The Town Hall meeting Sunday at Manor Road United Church heard of a plan to place portable classrooms on the rink at Hodgson Middle School on Davisville Ave. Councillor Jaye Robinson said she understood that the Toronto and District School Board had received permission from the City, which is the rink’s owner, to use the space for two years until overcrowding at area schools can be fixed with a permanent building. The rink is a rare example of a compressor-assisted outdoor facility which makes ice in most weather outside of summer. It was fully re-built in 2014.
GOOD, BAD, UGLY
Robinson was reviewing the way school capacity has been outstripped by development, part of the good, the bad and the ugly of Toronto. The catchy line re-states a timeless dilemma that what is good usually has a downside. The Councillor was thrown a puckish question. Did she think Mayor Tory was “a forward-looking mayor.” There was laughter and Robinson said she would refuse to answer. She said she had found the mayor courageous on topics like his effort to place tolls on the Don Valley Parkway. “Talk to me after. I might tell you more one on one,” she said somewhat in passing but publicly.
CENTRE-RIGHT
Councillor Robinson is beginning her third term. The enlarged Ward 15 (Don Valley West) is affluent and politically engaged. Robinson said that voter turnout in October fell by something like 20 percent from a high in 2014 of 60 percent. But, she said, turnout was consistently strong throughout Ward 15. Robinson may be best described as a centre-right politician. She professes strong support for environmentalism. She voted against (and in the minority) for a motion at the new council last week to double the staff budget. That will eliminate any saving which might have flowed from the reduction in the number of wards. So far as is known, she has not spoken about this. Mayor Tory and area Councillors like Josh Matlow, Mike Layton and Paula Fletcher voted in favour. It’s only money as Council votes 18-8 to double staff budget
