University Rosedale MP Bell and Toronto Centre MP Wong-Tam Bay Cloverhill Town Hall June 2026

On June 9th, residents discussed provincial issues with University Rosedale MP Jessica Bell and ​Toronto Centre MP Kristyn Wong-Tam, along with the University of Toronto Student Union, University of Toronto Graduate Student Union and the Bay Cloverhill Community Association.  The Town Hall was held at the YWCA at 87 Elm Street.

MP Wong-Tam spoke about ebikes, pedestrian and road safety.  The provincial Ministry of Transport has promised regulations for ebikes and revisions are underway.  Ebikes should be using roads.  There are two classes of ebikes.  Class 1 are defined by having an exposed frame, no foot rest and working pedals, 500 watts or less and speed up to 32 km per hour.  Class 2 have speeds of 40 km per hour and continuous pedalling is not required.  The biggest challenge with ebikes is enforcement. 

There are over 85,000 homeless people in Ontario and about 2,000 tent cities currently, representing a 50% increase.  The underfunding of housing is a major cause of homelessness.  Municipalities need to be forced to act to improve access to housing.

The challenges of accessibility for seniors is becoming more important.

MP Bell warned more budget cuts are coming for public schools, as the provincial government is cutting another $900M from the educational budget.  Orde Street School is being relocated to the Heydon Park Secondary School site due to construction.  Next year, the teachers union contract will be negotiated and their number one concern is smaller class sizes.

Ontario is last in almost all the metrics of health care for all provinces.

The NDP are asking for a two year rent freeze and stronger rent safe rules.  There are many issues with the Landlord Tenant Board that need to be fixed.

There is strong opposition to any expansion at Billy Bishop Airport. The federal government launched an online public survey.

The U of T Student Union highlighted that many students live in the Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood, since it is adjacent to the St. George campus.

Over 1,500 graduate students live in the Bay Cloverhill neighbourhood, according to the University of Toronto Graduate Student Union.  One of their biggest challenges is that there has been no increase in research funding since 2001, and research is now much more expensive.  The recent OSAP changes will cause financial difficulty for masters students.  This will result in future shortfalls for needed professionals.

The Bay Cloverhill Community Association outlined the Weston Foundation $50M donation to update Queen's Park North.  Mass events were stopped in this historic park in 2012 with the efforts of then City Councillor Wong-Tam to minimize soil compaction and damage to trees. The Friends of Queen’s Park North have been very active in advocating for preservation of the trees by involving Forestry and Heritage departments.  Design concepts, updates and next steps in the project were outlined.  There are many concerns about the Billy Bishop airport expansion that would affect 94,000 housing units and result in the elimination of 12,000 housing units.  The bike lane removal injunction remains in place while the Charter challenge is under appeal. Residents are invited to the next General Members Meeting when mandatory mental institutionalization will be discussed.

A wide variety of resident concerns and questions were raised.

1. Upcoming transfer of responsibility for the Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner from the city to the province.
2. Thoughts about the Finnish president suggested that it would be better for Canada join the European Union than become part of the United States.  MP Bell thinks a 'Buy Ontario' program should be promoted and that infrastructure should be built. 
3. Aging in place results in Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) where personal support workers and paramedics concentrate on treating residents in a building, or neighbouring buildings.  Residents also pool together resources, such as personal support workers.  Non profit retirement homes should be prioritized over for profit homes by the government.
4. Accessibility is an issue as the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act is not effective or enforced.  Over 26% of the Ontario population has a disability.
5. Bill 51 should extend to newer condos, where many students rent.
6. Landlord and tenant board issues have resulted in high rental prices.
7. What are the legal levers we have as the opposition?
8. The intersection of Bay and Edward Streets is unsafe for pedestrians and needs a traffic light or barriers to avoid turns.  The BCCA will assist with contacting the local councillor to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
9. When will Ontario government employees move back into Macdonald Block?  There must be a substantial financial burden of renting substitute offices.  The rehabilitation project is over budget and past the original completion date.  Most work has been completed, but there are interior issues with elevator shafts that have to be resolved.
10. What is affordable for a purchaser is very different for a renter.
11.  Residents of 16 St. Joseph have experienced too many rent increases.  MP Wong-Tam will assist with the most recent rent increase rationalized by the cost of replacing radiators.  The building also experiences issues with homeless individuals.
12.  How to control the issues and protests every weekend in Queen's Park and on Yonge.
13.  Seniors courses at the University of Toronto  are not affordable.
14. Renter experienced multiple evictions when the landlord wants to reoccupy the unit.
15.  Electric skateboards are dangerous due to being fast, not lawful, and not policed.

Thank you to the many residents who attended, and all the participants.  We appreciate MP's Bell and Wong-Tam arranging the community town hall.