Should we put a safe space within two kilometres of almost every Toronto youth? This is going to be a thread 👇/1 thestar.com/news/city_hall… Almost a decade ago now, the province was presented with a comprehensive report called A Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: newswire.ca/news-releases/…. It was meant to address the continuous cycle of youth violence in this and other cities /2

Another big day in court tomorrow in this ongoing council cut saga. I've read the main arguments and legal back-and-forth. Here's what you need to know (with background for those who need to catch up): thestar.com/news/toronto-e… OK, there is an addendum to this (and updated story at link above) because the province filed a supplementary factum (written arguments) at the very last minute...

So, if you, like me, are still thinking about the ongoing court challenges related to the city's election on a Friday night, I have some updates: /1 Several applicants - candidates, voters, community groups - challenged the province's old legislation cutting council to 25 wards (Bill 5) in court. On Monday (I can't believe it was only Monday), Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba ruled that legislation unconstitutional /2

Today’s the day - lawyers will make their case against Bill 5 this morning in a University Ave. courtroom. The hearing starts at 10 a.m. Stick with me throughout for updates: thestar.com/news/toronto-e… I have gone through and read closely most of the more than 5,000 pages of documents filed in this hearing. Here’s what you need to know: thestar.com/news/toronto-e…

Province's written arguments (factum) in challenge of Bill 5 has been distributed. "The purpose of Bill 5 is to achieve greater voter parity among Toronto’s wards in 2018, to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of City Council and to save money for Toronto’s taxpayers" (That first thing - which relates to votes having equal weight - is not a claim that Ford has made that I've heard, but was made against city's 47-ward boundaries in earlier court challenge, which lost)

Update on the court challenge against Bill 5 cuts to council: Hearing is Friday. The city has filed its application asking that the election as it was on July 30 and those nominations be reinstated and the legislation struck down. Toronto District School Board is also intervening The city will argue that the legislation violates unwritten constitutional principles, such as democracy, as indicated in their legal advice to council: thestar.com/news/toronto-e…. Others representing candidates, volunteers, community organizations will make same case

I’m in court where lawyer Rocco Achampong, a council candidate, is seeking an injunction of Ford’s Better Local Government Act. Right now he’s looking to get a date to be heard ASAP. (Fixing earlier tweet) Achampong plans to argue that the new legislation, which would cut the number of wards/councillors to 25, should not take effect until *after* the 2018 election, saying it breaches “basic democratic rights of candidates and electors in Toronto”

Council is back from lunch and I'm in the chamber. They were debating using surplus funds for #VisionZero initiatives, but are now doing member motions. List includes motion from @joe_cressy, seconded by @m_layton to improve safety in Bloor bike lanes app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen… Dalia Chako died recently after being struck while riding her bike by a truck at the Bloor/St. George (thestar.com/news/gta/2018/…). @stephenholyday is holding the motion for questions/debate, so we'll get to it later.

Council is back from lunch. They just voted to have staff report back on a process for naming the new wards in the new term app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…. The clerk had decided to just go with numbers for the election (many of which have changed). More here: thestar.com/news/gta/2018/… Council also approved a motion from Campbell to ask the integrity commissioner to investigate how the CBC and I got our hands on a secret report to council: app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…. The story in question:thestar.com/news/gta/2018/…

Council meets starting today. First, a special meeting to fill the vacancy in Ward 33 left by @shelleycarroll, who is running provincially. Because we are so close to a municipal election, this seat must be filled by appointment. List of candidates: This appointment is a bit tricky because councillors are usually looking to appoint a caretaker councillor - someone who won’t run for the seat with the appointed advantage. So far one candidate, Ken Lister, is also campaigning to represent the area in the upcoming election

Mayor John Tory's favoured $3.35B Scarborough subway plan was "drawn on the back of a napkin": New from me on how city staff cast the subway in a more favourable light at a time when council was under pressure to choose the 1-stop subway over a 7-stop LRT thestar.com/news/gta/2018/… Let's talk for a minute about the subway. It has been a really long road and you might be wondering: How did we get to the place where a majority of councillors voted to move ahead with spending at least $3.35 billion for one subway stop? /1

CP24 analysts trying to fill time say waiting in the hallway at the @OntarioPCParty convention, where no one knows anything at all about what is happening, reminds them of elevator watch at city hall.

Me & #topoli: Almost four years ago, Ford told me he would give the Ontario PC party an “enema” if he was in charge: thestar.com/news/city_hall…