|
Jump to a year:
2009 -
2008 -
2007
2006 - 2005
- 2004 -
2003
2006
| Eavestrough
downspouts (September 2006) |
 |
Council agreed
in principle that the City should proceed with
plans to make it mandatory for homeowners to
disconnect their eavestrough downspouts from
the sewer system. At present, the City provides
programs to encourage the voluntary disconnection
of downspouts from sewers in order to help combat
the problem of overloaded sewers and related
water pollution during storms. A mandatory program
in my view is like an additional tax. You are
now asking the homeowner to pay for a disconnection
which has been done by the City on a voluntary
basis. Taking the service away is a cutback
in city services that you pay for. |
| Gardiner Expressway
Studies (September
2006) |
 |
Council supported
a motion requesting that the Toronto Waterfront
Revitalization Corporation’s studies on the
future of the Gardiner Expressway be shared
with all members of City Council. The detailed
studies, which will be the subject of a report
to Council in 2007, examine various options
for the transportation corridor along Toronto's
waterfront. Any plans to tear the Gardiner Expressway
down will have significant ramifications for
the City of Toronto. All information suggesting
a removal of this road needs to be provided
to City Council and suggestions need to be considered
for transportation alternatives. For the record,
I am not in favour of tearing down the Gardiner
Expressway. |
| Lobbyist Registry
(September 2006) |
 |
After thorough discussion
of a proposal for the mandatory registration
of lobbyists, Council authorized the
hiring of a registrar to head the proposed
City of Toronto registry and referred
rules for the registry back to City
officials for further refinement. The
rules and other features of the registry
will be considered by Council in 2007.
I voted in favour for the creation of
the Lobbyist Registry. However what
I do not support is the cost of operating
this division of the government, (Over
$1 million) to take names of individuals.
|
| Extending
Spadina Subway (September 2006) |
|
|
Council agreed
that Toronto will cover about 60 per cent of
the municipal share and York Region 40 per cent.
The total capital cost of extending the subway
line from Downsview station north to Steeles
Avenue in York Region is estimated at $2.1 billion.
I have been advocating that the TTC needs to
build one kilometre a year of new subway track
to enhance the City’s public transportation
network. There is funding from the Federal and
Provincial Governments so this extension will
enhance our Subway network. |
| New Subway
Trains (September 2006) |
|
|
Following debate,
Council approved the Toronto Transit Commission’s
purchase of 39 new subway trains (each consisting
of six cars) in a sole-source procurement process
with Bombardier Inc. I voted No as this deal
was done in camera at the TTC Commissioners
Meeting. To date, I still have not been able
to find out who at this Meeting decided to give
the contract for the subway cars to Bombardier. |
| Containers
for Household Recycling (September 2006) |
|
|
Council approved
a report recommending that wheeled carts replace
blue boxes for recycling. The large carts are
to be distributed to all 540,000 single-family
homes across Toronto between fall 2007 and fall
2008 at no charge to residents. A large, convenient
container is needed to replace the current small
blue and grey recycling bins because of the
growing list of recyclable items. I voted no
as our recycling collection can be done with
the existing containers and there is no need
to spend additional money on a program that
is working well as it is. |
| Purchase of
Green Land Landfill (September 2006) |
|
|
At a special
meeting on September 20 dealing with Toronto’s
strategy for managing its garbage, Council approved
a letter of intent to purchase the Green Lane
Landfill in southwestern Ontario. The purchase
will provide a reliable landfill site for waste
disposal to complement waste diversion efforts.
Toronto’s current contract for waste disposal
in Michigan ends in 2010. I voted for the purchase
because should the State of Michigan refuse
to accept our waste, the City needs a Plan B
to address its garbage disposal. The Province
was not going to provide the City the Plan B
so we needed to purchase this property to give
us a Plan B to address our garbage disposal. |
| Garbage Collection
in York and Etobicoke (June 2006) |
|
|
Council voted
in favour of proceeding with a call for bids
on picking up curbside household garbage and
recycling in the York and Etobicoke communities.
The current contracts are about to expire. The
former cities of York and Etobicoke contracted
out their garbage collection before amalgamation
in 1998 and that arrangement continued after
amalgamation. A suitable collection company
is required for the Garbage Collection in Etobicoke
and York communities. Depending on the bids
that are submitted by various contractors and
the City, this will determine who can provide
the best service for waste collection at the
lowest cost to the taxpayer. |
| Front Yard
Parking Control (June 2006) |
|
|
Council adopted
a comprehensive set of policies and regulations
to harmonize the City’s management of residential
front yard and boulevard parking across Toronto.
The regulatory package covers matters such as
the dimensions of parking pads and driveways,
landscaping requirements, number and location
of parking spaces in front yards, and parking
on the public boulevard. Homes with widened
driveways in Ward 39 are an on-going issue.
The uniform by-law addresses these concerns
and protects front yard green space from asphalting
which places a strain on our over extended sewer
systems. |
| New Governance
Model for Toronto (June 2006) |
|
|
Council approved
a series of changes to the City’s Council and
committees, including the creation of an executive
committee responsible for setting policy directions.
The reforms are designed to improve the decision-making
structure and neighbourhood involvement, and
prepare the City for powers resulting from new
City of Toronto Act. The new governance model
will be implemented when the new Council takes
office in December. I voted no because this
governance model gives too much power to the
Mayor. In addition, this governance model creates
a two-tiered level of City Councillors. The
City of Toronto Act also gives the City the
ability to raise new taxes that no other jurisdiction
has. |
| Garage Sale
Bylaw (May 2006) |
|
|
The City of Toronto
will restrict the number of garage sales to
two a year at any individual residential address.
Council agreed to establish a bylaw to regulate
garage sales in order to prohibit recurring
garage sales that are operating as businesses
and creating a neighbourhood nuisance. I moved
the motion at City Council for the Garage Sale
limit as there are some properties in our community
who operate businesses from the homes under
the auspicates of a Garage Sale. This by-law
will address this concern and charge those who
operate a business from home. |
| Pedestrian
Crossovers (May 2006) |
|
|
Council approved
a project to replace or improve Toronto’s 77
pedestrian crossovers on major arterial roadways
in order to improve safety. Traffic safety is
a city wide issue and improving pedestrian crossovers
in order to improve the safety of Toronto Citizens
is a non-issue for me. |
| Hiring of
Relatives (May 2006) |
|
|
Council established
a policy that makes relatives of members of
Council (spouses, children and parents) ineligible
to be hired by the City of Toronto for a list
of specific senior and sensitive positions.
Councillors are restricted from hiring family
members to work in their own offices; the same
policy should apply to the rest of the City
of Toronto. |
| World Expo
Bill (April 2006) |
|
|
Hosting an Expo
is a great opportunity for Toronto to show itself
off to the rest of the world. It did wonders
for tourism in Montreal and has the potential
to do the same for us. After Council voted unanimously
to ask Ottawa and Queen's Park to guarantee
any operating losses, there is no possible downside
for the City. |
| Pedestrian
Crossovers (April 2006) |
|
|
On main roads,
pedestrian crosswalks - a crossing where there
are no regular stop signals - are simply not
as safe as regular traffic signals. We recently
added a new pedestrian traffic signal on Warden,
north of Finch, and I would like to see more
upgrades around the Ward. |
| Repeat Garage
Sales (April 2006) |
|
|
When I first
asked staff to look into this problem, all I
wanted to do was give our enforcement staff
a way to deal with the 3 properties in our Ward
where the neighbours 'endure' weekly sales for
the entire summer. Garage sales are supposed
to give homeowners a way to get rid of 'stuff'
that they don't want without throwing it away.
They aren't supposed to be about people doing
business and selling brand new goods. |
| New Four Seasons
Hotel (April 2006) |
|
|
How this development
got approved is a classic case of influence
peddling. First, planning staff oppose
the proposal. Then, the applicant meets
with the Mayor. Suddenly, the original
planner goes on an extended leave of
absence and his replacement is an enthusiastic
supporter. The community opposed the
application on the grounds that the
new building would cast a shadow over
a local school yard and I supported
their opposition. Our kids' sunlight
is not for sale - at any price.
|
| Basement Flooding
Workplan (April 2006) |
|
|
The August 2005
flooding happened because our sewer system couldn't
deal with the storm's volume of water. The only
way we're going to stop flooding from happening
again is to find out where the capacity issues
exist and fix them. It's about time that the
City started taking this problem more seriously. |
| New 'Affordable'
Housing (January/February 2006) |
|
|
The problem with
the City's Affordable Housing Solution is -
it has nothing to do with affordability of housing.
We are paying developers to build apartments
for people who make $ 50,000/year or more while
there are still people living on the streets
and in shelters. We need to take another look
at our priorities and refocus our money on the
people who need it the most. |
2005
| New Council
Governance Model (December 2005) |
|
|
The package that
was first brought to Council last year was the
package that was ultimately approved - despite
the fact that the public was consulted and the
issue was debated ad nauseum. Seems fishy to
you? It does to me. The new governance model,
giving the Mayor and his 'inner circle' more
power, was a done-deal before the public got
to see it. That's not democracy. |
| 2006 Capital
Budget (December 2005) |
|
|
As with previous
budgets, far too much of what City Hall spends
is for downtown pet projects of little or no
benefit to residents of the suburbs. Council
has also forgotten that the City's debt - $
2 Billion and counting - is not only getting
more expensive to service, but - ultimately
- will have to be re-paid. |
| East Bayfront
Redevelopment (December 2005) |
|
|
When the dust settles
on this project, the City will have
spent almost $ 500 Million redeveloping
the area just north of the mouth of
the Don River. If we handed the land
over to a private developer (along with
a long list of redevelopment criteria)
we could have achieved the same at no
cost to the taxpayer. Another terrific
deal for the taxpayer.
|
| Spadina Subway
Extension (December 2005) |
|
|
There are 60,000
students at York University and 600,000 residents
in Scarborough. So why is the Spadina line extension
a higher priority? Politics. I've been working
with the other Councillors in Scarborough to
change this and, despite this setback, we aren't
giving up. |
| Soccer Stadium
(October 2005) |
|
|
From the day
that Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (the
owners of the Leafs & the Raptors) first submitted
their lopsided proposal to the day that Council
approved it was 15 days. That was the fastest
$ 73 million that I've ever seen anyone spend.
It will be a few years before any of the "soccer-haters"
who opposed this deal will have a chance to
say "I told you so.", but trust me….I'll be
waiting. |
| York Region
"Big Pipe" Review (October 2005) |
|
|
At my suggestion,
the City has asked Queen's Park to re-evaluate
the way that York Region is major sewer line
right through the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Moraine
is part of Toronto's watershed and there is
lots of evidence that York Region is inflicting
permanent damage. This one didn't win me too
many friends north of Steeles. |
| Affordable
Housing Projects (October 2005) |
|
|
Just south of
St. Clair Avenue, there is an abandoned TTC
repair facility that the TTC wanted to sell.
The local Councillor forced them to hand it
over to the City for free (that cost the TTC
almost $ 10 Million) and now we're going to
invest another $ 5.3 Million to build some 'affordable'
housing. How much housing? 26 units. All I can
do is scratch my head ! |
| New Film Studio
and Media Complex (September 2005) |
|
|
The deal that
the City affiliate signed with the studio operator
simply didn’t pass the ‘smell test’. I
felt that the deal was too rich for the operator
and too risky for the City to make sense. When
you add that to the fact that the whole thing
was negotiated in secret (despite promises to
make it public), I just couldn’t support this. |
| Assistance
with Flood Prevention (September 2005) |
|
|
My Ward was hit
pretty hard during the flooding of August 19;
When flooding happened downtown because of the
blackout, Council decided to help those residents
– I felt that fairness dictated that we do the
same for suburban residents now. Of all
of the things that I’ve done since getting to
City Hall, getting this approved is among my
proudest achievements. |
| Limit on Bags
of Garbage (September 2005) |
|
|
Right now, residents
can put out 6 bags of garbage every 2 weeks
for collection. According to staff, only about
1% of residents actually put out this many.
Scarborough has had recycling in one form or
another since 1988. If you still generate that
much garbage or don’t recycle after this long,
there isn’t much the City can do to help. |
| Action in
Support of Affordable Housing (July 2005) |
|
|
Thanks to what
was passed at Council, all future affordable
housing projects will be fast-tracked. How are
they going to do that? By eliminating public
consultation and scrutiny. Affordable housing
is the big sacred cow at City Hall – many Councillors
want it regardless of what it costs the taxpayer.
That’s some way to run a City! |
| Holistic Health
and Body Rubs (July 2005) |
|
|
Over the past
several years, Council has stood by and watched
while these “rub and tugs” have quietly moved
into our residential communities. Enough is
enough. If the threat of arrest and jail time
isn’t enough to make them want to leave, maybe
an annual license fee of $ 10,000 will do the
trick |
| Recycling
in multi-unit Buildings (June 2005) |
|
|
As a member of the Works
Committee, I got to participate in improving
this report before it was considered
by Council. Almost half of all Torontonians
live in multi-unit buildings and everyone
needs to participate if we are going
to meet our diversion goals – not just
single-family homeowners.
|
| Community
Grants 2005 (June 2005) |
|
|
The City’s Grants Program
is a great example of what is wrong
a City Hall and why we’re in the financial
mess that we are in. 99% of the people
that got grants last year automatically
qualify for the same amount (or more)
this year – regardless of whether they
can prove that the City is getting good
value for the money.
|
| Organic Waste
in Highrise Buildings (May 2005) |
|
|
The green bin
program in single-family homes has been a huge
success and diverts a lot of garbage away from
landfill, but collecting organics in highrises
is very different from collecting it from single
family homes. Council approved a pilot project
to help us (and property owners) figure out
how we are going to do it. |
| Controlling
Portable Signs (May 2005) |
|
|
Portable signs obstruct sidewalks downtown
and clutter boulevards in the suburbs.
Sign owners feel that renting a store
gives them the right to use the City-owned
property in front of it – wrong. This
problem has been allowed to go on too
long without any response from City
Hall.
|
| 2015 World
Expo (April 2005) |
|
|
There were some Councillor’s
who wanted to move forward with a formal
bid for the Expo without involving the
public. This is a big proposal that
is going to cost the City a lot of money.
Once the public consultation was added,
I felt that we could move forward.
|
| Strategy to
assist homeless people (February 2005) |
|
|
This “new strategy”
was nothing more than pandering to the Homeless
Industry’s demand for more money. You don’t
fix a $200 million/year mistake by throwing
more money at it – you find out why your current
solution isn’t working and you change it. There
was nothing “new” about this strategy – just
more of the same. |
2004
| Winter plan
to address street homeless (November/December
2004) |
|
|
Staff came forward
asking for another $1 million to provide extra
beds during the winter. The problem is – our
shelter system is operating below capacity.
So what did they need the extra money for?
|
| New Structure
for City Administration (November/December 2004) |
|
|
The Mayor wanted to restructure
the entire City structure on the basis
of a 30-page report that nobody was
allowed to see until 4 days before the
debate. The report justified getting
rid of 6 Commissions and replacing them
with 2 Deputy City Managers – attracting
huge severance packages – by claiming
that doing so would make inter-department
communication better. Sorry – I don’t
buy it. This change is being done to
get rid of Commissioners who the Mayor
doesn’t like – plain and simple
|
| Marijuana
Grow Houses and Bill 128 (November/December
2004) |
|
|
Staff recommended
sitting down with the Province to advocate for
changes to the proposed legislation. At the
end of the day, it is the City that takes the
lead role on this issue, so we should have input
into any legislation that governs how we should
do it. It is our Police investigate and bust
the grow house and our MLS department that makes
sure that the property is cleaned up before
being resold. |
| Newspaper
Vending Boxes (October 2004) |
|
|
Council voted
to place a moretorium on any new boxes until
after we’ve developed a strategy for cleaning
up the mess that our inaction has allowed with
all existing boxes. Councils of the past have
watched as the number of boxes in the City has
literally exploded and chose to do nothing about
it. It’s about time that we put our feet down
and start taking this problem seriously.
|
| Tree Protection
By-law (September 2004) |
|
|
The City’s tree
canopy is shrinking – this cannot be disputed.
Our shrinking canopy is detrimental to the health
of all Torontoians – this too cannot be disputed.
While I am an advocate for private property
rights, some restrictions on the removal of
trees is required to ensure that they cannot
be chopped down for no reason. |
| St. Clair
Dedicated Streetcar Lanes (September 2004) |
|
|
As much as I
wanted to support the local Councillor in his
opposition to the dedicated TTC lanes, this
is not a local issue. Improving transit is a
City-wide issue with benefits for all residents
– regardless of where they live. A strong City
is made or lost on the strength of its transit
system and I could not oppose improving St.
Clair upgrades at the same time as pushing for
a high-speed bus line down Ward 39’s Hydro Corridor.
|
| Election Finances
(September 2004) |
|
|
A number of Councillors
questioned the need for Election Finance Reform
by suggesting that Councillors could not be
“bought” for a $ 750 campaign contribution.
Whether or not this is the case, the public’s
perception suggested the opposite and – in politics
– perception is everything. I would rather err
on the side of caution and eliminate the possibility
of the influence that often comes with money.
|
| Bins for Recycling
and Litter (July 2004) |
|
|
Rather than move
forward with the full-blown implementation of
a City-wide program, Council decided to start
with a scaled down pilot test to gauge the reaction
of residents. The test is democracy in action
– why oppose giving Torontoians a say?
|
| Private Parking
Tickets (July 2004) |
|
|
The Police receive
thousands of complaints a month about look-alike
parking tickets that are issued by (and payable
to) private companies. The issue that was voted
requires private ticketing agencies to clearly
mark the ticket as NOT having been issued by
the City and capped the amount that the fines.
|
| Public Disclosure
of MLS Orders for Apartment Buildings (July
2004) |
|
|
Staff were asking
for the right to make public apartment buildings’
property violations. There are a whole bevy
of laws that protect home buyers from unscrupulous
vendors – why not have the same kind of disclose
to protect people when they are making a rental
decision? On-line access to this information
is readily available all over the United States,
so there is no reason why we can’t do it here.
Who knows – maybe having this information available
to the public will ‘entice’ private landlords
to keep better care of their buildings.
|
| Appointment
of Integrity Commissioner (July 2004) |
|
|
Before this vote
was taken, whether or not a Councillor was following
Council’s Code of Conduct was pretty much up
to themselves. I’m a strong supporter of 3rd
party oversight to, not only, point out inappropriate
conduct, but also – if necessary – to publicize
that conduct to the voters. |
| Plans for
Maple Leaf Gardens (June 2004) |
|
|
When debating
this issue, many of my colleagues missed a very
important fact – Maple Leaf gardens is a privately
owned building. If certain Councillors felt
strongly enough that it should stay a hockey
rink, they should have pushed the City to buy
the building. What Loblaws was proposing was
reasonable and they committed to maintaining
as much of the exterior as possible. The City’s
past experience with Loblaws’ promises have
been pretty good, so I expect a good outcome.
|
| Garbage Diversion
Plans (June 2004) |
|
|
Council voted
on whether or not to move forward with a small-scale
research facility for processing residual municipal
solid waste. For me, this is a simple issue
of dollars and cents. The City spends so much
money trucking our garbage to Michigan that
anything that we do to process more of it at
home will save us money. |
| City Grants
(June 2004) |
|
|
The City of Toronto
gives away far too much money to special interest
groups. The City also has a nasty habit of providing
funding to causes that are clearly the responsibility
of another level of government. We are never
going to be able to get our financial house
in order until we admit that we simply cannot
be all things to all people. |
| Pesticide
By-law (May 2004) |
|
|
The single biggest
flaw of the By-law that Council was asked to
approve was the fact that it suggested treating
different property owners differently. Why should
it be acceptable the cemetery's should be allowed
to spray for weeds and private property owners
shouldn’t be allowed? Are we saying that our
cemeteries (and golf courses) should be a perfect
green, but our private lawns shouldn’t be? It
is a democratic fundamental that everyone should
be treated equally. This By-law suggested otherwise,
so I couldn’t support it. |
| 2004 Budget
(April 2004) |
|
|
The 2004 Budget process
was a joke. Any pretence that the process
was fair and open went out the window
when the Mayor announced the tax increases
before the Budget Advisory Committee
met. During the debate, any and all
attempts to find additional savings
were rebuffed by the Mayor. He wanted
to send a strong message about who runs
this City and who doesn’t. He made his
point and you paid for it.
|
| 2004 Water
Billing Rates (March 2004) |
|
|
Staff asked Council
to approve another 6% increase – partly to increase
the amount of money that we set aside for future
repair work. The problem is – we aren’t spending
these set aside funds now and aren’t likely
to spend them in the near future. Our Reserve
Accounts keep growing and residents pay more
than they have to for their water. The City’s
Water/Wastewater department currently has reserves
of close to $ 160 Million and we’re adding another
$ 250 Million each year – even without this
increase. I suggested that staff prove that
they need this extra money before we ask you
to pay it. Unfortunately, Council disagreed.
|
| Computer Replacement
Strategy & Blue Ribbon Panel (March 2004) |
|
|
During the debate
about spending $ 38 Million on new computers,
I suggested the formation of the Blue Ribbon
Panel to verify staff recommendations and our
overall strategy. I wanted to make sure that
the City was following the same path as other
large organizations and not trying to blaze
a new trail. The Panel included Senior IT Executives
from the banks, insurance companies and other
large private sector businesses. The Panel told
us that we are on the right path and hearing
that made it easier for me to approve the $
38 Million. |
| Integrity
and City Lobbyist Registry (March 2004) |
|
|
Unlike most other
Councillors, I have ALWAYS followed the City’s
Lobbyist Registry. When I voted to support the
registry, I voted to support real transparency.
The reality of City Hall is – people want to
meet to ‘talk’ about issues. While I am always
available to meet with a constituent, I don’t
have a lot of time for influence peddlers. Typically,
if a meeting is held – it is with my Executive
Assistant, who removes the rhetoric and presents
me with the facts. I also supported hiring an
Integrity Commissioner to give the public an
outlet when they think that their elected representatives
are not adequately serving them.
|
| Computer Leasing
Inquiry (January/February 2004) |
|
|
Council was asked
to increase the funding for the Inquiry and
I wasn’t convinced that anyone really wanted
to find out what happened or wouldn’t’ allow
it to happen again. Unfortunately, since this
vote took place, I have been proven correct
over and over again. My review of our Let’s
Build program – and my subsequent calls for
the Auditor General to investigate this department
– showed eerie similarities to the MFP fiasco.
So much for lessons learned!! |
| Collective
Agreement with Firefighters (January/February
2004) |
|
|
As much as I
respect our Firefighters and the work that they
do, I simply couldn’t support their calls for
special “recognition pay” designed to keep their
pay in line with Police Officers. Several years
ago, Council voted for a special pay increase
for the Police to stop the (almost) 15 officers
each month that were quitting to join other
GTA forces. This was a special circumstance
– a problem – that we didn’t need to solve with
the Firefighters. I had to support same
pay for firefighters which I did. I did not
like the use of "recognition" as it set a bad
precedent. So in the end I supported it. |
2003
| Expansion
of Toronto Island Airport (December 2003) |
|
|
Whether or not
you agree with Council’s earlier decision about
the bridge, a deal was signed. I felt that by
unilaterally canceling the agreement, we were
exposing ourselves to liability and preferred
a negotiated exit.
"The
Council of the City of Toronto states that it
does not support the construction of a bridge
(fixed link) to the Toronto Island Airport"
"The
City of Toronto request that the federal government
and its agency, the Toronto Port Authority,
agree to amend the tripartite agreement so as
to remove the provision for a fixed link to
the Toronto City Centre Airport." |
|
