall on Bayview Ave. on July 2.

When I finally raised my head and saw the warm smile on the teacher’s face and found myself in the comforting arms of a handsome retired police officer, my pain momentarily was forgotten. Also, my thanks to the generous lady driver who stopped to hand me a wad of napkins.

Toronto is indeed Toronto the Good.

Thank you.

Vera Teophil,
Burkebrooke Place

Questions

I think I must be the stupid one for asking this question: why are politicians promoting more development on Eglinton Ave., which will only multiply gridlock from trucks and heavy equipment, while tunnelling and construction for Eglinton subway will block traffic?

A second question: if City officials and others have plans for building hi-rises on Eglinton embankments, why are they even considering building, when there is an absolute certainty of more extreme weather events in the future, and a crucial need to reduce emissions by 80 per cent?

Surely, preservation of green space is more important than ever, and heavy industrial activity (like that required for building hi-rises) should be much reduced, to remediate the more than 66 days of temperatures over 40 degrees Celsius, by 2049, along with extremes of 57 degrees Celsius. Everyone should read Toronto’s Future Weather and Climate Drivers Study for confirmation of more hellish scenarios to come.

Thirty-seven city councillors passed a motion to adopt the report in February, and asked seven departments, including Transportation Services, for response to this study by September.

A third question: why are we trying to facilitate commuter trips to an already overcrowded subway line; i.e., Yonge St.? Would it not be better to rebuild old streetcar routes on the surface, and dedicate portions of one or two new subways to express service?

A fourth “dumb” question: is Toronto built on, or near a fault line? Is the city built on shale? Is that shale prone to collapse? New York City’s transit system is built on granite rock. Is that better?

One final question: why are officials still supporting the Official Plan, which seems to have gone past its best before date, after all of the above matters are taken into consideration?

Barbara Falby,
Heathbridge Park