September 24, 2008: CITY TV/ CP24

CityNews.ca Staff

Toronto residents were understandably upset at being forced to pay out of their own pocket for repairs following a devastating propane explosion.


"A lot of people, like me, need something to help," Silvino Dizio explained. 

And a new plan floated at City Council would have them footing the bill again - albeit on a much smaller scale. 

On the heels of three major crises in 2008 - the Queen Street Fire (pictured), the Sunrise Propane Explosion, and the Secord Avenue fire - one councillor has proposed that everyone in Toronto share in the repair costs.

"I think citizens are well prepared to fund a pool of money that the city would administer, and when we get these types of issues and concerns, et cetera, then there's a pool of money to help deal with it," Mike Del Grande outlined Wednesday.

This disaster relief fund would lift the huge financial toll on thousands of citizens, and put a smaller toll on millions of us. 

And the cost? Just one dollar. The levy would be added to every property tax bill in the city.

"I don't think a dollar, a loonie, is onerous on anybody," Grande added.

And it seems some citizens agree.

"One dollar per year is not much," says Carol Reid.

"It's insurance and it's probably a wise thing to do," Barry Yong adds. 

"I think it's a great idea. I think that, for the residents who necessarily don't have family support or anyone to turn to, I think it's something that would be really needed," homeowner Tania described.

The proposed fund was one of the five motions put before council in the aftermath of these disasters. Council is also considering asking the provincial and federal governments for disaster relief assistance.

Local politicians are also pondering requesting a report on the city's emergency preparedness plan to evaluate how well it worked this summer and how effective follow-up procedures are. Finally, they may also ask the province for a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the Sunrise explosion.

The city announced Wednesday it has completed its part of the Sunrise Propane clean-up. Employee Parminder Singh Saini was killed in the explosion and firefighter Bob Leek also lost his life at the scene.

According to a press release, The City intends to work with the Ontario Government to recover its costs for the area and site cleanup from Sunrise Propane and the property owner.

However, many of the residents near the explosion are still working on repairing their homes almost two months later.