Toronto Council meets today! On Groundhog Day. Someone should buy my movie script about this. Until that happens though, I’ll cover the meeting with posts and jokes and vote results in this thread. Streaming live in a few minutes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwvBQb4Wtco
Council’s first item after some paper-shuffling will be about the creation of a non-police crisis response pilot project. After that, they’ll talk SmartTrack. I previewed both items and the whole agenda in this week’s issue of @cityhallwatcher: https://graphicmatt.substack.com/p/groundhog-council
New add to the agenda: a report from the Solicitor and the Chief Planner on the Foundry site, which includes this table showing all the things the provincial government was supposed to do — but didn’t do — before starting demolition. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2021/cc/bgrd/backgroundfile-163205.pdf (PDF)
Council votes unanimously to start recruiting a Board of Directors for the new Seniors Housing Corporation, which will be spun off from TCHC. 26-0. (Nunziata is a yes too. There was a glitch.)
(Between Councillor Robinson’s leave and Karygiannis getting kicked off Council a couple of times, I believe the last time there was a Council vote with all 26 members voting was October 2019. A milestone!)
So here’s the expected order of events for Council: 1) Non-police crisis response pilot; 2) SmartTrack; 3) Foundry site; 4) Yonge Street transformation. With a lunch break somewhere in there too.
Councillor Stephen Holyday seems to have missed an opportunity to vote to kill a tree. Staff recommendation to deny approval to remove this blue spruce at 84 Medland Crescent has carried on agenda consent. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.TE22.7
Council is on the non-police crisis response pilot. The cliffnotes: three geographic areas (northwest, northeast, downtown), plus Indigenous-led program, where crisis workers would respond to non-emergency calls. Implemented next year, run from 2022 through 2025. Expands in 2026.
Points of contention: - The speed and scale. Why not start with bigger program? Why slow roll-out? - Program budget (about $7-8 million a year) is not coming out of police budget. Why not?
Councillor Jaye Robinson asks the question: why is the cost of implementing this crisis response program not being an offset by a reduction in the police budget? Denise Campbell, ED of Social Development, Finance and Administration, says that could be a convo for future years.
Campbell says the city is looking at using 211, instead of 911, as the number to call for non-police crisis response. Says they’ve heard from people who worry about calling 911 because of relationship with police.
Mayor John Tory moves a long motion, that includes this bit about having staff look at expediting implementation of the crisis response program.
Councillor Josh Matlow moves for a report on adding another pilot project to this crisis response program, with a city-run program operated out of a facility like an EMS station.
The pilot proposed by staff would see the crisis response run by community agencies, not the city directly, so Matlow is looking for a city-run program to evaluate how that works in comparison.
Budget Chief Gary Crawford seems unhappy with Matlow’s motion, saying it comes too late in the budget process for there to be time to reasonably consider it. They’ll be voting on this and other motions soon, but first: lunch. Council will return at 2 p.m.
A little late, but Council is back from lunch. There are 47 items left on the agenda, with a couple still to be added. They’ll start votes on the crisis response item soon. Stream is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwvBQb4Wtco
Councillor Mike Colle, a big proponent of the CAHOOTS crisis response model from Eugene, Oregon, has a motion calling for staff to develop “a more extensive and systematic multi-year plan” for non-police crisis response, taking cues from that Oregon program.
Full text of Colle’s motion, which also calls for federal and provincial matching funds. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.EX20.1
Councillor Ana Bailao has a motion asking for a report in Q4 of this year on other ways to provide non-police response to people who need help.
Councillor Cynthia Lai adds a motion that’d make sure all public info materials about this crisis response project are available in multiple languages.
Now Councillor Wong-Tam is up, with a motion calling for an annual report on any gaps in support services, provincial funding for those gaps, and some consultation with the police about reallocating their budget to pay for this crisis response effort. https://x.com/TorontoCouncil/status/1356693796478738436
Councillor Mike Layton: “The more I’ve learned from experts and advocates, the more it’s clear that the current level of policing is too high. That we’ve come to rely on police for too much. That we’ve lost sight of how we should show compassion for people in crisis.”
Councillor Gord Perks says he’ll support the program, but expresses grave concerns about speed at which process is moving. “I cannot believe that anyone would describe slow-walking, through pilots … as a professional response. It’s unprofessional. It’s us failing in our duty.”
Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong says his constituents do not want to see any police budget defunding. “There may be certain pockets in the downtown area that want to defund the police, but I can tell you in the suburbs that community safety is absolutely important.”
Councillor Paula Fletcher shows her colleagues a CBC News video report on Michael Eligon’s 2011 death. He was a Toronto man in crisis, wearing a hospital gown and holding a pair of scissors. Police were called. They shot him, killed him.
The Eligon shooting was 2012, actually. (Timestamp in police dashcam video was wrong.) Here’s a Star timeline: https://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2012/03/02/toronto_police_shooting_of_michael_eligon_a_timeline.html
Police board member Councillor Frances Nunziata says she’s been disappointed by all the “negative comments” about the police from some councillors during this debate. She says her community wants more police.
Councillor Michael Thompson moves to amend Matlow’s motion so it longer calls for the report on a city-run crisis response program to come as part of the 2021 budget, but instead come at the end of the year.
Time to vote! Tory’s motion that directs staff to look for ways to speed up implementation of the non-police crisis response program CARRIES 26-0.
Tory’s motion calling for the City Manager to work with the Inspector General of Policing on police reform efforts CARRIES 26-0.
Councillor Michael Thompson’s motion amending the Matlow motion so it no longer asks for a report on a city-run crisis response program during the budget process CARRIES 21-5.
But whoops! Councillor Mike Layton says he voted the wrong way. Re-do of the Thompson amendment of the Matlow motion CARRIES 20-6.
Matlow’s motion as amended, which now calls for a report on a city-run program by end of year, CARRIES 24-2.
Councillor Mike Colle’s motion calling for an ongoing review of police budget impacts as crisis response programs are rolled out CARRIES 22-4.
Colle’s motion calling for staff to develop a more extensive plan for crisis response and report back in October CARRIES 26-0.
Councillor Bailao’s motion calling for a report in Q4 2021 on other non-police response programs the city could implement or enhance CARRIES 26-0.
Councillor Lai’s motion calling for multilingual materials for the crisis response program CARRIES 26-0.
Councillor Wong-Tam’s motion to report back annually on any gaps in mental health, housing services, etc revealed by crisis response program CARRIES 23-3.
Wong-Tam’s motion to ask the provincial government to provide funding for crisis response program and to fill funding gaps in mental health/recovery services CARRIES 26-0.
Wong-Tam’s motion to work with police to potentially reallocate funds from the police budget to support crisis response program CARRIES 22-4.
And the crisis response pilot project item, as amended, is ADOPTED by Council, 26-0.
And without even a chance to catch our breath, we’re on to the next item: SmartTrack. Councillor Cynthia Lai starts us off by asking staff if there’s going to be enough parking at Finch-Kennedy Station. Staff say there’s no parking included in the plan currently.
“What is SmartTrack anyway?” you might be wondering. Well, it’s complicated. It’s now these five stations on existing GO lines.
“What’s the difference between a SmartTrack station like King-Liberty and a GO Station like Spadina-Front?” you might be wondering. The answer involves distracting you by shouting something like “hey, look at that cute dog!” then running away real quick.
Council is being asked to approve a term sheet for these five SmartTrack stations today. Budget is $1.46 billion. “The Province will not fund any portion of the Program Budget but will be accountable for its expenditure in consultation with the City,” the report explains.
This’ll be a quick debate on SmartTrack. Mayor John Tory rounds things out. “This is something different than what I talked about in 2014,” the mayor says. “…but the bottom line is we’re getting five new transit stations.”
Tory finishes by referring to the “doubters” and “those with little faith” in SmartTrack: “I’m sure you will not want to come when I cut the ribbon in 2026.” He says it’ll be a big celebration. Guess he still pictures himself as mayor in 2026.
On a show of hands vote, Council APPROVES the SmartTrack item.
Up now: the Foundry site. The court ruling on Friday saved it from immediate demolition, but there’s still work to do to keep the heritage buildings. A panel of three judges will hear arguments on Feb 26. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.PH20.8
Wong-Tam moves to adopt confidential recommendations from the solicitor and chief planner re: fighting the province’s efforts to knock down the Foundry buildings.
When discussing MZOs, councillors so far partial to the Canadian “Zed.” I’m more of a “Zee” guy, though maybe that’s unpatriotic.
Speaking about MZOs, the mayor says “Zee”, then immediately corrects himself with a “Zed.” Politicians take this stuff very seriously.
So far unanimous criticism for my use of “Zee” instead of “Zed.” But here’s the thing: the alphabet song is very unsatisfying if you end it with “Zed.” Ruins the whole vibe. Harsh and sudden.
Councillor Wong-Tam’s motion to adopt confidential recommendations from solicitor and chief planner re: fighting to keep the Foundry buildings CARRIES 21-1.
Council decides to recess for the night. They’ll be back tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. to deal with the Yonge Street transformation, a Covid update and at least 42 other items.
As was foretold, Council has returned. Day two will kick off with a discussion of the COVID response, including a recommendation to the province for paid sick days. The Yonge Street item should follow soon after. Streaming live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axjPSPkP0WM
Technical issues are already brutal this morning, however. Network connections cutting out all over the place. “Should we all try disconnecting and reconnecting?” wonders Councillor Shelley Carroll. Nunziata suggests they take a quick break to allow IT staff to work it out.
Funnily enough, one of the items Council will debate later today will be the ConnectTO strategy to bring reliable fast internet to all corners of the city. Expect some “Hey, can we get some of that?” jokes.
Council is back! But then gone again. Nunziata says they are going to recess until 11 a.m. due to these technical issues. So, uh, see you then? Maybe?
Technical gremlins excised, Council has returned once more. Let’s see if it lasts.
So far as good. Council asking questions to staff about the recommendation to request province require employers to provide no less than five paid sick days a year in typical times, and ten paid sick days during emergencies like COVID. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.HL25.3
Councillor Nunziata asks if councillors can get a list of businesses who have been charged for violating COVID rules. MLS Director Carleton Grant say businesses aren’t named so they’re not “prejudiced before the courts as we move through charges.”
I don’t really follow the logic here. I can pull up the police website and find names of lots of people charged (but not convicted) of crimes. But names of businesses charged with violating COVID rules treated like a state secret.
Yep. Great point. https://x.com/SeriouslyTO1/status/1357016688303214592
Council debating how long their lunch break should be. Typically 90 minutes. Nunziata wants it to be 30 minutes, because of the tech issue delay. Councillor Holyday says that’s not giving anyone much time to get out and get food. Settled by vote. Lunch will be 30 minutes, 18-6.
Council’s back, but we’re not getting any audio over YouTube. The quiet is kind of nice, but can you fix, @TorontoCouncil?
Council now moving pandemic-related motions. Mayor John Tory moves a set of public health recommendations to extend Toronto’s COVID-related bylaws like mask wearing etc until June.
Councillor Nick Mantas moves his first-ever motion on a non-procedural item. Update your record books accordingly. The motion would request the feds make use of the ethnic media when sharing COVID info.
Councillor Michael Thompson moves that the provincial government require employers to provide paid sick leave at a duration prescribed by a medical professional, during emergency times like this one.
Thompson explains that he’s talked to people who had COVID who needed more than ten days to recover, so his motion seeks to address that.
Councillor Stephen Holyday has a motion deleting the board of health recommendations regarding paid sick leave. He wants to instead ask the provincial government to update the emergency response plan to consider financial supports for workers.
Holyday also brought a motion that’d stipulate paid sick leave only be available until vaccines are available to workers. He’s very concerned that mandatory paid sick leave will hurt businesses.
Councillor Michael Thompson’s motion has been revised slightly, after some discussion with his colleagues. Here’s the final text.
Councillor Holyday’s motion stipulating that paid sick leave and other additional supports for frontline workers only exist until vaccines are available FAILS 5-19.
There was mass confusion before that vote due to technical issues. System that displays the motions to councillors as they vote wasn’t working, so some councillors were voting blind. Not a great day for technology.
Holyday’s motion deleting the board of health recommendations regarding paid sick days FAILS 2-22.
Tory’s motion extending the COVID bylaws until June CARRIES via a show of hands. As does Mantas’ ethnic media motion. Same for Thompson’s motion requesting the prov to look at extended sick leave, beyond 10 days.
Councillor Holyday wants the section of the COVID-19 item endorsing paid sick days to be voted on separately. It CARRIES 24-2.
Remainder of the COVID update item CARRIES 26-0.
Up now: student nutrition. Lots of young students in Toronto rely on these programs, but it’s been challenging to feed ‘em during remote learning. Report requests the province provide funding. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.HL25.5
One option for student nutrition program for virtual learners is to distribute $50 grocery gift cards, which the report says could provide 30 days worth of “basic breakfasts.” Also looking at a “grab and go” option, where meal kits could be distributed.
That was quick. Student nutrition item carries via a show of hands. Another request to the province for $$$.
A motion from Perks and Wong-Tam requesting the province reinstate the moratorium on residential evictions — evictions are paused right now, but notices and hearings continue — CARRIES 24-1.
After some urging, Councillor Brad Bradford holds up his new baby as councillors wave and applaud.
After speeding through member motions, there are now 17 items left on this Council agenda. Speaker Nunziata asking whether councillors want to do the Yonge Street item now or an item about an LPAT appeal for Downsview Park.
Survey says: Downsview first. Sorry, @yongetomorrow. This item should be pretty darn quick, at least. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.CC28.10
Maybe not so quick. Councillor Anthony Perruzza wants to go into private session to discuss confidential legal recommendations attached to this item. So they do. Back soon.
Back in public session, Council votes unanimously, 24-0, to endorse confidential instructions re: an LPAT settlement for the Downsview Park lands. We should find out details soon.
And now, finally: Council was supposed to consider Yonge Tomorrow yesterday but will instead consider Yonge Tomorrow today. Watch Council’s debate over the future of downtown Yonge Street here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axjPSPkP0WM
The short version of what’s on the table here: there’s a very old watermain beneath Yonge Street that must be replaced, so the street will be dug up. While they’re doing that, staff propose wider sidewalks and areas that would be pedestrian-only most of the time.
The case for transforming downtown Yonge is that a majority of its users are pedestrians, but pedestrians don’t currently get much space.
Staff say while the design concept includes gates that would close sections of Yonge to car traffic (and talks about it being a daily thing) the details of the timing of the closures and the locations of gates will be refined further in the design process.
So I guess I should correct this tweet: not necessarily “most of the time.” Maybe some of the time? TBD. https://x.com/GraphicMatt/status/1357077246763270149
Councillor Stephen Holyday holds up a photo from the report of a street without curbs. “How do the cars keep from crashing into the stores and the people on the sidewalk?” he wonders aloud.
Play here seems to be to try to avoid a long debate wherein some suburban councillors focus on the timing and nature of any pedestrianization of Yonge Street. That can come later. Instead, focus is on physical design elements — location of curbs and width of elements, and so on.
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam moves for staff to look at ways to improve downtown Yonge in the interim — with things like expanded patios — as the Yonge Tomorrow plan goes through its design process.
Those interim measures are important, because the transformed Yonge is a long way off. Report says construction will run through 2023-2025+.
Councillor Stephen Holyday shows a live camera view of Yonge & Dundas. “Look, people are falling all over each other,” he says sarcastically. (It’s a pandemic.) He says he’s spent a lot of time on Yonge Street and he thinks there’s plenty of space.
Holyday is very concerned about the gates that would be installed to block off car traffic on sections of Yonge. “These gates are like bunny rabbits,” he says. They’ll multiply.
“If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Holyday. He encourages people to go on Street View and look at Yonge Street, saying there’s no reason to change the street design.
Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong also says he’s opposed to the Yonge transformation. “We’ve got a congestion problem in this city — the downtown belongs to EVERYBODY,” he says. “And we are making it worse to drive in this city.”
Minnan-Wong said more stuff along the same lines but I was distracted by what I think is Captain Picard in the background.
Councillor Brad Bradford gives his endorsement to the Yonge transformation, listing places along Yonge he often visited when he was younger. “Back when I had hair, I got my hair cut at House of Lords.” Says this project will be fantastic for the neighbourhood.
Councillor James Pasternak moves for design process to include stuff like drop-off areas, taxi stands, space for tour buses.
Councillor Mark Grimes says he has some concerns about the Yonge transformation and operational details, but is generally supportive of the plan. He’ll vote for it. This is going to pass easily.
Councillor Paul Ainslie is also supportive of transforming Yonge Street. “Hopefully like bunnies, we’ll see similar projects to this all over the city,” he says.
“Don’t get fussed by the noisy death rattle of auto-saurus. It’ll fade,” says Councillor Gord Perks, who is very much in favour of the Yonge Tomorrow concept.
Councillor Michael Ford will not be supporting the Yonge Tomorrow plan. He worries about “constricting traffic downtown” and this project leading to similar projects. The bunny concern, again.
Councillor Jennifer McKelvie says she “can’t wait” to see what the 130+ year-old watermain under Yonge looks like when they dig it up. “I think there could be some interesting corrosion studies done on that, just scientifically speaking.”
“I don’t know how many councillors remember the 60s?” asks Councillor Nunziata. A lot do! She says she worked at King & Yonge back then, when there were summertime closures along Yonge Street.
Mayor John Tory says Yonge Street is seen by some as the main street in Canada, but it’s really just adequate. We’ve got to make it extraordinary he says, and it has to meet the needs of people who use it.
Interestingly, Tory also says he doesn’t think Yonge-Dundas Square is living up to its potential, and would like to see the city take a look at it.
The mayor is on board with the Yonge Tomorrow plan, pointing to the success of Destination Danforth last summer, even though he heard opposition from biz owners before installation. He wants to see Yonge turned into a “people place.”
Wong-Tam’s motion to look at interim measures to improve Yonge Street like expanded patios etc CARRIES 24-2. (Mantas was also a yes.)
Councillor Pasternak’s motion to have the detailed design consider drop-off areas, taxi stands, etc CARRIES 25-1.
The Yonge Tomorrow plan to transform downtown Yonge Street and create more space for pedestrians CARRIES 21-5.
Council will be coming back Friday to finish this agenda, the mayor says. News to me! But okay. Also tomorrow is @cllrainslie’s birthday, Tory says.
Council is officially recessed until Friday at 9:30 a.m. (There’s a Budget Committee meeting tomorrow.) There are 13 lucky items left on the agenda. Here’s hoping the tech gods are kinder on Friday.
Toronto Council is back for a third and final day of debating stuff in February. 13 items left on the agenda, including ConnectTO, CafeTO and CakeTO. I made one of those up. See if you can guess! Stream will be here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PeQgT1NyQo
As expected, we’ve got a motion coming to the Council agenda on Scarborough transit. Matlow and Ainslie are calling for a report on options, including reverting to LRT plan and BRT options. https://x.com/JoshMatlow/status/1357699003425705985
Mayor John Tory is in the Council chamber to announce that Speaker Nunziata’s birthday is coming up next Friday. He has a motion thanking her for presiding over nine virtual sessions and serving as speaker for 10 years. It carries via show of hands.
First item up: an interesting thing about development charges. In Dec 2019, province changed rules so dev charges were set earlier in application process, shielding devs from annual increases. City countered by charging developers interest. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.EX20.4
Councillor Mike Colle says Toronto is seeing “hyperdevelopment” and wants to see development charges increased. Staff say they’re working on a review of the development charges bylaw to be complete in spring 2022.
Council votes 23-2 to ADOPT interim development charges policy that’ll charge developers interest.
Up now: property tax policies. The prov announced a new small biz tax subclass in their recent budget that they said would help businesses during COVID. But QP hasn’t got around to releasing regulations. City staff say impossible to implement without ‘em. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.EX20.5
The provincial budget released in November included this illustration, showing that a Toronto bakery shop owner could save 33% off their property tax bill with this new subclass. Pretty weird that they haven’t provided details so Toronto can actually implement it.
Mayor John Tory has a motion requesting staff do prelim work on developing the small biz subclass and report back ASAP. He suggests the provincial delay in regulations could come down to a “minister change.”
Tory says he understands this stuff isn’t easy but if the City doesn’t have regulations by April he’ll be pretty ticked off.
Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam moves that small biz tax class address the highest-and-best-use assessment issue and efforts to preserve/rebuild main streets.
Tory’s motion directing staff to start work on the small biz property tax subclass and report back ASAP once provincial regulations are out CARRIES 24-0.
Wong-Tam’s motion directing staff to consider things like highest-and-best-use when developing small business property tax subclass CARRIES 24-0. (Layton also a yes.)
Up now: CafeTO, coming back for another summer. A few motions advanced circulated: Layton wants bike parking, Matlow wants support for BIAs re: design and safety, Crawford wants strategies for more patios in suburban areas. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.EX20.6
Councillor Brad Bradford has a motion that asks the TTC to deal with some conflicts between CafeTO and the Danforth night bus, and asks staff to look at other opportunities to use space for outdoor retail.
Councillor Fletcher moves to have staff also look at ways to improve the public realm around these CafeTO patios.
The last speaker is Mayor John Tory. He says he’d like to see the CafeTO program with expanded patios become permanent — that’s the objective. All motions carry via show of hands, as does the item. CafeTO will return this spring.
Ten items left on the agenda. Nunziata warns that councillors must finish by 4 p.m. for religious observance reasons. If the agenda isn’t finished she says all items will be deferred until the next meeting.
Councillor Paul Ainslie tries for a quick release vote on the PayIt digital payment item, but Perks wants a chance to ask questions.
Council decides to take a one-hour lunch break. Back at 1:30, after which councillors will attempt to speed run the remaining items before their 4 p.m. deadline.
Council coming back from lunch now. The Matlow item on Scarborough transit is officially on the agenda and NOT subject to a vote to waive referral. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.MM28.37
Council is now debating the ConnectTO program designed to bring internet connectivity across the city. Councillor Wong-Tam moves to look at whether things like parking meters or Bike Share stations could be modified for use as wifi hotspots.
Councillor Josh Matlow moves to have prov/feds give funding to extend library tech help program for seniors. Also seeks to extend wifi to 25 retirement communities, provide free wifi in parks, and accelerate wifi pilot project in TCHC buildings.
Matlow recalls that a previous time he proposed wifi in parks there was pushback from a bunch of people who showed up at city hall to argue that “wifi will fry your brain.” He hopes that doesn’t happen this time around.
Councillor Michael Ford moves to look at additional sites for phase 1 ConnectTO locations, prioritizing areas with people living on low incomes.
Mystery of the day: why does Councillor Paula Fletcher have Councillor Frances Nunziata’s name plate?
Councillor Paula Fletcher moves to involve co-ops and non-profits in the development of this ConnectTO program.
Councillor Jaye Robinson says she won’t support installing wifi in parks, because people aren’t supposed to “have their nose in various devices” while at the park, and devices could distract parents who should be watching their kids.
Robinson also moves to have the ConnectTO program consider Thorncliffe Park as a phase one area. https://x.com/TorontoCouncil/status/1357776332088889352
These kinds of motions are always a bit dangerous, because now every councillor will feel an urge to line up and move that some neighbourhood in their ward also get special consideration a a phase one area. We’ll see if they can resist that temptation.
Councillor Stephen Holyday says he’ll support moving forward with the ConnectTO program but warns he does not want to see the city become an ISP. He doesn’t want to be getting calls from constituents when their internet’s not working.
Councillor Paul Ainslie moves to request the CRTC put into effect a 2015 ruling re: access to fibre optic networks, and mechanisms for data rollover.
Matlow’s motion to create a strategy for providing free wifi in parks CARRIES 16-8.
The remainder of Matlow’s motion, about requesting funds to extend library tech help program for seniors, adding wifi to retirement homes and accelerating pilot for wifi in TCHC buildings CARRIES 21-2.
Fletcher’s motion to consult with non-profits and co-ops on the ConnectTO program as it is developed CARRIES 23-1.
Wong-Tam’s motion, which includes a recommendation to look at using parking meters and bike share stations as wifi hotspots, CARRIES 22-2.
Ford’s motion to expand phase one areas of ConnectTO and prioritize low-income neighbourhoods CARRIES 24-0.
Robinson’s motion to consider Thorncliffe Park for phase one of ConnectTO CARRIES 24-0.
Ainslie’s motion requesting the CRTC put 2015 ruling re: fibre optic networks into effect and provide data rollover policies CARRIES 24-0.
Councillor Anthony Perruzza attempts to add an item regarding vaccines to the agenda. Councillor Gord Perks wants to vote against adding it. Council votes 18-5 to add it.
Nine items left on the agenda. 57 minutes until this meeting has to end. It’s a race against time.
Up now: the PayIt item. They’re going to try to jam this into the 40 minutes they have left. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2021.CC28.15
The summary: last summer, staff recommended council award unsolicited sole-source contract to @payitgov. Council decided they wanted a bid process. Staff ran one, found PayIt as best of two bids. Today’s report advises Council that staff will enter negotiations with PayIt.
The notion of moving forward with a PayIt contract still isn’t sitting well with some local tech advocates. Here’s @biancawylie’s take: https://biancawylie.medium.com/why-the-payit-deal-should-be-stopped-at-toronto-city-council-c1860178f410
This PayIt item will not be debated this month. Council votes to defer this and seven other items to their next meeting on March 10. In the meantime, Council will be back on Feb 18 for the budget debate. I will tweet things about it.
Thanks for reading! As always, if you enjoy this kind of coverage, you can support me by signing up for a subscription to @cityhallwatcher — my weekly newsletter about this kind of stuff. Next issue out Monday, with a Council recap and Lobbyist Watch. https://graphicmatt.substack.com/subscribe