Spring 2024.

  

Spring 2024

During this season of Spring, we see a new era in our history. We experience the middle phase of the 2024 Presidential election filled with President Biden, Trump, Haley, and third-party candidates. Along with that, the conflict in the Middle East continues with protesters and other activists wanting an eliminated ceasefire. Now, a water crisis is happening in Mexico City with about 22 million people. Many people suffer from low rainfall, longer dry periods, and high temperatures with more demand. Many neighborhoods lack water for weeks. About 60 percent of Mexico City's water comes from its underground aquifer which has been over-extracted. There is the conflict in Ukraine lasting for over 3 years now. Zelensky warns that millions of people will be killed in Ukraine without U.S. aid to Kyiv. Ukrainian troops' deaths reach at least 31,000 human beings. It is clear, especially after the death of Navalny, to condemn Putin's cruel aggression against a sovereign nation. We found out that Alexander Smirnov is an accused Russian agent who promoted the lie against Biden and his son.  Putin has committed war crimes against Ukraine's apartments, schools, stores, and other civilian locations. We see another new era of space exploration as the U.S. lunar probe Ulysses has successfully landed on the Moon for the first time in 52 years after Apollo 17. The moon mission of Artemis plans to send humans on the Moon by 2026. Former NRA leader Wayne LaPierre has been found guilty of financial corruption. Therefore, we realize that we live in extraordinary times.

Majorie Taylor Greene wants to get rid of House Speaker Mike Johnson. Mike Johnson wants to ally with Matt Gaetz in trying to prevent that from happening. Politics can be a shady game as history has taught us. Gaetz has said that he is an ally of Mike Johnson. Many GOP members refuse to support even a bipartisan spending deal or funding for Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion. Majorie Taylor Greene has yet to make the action to force a floor vote on the result to get rid of Mike Johnson from the House Speaker position. There is a decline in the House Republican majority. The GOP is in the realm of chaos and Trump worship. They are more concerned about pleasing the agenda of Trump than supporting the human rights of all Americans. Trump having a post of the image of Biden hogtied in a pick-up truck is not shocking from Trump. It's evil and inappropriate. It advocates political violence which is uncalled for. Any Trump supporter doesn't have respect from me (and I don't care who it is). There is no justification for Trump's extremism, bigotry, and immature antics. Trump is not insane. He knows what he is doing. He is doing evil consciously. What Trump has done has nothing to do with political dissent. It's plain nefarious action that proves once again that Trump doesn't need a 2nd term in office.

The terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow causing 137 people and wounding over 180 people has no justification. It is evil and wicked. Still, Putin and other people from the WSWS imply that Ukraine is responsible for the terrorist action. There is no conclusive evidence to prove that Ukraine orchestrated the terrorist act in Moscow. ISIS-K, which is an Afghan-based Islamist terrorist group has claimed responsibility. American imperialism is indeed evil, but two wrongs don't make a right. American imperialism is evil, and Russian war crimes in Ukraine are also wrong. American intelligence warned Russia that extremists wanted to attack a concert hall in Russia. Putin ignored this warning saying that it was blackmail. The suspects confessed to the crime. So far, we have no conclusive evidence on who did the terrorist act yet, but all signs point to ISIS. Putin indeed conducted an illegal, unjust invasion of Ukraine. The U.S. has blamed ISIS for the attack. Putin established a slam election, jailed innocent journalists, suppressed religious liberty rights, and committed war crimes in Ukraine (Russian forces have targeted schools, apartments, stores, and other locations), and these facts are minimized by WSWS, some far right extremists, many fake leftists (who claim to oppose imperialism, but excuse imperialism done by Russia), and other people.

To have the victory of democracy in November 2024, we have to get the language right to defend our views and refute the views of MAGA cultists. The truth is that Social Security is not an entitlement or a Ponzi scheme (as said by the extremist Ben Shapiro). Social Security is a program that was won by the blood, sweat, and tears of courageous workers who protested in the streets during the Presidency of the historic President Delano Roosevelt. Social Security is a program that is a federal program that people pay into after they work for a while. It's our money that we invest into causing Social Security to be a blessing for millions of the American people for decades now. Libertarian extremists and far-right people mention that we shouldn't be compelled to invest in anything. That is a lie as human beings are compelled to do many things. We are compelled to not commit murder, fraud, and other evils or people will go to prison. Therefore, compulsory action that is just is not evil. It is evil to use compulsion in unjust ways like forcing people to do evil. There is another scandal too. We know that Ginni Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas, was involved directly in efforts to overturn the 2020 legal election. Her consulting firms will gain if Trump is re-elected. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has refused to recuse himself from the Trump Presidential immunity case. No President has unlimited immunity to do anything under the sun. Promoting great unions is also important. The reason is that the share of national income going to the richest 10 percent was the lowest (and shared to the lower 90 percent highest) when union membership was at its highest. As unions have weakened, economic inequality has grown. The chaos in Boeing has to do with when in the early 2000's, Wall Street pushed Boeing to outsource manufacturing to avoid quality production from a unionized, experienced workforce. 

Toronto

Life keeps on existing. I want to mention about the culture and essence of Toronto for a long time. Canada has a rich history that should be explained to the masses of the people. Being 40 years old now is certainly a blessing and an opportunity to write more of the truth. Toronto is a city with a unique history and legacy. It has millions of people being one of the most diverse of multicultural cities in the world during the 21st century. In Toronto, we have Afro-Caribbean people, Native Americans, French people, Indian people, Latino human beings, Jewish people, and people of every background. Toronto is also home to some of the most prominent, famous people in the world from celebrities, musicians, artists, architects, engineering, inventors, etc. With a population of almost 3 million human beings, Toronto is the most populous city in Canada (in the province of Ontario) and the fourth most populous city in the great continent of North America. Toronto is part of the Golden Horeshoe, an urban agglomeration of about 9.7 million people around the western end of Lake Ontario. The Grater Toronto Area proper has a population of about 6.7 million too. People in Toronto know about the Ontario Legislative Building, the Toronto Sign and City Hall the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, and the Casa Loma. Toronto, as a name, came from (linguistically) the Mohawk word called taronto (the name of a channel between Lakes Simcoe and Couchiching). Also, it is important to realize that Toronto is an epicenter of an enormous number of cultural institutions like festivals (including Carnival), public events, entertainment districts, sports locations, national historic sites, and it's a city that attracts over 43 million tourists each year. As a technology hub, Toronto is massively growing as a tech city indeed. 

 

 

The History of Toronto

The history of Toronto has a long history. Toronto experienced glacial ice throughout the Last Glacial Period, with the glacial ice retreating from the area during the Late Glacial warming period from ca. 13,000 B.C. After the Last Glacial Period, Toronto's waterfront shifted with the growth. There was the contraction of glacial Lake Iroquois. The area witnessed its first human settlers in ca. 9,000 - 8,500 B.C. These settlers traveled large distances in family-sized bands and sustained themselves on caribou, mammoths, mastodons, and smaller animals in the tundra and Boreal Forest. Many of their archaeological remains lie in present-day Lake Ontario, with the historic coastline of Lake Iroquois situated 20 km. (or 12 miles) south of Toronto during this period. As the climate warmed in 6,000 B.C., the environment of Toronto shifted from a subarctic to a temperate continental climate. The Toronto waterfront also changed dramatically during this period, with erosion from the Scarborough Bluffs accumulating, and rising water levels from Lake Ontario creating a peninsula that would later become the Toronto Islands. First Nations fishing camps were established in the waterways of Toronto as early as 1000 B.C. By 500 AD., there were about 5000 people who lived in each other three major rivers of Toronto (Don, Humber, and Rouge River). As the climate warmed in 6,000 B.C., the environment of Toronto shifted from a subarctic to a temperate continental climate. The Toronto waterfront also changed dramatically during this period, with erosion from the Scarborough Bluffs accumulating, and rising water levels from Lake Ontario creating a peninsula that would later become the Toronto Islands. By 600 A.D., there were new crops in the region like corn, sunflowers, and tobacco. 

 

After 600 A.D, the new crops saw changes in the area of Toronto, the change in diet, and the creation of semi-permanent villages (that were used to farm these crops). The people of these semi-permanent villages moved out during parts of the year to hunt, fish, and gather other goods to supplement their farming. The earliest known Iroquoian semi-permanent villages date to about 900 A.D. Iroquoian villages during this period were located on high, fortified grounds, with access to wetlands and waterways to facilitate hunting, fishing, trade, and military operations. Their villages typically stood in place for around 10 to 20 years, before the inhabitants relocated to a new site. Typically, these villages would cycle through many sites but return to the same areas repeatedly. This lessened the impact on surrounding flora and fauna, allowing hunting and agriculture to be utilized sustainably. Many Iroquoian villages date back to the 1200's and have been excavated in Toronto, including an ossuary in Scarborough. From the 1300s to the 1500s, the Iroquoian inhabitants of the area migrated north of Toronto, joining the developing Huron-Wendat Confederacy. During this period, the Huron-Wendat Confederacy used Toronto as a hinterland for hunting, with the Toronto Passage continuing to be used as a north–south route. The northeast portion of Toronto also held two 14th-century Iroquoian burial mounds, known today as Taber Hill. Europeans didn't visit Southern Ontario during the 17th century. European goods did start to make its way into the region as early as the late 1500's. 

During the 17th century, nearly half of Southern Ontario's First Nations population was wiped out from as a result of the transmission of communicable diseases between Europeans and First Nation groups. The population loss, along with the desire to secure furs for trade, saw the Haudenosaunee Confederacy to the south invade the area and attack the Huron-Wendat Confederacy. The Haudenosaunee ultimately defeated the Huron-Wendat in the mid-1600s, and the Huron-Wendat fled as refugees, were killed, or were forcibly adopted into the Haudenosaunee. After the Haudenosaunee secured the region, they established several settlements on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The Seneca (one of the five Haudenosaunee nations) established two settlements in present-day Toronto, Teiaiagon, near the Humber River, and Ganatsekwyagon near the Rouge River. The two communities provided the Haudenosaunee control of the north–south passage in Toronto. Roman Catholic missionaries visited the two settlements in the 1660s and 1670s. The two Seneca settlements were abandoned by 1687. After the Haudenosaunee left, the Mississaugas moved in and established villages in the area in the late 17th century. The first European to set foot on the shores of Lake Ontario in the area of Toronto may have been the French explorer Etienne Brule, taking the Toronto Passage from Huronia in 1615. This claim is disputed by several scholars, who suggest that Brûlé took a more westerly route and reached Lake Erie, as opposed to Lake Ontario. However, Europeans were active in the Toronto area by the 1660s, with missionaries visiting First Nations settlements in the area. 

By the 18th century, Toronto became an important location for French fur traders, given its proximity to the Toronto Passage. In 1720, Captain Alexandre Dagneau established Fort Douville on the Humber River, near the shore of Lake Ontario. The trading post was built to divert First Nations traders from British trading posts to the south of Toronto. The success of Fort Douville prompted the British to build a larger trading post in Oswego, New York. The completion of Fort Oswego in 1726 led the French to abandon their first trading post in Toronto. The French made another trading post in 1750 on the Humber River. It was enough to cause the Rench to make Fort Rouillé, at present-day Exhibition Place in 1751. After the British captured Fort Niagara in July 1759, Fort Rouillé was destroyed by its French occupants, who withdrew to Montreal. In 1760, Robert Rogers, with an armed force of two hundred men and a flotilla of fifteen whaleboats came to secure the Toronto area for the British. The Treaty of Paris of 1763 formally ended the Seven Years' War and saw New France ceded to the British. This included the Pays d'en Haut region of New France, the area containing present-day Toronto. 

European settlement in the western half of the colony of Quebec was limited before 1775, amounting to only a few families in the area. However, in the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War, the area saw an influx of settlers, known as the United Empire Loyalists; American colonists who either refused to accept being divorced from the Crown or who felt unwelcome in the new republic of the United States. Many loyalists fled from the United States to the mostly unsettled lands north of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario; some had fought in the British Army and were paid with land in the region.

These early immigrants originated from the midland region of the United States. They valued pluralism, were organized around the middle class, were suspicious of top-down government interventions, and were politically moderate. It has been argued that these immigrants' attitudes laid the foundation for Southern Ontario's (and by extension Toronto's) existing pluralistic and politically moderate culture. 

The signatures here show the parties that ratified the 1805 indenture to the Toronto Purchase, an agreement initially made in 1787.

By 1786, Lord Dorchester came to Quebec City as Governor in Chief of British North America. He wanted to deal with the Loyalists after the U.S. War of Independence. At first, Dorchester suggested opening the new Canada West as districts under the Quebec government, but the British Government made known its intention to split the Province of Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada. Dorchester began organizing for the new province of Upper Canada, including a capital. Dorchester's first choice was Kingston but was aware of the number of Loyalists in the Bay of Quinte and Niagara areas and chose instead the location north of the Bay of Toronto, midway between the settlements and 30 miles (48 km) from the US. Dorchester purchased more than 250,000 acres of land from the Mississauga in 1787 under the Royal Proclamation of 1763. After surveying the land, the Mississauga objected to the purchase, and it was declared invalid. A revision to the Toronto Purchase was made in 1805, but this agreement too fell into dispute and was only eventually settled two centuries later in 2010 for CA$145 million. A townsite was surveyed in 1788 by Captain Gother Mann, and laid out in a gridiron, with government and military buildings around a central square. The purchase did not include the Rouge River valley, yet to be settled. More Loyalists came into the western part of Quebec, including the Toronto area. The Constitutional Act of 1791 was passed to deal with the issues by splitting the colony into two.  The eastern portion of Quebec became the Province of Lower Canada, and the western portion of Quebec (including Toronto) became the Province of Upper Canada. A provisional Upper Canada government was set up in Newark (today's Niagara-on-the-Lake) in 1791. 

Back then, Toronto was known as the Town of York from 1793 to 1834. In May 1793, Lieutenant-Colonel John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor of the newly organized province of Upper Canada, visited Toronto for the first time. Simcoe was unhappy with the then-capital of Upper Canada Newark and proposed moving it to the site of present-day London, Ontario but was dissuaded by the difficulty of building a road to the location. Rejecting Kingston, the choice of British Governor Lord Dorchester, the Toronto purchase site was then chosen by Simcoe on July 29, 1793, as the temporary capital of Upper Canada. Fort York had a natural harbor being formed in 1793. The area had 10 square blocks, closer to the eastern end of the harbor. This is near Parliament Street. The ten blocks are known as the Old Town neighborhood today. During Simcoe's time in Toronto, two main roads were laid out in the city: Dundas Street, named after Henry Dundas, and Yonge Street, named after Sir George Yonge, the British Secretary of State for War. The Queen's Rangers and conscripted German settlers hacked out the wagon path of Yonge Street as far north as the Holland River. Government buildings were erected near Parliament and Front Street. Simcoe had hoped to found a university in York during his time but was successful in establishing law courts in York. There was slavery in Toronto back then. Simcoe wanted a gradual abolition of slavery, passing legislation banning any further slaves, and the children of slaves would be freed when they reached their 25th birthday. Due to ill health, Simcoe returned to England in July 1796 on leave but did not return and he gave up his position in 1799. By this time, York was estimated to have a population of 240 persons.

Institutions grew in Toronto from the St. James Cathedral and St. Lawrence Market. There was the War of 1812 when American forces led by Zebulon Pike attacked York. After the British-Native force failed to prevent the American landings (in present-day Parkdale), British forces ordered a withdrawal, realizing that defense was impossible. Upon their departure, British forces rigged Fort York's gunpowder magazine to explode. The blast, powerful enough to perforate eardrums and hemorrhage the lungs of some American soldiers massed outside the Fort was said to have rattled windows 50 kilometers across the lake in Niagara. It exploded as the American forces were about to enter the fort, killing Pike and a contingent of his men. In the following days, American forces sacked the town and burned a number of properties including the Parliament Buildings. The town remained occupied until May 8, when American forces departed the settlement. Toronto was attacked on April 27, 1813. American forces attacked Canada again during the War of 1812 too. Toronto was attacked three times. After the Napoleonic Wars, York experienced an influx of poor immigrants from the United Kingdom, which was in a depression. The area to the northeast of St. James' became a slum. York had a red-light district on Lombard Street, and numerous taverns sprang up around St. Lawrence Market. The modern-day city of Toronto was incorporated on March 6, 1834. Citizens were at public meetings at Mark Square on July 29, 1834. Many revolutionaries (led by MacKenzie) had an insurrection in 1837 being suppressed by British authorities and Canadian volunteer units at Montgomery's Tavern on Yonge Street. In 1841, the first gas streetlamps appeared in Toronto. Over 100 were installed that year, in time for author Charles Dickens' visit in May 1842. Dickens described Toronto as "full of life, motion, business and improvement. The streets are well-paved and lighted with gas." Dickens was on a North American tour. There were tensions among political parties like the Tories and religions (between Catholics and Protestants that would end by the 20th century). 

Toronto's population grew rapidly in the late 19th century, increasing from 30,000 in 1851 to 56,000 in 1871, 86,400 in 1881, and 181,000 in 1891. The total urbanized population was not counted as it is today to include the greater area, those just outside the city limits made for a significantly higher population. The 1891 figure also included population counted after recent annexations of many smaller, adjacent towns such as Parkdale, Brockton Village, West Toronto, East Toronto, and others. Immigration, high birth rates, and influx from the surrounding rural population accounted for much of this growth, although immigration had slowed substantially by the 1880s if compared to the generation prior. Rail lines came to the waterfront harbor area in the 1850s. A planned "Esplanade" land-fill project to create a promenade along the harbor, instead became a new right-of-way for the rail lines, which extended to new wharves on the harbor. Three railway companies built lines to Toronto: the Grand Trunk Railway, (GTR) the Great Western Railway, and the Northern Railway of Canada. The GTR built the first Union Station in 1858 in the downtown area. The advent of the railway dramatically increased the numbers of immigrants arriving and commerce, as did the Lake Ontario steamers and schooners entering the port. The railway lands would dominate the central waterfront for the next 100 years. In 1873, GTR built a second Union Station at the same location. Toronto further grew with a streetcar network, railways, sewers being formed, medical schools, the growth of the police system, and the forming of Toronto Fire Services in 1874. Irish immigrants came to Toronto after the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849). German and French immigrants came into Toronto too along with Jewish people, Italians, Chinese people, and immigrants from Eastern Europe. 

Toronto grew to be bounded by the Humber River to the west and the Don River to the east by 1900. Many rivers and creeks in downtown were transformed into culverts and sewers. Toronto saw medical schools like Trinity Medical School and the Toronto School of Medicine (TSM). TSM became the medical faculty of the University of Toronto. There were emergency telephone call boxes linked to a central dispatcher. There were bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles that shifted the police from walking the beat to fast reaction to reported incidents, including handling automobile traffic. By the 20th century, Toronto's business center moved west of the historic Town of York site. A new downtown to the west of Younge and King Streets was built. After the new downtown was heavily destroyed in the Great Toronto Fire of 1904, it was quickly rebuilt with new taller buildings. There was a single Union Station built. There was the construction of the Prince Edward Viaduct and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) subway. Businesses grow. In 1923, two researchers at the University of Toronto, J.J.R. Macleod (1876–1935) and Frederick Banting (1891–1941), shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their 1921 discovery of insulin, putting Toronto on the world map of advanced science.

From 1926 to 1936, Toronto lawyer, financier, and practical joker Charles Vance Millar created the Great Stork Derby, a contest in which women had to give birth to the most babies within a ten-year period after his death, to qualify for an unusual bequest in his will for a residue of his significant estate. During World War II, Toronto became a major center for Canada's military. The Exhibition Place was taken over for military training and deployment. The Island Airport was taken over for training by the Royal Norwegian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Civilian manufacturing companies, such as Inglis, were converted to wartime production of armaments. At Malton Airport and Downsview Airport, new aviation factories built many fighters and bombers to be used in Europe. After World War II, a continuous influx of newcomers from around the world and Canadians from Atlantic Canada contributed to the growth of Toronto. The large numbers of new Canadians helped Toronto's population swell to over one million by 1951, and double again to over two million, by 1971. The demographics of Toronto changed as a result also, as many immigrants were from countries other than the United Kingdom. The ethnic diversity grew and saw the development of enclaves such as Little Italy, Little Portugal, and two new Chinatowns. In 1967, the first "Caribana" festival was held celebrating the culture of the West Indies.

The provincial government created the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto, a metropolitan government that incorporated numerous local municipalities in 1954. The Metro Toronto government took over the construction and maintenance of region-wide infrastructure, building water treatment plants, roads, public transit, and expressways, to facilitate the growth of the suburbs. In 1954, Hurricane Hazel swept through Toronto, causing significant flooding; 81 people were killed. As a result, building on floodplains was banned, new flood control works such as dams and flood channels were built, and the lands of floodplains were cleared of buildings, and conserved as parklands and conservation areas.

In 1954, the original stretch of the subway was completed from Union to Eglinton stations on the Yonge line (later numbered as Line 1). This was followed by the construction of the Bloor-Danforth and University Avenue subways, connecting the core to the suburbs to the east and west. The Metro Government built the Gardiner Expressway and the DVP expressways in the late 1950s and early 1960s but plans to build a large network of expressways throughout the city died in 1971 with the cancellation of the Spadina Expressway. The new "urban renewal" movement made its influence felt in Toronto. Large areas, deemed "slums", were cleared. This included the areas of Regent Park, Lawrence Heights, and Alexandria Park. The streets and small homes were replaced by mega-blocks with limited streets and apartment buildings. The experiment in social housing would improve the number of affordable units available, at the expense of a large increase in the budgets of Metro and Toronto to maintain the buildings. By the 2000s, Toronto would be in serious arrears on maintenance, and in the 2000s, Toronto started to dismantle the large projects and replace them with designs more resembling regular neighborhoods. 

During the 1970s, the population of Toronto continued to grow and surpassed that of Montreal. In 1971 the populations of the respective Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) for Toronto and Montreal stood at 2.7 million and 2.6 million. By 1981, Toronto had surpassed Montreal with a population of 3 million versus 2.8 million for Montreal. Factors for the growth of Toronto over Montreal included strong immigration, increasingly by Asians and people of African descent, the increasing size of the auto industry in Southern Ontario, due to the signing of the Auto Pact with the US in 1965, a calmer political environment (Quebec experienced two referendums on separation during these years, one in 1980 and the other in 1995), and lower personal income taxes than in Quebec. By the 1970's, there were more institutions built like new Toronto City Hall was opened; the Eaton Centre shopping and office complex; four new bank towers were built at the intersection of Bay and King Streets, the "MINT corners" and new towers along University Avenue. The new "urban renewal" movement made its influence felt in Toronto. Large areas, deemed "slums", were cleared. This included the areas of Regent Park, Lawrence Heights, and Alexandria Park. The streets and small homes were replaced by mega-blocks with limited streets and apartment buildings. The experiment in social housing would improve the number of affordable units available, at the expense of a large increase in the budgets of Metro and Toronto to maintain the buildings. By the 2000s, Toronto would be in serious arrears on maintenance, and in the 2000s, Toronto has started to dismantle the large projects and replace them with designs more resembling regular neighborhoods.

Toronto had been the junior partner in Canadian business to Montreal historically. This changed as Toronto grew rapidly after World War II. Another factor was the growing nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly with the success of the Parti Québécois in 1976, which systematically alienated Anglophone businesses. By 1995, Toronto controlled 48% of Canada's financial assets and 44% of the non-financial corporate assets, compared to 28% and 22% by Montreal. In the 1990s, Toronto was affected by the country-wide recession. As well, the senior-level governments of Canada and Ontario downloaded the delivery of services. The Ontario government transferred a section of the Queen Elizabeth Way to the Metro Gardiner Expressway, canceled the Eglinton subway line, and trimmed transit, housing, and welfare subsidies. The Canadian government formed independent agencies to manage the Toronto International Airport and the Toronto Harbour; the latter was particularly controversial to Toronto as the Toronto City Council wanted to take over the harbor as part of waterfront revitalization efforts. As well, the Canadian government eliminated its public housing programs. These changes would lead to budget crises for the Toronto government of the 2000s.

On January 1, 1998, Toronto was greatly enlarged, not through traditional annexations, but as an amalgamation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower-tier constituent municipalities; East York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, and the original city itself. They were dissolved by an act of the Government of Ontario and formed into a single-tier City of Toronto (colloquially dubbed the "megacity") replacing all six governments.

The merger was proposed as a cost-saving measure by the Progressive Conservative provincial government under Mike Harris. The announcement touched off vociferous public objections. In March 1997, a referendum in all six municipalities produced a vote of more than 3:1 against amalgamation. However, as the referendum had little to no legal effect, the Harris government could thus legally ignore the results of the referendum and did so in April when it tabled the City of Toronto Act. Both opposition parties held a filibuster in the provincial legislature, proposing more than 12,000 amendments that allowed residents on streets of the proposed megacity take part in public hearings on the merger and adding historical designations to the streets. This only delayed the bill's inevitable passage, given the PCO's majority.

North York mayor Mel Lastman became the first "megacity" mayor, and the 62nd Mayor of Toronto, with his electoral victory. Lastman gained national attention after multiple snowstorms, including the January Blizzard of 1999, dumped 118 cm of snow and effectively immobilized the city. He called in the Canadian Army to aid snow removal by use of their equipment to augment police and emergency services. The move was ridiculed by some in other parts of the country, fueled in part by what was perceived as a frivolous use of resources.  This only delayed the bill's inevitable passage, given the PCO's majority.  

According to a 2004 United Nations report, Toronto has the second-highest proportion of immigrants in the world, after Miami, Florida. Almost half of Toronto's residents were born outside Canada. The resulting cultural diversity is reflected in the numerous ethnic neighborhoods of the city. The proliferation of shops and restaurants derived from cultures around the world makes the city one of the most exciting places in the world to visit. Moreover, the relative tranquility that mediates between such diverse populations is a testament to the perceived tolerant character of Canadian society. Official photo of world leaders at the 2010 G20 Toronto summit. Toronto hosted the G20 summit on June 26–27, 2010, but it was not without protests. The protests were met with one of the most expensive temporary security operations seen in Canada and resulted in the largest mass arrests in Canadian history. The city continues to grow and attract immigrants. A study by Toronto Metropolitan University showed that Toronto was the fastest-growing city in North America. The city added 77,435 people between July 2017 and July 2018. The Toronto metropolitan area was the second-fastest-growing metropolitan area in North America, adding 125,298 persons, compared to 131,767 in Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington in Texas. The large growth in the Toronto metropolitan area is attributed to international migration to Toronto. Is their racism and oppression in Toronto? Yes. The common myth is that Canada has no racism. Racism and all forms of oppression in general exist worldwide. On March 23, 2020, a state of emergency was declared in Toronto by Mayor John Tory, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. This came six days after Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in the province, which included the prohibition of all public events of over 50 people (later reduced to 5 people on March 28), closure of bars and restaurants (with the exception that restaurants may continue to provide takeout and delivery services) as well as libraries, theatres, cinemas, schools, and daycares.

The Culture of Toronto

Toronto's culture is filled with diverse, profound excitement, a multicultural ethos, and a powerful sense of history. Toronto has a large immigrant population that brings a great cultural essence to the city too. Many skyscrapers, musicians, parks, zoos, and sports facilities stretch all over Toronto. The city has the largest collection of Victorian-era industrial architecture in North America and the largest urban car-free community in North America. Kensington Market is a multicultural neighborhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a historic site in Toronto. There is the annual Kensington Market Festival of Lights with a parade. There is the Carnival parade in the area with giant puppets, firebreathers, stilt walkers, and samba musicians. It was created by Ida Carnevali in 1987. The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious events of its kind in the world. We know about Caribana. This is a Caribbean cultural festival being the largest street festival in North America. Caribana represents a pan-Caribbean Carnival event being frequented by over 1. 3 million visitors every year. The festival's final parade and overall attendance can reach as high as 2 million people. It starts in July. It coincides with the August 1 Emancipation Day that commemorates the emancipation of slaves of African descent. The King and Queen Showcase, King of the Band, J'ouvert, food celebrations, galas, and other components are found in Caribana constantly. It has existed since 1967 as a gift from Canada's Caribbean community. We all salute our Caribbean Brothers and Sisters. Many people have visited Canada too from Malcolm X to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 

People have experienced fun in the Beat Shoe Museum, the Aga Khan Museum, and the Hockey Hall of Fame where hockey is a cultural staple in Canada in general. Famous musicians are from Toronto or live in the city like Peaches, Rush, Drake, Jessie Reyez, Deborah Cox, Shawn Mendez, Alessia Cara, and The Weeknd. Art is promoted at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, John Street Round House Institute, TD Gallery of Unit Art, etc. The Toronto Music Garden was designed by musician Yo-Yo Ma as a consultant that has free orchestras in the summer. Many neighborhoods in Toronto are Forest Hill, Rosedale, Moore Park, The Annex, and other locations. The Trillium Park and the Black Creek Pioneer Village are famous parks in Toronto. The Entertainment District has many theater groups, galleries, and other high-culture attractions. Punk, rock, and R&B Music (from Glenn Lewis, Melanie Fiona, Daniel Caesar, and other people) are found in Toronto. The Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC, and the Toronto Argonauts were some of the professional sports teams in Toronto. 

Epilogue

For over 150 years, Toronto, Canada has been in existence. Through grit and determination, Toronto has grown to be the largest city in Canada in terms of population. It is a city filled with technological growth, a long history, and a multicultural population. That is why diversity is part of strength. A city filled with immigrants, black people, Native Americans, and human beings of every color and background, Toronto possesses a reach essence of human ingenuity. Canada is the northern neighbor to the United States of America. It has ten provinces and three territories that extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean plus northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second-largest country by total area with the world's longest coastline. Canada's border with America is the world's longest international land border. Today, it has over 40 million human beings who live in the country. Being part of a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy (in the Westminster tradition), its governmental culture is different from many nations of the world. Canada's economic infrastructure is heavily reliant on its abundant natural resources and developed international trade networks. As an international city of business, Toronto is constantly growing culturally, economically, and socially. People have their leisure in Toronto by joining restaurants, museums, party locations, and Carnival. Historic places like the Ontario Legislative Building, the Toronto Sign and City Hall, the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, Casa Loma, the Royal Ontario Museum, and Scarborough Bluffs have inspired tons of people for years and decades. Therefore, Toronto is a great city for humans to live, visit, and enjoy themselves. 

By Timothy