For me, the period between the winter holidays and the new year is always a time to reflect. My husband and I wash and put away the good dishes that only come out during the holidays, passed down to me by my mother. We laugh together, reminisce on the past year, and then I turn my sights to the year ahead. Whether you’re a fan of New Year’s resolutions or not, I think that setting intentions for the coming months is a great way to ring in the year. When it comes to serving our community here in Don Valley North, there’s no better way I can think of to set those goals than by coming up with them together.
My favourite thing about municipal government is how closely I get to work with all of you. If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that having conversations and working together only strengthens the sense of community in our neighbourhoods. Whether neighbours come together to share feedback on city-wide issues like the 2025 Budget or let me know about a problem with garbage collection on a specific street, I am always energized by the incredible dedication of our community. So, let’s look ahead to 2025 together. I want to hear your ideas for a better Don Valley North and a better Toronto so I can get to work delivering the changes that matter most.
The New Year always starts off with a bang, with the launch of the annual City Budget. We have been hard at work finalizing the proposed Budget so it can be presented to Budget Committee and the public this coming Monday. I’ll be writing a detailed E-Blast on the subject next week, and I’ll be hosting our annual Don Valley North Budget Town Hall on Tuesday, January 20 (details below). This is one of many opportunities you have to share your feedback on the proposed budget. What’s unique about this Town Hall is that it is really meant for our community here in Don Valley North. I want to see as many neighbours as possible come together and tell me where our City needs to invest and where we might be able to pull back. We started some great conversations during our Pre-Budget Town Halls in October, and I know I will hear very valuable feedback after the Budget is fully launched.
There will be plenty of other city-wide work for me to tackle in 2025. At the Toronto Police Service Board, I’ll be working to realize our new multi-year hiring plan that will see hundreds of new officers hired in the coming years. I’ll also be working hard to ensure the 2026 FIFA World Cup stays on track and on budget, and helping businesses large and small succeed in Toronto. Through all of this, it’s essential that I stay in communication with you. Of course, there will be a number of projects underway here in Don Valley North as well. The local work we do for our neighbourhoods may not receive the same fanfare in the media, but it means the most to me.
One of my goals for 2025 is to leave lots of room for chats with our community here in DVN. Let’s unpack some of the things we’ve done so far. Did it work? How can we do things differently next time? What can we do to improve? Conversations like these are exactly how we revamped the Vacant Home Tax program to ensure declaration is easier this year.
I know from your calls and emails that there are all sorts of things on your mind, and I am more than happy to make time to chat, whether it’s about road work and road safety improvements like the The Peanut Streets Plan, local planning and development projects, park improvements, or other local issues you want to bring to my attention. We don’t need to wait for an official meeting or a big challenge to arise—I think proactive conversations are the best way to strengthen our neighbourhoods and our city. Sitting down to discuss gives all of us valuable insights to manage future changes coming our way.
I really want to focus on bringing these conversations down to a more meaningful scale. There’s one thing I heard loud and clear from you in 2024: larger meetings and open houses are important, but they’re not ideal. City staff do need to host these meetings to meet statutory requirements, but that doesn’t mean we can’t complement them with our own hyper-local meetings. That can mean anything from meeting with a church congregation, to a couple of condo boards, a ratepayers association, or even hosting a virtual morning coffee with your small group. Please let me know if you want to chat, and the Don Valley North team and I will get to work providing the time and space.
2025 will bring a Federal election and possibly an early Provincial one, but things will keep chugging along here at City Hall. That means we can really hunker down and talk about where Don Valley North and our city are headed. It’s like I always say—you are the experts on your neighbourhoods. If you have an idea for how to make that neighbourhood better, I want to hear it. That’s my job—to listen to you and be your voice at City Hall. So let’s get the conversation going and talk about the Don Valley North and the Toronto we want to see in 2025.
P.S. On the topic of what 2025 holds for our city, I want to take a moment to shout out the Editor-in-Chief of the Toronto Star, Nicole MacIntyre, for her fabulous new series “Toronto the Better”. We face a number of challenges here in Toronto, heaven knows, but Nicole has made space for constructive pieces that share bold ideas for how we can make the city better and appreciate the great things we do have here.
The series kicked off with a great piece called “50 ways to be happy in Toronto”. Nestled in the dozens of suggestions was a local treasure. John Lorinc, one of Toronto’s great writers and wanderers, advised Torontontonians to “track down the perfect csabai”. It’s a wonderful bit of Hungarian charcuterie, and his favourite place to get it is at So HungAry on Sheppard just west of Bayview. Bravo to John Lorinc for reminding Toronto that happiness continues north of the 401.
My New Year’s challenge to you: take a look at that list and imagine it needs to go all the way to 100. What would you add?