A Toronto man has taken to Twitter to voice his issue with the construction he's facing -- quite literally -- when he stands on his balcony in the evening.
Jon de Leon shared a clip of the loud (and bright) work that was taking place across from his balcony at about 9:15 pm last night. The video, reportedly captured around 8:30 pm, shows him pacing on his deck while the piercing sound of drills and the flashing of sparks fly wildly behind him.
As the labour drones on, de Leon expresses how he feels about it.
"Woo! Look at that look at that! Woah, look at that, it's construction, construction at 8:30 at night. Woo! They're just going right at it. There's nothing I can do," he exclaims with a (presumably feigned) excitement.
"Nothing I can do, because... This is a Doug Ford thing. He decided that it's okay for construction to go on until 10-o-clock at night, and as early as 6-o-clock in the morning. That's just the way it is. I called 311, I called my city councillor. There's nothing they can do. Nothing. Absolutely nothing I can do. Woo!!!"
READ: Ford Expected to Lift “Essential Workplace Limits on Construction”
After being tagged in the tweet, Toronto City Councillor Josh Matlow wrote a direct response to de Leon's video.
"The effect this decision is having on your life is shameful. And I’ll keep fighting until the province changes it," he said. "But I must say, your video was completely awesome."
And Matlow didn't stop there. In addition to his direct reply, the councillor also retweeted de Leon's video, paired with a statement of his own.
"Premier Ford, listen to him and return Toronto’s ability to restrict construction noise hours."
Finally, the councillor has put forward a motion requesting the province give back control of construction by-laws as granted in the City of Toronto Act. Specifically, the motion refers to a Limitation enacted on April 7 that does not allow the City to "regulate or prohibit noise in connection with construction to the detriment of residents."
Throughout the pandemic, the provincial government has adjusted hours of construction for essential projects, including an early-April extension that permitted construction to run for 24 hours a day. In May, that "essential-project-only" requirement was lifted, broadening the scope of what types of construction projects could be worked on.
The city, too, has cited COVID-19 as an “unprecedented opportunity” to accelerate construction projects as, for a time, traffic volumes on Toronto’s roads were down between 45 and 65%.
Toronto Storeys has reached out to Jon de Leon for comment.
