A Local Year in Review
Favourite reporting moments, overlooked stories, heaviest furniture to carry up four flights of stairs—a Local staff 2022 roundtable.
Maybe I’ll See Raymond
For years, I walked the city doing street outreach overnight—handing out socks, listening to people’s stories, always scanning the crowd for a familiar face.
The Night Watchmen
In the booming private security industry, the biggest problem is finding enough guards. Then came a new source of low-wage employees—international students.
A Voice on the End of the Line
For the last sixty years, crisis hotlines have been the emergency rooms of the mental health world. But remote work has transformed the already challenging overnight shift into a deeply lonely one.
The Brutish Lives and Hideous Deaths of Toronto Rats
Rats are cunning, ravenous, daring, disgusting. They stand in for everything squalid and dysfunctional about urban life and we will never be rid of them.
Leaving the Party
Walking late at night, free from the noise of the day and the demands and threats of men, I can finally hear my own thoughts.
Death in the Small Hours
In the middle of the night, palliative care doctor Joshua Wales drives across the city, making house calls to people during the most emotionally complex, vulnerable moments of their lives.
Building Fun in a Notoriously Unfun City
With artists getting international recognition and partygoers eager to make up for lost time, the only thing standing between Toronto and a vibrant nightlife scene is Toronto.
How York Memorial Students Got Blamed for the TDSB’s Mistakes
Sensational reports about violence have dominated the narrative around York Memo, ignoring the reality of how, despite warnings, the Board’s decisions have devastated students' access to education.
A John Tory Landslide, and New Faces on Council
With dismal voter turnout and a third term for Tory, the city’s election presented some expected results—and a few big surprises.
The Deadly Inequality of Toronto’s Vision Zero Rollout
An investigation by The Local using FOI requests, city-wide speeding data, and analysis of council minutes, reveals a system that makes wealthy downtown neighbourhoods safer while leaving lower-income inner-suburban communities to fend for themselves.
Ward Profile: In a Tight Race in Willowdale, All Questions Lead to Housing
A controversial supportive housing project on Cummer Avenue has become a point of contention between the three lead candidates hoping to lead Ward 18.
The Mysterious French School Trustee Candidates Who Don’t Speak French
When parents at the Viamonde school board became suspicious of the only two trustee candidates running in their ward, they investigated. Now one candidate says he’s ready to resign, as the controversy threatens the legitimacy of the entire election.
New Downtown Councillors Will Have a Tough Job from Day One—Managing Development
With an exploding population, constant building, and wards the size of small towns, the candidates who win Toronto’s downtown seats will inherit problems, and possibilities.
Councillor Michael Thompson Is Facing Sexual Assault Allegations… Now What?
With the councillor facing charges, five low-profile challengers in Ward 21 — Scarborough Centre are hoping to break through the inertia of incumbency.
Why Voting Will Never Be My First Priority
For people like me, voting often feels like an easy political act that changes little. My political engagement comes in other forms.
Ward Profile: An Uphill Battle in Etobicoke North—Ford Country
After 22 years of representation by the Ford family, Ward 1 has the chance to elect a new voice.
Everything You Need to Know About School Trustees
We don’t elect people to oversee any other specific public service. But maybe we should?
Call the Police… Then Wait
The Toronto Police take three times longer than they should to get to the most urgent emergencies. Why a $1.1 billion force doesn’t come when you need them.
Ward Profile: In Ward 16 — Don Valley East, Who Speaks for the Renters?
The majority of residents in Don Valley East rent. But in a city dominated by the politics of property owners, who will represent them?