Latest news with #JoshMatlow
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Eglinton LRT on track to open as soon as September, Doug Ford says
"Out of Service" signs are shown on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto on Friday, May 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Premier Doug Ford says that he expects that the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT could be open as soon as September, with plans to hand the line over to the TTC for final testing 'in the next couple of weeks.' Ford made the comment to reporters at Queen's Park on Tuesday after he was asked about the rumored September timeline. City Coun. Josh Matlow told CP24 back in April that he believed the LRT would open by September, though Metrolinx has never confirmed the timeline. 'Yes, that is what I am hearing,' Ford said of the September target date on Tuesday. 'I am hearing some positive things about Eglinton track and hopefully we will be handing it over in the next couple weeks to the TTC and they will be doing their trial runs. Thank God, that is all I can say about that and that project.' Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown began in 2011 and was initially slated to be completed in 2020 but it has been plagued by numerous delays and is now at least $1 billion overbudget. Metrolinx has previously said that the public would be given a three-month notice before the line opens and that the company was pushing towards a 2025 opening date. The LRT spans a 19-kilometre route from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy Road in the east. Driver training has been ongoing on the route since last September. 'I will have to get back to you on the exact date but I understand it will be handed over to the TTC in the next couple weeks,' Ford said Tuesday.
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Eglinton LRT on track to open by September, Doug Ford says
"Out of Service" signs are shown on the Eglinton Crosstown LRT in Toronto on Friday, May 5, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn Premier Doug Ford says that he expects that the long-delayed Eglinton Crosstown LRT could be open as soon as September, with plans to hand the line over to the TTC for final testing 'in the next couple of weeks.' Ford made the comment to reporters at Queen's Park on Tuesday after he was asked about the rumored September timeline. City Coun. Josh Matlow told CP24 back in April that he believed the LRT would open by September, though Metrolinx has never confirmed the timeline. 'Yes, that is what I am hearing,' Ford said of the September target date on Tuesday. 'I am hearing some positive things about Eglinton track and hopefully we will be handing it over in the next couple weeks to the TTC and they will be doing their trial runs. Thank God, that is all I can say about that and that project.' Construction on the Eglinton Crosstown began in 2011 and was initially slated to be completed in 2020 but it has been plagued by numerous delays and is now at least $1 billion overbudget. Metrolinx has previously said that the public would be given a three-month notice before the line opens and that the company was pushing towards a 2025 opening date. The LRT spans a 19-kilometre route from Mount Dennis in the west to Kennedy Road in the east. Driver training has been ongoing on the route since last September. 'I will have to get back to you on the exact date but I understand it will be handed over to the TTC in the next couple weeks,' Ford said Tuesday.
CTV News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- CTV News
Baycats invite fans to ‘Pack the Park' for free game and good cause
The Barrie Baycats launch the 4th annual 'For Love of the Game' equipment drive. (CTV News/Mike Lang) Admission will be free for the Barrie Baycats Thursday home against the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, as the club will celebrate African Theme night and collect equipment for African youth. The 'Pack the Park' game at Athletic Kulture Stadium will be sponsored by Nexim International Development Organization (NIDO), an organization that helps promote youth sports in Africa. The matchup will also feature the Baycats annual 'For the Love of the Game' equipment drive, which, this year, will send equipment to help start youth baseball programs in Africa. 'We're very excited to have the opportunity to help grow the game of baseball in another country,' said Josh Matlow, Baycats president, general manager and manager, in a message to CTV News. 'We have historically sent equipment to the Dominican Republic, the home of our imports, but this year we will be teaming up with NIDO at our 'Pack the Park Night' to collect used equipment to send to Africa.' Matlow adds that he hopes the free game will help bring awareness to their equipment drive. The Baycats will be searching for their first win after an 0-3 start to their Dominico Cup title defence. Thursday's first pitch is scheduled for just after 7:30 p.m.
CBC
30-04-2025
- Business
- CBC
TDSB considers closing nearly half of its pools to curtail $58M budget deficit
Some pools, music instructors, outdoor activities and tech equipment could soon be on the chopping block at the Toronto District School Board, as the TDSB looks to dig itself out of a financial hole. The board is facing a projected $58-million budget deficit this year, and a report going before its budget committee Wednesday afternoon outlines how it could make up the shortfall. One of the recommended cuts that's perhaps caught the most attention so far impacts pool programming. The TDSB is looking to lay off 86 aquatic instructors and close the pools that it doesn't lease out. The school board leases 27 of its 66 pools to the city and two more are leased privately for after school programming, meaning nearly half of its pools could shut down in a move the board report says could save $12.8 million. Shuttering the pools would not only impact students using them, says Coun. Josh Matlow, who started a petition against the cuts, along with TDSB trustee Shelley Laskin. "Losing these pools will also have an impact on the rest of our community because many people, including seniors and many others, rely on these pools," he said. In a statement, TDSB chair Neethan Shan said, "it's important to note that no final decisions have been made," and it will be up to school trustees to make the final call as part of their budget process. "Community consultations are integral for Trustees as we examine the many paths to balance the budget this year," Shan said. Meanwhile, the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) is facing its own $65.9-million deficit. In a statement, TCDSB chair Markus de Domenico said the board identified more than $80 million in savings in the last three years and $10 million more this year. He said the board is waiting on a report from the consulting firm Deloitte LLP, who it's working with to find ways to cut costs. 'Cuts hurt kids, it's not negotiable' Kate Dupuis, whose two kids go to TDSB schools, says the province should properly fund education rather than make school boards look for ways to cut costs, especially for things that keep kids active. She also ran to be an NDP MPP in the past provincial election. "I want trained, well-paid education workers in that pool with them to make sure kids are getting the best quality education they can," she said. "Cuts hurt kids, it's not negotiable." The board is also considering getting rid of its 74 itinerant music instructors (IMI), who teach specialized music skills that go above what's already required. TDSB is the only board in the province with IMIs, who are not Ontario certified teachers. Cutting them would save the board $5 million since they're not funded by the province, the report says. The board is also looking to save costs by maximizing its class sizes, which it said are smaller than required and could spare it dozens of teachers. It's also recommend letting students use Chromebooks starting in Grade 7 rather than Grade 5, along with providing outdoor education on a "cost recovery basis," which could mean possibly shuttering outdoor education centres that it can't maintain. School boards say deficits not entirely in their control The effort to cut costs comes as the provincial government investigates how efficiently school boards are using their funding and threatening to take over those who fail to balance their budgets. The financial probes come after trustees with the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board spent $190,000 in taxpayer money for a trip to Italy that included deluxe hotel rooms and a limo ride — all meant to buy art for schools. Thames Valley District School Board also came under scrutiny from the ministry after spending about $40,000 at a staff retreat to Toronto — while the board faced a $7.6-million budget deficit. TDSB and TCDSB, however, attribute much of their deficits to things that are not within their control, like statutory benefits. The TDSB said it doesn't have enough funding to cover salaries for teachers and early childhood educators, and that grant revenue hasn't kept up with inflation. That's while its Catholic counterpart cited things like unfunded sick leave costs and having to keep underutilized schools open because of the provincial moratorium on school closures. The TDSB already pitched the province on a plan to save money in the fall that would have brought its deficit down to $11 million, but the province recently rejected that plan and said it would appoint a financial investigator to help the board save money. The government has given the TDSB board "multiple opportunities … to address its financial situation," Education Minister Paul Calandra's press secretary, Emma Testani, said in a statement to CBC Toronto. "To date, the board has not produced a trustee-approved financial recovery plan to respond to concerns that identify strategies to eliminate their deficits," she said.
