Toronto City Councillor
Ward 25 Don Valley West

 As a service to residents of Ward 25, I provide a summary of the highlights of the City Council meeting of May 23, 24, 25 and June 11, 2007.

First Waterfront Place

Council approved an investment intended to serve as a catalyst for future economic activity on the City’s waterfront. The Toronto Economic Development Corporation will construct a commercial building at the foot of Jarvis St. at an approximate cost of $159 million. The intent is to “kickstart” development on the waterfront with an anchor tenant and make the waterfront more attractive for other employers. Construction will be supported largely by a $132 million loan from the City, with revenues subsequently generated through companies renting space. In my view, a building located as close as 75 feet from the waterfront may not adequately preserve the waterfront as a city-wide resource and further, the subsidies proposed are an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. Lastly, it is not clear whether certain aspects of the financial arrangements will ever be released for public scrutiny – which I believe is completely inappropriate. Consequently, I opposed this proposal.

Fair Wage Policy

The City’s Fair Wage Policy came under scrutiny as a company which contracts water and sewer work with the City was charged with violating it. Under the Fair Wage Policy, companies contracting City work must pay at least the hourly amounts stipulated on the City’s Fair Wage Schedules. The maximum penalty for violating the policy is disqualification, for two years, from future City business. In this hotly disputed case, Council settled for a compromise and voted to put the company on probation for one year. The Policy itself also became the subject of scrutiny. Originally intended to ensure that unorganized workers are not exploited by unscrupulous employers, it now provides for an average wage (to be audited by City staff), across all schedules, of about $40 per hour – which translates to about $80,000 per year. In a separate item, the Government Management Committee, of which I am a member, refused to approve an average 8% increase in Fair Wage Policy Schedules – citing the Fair Wage policies of the federal, provincial and several other municipalities that average about $30 per hour. In my view, such an increase was unwarranted and would have increased the City’s costs unnecessarily.

New Affordable Housing Projects Approved

Ten new affordable housing projects will be constructed, creating 800 homes in a plan approved by Council. The plan features 600 new homes, with an additional 200 made available through Toronto Community Housing Corporation properties. All 10 projects are assisted financially through a joint program between the City, provincial and federal governments. In addition to approving the plan, which will receive financing from the Canada-Ontario Affordable Housing Program – Rental and Supportive Component, Council called upon the provincial minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to release the remaining $56 million in the provincial/federal Affordable Housing Program and make additional funding available to Toronto to support the creation of much-needed housing.

Spadina Subway Extension Moves Ahead

The creation of a single pass for York University students to use the new subway line between York Region and Toronto, which will include a stop at the university, was just one of the motions adopted by Council as this new project moves forward. Council also passed motions that would see the City provide no more than one third of the true cost of the project funding, with the provincial and federal governments responsible for the remaining funding, and for the City to partner with the TTC and York Region to seek funding from the province to help cover start up costs until the extension reaches a mature level of ridership.

City purchases site for park land in Scarborough

Two parcels of land that sit beside the Rouge River Valley in Morningside Heights, totaling almost seven acres were purchased so they could be preserved as park land. The land is a significant wildlife corridor for the City, and has historical significance as it contains aboriginal artifacts hundreds of years old from the Iroquois and Mohawk nations. The land was purchased for $17 million and will remain naturalized park land.

City to Acquire 129 Peter St. Site for Referral Centre and Shelter Beds

The City is acquiring a building at 129 Peter Street to house its Assessment and Referral Centre and Shelter to replace the facility at 110 Edward St. that is being redeveloped into 300 units of affordable housing. The new Peter Street site will support the Streets to Homes strategy and will service the needs of downtown clients who will not use the traditional shelter system. The cost of the acquisition is $4.7 million which will be funded by the federal government’s Supporting Communities Partnership Initiative. Council also directed staff to report back on the project’s success in relocating clients from the project into housing, and their status six months after moving into housing.

Astral Media Will Deliver Coordinated Street Furniture Program

Council approved Astral Media as the winner of the street furniture tender. That company will provide a coordinated street furniture program for the City is supposed to receive $428.8 million over the 20 year term of the contract. Astral will rent out advertising space on transit shelters and information pillars. Although the newly designed street furniture is intended to improve the look of public spaces, and increase access to transit shelters, public washrooms, waste bins, as well as wayfinding maps and information and for tourists, I am concerned that it will result in a massive commercialization of our public realm without proper public consultation. Early pilots were met with considerable resistance in Ward 25.

Aquatics programs Will Continue to Use School-based Swimming Pools

A recommendation to continue to operate City aquatics programs out of pools in Toronto District School Board (TDSB) pools was approved. The City will pay $5.3 million for the one-year agreement to cover the 2007 calendar year. The City is currently developing a long term Aquatics Strategy (with involvement from the TDSB) which, if approved by Council, could take effect in 2008. The state of good repair of school pools is a source of concern to the City, with the board possessing many older pools that require significant capital investment beyond $125,000 each, and that sometimes require closure for repairs, which disrupts aquatics programming. Council agreed to work with the TDSB to encourage involvement of the provincial government to help fund major repairs necessary to school pools.

City Creates Environment Award in Honour of Bob Hunter

Council unanimously supported the creation of the Bob Hunter Environmental Award, in honour of the late Greenpeace co-founder and television news reporter. The award will be presented annually at the City’s Green Toronto Awards for outstanding environmental achievements and initiatives.

Work Moves Ahead on Long-Term Employment Land Strategy

Council adopted a series of motions to support the ongoing development of a strategy that will protect employment lands and stimulate new investment to create additional jobs in the City. The continuing loss of our employment lands to residential condominium development could turn the City into a “bedroom community” for the booming 905 area. Among many motions, Council adopted my amendment to evaluate whether increases to residential development charges would provide a more level playing field for potential purchasers. In particular, developers proposing conversion to residential use are currently to easily outbid companies who would utilize land for employment purposes.

1. 2425-2427 Bayview Avenue. The Ontario Municipal Board, on June 8, released a negative and devastating decision in this matter. As previously reported to you, a developer acquired two lots containing two beautiful single-family homes on Bayview Avenue in the middle of a “Neighbourhood” – a street not designated for intensification, but instead subject to the neighbourhood protection provisions of the new OP – and applied to put 20 3-storey townhouses on the two lots. City Planning staff recommended refusal and City Council did REFUSE the application. The OMB has now overturned Council’s refusal.

If unaltered, the Decision would certainly be utilized by astute developers and their lawyers to justify similar intensification at many other locations in the City which should otherwise remain as single-family detached homes according to the Neighbourhood protection provisions in the new Official Plan. The result will be “Wild West Planning” for which the City will not be doing appropriate infrastructure planning. An associated undesirable result will be that developers will avoid certain costs of Avenue Studies while, at the same time, increasing the City’s costs for the same. I have asked the City Solicitor to undertake certain actions at the OMB to mitigate these problems.

This Decision also calls into question, once again, the role of the Ontario Municipal Board. It is another in a long line of decisions which have favoured development interests at the expense of those who have invested in the quiet enjoyment of their stable residential properties. Residential communities across the City will continue to suffer the negative impacts associated with these types of decisions until the Provincial Government undertakes significant reforms aimed at strengthening decision-making powers at the local level and substantially reduces the OMB’s scope of influence in municipal planning matters. The upcoming October 10 provincial election presents an opportunity for citizens to raise this issue with the local candidates: MPP Kathleen Wynne (kwynne.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org) and Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory (john.tory@ontariopc.com) and the NDP Candidate at (ndpmail@ndp.on.ca).

2. New Revenue Tools. The new City of Toronto Act passed by the Provincial Government permits the City to levy new taxes and fees. In particular, the Mayor’s Executive Committee is recommending to Council that it adopt two such items – a Land Transfer Tax and a Vehicle Ownership Fee. These will be dealt with by Council on July 16. I have received massive amounts of e-mail and many calls on these items – almost all in opposition. In my view, the City has entirely failed to take appropriate action to achieve legitimate revenues from development charges. Such charges are intended, under the provincial Development Charges Act to pay for new municipal infrastructure. In my view, the legitimate shortfall has been at least $200 million per year for many, many years. To now try to utilize the new revenue tools to remedy these continuing shortfalls is entirely inappropriate in my view.

3. Volume of E-mail. I continue to receive massive amounts of e-mail. My staff deals with a very large percentage of the e-mail while I am in Committee, Council and meeting constituents. I try to deal with all “policy” e-mail but I’m sometimes a week or more behind in responding. If history is any guide, this issue of Council Highlights will generate a large response – which I do not discourage. I may, however, have to respond with a “form” letter. For “action” items, you always have the option of dealing directly with one of my assistants: May Doyle (madoyle@toronto.ca), Carmela Morresi (cmorres@toronto.ca) and Neil Carter (ncarter@toronto.ca) – since, if truth be known, they do most all of that work anyway.

Best wishes…..Cliff Jenkins