Toronto Council meets today! Mayor Olivia Chow has set rental housing incentives as her top key matter, so that will be debated first after the usual housekeeping and introductions. The meeting is streaming live here. I'll post happenings. www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEwW...
Also on the agenda: Doug Ford's bike lane ban, a hotel tax hike for funding FIFA, and a renovictions bylaw. I had a full preview of the agenda in Friday's free edition of City Hall Watcher. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/has-don-va...
Council kicks off with congratulations to the newest member of the Council Club: Don Valley West's Rachel Chernos Lin. Mayor Olivia Chow calls her a "unifier" and welcomes her "in a spirit of new beginnings."
And now: another presentation. Integrity Commissioner Jonathan Batty's term is up, so he's moving on. The mayor pays tribute to his work helping elected officials stick to the rules. Will anyone make a "Sometimes you drove us Batty" joke? There's still time.
The jokes are coming. "Occasionally, when writing about one of my reports to council, someone would slip in an R after the B in my last name, but I always ascribed that to being a typo rather than an editorial comment," says Batty.
Bratty Summer comes to an end, as Batty thanks everybody and gets a standing ovation as permitted under Code of Conduct section 45-B(2).
The honours continue. The mayor highlights recent awards won by a pair of longtime senior staffers: Transportation GM Barbara Gray and Executive Director of Social Development Denise Andrea Campbell.
Councillor Pasternak, chair of North York Community Council, also welcomes Rachel Chernos Lin. "The bad news is we've deferred many of the items for Ward 15, so you're going to have some late nights reading lots of reports—but I'm sure some of them will be quite entertaining."
Councillor Michael Thompson, attending this meeting virtually, has a petition from residents opposed to putting a stop at Mooregate Avenue & Tara Avenue for the forthcoming Scarborough busway. He says more details will be added to the agenda later. Hmm.
Councillor Stephen Holyday says he wants to vote against authorizing the closure of the Gardiner/DVP in 2025 for the Triathlon Festival. But Councillor Pasternak wants to debate it ("The Gardiner — my favourite subject!"), so they'll come back to the matter later.
Councillor Stephen Holyday wants a recorded vote on whether to authorize the installation of traffic lights at Kingston Road and Columbine Avenue in Beaches - East York. The traffic lights are APPROVED 23-1. Okay then. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Council votes 19-0 to adopt Ookwemin Minising as the official name for the island formerly known as Villiers in the Port Lands. They also approve naming the big park on the island Biidaasige Park.
An item about updating the zoning for low-rise residential lands CARRIES 23-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
After members get a chance to "hold" items they want to debate later, any unheld items are adopted en masse. The batch approval process CARRIES 23-0. Up now: A proposed new program will offer a range of incentives to encourage developers to build rentals secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
The proposed rental incentive program is really a two-step thing. The city reckons it can cover the cost of incentives to get 7,000 homes built. An additional 13,000 homes could be built with federal/provincial support.
The major incentives are deferring development charges forever (as long as the building remains a rental) and a 15% property tax reduction for 35 years. There will also be additional money to support target of 20% of new rentals as affordable housing.
A new staff report provides a timeline. If this item is adopted, staff are planning to start accepting applications for the first phase (7K rental homes) on Nov 18, closing on Nov 29. Applications will be prioritized based on construction start date — the earlier the better.
"Would it be fair to characterize this first phase as us proving to other governments that this can work ... but if we want to do it at scale, we're going to need the federal and provincial governments to come in and assist?" asks Councillor Perks. Staff agree with that.
Housing Secretariat Executive Director Abi Bond says city hall has already been hearing from developers with planned residential projects that have stalled and could be shifted to take advantage of this rental incentive program.
Cheng asks the CFO about the $$$ the city will give up by waiving dev charges. It's $325 million that would normally go to things like parks and rec centres. CFO says he's analyzed it, and this is the "upset limit" of how much rev they can give up without impacting infra plans.
Councillor Mike Colle asks why city hall can't just its sizeable reserve funds to cover the cost of infrastructure. CFO Stephen Conforti says the reserves are fully committed — city has about $6.5 billion in projects committed against reserves, plus $6 billion in unfunded needs.
"Are we doing anything to promote home ownership in this city?" wonders Holyday, noting home prices growing faster than rents. "What are we doing for the other half of the city other than making it more expensive to own a home?" Bond says there's an affordable ownership program.
Perruzza says, "We should stop pretending there is a math-science to this. There are more unknowns than there are knowns." He's worried about the city getting "fleeced" with these deals. Bond says units will be privately-owned, and city won't be on the hook for ongoing costs.
Councillor Brad Bradford asks if it's true the math on this rental incentive program says projects will only be viable if they also take advantage of other government support programs. Bond says, "We won't know that for sure until after phase one" but it's a real possibility.
"There's a false belief that everybody bought into. Just build, build, build the housing — supply the housing and we'll solve the program. Well, it didn't work!" says Councillor Mike Colle. He says city has dealt with supply, "but we didn't think of the demand!"
"This supply-side, Milton Friedman, trickle-down economics was a total failure when it comes to housing. It did not work!" says Councillor Mike Colle. He says city is now trying to "step in and fill the gap."
Colle has also taken to referring to condos as "condo warehouses" which is an interesting turn of phrase. He says rental incentive programs like this one should be the domain of federal and provincial governments, but city has to "punch about its weight" and get it done.
"What City Council here is feebly trying to do is 'bend the curve' with respect to the cost of renting in this city. They're doing nothing for the owners — the other half of the city. In fact, what they're doing is shuffling costs onto those owners," says Holyday.
Councillor Stephen Holyday has printed out charts and is now comparing the growth of rental costs with the growth of housing prices. He disputes that there's a "housing crisis" in Toronto. He says council has "so many levers it can control to make life more affordable."
Councillor Brad Bradford, noting he called for a rental incentive program earlier this year, says this program "shows such a lack of alignment" with the feedback from developers about their costs. "The incentives proposed are not enough. It's mild. It's meek. It's inadequate."
Bradford says there's more promise in phase 2 of the rental incentive program, but it needs $9 billion combined from the federal and provincial govs. "So I just think it's a little disingenuous for us to go out there and suggest we're unlocking 20K units of housing."
Councillor Gord Perks, on the other hand, calls the rental incentive program "totally revolutionary." "It's smart and it will be effective." Perks takes issue with Bradford citing RESCON and BILD, saying those trade associations will always be asking for more from city hall.
"Just about every developer in the city of Toronto wants in" to the rental incentive program, says Perks. He says city has taken "courageous step" to rebalance market more toward purpose-built rentals. He says staff have shown their "genius" with this program. I think he's a fan
"We do have a housing crisis in front of us. If we can't see it in the face of our neighbours, I don't know why we're here. We know we need to build more affordable housing because, for three decades, every level of government walked away," says Mayor Olivia Chow.
With no motions but with some skeptical speeches, Toronto's new rental housing incentive program is APPROVED 23-1.
One agenda item down, 58 to go. And that takes Council to lunch. They'll be back at 2 p.m. So will I.
A bit late, but Council is back. Up now: a deferred item from last meeting. Councillor Saxe wants a report on allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local neighbourhood polls. The city uses these to measure support for things like permit parking. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Advocates have argued letting younger people vote in neighbourhood polls is a good opportunity to build civic engagement. Holyday, though, has concerns about the logistics of registering 16- and 17-year-olds as voters in these polls.
Pasternak asks if it makes sense for young people to vote on things like speed bumps when they don't drive. Transportation GM says Council recently waived polling requirements for traffic calming, so it's not really relevant. (But also, 16 year olds can drive!)
Councillor Dianne Saxe rises to ask colleagues to support reviewing letting 16- and 17-year-olds vote in neighbourhood polls. "We know how important it is to encourage and facilitate participation by young people in the life of the city," she says.
"It would be very significant symbolically to give them a vote for the first time in a formal process," says Saxe. "This is a very small step — a limited effort by the city — to indicate to 16 and 17-year-olds that their voice counts. Their future in this city counts."
But Councillor Holyday says he'll vote against it. He worries that a self-identification voter registration process for 16- and 17-year-olds could be vulnerable to fraud and threaten the integrity of the neighbourhood poll results.
Councillors Morley and Cheng are in favour of getting a report on 16- and 17-year-olds voting, arguing it's important to give young people a way to engage with local issues and promote active citizenship.
Pointing out this is a mere report request — not an actual motion to change anything yet — Councillor Shelley Carroll moves to call the question and end debate. That CARRIES 18-6.
Council votes 18-6 to APPROVE a report on allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in neighbourhood polls on issues like permit parking.
"Wow, we have so many priorities in this council chamber," Nunziata remarks sarcastically after the vote for a report on 16- and 17-year-olds voting in neighbourhood polls.
Up now: a temporary increase to the hotel and Airbnb tax to fund costs related to hosting part of the FIFA World Cup in 2026. Staff are proposing a temporary hike from 6% to 8.5% for June 1, 2025 to July 31, 2026. Temp tax hike will raise ~$56.6 million. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Cheng asks how the hotel/Airbnb tax is allocated. City CFO says a portion goes to Destination Toronto for tourism marketing and other costs, while the rest goes to City Hall general revenues. In 2023, the City received $94 million total and sent $28 million to Destination TO.
Councillor Crisanti asks how CFO determined the timeframe for the temporary tax, noting the 14-month period is way longer than the length of the World Cup. CFO says they started with a revenue target, then determined how long the extra tax would need to be in effect to reach it.
Councillor Paul Ainslie asks if it's generally accurate that tax revenue from having big events like T-Swift and FIFA goes 47% to the federal government, 44% to the province and 9% to Toronto. "That is correct," says CFO.
Budget Chief Councillor Shelley Carroll is calling the Municipal Accommodation Tax the "MAT tax" for short. Just want to make it clear she is not saying Matt Tax. It is not a tax on Matts. I'd probably be opposed to that.
Council votes 21-4 to APPROVE a temporary hike to the tax on hotel rooms and short-term rentals (like Airbnb) to help fund the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Up now: the Auditor General's report on parks maintenance. The AG found parks maintenance crews were spending too much time parked — and not at parks. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
"Do you find that odd, that 20 years later after amalgamation, that we're still using paper and we still have no idea what's going on out there with the 311 system?" asks Councillor Paula Fletcher of parks maintenance. "We agree that there is room for improvement," says staffer.
Here's the old-school paper-based worklog system the parks division uses. AG found many were not properly filled out or signed-off on by a supervisor.
Councillor Lily Cheng moves for a look at a system where parks workers would be required to take photos to document their work, with those photos made available to 311. She compares it to Amazon, where workers are required to take photos confirming package delivery.
Cheng is facing pushback from councillors McKelvie and Fletcher, who are pointing out not all park workers have city-issued smartphones and the cost of providing devices so they can take photos would be very high.
Fletcher says the issue with the sheets and parks maintenance workers is a management issue, not a worker issue — if the daily activity sheets aren't being reviewed by supervisors, that's on the supervisor.
"I don't shop at Amazon. I really don't care what Amazon does," says Nunziata. "The system is not working," she adds, noting many parks in her ward that aren't maintained. "This should have been caught years ago."
Mayor Olivia Chow says she has "heard it over and over again" from residents about issues with garbage in parks. "And the washrooms — the washrooms are what I heard A LOT — to the extent that I went to some of the parks and started taking photos."
Councillor Lily Cheng's motion to look at having parks workers take photos of their maintenance work to verify the work is getting done FAILS 10-14.
The rest of the Audit item on park maintenance CARRIES via show of hands. Council is now moving on to another Audit item. This one's about the controversial deal City Hall struck with PayIt for online payments. Things don't go great. Fletcher wants to go into private session.
And indeed, Council opts to go "in camera" — where there are no cameras allowed — to discuss the PayIt audit. No media allowed while they're in private session. I'll let you know when they're back in public.
The supplementary report on Doug Ford's bike lane ban bill is now available. City staff say it could cost $48 million in provincial tax money to remove bike lanes. And city would lose out on $27 million invested to install the infrastructure. www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis... (PDF)
The report also says travel times would get WORSE for drivers during the construction work necessary to remove the bike lanes. Long-term, staff project "likely minimal improvements in travel time" for drivers once lanes are removed.
Report says removing bike lanes on Bloor would mean 4 months with only one open vehicle lane in each direction, 4 months with only one vehicle lane in one direction, and a month-long intersection closure at St. George. Southbound University Ave would be one lane for 9 months.
On the idea of putting bike lanes on "side streets", report found "no feasible parallel alternatives" and says alternatives would likely require new bridge structures or property acquisition. City would ask province to cover those costs.
And here are new and updated ridership numbers for Bloor, University and Yonge bike lanes. Increases as high as 656%.
In summary, Ford's bike lane removals will, according to a new City Hall report: - Cost $75 million in direct costs and sunk costs. - Make traffic much, much worse for at least nine months during construction to remove lanes - Have minimal long-term impact on car travel times.
Meanwhile, back in the Council chamber, councillors have returned from closed session. Councillor McKelvie moves for council to stay a bit beyond 6 p.m. to finish their PayIt item. That CARRIES via show of hands.
A twist! Councillor Gord Perks says this motion by Councillor Pasternak about using lands at 1220 Wilson Ave as a park originally contained confidential info about another use for the site. He's asking speaker to rule on whether the motion is in order. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Nunziata says she'll issue a ruling in writing later. While we wait, Councillor Fletcher moves for a further Auditor General investigation into the PayIt deal, including looking deeper into cell phone and email data.
Perks moves a motion with confidential instructions re: the PayIt deal. He says members of the public who expressed "deep concerns" about the deal were "browbeaten by Mayor Tory's Executive Committee." He says those concerns and questions have now proven to be correct.
Perks says this report makes it clear the PayIt deal was unfair. "It was a massive failure in governance ... In a moment like this, when it's very clear there was a failure, we have to reassure the people of Toronto that we take this seriously."
Fletcher's motion for the AG to do a deeper investigation into the behind-the-scenes of the PayIt deal, looking at email and phone records, CARRIES 21-0.
Perks' confidential motion re: the PayIt deal FAILS on a tie, 11-11. Wow. There's a story here.
The remainder of the Audit Committee recommendations re: PayIT carry via show of hands. PayIT Toronto will be shut down when current contract period ends on June 2, 2025.
Wrapping up now. A report on the CafeTO program CARRIES 20-1. Councillor Cheng also passed an amendment calling for a look at ways to support strip mall patios. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Day two of Council is about to kick off. Today will start with a salute to Toronto's flag on its 50th birthday. And then: the renovictions bylaw. Meeting livestream is here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbbx...
Here we go: Mayor Olivia Chow takes the lectern to pay tribute to Toronto's flag. Fifty years old but still looking spry. Designer Rene DeSantis is in the chamber for the occasion.
Chow has some fun historical flag-related photos related to the original design competition and unveiling.
Former councillor Doug Holyday, who was part of the initiative to determine whether there should be a new flag for amalgamated Toronto, is also in the chamber today with flag designer DeSantis. Holyday decided to stick with the original flag. (He's also Stephen Holyday's dad.)
Toronto flag designer Rene DeSantis, who was just 21 when he won the flag competition, gets a framed flag from the mayor. And that wraps up our flag-related content for today.
A switch to the schedule. After the renovictions bylaw debate, Council will debate Parkside Drive safety improvements, then Doug Ford's Bike Lane Bill.
Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik rises to extend a big welcome to Taylor Swift and all the Swifties arriving in Toronto today. She shouts out city staff for their work preparing for this. She's got a copy of the TTC's special edition Taylor Swift ride guide. Get it while it's hot.
Councillor Jennifer McKelvie, apparently, is officially recognized as the biggest Swiftie on Council. Malik credits McKelvie for the Taylor Swift street sign auction, which has already raised more than $50,000, and counting.
Mayor Olivia Chow extends her thanks to the Toronto Library, noting she attended a Taylor Swift event at the Reference Library last night. "They were making bracelets — I got eight!" She notes one of them is a bike lane bracelet, and offers to give one to Nunziata.
Councillor Lily Cheng says today is the last day for councillors to sign up for this year's Secret Santa. The drawing of names will happen tomorrow. Makes me wonder what you get for a man who votes against everything.
Up now: renovictions! Staff had put forward a final recommendation for a bylaw starting July 31, 2025. It would require landlords to seek a renovation license to evict a tenant, demonstrating renovation can't be completed with tenant in place. Also requires compensation to tenant
The landlord renovation license would carry a $700 fee. But that's not enough to cover the full cost of this program. Staff say the net cost of the renoviction program will be about about $1.97 million, but much depends on volume of applications.
Mayor Olivia Chow says she's hearing from tenants who are renovicted from rent-controlled units and stuck with units without rent controls, where their rents end up much higher. She calls it a "loophole." "Needless evictions can be prevented" with this bylaw, mayor says.
"If we had real rent control for all buildings — not just the ones built before 2018 — we probably wouldn't need to do this. That would end renovictions overnight. But that's a provincial responsibility," says Mayor Olivia Chow.
Councillor Holyday asks Chow how many people this renoviction bylaw will help. Report says there could be 160 applications a year, which Holyday doesn't think is a lot. Chow says real number could be much higher, as tenants right now don't know their rights.
Propmaster Councillor Stephen Holyday has brought his roll of red tape. "This is what drives up the cost of housing — among many factors!" he says of proposed renovictions bylaw.
"Nobody can tell me how many people this is going to benefit," complains Holyday. He thinks the number will be very small. He says he found a story saying there were just three landlords fined in Toronto for bad-faith evictions.
"We should be doing things to make it easier for landlords to get into the business," Holyday says. He says there are lots of homes with unused space that could be converted to rental units, but they look at city hall's red tape and say, "Why bother?"
Councillor Paula Fletcher, on the other hand, defends the renoviction bylaw. "It would give people that rent a peace of mind. A precious peace of mind. For not a lot of city dollars."
Councillor Nunziata moves the recommendations from a supplementary report, calling for enhancements to the Toronto Tenant Support Program. She cites examples in her ward where tenants were evicted when landlords were doing renovations as minor as replacing a toilet and sink.
Councillor Gord Perks, Chair of the Planning & Housing Committee, moves a staff-recommended motion to waive the application fee for reno licenses for rooming houses. He says it's a necessary part of ongoing effort to improve conditions of now-legal multi-tenant homes.
"You all know what the rental market in Toronto is like and how few options people have when they are evicted from their homes. And if you're not sure about it, just go take a look at the tents in one of the parks," says Perks.
Councillor Bravo wants to speak on renovictions, but needs to find a solid wi-fi connection first, so Council presses pause on the renovictions debate and jumps to a debate about Parkside Drive safety.
Parkside Drive has seen 1,487 collisions over the last decade. Staff are proposing a design where a bidirectional bike lane would be installed on west side, narrowing car lanes and slowing down traffic. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Pasternak asks if it makes sense to go forward with Parkside project, given the provincial legislation to block new bike lanes. City Manager says he recommends continuing, saying this is a project about safety and design could be changed if legislation requires it.
Switching gears again, Councillor Bravo is back and ready to vote on the renoviction bylaw. Councillor Perks' motion to waive renovation license application fee for rooming houses CARRIES 24-2.
Councillor Nunziata's motion to enhance the Toronto Tenant Support Program CARRIES 25-1.
The Renoviction bylaw is APPROVED by Toronto Council 25-1. Effective July 31, 2025, landlords will need to seek a renovation license if they want to kick out tenants for renovations.
Back to Parkside, Councillor Bradford asks if this plan includes sidewalk improvements. Staff say they've added sidewalks on west side in places where they can, but it's challenged by presence of park/ravine, slope, etc.
"Is it the policy and the approach of the city to remove a travelled lane of traffic and install bicycle infrastructure to address issues of speeding and aggressive driving?" Holyday asks staff. Staff say it's consistent with approved Vision Zero and Complete Streets plans.
Holyday says he'll be voting against the Parkside safety plan. "These roads exist all over the city, and you're going to have people doing stupid things all over the place — you don't like it, you hope they get a big ticket for it — but the answer here is to take out a lane?"
Councillor Bradford says he'll oppose the Parkside Drive safety plan. He says the cost estimate — $7.5 million, or about $4 million a km — is too high. He understands this isn't just about bike lanes, but wants to see more focus on sidewalks and pedestrian safety.
"We've got great bike infrastructure immediately right beside it," in High Park, says Bradford. He says as a cyclist he'd rather ride through the park than ride down Parkside.
"Of course I'm supporting this. Of course I believe people should be able to get around their neighbourhood safely," says Councillor Gord Perks of Parkside Safety plan. "The fact is that this is a street that acts like a highway that runs between people's front doors and a park."
"I have never seen a more compelling case for safety improvements than Parkside Drive," says Councillor Jennifer McKelvie, pointing to residents who brought photos of crashes. She points out it's also horrific to hear stories of near-misses, which aren't accounted for in the data
The vote on Parkside Drive will have to wait. Council breaks for lunch. Back at 2 p.m. for an afternoon session that will see discussion of Premier Doug Ford's bike lane blocking bill.
Council is slowly returning from lunch (and also buying Girl Guide cookies in the rotunda). The bells are ringing to try to cajole latecomers. First order of business is an Indigenous Ceremony to confirm Ookwemin Minising as the new name for the island in the port lands.
Mayor Olivia Chow takes the lectern to welcome Elder Shelley Charles, who will lead a lifting ceremony for the new names for the island and the park. Here's a render of what's to come.
Charles leads the mayor, councillors and Indigenous reps in a ceremony where they say "Ookwemin Minising" to each of the four cardinal directions. The name is now lifted.
After Councillor Perks raised concerns yesterday about confidentiality and reversing previous decisions, Councillor Pasternak withdraws his motion about 1220 Wilson Avenue. He says he'll bring it back later as a "cleaner" version. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
On an item about multiplex permissions, Councillor Bradford moves for a report on changes to development charges for multiplexes with more than four units. That CARRIES 24-2. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
And the multiplex permission item — intended to address gaps in the current rules — CARRIES 24-2. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Bradford announces they've been able to secure affordable units for a term of 99 years in a dev at 985 Woodbine Avenue. It's APPROVED via show of hands. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Zoning for the "Missing Middle Pilot Project" in Bradford's ward is APPROVED 24-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Council votes 19-7 to APPROVE the road safety project on Parkside Drive, including west side bike lanes.
Councillor James Pasternak's motion for a new review of councillor compensation gets added to the agenda on a 20-5 vote. Matlow holds it for debate. They'll come back to it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Shelley Carroll's motion for a review of the crossing guard program CARRIES via show of hands. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Josh Matlow's motion calling for a report on adding a pedestrian scramble at Yonge & Eglinton CARRIES 24-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
We've reached the hour of procedural confusion. Councillor Holyday wants to make a speech about why he believes councillors shouldn't add an item about Bill 212 to the agenda. Councillor Gord Perks says that's not allowed. The Clerks check the rule and say, eh, it's a grey area.
Perks argues that when the procedural rules aren't clear about something, it's up to the speaker to make a ruling. Nunziata ponders the matter, then says, "Councillor Holyday, I have a lot of respect for you and I like you, but I'm going to have to rule that out of order."
Holyday challenges Nunziata's ruling that he's not allowed to speak on whether a member motion should be referred. Nunziata is UPHELD, 21-3.
After all that, Councillor Dianne Saxe's motion about Bill 212 and provincial overreach gets added to the agenda on a 21-4 vote. It'll get combined with Chow's motion on the same subject. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Josh Matlow's motion for a report on landlords that use software to engage in price-fixing of rents — and ways for city hall to prevent it — CARRIES 24-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Nunziata's motion to investigate withdrawing a building permit for 80 Guestville Avenue CARRIES 24-0. The landlord issued N13s to tenants six months ago, but seemingly hasn't started work. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
After all that, there are 25 items left on the agenda. Up now: Bill 212, Ford's bike lane busting bill. Staff have a report suggesting removing lanes will be very expensive, take a long time, and make traffic much worse during the de-construction period. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor McKelvie asks how staff calculated the figure of $48 million for removing bike lanes on University, Bloor and Yonge. Staff say it's a preliminary "order of magnitude" figure based on reconstructing and resurfacing the roads. They haven't yet factored in disposal costs.
Councillor Gord Perks asks about the Transportation Tomorrow survey, the best source of GTA mobility data. Why is the latest survey — conducted in 2022 — not public yet? Transportation GM says it's a provincial survey and the province has not published it yet, for reasons unclear
Transportation GM Barbara Gray says more than 50% of people who live downtown don't own cars. Outside of downtown, it's 28%, which is still pretty significant.
Holyday has questions for the mayor. He asks if she agrees that people are really upset with the bike lanes on Bloor West out toward Etobicoke. Chow says there are signal changes and tweaks happening. She's also asked staff to look at finding space to add another car lane.
"Why wouldn't you just take the win here and let the provincial government deal with any heat about removing [the bike lanes]? And give the people what they want?" Holyday asks Chow. Chow says local government deserves respect. People voted for council to make these decisions.
Bradford asks Chow if she committed to removing the Bloor West bike lanes when she met with area biz owners in October Chow says no. Bradford asks if she'd be surprised to hear some owners came away with that idea. Chow says her commitment was to work with them on design changes
Bradford asks if Chow has had any conversations with anyone at the province about their proposals to remove the bike lanes on Bloor West. Chow says no. She wanted to wait to get the info from staff contained in this report. She also wanted council to have this debate first.
On the Bill 212 item, Mayor Olivia Chow moves an eight-part motion. It starts with a recommendation that Council oppose Doug Ford's bike lane bill. She says, whether or not you like bike lanes, this is about having respect for the people of Toronto and their elected government.
Here's Chow's full motion. It also says Council should take the position that no costs stemming from the provincial legislation should be paid by the City of Toronto.
"What's more important to you in this motion — the appearance of fighting the province, or actually winning?" Holyday asks the mayor. Chow says most important thing is respect for the people of Toronto and council. She also says it's important to make decisions based on facts.
Councillor Paula Fletcher has made reference to letters by Hospital CEOs supporting the University Ave bike lanes in 2020. Here are a couple of those letters, from CEOs of Sick Kids and Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai CEO says 63% of hospital staff bike to work.
Saxe: "I just would like to remind members of council that 6 people have died this year who were on bicycles and were killed by drivers of vehicles—and 3 of them occurred in my ward. And none of the 3 of them would have died if they had been able to ride in a safe bike lane."
Councillor Josh Matlow: "While Doug Ford is focusing on micromanaging Toronto, he's neglecting a healthcare system that needs improvement, schools that need fixing, vulnerable people across this province ... but damn we can go to 7-11 and buy a cooler now. Isn't that awesome?"
Matlow points out Ford could change the name of Toronto to "Ford Nation" or make Toronto a suburb of Mississauga. (Stop giving him ideas!) "We need a legal form of home rule," Matlow says, calling for a single-province constitutional amendment to give Toronto real power.
"This is exhibit A for why Toronto needs a Charter City," says Councillor Jamaal Myers. "Whatever you think of bike lanes, I think we can all agree we don't need Queen's Park telling us how to run our city."
Councillor Brad Bradford moves to express support for restoring Bloor West beyond Runnymede Road to four lanes, "even if it requires removing or reconfiguring cycling infrastructure."
"I've never seen such a vocal and consistent and passionate backlash" like we're seeing with the Bloor West bike lanes, Bradford says. He says Council (including himself, because he acknowledges he voted for this project) got it wrong on this one.
(I've got to think the traffic flow issues with Bloor West in that stretch are design and signal issues. It doesn't make sense to me that central Bloor would be able to accommodate bike lanes but the west section wouldn't.)
Councillor Chernos Lin, making her first speech on an item, says she has concerns re: Bradford's motion because it could mean the bike lanes come to an abrupt end. Not safe. She adds it's Toronto that should be making these decisions. "and not a cabinet minister from Brampton."
"I want to expand bike lanes across this city, especially in my ward," says Councillor Chris Moise. "One of the things I'm looking at is Jarvis Street." He promises before he leaves council, Jarvis will have bike lanes again. (Let's hold him to it.)
Mayor Olivia Chow proposes taking a 30-minute dinner break at 6 p.m., then they'll come back and polish off this agenda. That CARRIES. Strap in: late-night council is coming. Things will get a bit weird.
"Citizens feel insulted, they feel upset, they feel like they've been gaslit because they've been stuck in traffic!" thunders Councillor Holyday. "You've got to hear them! You've got to listen!"
"You broke it, Council. Council won't fix it. So step aside and let somebody else fix it for you. It's the easiest way out of it," declares Holyday, in support of Doug Ford's bike lane removal effort.
Councillor Mike Colle moves to look at installing signs reading "This road congestion and traffic delay is the result of Premier Ford's Bill 212" in places where there's construction work to remove bike lanes.
My ward has mixed feelings about bike lanes," acknowledges Councillor Lily Cheng, but she says her commitment "is that the voice of our local residents has to matter." She says Council has to fight against Bill 212 and support Chow "in protecting Toronto's voice."
Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to oppose Premier Doug Ford's bike lane busting bill, Bill 212, CARRIES 21-4.
Chow's motion to adopt the position that City Hall should pay no costs related to the implementation of Doug Ford's bike lane bill CARRIES 22-3.
Councillor Brad Bradford's motion to tell the province Council supports restoring Bloor West to four lanes, even if that requires removing bike lanes, FAILS 6-18.
Councillor Colle's motion to look at installing signs blaming Doug Ford's bill for the traffic caused by removing bike lanes CARRIES 14-11.
Councillor Michael Thompson's motion to remove the planned Scarborough busway stop at Mooregate Avenue & Tara Avenue FAILS 5-17. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Motion to approve the appointment of a new fire chief CARRIES 22-0. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
And that takes Council to dinner. Nineteen items left on the agenda. I'm going to assume all the councillors who don't return from the break have gone to see Taylor Swift. Back at 6:30.
Council is back and dealing with dangerous dogs. Councillor Paula Fletcher passes a motion asking for a report on how condo residents can be made to comply with rules requiring dangerous dog owners to post a "Dangerous Dog" sign. It CARRIES via show of hands.
On Councillor James Pasternak's motion calling for a review of councillor compensation, Budget Chief Carroll successfully moves to delay the report due date to March 2025 (after the budget). After that, motion for a review of councillor salaries CARRIES 15-2.
Up now: a ten-year plan for culture in Toronto. It proposes culture everywhere, culture for all, culture for the future and culture beyond borders. I think that covers all the possible culture-related bases. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Jon Burnside isn't feeling the need for a debate about a culture plan. He moves to call the question and proceed straight to voting. That FAILS 10-12. The cultural debate must continue.
Councillor Parthi Kandavel moves to attach some deadlines to aspects of the cultural plan, calling for a progress dashboard to be online by end of 2025.
Members of Toronto's Youth Cabinet have decided to stop by to watch this evening session of Council. That's dedication. Councillor Josh Matlow gives them a shout-out from the floor.
Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik moves for a report on a pilot project that could see the city buy cultural commercial properties to keep the doors open.
Councillor Paula Fletcher has a motion to ensure the city is supporting francophone and non-profit theatre.
Councillor Lily Cheng has a motion to look at underused churches and other faith spaces for use as cultural venues. She tells us she saw an inspiring sign this summer: "Make Art, Not War."
Deputy Mayor Malik's motion to look at a pilot project where the city acquires troubled cultural spaces to keep the doors open CARRIES 18-2.
All other motions and the ten-year cultural plan as amended are ADOPTED via showings of hands. Stay tuned for culture everywhere for all in the future across borders.
Up now: I heard you like ten-year plans so I got you another one. It's a ten-year plan for Toronto's economy. It wants to see charts go up. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
The plan: grow Toronto's GDP by an average 3% each year such that our GDP doubles, from $213.5 billion to $447 billion by 2050. The strategy: more BIAs, preserve employment lands, tackle congestion, commercial rent control, more suburban restaurants.
"I look forward to working with you to bring a new bowling alley to Willowdale!" Councillor Lily Cheng tells staff. She says a bowling alley in her ward recently closed and she's sad about it, but maybe this economic plan can help bring a replacement.
Councillor Chris Moise moves a motion on behalf of the absent Councillor Thompson. The motion asks for staff to consider this economic plan while developing a business model for EV charging.
Councillor Josh Matlow moves for a report on policy to allow for smaller commercial units in new developments. He wants to create spaces attainable by smaller businesses, not just chains.
Councillor Shelley Carroll moves for an Artificial Intelligence Economic Development Strategy. "[AI] is already happening. This is a plane that's already taking off. And we've got to build it right."
Councillor Jon Burnside is not feeling the need to debate this economic plan any further. He moves to call the question and skip directly to the vote on this item. This time, his motion CARRIES 15-5, with only the people in the middle opposed.
With that, all motions on the Economic Plan CARRY via show of hands. So does the plan itself. Line go up, hopefully.
Saying "an application of this scale on a 100-foot lot will be precedent-setting in this community", Councillor Chernos Lin votes against an item about an OLT hearing for a nine-storey building on Lawrence East. Still, the item CARRIES 15-7. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
On an item authorizing closure of Gardiner/DVP for the Triathalon next year, Pasternak asks about status of the upload, and whether the city still has authority to close them. Staff say due diligence work continues, highways remain city roads, city still has authority to close
Council votes 19-2 to AUTHORIZE closure of the Gardiner/DVP for the Triathlon Festival next July. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Up now: increasing permissions for new mid-rise buildings on the city's avenues. Councillor Holyday has concerns. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Councillor Gord Perks asks about the potential for going further to allow more height/density via this up-zoning process. Interim Chief Planner Kyle Knoeck says a motion today to just increase permissions would be "ill-advised" but a motion to study more density would be fine.
On cue, Councillor Brad Bradford moves to look at allowing as-of-right buildings up to 12-storeys on avenues with frequent transit. Report would be due back in Q1 2025.
Holyday has concerns about Bradford's motion. "Somebody on those avenues, where there isn't a multi-storey building for kilometres, could walk out and find a 12-storey building?" "If it qualifies at something that's designated as an avenue, yeah," says Bradford.
Holyday confirms he'll oppose this item. He thinks it's unnecessary. "People like to say 'housing crisis', and they throw out the need to build this and do that and change the market ... but remind yourself that we exceeded our housing target."
"We're here to protect the people who elected us," says Councillor Stephen Holyday. He adds: "The backlash has already started in Etobicoke Centre" about recent planning changes, saying people "don't feel included in this process."
"60,000 new homes. That's what this report does," says Councillor Gord Perks, noting that's equivalent to the population of two Orillias. He says the previous strategy of conducting separate planning studies of each avenue was taking way, way too long.
"When I'm going to give any extra density as-of-right, I want as-of-right affordable housing to come with it," says Councillor Paula Fletcher, saying she doesn't want these changes to just lead to a bunch of expensive condos and pricey rentals.
Councillor Bradford's motion to report on increasing as-of-right zoning permissions on avenues with frequent transit to 12 storeys CARRIES 14-7.
Council votes to endorse as-of-right permissions for mid-rise buildings on avenues. Item CARRIES 18-3.
Calling it "massive in scale," Councillor Holyday speaks and votes against an OLT item about a 22-storey proposal for The West Mall in his ward. Still, the item CARRIES 18-3. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Up now, there will be... blood? Councillor Chris Moise wants Council to oppose private for-profit clinics where people get paid for giving blood and plasma. Councillor Stephen Holyday has concerns. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
"I don't think anyone wants to see circumstances where people are selling blood as the means of income," says Holyday, but he says there are regulations in place. He says council should leave this issue to Canada Blood Services. "Why wouldn't we allow them the flexibility?"
"This is to protect our most vulnerable people in Toronto," counters Chris Moise. He calls it an "ethical issue" and says the company planning to set up paid blood/plasma clinics in Toronto has "been known to exploit people for profit."
This debate is bloody well over. Councillor Moise's motion to oppose paid blood and plasma clinics in Toronto CARRIES 14-5.
Up now: Councillor Nick Mantas wants to declare December as Christian Heritage Month. Councillor Gord Perks says he'll vote against it, in part because former councillor Jim Karygiannis (now a lobbyist) has been pushing Council to do this. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...
Perruzza objects to Perks bringing up Karygiannis, saying that's not the matter before Council. Perks says it's relevant, because Karygiannis is lobbying for the declaration on behalf of the "Christian Music Festival", an org that no one knows much of anything about.
Things are going pear-shaped. Perruzza is very mad that Perks brought up Karygiannis. He's asking for a legal opinion from the City Solicitor, but it's not clear why. He won't stop. Nunziata threatens to kick Perruzza out of the chamber. Perruzza finally sits down.
Perks says he also opposes the designation of Christian Heritage Month because Christianity already has a privileged position in our society versus other faiths and beliefs, and also, "Christian Heritage" is a phrase linked to far-right groups.
Councillor Nick Mantas, who brought the Christian Heritage Month motion to council, says "there is no political intention in this motion." He says Christianity is "the only faith yet that has not had the adoption of a heritage month."
"I feel like we're putting a whole faith on trial here," says Councillor Lily Cheng. Well, what else are you going to do at 9:51 p.m. at a City Council meeting. She describes this as a difficult decision, but says December is an important month for Christians.
"I can say for myself that Christianity saved my life," says Councillor Cheng, noting some of her personal struggles. She breaks into tears. This meeting has taken several dramatic turns.
"If you dig into the history of any faith, there are dark things that no one would be proud of. But there is so much good and beauty in Christianity," says Cheng. "I don't think it's something to be ashamed of to say, 'I'm Christian.'"
"When you bring religion into this chamber, that's what happens. Religion divides people! It always has," says Councillor Chris Moise. Moise worries about Pandora's Box from declaring Christian Heritage Month. You'll have to do same for other faiths & you'll run out of months.
Did I dream that. I can't be sure.
"This meeting is adjourned... right?" wonders the meeting chair, Councillor Frances Nunziata. She is right! Council wraps things up at 10:03 p.m. Their November 2024 meeting is in the books. There were some facts and many many feelings.
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