Randy McLean

creativity, graffiti art, street art, music, diversity, city building, walking, cycling, economic growth, neighbourhoods, community

[Randy McLean @BeautifulStsTO]

Very sad news.
Monica Lewis, Little Jamaica, has passed. It was a blessing to know Monica.
RIP

https://t.co/p72LWqzwI9

[TTC Media Relations 📰🚌🚋🚈 @TTCNewsroom]

Outstanding work by #TTC overhead crews to get service back. The damage was extensive and this could have lasted much longer.

[Green P Parking @GreenPParking]

The world is coming to Toronto! 🌎⚽ With increased activity expected during the World Cup™, plan ahead for a smoother trip. We've created a planning resource to help you explore your travel options, including charging, Bike Share, TTC & GO connections: https://t.co/I0J3rI5qGP

[Mayor Olivia Chow 🇨🇦 @MayorOliviaChow]

It is with sadness that I am letting the community know of the death of Howard Moscoe – my former Councillor colleague for many years, and friend to many people in the Toronto area and beyond.

Howard was born on November 28, 1939. His working life started as a high school art teacher in the former North York where he became the President of the North York Teachers’ Federation and a governor of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation. His art background later fed a very successful election sign business. As a member of the New Democratic Party, he ran three times to become the MPP in the riding of Wilson Heights.

Howard had a long and illustrious 31-year career as an Alderman, Metro Councillor and City Councillor starting in 1978 and ending with retirement in 2010 representing the western half of the Eglinton-Lawrence riding. Some key moments in his early political career include:

- Promoting a municipal housing corporation in North York to support rent geared to income housing

- In the 1980s, attending rallies against the apartheid regime in South Africa and supporting human rights efforts in Nigeria

- Being an early supporter of LGBTQ issues in the early 1990s at the TTC when the community sought ad space on TTC vehicles

With municipal amalgamation in 1997, Howard became the first amalgamated City of Toronto Chair of the TTC. Building a vibrant public transit infrastructure and promoting ridership growth were his key passion. He read virtually every City Council and TTC report and had an encyclopaedic memory of their content that he brought to Council and TTC meetings. He was particularly keen in his advocacy for the Wheeltrans community and taxi drivers. An example of his creative thinking was demanding condo developers to include in their sales agreement a free Metropass for the first year of residency. An example of his tenacity was the purchase of the new subway vehicles built in Thunder Bay now serving Line 1. Howard was an early and strong supporter of the move to upload the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway to the province.

His Councillor colleagues will remember him as a tenacious fighter for social justice, whether it was people living with disabilities, tenants, people without homes, transit users, and so many equity-deserving communities. He never attacked people personally but would debate urban policy with great enthusiasm, and frequent humour. And yes, he was mischievous from time to time to the delight of friend and to the fury of foe, all of which made for entertaining media. At the root of all his pranks, clever strategies and tactics, he had a lifelong commitment to struggle for a fair, just and equitable Toronto. He did it all in a “larger than life” manner which made him a complete pleasure to work with on Council.

Howard’s contribution to a better Toronto has been enormous. The memory of Howard Moscoe is a blessing to us all. Rest in Peace, dear colleague and friend.

[TTC Media Relations 📰🚌🚋🚈 @TTCNewsroom]

#TTC is deeply saddened to learn that former City Councillor and TTC Board Chair Howard Moscoe passed away this morning. Our thoughts are with Mr. Moscoe’s family as they mourn his passing. He was 86.

Mr. Moscoe served as Commissioner, Vice-Chair, and Chair during his 14 years of service on the Commission. He served on the TTC Board from 1992 to 2006. He was TTC Chair from 1998 to 2000 and from 2003 to 2006.

Mr. Moscoe was a prominent and long-serving Councillor for Eglinton-Lawrence and a fierce advocate for transit system accessibility and for securing sustainable funding for the TTC.

Mr. Moscoe took the helm at the TTC during a very challenging and complex year for the new amalgamated City of Toronto.

Under Mr. Moscoe’s first term as Chair, the TTC broke ground on the new Queens Quay streetcar line that would connect Union Station with Exhibition Place; began construction on the Sheppard Subway, as well as started building the new Transit Control Centre at Hillcrest Complex.

During his second term as Chair, Mr. Moscoe helped steer the TTC through the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis and North America’s largest electricity blackout affecting 50 million people across the North Eastern Seaboard, both of which caused significant declines in ridership.

Under his tenure, the TTC introduced its Ridership Growth Strategy in 2003, a blueprint for transit investment for the decade that followed, which saw the system grow ridership to more than half a billion riders annually.

“It was a wild and exciting ride,” Mr. Moscoe said at his official TTC farewell at City Hall in 2007. “We were building a transit system together and we were doing it for the people of Toronto.”

On behalf of all TTC employees, we extend our condolences to Mr. Moscoe’s family and friends during this difficult time.

All flags across TTC properties are lowered to half-mast in Mr. Moscoe’s honour.

[Randy McLean @BeautifulStsTO]

Malcom X
born on this day in 1925.

“I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”

[Now Toronto @nowtoronto]

Grammy-winning British singer-songwriter and pianist Sir Elton John publicly declared himself a self-proclaimed Canadian. 🇨🇦 #SirEltonJohn #GlennGouldPrize #51stState #Trump

Read more at https://t.co/2fDNCnxtfg

[Scott Robertson @sarobertson_]

Outgoing Governor General Mary Simon: "We know that Indigenous languages are not part of the Official Languages Act, but to me they are just as important as English and French ... every day there are languages across the country that are being lost. To me that's not something we should just ignore. I think we need to do more for Indigenous languages."

[Samuel 🇲🇽 @resisres]

🚨🇲🇽 SHEINBAUM — MORE DEBTS CANCELLED

After cancelling the housing debts of more than 5 million families, the Mexican President has instructed the 'Institute For Returning To The People What Was Stolen' to WIPE OUT FARMERS' DEBTS.

More than 60,000 will benefit:
most with full cancellation, the rest with a discount and restructuring at non-usurious interest rates.

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

A lesson on social democracy that is not from a lying billionaire.

[SKI @skiistiredasf]

Meet Zoey Williams, a 27-year-old pilot from Ontario, Canada, who made history in October 2023 as the first Black female pilot to fly the Boeing 777 for Air Canada as a First Officer👏🏿

[AFP News Agency @AFP]

🇫🇷 France launches one-euro meals for all university students

French university canteens have begun offering one-euro meals to students regardless of income, in a measure designed to address financial hardship. The price, which covers a starter, main course and dessert, was previously only available to those with low incomes or receiving financial aid
#geneu_AFP

[Shazi @ShaziGoalie]

Everyone loves to trash Brampton public schools while parents rush to spend $30K to $40K a year on private schools across Peel and Halton.

Meanwhile, students from Central Peel Secondary School in Brampton just beat 23,000 students from around the world to win a top global space settlement prize.

Maybe the conversation around public schools, immigrants, and Brampton students needs to change.

This deserves real recognition 👏

[6ixBuzzTV @6ixbuzztv]

Brampton’s Central Peel high school team defeated over 23,000 students from around the world to win top space settlement prize

They are the 1st Canadian team to win this grand prize

[Kateri Seraphina @KateriSeraphina]

La Suède a développé l’un des systèmes de gestion des déchets les plus avancés au monde, où une grande partie des déchets non recyclables est transformée en énergie au lieu de finir dans des décharges.
Grâce à un réseau d’usines de valorisation énergétique hautement efficaces, les déchets sont utilisés comme combustible pour produire de l’électricité et du chauffage, alimentant des milliers de foyers et contribuant à l’approvisionnement énergétique de communautés entières.
En raison de l’efficacité de ces installations, qui nécessitent un flux constant de matériaux pour fonctionner, le pays importe même des déchets d’autres nations afin de les maintenir en activité.
Dans de nombreux cas, les pays exportateurs paient la Suède pour se charger de ces déchets, ce qui fait de ce modèle une solution à la fois écologique et économiquement viable.
Ce système démontre qu’avec une gestion appropriée, les déchets peuvent cesser d’être un problème et devenir une ressource précieuse.
https://t.co/lENPBVzusb

[Randy McLean @BeautifulStsTO]

#InternationalDayofDance

Celebrate by dancing.

[Indigenous Affairs and Economic Reconciliation @IndigenousON]

It’s International Dance Day, and we’re honouring Indigenous dance and the artists who carry culture, stories, and teachings through movement.

🎧 Audio on : POW Wow Carnival (feat. Little Creek Singers) -DJ Shub 🎵

#InternationalDanceDay #IndigenousDance

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank.

It just published a 30-year study showing immigrants paid 14.5 trillion dollars more in taxes than they received in government benefits.

Every single year. For thirty years. Without exception.

The country was lied to.

Here is what the study found.🧵

[Toronto Star @TorontoStar]

Paris has tackled gridlock. Ford could learn a lesson from the ancient city | #Opinion https://t.co/HNaotfSh8N

[Jon Burke 🌍 @jonburkeUK]

The reason there will be no ‘fuel crisis’ in the Netherlands is that every town, city, & village in the land is connected by fully-segregated cycle lanes.

It’s possible for the Dutch to simply stop driving while fuel is short and prices are high.

That’s real energy resilience.

[Wab Kinew @WabKinew]

We’re proud of Anishinaabe artist Henry Guimond from Sagkeeng First Nation.

He designed the patch worn by Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen on the Artemis II mission-carrying the Seven Sacred Laws and Anishinaabe teachings into space.

Today he visited with his family, and we had the chance to connect, alongside Minister Ian Bushie. We traded a patch and a challenge coin- his design in my hand, and a coin featuring Manitoba petroforms in his.

From where the Creator lives to the stars, our stories travel with us. 🦬