Police carding policies have impacts on the communities that they serve. WSIC will explore what those impacts are and how they can be stemmed.
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On Monday, March 24th, a large WSIC audience participated in an unconventional discussion on the pros and cons of expanding the Toronto Island airport. The event was unusual because only one guest speaker presented the topic, instead of our customary two or three hosts. As a testament to the sensitivity of our topic, only one qualified expert was willing to field questions before a large gathering of concerned citizens on a subject so personal to so many people. Thankfully, our guest speaker did not disappoint. …
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On Monday, February 24th, a large crowd turned up to hear Dr Kerry Bowman and Dr Gary Rodin discuss the controversial issue of assisted suicide in Canada. They shared their background and experiences in dealing with palliative care patients, as well as general thoughts on the decriminalization of helping patients die. Should we have a right to die at the time of our own choosing? And if so, are we capable of enacting legislation with the necessary framework and regulatory oversight to protect …
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On April 15, Calvin Brook, an urban designer and planner with Brook McIlroy and Dr Eric Miller, a civil engineering professor at the University of Toronto, led our discussion on the state and future of the Gardiner Expressway. The issues at stake are transportation and urban design.
We started with a litany of facts: at peak times a lane on the Gardiner carries 2000 cars per hour, with 1.2 people per car, and three lanes in each direction. So we get to about 7200 people per …
There was a large and lively crowd on Monday to hear a strong discussion about the Toronto Casino proposal.
Rosario Marchese, MPP of Trinity-Spadina (a downtown riding often proposed as a location for the casino), started the evening off with some arguments against a putting a casino so close to residential neighbourhoods. Residents of Liberty Village are worried that a casino at the Ex would “suck the life out” of the area. While Casinos themselves are often vibrant, businesses around them do not remain so. Over …
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Canadians are not being bold, therefore nothing is getting done. Specifically, the pace of progress related to transit in the GTA is glacial. On Monday January 21 2013, Leslie Woo (VP Policy, Planning and Innovation for Metrolinx) and John Tory (broadcaster and former MPP) held the floor at a packed WSIC event as we engaged with them on the topic of transit in the GTA.
The two speakers come from different backgrounds and so provided complimentary aspects to the discussion. Leslie focused more on implementation and …
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