Hayden Kenez

A new City of Toronto policy on laneway houses is being heralded by advocates as an important step in diversifying the city’s housing stock. A Toronto and East York Community Council meeting on June 6 approved changes to Toronto’s official plan and zoning bylaw that paves the way for homeowners whose properties back onto a laneway to build a detached two-storey rental unit or granny suite in their backyard.

Canada’s ambassador to Israel unequivocally ruled out any plans to move this country’s embassy to Jerusalem, unless it’s part of a larger peace deal with the Palestinians.

North York General Hospital (NYGH) is planning to build two new towers devoted to both acute and outpatient care that officials say will help alleviate systemic overcrowding by adding an estimated 100 hospital beds to its facilities.

The Ontario New Democrat and Progressive Conservative candidates for the riding of Thornhill traded barbed words at a local candidates’ debate on May 24, over how each would address the growing number of anti-Semitic attacks in the community.The incumbent, PC candidate Gila Martow, nodded to the federal government providing security funding for synagogues and Jewish daycares as a possible framework for protecting pro-Israel speakers and groups on university campuses; while Ezra Tanen, the NDP

Flanked by Bloor Street’s endless array of shops and dining to the west and office towers to the east, the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a hub of activity and, oftentimes, construction. So when the museum unveiled plans to create an outdoor performance venue, it was music to the ears of many who frequent the area.

Rising from obscurity in his home country of Brazil, Ayrton Senna charted his incredible rise to international acclaim to become one of the all-time Formula One greats. We’ve compiled some of his finest racing moments here.

As turmoil along the Israel-Gaza border continues to escalate and death tolls rise, rallies flared up outside Israel’s consulate in Toronto on April 9, as demonstrators reacted to the country’s crackdown on mass border protests. Protesters amassed in two groups – one in support of the Jewish state and the other condemning the Israeli government’s armed response to Palestinian protests in recent weeks. The protests in Gaza, which began in late March, were led by Hamas leaders, who called on Pal

The cost of running the Canada Pension Plan is three times higher than figures released by its investment board suggest, according to a report by the Fraser Institute. In the recent debate over an expanded Canada Pension Plan (CPP), its low cost was offered as one of the main benefits for larger government-managed pensions. The Ontario government, introducing its own version of the CPP, argues that lower costs helped to justify public pension plans. Not surprisingly, the Canada Pension Plan Inv

Aqsa Mahmood, the privately educated Scottish woman described by friends as clever and gifted, went missing from her tony Glasgow neighbourhood in November. Now she’s emerged as an avid supporter of the hardline jihadists of the Islamic State of Iraq & Al-Sham (ISIS) and is busy promoting it to her followers online. Leaving your family The first phone call you make once you cross the border is one of the most difficult things you will ever have to do. Your parents are already worried enough

Former prime minister Kim Campbell has a proposal that she says will encourage more women to enter politics: split each federal riding into two seats and reserve half of them for women. Ms. Campbell, who served briefly as Progressive Conservative PM in 1993, made the pitch during a women’s leadership conference in Charlottetown, P.E.I., saying the plan could solve the gender disparity in federal politics. “It’s the simplest, least disruptive way,” Ms. Campbell told the National Post Thursday o

In a tug-of-war over the wild horses of Sable Island, horse lovers and romantics are squaring off against scientists and ecologists

The Island Yacht Club, established on the Toronto Islands in the early 1950s as a sanctuary for Jewish sailing enthusiasts facing anti-Semitic policies at other clubs, is “in limbo”, its commodore said yesterday. Cecil Yolles, 89, founded the club in 1951 after being denied membership at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club and other boating clubs in the Toronto and Hamilton area in the face of racist policies to which many facilities adhered. The club is the most westerly of the yacht clubs that dot

The Harper government has harshly criticized a top Liberal advisor and prospective MP after he accused Israel of firing “indiscriminately” on Palestinian civilians in Gaza, in a recorded conversation leaked to media Wednesday. “Israelis [are] using very heavy weapon systems, firing indiscriminately onto Palestinian women and children,” Andrew Leslie, a foreign affairs advisor to Justin Trudeau, is heard saying in the recording. “You know what the body count is now. So Israel has actually lost t

When Kai Xu, a Canadian resident, was apprehended at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing last month with more than 50 turtles, experts knew it wasn’t an isolated incident

Liposarcoma is a rare and aggressive form of cancer with a high rate of survival if it is caught early. In an impromptu press conference, Dr. Malcom Moore, head of Medical Oncology and Hematology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, laid out details on the cancer, and offered a glimpse of what Mayor Rob Ford might be facing in his fight against his malignant tumour. Liposarcoma is a cancer of the soft tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, connective tissues, fat, blood vessels, nerves and jo

Just as naked sushi is making inroads into the Canadian market, critics are denouncing the Japanese tradition as sexist and discriminatory. An online petition is urging health authorities in British Columbia to shut down one of Canada’s first body-sushi businesses, saying that its flagship service – offering patrons the chance to eat sushi piled atop a naked model’s body – is “objectifying” and underscores women’s sexualized role in society. “A company is literally objectifying women by using

The race for Toronto’s mayoralty picked up again Sunday, just days after ailing mayor Rob Ford abandoned his bid for re-election only to be replaced on the ballot by his older brother Doug. Sunday’s debate at the Evergreen Brickworks was the first meeting of mayoral candidates since the switch, and went ahead with neither of the Ford brothers present: Rob remains in hospital, where he is being treated for an abdominal tumour, while Doug has not yet joined the campaign in earnest. Despite their

Fears of a potential Ebola case in Saint John, N.B., have been quelled after a quarantine on a hotel was lifted Sunday evening. Officers were called to the Hilton Hotel around 11:15 a.m. Sunday after a female guest — recently returned from Cameroon — fell ill. A lockdown was instituted following the woman’s hospitalization, forcing guests at the hotel to remain inside. “In the context of the world environment right now, we needed to ensure that we didn’t have that type of environment here,” s

A major section of Toronto’s subway system shut down in rush hour Tuesday morning after ground water and silt leaked onto the tracks through a week-old hole, the Toronto Transit Commission said Tuesday. The Bloor line was closed both ways between Keele and St. George stations around 8 a.m. Tuesday, with the TTC cautioning that the delay had “no expected clearing time.” Several stations were reopened by 9:30 a.m., though service was still suspended between Keele and Ossington stations throughout

Ontario Progressive Conservatives won’t pick a new leader until early May, but they are already getting an early sense of the shape of the race to replace Tim Hudak. There are three official candidates, and another all-but-declared, with the dynamics of the race largely centred around the legacy of Mr. Hudak, who many PCs blame for the party’s loss in June’s election. There is talk of other candidates jumping in — potential candidates have until the end of January to file their papers — but the