ETA Canada News

Parking violation fines in Toronto are expected to rise significantly.

The city of Toronto, struggling with financial difficulties, is considering raising the fine for cars parked illegally on city property from $30 to $75 to raise revenue.

If the City Council agree, the fines will be in affect December this year.

According to the city, the number of unauthorized parking cases last year was 106,000, an 11,000 increase from 95,000 the previous year.

The city also plans to increase the fine for illegal parking on private property from $30 to $75.

Last year, there were 377,000 cases of unauthorized parking on private property, an increase of 57,000 cases from 320,000 cases the previous year.

Metro Vancouver Mayors Discuss Public Transportation the Mayors Council on Regional Transportation (MCRT) releases a statement on September 19th calling on the federal and provincial governments to move forward with their $21 billion transportation expansion plan, “ Access for Everyone.”

The plan includes doubling the number of bus services, creating nine new Rapid Bus routes, and extending the SkyTrain.

The background to this is the reality that in some regions, the usage rate of public transportation has exceeded the level before the spread of the new coronavirus infection.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West, who chairs the MCRT, said, “With record population growth and a worsening housing crisis, delays in expanding public transportation will make it difficult for the city council to build urgently needed housing in our community.” It will also be difficult for construction companies.”

According to TransLink, congestion on public transport in the region is rapidly worsening. In the cities of Surrey and Langley, ridership is 120% of pre-coronavirus levels, and on some lines, ridership has more than doubled in four years.

TransLink predicts that by 2025, four out of 10 buses will be “significantly overcrowded” during rush hour and is seeking government aid.

The average monthly rent across the country is rising by about $100 every month.

According to ‘rentals.ca’, which tracks rental market trends, the national average monthly rent last month was $2,117, up 9.6% from the same period last year. It is at an all-time high.

Additionally, since May, the national average monthly rent has increased by $103 per month. Experts diagnosed that monthly rents are soaring due to population growth and rising housing prices.

As housing prices rise and people who have difficulty purchasing their own home flock to the rental market, competition to find an apartment in big cities has intensified.

Last month, the average monthly rent in Ontario was $2,496, and the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom in Toronto was $2,600.

Professor Steve Pomeroy, who lectures on housing policy at McMaster University in Hamilton, said there is no silver bullet that will solve the monthly rent problem in the short term. He pointed out, “Unless the supply of rental housing increases dramatically, there is no way to suppress the rise in monthly rents,” adding, “This is the reality in Canada.”

Ontario is a small town near Toronto whose special charm is attracting the attention of many people.

It is surrounded by beautiful hills covered with green forests and the grey stones of Niagara Falls, and buildings with a long history highlight the town’s scenery.

Dundas, nicknamed ‘Valley Village’, is known as the best place for weekend outings or fall foliage trips due to its natural beauty, historical background, and proximity to the city. This place, which is just an hour’s drive from Toronto, offers a perfect driving course, especially in the fall when the forests and hills are coloured with golden leaves.

Although it was incorporated into the city of Hamilton in 2000, Dundas’ traditions, culture, and natural beauty were preserved and continue to boast its charm to this day.

Autumn in Dundas is like a work of art. Here, every year, when the leaves turn, you can see the warm colour palette of fall right before your eyes.

British Columbia (BC) Crisis Management Minister Bowin Maa announced on August 31 that the statewide state of emergency will be extended by two weeks due to the bushfires and drought conditions. The state of emergency was issued on August 18, giving the state greater powers to respond to disasters.

Ma said rainfall in some areas in recent weeks has helped fight the wildfires, but nowhere in the state has enough rainfall to improve the drought situation. Currently, 4,200 people in BC have been ordered to evacuate and 65,000 have been advised to evacuate. According to the BC Wildfire Service, there were 417 wildfires underway in the state as of August 31, of which about 188 were out of control and 12 were “notable wildfires.”

Ma said there were positive signs in the situation, but the threat of wildfires was still high, especially in the northeastern part of the state, where unseasonably high temperatures were expected. All campfires will be banned in the Northwest Fire Centre area from the afternoon of the 31st.

The state of emergency has been declared for two weeks, but it may be renewed or lifted. This declaration is valid until September 14th.

BC Ferries issued a statement on August 31 saying that one of its ferries may have encountered a humpback whale. A humpback whale appeared in front of the company’s Northern Expedition ferry heading from Prince Rupert in northwestern British Columbia to Port Hardy on August 29.

The crew shut down the engine, but it is suspected that the hull had come into contact with a humpback whale. The whale’s condition is unknown. The company reported the matter to Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He also said that as a countermeasure, the Northern Expedition would be slowing down near Mosley Point. They also contacted local indigenous people to ensure the safety of marine life.

Northern Expedition may have encountered a whale prior on July 20 while in the Wright Strait. The company has also reported this matter to the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans and is cooperating with the investigation.

Between July 20 and 29, there were three ship-whale collisions in the area between Prince Rupert and Kitimat, including this one. BC Ferries said it is also looking to work with the Ministry of Fisheries and Oceans and researchers to deploy AI-equipped hydrophones and infrared cameras for early detection of marine mammals.

As the owners of two areas scheduled to be lifted from the Ontario Green Belt raised controversy, an incident occurred in which the land was tied back to the Green Belt.

The Ontario government said the owners of two planned green belt sites (765 and 775 Kinston Rd. E.) in Ajax, east Toronto, ignored the relevant regulations and put the land up for sale. The state added that it would cancel plans to release the greenbelt here and send warnings to other owners.

Previously, the Ontario government announced at the end of last year that it would release 7,400 acres of green belt to solve the housing crisis and supply 1.5 million homes within 10 years. However, the state government was embroiled in a major scandal as an investigation by the Board of Audit and Inspection revealed that some privileged people, such as developers, enjoyed preferential treatment due to the lifting of the green belt. The federal government has already launched an investigation into the scandal.

A sushi vending machine was found destroyed at the Lafarge Lake-Douglas Skytrain station on August 25. The vending machines at this station in the city of Coquitlam near Vancouver had been installed just three weeks ago.

CTV News reported that the police discovered the incident around 6 a.m. on the same day. The vending machine was destroyed and the sushi inside was stolen.  According to TransLink, a decision has not yet been made regarding the restoration of the vending machines.

The vending machine installation is one of TransLink’s pilot projects that started this summer. Through partnerships with local businesses, Sushi Mori sells sushi, as well as Italian sandwiches and Filipino frozen desserts. It will be expanded to Lonsdale Quay, Coquitlam Centre, Joyce-Collingwood, Metrotown, Edmonds, Moody Centre, and Commercial-Broadway Skytrain stations.

TransLink, which operates and manages public transportation buses, sky trains, and sea buses in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), said there would be no change to plans to install vending machines despite the incident.

In a survey on Canada’s housing crisis, including rising rents and lack of housing supply, the highest response was to blame the federal government. In a survey of 1,537 adults conducted from the 18th to the 20th by Leger, a public opinion polling company based in Montreal, 40% of respondents answered that ‘the housing crisis is due to the federal government’. It was followed by state governments at 32% and local governments at 6%. 22% answered “I don’t know”.

In this survey, the public believed that the housing policies of governments at all levels were in fact a failure. 95% of the respondents said that the rising monthly rent and the lack of affordable housing for ordinary citizens were at a serious level.

In addition, 55% of respondents responded that they had worried at least once or twice in the past two months because of a new mortgage payment or monthly rent.

Regarding the housing issue, respondents urged the government to ◆ increase rental housing ◆ provide incentives to low-income housing development companies ◆ strictly regulate monthly rent increases ◆ subsidize monthly rent according to income.

Indigo, a large bookstore that recorded a loss of 50 million dollars in the last fiscal year that ended on April 1 this year, burns its will to “do anything for money.” Including the liquor dealer far from the bookstore.

On the 23rd, Indigo said, “We will open a new store near Spadina/Front Street in downtown Toronto in the fall. ” Indigo announced that their alcoholic beverages are only allowed inside the café-style outlets. Opened in 1996, Indigo is headquartered in Toronto and has 80 large stores and 120 small and medium-sized bookstores nationwide.

It has a total of 7,000 employees.