Thread by @GraphicMatt

Toronto Council meets today! Consider this an appetizer of a meeting before next week’s budgetary main course.

The mayor has set his request for a report on revenue tools as the first item, followed by CafeTO.

Streaming live here. I’ll be tweeting.

For a preview of the meeting, including a look at items related to 24/7 warming centres and updated Gardiner costs, I’ve got you covered with this week’s @cityhallwatcher. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/chw213

Oh look, it’s the Grey Cup. Councillors are taking photos with it before the meeting starts.

And indeed, we’re starting with a celebration of the Toronto Argonauts’ 18th Grey Cup win. Mayor John Tory notes he has a strong connection with the CFL, serving as commissioner for four years.

Argos GM Pinball Clemons shows up a bit late. (Traffic!) But he makes it in time to speak. He wants all of Council and those in the gallery to give the mayor a round of applause for his leadership. Some seem less than enthusiastic about that prospect. He tries twice.

To wit:

https://twitter.com/joshmatlow/status/1622973465031766019

Up first: Matlow has made an Administrative Inquiry about the Gardiner East project. City manager confirms the city has spent about $500 million on the project thus far, on components (i) and (iii) in this table. Another $650 million+ still to come. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council isn’t allowed to debate Administrative Inquiries. They can only be sent to committee or “received” (dispensed with). Matlow moves to refer the report to the Infrastructure Committee. That CARRIES (!) 13-12.

So over Mayor John Tory’s objection, Council’s Infrastructure Committee will have an item about the major costs of the Gardiner East on their next agenda.

The committee is chaired by Tory’s Deputy Mayor, so I wouldn’t expect a lot, but it’s not nothing.

Ah, I missed this news: Councillor Frances Nunziata has proposed Council shift its special budget meeting back a day, from February 14 to February 15, so it doesn’t conflict with Hazel McCallion’s funeral service. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

On the coming CafeTO item, new report from staff recommends phase in for new permit fees. They’ll be set at 50% of full amount for 2023, and then 100% for 2024. Report also recommends a grace period allowing more time to install the required platform toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2… (PDF)

Councillor Stephen Holyday wants a recorded vote on a staff report recommending the backyard chicken pilot be extended to May 31. The chickens win the day, 20-6. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

An FYI for those following the issue: Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie schedules the debate on the midtown Yonge bike lanes for first thing tomorrow morning. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council has adopted the order paper, meaning 88 of the 124 items on the agenda have now been adopted without debate. There are 35 items remaining.

Because it’s a member motion, council needs to vote to add the mayor’s item requesting a revenue tool report to the agenda. That CARRIES easily 24-1.

On questioning from Councillor Shelley Carroll, staff confirm this report request means they’ll only be looking at tax and fee options available under the City of Toronto Act. They won’t be looking at non-permitted taxes like sales or income taxes.

Perks asks about the status of the Long Term Financial Plan. City Manager says that’ll come in Q2 of this year. Perks wonders if there will be overlap between that plan and this revenue tool report. City Manager says long-term plan will be broader than just revenues.

On the mayor’s revenue tool report request, the Board of Trade, the Toronto Financial District BIA, the Retail Council of Canada and the Commercial Real Estate Industry Coalition have already all written to express concern about a parking levy. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

On the other hand, the Toronto Environmental Alliance, TTCRiders, David Suzuki Foundation, Toronto & York Region Labour Council, Social Planning Toronto and NeighbourhoodPodsTO are supporting the study of revenues and in particular a parking levy. toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2… (PDF)

It’s worth noting here that council has many past reports on revenue options to look at, including this briefing note prepared for this year’s budget. It’s not entirely clear to me what benefit another report will have. toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2… (PDF)

The timing is also important. Tory’s request calls for this revenue report for Q3 2023. That could mean it’ll be too late to implement any changes in time for the 2024 budget. By 2025, councillors may decide it’s too close to the election to tackle new taxes.

It wouldn’t be much of a revenue driver, but council may want to consider a tax on council report requests. $1,000 for every request for something that’s already been reported on. I’d also like to see a tax on the use of the word “fulsome.”

Councillor Vince Crisanti asks about photo radar cameras as a revenue driver. Staff caution against council relying on the cameras as revenue generators, as they’re enforcement tools.

Mayor John Tory speaks on his revenue tool report. Tory says in his negotiations with other governments he is frequently told Toronto isn’t using the tools it already has, so he sees this report as a means to provide a counter-argument.

Tory says the provincial government has in fact denied Toronto’s ability to use taxes nominally permitted under the City of Toronto Act. He says the previous provincial government rejected notion of a Toronto tax on alcohol, saying they wouldn’t collect it in LCBO stores.

Councillor Mike Colle moves for the revenue tools report to include the total amount of taxes paid by Toronto residents to all governments, and the percentage of total taxes paid that go toward paying for stuff outside Toronto.

Seems clear at this point that the mayor and some councillors see this report less as a pathway to implementing new taxes at the municipal level, and more as a way to demonstrate that Toronto doesn’t have any good options and needs new fiscal framework with province and feds.

“What do you know? Another tax!” Councillor Stephen Holyday says, suggesting the notion of taxing the 6,000 parking spaces at Sherway Garden malls is beyond the pale.

“This council writes cheques that we can’t cash!” says Holyday, pointing to the city spending $48 million on supportive housing. “Where do these financial issues come from? Look to examples like that!”

Holyday: “I have to go back to residents of ward 2 and say, ‘despite all this council debate today about all sorts of things we’re going to talk about, we can’t find a million dollars to keep a leaf collection service from being cut forever.’ It’s not even a reduction, it’s GONE”

Holyday says he “will not be complicit in raising more taxes” and warns against treating residents like walking ATMs.

Pretty sure he’s going to vote no.

Councillor Cheng says she spoke to Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre this past weekend and “asked him how does he plan on funding infrastructure as he promising all this housing.” Cheng says Poilievre said he’s looked at the budget and believesToronto is misallocating funds.

Councillor Gord Perks: “I want to rise and support the remarks of Mayor John Tory. You may all want to write that down for posterity.” Done.

Perks says it’s been clear since amalgamation that Toronto has a revenue problem.

Perks notes that the city technically has the power to reimplement the vehicle registration tax, but since the province dropped their own car fee, the city wouldn’t be able to piggyback on the provincial system. Cost of city setting up its own administration would be significant.

Running this revenue tool exercise to demonstrate Toronto doesn’t have the tools it needs to achieve fiscal sustainability isn’t a bad idea. But the other question Toronto will need to answer is this: “why can’t you just charge property taxes like Markham or Vaughan?”

Councillor Dianne Saxe moves that the assessment of a parking levy also look at how it could impact Toronto’s climate goals.

“For so long we heard in this chamber that there was a river of gravy flowing through all of the city’s operations. And we know that was a figment of imagination,” notes Councillor Alejandra Bravo. She’s glad to see this mayor recognize Toronto’s revenue problem.

Pasternak notes the fed government has been reluctant to help Toronto with pandemic expenses. “They’re telling us the cupboard is bare, but during those same discussions they announced they bought 88 F-35 fighter jets at a cost of $19 billion.” A proposal: give Toronto the jets.

Time to vote. Colle’s amendment carries via show of hands. Saxe’s motion for an assessment of how a parking levy might impact climate goals CARRIES 23-3.

And Mayor John Tory’s request for a report on revenue tools CARRIES 25-1. We’ll see it in Q3. Good beach reading, I hope.

Before we break for lunch, Mayor John Tory moves to schedule the CafeTO item for 4 p.m. this afternoon. Apparently there’s still some work ongoing. That carries.

And that’s lunch. Back at 2 p.m.

Council’s back. But before they return to the agenda, it’s time for a Salute to Hazel McCallion. Tory calls her a “champion for local government.”

Councillor Frances Nunziata adds to the mayor’s tribute, recalling the time she and Hazel McCallion went ice fishing together. And then we return to the agenda.

New report on the prospect of 24/7 warming centres says they would cost $400K per month per location, plus leasing costs (if not using a city-owned building). Staff say there’s no money in the mayor’s proposed 2023 budget for this. toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2… (PDF)

Up now: Council is debating a staff report on shelter hotels and other temp shelters, which recommends closing “up to five” of the shelters this year. Housing outcomes for people living in the temporary shelters that were closed last year were not great. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Councillor Bravo asks for total numbers on how many people living in the temporary shelters that closed last year moved into housing. Staff say it was 124 out of about 800 people.

Speaking on the shelter hotel item, Councillor Stephen Holyday rises to say he’s going to oppose a recommendation asking for a report “on the feasibility of obtaining more rent supplements/housing allowances.” He’s concerned about the cost to the city.

And because there are no further speakers, council proceeds to the vote. The recommendation for a report on obtaining more rent supplements and housing allowances CARRIES 24-1.

The balance of the item CARRIES via a show of hands. Toronto will proceed with plan to close up to five temporary shelter locations this year.

A twist — the Clerk’s staff tell Nunziata the Sergeant-at-Arms has requested Council take a 10-minute recess. They take one.

Ah, I guess that’s what motivated the recess.

https://twitter.com/benspurr/status/1623062030239297545

After the break, Council goes to the mayor’s second key item: the CafeTO program. After some consternation from BIAs and restaurants, and a motion from the mayor at executive committee, staff have promised a phase-in program for proposed new permit fees. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Challenge with CafeTO debate is that there’s variability in how the program impacts ward councillors. Holyday, who just expressed concern about the patios causing congestion, had 2 restaurants supported by the program in 2022. Fletcher, speaking in support now, had 216.

Mayor John Tory has a motion further reducing the CafeTO permit fees, saying that while fine dining restaurants might be doing well, smaller restaurants tell him they’re still at about 70% of pre-pandemic levels.

Tory says his motion, reducing CafeTO fees to 30% of full amount, costs about $500K for Toronto’s $15B government. “It doesn’t really make a big difference to our overall financial situation.”

Huh. Interested in what he’ll say re: $400K cost to operate 24/7 warming centres later

The full text of Tory’s CafeTO motion has been posted here. It basically makes for a three-year phase-in of CafeTO permit fees — 33% this year, 66% the year after, 100% in year three. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Councillor Holyday says he thinks it’s time to say “thank you and goodbye” to the CafeTO program. He says it was valuable during the pandemic, but less so now. He is displaying a map of 2021 CafeTO installations on his iPad, saying “someone posted on the internet.” (It was me!)

“Not everyone benefits from this,” Holyday says of CafeTO, saying the program causes congestion. “What I don’t want downtown to become is a curiosity — or a visiting place — for people in the suburbs, because it’s so hard to get to.”

Councillor Brad Bradford’s speech on the benefits of CafeTO is interrupted by the sound of someone getting tech support. “Now I’m not going to be able to clip this!” he jokes.

One under-the-radar change coming via this CafeTO item: live music will be permitted on patios on main streets in all wards. Pilot project in select wards found 79% of restaurants reported an increase in sales on days with live music.

Councillor Paula Fletcher has a pair of motions. One asks the federal government to extend the deadline for the Canadian Emergency Business loan, while the other asks for an end-of-season report on CafeTO this December.

Mayor John Tory’s motion to further reduce CafeTO fees for 2023 and to do a three-year phase-in schedule for restaurants CARRIES 23-2.

Both Fletcher’s motions carry via shows of hands. And the CafeTO item as amended CARRIES 24-1.

Time now for another of the big items. The Board of Health has recommended Council direct staff to provide 24/7 indoor warming centre locations until April 15, 2023. New staff info says this will cost $400K a month if using city-owned facilities. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

The basics of this debate: the city’s four warming centres are generally only called upon to open when there’s an extreme cold weather alert, and only open at 7 p.m. Even on days when there isn’t extreme cold, when they’re open the centres tend to be running at or near capacity.

Councillor Gord Perks asks how much it’ll cost to pay 80 police officers overtime to patrol the TTC. City Manager says that’ll cost $1.7 million a month according to current estimates. I don’t believe we’ve heard that number before.

Perks asks where that $1.7 million a month for police to patrol TTC will come from — City Manager says the money is being looked for within the TTC and police budgets, and the current feeling is that there’s enough within those two budgets to cover it.

Perks asks how the TTC can afford any of that $1.7 million a month policing charge given they’ve already said they need a fare increase and service cuts to balance their budget. The City Manager… does not really have an answer for that one.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa says being homeless reduces life expectancy by about 30 years. There’s a huge public health benefit from building supportive and affordable housing.

Shelter, Support & Housing GM Gord Tanner mentions that one of the new warming centres (in North York) was previously a vaccine clinic. Vaccine clinics are probably a good analogue for what advocates are pushing for — in that case, city acted in emergency to use lots of spaces.

Councillor Lily Cheng moves to add the words “subject to budget approval” to the recommendation toopen 24/7 warming centres. This would effectively punt this issue to next week’s budget meeting.

Cheng also has a motion for a report due Q3 2023 on how to create more warming centres for next winter (2024).

Questioning Cheng’s motions, Councillor Stephen Holyday is concerned about the notion of keeping warming centres open through mid-April, because they may go unused. “What if it’s 30 degrees in April? I guess it could happen.”

And on that strange meteorological note, Nunziata calls it for the day. This could change, but the schedule calls for a debate on the midtown Yonge bike lanes as the first item tomorrow. After that, they’ll return to this 24/7 warming centre item.

See you back here at 9:30 a.m.

Toronto Council is back! Or, err, they’re getting there. Slow start.

Overnight, there’s been a few additions to the agenda, including this item from the Budget Chief and the mayor extending the deadline for declarations for the vacant home tax. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Today’s live stream is here. We’re expecting to lead off with a debate about the midtown Yonge bike lanes and the conclusion of the debate about 24/7 warming centres.

Speaker Frances Nunziata suggests Council finish the 24/7 warming centre debate before going to the midtown Yonge bike lane debate. And everyone is fine with that. So today’s order of operations is set: warming centres, then bikes.

I’ve been thinking about the number staff gave for the monthly cost of running a 24/7 warming centre for 50 people. Their $400K figure — about $8K per person — is somehow higher than the per-person monthly cost of running a full-on emergency shelter, both pre-COVID and currently.

Councillor Michael Thompson moves to trash the Board of Health recommendations re: declaring homelessness a public health crisis and directing staff to open 24/7 warming centres. Instead, he calls on province to require other munis to operate shelters. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Councillor Morley asks Thompson how his motion will do a better job of getting prov/fed support versus original wording. Thompson says “embarrassing” the prov and fed governments doesn’t work, and that Council already has “probably the very best person” to negotiate, meaning Tory

Morley responds by pointing out Torontonians do feel embarrassed (and should feel embarrassed) about the state of homelessness and the lack of shelter spaces, and the provincial and federal governments should be made to feel embarrassed too.

Asked re: motion deleting declaration of homelessness as a crisis, Thompson says, “When you declare something as a crisis you should have the mechanism and ability to respond to something as a crisis.” Since city doesn’t have ability to deal with crisis, no point in declaring.

“I appreciate that you saying we have to work constructively with the province and federal governments … does the word ‘crisis’ not bring more urgency to the different levels of government, rather than a warm invitation?” wonders Cheng.

“No,” says Thompson.

Okay then.

This has been a long-simmering tension amongst councillors. Lots think Tory has taken a too-soft approach with negotiations, refusing to come out swinging against Ford and Trudeau. But a lot of defenders of Tory’s quiet diplomatic approach too.

“I find Councillor Thompson’s motion shameful,” says Councillor Matlow. “It is obtuse to the crisis and the urgency of this moment.” He says the Board of Health recommendations are merely “trying to do the bare minimum” in providing more warm spaces in a crisis.

Matlow: “Would you want for the fed gov to come to your child’s rescue? Would you wait for the province to come to your sibling’s rescue? Would you just write a letter saying ‘oh please will somebody (even though they’ve proven over & over again not to help) come to our rescue?’”

Councillor Saxe moves a pair of motions. The first adds the words “use their best efforts” to staff direction to open 24/7 warming centres, which gives staff an out if they don’t follow the direction. 2nd motion asks each councillor to find a warming centre location in their ward

Councillor Mike Colle has a motion requesting staff reach out to faith leadership re: using their facilities as warming centres. “Government can’t do this alone,” declares Colle.

Councillor Amber Morley points to how the city gov mobilized during the COVID vaccination drive, responding quickly and effectively during an emergency. “This is another opportunity for us to do better,” she says, of the shelter crisis.

Councillor Jamaal Myers says he just spoke to Shelters GM Gord Tanner and was told there simply isn’t enough staff to operate 24/7 warming centres across the city. Maybe, if city works with community partners, they could open one more, but “I think we have to accept that reality”

Councillor Paul Ainslie has a motion that changes the wording of the original Board of Health recommendation re: declaration of a public health crisis, removing the language about “systemic failure of all three levels of government.”

Original version on the left; Ainslie’s version on the right. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Procedural confusion! Perks wonders if Ainslie’s motion is in order, given that it’s basically a rewording of the Board of Health recommendation and there’s already a motion from Thompson to delete that recommendation. After a pause, Nunziata rules the motion out of order.

Councillor Ainslie challenges the chair’s ruling on his motion. Chair is UPHELD, 24-2.

Councillor Gord Perks says the Board of Health recommendations tell staff to make every effort to give people a warm and safe place to sleep at night. Thompson’s motions, on the other hand, say don’t do that but instead wait for a report and ask other govs for support.

Underlying this debate is the stronger tendency of the smaller city council to want to defer to senior city staff. Been a growing trend since 2018 — a lot of councillors expressing idea that it’s disrespectful to merely disagree with SSHA staff or question their numbers.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, chair of Economic & Community Development, says Shelter GM Gord Tanner is already “doing everything he can right now” to provide warm spaces. She says Tanner has said he can bring a “doable” report by April, “and that’s as fast as humanly possible.”

Time to vote! Councillor Cheng’s motion to add the words “subject to budget approval” to the Board of Health recommendation to provide 24/7 warming centres FAILS 13-13.

Saxe’s motion to add the words “use their best efforts” to the Board of Health direction to staff to open more warming centres also FAILS 13-13. (Motions lose on a tie vote.)

Procedural confusion! Some councillors want to split Thompson’s motion into individual votes. Clerk rules it can be split into four separate votes. Nunziata says it shouldn’t be separated.

Thompson’s motion to DELETE the Board of Health recommendations to declare a crisis related to shelter spaces and to open more warming centres — and instead ask the province and feds for more support — CARRIES 15-11.

Cheng’s motion for the coming report on warming centres to include a roundtable and survey of homeless-serving organizations CARRIES 26-0.

Saxe’s motion requesting each councillor identify a location for a warming centre or respite centre in their ward CARRIES 23-3.

Colle’s motion to have the mayor and the chair of Economic & Community Development reach out to faith leaders about using their spaces for warming centres CARRIES 26-0.

And that’s the item. Notable, I think, that the mayor did not speak or make motions during the warming centre debate, and that Thompson — on the outs with the mayor currently due to his legal issues — moved the pivotal motion ultimately supported by the mayor and his team.

Council opts to deal with some quick items before lunch. Councillor Stephen Holyday wants 60 seconds to speak in oppositionto closing the Gardiner and the DVP for the “Bike for Brain Health” event in June. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Item authorizing closure of Gardiner/DVP for “Bike for Brain Health” event on Sunday, June 4 CARRIES 23-2.

And that’s lunch! Apologies to cycling advocates: it looks like Council will be doing the member motion run-through at 2 p.m. and THEN get to midtown Yonge. Card subject to change, of course.

Back at 2 p.m.

Council will resume shortly. A motion has been added about the trees at Osgoode Hall slated to be removed by Metrolinx for station construction. Councillors Malik and Saxe are recommended that council tell Metrolinx to halt plans to remove trees. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council is back and dealing with some quick items. An item updating the city’s Fair Wage rates for labour costs on new city projects CARRIES 23-2. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council is onto member motions now. They just voted, via show of hands, to approve the transfer of this one hot dog cart. Everyone can relax. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council votes via show of hands to reappoint developer Stephen Diamond as chair of the Waterfront Toronto board. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

It’s official - Council has voted, via show of hands, to move the special budget meeting back a day, from Feb 14 to Feb 15, so members can attend Hazel McCallion’s funeral service. Adjust your calendars accordingly. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council votes via a show of hands to officially extend the vacant home tax declaration deadline to the end of February. They’re also allowing people to pay the tax in three instalments, instead of one lump sum. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

A Councillor James Pasternak motion for a report to next week’s budget meeting on increasing eligibility for Toronto’s relief programs for property taxes and utility bills is held for debate. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

The item about the Osgoode Hall tree removal brouhaha is also held for debate. Council will come back to it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Whoops, rewind: Councillor Paula Fletcher has some questions about the new instalment payment option for the vacant home tax. That item is re-opened and added back to the agenda. They’ll come back to it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

14 items left on the agenda. It’s time now for bikes. Councillors are kicking off with questions about the midtown Yonge bike lane pilot. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Matlow asks about rumours there may be a move to extend the pilot for another year, instead of making the midtown Yonge lanes permanent, wondering if Transportation GM Barbara Gray would support that. “I personally don’t see a lot of value in continuing this as a pilot,” she says

Gray says council making the Yonge bike lanes permanent allows her staff to negotiate with developers about funding to design and construct more permanent infrastructure. If it’s just extended as a pilot, those kinds of discussions are more challenging.

Matlow asks the Fire Chief about emergency response times. Toronto Fire saw a small increase in response times in the pilot area compared to city-wide times, while paramedics saw a decrease.

Matlow asks Transportation GM Gray about suggestions that the midtown Yonge lanes could be seasonal, and removed in the winter. Gray says installing/removing infrastructure would cost about $2.5 million — $1.5 million to install, and $1 million to remove, and take up staff time.

Deputy Mayor McKelvie asks why Yonge was selected for bike lanes over Avenue Rd or Mount Pleasant. Transportation staff say there were a bunch of factors: Yonge had a bad safety record so needed improvement, Yonge has a less-steep grade, Avenue carries more traffic per lane, etc

McKelvie asks Fire, Paramedics and TTC if they were consulted about this midtown Yonge bike lane report and if they’re comfortable with the recommendations to make the project permanent. All three say yes they were consulted, and yes they’re fine with it.

Councillor Jaye Robinson asks if Gray and her team have had any conversations with drivers or riders of TTC shuttle buses who use Yonge Street. Rep with TTC confirms they have not seen substantial differences in travel times on shuttles before vs after bike lanes.

Robinson points out that the report focuses on the shuttle bus experience during planned subway closures on weekends. TTC say it’s very difficult to capture data on shuttle bus experience during unplanned weekday closures because everything tends to be chaotic.

Councillor Jaye Robinson asks if it’s true cycling numbers on midtown Yonge are “much lower” than Richmond-Adelaide bike lanes (about ~6K a day). Staff confirm they’re lower. Here’s the data on usage.

One thing I always wonder during bike lane debates is whether there’s a case study from anywhere — any city — where bike infrastructure, long-term, proved to be a mistake. Cases where cycling volumes didn’t increase, traffic never adjusted, businesses were permanently hurt, etc?

Councillor Jon Burnside asks about changes to car travel times on midtown Yonge. Staff direct him to data showing the greatest increase is about 70 seconds northbound midway. Other times/directions saw lesser increase or even decrease versus pre-pandemic.

Councillor Holyday has been on Google Streetview. He asks the Clerk to display this image of Yonge Street, calling it an “increasingly common scene in Toronto.” Staff, politely, tell him their data is more accurate than a single image of vehicles queuing at a traffic light.

Asked about the Google Streetview image, the Fire Chief says situations like the one pictured are not uncommon for them when responding to emergencies, all over the city. “It’s an urban reality.”

Holyday asks if the mayor could veto the midtown Yonge Street bike lanes, under the justification that the lanes have an impact on transit service. City solicitor Wendy Walberg says she doesn’t “see the link” between this report and the prescribed provincial priorities.

Time for speakers. Councillor Dianne Saxe moves to expand the scope of the Yonge Street traffic study she requested at committee. She adds that she thinks it’s vital the lanes become permanent now. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Saxe: “The cheapest, fastest, most important thing we can do is change who has priority in public space — people before cars, active transportation before fossil fuels. Right now everyone in this city—especially people who don’t have cars—are subsidizing people who are driving”

Councillor Burnside moves to DELETE the recommendation to make the midtown Yonge bike lanes permanent. He instead wants to extend the pilot to November 2023.

Burnside also has a second motion asking for changes to be made ASAP to the Yonge lanes, including safety improvements and more parking.

Burnside: “This isn’t about killing the bike lanes on Yonge Street. It’s about making them as best they can be. And I think we should all be in favour of that.”

Councillor Josh Matlow has a motion too. He wants staff to continue to monitor the performance of the lanes once they’re permanent, and be prepared to make further changes.

Like Matlow, Councillor Amber Morley supports making the midtown Yonge bike lanes permanent. “I think this is an opportunity for us to move into the future that we all want to have.”

Councillor Jaye Robinson says “crowded shuttle buses caught in congestion on Yonge Street actually may discourage riders from using the TTC.” She won’t be supporting making the pilot permanent, so that’s two TTC chairs — one current and one former — voting against.

Councillor Stephen Holyday moves to “terminate the ActiveTO Yonge Street Cycling Network Expansion project” on Yonge Street. Call him the T-1000 of bike infrastructure, I guess.

Holyday says GTA commuters spend 118 hours “sweating in their vehicles” each year trying to get around. He is very worried about congestion. “I think this vote will just be another brick in the wall — or burning of the bridge — the same thing we did on King St, and Bloor St.”

Holyday says he got an “irate email” after the CafeTO vote, telling him, “If you don’t like the congestion, don’t drive.” Holyday says attitudes like this “create a fracture” between the suburbs and downtown. “I’m just trying to represent the voice of so many people in this city”

Councillor Jamaal Myers asks if Holyday’s motion considers the cyclists who are currently using the Yonge lanes. “I suppose they’ll cycle the same way they did before the pilot,” Holyday claims. Holyday rejects notion that these bike lanes will “magically change” road safety data

Speaker Frances Nunziata tries to move this along. “It’s his opinion. He doesn’t support bike lanes,” Nunziata says of Holyday. (“She just summed it up,” someone comments off-mic.)

Councillor Moise again asks Holyday where he expects cyclists to go if ActiveTO lanes are removed.

“The exact same place they went before 2020 — on the road!” says Holyday.

Moise points out the separated bike lane program has been designed to reduce fatalities of cyclists and other road users. “It’s also reduced the throughput by about 50%,” says Holyday.

Mayor John Tory is the last speaker on the midtown Yonge bike lanes. He says he will NOT support the Holyday motion, but will support the Burnside motion to extend the pilot to November instead of making the lanes permanent. He calls it the “Improve Option.”

Tory says he has three million constituents as mayor, and has heard from people on both sides of this Yonge Street bike lane debate. “I think we should take the time to listen to people’s concerns.”

“What is the rush to make this permanent?” Tory wonders of the Yonge Street bike lanes. He says it’s important to take the time to win more local support. “I think this one deserves further care — further improvement.”

Councillor Amber Morley asks Tory about earlier comments from Transportation GM Barbara Gray that there could be missed opportunities re: new developments if council doesn’t make the lanes permanent today. Tory says he doesn’t think an eight-month extension will matter much.

Morley also asks about the staff position that there’s lots of opportunity to make improvements even if the lanes are made permanent today. Tory says he supports those improvements, “but the voice of the local residents has not been adequately addressed.”

Tory displays a map of midtown Yonge’s “landlocked streets” — he says the situation is “unique enough” that the pilot takes extra time. Again, he asks aloud what the big rush is.

Asked about 8,000 people who signed a petition in favour of the Yonge bike lanes. Tory calls them “cycling enthusiasts” who should be listened to, but he thinks it’s also worth considering the people in the neighbourhood who have “signs on their lawn” opposing the bike lanes.

Myers asks Tory if it’ll be realistic for Toronto to meet its long-term goals if every bike lane installation will require an extended pilot period. Tory pledges if the issue becomes needing more staff to conduct evaluations, he’ll be in favour of funding more positions.

Matlow rises on a point of privilege, making a change to his motion so the monitoring he wants staff to do will still apply even if the pilot is extended. That change is now made.

Councillor Burnside’s motion to DELETE the staff recommendation to make midtown Yonge bike lanes permanent and instead extend the pilot period to November FAILS 10-16. Tory loses.

Holyday’s motion to TERMINATE the midtown Yonge bike lanes FAILS 2-24.

Saxe’s motion to expand the scope of her previously-requested traffic study along midtown Yonge CARRIES 26-0.

Councillor Burnside’s motion requesting traffic signal modifications, more parking and other changes to the configuration of midtown Yonge CARRIES 19-7.

Matlow’s motion for continued monitoring to inform other potential changes to the midtown Yonge configuration CARRIES 25-1.

Council votes 22-4 to make the midtown Yonge bike lanes PERMANENT.

A surprising outcome! Tory doesn’t lose a lot of votes at Council but this was a clear case where council went in a direction he didn’t want to go. (Ultimately, though, he supported the item as amended.)

Contrast in the warming centre item versus bike lane item is striking. Lots of talk with warming centres about needing to respect expert opinion of Shelters GM Gord Tanner. With bike lanes, 10 members (including mayor) voting to go against advice of Transportation GM Barbara Gray

Dealing with some quickie items now, council votes in FAVOUR of a Fletcher amendment for an additional report to the March council meeting on the new “Deputy Ombudsman, Housing function within the Ombudsman’s office” position 21-4. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Councillor Stephen Holyday releases his hold on the Osgoode Hall tree item, and Council adopts it via show of hands. So Council is again on record asking Metrolinx to cool it already with the tree cutting. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

Council has moved on to one of the last agenda items. Last term they removed the requirement that candidates need to submit campaign invoices to the city. Councillor Paula Fletcher would like to restore that requirement. @thekeenanwire wrote about it here: thestar.com/opinion/star-c…

@thekeenanwire Councillor Fletcher has made this motion to make the reintroduced requirement to submit receipts retroactive, so it'll apply to 2022 candidates. Councillor Pasternak is expressing concern providing that info could lead to "identify theft." secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…

@thekeenanwire Councillor Jaye Robinson is also speaking against making the campaign receipt requirement retroactive to 2022. "You don't change the rules in the middle of the movie," she says. She is also concerned about the requirement being an excessive use of paper.

@thekeenanwire Fletcher's motion to make the requirement to submit campaign receipts retroactive to the 2022 election FAILS 10-16.

@thekeenanwire ..but the reintroduction of the campaign receipt requirement for the NEXT municipal election is adopted, 26-0.

@thekeenanwire Council goes into private session to cover the rest of the agenda. Tweeting has become impossible because Twitter's broken, so I'll end here.

If you liked this thread, consider subscribing to @cityhallwatcher! I'll have a recap of this meeting on Monday. toronto.cityhallwatcher.com