CBC Toronto

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A Toronto resident who was struck and injured by an e-scooter is calling on Toronto to step up regulation on the vehicles, which are currently banned from city streets. Ashley Milton was hit while walking on a sidewalk near Jane Street in June. She says she was knocked unconscious and ended up in the hospital. "I had a big bump on my head, I had a fairly decent concussion," she said. "I broke my collarbone in two places." Milton didn’t learn that the vehicles were banned in Toronto until after the crash. City staff are currently conducting a study to determine how they should be used on the roads. The results aren't expected until the new year. Milton would like to see them regulated soon. “I think we need to step it up a little bit,” she said. To read more about Milton’s case and how police currently enforce the ban, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Shawn Jeffords/CBC Videographer & photo: Aizick Grimman/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #toronto #canada #escooter #crash #injury

Feeling nostalgic for the video retailers and rental stores of decades past? Bay Street Video is Toronto’s only retailer to stock tens-of-thousands of DVD, Blu-ray and 4K titles available to rent or buy. They say they’ve been thriving through decades of format changes, industry upheavals, the pandemic and the golden age of streaming – with 2023 on track to be their most successful year yet. The video store is celebrating 30 years in Toronto. “Rentals kept us going when sales were down and sales kept us going when rentals were down,” said Brendan Whelton, the store manager. Cinephiles can find blockbuster hits along with cult classics. “There is only so much on the streaming services and there’s so many different streaming services run by different companies,” Whelton said. “We like to think we have all of that stuff.” Reporter + videographer + editor: Laura Pedersen/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #videos #dvd #dvds #rentals #movies #films #cultclassics #Toronto #videostore

Toronto is proposing a municipal sales tax as part of a slew of new measures aimed at easing a projected $46.5 billion in budget pressures over the next decade. A one per cent sales tax applied to existing HST/GST was one the key recommendations included in a report released Thursday. "There will be devastating consequences for the City of Toronto and the greater region and country without serious attention given to address the city's financial challenges," the report says. "The city will not be equipped to deliver goals on behalf of other orders of government such as housing priorities, transit expansion, refugee response or climate action.” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow noted that even if the city adopts all of the various possible revenue tools outlined by staff in the report, they still would not generate enough money to make up for projected shortfalls in the long-term. Chow said Toronto taxpayers are covering the costs of programs and initiatives that should fall to the province or federal government. Both federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Ontario Premier Doug Ford have declined previous requests from the city for additional funding. City staff estimates a municipal sales tax would generate between $800 million and $1 billion annually, but would require the province to amend the City of Toronto Act. To read more about the proposed tax and other revenue proposals in the report, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Lucas Powers/CBC Photo: Patrick Morrell/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #Toronto #topoli #polito #economy #onpoli #salestax

🍔🍨🍉 The CNE is back, which means its bizarre food creations are, too. Watermelon burgers, pickle cotton candy and peanut butter chocolate corn dogs are among this year's gut-busting options. If you’re feeling extra hungry, a four-pound taco is also on the menu. Apart from the deep-fried delights, there will be seven new rides at The Ex. The Superwheel – which measures over 45-metres tall – is the first and largest observation ride of its kind to grace Toronto's skyline, according to the CNE. Then there’s the music lineup that includes Amanda Marshall, Dionne Warwick and Kardinal Offishall, and a drag show starring Tynomi Banks from ‘Canada's Drag Race.’ The CNE starts this Friday and runs until Sept. 4 at Exhibition Place. To read more about this year’s tasty and odd food creations, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: CBC News Photo: Evan Mitsui/CBC; Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press #cbctoronto #cbcto #TheEx #CNE #Exhibition #Toronto #carnival #food #foodie

Runoff from a massive industrial fire in Etobicoke on Friday is endangering wildlife in two local creeks, the Ontario environment ministry said. Some of the ducks that survived the runoff are receiving specialized baths from a rescue team organized by the Toronto Wildlife Centre. The team has captured more than 60 birds in Mimico Creek since Saturday, including a Cooper’s hawk, to remove the oily sludge. "This is only after the patients were deemed medically stable, and received treatment to help rid them of any ingested chemicals with a charcoal flush," the centre wrote in a Facebook post. The six-alarm fire broke out at Brenntag Canada, a chemical distribution company that deals in oil and vehicle fluids like lubricants and solvents. The runoff is affecting both Mimico Creek and Humber Creek, the Ontario environment ministry said, but it’s not expected to affect municipal drinking water supply. Measures to contain the spill and absorb the substance include using booms and hay bales, installing underflow dams, deploying vacuum trucks to collect the oil slurry and diverting discharges from reaching the creeks, the ministry said. The Toronto Wildlife Centre is asking the public to continue reporting sightings of birds affected by the substance and that appear oiled, are preening themselves excessively or shaking their wings, hiding under bushes or staying away from the water. To read more about the clean up efforts, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Muriel Draaisma/CBC Photo: Rob Krbavac/CBC; The Toronto Wildlife Centre IG Production: Britt Purdy #cbctoronto #cbcto #Toronto #GTA #HumberCreek #MimicoCreek #environment #wildlife #fire

Starting Tuesday, TTC riders can use credit or debit cards to pay fares, including cards on a smartphone or smartwatch, transit officials say. The debit and credit card fare is $3.30, the same as an adult single use PRESTO fare. Fares can be paid for by tapping cards on readers located at subway station fare gates and on board all streetcars, buses and Wheel-Trans vehicles, the TTC said. The two-hour free transfer period also applies, provided the same card is tapped during that window. Riders can also use credit or debit to pay fares on GO Transit including the UP Express, Brampton Transit, Burlington Transit, Durham Region Transit, Hamilton Street Railway, MiWay in Mississauga, Oakville Transit and York Region Transit. To read more on the rollout, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Desmond Brown/CBC Photo: Bryan Eneas/CBC; Eric Risberg/AP Photo; Toronto Transit Commission #cbctoronto #cbcto #TTC #Transit #Credit #Debit

José Bautista has officially retired as a Toronto Blue Jay. The slugger signed a one-day contract with the Jays on Friday afternoon so he could retire as a member of the team he spent 10 seasons playing for. "I think everybody knew for a while that I had, you know, been retired, but this is the way to make it official," he said. "What other way to make it better than just coming back here to Toronto and signing this one-day contract.” On Saturday Bautista will be added to the team's "Level of Excellence," which honours the best players in the franchise's history, at a ceremony when the Jays face off against the Chicago Cubs. "There aren't many names as synonymous with Blue Jays baseball as José Bautista, and it is our great honour that he will officially retire in a Blue Jays jersey,” said Blue Jays President and CEO Mark Shapiro. Bautista was traded to Toronto from Pittsburgh in 2008 and went on to represent the Blue Jays in six all-star games. He set the single-season franchise record with 54 home runs in 2010 to lead Major League Baseball and also slammed an MLB-leading 43 homers in 2011. To read more about Bautista’s legacy, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Greg Ross/CBC Photo: Evan Mitsui/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #Toronto #BlueJays #MLB #Jays #JoseBautista

A woman who underwent the "most excruciating" experience of her life at Brampton Civic Hospital says she wasn’t able to provide informed consent before undergoing a procedure to receive a kidney stent without pain management. "I describe it as, quite literally, the most barbaric thing I've ever been through," Terri-Ann Perras told CBC Toronto. "I have laboured and birthed four children … I know what pain feels like, but this was something that I could have never even imagined in my lifetime." Perras said the doctor treating her told her she would be given anesthetic or pain medication, but that didn’t happen. She said another different doctor later told her the process typically doesn't involve anesthetic. Perras was handed the consent form moments before the procedure and signed without reading it, she said. In hindsight, she wishes she brought her husband to advocate for her, but says he was at home with their children. “I literally felt incapacitated at that moment,” she said. “I had no idea what was going on.” The hospital declined to comment on Perras's case citing patient privacy, however, William Osler Health System — a hospital system that includes Brampton Civic Hospital — said: "We strive to deliver safe and compassionate care for every patient we treat." Obtaining informed consent is federal law. "Consent is not a matter of getting a signature on a piece of paper," said Dr. Rob Robson, a patient safety scientist and physician. "[Patients] must understand what the risks are and what the procedure entails." Robson said he feels proper consent discussions are often disregarded or cut short because of the strain the health-care system is currently under. For more on Perras’s experience and what the government is doing about resource limitations, tap the link in our bio. Reporting + photo: Tyler Cheese/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #Healthcare #Health #Brampton #GTA

Canadian musician Robbie Robertson, principal songwriter of The Band, has died at 80. The string-bending guitarist died on Wednesday morning in Los Angeles after a long illness, according to a representative. "Robbie was surrounded by his family at the time of his death, including his wife, Janet, his ex-wife, Dominique, her partner Nicholas, and his children Alexandra, Sebastian, Delphine, and Delphine's partner Kenny," Jared Levine, Robertson's longtime manager, said in a statement. Robertson was credited with writing or co-writing some of The Band's signature songs, including The Weight, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and Up on Cripple Creek. In 2020, The Band's first two albums each ranked in the top 100 of Rolling Stone's updated compilation of the top 500 albums of all time. The same magazine also named Robertson on a list of the world’s 100 greatest guitarists. To read more about the musician’s legacy, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Chris Iorfida/CBC Photo: Paul Borkwood/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #music #musicnews #RobbieRobertson

The province’s auditor general released a scathing report Wednesday on the Ontario government’s process for choosing protected Greenbelt land to open up for housing development. The “biased” process was heavily influenced by a small group of well-connected developers and landowners who now stand to make billions of dollars, Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk says. Lysyk found the selection process was largely controlled by Housing Minister Steve Clark's chief of staff — not non-partisan public servants — and was influenced by specific suggestions from developers with access to the chief of staff. The process didn't consider the agricultural, environmental and financial impacts of the decision, and involved little input from planning experts or other stakeholders, including the general public and Indigenous communities, according to the report. Premier Doug Ford acknowledged shortcomings with the process, but said the government would continue to do everything it can to address the province's housing crisis. He said his government would accept 14 of the 15 total recommendations Lysyk made in her report. The single recommendation it will not accept is to revisit the land swaps and possibly reverse those decisions, he said. Clark didn't answer reporters' questions directly when asked whether he would resign and his chief of staff would keep his job. To read more about the report and reaction from Ford’s political opponents, tap the link in our bio. Reporting: Ryan Patrick Jones/CBC Photo: Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press #cbctoronto #cbcto #Ontario #Greenbelt #Housing #Development #onpoli

Two new “sharks” are popping up in Toronto’s harbour — but it’s garbage, not people, who should be afraid of heading into the water. PortsToronto has brought in two WasteShark aquadrones to help collect microplastics and other debris from the lake. “It’s essentially a Roomba that operates on the surface of the water,” said Jessica Pellerin, manager of media relations and public affairs for PortsToronto. Just like a flying drone, an operator on shore uses a remote controller to steer the WasteShark. Pellerin said that allows the operator to clean up the nooks and crannies along the dock walls. It’s just the latest technology PortsToronto is using to clean up the harbour. In 2019, it launched a network of Seabins: floating garbage cans invented in Australia that suck in trash. Reporting, videographer + editor: Laura Pedersen/CBC #cbctoronto #cbcto #toronto #WasteShark #PortsToronto #TrashTrapping #Aquadrone