Ford blocks bike lanes, glossy plans for the economy and culture, water meters break bad
The week at Toronto City Hall for October 21 to 25, featuring broken water meters, glossy plans for culture and the economy, dangerous dog numbers and more
Hey there! Wild times. Doug Ford is trying to restrict — and maybe even remove — bike lanes on Toronto streets, imperilling a project on Parkside. Meanwhile, City staff have launched a pair of glossy long-term strategies. Is there more to them than just the gloss? Let’s investigate. — Matt Elliott
What happened this week
PAYIT OVER: 🕵️ The Audit Committee considered damning reports on the PayIt procurement process and parks maintenance.
While they promised to keep a close eye on the parks concerns, they took definitive action on PayIt. On a motion from Councillor Paula Fletcher, the Committee voted to send a recommendation that Council shut down the PayIt platform for City Hall services following the end of the current contract year on June 2, 2025. The move would decline an available option year.
Staff are already planning for a new procurement to bring a new digital payments system online in 2026. The shutdown would theoretically create a gap between the closure of PayIt and the launch of a replacement system. However, since the City never shut down its legacy payment systems, the impact on customer service can probably be mitigated.
As reported in CHW’s June edition of Lobbyist Watch, several payment companies are making a charge for a City deal:
Other companies signed up to participate in vendor days for digital payments include Montreal-based Paya, Delaware-based Pagos, Richmond Hill-based Paymentus Canada, Mississauga-based First Data Canada, San Francisco-based Stripe, and Moneris.
AND ALSO:
An OMERS presentation to the General Government Committee on the municipal pension plan revealed that the oldest pensioner is 109 years old. That’s a hell of a run. The presentation also noted that former Deputy City Manager Giuliana Carbone will join former City Manager Joe Penachetti on the OMERS Board starting next year. Senior staff reunion!
In other news
🏕️ At the Local, reporter Brennan Doherty and photographer Nick Kozak have put together the definitive piece on Toronto encampments. It’s a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the issue better.
Monday, October 21
🩺 The Board of Health meets at City Hall at 9:30 a.m.DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS: The Board will get an update on the public health plans to prevent cancer and the spread of respiratory viruses.
For the latter, there will be some changes from recent years. Wastewater surveillance — helpful in determining the overall presence of COVID-19 in the community — has been cancelled by Queen’s Park. The federal government is still testing Toronto’s water, but it’s unclear yet if their different methodology will lend itself to accurate virus data.
🚌 The City-School Boards Advisory Committee meets at City Hall at 9:30 a.m.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: A presentation on the implementation of the federal CWELCC program — unwieldy abbreviation; you probably know it better as the $10-a-day childcare program — highlights a big problem with the expansion: a lack of space.
Last July, the provincial government announced they were cancelling plans to build 48 new school-based childcare centres. Those new centres would have created space for 3,083 kids.
Worse, a map shows that a lot of the cancelled projects are in North Etobicoke and Scarborough — places where the City has identified the highest need for more childcare spaces.
The Ministry of Education says they still intend to create the additional spaces, but through other methods like for-profit centres and licensed in-home care. The City views that as insufficient.
“The Ministry’s decision, without capital funding, limits the City’s ability to meet the Provincial space and the City’s Growth Strategy targets,” the City presentation says.
🤝 The Labour Relations Subcommittee meets at City Hall at 3 p.m.TALK TALKS: The City’s major collective agreements are all set to expire at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve. That’s coming up fast! With the hope of avoiding any issues, a Labour Relations Subcommittee chaired by Councillor Shelley Carroll will get together to set the City’s negotiating strategy with the unions.
Tuesday, October 22
🚧 The Infrastructure & Environment Committee meets at City Hall at 9:30 a.m.METERED OUT: There’s a good chance the water meter installed in your home to relay information about your water use isn’t actually relaying information about your water use.
Of the City’s 470,000 Meter Transmission Units (MTUs) installed in homes, about 30% are broken. And the ones that aren’t yet broken are breaking bad fast. A report to the Infrastructure & Environment Committee says between 5,000 and 8,000 MTUs are failing each month.
Water users with a broken MTU have been switched to “estimated billing.” So, instead of getting a bill based on their actual water use, they’re being billed based on a guess determined by past use.
That’s not great for anybody, obviously. Also not great? Swapping out the old MTUs for new, more reliable models is complicated by “obsolescence issues.” The company, Aclara, that makes the MTUs no longer actively produces the models installed by the City. And newer models are not compatible with the system the City uses to collect meter data.
As a result, Aclara — the supplier of the faulty units — has been awarded an emergency sole-source contract worth about $5.6 million to cobble together a batch of replacement units. Meanwhile, we’re told, “Toronto Water staff are actively exploring strategies to address the premature MTU failures.” I’d sure hope so.
PARKSIDE PLANS MAY GET PARKED: A report recommending Council improve safety on crash-prone Parkside Drive by installing bike lanes could be in trouble following news that Premier Doug Ford’s government will be putting restrictions on bike lane installations that remove traffic lanes.
The Star’s Ben Spurr has more on the issue.
If these Parkside bike lanes get blocked, it would be a significant loss for the advocates who have been demanding more safety along the stretch. Between August 2014 and August 2024, there were 1,487 collisions on Parkside. Five resulted in serious injuries. Two resulted in death.
This project isn’t really a nice-to-have. The report notes, “The existing design of Parkside Drive does not meet current guidelines and standards for sidewalk widths, motor vehicle lane width, nor protection for people cycling.” The status quo seems fundamentally unsafe. The provincial government may keep it that way.
AND ALSO:
Even though the City isn’t set to be the owner of the highways at the time of the race, it’s recommended the Committee give the all-clear to closures on the Gardiner and the DVP for next summer’s Triathalon Festival.
Councillor Paul Ainslie wants a review of the overnight security provided — or not provided, as the case may be — at Green P parking facilities.
👉 The Civic Appointments Committee meets at City Hall at 9:30 a.m.ROLE OF A LIFETIME: The Committee will decide who they’d like to interview for appointment to the TO Live Board of Directors — responsible for the City’s theatres.
Wednesday, October 23
📉 The Economic & Community Development Committee meets at City Hall at 9:30 a.m.ECONOMIC ATOMICS: City Hall dropped two glossy ten-year strategies this week. The first was about the Economic Plan, titled “Sidewalks to Skylines.”
These things are generally about sizzle as much as they’re about substance, but there are some notable goals here:
Securing a long-term funding agreement with the provincial and federal governments.
Holding the line on commercial property tax rates, ensuring any commercial increases are no more than half the residential increase.
A new incentive program to lure big companies to build in Toronto will be coming by the end of next year.
A policy for commercial rent controls will be in place by 2030. The City will also try to increase the number of businesses taking advantage of the small-business property tax class by 15%.
Increasing the number of BIAs in Toronto from 83 to 125, and doubling the amount they spend on public realm improvements.
Launching an Office for the Tech & Innovation Sector, or OTIS, next year.
The plan is projected to require $4.5 million in additional operating budget funds and $1.1 million in capital in next year’s budget.
The cost of housing gets some focus in the plan, including via this very depressing chart.
CULTURE CLUB: The Committee will also consider a glossy ten-year strategy for Toronto’s cultural sector. Implementing year one of the strategy is projected to cost $5.2 million in the 2025 budget.
The City has done well at expanding the amount it has spent on culture since 2012, with a 49% increase over that time.
However, the current $37.5 million budget for cultural grants is highly concentrated. 77% of the funding goes to four downtown wards. The remaining 21 wards — containing about 90% of the City’s population — get the rest.
In addition, 20 organizations receive half of the funding, while 229 other arts organizations are left to fight over the other half.
The lack of cultural space outside of downtown is cited as a big factor, so the plan has a goal of building a million square feet of cultural space. The plan also includes a target where “every resident will have access to at least one free cultural experience in their neighbourhood supported by the City each month.”
AND ALSO:
A progress update on the City’s dangerous dogs includes some new stats. Service requests are up, especially for animal bites to humans, but dangerous dog orders and written warnings issued are trending down. Staff have presented an option to post dog photos on the new Dangerous Dog Registry, but note it may not be very helpful as “many dogs of the same breed look very similar.”
An update on the noise bylaw spends a lot of time on the issue of noise caused by overnight waste pick-up. Staff aren’t recommending any changes to the rules and instead are promising to work with the waste collection industry to minimize noise and address complaints. In a related item, Councillor Paul Ainslie is proposing a new City webpage that would list the location of sites with noise exemption permits and the location of noise complaints. Sounds pretty useful.
🏆 The Bid Award Panel meets via videoconference at 2 p.m.CONTRACT AWARD OF THE WEEK: $456,333 for six electric cargo vans. (There’s also an option to buy two more for another $235,012.)
Thursday, October 24
🌳 Toronto & East York Community Council meets at City Hall at 9:30 a.m.The community council will consider a recommendation to approve a 32-storey expansion of Sick Kids Hospital.
A six-storey project at 2026-2040 Queen East in The Beach neighbourhood is also recommended for approval.
A 29-storey building at 2461-2475 Dundas Street West hasn’t passed muster with the Planning department, though. “The proposed tall building is not appropriate for the existing and planned context,” they say.
Councillor Alejandra Bravo would like a review of road safety at Bloor West & Dufferin.
A bonanza of speed bumps is recommended for streets connecting to Parkside Drive. There’s also another batch of bumps recommended for streets in nearby West Parkdale. It’s 39 speed bumps in total.
While they’re not quite ready to make a year-round closure permanent, staff are recommending Market Street near St. Lawrence Market remain pedestrian-only through January 18 “to enable animations for holiday shoppers and new year celebrations.”
Don’t call it a comeback. Yet, anyway. After years of dormancy, the Historic Queen East BIA has started to stir.
Friday, October 25
💰 The Debenture Committee meets at City Hall at 10:30 a.m.GET THE BAG: The Committee will sign off on $200 million worth of new debt, financed with a 4.6% interest rate over 30 years. The bulk of the funds will go toward TCHC repairs.
The Week After Next
Etobicoke York Community Council meets on Monday, October 28.
North York Community Council meets on Tuesday, October 29.
The Planning & Housing Committee meets on Wednesday, October 30.
It’s Diwali – and Halloween — on Thursday, October 31.
Scarborough Community Council meets on Friday, November 1. It’s also my birthday. I hope they sing for me.
The Far-Flung Future
The by-election to fill the vacancy in Ward 15 - Don Valley West is on Monday, November 4.
Council next meets on Wednesday, November 13.
Feedback? Tip? Email Matt Elliott. For advertising inquiries, email Sean Hansel.
"As a result, Aclara — the supplier of the faulty units — has been awarded an emergency sole-source contract worth about $5.6 million to cobble together a batch of replacement units." Oof, no doubt this puts the city in a challenging spot but geez, providing the company who has so many faulty units, with another 5+ million dollars feels...not ideal.