A roundup of some of the latest news in women, Toronto, and/or politics this week. What stories did you read this week? Tell us in the comments.
- Mayor Tory’s proposed plan to improve TTC service would allow children under 12 to ride for free, but comes at 10 cent fare increase, contradicting his previous campaign promise to freeze fares.
- Toronto’s 2015 budget recommendations were announced this week, though the details will continue to be debated by council in the coming months. Before you dive in, be sure to check out our handy #TOBudget Guide for budget basics, community meeting schedules, and resources on how to depute. Torontoist also has a helpful term glossary.
- The proposed budget allocates funding for two 24 hour emergency women’s shelter and another two for LGBT youth. However, while housing advocates are optimistic about the efforts to address homelessness, they’re concerned the budget does little to deal with the city’s lack of affordable housing.
- Another concern raised about the budget thus far is that Tory is hoping for a line of credit from the province in order to balance the Operating budget. The rest of the budget’s proposals, including its promise to keep property tax increases below the rate of inflation, are dependent on this loan. The budget also does not allocate funds for the proposed SmartTrack, and assumes that there will be no increase to the police budget which is one of the city’s biggest budget line items.
- At an event earlier this week, Olivia Chow, Kristyn Wong-Tam and Munira Abukar reflected on the bigotry they experienced during the Toronto municipal election. Abukar also shared her story as a part of Toronto Life’s #TorontoIsFailingMe series.
- Canadian Med students are pushing for curriculum changes to better address the issue of abortion which ithey believe is lacking in their med school training.
- After it was announced last Friday that the Fredericton Morgentaler clinic will re-open thanks to a successful crowd-funding campaign, GUTS Magazine published an in-depth look at the history of the pro-choice movement in Canada.