Ovintiv moves deeper into Montney region with $3.3B asset purchase from Paramount

TORONTO – Ontario’s plan to remove bike lanes on three major roads in Toronto will cost more than $48 million and likely lead to only minimally faster commutes for drivers, city staff say in a new report.

The Progressive Conservative government is fast-tracking legislation that would require municipalities to ask the province for permission to install bike lanes when they would remove a lane of vehicle traffic.

It also plans to go one step further and remove sections of Bloor Street, Yonge Street, and University Avenue bike lanes and restore them as lanes for vehicle traffic.

But Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, an avid cyclist herself, asked city staff to look into what can be done because she says the legislation will overturn the decisions and work of a democratically elected council at “tremendous” cost to the taxpayer.

The subject of bike lanes has sparked heated debate in recent weeks, but Chow told her council colleagues at a meeting Thursday it doesn’t matter what side of the issue they fall on — they should stand up for local democracy and municipal jurisdiction.

“Whether you support bike lanes or you don’t support bike lanes, I think it’s important that this council and the people of Toronto have the respect they deserve,” Chow said.

“Once a decision is made we deserve the respect because we are a level of government. Each … councillor is duly elected by your constituents.”

Chow said she wants to know if there are grounds for litigation, and the city solicitor will look at that once the province’s regulations are finalized and the bill passes.

Staff say in their report that the estimated cost of over $48 million includes road reconstruction and road resurfacing.

Provincial officials disputed that estimate, but did not provide their own. They noted that previous bike lane removals in the city cost far less, including about $300,000 for bike lane removals on Jarvis Street.

“Toronto is the one of the economic drivers of this country, but we are losing more than $11 billion every year to gridlock and congestion,” Dakota Brasier, a spokesperson for Transportation Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria wrote in a statement.

“Bike lanes should only go where they make sense. It’s clear that the city’s approach isn’t working and we encourage them to listen to the thousands of common sense drivers to help clear our major roads and get people out of traffic.”

Premier Doug Ford has cited traffic congestion as the reason for removing the bike lanes, but city staff say travel times will get worse during that construction work and there will likely be “minimal improvements in travel time once lanes are removed.”

“When a motor vehicle lane is considered for removal, traffic analysis is completed and staff work to mitigate impacts in the design, such as managing traffic capacity at intersections through the inclusion of turn lanes,” staff wrote.

“The experience in Toronto has been that while travel times for people driving are sometimes found to increase immediately following the installation of bike lanes that impact motor vehicle lanes, once further adjustments are made to optimize operations, the long-term impacts to travel time for drivers are generally minor.”

Chow suggested that if the province is concerned about congestion, they should ensure the long-delayed Eglinton LRT opens.

The estimated price tag doesn’t include any potential costs associated with changing or cancelling existing construction or maintenance contracts, staff said.

The bike lanes have also led to large increases in cyclists along those roads, staff wrote, and have led to decreases in collisions and injuries to cyclists, pedestrians and drivers.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – It was an easy decision for Drew Green to become involved with the Canadian Elite Basketball League because it married two of his passions: business and basketball.

Green was named the new chair of the CEBL’s board of governors on Thursday and also became co-owner of the league. The chief executive officer of apparel brand Indochino said it was an incredible opportunity to join the leadership team of the men’s pro basketball league.

“There’s a couple of my passions front and centre with the opportunity,” said Green in a phone interview. “One is business. I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire life and I just love creating and growing businesses.

“The second thing is just we’re a basketball family. I’ve got two boys that play at a really high level and we’ve been doing it now for 12 or 13 years with them and so it’s a combination of being a basketball and business family.”

Green’s role will include instituting new formal governance at the board level, working to attract strategic investors and partners, and advising commissioner Mike Morreale and team owners on league business matters.

There are 10 teams in the CEBL, with franchises in Montreal, Ottawa, St. Catharines, Ont., Scarborough, Ont., Brampton, Ont., Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.

“The Raptors are an incredible organization and team within the NBA, but it’s one team for all of Canada,” said Green. “The CEBL, we serve the same and yet a different customer.

“I view it as affordable basketball with a really, really great high quality product.”

The CEBL will start its seventh season next summer and every roster includes former NCAA Division 1 stars, many of whom also play in the NBA’s G-League.

“The product being the players, the games, the schedule, all at an affordable price for Canadian families,” continued Green. “Being from Toronto and knowing how expensive it is sometimes to go to a game, a major league game, the CEBL provides families across Canada another option to enjoy a night out to watch really, really, high-level, elite basketball.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

WINNIPEG – The Manitoba government says it will provide permanent funding for 12 new Winnipeg police officers as part of its public safety strategy.

The government previously funded those officers under its temporary Retail Crime Initiative, but it is expected to continue to address a rise in retail theft and violent crime in some parts of the provincial capital.

Justice Minister Matt Wiebe told reporters Thursday that the new officers will continue working with community members and businesses.

“These folks understand that if you can get in, speak with business owners, with customers, with people, make your presence felt, you’re going to have a better, higher impact,” he said.

The province allocated $1.1 million in July to pay for police to work overtime in hot spots in Winnipeg such as retail stores and malls.

The change is one of a number of initiatives Wiebe announced to combat crime provincewide.

The Retail Council of Canada originally teamed up with Winnipeg police on the initiative, which they have called successful.

The organization said it is pleased the government is focusing on stopping retail theft, but is advocating for the development of a specialized unit.

“To ensure these resources remain focused on retail crime versus being eventually pulled into other commitments, we will be encouraging the formation of a (Winnipeg Police Service) retail crime unit where at least some of these new officers could be assigned,” John Graham, director of government relations for the Prairie region said in an email.

The province has also announced a two-per-cent increase in funding for municipal law enforcement and an expansion of the electronic monitoring program outside Winnipeg.

The government also plans to strengthen impaired driving legislation and hire 100 mental-health workers to work alongside first responders, a promise the NDP campaigned on during last year’s election.

Wiebe said the government consulted with community groups, social service agencies, law enforcement agencies and Indigenous organizations in the development of the province’s strategy.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck approach to make our province safer.”

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives said the strategy is Winnipeg-centric, has no timelines and includes many previously announced initiatives.

“It shows that there’s no plan by the NDP at this point. It’s Band Aids and buzzwords,” said Tory justice critic Wayne Balcaen.

The government is also planning a summit to hear from youth on solutions to address the causes of crime.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.