Thread by @GraphicMatt

Let’s see if I remember how to do this.

Toronto Council meets today! It’s their first meeting since July, when it was so much warmer. You can stream it on YouTube, or just follow this thread in which I will summarize debates, recap votes and make jokes.

Tory has designated two housing items as his key matters, so we can expect those to come up for debate first. One is about phase two of the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative, while the other is a new partnership with Miziwe Biik Development Corporation to build affordable rentals.

The big news of the morning won’t come from the agenda, though. The Supreme Court of Canada is set to release their decision on the curious case of the Council cut, at around 9:45 a.m. @jpags has a great look at what’s at stake and what could happen here: thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…

I’ve got a complete rundown of the agenda, which also includes important items about rooming houses and encampment evictions, in the latest issue of @CityHallWatcher. graphicmatt.substack.com/p/chw142

A new addition to the agenda: Councillor Robinson has concerns about “iceberg houses”, which are "single-family detached dwellings with large, multi-storey underground basements that protrude significantly beyond the surface footprint of the building.” app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

T-minus 15 minutes until Supreme Court decision release time. I assume these people release their decisions by putting them into stockings and handing over the logistics to a small herd of reindeer but that could be an unfair stereotype.

Council kicks off. Mayor John Tory starts with remarks about the National Day of Truth & Reconciliation.

Supreme Court decision is out. The City loses. The province wins. scc-csc.ca/case-dossier/c…

Meanwhile, Council deals with the City Manager’s response to Councillor Wong-Tam’s Administrative Inquiry re: encampment eviction costs. Wong-Tam moves to refer to Executive Committee, where there would be an opportunity for some public deputations. Motion to refer LOSES 7-16.

So Council votes 20-4 to RECEIVE the response re: park encampment eviction costs and process, meaning it basically dies here with no further debate or discussion.

There’s still a member motion coming up re: requesting a judicial inquiry into the encampment evictions but given how these votes turned out, I wouldn’t be optimistic for that one.

Council meetings held on Fridays need to end well before sundown to allow for religious observance. Nunziata says that means today’s sessions must be done by 5:30 p.m.

Without any debate, Council votes 24-1 to APPROVE a Rapid Housing Initiative project at 150 Dunn Avenue. Councillor Stephen Holyday requested a recorded vote just so his opposition to this 51-unit supportive housing project could be on record.

Council votes 22-2 to APPROVE the installation of “speed cushions” (like speed bumps, but softer, I guess?) on Tandridge Crescent in Etobicoke. Again, no debate, Holyday just wanted to be recorded as opposed.

Some scheduling happening now. Tory moves a successful motion to schedule the rooming house debate for Monday afternoon, after they deal with member motions. Should be around 3 p.m.

Council’s agenda for debate is set. 85 items held for discussion, including 35 member motions. Up first is a debate on implementing phase two of the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative, which seeks to fund & build more modular housing and other quick projects app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

The city has applied for funding for 19 sites under phase two of the Federal Rapid Housing Initiative. Staff have provided this list of general locations and type of redevelopment/redevelopment.

If you, like me, were wondering what a “speed cushion” is. Mystery revealed!

https://twitter.com/Blackbird_2/status/1443947213328166913

On the next round of rapid housing projects, Housing Secretariat Executive Director Abi Bond says the City has applied for about 1,000 units of affordable housing but it’s TBD how many will actually get approved by the feds. Only approved projects will go forward.

Councillor Wong-Tam has a motion to create a transition plan for hotel workers who could face layoffs with projects converting hotels to housing. Also wants a strat for more co-op housing, and for feds to use expropriation to help acquire vacant land and buildings for housing.

Councillor Mike Colle is the first to bring up the Supreme Court decision during this Council meeting. “Today the Supreme Court of Canada basically said the province of Ontario can do whatever they want to the City of Toronto, and we have no say in it.”

Colle says the status quo the Supreme Court affirmed today is why the City is always having to cajole funds from the federal and provincial governments.

Councillor Ana Bailao moves an amendment to Wong-Tam’s motion re: supporting workers facing layoffs as a result of hotel-to-housing conversions. Instead of jumping straight to creating a transition plan, Bailao wants a feasibility report first.

Bailao’s amendment to Wong-Tam’s motion re: hotel workers CARRIES 21-2.

Wong-Tam’s amended motion to look at the feasibility of helping hotel workers affected by hotel-to-housing redevelopment under the rapid housing initiative CARRIES 20-4.

Wong-Tam’s motion to have city staff develop a strategy to create new co-op housing CARRIES 25-0.

Wong-Tam’s motion to request the feds use their mighty expropriation powers to help the city acquire vacant land and vacant buildings for use as affordable housing CARRIES 19-5.

And after a relatively rapid debate, the phase two Federal Rapid Housing Initiative item CARRIES unanimously, 25-0.

Council’s second item is a proposed partnership with Miziwe Biik Development Corporation to create 5,200 affordable rental homes for Indigenous residents. It carries quick too, after some supportive comments from the mayor, Layton and Wong-Tam. 25-0.

New report on the Council agenda from Medical Officer of Health recommends Council extend the mandatory mask bylaw until January. Without an extension, The bylaw was set to expire at the end of this Council meeting. toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2… (PDF)

Time for lunch. Council breaks until 2 p.m. There are 79 items left on the agenda. See you back here then for more tweets and votes.

Council is back from lunch. Mayor Tory is going to address Council, we’re told. The topic: the passing of former premier Bill Davis, who was a mentor to the mayor. “He never let politics and polarization get in the way of good public policy and getting things done,” Tory says.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam takes a few minutes to recognize the death of Thane Murray, who was killed in an awful shooting in Regent Park a couple of weeks ago. Murray had worked for the city’s Parks, Forestry & Recreation division. thestar.com/news/gta/2021/…

Council is now onto a couple of COVID items, including the new report recommending the extend the mandatory mask bylaw through January 2022. Council will also vote on a request to the province to make vaccinations mandatory for eligible students.

After asking Dr. de Villa a few questions, Council moves on to speakers on the COVID items. Mayor John Tory officially moves to extend the mandatory mask bylaw and other COVID bylaws until Council’s January 2022 meeting.

Tory’s motion to extend the mask bylaw through January CARRIES via a show of hands.

The rest of the COVID report recommendations, including the request to the province to make vaccinations a requirement for eligible students, also carry via a show of hands.

It appears City of Toronto CFO Heather Taylor has her vaccination status in her WebEx display name. (“2xvac”).

Council has jumped to a debate about the Capital Variance Report. Councillor Gord Perks asks about several big departments showing significant delays in capital projects stemming from understaffing. Staff say they’re working to address recruitment/retention in coming year.

City Manager Chris Murray also has his vaccination status in his display name. It’s the fall’s hottest trend! I gotta get on this.

Council moves on to an item about mail-in voting. The city tried letting people vote by mail for the first time in the Ward 22 by-election earlier this year. It went pretty well, with 29% of people voting via mail. Staff are recommending the City do it city-wide next year.

Councillor Pasternak asks about the security of drop boxes for mail-in ballots. Staff say they’re put in or around city facilities, bolted to poles, chains are used to hold them in place, and there are CCTV cameras monitoring them. Hm, maybe add some dogs with bees in their mouth

Deputy City Clerk Fiona Murray says the City isn’t looking at a system where people get a mail-in ballot by default. Instead, you’ll need to go online and request a mail-in ballot.

Councillor Cynthia Lai asks if Deputy Clerk Fiona Murray has considered adding candidate photos to the ballot. “Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words,” Lai explains. Murray says she does not think that’s permitted under the Municipal Elections Act.

Council votes via show of hands to APPROVE the mail-in voting item. Get ready to cast your vote for mayor and councillor via mail in 2022, if you want. (I’m probably still going to vote in person. I like the ritual of it.)

Sundown is coming so this meeting must end. Council adjourns for the day, with a plan to come back Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. There are 69 items left on the agenda.

Monday morning and Council is about to return to the agenda they paused on Friday. 70 items left on the agenda. The main event will come this afternoon, when Council (again) debates permissions for rooming houses.

Streaming live here:

Council is back! We start with Mayor John Tory tribute to Canadian’s Olympians and Paralympians. A few of ‘em are even here today! Virtually, of course.

Jenna Caira, bronze medal winner with Canada’s women’s softball team, delivers a few remarks to Council. She thanks Toronto for stepping up and providing training accommodations and facilities during the pandemic.

And now we’re hearing from Marissa Papaconstantinou, Paralympian 100 metre bronze medalist. She also thanks Toronto. “Having a whole city behind you means a lot.” Gives a special shoutout to Scarborough.

Kicking off the agenda, Council deals with a few quick items, including this report on the city’s transition to the new provincial blue bin program. It passes on a voice vote with no debate or amendments. (cc @0wasteTO). app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

On another quick item, Council votes 23-0 to introduce fees for film permits starting 2022. Fees are pretty modest, and still free for students and local news, unless you need to close a street for some reason. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

On item about economic recovery, Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam successfully passed an amendment calling for consideration of a “tiered” strategy that could focus efforts on downtown recovery. This notion had been controversial with some suburban reps in the past, but not this time.

An item calling for the auditor general to investigate long delays in a project to reconstruct Wellington Street carries via a show of hands. Councillor Wong-Tam calls it a fiasco that needs investigation. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

On item about allowing permit parking on a street in Scarborough (very controversial!), Transportation GM Barbara Gray says her department will be coming forward with a consultation strategy for a city-wide parking policy review in Dec. Final report at end of 2022 or early 2023.

Councillor Stephen Holyday expresses annoyance that “an appropriate amount of parking is not being built with developments” which he says leads to residents using street parking. Sounds like he’s a big fan of parking minimums.

Here’s the street in Scarborough — Jolly Way — where local rep Councillor Michael Thompson is backing on-street permit parking, which is generally not a thing in Scarborough. He also says it’s disappointing these new homes weren’t built with enough parking spaces.

Thompson says he hopes this is the last time he has to bring forward an item calling for on-street permit parking in Scarborough. He is really not a fan.

Item to allow on-street permit parking on Jolly Way in Scarborough CARRIES via a show of hands, after much consternation. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Some useful background from Councillor Paul Ainslie on the Transportation division’s ongoing work to examine parking policy.

https://twitter.com/cllrainslie/status/1445045864498610182

An item about the cycling detour through the port lands — which has been a bit of a mess — Councillor Paula Fletcher has a motion calling for proper signage to be installed by midnight on October 7.

https://twitter.com/TorontoCouncil/status/1445047948472115208

Fletcher’s signage motion carries. Hope people are soon able to see the sign, and have it open up their eyes, when they see the sign.

Having made some decent progress this morning, Council has decided to consider adding member motions to the agenda now, instead of the normal timeslot of 2 p.m. That means a vote on the judicial inquiry into the encampment evictions could be coming shortly.

An item calling for the expanded use of photo radar machines to catch speeding drivers gets added to the agenda, but Councillor Stephen Holyday wants to debate it before it’s approved. They’ll come back to it. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Wong-Tam’s motion calling for 529 Garage to present to the Infrastructure & Environment Committee on strategies to reduce bike theft is added to the agenda and adopted via show of hands. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Wong-Tam’s motion calling for a report on implementing driver training for Uber drivers and other vehicle-for-hire drivers FAILS to make the agenda. Vote was 13-9. Needed two-thirds. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

A Councillor Mike Layton motion calling for expedited improvements to Avenue Road to make it a complete street gets added to the agenda. Councillor Jennifer McKelvie holds it for debate. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Deputy Mayor Denzil Minnan-Wong’s motion calling for staff to look at potential regulations for apps that let people rent out their backyard pools (like Uber for pools, but NOT UberPool) makes the agenda, 20-4. Carroll holds it for debate. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Councillor Josh Matlow’s motion calling for a judicial inquiry into the encampment clearings is ADDED to the agenda, 21-3. Matlow holds it for debate.

Council has a quick debate about whether they should push back lunch to finish introducing member motions, but hunger (and previously-booked lunchtime meetings) prevails. Back at 2 p.m., with 32 items on the agenda.

Council’s back. Councillor Jaye Robinson’s motion to strengthen the city’s tree protection policies is added to the agenda and CARRIES 22-0. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Council votes 20-1 to request an MZO for a new long-term care home in the West Don Lands. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Robinson’s motion for a report on strategies to deal with impacts of “iceberg houses” — “single-family detached dwellings with multi-storey basements that extend significantly beyond the surface footprint of the building” — carries via show of hands. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Potentially bad news for those of us who require vast subterranean lairs to concoct our evil schemes.

Via show of hands, Council endorses a Tory motion to “express its support for the national effort to resettle Afghan refugees and others arriving to Canada from Afghanistan.” app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Councillor Ana Bailao’s motion calling for a report on a “noise radar” system that could automatically ticket obnoxiously loud vehicles is added to the agenda and approved via show of hands. Report due in Q1 of 2022. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

It’s now time for the main event of the afternoon. Council will debate, for the second time this year, a report recommending a new city-wide framework for multi-tenant homes (aka rooming houses). app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

But wait, it sounds like Council may again not make a final decision on this rooming house item today. Councillor Carroll asks the Clerk what happens to any moved amendments if Council opts to refer the rooming house issue to a committee or elsewhere for more consideration.

If you’re new to this issue, the basics:

1) Rooming houses — rented rooms in a house — are often cheapest path to housing
2) Rooming houses are illegal in most of the city outside of the downtown area
3) Staff want to make them legal everywhere
4) Suburbs are not enthusiastic

The fact that rooming houses are illegal in most of the suburbs does not stop them from existing, of course. There are hundreds of illegal units. Staff say a regulatory framework would allow for actual oversight and enforceable standards.

Multi-tenant houses (rooming houses) are currently permitted in some parts of Etobicoke and York, but not large parts.

https://twitter.com/TJGoertz/status/1445094570702815244

Some of the questions from councillors to staff on the rooming house item have been hard to comprehend. Some advancing the idea that legalized rooming houses will result in an overall reduction in the amount of housing in the city, making more homeless.

https://twitter.com/dmrider/status/1445106090866323463

There’s a confidential attachment to this rooming house item about two legal challenges to the city’s current rooming house bylaw. Councillor Fletcher wants to go into private session so she can ask staff about the legalities. So the stream gets shut off, and darkness reigns.

Look who’s back. Back again.

Back in public, City Solicitor Wendy Walberg confirms via questioning from Councillor Mike Layton that the City’s current (very limited) rooming house bylaw is being challenged at the Ontario Land Tribunal, and could also be challenged at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Mayor John Tory moves to refer the rooming house item again, this time back to staff for consideration of a bunch of tweaks, including increasing minimum parking requirements for rooming houses.

So after all the hype, Council looks like they will again punt on the issue of legalizing rooming houses city-wide. If Tory’s motion passes, they will come back to this again in 2022 — maybe it’d be smart to wait until after the election.

Here’s the full text of Tory’s motion, with all the changes staff will be asked to consider as part of he referral.

https://twitter.com/TorontoCouncil/status/1445130950514520073

Tweet was deleted, so let’s try that again: here’s the full text of Tory’s rooming house motion, which kicks the proverbial can down the proverbial road, again.

https://twitter.com/TorontoCouncil/status/1445131812938866693

Among the things Tory’s motions asks staff to contemplate: conducting “public opinion research” in areas where rooming houses are currently illegal, and using the results of that research to shape policy.

This rooming house debate really gets to the core of Tory’s governing approach. He knows legalizing them is the right thing to do, and could probably pull together a narrow majority if he pushed the issue, but he wants compromise and consensus, and is willing to wait to get it.

A competing motion on rooming houses by Councillor Shelley Carroll has been advance circulated and posted online. Unlikely it’ll come up for a vote, though, as Tory’s referral motion will go first and, if it passes, make all others irrelevant. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Councillors lining up to support Tory’s referral motion, happy to delay this to another day. This really is just an abject failure for the mayor, who has spent a bunch of time over his two terms in office building a team of loyalists. What was the point?

Perks speaks against the referral, arguing that staff have already looked at several of the points Tory’s motion asks them to look at, and several of the rest are covered in the Carroll motion.

“This is an ideological issue, and passing the buck again is an ideological choice.”

“What we don’t talk about enough is this Council is homeowner’s rights,” says Deputy Mayor Minnan-Wong. “People who invest in this city and live in stable residential neighbourhoods — the people that pay the taxes in this city” Fact check: Other people also pay taxes in this city

A reminder that Minnan-Wong is Tory’s only real appointed deputy mayor. The only one with statutory power. This is the guy he’s chosen and continues to pick. The “homeowner’s rights” guy.

Councillor Josh Matlow: “Doing anything other than moving forward with this is being willfully blind to the evidence and ignoring the advice that we’ve heard from our staff that we’ll be leaving people in peril.”

I count 11 pretty solid “yes” votes at least on this rooming house issue. Probably need 14, so let’s say three more. Seems doable, especially if you start threatening to strip appointments or withdraw support in next year’s election.

As @PatriciaKnits points out, even as he speaks of “homeowners’ rights” and extolls the virtues of single family homes, Deputy Mayor Minnan-Wong’s Don Valley East ward is 55% renters and 58% people who live in 5+ storey buildings.

Councillor Mike Layton makes a point of disputing Minnan-Wong’s claim that only homeowners pay taxes. “Perpetuating the myth that homeowners are the only ones that pay taxes is SO HARMFUL to our city. Half of our residents are renters, and they PAY TAXES.”

Councillor Ana Bailao says she’s not normally one to quote @timhudak, but agrees with him that Toronto has “exclusionary zoning.” Legalizing rooming houses is a good place to start changing that, she says.

Mayor John Tory’s motion to refer the rooming house report back to staff with a request to a report on a bunch of changes CARRIES 17-8. See you in 2022.

The Deputy Mayor weighs in.

https://twitter.com/DenzilMW/status/1445149290771451915

I’d submit that tweets like this are strong evidence that the kind of broad consensus Tory is looking for on the rooming house issue is simply not possible. Sometimes you gotta just stand up for what’s right, stand tough, and piss some people off.

After a 20 meeting break, Council has reconvened to try to cross off the final 16 items on their agenda. It’s an after dark session of council, so things could get wacky.

Up now: Transportation Services’ Jacquelyn Hayward is explaining to Councillor Grimes why these trees on Dwight Avenue need to get cut down to make way for a sidewalk. Grimes has a motion calling for a 3:1 replanting ratio with fast-growing shady trees. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Curiously, though, Grimes’ motion also calls for the city to “take out an ad in the local newspaper, and circulate a written informational piece to residences in New Toronto and Mimico neighbourhoods” explaining why the trees need to get cut down. Not standard practice, generally

Councillor Gord Perks asks staff how many trees the City removes on an annual basis in circumstances like this. Ballpark estimate is in the low hundreds. Perks wonders if the City has a budget to run a newspaper ad about every tree removal. Staff say, uh, no, they don’t.

A twist! Councillor Mark Grimes moves to withdraw his initial motion, and is now moving that staff NOT remove the Dwight Avenue trees and instead look at narrowing the road so the trees can co-exist with a sidewalk.

The trees shall LIVE. For now. Council votes 20-1 to APPROVE the Grimes motion to halt the removal of the Dwight Ave trees and instead look at narrowing the roadway.

See if you can guess who the lone opposer is before you look at the result.

Up now: Councillor Colle’s motion to request the City look at “safe zones” around hospitals to “prevent anti-vaxxer protestors from delaying the regular and critical functioning of these facilities.” Councillor Ford wants to ask questions of police, but the cops aren’t here.

If nothing else, gotta respect Michael Ford’s commitment to sitting outdoors during the entirety of these Council meetings. You got some kind of propane heater or something, @MichaelFordTO?

Deputy Police Chief Myron Demkiw is here now, answering questions about how the police respond to anti-vaxx protests. “We will respond when there’s a threat to public safety in any context,” Demkiw says.

Wong-Tam asks the deputy chief about reports that the police seem to keep their distance and escort anti-vaxxers during weekend marches even as they harass retail & restaurant workers. Demkiw says the expectation is that the cops will step in if there is physical altercations.

Asked about safe zones around healthcare facilities, City Solicitor Wendy Walberg says the provincial government is in a much better position to implement that kind of thing in response to anti-vaxx protestors.

Matlow asks the Deputy Chief about @TheBlackHoof’s experience with anti-vaxxer harassment over the summer. “Why wouldn’t that be the threshold [to intervene]?” Matlow wonders. Demkiw says police officers will investigate cases of harassment, and lay charges when there’s evidence.

Councillor Mark Grimes is getting frustrated and would like Council to finish up with this item and the agenda. “Councillor Ford is sitting outside in the dark. He’s cold. He’s getting scared,” Grimes claims.

Councillor Perks says he’s been struggling with notion of “safety zones” to curtail protestors, citing importance of people’s right to protest things like police brutality and encampment clearings. He reminds people there were “safety zones” during the G20, and it didn’t go well.

“The powers to deal with these protests already exist,” says Perks. He says he won’t vote for the parts of this motion that’d give the police more powers.

Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam moves to request Queen’s Park create temporary safe access zones around hospitals, vaccine clinics and healthcare facilities with aim of preventing anti-vaxx protestors from blocking access.

Wong-Tam’s motion to request the prov government implement safe zones with aim to prevent anti-vaxx protestors from blocking access to hospitals, etc CARRIES 19-1.

Motion to have the City Manager and City Solicitor look at ways Toronto could implement safe zones at local level also CARRIES 19-1.

Motion calling for the City Manager and Police Chief to work on a rapid response protocol for dealing with harassment and intimidation at anti-vaxx protests CARRIES 20-0.

Six items left. Up now: Councillor Stephen Holyday has some questions about this request for a review of expanding the use of photo radar. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Councillor Stephen Holyday says he won’t be supporting any motions to increase the number of automated speed enforcement cameras. He’d rather see a motion to hire more police officers to enforce speed limits.

Council is having audio issues. Most councillors can hear the mayor speaking but Nunziata and us suckers watching the livestream cannot hear a thing. It’s 9:07 p.m.

Motion for a review on expanding the number of photo radar cameras and making a request to the province to allow automated enforcement cameras on roads with speed limits higher than 80 km/h CARRIES 16-4.

Motion for a report on expanding the areas eligible for placement of photo radar cameras CARRIES 18-1.

Four items left. Up now: Councillor Mike Layton has an amended motion to look at expediting a complete street pilot on Avenue Road. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Should maybe sneak in an amendment here to rename Avenue Road. Is it an Avenue or is it a Road? Pick a lane, buddy.

Councillor Mike Layton’s motion calling for staff to evaluate the complete streets proposal for Avenue Road and look at ways to expedite implementation CARRIES 17-2.

The rest of Layton’s motion, including requests for reports on addressing cycling safety on dangerous roads and greater safety measures for cyclists during construction also CARRIES 17-2.

It’s 9:29 p.m. and council is just now getting to Matlow’s motion requesting a judicial inquiry into this summer’s encampment evictions. Matlow wants to ask questions of the cops, but reps from the police have left the meeting and aren’t coming back. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Matlow asks Deputy City Manager Tracey Cook if she believes the violence the protestors experienced during encampment clearings was appropriate. Cook says it’s not appropriate for her to answer that question and refers Matlow to the Office of the Independent Police Review.

Matlow on the encampment evictions says journalists being restricted, photojournalist being arrested, should not happen in Toronto. “Something was wrong. And we need to hold ourselves to account.” Notes while he supports ombudsman review, ombudsman has no oversight over police.

Minnan-Wong says a judicial inquiry could cost $20 million, which isn’t really based on anything beyond that’s what the Bellamy inquiry cost. Matlow protests Minnan-Wong’s use of the figure. Nunziata overrules his protest. Matlow challenges the chair. Chair is upheld, 16-2.

Sometime between the end of the rooming house debate and now, the deputy mayor added “(KTD)” to his WebEx display name. Small mysteries.

Councillor Mark Grimes calls the questions, meaning they’ll skip any remaining speakers and head straight to the vote on the judicial inquiry item. Motion to call the question CARRIES 13-5.

Matlow’s motion requesting a judicial inquiry into the encampment clearings FAILS 5-14.

Second last item: should Council waive permit fees for businesses to hold outdoor fitness classes in parks, given the pandemic and all? Perks is concerned about commercialization of public space. But majority of Council is cool with the idea, 15-2. app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgen…

Last item is a quick zoning amendment in Ward 12. Carries via a show of hands.

And as the clock strikes 10 o’clock, Council is done for the month.

Thanks for following along. I’m able to do this kind of coverage because of the generous support of @CityHallWatcher subscribers.

If you found this thread useful, I’d love it if you subscribed. You can sign up with a couple of clicks. graphicmatt.substack.com

In the midst of all of today’s Council shenanigans, I published the latest issue, with my monthly round-up of lobbying activity. It’s Lobbyist Watch! graphicmatt.substack.com/p/chw143