By ALAN SHACKLETON BEACH METRO COMMUNITY NEWS EDITOR Last year on Jan. 1 of 2021, I wrote a New Year’s Day column for Beach Metro Community News in which I said of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that the coming January was going to be a very tough month but there were better times ahead. For […]
Category: In My Opinion
In My Opinion: Importance of community highlighted over past year
By PAULA FLETCHER, COUNCILLOR, WARD 14 TORONTO-DANFORTH It’s been another year of the pandemic and we’ve been getting more used to all of the big changes made in 2020. It feels like we’re in a new “normal,” but I know 2021 has still been tough for many. Along with the difficulties we’ve faced, there have […]
In My Opinion: As pandemic goes on, businesses in the Beach need your support
By CARL PRATT Happy Holidays, everyone! I’m Carl, a 13-year resident of the Beach and the owner of Beaches Brewing Company. I’d like to talk about your local shops, some of my pandemic experiences, and the coming months. Winter in the Beach can be difficult for businesses during the best of times, and I think […]
In My Opinion: Council shows its support for affordable housing, small business
By BRAD BRADFORD COUNCILLOR, WARD 19 BEACHES-EAST YORK I’m writing this column after a long second day of what has grown into a three-day city council meeting that started on Nov. 9. While proceedings were to continue after Remembrance Day, council already made three significant decisions propelling Toronto forward. Those decisions were introducing a new […]
In My Opinion: Metrolinx needs to change its destructive plan for Small’s Creek and respect Toronto ravines
By BIRGIT SIBER Down concealed wooden staircases in the East End of Toronto you will discover an ancient wetland nestled within a vibrant forest, an oasis designated by the City of Toronto as an Environmentally Significant Area. Many Toronto residents had never heard of Small’s Creek until it became the subject of a collective effort […]
In My Opinion: Approach of Remembrance Day brings memories of Uncle Bill
By BILL SUDDICK I never knew my Uncle Bill, the forever-young man I was named for. I knew from conversations with my grandparents, uncles and my dad that Bill was in the Second World War. I learned he was interested in drawing and airplanes, and coincidentally, so was I. He was a North Toronto kid […]
In My Opinion: Public spaces are vital to a community’s health and happiness
By ALAN SHACKLETON BEACH METRO NEWS EDITOR As you can see by the photo accompanying this column, I was out on the weekend for the official opening of Riverside Common in the Queen Street East and Broadview Avenue area. It’s a small square on Queen Street East with what are generally referred to as the […]
In My Opinion: Collaborative approach by all parties will be needed to make this minority government work
By NATHANIEL ERSKINE-SMITH Get back to work. If there is any message to take from a tough national campaign that returned a minority Liberal government, that’s the one. We’ve shown competence in procuring vaccines and delivering emergency benefits, and we need that same leadership towards sensible vaccine mandates, booster shots, extended benefits for hard-hit sectors, […]
In My Opinion: Councillor Bradford should listen and enforce Queen Street East development rules
By BRIAN GRAFF Beaches-East York Councillor Brad Bradford’s latest attack against opponents of the 18-storey skyscraper on Queen (i.e., Beaches Residents Association of Toronto) which appeared in the Aug. 24 edition of Beach Metro News is disappointing. Particularly because his modus operandi is to use Trumpian tactics instead of listening and addressing our assertions constructively. […]
In My Opinion: Take time to be informed on Queen and Coxwell plan
By BRAD BRADFORD COUNCILLOR, WARD 19 BEACHES-EAST YORK Over the last several months, I’ve been speaking to many community members about a small but vocal minority continuing to spread misinformation over the Housing Now proposal at Queen Street East and Coxwell Avenue. If there’s one simple take-away from all of the conversations happening, it’s how […]