Yes, it's true ...

I announced today that I’ve accepted a front office job with the New York Knicks.

Believe me, this was not an easy decision. Among other things, I have had a really rewarding and fulfilling time here at the Board of Trade. It’s not often in life that you get to do a job where you know you are contributing to something so important.

However, I just could not pass up this opportunity to get back to the sport that I love and to rejoin my old friend Isiah Thomas in the NBA.

I’m very proud to have been involved in the Board and to have worked with such outstanding volunteers, business leaders and dedicated staff. They’re really great people and I’m going to miss working with them.

Most of all, I’m proud of the progress we made together in helping make Toronto a better place to live, work, invest and raise a family.

We’re still working out details of the transition. I’m not sure what’s going to happen to this blog, but I think the Board of Trade will be doing something like this in the future.

I know that the Board of Trade is going to keep doing great things after I’m gone – heck, I’ve only been here for two of the 161 years that the organization’s been around! – and I wish the Board and my successor nothing but great success in the future.

Finally, I want to thank all of the people in Toronto who have made my role at the Board of Trade so enjoyable -- the supportive notes and phone calls, people stopping me on the street to chat, even people like the Mayor and Premier giving me an opportunity to help make a difference.

As I've said before, there are a lot of good reasons for me to love this place and I’m not going to be cutting my ties here. I will still have my house and family here (my wife’s in her first year of law school and my son Gabe is playing on Stouffville Clippers hockey team – undefeated, by the way!). I’m still involved in projects like HoopDome at Downsview Park. So, I’ll be commuting regularly.

Toronto is a great city and while I have to say goodbye to the Board of Trade, I’m not about to let go of my adopted hometown.

A Dump To Call Our Own

So, here's an interesting 'before and after' picture ...

BEFORE: Dozens of trucks a day haul Toronto's trash to Michigan.

AFTER: Dozens of trucks a day haul Toronto's trash to St. Thomas, Ontario.

Is there any real difference, outside of the fact that the trucks will be turning off Highway 401 a few hours sooner?

Well, yes, it is important that we have more control over how our trash is being handled. But the bigger, long-term question of what to do with the million tonnes of garbage we produce every year is not answered by the controversial purchase of our own garbage dump.

The National Post ran a longer piece from me on this topic over the weekend - you can click here to read it.

The main point is that we should look at acquiring this new garbage dump as a temporary solution. It's bought us time to find a real, sustainable, local, environmentally responsible answer.

Let's not pretend the crisis is over, when all we've done is find a bigger, more convenient hole to throw our trash into.