Council returns from its summer hiatus today, and so I’m back with my usual guide to the agenda. Quite a lot has happened on the municipal scene: Cllr Pam McConnell’s death, Chief Planner Jen Keesmaat resigning, cops in schools temporarily suspended, harm reduction workers creating an unofficial supervised injection site, no doubt more I’ve forgotten. Anyway. Onward.
Deferred Items
Prohibited animals; movie nights; Queen St. streetcar service; 2018 meeting schedule.
Drugs
- The Board of Health is calling on the Province to deal with the ongoing opioid overdose crisis. They also recommend city councillors get training in using naloxone kits, which are are becoming widely available.
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Marijuana legalization is imminent, and the Licensing and Standards Committee has opinions.
Departures
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The preternaturally peppy Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer Rob Rossini is retiring at the end of the week; the City is taking the opportunity to make DCM and CFO their own separate jobs.
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Following Pam McConnell passing away, Council must find a replacement. This close to the election, they will certainly opt for an appointment rather than a by-election.
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TCHC board director Bud Purves just retired; the interim director will be Kevin Marshman, who took a break from the board to serve as interim CEO, the position now filled by Kathy Milsom. Got all that?
Hate
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Cllrs Joe Mihevc and Neethan Shan have a motion calling on Council to denounce all forms of racism and discrimination. Recommendation #4 is no doubt prompted by Toronto police’s continued refusal to abide by the “Sanctuary City” policy—just one reason why SROs don’t actually make schools safer.
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The City is working on its genocide and massacre policy, which isn’t what it sounds like, I swear!
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Cllr James Pasternak wonders if the City can ban “hate-sponsored rallies” like the anti-Zionist gathering for Quds Day, and also neo-Nazis I guess.
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Cllr Shan has a motion to look into whether it is possible to ban the Confederate flag. (Context.)
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In the middle of a growing push to rename things named after racists, Council set to name a thing after a racist.
Grants, Grants, Grants
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It’s CPIP grant time! Grants to grassroots and non-profit groups help support various anti-poverty and anti-racism initiatives.
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Nine actively used heritage churches, including Trinity-St. Paul’s and Metropolitan United, are receiving grants for carrying out conservation work.
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35 new women’s drop-in spaces to be funded through CHPI.
Getting Around
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Car-sharing services are evolving, allowing people to rent cars without the constraints of dedicated parking spaces or docking stations. This motion would get the ball rolling on a policy and a dedicated permit fee for “free-floating” vehicles.
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Cllr Pasternak is deeply concerned about the commuter parking crisis. Pedestrian advocates like Walk Toronto would prefer creating infrastructure conducive to active transportation (walking and cycling), as well as creating jobs throughout the city to reduce commuting in general.
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So it turns out there’s a kind of secret 75-day deadline to pay parking fines.
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Among other changes to tow truck regulations, towing rates are getting hiked and indexed to inflation.
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Two approaches to making a major arterial road more pedestrian-friendly: traffic lights, a “Pedestrian Safety Corridor”.
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After six long years, the King-Liberty Pedestrian Bridge may get funding. The bridge would provide a connection between King West and the still relatively isolated Liberty Village.
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The Board of Health is calling for legislative reforms and training requirements to reduce dooring. (Been doored? Report it here.)
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Cllr Paul Ainslie, unofficial Open Data czar, is wondering why Transportation Services and the Toronto Parking Authority are falling behind on releasing datasets.
Nature
- As I wrote earlier,
A lot of people (or maybe a few people with a lot of time on their hands; you never know) are reporting tree protection by-law infractions and so Urban Forestry wants to hire more enforcement officers.
Via Twitter, Jonas Spring, a local landscape contractor, argues that without enough staff to actually process permits, this move is counterproductive. The process is so delayed, he claims, that many contractors are proceeding without permits.
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To my surprise, the Toronto Ravine Strategy was the highlight of the Executive Committee meeting. The ambitious plan raised many questions around ecological principles; fundraising and governance; and accommodating Torontonians currently living in ravines.
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Renovating the historic High Park Forest School into a proper home for the Nature Centre will take some $5 million. Parks, Forestry and Rec has budgeted $640,000. High Park Initiatives, the charity that runs the Nature Centre, hopes to make up the difference with a fundraising campaign.
Housing
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Nearly 300 affordable rental units across seven developments are to be created through Open Door, the City program that offers tax and development charge relief for developers of affordable housing. Read the proposal details in the full report.
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Ecobee is donating hundreds of its smart thermostats to two Toronto Community Housing buildings getting energy-efficient retrofits. The thermostats are controlled via smartphone apps, which raises questions about their usefulness for low-income residents who may not have home wifi access (or smartphones, or computers).
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SPIDER has nothing to do with spiders. It is a program that coordinates City divisions and community services to
deal with vulnerable residents who risk “falling through the cracks”. This includes issues like hoarding, trauma, human trafficking, “home unit takeovers”, and overdoses.For updates on actual spiders, see my Insta.
Sprots
Urban Planning
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The latest stage of the TOcore planning study: a new downtown plan proposal. It seeks to address many issues that have come up at Council over the years: development in “mixed use” areas; creating park space; family-sized and affordable housing requirements; protecting cultural spaces and live music venues; and more. Check out the full report. (Related.)
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A new study looks at balancing development and film industry uses in the Port Lands.
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The notorious 500 Dawes Road makes an appearance in this item—the City is appropriating a strip of land to turn into a proper walkway.
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A whole whack of newly designated heritage properties in midtown.
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The perils of POPS. It stands for privately owned publicly accessible space. For more on why POPS pose problems, see Spacing, Urban Toronto, and Torontoist.
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Hmm. Should the City allow naming streets after developments, or does it constitute preferential treatment for developers? Related: Seriouslyyyyyyy?
Things of the Month
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Tree Removal Permit of the Month: a tulip tree in North York. These trees, named for their unique-looking leaves, grow tall and very beautiful; they are native to eastern North America, and southern Ontario is as far north as they grow naturally. Only a dick would cut down a tulip tree. Don’t be a dick.
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Motion Title of the Month: Cllr Paula Fletcher’s “Let’s Keep Going Round and Round – Saving Toronto’s Antique Carousel”.
Miscellaneous
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The thorny issue of third-party election advertising returns. Councillors across the political spectrum are worried about the possible consequences of the new laws.
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The 6-month budget variance reports are out; see my previous analysis.
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On its face, a First Nations museum and park sounds like a nice idea. But given the history of Cllr Giorgio Mammoliti, the Emery Village BIA, and land deals, healthy skepticism is required.
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Toronto Fire Services has its most diverse class of recruits yet.
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Children’s Services is preparing for a massive transfer of provincial child and family programs. Related: A push for more Indigenous-led child and family programs.
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Cllr Josh Matlow’s motion to proclaim September 25 as Glenn Gould Day comes a bit too late for what would have been the famed pianist’s 85th birthday, but it’s the thought that counts. Also, I totally didn’t know that Glenn Gould was the only Canadian on the Voyager 1 Golden Record, with “The Well-Tempered Clavier”.
Your Moment of Zen
- TFW you see a committee recommendation and just know it came from an amendment by Cllr Mammoliti: “City Council direct that Waste Reduction Community Investment Program funds not be used to fight City Hall.”
Thanks for reading! Corrections and suggestions welcome. Tune in on the livestream or follow me on Twitter. Or both. Whatever you want. It’s a free country.