Toronto City Councillor
Ward 25 Don Valley West

This is not intended to serve as an official record of the meeting.

 1900 Bayview Application – REFUSED

Council voted decisively to refuse the proposal to build three condominium buildings on the high ground overlooking Sherwood Park and the adjacent residential community. The property is designated for Institutional use in the City's new Official Plan. Yet, the applicant proposed to create an "Apartment Neighbourhood" in this location. The application had been opposed unanimously by Ward 25 community associations and would have set a very negative precedent for similar developments in the residential communities to the north on Bayview Avenue. We expect that the applicant will appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). The ultimate decision of the OMB will be a significant indicator of whether the OMB will place due weight on the neighbourhood protection provisions of the City's new Official Plan.

 82-86-90 Broadway Application – APPROVED

Council approved an application for a condominium with an affordable rental housing component to replace the three deteriorating rental buildings currently on the site. The approval includes the tenant relocation agreement negotiated by the current tenants with the landlord. This agreement includes measures which exceed the provisions of the Tenant Protection Act. The new development will exceed the limits in the Zoning By-law and Official Plan for height and density. Further, the development charges paid by the developer will be approximately $1 million. If, as expected, the infrastructure required to support the new residents greatly exceeds that amount, the shortfall will be subsidized by taxpayers.

 Winter Plan to Address Street Homelessness

Council approved a plan to address homelessness this winter. The plan, primarily designed to help people living on downtown streets, includes opening a temporary 80-bed shelter at 110 Edward St. and providing increased outreach efforts to connect street people with the resources they need to obtain long-term housing. Homeless people on the streets will be referred for hospital care, transitional accommodation, mental health counselling, addiction counselling and other services that will help them obtain housing.

 New Structure for City Administration

Council approved a new organizational structure to take effect on April 15, 2005. The restructuring is designed to make the City's administration more accountable, responsive and flexible. The current Commissioner-led departmental structure will no longer be in place. The new structure strengthens the emphasis on public services, with 14 citizen-focused service units headed by General Managers. The current Chief Administrative Officer position will be re-titled City Manager. Management oversight will be strengthened by augmenting the City Manager's function with two Deputy City Manager positions and one Deputy City Manager/Chief Financial Officer position. The Deputy City Manager/CFO's management team will include a Treasurer to head up financial services and a Chief Corporate Officer, who will be in charge of most other internal services.

 Union Station Project

Council approved a master plan for the revitalization of Union Station. The master plan defines policies for restoring and developing the station, and sets out a series of next steps. Public input helped refine an earlier draft plan, resulting in this guiding document for the evolution of the historic transportation hub in downtown Toronto. In May, Council reached an agreement with a private sector consortium -- the Union Pearson Group -- to restore, develop and operate Union Station on behalf of the City of Toronto. Work is expected to begin about a year from now.

 Management of Waterfront Revitalization

Council expressed its support for transforming the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation (TWRC) into an "empowered corporation" with elected officials on the board of directors, including Mayor David Miller as its chair. The changes are intended to improve public accountability and enable the corporation to make tangible improvements on Toronto's waterfront.

 Clean and Beautiful City Initiative

Council approved an action plan to augment current efforts to make Toronto a clean and beautiful city -- one of Council's priorities for its 2003 to 2006 term of office. The five-point action plan organizes an evolving list of about 50 public and private initiatives into five key actions, captured in the slogan Sweep It, Design It, Grow It, Build It, Celebrate It. "Sweep It" refers to actions such as litter removal and bylaw enforcement to achieve a clean city. "Design It" involves readying projects for delivery. "Grow It" refers to efforts involving parks, gardens, ravines and trees. "Build It" refers to the construction phase of building projects. "Celebrate It" alludes to recognizing the achievements of the Toronto Public Service, the community and the private sector in beautifying Toronto.

 Duplicate Street Names (of interest to residents of Bayview Avenue, Beechwood Avenue, Highland Crescent, Mill Street, Sherwood Avenue and York Road)

Council decided to take no action on a staff proposal to eliminate duplicate street names that exist as a result of amalgamation. Bell Canada had asked Toronto to change the duplicate (and in some cases triplicate) street names in order to avoid geographic confusion during 911 phone calls. Many citizens responded by asking whether a technological solution would be possible, thus saving thousands of residents the inconvenience and expense of changing their address. Bell recently indicated it would prepare a technological solution for the City of Hamilton, which is facing a similar problem. Consequently, Council indicated its wish to take advantage of a similar solution. I expect that this will end the debate on this issue - unless the technological solution turns out to be prohibitively expensive.

 Support for Local Film and Television Industry

Council agreed to establish a film board chaired by Mayor David Miller as one of several steps intended to help keep Toronto's film and television industry competitive. The City will also establish an interdepartmental working group of senior staff to address daily operational issues, and to make it simpler for production companies to shoot in Toronto. The Toronto film, television and commercial production industry contributes about more than a billion dollars to the local economy annually and employs thousands of people. Since 2000, however, the local industry has faced a decline in production numbers.

 Recreational Partnership with School Board

Council endorsed a plan for an exchange-of-services agreement between the City's Parks and Recreation division and the Toronto Catholic District School Board. The revenue-neutral, one-year pilot project will see the City give the school board daytime access to City-operated ice rinks in exchange for space in schools for Parks and Recreation programs. The arrangement will enhance these public services at no cost.

 Marijuana Grow Houses

Council voted to ask the Ontario government to give the City an opportunity to provide input into proposed legislation (Bill 128) that the Province is preparing to increase enforcement powers regarding marijuana grow houses. City departments and agencies have been meeting with Ontario's Hydro One and the Electrical Safety Authority to establish a coordinated protocol on the issue. The City wants to encourage the province to expand the scope of Bill 128 beyond grow houses to include premises used for any clandestine drug production. The City's central concern is the health of such houses' current and future residents.

Best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year.....Cliff Jenkins