That was a very strange one. The developer had made some concessions to reduce the size/density of the proposal, but normally pro-housing Bradford still came out against it.
Moving on, Councillor Chernos Lin has a motion to support locally-elected school board trustees, in light of concerns that the Ford government might nix the role. Supporting the motion, Pasternak points out that about half of council are former trustees. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
Mayor Chow has crunched the numbers. "There are 11 former trustees among us. About 43%." And they all seem to want to give a speech tonight about how important the role of school board trustee is.
And indeed, most of them do give speeches. In the end, council votes via show of hands to express their support for elected school board trustees.
Councillor Josh Matlow's motion to look at easing the Type G loading space requirement standards for "specialized housing" CARRIES 24-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
Up now: Should Toronto have city-run grocery stores? Councillor Perruzza, who brought the item to council, moves to amend his motion to add some clauses about pooling food purchases. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
Councillor Saxe moves for a report on ways the city can support non-profit food cooperatives like Karma Co-op. "Everyone who can should sign up for Karma Co-op. It's a great organization!" she adds.
Councillor Holyday says he won't support city-run grocery stores. "I don't think the government could possibly run this more efficiently than the private sector does," he says.
"To suggest that a government-run store is suddenly going to be better is preposterous."
"To suggest that a government-run store is suddenly going to be better is preposterous."
Councillor Ainslie has a motion to look at alternative models for grocery delivery. He says he used to work in food distribution and has concerns about Perruzza's suggestion of four locations, pointing out that a lot of people can't travel far.
Both Morley and Bravo rise to say they'll support Perruzza's city-run grocery store motion. I'm a bit surprised no one has tried to scale it back to a report request and extend the timeline -- asking staff to come back with an implementation plan next month is aggressive.
Ah, there we go. Mayor Olivia Chow has advance circulated a motion pushing the report-back date on city-run grocery stores to Q2 2027. The report would look at both city-run grocery stores and "broader food security and affordable measures."
Chow says she recently went grocery shopping with a family that "has trouble making ends meet" and saw the mother having to deny her kids the snacks they wanted because of the high cost of food.
"Torontonians want the city to play a role to help them with the cost of living."
"Torontonians want the city to play a role to help them with the cost of living."
"All I know is whenever I buy bananas, they're all rotten," says Nunziata. "You buy them and tomorrow they're rotten!"
Councillor Perruzza's motion to look at pooling food purchasing as part of the city-run grocery store pilot and prioritizing local food CARRIES 21-3.
Mayor Chow's motion to push back the report date on city-run grocery stores to 2027 and pair it with information about other potential food security and affordability measures CARRIES 20-4.
Saxe's motion for a report on ways for city hall to support food co-ops like Karma CARRIES 23-1.
Ainslie's motion to look at alternative models for grocery delivery CARRIES 21-3.
Another Chow motion, calling for a report in Q2 2027 with an update on other food initiatives like the school food program CARRIES 22-2.
And the city-run grocery store item is APPROVED 21-3. With the mayor's amendments, staff will report back next year with an analysis of the potential for city-run grocery stores and also other food security and affordability measures.
Up now: Cheng has a motion calling for more parking near Willowdale Manor and a new supportive housing project. Perks has a motion pushing back the report date and asking staff to also look at public transit options that could reduce need for more parking. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
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