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Highlights of the Toronto City Council
meeting of October 26-28, 2004 |
This is not intended to serve as an official record of the meeting.
 Change
to taxicab regulations
Council decided to revise a controversial feature of
regulations it approved in September to ensure that
Toronto's taxicabs are in good condition. Rather than
requiring that only new, unused vehicles be permitted as
replacements for old cabs, as specified in the September
decision, the revised rule gives operators the option of
buying and using cars that are up to one year old as
replacements. Cars that are not brand new, however, must
always have been registered in Ontario to qualify. The
intention is to prevent unsafe vehicles -- those rebuilt
after accidents and not meeting Ontario's safety
standards -- from being operated as Toronto taxicabs.
The revision offers reduced costs to the taxi industry
and thus should reduce the pressure to increase taxi
fares.
Community
awareness of '911' multilingual services
Council adopted a communications plan intended to increase public awareness
that emergency services are available by phoning 911 regardless of what language
the caller speaks. The 911 line can provide assistance in more than 150
languages. The strategy builds upon existing outreach by Toronto's providers of
emergency services to promote 911, especially among new immigrants and in parts
of the city with high concentrations of non-English-speaking residents. The core
message is that regardless of language, everyone in Toronto has access to free
life-saving emergency services by calling 911.
Newspaper
vending boxes
Council adopted a Publication Box Strategy to deal
with the proliferation of newspaper vending boxes on
city sidewalks. The issue of clutter on sidewalks is a
focus of the Clean and Beautiful City Initiative.
Council decided that no permits will be issued for new
dispensing boxes (with certain exceptions) during the
next two years as work proceeds on a detailed City
strategy and bylaw to regulate the design and placement
of publication boxes.
Civic
Improvement Program
Council agreed to expand the Civic Improvement
Program that is administered by Urban Development
Services, giving the program a heightened role in
efforts to beautify Toronto. Making Toronto a clean and
beautiful city is one of Council's priorities in its
current term of office. City beautification is also
identified as a high priority in the City's Official
Plan.
Employee
ideas campaign
Council endorsed a proposal for a staff "Ideas Day" to be held early in the
new year. Members of the Toronto Public Service will be asked to submit
suggestions pertaining to Council's nine priorities for the 2003-06 term.
Management will consult with the civic labour leaders about the ideas blitz.
Council's nine priorities are improving public service; making progress on the
waterfront; improving the business climate; making Toronto a clean and beautiful
city; strengthening at-risk neighbourhoods; ensuring housing is affordable;
obtaining the powers and funding needed for Toronto to succeed; improving the
planning process; and increasing public involvement in civic affairs.
Bid to host
U.S. football bowl game
Council endorsed a private sector organization's bid to bring a championship
college football "bowl" game to Toronto's SkyDome in December 2005. If Toronto's
bid is successful, a major college conference game will be played in Toronto
annually in late December. The game would probably attract as many as 25,000
out-of-town visitors to the city for the weekend of the event, many of them from
the United States.
Zoning
By-law Harmonization Project
This Project was not covered at this council
meeting, but it is now at a significant point to accept
public consultation. If you believe your community has
specific zoning needs which should be addressed in the
harmonized by-law, I encourage you to provide input to
the Project. Contact information is available via my
website
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