CBC: Toronto, Peel move into COVID-19 lockdown Monday as Ontario tries to stop ‘worst-case scenario’. “The shutdown will last a minimum of 28 days, equal to two incubation periods for the coronavirus, and the province says it will fine people $750 for violating public-health rules.”
Vice: Toronto Cops Promoted One of Canada’s Biggest Anti-Maskers on Instagram. “The photo, which was first reported on by CBC News, was posted on an Instagram page called @TPSNeighbourhoodWatch, an account affiliated with the force’s 51 Division. It shows two smiling officers flanking Chris Saccoccia, a well-known anti-mask crusader who was recently involved in a […]
Toronto Star: Nine in 10 riders wearing masks despite lack of enforcement, says TTC. “The TTC says nine in 10 of its passengers are complying with the bylaw requiring them to wear face masks while on the transit system, despite the agency’s decision not to enforce the new rule.”
CBC: Toronto to make face coverings mandatory on public transit, will hand out 1M masks to riders. “Toronto plans to make face coverings mandatory on its public transit system, a rule that could go into effect starting July 2. Mayor John Tory announced the updated regulations for the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) on Thursday.”
AP: Google Affiliate Scraps Plan for Toronto Smart City Project. “Google abandoned its smart-city development in Toronto…after more than two years of controversy over privacy concerns and amid economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. A unit of Google’s parent company Alphabet had been proposing to turn a rundown part of Toronto’s waterfront into a wired […]
BroadwayWorld: Arts@Home: New Website Offers Free Resources And Activities For Educators And People Of All Ages (PRESS RELEASE). “For so many, Toronto is our creative, cultural home. That’s why during the COVID-19 crisis, several local cultural organizations, in collaboration with arts educators and with the support of the City of Toronto, have come together to […]
Engadget: Toronto rejects some of Sidewalk Labs’ smart neighborhood ideas. “Sidewalk Labs will have to cede a little more ground on its vision for Quayside, a planned smart neighborhood in Toronto. The company, which is owned by Google-parent Alphabet, published a draft version of its Master Innovation and Development Plan (MIDP) last June.”
New-to-me, from Daily Commercial News: TOBuilt: a new tool for construction reno planning. “TOBuilt, a crowd-sourced database with information and images of 11,500 buildings in Toronto, is proving to be a valuable research resource to architects, builders and consultants planning to add or renovate existing buildings.”
CNN: Alphabet scales back its smart city project in Toronto after backlash. “Waterfront Toronto, the government agency overseeing the development, announced Thursday that it has agreed to evaluate Alphabet’s plans after major concessions from the tech company, including a much smaller plot of land for the development and less control over data. The agreement keeps […]
Boing Boing: Leaked document reveals that Sidewalk Labs’ Toronto plans for private taxation, private roads, charter schools, corporate cops and judges, and punishment for people who choose privacy. “Tomorrow, Toronto’s City Council will hold a key vote on Sidewalk Labs’s plan to privatize much of the city’s lakeshore in the name of creating a ‘smart […]
The Star: Indigenous elder slams ‘hollow and tokenistic’ consultation by Sidewalk Labs. “An elder who participated in an Indigenous consultation and the architect who helped organize it are accusing Sidewalk Labs of a ‘hollow and tokenistic’ effort that completely ignored recommendations for its proposed Quayside development.”
BNN Bloomberg: Google parent is closer to a deal on Toronto’s Sidewalk Labs. “Sidewalk Labs LLC, the urban innovation unit of Alphabet Inc. and Waterfront Toronto, the public corporation in charge of the development, are finding common ground on a majority of contentious issues, according to people familiar with the discussions. The parties have been […]
Boing Boing: Critical essays (including mine) discuss Toronto’s plan to let Google build a surveillance-based “smart city” along its waterfront . (The “Mine” in this case is Cory Doctorow.) “Toronto Life has run a great, large package of short essays by proponents and critics of the project, from Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff (no, really, […]
The Intercept: Google’s “Smart City Of Surveillance” Faces New Resistance In Toronto. “From the start, activists, technology researchers, and some government officials have been skeptical about the idea of putting Google, or one of its sister companies, in charge of a city. Their suspicions about turning part of Toronto into a corporate test bed were […]
Spacing Toronto: Why I revived the Bureau of Municipal Research. “Ten years ago, as a grad student researching the history of Toronto’s waterfront, I came across a study, published in 1977, that could very well have been written today: ‘Should the Island be an Airport?’ The report, I came to learn, was produced by a […]