Josh Matlow City Hall Diary Some Torontonians love their cars while others ride their bikes. Others rely on public transit or walk every day. Yet I’ve found another way to get around the city that’s free, avoids traffic and offers a different perspective on our urban landscape. I’ve been traveling Toronto by canoe. […]

Josh Matlow City Hall Diary As last week’s deadline to file my federal income taxes approached, I fantasized about having control over exactly how Ottawa spends my earnings — imagining there were boxes I could check off on my tax form to indicate which priorities I’d like to fund. But while I knew I couldn’t [...]

Josh Matlow City Hall Diary There’s an old adage that says you can’t fight City Hall. For many residents, this far too often rings true when they come to their civic government for help but end up finding themselves lost in a maze of bureaucracy. However, I was recently reminded that anything is possible if [...]

Josh Matlow City Hall Diary Being a city councillor comes with daily important responsibilities, hourly demands and a duty to be present for residents. But even politicians need a vacation once in a while to recharge their batteries and spend some time with family. So for one week I escaped with my wife to Florida [...]

Josh Matlow City Hall Diary Only five months after Toronto’s municipal election, many city councillors are back knocking at voters’ doors. But this time, they’re helping their friends running in the federal election. For full disclosure, I’ll be supporting the Liberal MP in my riding, Dr. Carolyn Bennett. Of all of Toronto’s councillors, one may [...]

Josh MatlowCity Hall Diary What I love most about coming into work every day is the very public nature of City Hall. Every day, there are weddings, arts and cultural events, and its square has played host to New Year’s Eve celebrations, anti-war protests and many newcomers’ first skates. And unlike Queen’s Park or Parliament [...]

Josh Matlow City Hall Diary Here‘s a little secret most politicians won’t readily divulge — we don’t exactly do all of the work ourselves. In the public spotlight, Toronto city councillors, along with the mayor, receive both kudos and criticism. But when it comes to serving residents, we rely on our staff to help us [...]

Party politics are alive and well at city hall. I don’t mean official parties — they’re banned in Ontario’s municipal governments. But aside from a small handful of moderate councillors, team sports and competing ideologies have divided council into two camps — the right and the left. Why else would some city councillors relinquish their [...]

Ghosts of City HallToronto’s politicians have had their share of very public scandals and debacles. The Star's Josh Matlow shares a list of seven ghosts of City Hall’s controversial past the new council can learn from.View photos

Josh Matlow, City Hall Diary City council meetings can often seem more like a schoolyard brawl than a mature exercise in democracy. But what happens when a city councillor becomes a schoolyard bully? Most public schools in Toronto have strict codes of conduct for their students. City council also has a set of rules that [...]