Toronto Council meets today! After preliminaries, it looks like the first item will be the new funding model for TCHC, followed by an update to the anti-poverty strategy, which includes the TTC Fair Pass program. It’ll be streaming live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUIpaa_9rpE
I previewed the agenda in this week’s edition of @cityhallwatcher. If you missed it, it’ll tell you all you need to know about the poverty, housing and governance issues up for debate today. https://graphicmatt.substack.com/p/city-hall-watcher-46-poverty-housing
I’m particularly interested in the debate on this Special Committee on Governance item. Should lead to a bunch of fun motions for governance reform, including likely something about ranked ballots. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.GV5.1
The meeting kicks off with Councillor Thompson complaining that until recently the Google search result for “Scarborough” showed a photo of a broken-down house. Google blames their algorithm, he says, then wonders why the Google AI isn’t smart enough to find photos of Rouge Park.
Councillor Mike Layton presents new dad Joe Cressy with a “Council-size coffee mug” to help him stay awake for the proceedings.
One more. A Walmer Road tree is saved from removal by Council, 22-2. Councillors Holyday and Ford failed to convince colleagues that these trees should die.
First item up for debate is on the new funding model for TCHC. This is a big deal as Council (with help from other govs - mostly feds) now has a plan to deal with the social housing repair backlog. Here’s a chart I made showing difference between old plan vs. new plan
There’s no real magic to the plan. The city has decided to put $160 million per year into TCHC capital repairs (and $250 million into operating). Turns out when you spend money on repairs, stuff gets fixed.
The report on the new TCHC funding model ends with a note crediting the federal government for “significant” contributions under the National Housing Strategy and calling on the provincial government to step up with more cash.
Big statement from staff: “Over the course of ten years, the federal money and the City money will contribute to the repair and restoration of all 58,000 units in the [TCHC] portfolio.”
Council will probably approve this new TCHC funding model unanimously, but the cash will need to be approved each year as part of budget process. So: this is the easy part. The hard part comes later. Not clear where this is going to fit into a budget with little revenue growth.
As I boldly guessed, Council approves the new TCHC funding model unanimously, 25-0. Next step: approving the funds in the budget process.
Council’s second item is an update to the anti-poverty strategy. LOTS of stuff in here, including many items subject to the budget process. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.EX10.1
The highlight from this report is an evaluation of the TTC Fair Pass for people with low-incomes. Big early success. Strategy calls for it to be expanded to more people. I wrote about it here: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/11/11/ttc-fair-discount-program-offers-proof-that-cheaper-transit-can-transform-lives.html
Deputy Mayor Minnan-Wong moves for a report that lists all the city’s anti-poverty programs.
Councillor Paul Ainslie moves to ensure any data related to this anti-poverty strategy is put on the open data portal. He also wants to send a copy of this report to the federal government as an FYI.
Before the lunch break, Mayor John Tory moves to reappoint Jim Karygiannis to the boards and positions he previously held. Motion carries on a voice vote. Councillor Karygiannis is restored.
Council is now on lunch until 2 p.m. 47 items left on the agenda.
Council’s back from lunch. Councillor Michael Thompson just added an item to the agenda about the “Google Matter.” He says it’ll “defend the integrity of Scarborough.”
Deputy Mayor Minnan-Wong has added an agenda item about traffic congestion. This provokes an audible, exasperated “Aw, come on” from one of his colleagues.
The stream for the afternoon session is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESoKSG_hox8
All the anti-poverty plan motions carry unanimously. The plan itself also carries unanimously, 23-0. Next up: the budget process, where several items in the plan will need to be properly funded.
Next item is a Board of Health report on community violence, which includes a request to the federal government to ban “handguns, assault rifles, semi-automatic military assault weapons, and parts that are used to build firearms.” http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.HL11.1
The president of Canada’s National Firearms Association has written to Council to oppose a gun ban. “Gun control is based on a lie,” he claims. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/cc/comm/communicationfile-99347.pdf (PDF)
Some charts from this important report on community violence in Toronto, underscoring why the City is focusing on programs and services for young people. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/hl/bgrd/backgroundfile-139316.pdf (PDF)
Council votes to request the federal government ban handguns, assault rifles, etc, 21-2.
The remainder of the Board of Health item on community violence carries unanimously, 25-0.
Councillor Michael Thompson’s motion is now posted. He wants Mayor John Tory to write to Google Canada and request a public apology for the photo of a broken-down house that came up when people googled the word “Scarborough” (Tory has seconded the motion.) http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.MM12.30
Council is now considering a new Parkland Strategy. Without a robust plan to build a bunch of parks, park space per person is set to decline significantly in the downtown area by 2033. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ex/bgrd/backgroundfile-139543.pdf (PDF)
Chief Planner Gregg Lintern says Dundas Square is technically classified as parkland. I was not aware.
It’d be cool if the parkland strategy could make it easier to book things like barbecues and outdoor fireplaces in parks. My local park is Corktown Common and the BBQ/fire place seem to rarely (never?) get used.
Anyway, the parkland strategy carries unanimously on a voice vote.
Councillor Gord Perks is arguing this Minnan-Wong item re: getting a report on the effectiveness of the city’s congestion strategy is NOT urgent and shouldn’t have been added to the agenda. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.MM12.28
Perks’ point is that a request for a report to be delivered by July 2020 is, by definition, not urgent. If it was urgent you’d want the report sooner. Pretty good logic, but the City Clerk says the item has already been added to the agenda, so it’s all basically a moot point.
Up next: trees. Trudeau promised to plant 2 billion trees during the election campaign. Toronto would like a bunch of ‘em, please. Report asks the feds to give $4 million a year to help the city achieve its 40% tree canopy target. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.IE9.8
Councillor James Pasternak moves to refer this tree-planting item back to the Infrastructure & Environment committee. Layton, who authored the item, says he’s fine with that — it’ll give them more time to figure out exactly what the feds are planning re: tree planting.
Referral of the tree item carries on a voice vote. Pasternak promises it will return to Council. They’re not going to forget about the trees.
Council votes 22-0 to give zoning approval to the Housing Now project at 777 Victoria Park.
And with that, Council packs it in for the day. They’re back tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. with 35 items left on the agenda.
Council is back for day two. First item of business after some preliminaries will be an update on the RentSafeTO program, which sets rules for landlords. Streaming live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2T4mGuxeVc
On the RentSafeTO item, Councillor Jim Karygiannis moves for a report on requiring rental buildings to have insurance covering the cost of rehousing tenants displaced after a fire or similar event.
Councillor James Pasternak moves to refer the RentSafeTO item back to the Planning & Housing Committee. He worries that the proposed cost recovery fee that’d apply to landlords whose buildings become inhabitable would get passed along to tenants as a rent hike.
The Greater Toronto Apartment Association wrote to councillors recommending a delay on this issue. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2019/ph/comm/communicationfile-99031.pdf (PDF)
Matlow suggests Pasternak has been lobbied by GTAA prez Daryl Chong on the RentSafeTO item. Fact check: true. Pasternak met with Chong on Nov 21.
The fee Council is considering would only apply to landlords whose rental buildings become inhabitable, to cover the cost of providing temp housing. GTAA letter says this is unfair, giving the example of a fire started by a cigarette landing on a hoarder’s balcony.
I’m a bit confused by the example, because can’t landlords: a) set rules about storing stuff on balconies, and b) install fire systems that ensure a single cigarette fire won’t spread to a bunch of units? Maybe a fee could be an incentive to do that?
Councillor Paul Ainslie moves to have staff let councillors know when a building in their ward sucks according to a RentSafeTO audit.
Councillor Perruzza moves to amend Karygiannis’ motion so the report looks at whether landlords and/or tenants should be required to get insurance covering rehousing costs after a fire, etc.
Councillor Cynthia Lai moves to request the province consider requiring tenants to have renters’ insurance.
Karygiannis challenges Lai’s motion, wondering if she’s just increasing costs for tenants, not landlords. “Whose side are you on?” She says she’s on both sides.
Matlow draws an analogy between Lai’s motion here and her support for giving pedestrians reflective armbands. “Do you hear that it’s about reversing the onus on the tenant, like the pedestrian, to protect themselves?”
Councillor Perruzza’s amendment to get a report that looks at requiring landlords and/or tenants to get insurance covering temp accommodations after fires, etc CARRIES 20-4.
Councillor Ainslie’s motion to have staff let councillors know when a building in their ward flunks a RentSafeTO audit CARRIES 24-0.
Lai’s motion to request the province look at requiring tenants to get renters’ insurance FAILS 2-22.
Council is having a very esoteric debate. The city classified these ground floor units as townhomes. Developer is appealing, and arguing they should be classified as apartments, because residents generally enter using a shared hallway from the parking garage or side entrance.
The developer cares about this classification because development charges for townhomes are hired than charges for apartments. If Council changes the classification, developer would save a total of $723,580.
(They look like townhouses to me.)
Anyway, we’ll get a resolution after lunch! Council will be back at 2.
Council is back from lunch. They’re going to finish this is-it-a-townhouse item before heading to members’ motions. Streaming live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-GPwsy8eo4
Councillor Wong-Tam wants to end this very specific and kinda weird townhouse debate. She calls the question. Her motion CARRIES, 18-6. They’ll go straight to the vote.
On a voice vote, Council adopts Councillor Paul Ainslie’s motion to declare March 6 as City of Toronto Day.
Councillor Josh Matlow’s motion requesting a report on a City Charter for Toronto gets ADDED to today’s agenda, 19-6.
No debate on this. Matlow’s motion calling for a report on Charter City Status for Toronto CARRIES 20-5.
Wong-Tam’s motion calling for support for continued operation of the Cabbagetown Youth Centre CARRIES 24-0.
Cressy amends his supportive housing motion to call for a report to the budget committee on a plan to create 600 supportive housing units per year, starting in 2020. That CARRIES 24-0.
Full text of Cressy’s new supportive housing motion. Also calls for province/feds to match city effort, for total of 1,800 supportive housing units per year.
(Quick correction: I wrote “budget committee” but it’s actually “planning and housing”)
Cressy’s supportive housing motion passing is a positive step, but still lots to do to get this plan approved and funded. I wrote about the need for supportive housing for the Toronto Star this week: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2019/11/25/toronto-council-has-a-chance-to-move-more-people-of-homeless-shelters-and-into-homes.html
Thompson’s motion requesting Google apologize for the image that came up when you googled “Scarborough” CARRIES 25-0.
Member motions are done. There are 6 items left on the agenda. Up next: the Special Committee on Governance report. We’ll be getting a vote on ranked ballots as part of this debate. Streaming here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-GPwsy8eo4
To recap: The report to the Special Committee on Governance recommended Council stick with the interim model adopted after the council cut. Committee was deadlocked 2-2 and sent this to Council with no recommendation re: governance model. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.GV5.1
As I previewed in @cityhallwatcher this week, a whole lot of resident associations and other groups are opposed to just adopting the interim governance model without further study and consultation. https://graphicmatt.substack.com/p/city-hall-watcher-46-poverty-housing
Councillor Stephen Holyday moves for a report to Executive Committee in Q2 2020 on a bunch of reform options, including expanded role for Community Councils, more engagement, participatory budgeting, etc.
Holyday also has a motion suggesting Speaker Frances Nunziata should be tougher about enforcing the rules of Council.
Holyday’s third motion: requiring a two-thirds vote at Council to overturn a committee-recommended appointment.
And Holyday’s last motion: a report on investigating Toronto’s ability to “change election vote counting”? Is this about ranked ballots? How many ways are there to count votes?
Councillor Fletcher isn’t too happy about all these Holyday motions being announced today. She asks Holyday if it wouldn’t have been better for him to present these at committee to allow for more time to consider ‘em.
Councillor Shelley Carroll has a motion to go through the legislative process that could lead to ranked ballots for the 2022 election.
Carroll’s second motion: a large-scale public consultation at the start of each Council term.
Carroll’s third motion: changing the budget process so it goes to Executive first, then Budget Committee for public comment, etc.
This debate is a real indictment of the way the Special Committee on Governance was managed. Motions like these should have been moved at committee, reported on, deputed on, etc. Instead councillors are rushing through ‘em.
Councillor James Pasternak says he’s been reading about ranked ballots and it’s “complicated, it gives me a headache.”
Pasternak worries about ranked ballots confusing people who don’t speak English. Carroll points to several cities with diverse populations that use ranked ballots and manage to figure it out.
Gord Perks moves to have the budget committee consider including $3.3 million in the 2020 budget to do more research on various governance reforms, including permanent resident voting, an Office of Neighbourhoods, etc.
The NYC campaign finance model Carroll is asking for a report on is the opposite of the status quo here. Toronto: Donate $$$ to candidate, donor gets a publicly-funded rebate on part of their donation. NYC: Donate $$$ to candidate, candidate gets publicly-funded matching funds.
Councillor Gary Crawford moves to amend Carroll’s campaign finance motion, so the report will go to Executive Committee, not Special Committee on Governance.
Crawford, like Holyday, wants to shut down the Special Committee on Governance, job done. Other councillors think it should stick around with meetings called when items come up.
Crawford says he recently went to New York with Shelley Carroll and we’ll be seeing some sort of TV show about this in February? Okay, sure. Perks calls it “must see TV.”
Fletcher moves for the City Clerk to look at all methods for ranked ballot elections. She also wants staff to look at ballots from San Fran, London — cities that use ranked ballots.
Councillor Jennifer McKelvie says she’ll support the ranked ballot motions. She says ranked ballots would probably put her re-election at risk (she won narrowly last year) but she supports ‘em anyway, because reducing the power of incumbents is a good thing.
Councillor Perruzza says he’s a “devout supporter of proportional representation” (but PR impossible in system with no parties). Says he’d also support run-off elections requiring 50%+1. But he doesn’t support ranked ballots because it’s confusing.
(I feel like a lot of the concern about ranked ballots resulting in giant, unwieldy ballots could be solved by imposing stricter requirements to get your name on the ballot. You only need 25 signatures right now.)
Mayor John Tory says he’ll be supporting the ranked ballot motions.
Voting time! Holyday’s motion for a report to Exec Committee in Q2 2020 on various government reforms including participatory budgeting and expanded role for Community Councils CARRIES 25-0.
Holyday’s motion urging the Speaker to be stricter about the rules surrounding urgent business CARRIES 23-2.
Holyday’s motion for a report on requiring a two-thirds vote at Council to overturn committee-recommended appointments FAILS 9-16. Interesting result!
Holyday’s motion for a report on “Toronto’s ability to change election vote counting” CARRIES 18-7. I’m confused by this one!
Fletcher’s motion to have staff look at sample ballots from London and San Fran where they use ranked ballots CARRIES 21-4.
Carroll’s motion to keep the door open for using ranked ballots in 2022 CARRIES 14-11. Big win for ranked ballot advocates.
Carroll’s motion for a report on doing a large-scale public consultation at the beginning of every Council term CARRIES 16-9.
Carroll’s motion for a report on options to present the budget first to Exec Committee, then Budget Committee for public engagement, FAILS 9-16.
Carroll’s motion for a report on conducting a “rolling review” of boards and agencies CARRIES 23-2.
Crawford’s motion that report on campaign finance changes go to Exec Committee, not Special Committee on Governance, carries 19-6.
Carroll’s motion calling for a report on NYC-style campaign finance rules CARRIES 22-3.
Perks’ motion calling for consideration of adding $3.3 million to 2020 budget for study of various governance reforms FAILS 8-17.
Fletcher’s motion calling for the Clerk to look at all methods of ranked ballot elections CARRIES 15-10.
(Huh, no one brought back the original staff recommendation to make the interim governance model permanent, but I guess it doesn’t REALLY matter? It can be interim forever.)
Councillor Nunziata has added a rent control item to the agenda, which asks for a report in January on making sure all Housing Now affordable rental devs have rent control. http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2019.MM12.33
And that’s all for the November meeting of Toronto Council. If you found this thread useful and you want to say thanks, consider grabbing a subscription to my @cityhallwatcher newsletter — just $5 a month. https://cityhallwatcher.com