Toronto Council meets today! Let's experience it together. Mayor Olivia Chow has set an item about rental protections as her first key matter, so that'll be considered first. After that: snow. It'll stream live here. I'll note what's notable. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qGe...
For a full preview of the agenda, I've got you covered in this week's City Hall Watcher. We're also expecting debates on the watered-down version of the corner store plan, an encampment clearing deadline, and the last vestiges of John Tory's SmartTrack. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/council-lo...
Things will begin today with a tribute to the city staffers who helped out during the Blue Jays playoff run. The chamber is filling up with workers of various uniforms. No mascot sighting yet.
Before that, though, Mayor Olivia Chow takes the lectern to pay tribute to the late Nathan Gilbert, the longtime executive director of the Laidlaw Foundation and advocate for various causes.
And now: baseball. Chow pulls out a Blue Jays hat. "Okay, we didn't QUITE get the outcome we wanted, but by gosh, that feeling — especially the coming back, the resilience, the unity, that sense that we are stronger together. The Blue Jays lifted up our spirits," says the mayor.
"The lesson that I learned is that it's okay if you don't win it the first time, even if you come close. When I first ran for mayor — 2014 — I didn't make it. But I'm back! Here I am! So next year, we'll be there, with the Blue Jays, next year, when they win it at all!" declares Mayor Olivia Chow.
Chow celebrates the "last-minute" work city staff did to coordinate the live World Series viewing parties at Nathan Phillips Square. It was particularly tricky because the city didn't know how many games there would be, or how long the games would last. She notes the one game that went 18 innings.
Chow congratulates the city workers in attendance and they get a nice round of applause. No mascot today. But the mayor seems VERY confident the Jays are gonna do the thing next year, for whatever that's worth.
Formally introducing the Planning & Housing items on the agenda, committee chair Councillor Gord Perks highlights a factoid: "As of today, 65% of all housing under construction in the City of Toronto is either led by the City of Toronto or has the City of Toronto as a partner."
Councillor Gord Perks wants to vote against an item awarding a contract with Coca-Cola to be the exclusive soft drink provider of Exhibition Place. The deal is APPROVED 15-7. The Cola Wars continue. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Motion to name a baseball diamond in Martingrove Gardens Park after the late Jim Horton, a longtime local baseball coach, CARRIES 22-0. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Etobicoke's Councillor Stephen Holyday wants to vote against installing traffic signals at an intersection in Scarborough. Okay then. Motion to install signals at Clonmore Drive and Queensbury Avenue CARRIES 21-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
After that, Council votes unanimously, 22-0, to install traffic signals at the Scarborough intersection of Birchmount Road and Rolark Drive. 🤷 secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Council votes 21-1 to APPROVE a deal with the union representing community centre workers. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Debate schedule coming together. Today: 1. Rental protections 2. Planning for snow 3. Weston Lions Arena & MLSE Launchpad deal 4. What remains of SmartTrack Tomorrow's first thing: neighbourhood retail and corner stores.
Up now: the province is making changes to the rules for tenants and landlords via Bill 60. The City is worried about it. Council will vote on whether to oppose. From a new report, here's a quick summary of what's on the table from Queen's Park. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Toronto is increasingly becoming a city of renters, so these kinds of changes would have an outsized impact here versus other municipalities across the province. The mayor has also premised much of her political strategy since 2023 on winning support from renters.
Staff confirm that the city is dealing with a "dramatic reduction" in funding for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, "which has been the #1 program to support shelter flow, allowing individuals experiencing homelessness to find and secure long-term affordable housing."
"So this is another provincial decision that will increase homelessness in Toronto?" asks Councillor Dianne Saxe of Bill 60 and potential further funding cuts. "Correct," says Housing Secretariat director Doug Rollins.
Asked by Councillor Crisanti about the title of Bill 60 — the "Fighting Delays, Building Faster Act" — Housing Secretariat director Doug Rollins says, "I don't see any of the proposed amendments within the RTA or LTB provisions enabling the city to build housing faster."
Councillor Ainslie says he was recently told by a Toronto MP that city hall and the provincial government are responsible for funding costs related to refugees in the shelter system. Staff say the feds have covered 95% of those costs since 2017. "But for some reason, that has now changed."
Mayor Chow moves a trio of motions. 1. Submit city staff comments on Bill 60 to the province. 2. Request consultations on RTA changes. 3. Ask for more provincial funding for eviction prevention.
Chow says most of her staffers rent their homes. She tells the story of one staff member who got an eviction notice after living in a place for seven years. She says Bill 60 will make things even worse for people like him, cutting required notice period and making it harder to fight renovictions.
"These kinds of changes will make hard-working families less able to defend themselves against large real estate investors. And we have seen one investor taking over and now owns 54,000 units of housing across Toronto," says Chow.
"Like this Skills Development fiasco, and all these slush funds where they're giving our money — our tax dollars — away to their friends, where there's direct family and friends links to their ministers. That money should be going toward actually building housing," says Councillor Josh Matlow.
Councillor Alejandra Bravo has a motion on another part of Bill 60, opposing the provincial move to further restrict the city's ability to modify streets and find other uses for car lanes.
Councillor Holyday wants Bravo's motion ruled out of order, since this agenda item is focused on the rental protection parts of Bill 60, not the road design parts. Bravo says it's an omnibus bill with a lot of stuff in it. Nunziata says she'll get back to council with a ruling later.
Councillor Mike Colle regales us with a tale of his attempt to find a room for rent for an 83-year-old friend named Clarence. Colle says he posted on Facebook asking if anyone had a room available. "And I had 132,000 views of that post! But I still haven't gotten one room for him," he laments.
Councillor Moise, representing a ward where 70% are renters, says about eight of the ten people who come to his office are people looking for support in avoiding eviction and keeping their homes.
Councillor Saxe moves for a report in Q1 2026, determining what proportion of Toronto homelessness is because of decisions made by the provincial and federal governments.
Nunziata's ruling is ready. She says Bravo's motion is indeed out of order, as this council item is only about how Bill 60 affects tenants. Nunziata says Bravo could instead submit her motion re: road resign as an urgent member motion.
Chow's motion asking for provincial consultations re: Bill 60 and more provincial money to prevent evictions CARRIES 22-1.
Saxe's motion for a report quantifying provincial and federal responsibility for Toronto homelessness CARRIES 20-3.
The three items about opposing Bill 60 are all APPROVED by Council 23-1, with only Holyday opposed. ("I wonder what the cost of all these recorded votes is," wonders Nunziata aloud.)
Up now: Snow. As in plowing and clearing and such. Not the recording artist. He's not here. Anyway, in timely news, the city says they have a plan to do a better job of cleaning up after big snowstorms this winter. Last year didn't go great, you'll remember. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Staff say this winter the city will have better monitoring of whether the plows have actually done a decent job clearing roads and sidewalks. (Last year they mostly just relied on GPS tracking.) They'll also remove snow proactively along streetcar corridors.
Councillor Dianne Saxe wants to know if the city can require corporate landlords to shovel sidewalks. Staff say they're working through the legal implications of that change. City exempted property owners from that responsibility when they introduced city-wide sidewalk plowing, so it's complex.
The rest of the snow debate will have to wait. It's lunchtime. Council will return at 2 p.m. So will I.
Council is back. Councillor Bravo gets us started by moving to introduce a motion to formally oppose the parts of Doug Ford's Bill 60 that will further restrict the city's ability to redesign roads. The motion gets added to the agenda with a 19-1 vote. They'll come back to it later.
On behalf of some people in the gallery, Councillor Dianne Saxe introduces a petition "expressing their deep concern and disappointment about recent comments by the mayor about Israel, and their effect on anti-semitism in Toronto."
Time for more snow. Staff say they spent about $119 million on plowing, salting, etc last winter. Adding comprehensive snow removal and storage on top of the existing service could cost about $120 million. Staff are not recommending that — targeted improvements instead.
Burnside, noting there's been much "blame" directed at the Tory administration, mounts a defence, getting staff to acknowledge they could have made improvements ahead of last winter. "So if we had the political will and the foresight, we wouldn't have had to blame the last mayor," Burnside says.
Councillor Jamaal Myers asks if the city plans to use AI to handle 311 calls related to snow. "Artificial Intelligence is not used in the contact centre — yet," says staff. "We are planning for it for next year."
Staff also say they're looking at using AI to predict "patterns" for winter season and to help design snow routes. They're looking at what Montreal is doing with AI and also putting together an industry group to talk about using AI.
Councillor Fletcher is frustrated that councillors have been getting info about snow-clearing plans from lobbyists representing SnowTO — the consortium holding most of the snow contracts. City Manager says he can't control what the contractors do re: lobbying. "That's unsettling," says Fletcher.
Saying "being informed is half the battle", Councillor Lily Cheng moves to examine app-based push notifications as a way to let people know about snowplow plans. "Many people don't even read emails anymore!" she explains.
Councillor Saxe moves to raise the fine for blocking a streetcar with your parked car to $500. She also wants a report on requiring corporate landlords to clear their own sidewalks. "It was a mistake in the first place to relieve that liability and we should put it back."
"There is an issue that I've seen — there's the car, parked to run into the store, with five streetcars backed up behind," says Councillor Fletcher. She says she doesn't think there's enough in this new winter plan addressing that. She says she'll be looking to hear more from staff.
Mayor Olivia Chow thanks staff for making improvements to the snow plan for this winter. "You worked together as a team, and you came up with a proposal that really illustrates what I was talking about this morning: stronger together."
The big pivot the city is making this winter versus last winter appears to be simply making storm response a city-wide concern, instead of just something for the transportation department to deal with. Chow notes workers from all departments could be mobilized to help out with clean-up.
Chow says the fact that her office didn't get a lot of calls about last weekend's snow is a good sign. "Is it 100% perfect? Maybe, maybe not. Probably not. But we will continue to improve, continue to learn, continue to deliver the best service we can to the people of Toronto."
Councillor Mike Colle tells us a tale. 25 years ago, the city bought giant yellow plows dubbed "SnowZilla machines" from Nova Scotia. "They were supposed to go along our main streets, dig up the snow and melt it on the spot. Well, the god damn machines NEVER WORKED! They got stuck in the traffic!"
Wow, how about that. Snowzilla was real. (From a December 11, 2004 story in the Globe.)
Saxe's motions to increase the fine for blocking streetcar tracks with your car to $500 (currently $200) and to report on requiring corporate landlords to shovel their sidewalks both CARRY 21-4.
All other motions on the snow item CARRY via show of hands. And the snow plan for 2025/2026 is APPROVED via show of hands too.
Because there's a police gala tomorrow night to raise money for charity, Chow moves to extend the meeting to 9 p.m. tonight so they can get more agenda items finished and hopefully avoid going long tomorrow night. Motion to extend CARRIES 19-6.
Up now: a plan to work with MLSE to transform the Weston Lions arena into a launchpad site, replacing the seasonal ice pad with a new multi-sport facility. Some hockey leagues are unhappy about losing ice access, but other community members seem happy about the plan secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Holyday moves three motions: 1. Help the Lions Club with the transition 2. Expedite reports on finding replacement ice 3. Affirm general support for hockey
"I just don't think the hockey community were treated very well," says Holyday. He also thinks the Lions Club was left in an "awkward spot" as the City winds down their lease on the Weston Arena and transitions to MLSE.
Holyday says it's very important Toronto as a municipal government support hockey. "If there's no one there to help the hockey community, I don't know how they will survive."
Councillor Brad Bradford is also concerned about the "hockey community." He says hockey is a "pillar for family life in Toronto." He says Toronto should be building more rinks, not closing them.
Councillor Nunziata defends the deal and the process. "Councillor Bradford, you say you want a city of families, but what about the parents out there that can't afford to go into a program, or pay for sports? Are those youth not important to you? Or is it just the hockey that's important to you?"
"Councillor Bradford and Councillor Holyday, I represent my constituents and my youth. Obviously, you don't!" thunders Nunziata. The Weston Lions Arena is in her ward. She points out that it was never a city-run facility, and they charged significant money for ice access.
Councillor Burnside tires of this. He moves to skip the rest of the debate on the Weston Lions Arena and go straight to the vote. That CARRIES 19-6.
All three of Holyday's motions, including his motion to affirm Council's support for hockey, CARRY via show of hands.
Oh wait, Councillor Bradford wants a recorded vote on whether Council will affirm its support for hockey. But Perks is unhappy with the wording, since Canada actually has TWO national sports — hockey AND lacrosse. He wants a correction.
Motion to have Toronto City Council affirm its general support for the sport of hockey CARRIES 23-2.
Up now: Wait, SmartTrack? Is that still a thing? It is. Kind of. There are just three stations remaining. And a new report reveals one of them — at St. Clair & Old Weston — will be served by smaller UP Express trains, and not GO Trains as originally contemplated. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Answering a question from Councillor Paul Ainslie, staff say a GO Train carries about 1,200 people, while a UP Express train carries about 280. Staff also note UP is a premium service, but province has committed to an "integrated fare program" before this new station opens.
Councillor Myers: "Just so I have it clear, the city is paying $1.5 billion for these GO Train stations. Who's going to own these assets when they're complete?" The province, says staff. Myers: "So the City of Toronto has paid $1.5 billion to build assets for the province." Staff confirm, yes.
The City CFO jumps in to clarify the numbers. He says the total SmartTrack budget is $1.689 billion. Of that, the city's share is $878 million. Rest comes from the federal government.
Myers: "Who brought this — was this a direction from the province to build GO Train stations? Or was this something initiated by the city?" Staff: "This was initiated by the former mayor."
Councillor Bravo moves to have Metrolinx fully fund the widening of St. Clair Ave to improve streetcar service. She also moves to get the province to include the UP Express in the One Fare Program to make it more affordable.
Bravo calls SmartTrack a "back of the napkin" plan where "somehow, the people of Toronto were convinced that we should put municipal tax dollars, from the property tax base, to subsidize and fund a provincial transit expansion program ... just to fulfill a campaign promise by our former mayor."
Councillor Amber Morley takes an opportunity to reiterate the need for a Park Lawn GO Station. She says developers are acting like the station is a done deal and bringing dense project applications, but there is no clear understanding of when and how the station will get built.
"The province of Ontario cannot and should not be trusted to build transit and operate it in urban areas," says Councillor Perks. He says John Tory didn't learn that lesson. "These are the same guys colliding trains up on the Eglinton Crosstown right now."
"This nonsense about running the City of Toronto like a business. This is what Mayor Tory would tell us. I will tell you, you would not last very long making business deals like this," says Perks of the SmartTrack situation.
Councillor Bravo's motion to request the province integrate the UP Express with the One Fare program, making it more affordable, before this new St. Clair - Weston Station opens, CARRIES 21-1.
Bravo's motion to request the province fund the widening of St. Clair West and bundle the work in with the construction of the new station CARRIES 22-0.
Council APPROVES the change to the St. Clair & Old Weston Station, making it an UP Express Station, 20-2.
After Councillor Amber Morley notes she was able to get a "unit cap" reducing the number of units in the project, Council votes 20-1 to APPROVE a six-storey development on Islington Road. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Council votes 20-1 to APPROVE a 12-storey proposal for Lake Shore West. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Council votes 20-1 to APPROVE a 42-storey proposal for 5280 Dundas Street West. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
After dispensing with a few minor items, Council breaks for dinner. Back at 6:30 p.m. There are 35 items left on the agenda, which is actually pretty darn good, relatively speaking.
Council is back, but can't seem to figure out what they want to debate next. They settle on childcare. There's an update on the $10-a-day program, which asks Council to support a request for more provincial and federal funding. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
On the childcare item, Mayor Olivia Chow moves to "identify areas of inequity" for childcare expansion.
Councillor Bravo asks for a report in Q2 2026 on breaking down the barriers to expanding childcare in high-priority wards.
The motions on the childcare item all CARRY via show of hands. So does the item as amended. The city will ask the provincial and federal governments for more funding.
Up now: the Auditor General's workplan for 2026. Councillor Jamaal Myers has been eyeing an audit on SmartTrack. "The cost of this program is approximately $878 million. Would it be of public concern if a significant amount of that money was spent designing stations that were never built?" he asks
The AG says her mandate doesn't allow her to audit provincial programs, which SmartTrack basically is. Myers asks if she could just audit the money the city spent. She says she could consider it.
Councillor Perks and Councillor Bravo are both speaking in favour of a SmartTrack audit as part of the 2026 AG work plan. Seems like that might be less than ideal for a potential mayoral candidate.
Myers formally moves to request a SmartTrack audit in 2026. This builds on a similar motion he passed at committee, and makes a more direct request to the auditor general. (The AG is independent, though, so she can just ignore the request if she wants.)
"I think there's a lot of genuine questions about how this program came about, how money was spent, and how decisions were made. And we still don't have a clear answer. It's almost like we spent almost a billion dollars and no one can explain how we got here," says Myers of Tory's SmartTrack project
Nunziata: Councillor Fletcher, did you just call me? Fletcher: No. Nunziata: Oh, I thought you said, 'Oh lord.' Late-night Council's got jokes.
Councillor Myers' motion to request a SmartTrack audit as part of the Auditor General's 2026 work plan CARRIES 16-3.
(Somewhat notable: The mayor was chatting with staff in the gallery during that vote, so she was marked as absent. She returned to the council floor right after.)
Council has been spending some time heralding a report about expanding the number of "Association of Community Centres", or AOCCs (Pronounced eh-ocks — fun acronym). They're community centres managed by private boards, like the 519 Community Centre. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
During a discussion of this report about Toronto's "circular economy", Councillor Lily Cheng reveals she's had to replace her refrigerator three times in the last six years. That... seems like a lot. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
On to a progress report on Toronto's Housing Plan. Perks moves to hold off on any changes to housing programs while negotiations with Ottawa and Queen's Park continue. Morley wants to extend tower renewal program eligibility to co-ops. Thompson wants consultation with Black residents.
Part of the housing progress report, a recommendation to request the federal gov provide $163 million to create 230 supportive homes CARRIES 18-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
The other motions on the housing progress report CARRY via show of hands. So does the item as amended.
After a brief digression about a development in Holyday's ward that ends up going nowhere, Council breaks for the night. They'll be back at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow to deal with the 27 items left on the agenda. First up: neighbourhood retail.
Council is about to start up again. Before they get to the first item on the agenda — corner stores — there will be a presentation honouring Sick Kids Hospital. They've been named "the best children’s health-care centre in the world" apparently. Watch live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTls...
"Even if you've never had to walk through its doors, you can take comfort that it's there, ready to care," says a rhyming Mayor Olivia Chow of Sick Kids Hospital. Karen Kinnear, a VP at Sick Kids, is here to get a plaque.
Councillor Paula Fletcher has a petition signed by 1,200 people asking Metrolinx to add GPS tracking to trucks working on the Ontario Line project and improve communication response times when people complain about those trucks.
Up now: corner stores. The original recommendation to allow small retail uses within neighbourhoods was watered down at committee, but the recommendation to allow retail uses along designated major streets remains. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Lily Cheng starts us off by asking about one of the recurring themes throughout this debate: a fear of pot shops everywhere. Reefer store madness. She asks if the city can limit cannabis stores. Staff say they're having conversations with province about possible additional restrictions.
Councillor Thompson asks if there's been enough consultation on this corner store item. Staff say they had pop-up events in every ward with a total of 1,300 people, a survey that received 2,600 responses, public meetings with 'several hundred" attendees, seven meetings with resident associations.
Most significant remaining change in the corner store report is adding permissions for retail along "major streets." Staff have provided maps for each ward showing what would change — retail would be permitted in the orange areas. A few examples attached. www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis... (PDF)
Providing these maps may have further complicated this debate, as now councillors are interrogating planning staff about whether certain sections should actually qualify as major streets.
Councillor Neethan Shan asks if it's true that, if council allows more retail, there won’t be any way to stop these businesses from selling alcohol and pot. Staff say licensing processes already exist. And discussions continue re: new city powers to restrict those uses.
Seems to be some scene-setting going on for a motion to defer this until after the close of negotiations with the province re: restricting alcohol and pot uses. We'll see if that gains traction.
Deputy Mayor Malik asks if the city has received a lot of complaints about existing retail within neighbourhoods. Staff say of 1,000 neighbourhood businesses operating over last five years, 60% had no complaints, another 35% received five or less.
Councillor Dianne Saxe asks if it's true that increased retail permissions could lead to residents getting evicted and replaced by stores or restaurants. Staff confirm a change of zoning doesn't change anything to do with current rights re: tenancy and eviction.
Councillor Dianne Saxe asks about the potential for geographically-limited permissions for corner stores. Staff say ward-based permissions are possible. "Ward-based is better than city-wide, but it's not good enough," says Saxe. She seems to favour neighbourhood-based rules.
"If I want to run a 24-hour store selling stamps, can I do that?" wonders Councillor Stephen Holyday, as a means to point out that city hall has no control over business operating hours. Yes, staff say. (I don't think there's much demand for a 24-hour stamp store though.)
Councillor Holyday worries about retail stores that "sell some zany thing that has very little value." He wants to know if council could define a list of what stores can sell. Staff say they can regulate things like size, noise and property standards, but generally not what stores sell.
Holyday asks why this retail report is part of the broader program about expanding housing options. Staff say it's because when you add more people to a neighbourhood, they generally need places to shop and get food.
I'm hardly a hardcore free-market libertarian, but it does seem like the reality of market forces should be a bigger part of this debate. The basic reason you don't need to worry about a 24/7 bar/potshop/noise-making emporium setting up on a small street is basically "there's no demand for it."
Councillor Bravo remembers going to corner stores as a kid. She asked what happened to corner stores like that. Staff say new zoning bylaws in the 50s created a "separation of uses." Existing neighbourhood stores continued to operate, but new ones weren't allowed. The number dwindled.
"Theoretically, could someone convert a single-family detached home into a small retail plaza under this plan?" Councillor Pasternak wonders. Planning staff say no to the plaza idea, but on a major street they would be able to convert to a retail unit up to max of 1600 square feet.
Planning staff seem a bit bemused by all these questions worried about property owners converting residential to retail. The typical pattern they see in applications is owners wanting to convert commercial spaces to residential. Rare to see a request to go the other way.
"How are we so confident there won't be a requirement for more MLS bylaw officers, given the potential for alcohol and cannabis uses?" Councillor Kandavel asks. Staff say they'd request more resources if they saw a need. It's "premature to highlight a need where there isn't one."
Councillor Perks gets staff to confirm that local retail supports the city's policies to achieve net zero and reduce traffic congestion. He also confirms that removing permissions for restaurants/bars would also stop stores from selling coffee.
Perks says he'll now be advance circulating a motion with a "number of clauses." So stay tuned for that if you love clauses.
Mayor Olivia Chow has a motion too. A big one. She moves to have the entire Toronto & East York area "opt in" to neighbourhood retail corner stores.
Full text of Chow's motion to allow neighbourhood corner stores in all Old Toronto & East York wards.
Chow says these permissions are really about "cutting red tape" and creating jobs. "We need to find a way to allow these ambitious entrepreneurs — especially newcomers, small business owners — to operate in the City of Toronto." She encourages councillors to add their wards to the list.
Chow said her corner store motion includes the entire Toronto & East York community council area, but Councillor Josh Matlow's Ward 12 is missing. Maybe that'll come later. Councillors with wards included: - Bravo - Perks - Malik - Fletcher - Moise - Saxe - Bradford
The Perks motion is posted. It includes a loooong list of major streets where retail would NOT be allowed. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Also from the Perks' motion: 1) A restriction on commercial uses on major streets in "new non-residential buildings." (?) 2) A request for a cap on the number of cannabis stores per ward.
Say his name and he appears. Councillor Josh Matlow pops up virtually, on his way to Scarborough. Don't worry, he's in the passenger seat. ("I'm not pulling a Perruzza," he notes.) He moves to add his Ward 12 to the mayor's list of wards that will allow permissions for neighbourhood corner stores
Councillor Paul Ainslie rises to argue that the city's "major streets" map is outdated. "It's using data from 2003!" he says. "What it really needs is a thorough review by planning with public consultation," he says, ahead of any zoning changes.
Councillor Shan moves to exclude three streets in his ward. He worries the retail spaces created won't just be small shops selling ice cream to locals, but things like "beef patties that are so popular that people from the 905 will come to get it." That'll just add to traffic problems, he says.
Councillor Shelley Carroll says she gets a lot of calls wanting her to fight applications for cannabis store licenses, but, "I can't, in my database, find a single complaint about one once they are open." Perhaps there's a lesson there.
Councillor Stephen Holyday moves to exclude every major street in his ward from the expanded retail permissions.
Holyday explains his opposition to expanded retail is linked to a 1933 theory called "Neighbourhood Place Theory." He holds up some kind of diagram? Sure, okay.
Holyday now has a picture of a local strip mall. He says these businesses can barely survive on a busy street, so he doesn't believe this notion that any "lovely stores" will survive on local streets.
"The rage-baiting is really nauseating," says Councillor Parthi Kandavel. "The idea or the implication that we're against kids getting ice cream or seniors getting a cappuccino, it's troubling. That insinuation that some of us are knuckle-dragging suburbanites ... it doesn't reflect the complexity."
With that, Council breaks for lunch. Maybe a good time to check out the offerings at your local retail stores. Back at 2 p.m. to finish off this debate and the remaining 28 items on the agenda. See you then.
Council is back. In a moment of intrigue, Mayor Olivia Chow moves to re-open an item related to speed cameras. "I have an update," she says. They'll come back to it later. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Lily Cheng announces the 2025 Council Secret Santa. She says they'll all exchange gifts on the first day of Council in December. 'Tis the season.
Wow: big news here. Mayor Olivia Chow has a motion to dissolve the Toronto Parking Authority board. If this passes, there will be a "thorough operational review" of TPA. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Brad Bradford's motion to prioritize clearing encampments near daycares and schools within 48 hours gets added to the agenda after a 20-6 vote. They'll debate it later. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor James Pasternak's motion to support an MZO that'd greatly limit the potential for new housing near a pharma plant on Steeles West gets added to the agenda with a 23-2 vote. Moise holds it for debate. They'll come back to it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Back to the neighbourhood retail item. Councillor Paula Fletcher wants to use the overhead machine. She displays a photo of a local store in her ward, Woodfield Grocery. She points to the "Store Since 1920's" sign. Well-loved for over 100 years, she says.
Councillor Holyday has revised his motion on neighbourhood stores. Instead of a total restriction on retail on major street areas zoned as residential in his ward, he is proposing restrictions on a long list of specific streets.
Councillor Jamaal Myers moves a couple of motions: - Remove new retail permissions on Brimley Road in his ward. - Conduct more "meaningful consultation" and look at ways business licensing can address concerns re: neighbourhood retail.
Councillor Jamaal Myers says some people want nieghbourhood retail, but others might "already have enough retail. And they don't want to live next to a convenience store, and that's perfectly OK as well."
After formally introducing his motions, Councillor Gord Perks calls the process that led to these compromises on neighbourhood retail "collegial but complicated." He's added a few more clauses.
"Some members of council have said there are two Torontos: downtown and the suburbs. And that's not true," says Perks. "There aren't two Torontos — there's one Toronto, with 200 neighbourhoods." He says this process required "fine-grained work" to meet the needs of those neighbourhoods.
Time to vote. Councillor Shan's motion to exclude three streets in his ward from the expanded retail permissions on major streets FAILS 9-17.
Holyday's motion to exclude a whole bunch of major streets in his ward from the new retail permissions FAILS 10-16.
Perks' motion to exclude a long list of major streets across the city from the expanded retail permissions CARRIES 25-1.
Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to allow neighbourhood corner stores in all wards in the Old Toronto & East York Community Council area CARRIES 25-1.
The mayor's motion to keep confidential legal advice confidential CARRIES 25-1. He's just mashing that "No" button now.
Myers' motion to conduct more consultation and look at ways business licensing can ease concerns about local retail CARRIES 25-1.
The neighbourhood retail report as amended CARRIES 23-2. Toronto Council votes to permit corner stores in all Old Toronto & East York wards, and expands permission for retail on some (but not all) major streets city-wide.
Changing gears, Mayor Olivia Chow brings Lisa Duncan, Director of Collections and Litter Operations, to the lectern. Duncan is retiring after 35 years at city hall. "Her work has made Toronto a cleaner and more liveable city," says Chow. Duncan gets a standing O.
After a quick debate, Councillor Paula Fletcher's motion asking Metrolinx to provide GPS tracking for all trucks working on the Ontario Line and better communication with residents CARRIES 25-0. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Up now: the City would like to close a gap on the Humber Trail, but the path winds through the Weston Golf Club. The golf club is not happy about this. They submitted this graphic showing the path of the trail and 1954 flood damage caused by Hurricane Hazel. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Burnside doesn't really want to hear any more about this golf club stuff. He calls the question, moving to skip the rest of the speakers and proceed straight to the vote. That FAILS 14-9. It needed two-thirds. The golf talk continues.
On the Humber Trail / Golf Course item, Councillor Holyday moves for a report on an "alternate design" for the trail that would go around the golf course property.
After several councillors argue that this trail design was already approved years ago, Holyday's motion to look at an alternative alignment for the Humber Trail past the Weston Golf Club FAILS 4-21.
Council votes 22-3 to APPROVE the plan to continue negotiations with the Weston Golf Club re: acquiring land for the Humber Trail, with authorization to initiate expropriations if necessary.
Up now: on the speed camera item, Mayor Olivia Chow has a motion requesting Premier Doug Ford cover the cost of programs that were previously funded by speed camera revenue, including the crossing guard program and the salaries of 18 police officers. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
"Starting tomorrow, 1,000 people could lose their jobs," says Mayor Olivia Chow, including over 900 crossing guards, because the city won't be able to collect revenue from speed cameras after a provincial bill banning them. The ban also takes money away from capital projects like traffic calming.
Chow's motion requesting the province cover the full cost of crossing guards, police officers, and road safety improvements previously paid for by speed camera revenue CARRIES 25-0.
Up now: starting Jan 1, your recycling will be collected by a private company, not the City of Toronto. Council is pretty concerned that the new company, Circular Materials, is not ready for this transition. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Fletcher's motion on the blue bins isn't ready yet, so council jumps over to an item about the Allen & Eglinton intersection. Councillor Bradford wants to give a speech about the importance of fixing the design of the intersection to relieve traffic congestion. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Mike Colle laments the traffic at the Eglinton & Allen intersection, but says there's no quick fix. "And you know what's going to exasperate it even more? The lunatic provincial government is going to allow 30 towers of condominiums along the Allen Road!"
Jumping back to the blue bins, Councillor Fletcher passes a motion asking the new company collecting recycling provide some extra trucks to handle the extra cardboard & such produced over the holidays. "Fasten your seatbelts, colleagues, because I think it's going to be a rough ride," she adds.
Council nearly loses quorum during a debate about whether they should ask people to refrain from using two-stroke gas-powered lawn equipment like leaf blowers during days with poor air quality. I can't imagine why. It's thrilling stuff. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
On the lawn equipment item, Councillor Stephen Holyday moves to replace the word "possible" in this motion with "practical and feasible." Sometimes you just gotta use a leaf blower, even on high AQHI days, he explains.
Up now: Councillor Brad Bradford's motion to amend the encampment policy to prioritize the removal of camps close to schools, daycares and playgrounds within 48 hours. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Bradford asks how many encampments there are currently. Staff say there are 355. 255 are located in 92 parks. 199 of them are located within 200 metres of a school, playground or daycare — about 56% of the total.
Bradford asks if the new encampment policy adopted in 2024 led to more encampments or fewer. Staff say a year ago there were 540 encampments. Today, there are 355.
"The motion as-is would not be operationally feasible for us to remove 199 encampments within 48 hours," says GM of Shelters Gord Tanner of the Bradford motion.
Perks asks the City Solicitor if she sees any issues with Bradford's motion. She does! She says the motion may run afoul of rules preventing council from directing enforcement, and could be inconsistent with a court's ruling in Waterloo Region re: encampments.
"Do we currently have enough space in our [shelter] system for everyone who is in an encampment to go?" Perks asks Shelters GM Gord Tanner. "No," says Tanner. "I think that's all I needed to hear," says Perks.
Councillor Lily Cheng asks if the city has ever considered establishing an area where people can legally set up encampments. Tanner says the city has thought about it, but given how hard it's been to find shelter sites, finding land for a legal encampment area would be very tough.
Fletcher's motion would also apply a three-strikes rule: people living in encampments would be offered shelter a maximum of three times before the removal process begins.
With 15 items left on the agenda, Councillor Gord Perks moves to finish the agenda tonight. Motion to extend CARRIES 15-7.
Councillor Gord Perks wants to jump over to the TPA Board item, because he says it needs to be dealt with ASAP. But councillors Bradford and Pasternak don't want to do that. Procedural confusion! Anyway, the vote to reorder the agenda FAILS 10-10. And so chaos reigns.
Back to encampments. Councillor Chris Moise says the city's current encampment strategy is working. "In August 2025, for the first time in Toronto Centre, we had no encampments in all of our parks," he says.
"I am voting against this motion because I think it's BS," says Moise of Bradford's encampment motion. "And I just hope that somebody here will come to their senses."
"I am the father of a two- and a four-year-old. And I don't think parents should have to worry about whether it's safe or not to take their kids to the park or walk to school," says Councillor Brad Bradford.
Bradford says Fletcher's motion is a "poison pill." He says the mayor has allowed parks to be "overrun for months on end." "Dufferin Grove used to be the example of how we had a compassionate response... that was the model. Now Dufferin Grove is the nightmare."
Pasternak moves to call the question, ending this encampment debate. That FAILS 6-14. The debate will continue until morale improves.
Councillor Gord Perks calls Bradford's speech "performative." "Isn't it interesting that the same person who gets up and thumps the table and talks about all the harms caused by people who have lost their homes, being in encampments, has voted against building shelters," Perks says.
"You cannot in good faith stand up on Monday and say, 'Stop building shelters!' And then stand up on Thursday and say, 'Get everybody out of the encampments.' It is REPREHENSIBLE to do that," says Councillor Gord Perks of Brad Bradford's motion.
Council takes a break from the encampments item. Council is now considering a motion from Councillor James Pasternak to support an MZO that'd greatly limit the amount of housing that can be built next to a vaccine manufacturing facility on Steeles Ave. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Staff confirm Sanofi Pasteur, the owner of the vaccine facility, are particularly concerned about "overlook" and "corporate security." They fear if housing is built nearby, people will be able to peer over their balconies and learn trade secrets.
"Bringing an MZO forward so they can actually NOT create housing. In a housing crisis! I don't get it," says Councillor Chris Moise. He says the Sanofi plant has blacked-out windows so he doesn't buy their arguments re: trade secrets and privacy.
"Let the provincial government decide if they want to have an MZO and quash this housing. But we, as a council, should not aid them and abet them in doing so. And this is why I am voting against this. This is a FARCE," says Moise of the Sanofi MZO.
"There's widespread documentation that if this development is approved, it will dramatically compromise and impair the ability of Sanofi to do [life-saving] work," says Pasternak, the local rep. He says the proposal adjacent to the site only offers 12 new affordable units. "Not a housing bonanza."
Pasternak says if residents are allowed to move into a development next to this vaccine plant, "they will complain about noise, they will complain about odour." He says these complaints will trigger a slowdown in work at the plants.
Councillor Pasternak's motion to support an MZO restricting housing development on Steeles next to the Sanofi facility CARRIES 19-2. (That's Matlow and Moise opposed.)
Councillor Brad Bradford's motion to prioritize encampment removals based on those with the most significant impact within 150 metres of schools, daycares and playgrounds FAILS 9-10.
Councillor Fletcher's motion to prioritize encampment removals for those having a significant impact within 50 metres of a school, daycare, or playground, and to make a max of three offers of shelter, CARRIES 14-5.
Up now: Councillor Bravo's motion to oppose the parts of Bill 60 that further limit city hall's ability to redesign roads. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Holyday says he can't support the Bravo motion. He says city hall brought this on themselves. "Clearly we've been offside so many times with what the broad majority of many of these neighbourhoods expect of us. And I think that's what prompted this."
Bravo's motion to oppose the part of Bill 60 further restricting Toronto's ability to redesign roads CARRIES 14-1.
Just two items left. Up now: Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to dissolve the Toronto Parking Authority Board and "conduct a thorough operational review." Bradford wants to ask questions of the mayor, but she's not here. He doesn't love that. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
"What is the problem that has been discovered that requires the immediate dissolving of the board?" Councillor Myers asks. City Manager Paul Johnson says the mayor is in charge of the budget, and she's looking for efficiencies.
Councillor Holyday wants to know if council can summon TPA management and the current TPA board to this meeting at this hour. Councillor Paula Fletcher, serving as speaker, doesn't think that's doable. "I don't think they're gonna be here," she says.
"Everybody is a little hungry and a little hangry," says Fletcher. She and Nunziata decide to take a ten-minute recess so councillors can eat. Weird vibes.
Council is back, finally. Holyday wants to know if reps for the Toronto Parking Authority are here now. Nunziata says no. "We didn't invite them," she says. "So where are they?" Holyday asks. "They're not here," says Nunziata. It goes on like this for a while.
Mayor Chow is back in the chamber. Bradford asks if he can get another five minutes to ask questions of the mayor, now that she's back. Nunziata says no. Bradford challenges that ruling. Chair is UPHELD, 14-5.
Bradford moves to delay the dissolution of the TPA Board to next month's meeting. He says he has a lot of questions that need answering, and an extra month would help. If that fails, he's got a motion to NOT dissolve the TPA Board, and instead leave it in place for the governance review.
Councillor Brad Bradford accuses Chow of trying to dissolve the TPA Board "under the cover of darkness" and says she is not being honest about her reasons for doing this. "You should be very honest and stop grandstanding," shoots back Nunziata.
Bradford says the way Nunziata has been running this meeting is an "affront on the democratic process in this chamber." Of the TPA change, he says he thinks this is actually about installing new leadership, like happened with the TTC.
Councillor Bradford's motion to defer the TPA Board dissolution item until next month's meeting FAILS 5-14.
Councillor Fletcher moves to strike part of the mayor's motion that would have appointed herself and Nunziata to the new TPA Board as non-voting members. She says it's not necessary. New board will be purely made up of senior staff.
Nunziata says as a TPA board member, she's seen a lot of opportunities for efficiencies. She notes TPA has their own IT department and other duplicative departments. "I believe we can get more revenue. That we should get more revenue," she says.
Mayor Olivia Chow is up to explain why she wants to get rid of the TPA Board. She says TPA's parking lots are city assets., and they could be raising more funds. She notes the 2026 city budget is a tough one. "We have to find money."
Chow says TPA could find efficiencies in areas like insurance, technology, cyber security, and procurement if they were more integrated with city operations. "There's nothing underhanded here," she says. Just wants to look at consolidated operations.
Bradford now gets a chance to question the mayor, since she spoke. Under questioning, she notes Chair of the current TPA Board Hartley Lefton resigned this morning, but she says it's completely unrelated to this motion.
Councillor Burnside asks Chow if she's potentially interested in bringing the TTC in-house as a city department, too. She says no. She thinks the current model works well for the TTC.
Councillor Perruzza moves for the report on a new governance structure for TPA to come before the end of this council term.
At long last, it is time to vote. Councillor Bradford's motion to keep the current TPA Board FAILS 4-15.
Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to dissolve the TPA Board and conduct a governance review CARRIES 15-4.
And that will finally do it. Remember how they said they were going to stay late yesterday so they could wrap up early today? Good joke. Everybody laugh. Council's November 2025 meeting is adjourned at 10:02 p.m.
Thanks for following this thread. Some real twists and turns. Nobody expected a TPA Board dissolution. If you liked this thread and found it useful, please consider supporting me with a subscription to my newsletter, City Hall Watcher. It keeps me going. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/subscribe