Matt Elliott

City Council meets today! Housing Plan: The Next Generation will be the first item up for discussion, followed by a debate on expanding the non-police crisis response line.

Streaming live here. I’ll recap in a big thread, starting… now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sbot51QKLok

City Council - November 8, 2023

YouTube
Nov 8, 2023 at 2:36pmIvory for Mac
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Up first: a ceremony honouring Indigenous Veterans Day. Council hears from Elder Larry Frost, then the mayor offers a few remarks.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Mayor Chow gives an update on the New Deal Working Group, where the city and province have been discussing how to fix City Hall’s budget crisis. She says the federal gov has agreed to join the table. “Took them a month, but it’s GREAT that they’ll have their first meeting today.”
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Morley notes a petition signed by about 10K people who aren’t happy about the Bloor West bike lanes. She notes infra like this is necessary for growing population. “Going ahead with the Bloor Complete Street Project is not only the responsible choice, it’s the urgent choice.”
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Councillor Alejandra Bravo moves to consider items relating to the city’s shelter plan today, after the debate on the housing plan. That carries. Debate on the non-police crisis response program will be first thing tomorrow morning.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Time for the first item: The “Generational Transformation of Toronto’s Housing System.” Proposed new target is 65,000 rent-controlled units — up from 40K units in the Tory plan. It’ll be part of larger provincial plan to build 285K housing units of all types by 2030.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
A new thing in this Housing plan compared to past Housing plans is a recommendation to pursue a “Public Builder” strategy with five sites. Different from model where City offers leases to private developers on condition a percentage of units will be affordable.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023

But, well, then there’s the matter of the bill. All this is expensive.

City needs between $33 billion and $36 billion. Report includes major requests for money from Queen’s Park and Ottawa in form of both financing and direct funding.

Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
The thing to remember about these costs though is that the alternatives — shelters, jail, hospitals — are *way* more expensive.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Councillor Nick Mantas asks if the city could look at buying developments that have approvals but aren’t getting built. Housing Secretariat’s Abi Bond says that’s possible, and there may be opportunities to do that given number of developers experiencing financial distress.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023

Councillor Dianne Saxe asks if staff have looked at building tiny houses on vacant/transitional lots. Bond says they’re reviewing information about doing that. More to come.

See this week’s City Hall Watcher for more on what’s happening behind the scenes https://toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/p/chw252

Logging cabin lobbying

City Hall Watcher #252: LOBBYIST WATCH returns with lots of housing lobbying, plus your Council meeting preview

City Hall Watcher
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
It’s Big Scarf Season
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Earlier this morning, Council named Stephen Conforti, who has been serving as an interim City of Toronto CFO, as the new permanent CFO. His immediate task is to steer an unwieldy ocean liner around a giant iceberg. Fun gig. https://secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda-item.do?item=2023.CC12.3
Agenda Item History 2023.CC12.3

Agenda Item History 2023.CC12.3

toronto.ca
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023

Mayor Olivia Chow is the first speaker on the next-gen housing plan.

“At council here, over the years, we’ve talked — and talked — about building housing … we’ve built condominiums, but are they affordable? No. Not to ordinary people.”

Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Chow says this new housing plan is about a change of focus. “It’s not just about market housing. It’s not just about market determination of what the rent is. It’s about being people-centred. It’s about government taking a role.”
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Chow says she was up late last night talking to federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser. She says the feds are “making very positive noises” on housing and “hopefully there will be funds coming — it sounds very positive. We’ll see.”
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Holyday asks Chow where the city is supposed to find money for the housing plan. Chow says if the City can find money for things like the FIFA World Cup and rebuilding the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts they can surely find money for housing.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023

“Knowing the constraints of the budget, what will be cut?” asks Holyday, arguing that City Hall will need to cut something from the budget to pay for housing plan.

Chow invites Holyday to upcoming budget consultations.

He says he just wants money for mechanical leaf collection.

Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Councillor Brad Bradford is now. He asks Chow what her model is for the public builder program. Chow refers to previous agencies dating back to the 1990s and earlier. She says the vision is NOT to be Ontario Housing, which was all RGI housing — she says mixed-income is important.
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
Bradford asks Chow if her public builder model could involve the private sector. She says she’s open to working with the private sector, but she’s wary of public-private partnerships, citing the Eglinton Crosstown — “in court, behind schedule, costs going up.”
Show threadMatt ElliottNov 8, 2023
With that, Council breaks for lunch. Back at 2 p.m. to put a roof on this housing debate.
Show threadnevNov 8, 2023
@GraphicMatt lmao
Show threadmccNov 8, 2023
@GraphicMatt What's he doing with all those leaves
Show threadfilipa mvNov 8, 2023

@mcc @GraphicMatt before 1998, Toronto used to be a federation of municipalities, which then got amalgamated into a singular entity;

not every municipality was run the same way, and some services got grandfathered in during amalgamation.

suburban etobicoke has many Big Lots with Big Leafy Trees that shed literal tons of plant matter, and right up until this season they and they alone got a bespoke city-run program where a city worker would collect your leaves for you

Show threadfilipa mvNov 8, 2023

@mcc @GraphicMatt

the irony here is that Holyday is also Council’s Scrooge, a man who will pinch every penny and squeeze a dollar til the loonie cries, who is happy to cut services and question the value of everything the city does

unless of course it directly benefits his constituents, even if (especially if?) they get a benefit no one else gets.

especially galling during the debate on city run snow plowing, where iirc he happily defended this inequality

Show threadMattNov 8, 2023
@GraphicMatt Almost like cruelty is the point. Thank goodness people are starting to wake up