Chow takes the lectern to talk about the AI projects: a rec...
Matt Elliott@GraphicMatt
15 views
Mar 27, 2026
~15 min read
Advertisement
1
Chow takes the lectern to talk about the AI projects: a rec planning project, a 311 virtual assistant, an IT assistant, and a building permit precheck project.
"The work reflects what's possible when technology supports — not replaces — the people who serve our city," she says
"The work reflects what's possible when technology supports — not replaces — the people who serve our city," she says
2
Chow gives a shoutout to former councillor and mayoral candidate David Soknacki, who has been working with her on tech initiatives and encouraged Chow to launch the AI Awards.
3
It's video time. A narrated vid gives us some quick screenshots of the winning AI projects.
4
On to member motions. Councillor Anthony Perruzza's motion to introduce city-run grocery stores is ADDED to the agenda, 22-4. They'll debate it later. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
5
The financial impact summary for Perruzza's city-run grocery stores item suggests council tread carefully, noting that the program would likely come with high costs that do not exist within the budget. It suggests a "robust analysis" first.
6
Councillor Burnside's motion to change city hall's flag policy and restrict the flying of foreign flags on "courtesy flagpoles" is added to the agenda, 22-4. They'll come back to it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
7
Councillor Morley's motion to look at easing up on the mute swan population control program CARRIES 20-4. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
8
Noting that council has delegated flag raisings to the protocol office, Nunziata rules Councillor Lily Cheng's motion about raising the old "Lion and Sun" Iranian flag to be out of order. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
9
Cheng's motion to consider getting rid of recycling receptacles in future on-street litter bins — encouraging people to carry their recyclables home instead — is added to the agenda, 22-4. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
10
The motion to consider encouraging a "carry-in, carry-out" model for recycling and making future public bins litter-only, CARRIES 22-4.
11
Councillor Bradford's "safer subways" motion about adding cops in subway stations and installing platform edge doors gets added to the agenda on a voice vote. They'll come back to it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
12
Councillor Matlow's motion calling for the city to join the legal battle against Doug Ford's Ontario Place redevelopment CARRIES 21-5.
13
Councillor Dianne Saxe's motion on protecting Chinatown as a cultural district, including asking the province to introduce rent control for commercial units, CARRIES 23-2. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
14
Malik's motion calling for a commemorative naming process for any additional future city ferries CARRIES 23-3. (The city is running a naming contest for the new island ferries they've already ordered, but the suggested names are a bit of a snooze.) secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
15
Council votes unanimously, 26-0, to approve installing a plaque to mark the history of the 1981 Bathhouse raids and the community response. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
16
Mayor Chow's "No ICE in Toronto" motion re: the World Cup makes the agenda with a 21-4 vote. Holyday wants to know if the motion is in order. Nunziata says she'll look into it. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
17
After a looooong member motion runthrough, there are now just 34 items left on this agenda. A glimmer of light appears on the horizon.
Councillor Gord Perks rises to praise Nunziata. "Thank you for reading aloud to us for 94 minutes. It was beautiful."
Councillor Gord Perks rises to praise Nunziata. "Thank you for reading aloud to us for 94 minutes. It was beautiful."
18
Up now: some yacht talk. City staff recommended shutting down the Humber Yacht Club over ecological concerns and complaints of bad behaviour on the water. The club is hoping council approves a reprieve that'll keep them afloat. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
19
"Members, this is not the best example of government," says Holyday of the city's attempt to terminate the club lease. He casts doubt on the "social media" stories he's seen about bad behaviour from boat clubbers. He asks council to "give this club a chance" to fix any issues.
20
"If this is the way we're going to behave as a city, to rule with a fist and throw people out on a whim, then that's pathetic," says Holyday of the city's move to end the Humber Yacht Club lease.
21
Councillor Amber Morley moves to end the Humber Yacht Club lease and look at "lower-impact, publicly-accessible" uses for the site.
22
Morley points to a file showing the "history of non-compliance" with the Humber Yacht Club. She says the club's responses "did not demonstrate a collaborative attitude and did not take any effort to address the concerns that, as we heard from staff today, continue."
23
From a city report, here are some of the "compliance issues" staff noted with the Humber Yacht Club.
24
Councillor Amber Morley's motion to confirm the original staff recommendation to end the Humber Yacht Club lease CARRIES 19-5.
25
Moving to some quick items now. On an item about paid duty cops, Councillor Paula Fletcher passes a motion to provide councillors with the instruction sheets officers are given when they are tasked with standing around construction sites. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
26
After a small tweak from local rep Councillor Gord Perks, Council APPROVES a new contract to keep the High Park "trackless train" rolling. An RFP for an electric shuttle failed, so the trackless train remains. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
27
On an item about the ravine strategy, Councillor Paula Fletcher moves for a report on the proposed "ravine loop." Not a loop-de-loop but still pretty cool. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
28
On the ravine strategy, Councillor Stephen Holyday moves to incorporate "Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design" principles into Toronto's ravine plans.
29
"Those people that live with their properties abutting ravines sometimes see the ravines as a place used by criminals to do break-ins," explains Holyday. He wants to address concerns that people use ravines as an escape route after committing crimes.
30
Councillor Shelley Carroll gets Holyday to amend his motion, so that crime prevention design will be CONSIDERED as part of the ravine strategy, rather than immediately implemented.
31
With that revision, all the ravine strategy motions CARRY via show of hands. The ravine strategy report is APPROVED 23-0.
32
Up now: trees! Report recommends looking at reducing the threshold at which private trees become protected and subject to removal permits. Currently, only trees with diameters of 30 cm or more are protected. This process would look at dropping it to 20 cm. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
33
Staff say reducing the tree threshold to 20 cm would result in about 300,000 more private trees becoming protected by the bylaw. For context, the City of Toronto has 11.5 million trees in total, with about 55% of those on private property.
34
Councillor Pasternak says he won't support going forward with the process to reduce the threshold for protecting trees. "If this goes through, we will completely be overwhelmed at community council" with tree appeals, he says.
35
Councillor Dianne Saxe, on the other hand, says she'll support protecting more trees. "The most effective response to heat is trees," she says. "And trees don't grow overnight." Toronto won't achieve its tree canopy coverage goals if trees aren't allowed to grow, she says.
36
Councillor Stephen Holyday is also opposed to the tree strategy. He says it's "heartbreaking to see the instances where somebody can't do what it is they dream of on their own land" because of the permit requirement for removing trees.
37
"This particular item is perhaps the largest and most profound thing we are dealing with today," says Holyday of the tree strategy. "This touches 300,000 trees." He worries residents might respond by proactively cutting down trees to get ahead of the rule changes.
38
Council votes to APPROVE, in principle, reducing the protection threshold for private trees to 20 cm. Staff will first report on impacts before the change goes into effect. The vote is 18-6.
39
The rest of the tree strategy is APPROVED 21-3. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
40
Mayor Olivia Chow remains STEADFAST in her position against three-day council meetings. She moves to take a 30-minute break at 6 p.m., then come back and finish this agenda. There are 27 items left.
41
After a minor wording tweak, Councillor Pasternak's motion calling for a report on the design of multiplexes carries via a show of hands. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
42
Council is wading into the flag policy debate. Councillor Thompson has an amendment to continue to allow the flying of not-for-profit and charitable org flags, but would still ban foreign flags as of Dec 1, 2026.
43
Councillor Pasternak, meanwhile, has a motion that would just eliminate the flying of any flags on the courtesy flagpoles after the current schedule of flagraisings is completed.
44
Councillor Nick Mantas says he's against these flag policy changes. "We're basically penalizing 160 countries that we recognize in our city for a few groups."
45
Councillor Thompson's motion to stop flying foreign country flags on the courtesy flagpoles at city hall and the civic centres CARRIES 20-6. Other kinds of flags will still be permitted.
46
Pasternak's motion to stop flying all flags is ruled redundant. With that, the amended flag policy is APPROVED 19-7.
47
Council is on dinner break until 6:30. There are 21 items left, including Perruzza's city-run grocery store item, Bradford's subway safety item, and Chow's no-ICE-in-Toronto item. Could be a late one.
48
Council returns. Councillor Morley starts us off by saying she voted incorrectly on the last item (the flag stuff) but Nunziata rejects her request for a re-vote. Exciting stuff. The new livestream is here: youtube.com/watch?v=ds4Qm6…
49
Council starts off with a Vision Zero item. Nunziata moves for staff to look at traffic safety improvements for Humber Boulevard North. She says a 15-year-old was hit by a driver on the street this week and is in hospital, so she wants urgent change. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
50
Councillor Moise, meanwhile, wants to install a sidewalk on a section of Sumach Street that currently doesn't have a sidewalk.
51
Councillor Matlow, in contrast, has a motion to NOT install a planned sidewalk on Warwick Ave.
52
All the Vision Zero motions CARRY via show of hands. So does the item as amended. Moving on.
53
Up now: an updated secondary plan for North York Centre. Councillor Lily Cheng, the local rep, has concerns about how the area could support 100,000 more people moving in over the next 30 years. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
54
Councillor Mike Colle emerges from the shadows to complain about development and the Ontario Land Tribunal. "We have an unworkable system that basically rubber stamps development after development, and we have no way of providing any kind of community infrastructure," he says.
55
"21 condos there on Marlee! You can't even walk up the street, there's so much traffic! You don't have a place to even pee on Marlee Avenue. You've got no community facilities at all," complains Colle.
56
Councillor Cheng has motions on the North York Centre plan, including asking staff to look at visitor parking and a new recreation centre. She also wants to consult with faith leaders.
57
Now: the redevelopment of land at Queen East & Kingston Road in Councillor Brad Bradford's ward. He moves to REJECT the application for an 11-storey building. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
58
After a short and very confusing debate, Councillor Bradford's motion to REJECT the Queen East & Kingston development application FAILS 5-19.
59
Councillor Perks' motion to APPROVE the development application for Queen East & Kingston Road in Bradford's ward CARRIES 22-3.
60
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.
61
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…
62
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.
63
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.
64
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…
65
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…
66
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.
67
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."
68
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.
69
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.
70
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."
71
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."
72
"All I know is whenever I buy bananas, they're all rotten," says Nunziata. "You buy them and tomorrow they're rotten!"
73
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.
74
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.
75
Saxe's motion for a report on ways for city hall to support food co-ops like Karma CARRIES 23-1.
76
Ainslie's motion to look at alternative models for grocery delivery CARRIES 21-3.
77
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.
78
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.
79
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…
80
Cheng urges council to stick with her original motion and timeline, but council votes to APPROVE the Perks amendment, 17-8.
81
Up now: Councillor Bradford's "safer subways" motion. Among other things, it calls for cops in every subway station and the installation of platform edge doors. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
82
Some confusion as TTC Chief Operating Officer Fort Monaco pops up on screen virtually to answer Bradford's questions with a very echo-y microphone.
"Who's that?" "He's wearing a Michigan shirt."
"Who's that?" "He's wearing a Michigan shirt."
83
"This is BRUTAL" a visibly frustrated Bradford complains after Monaco doesn't have subway assault numbers for the years he's asking about. "It's not professional!"
84
"It's very unprofessional for you to be attending a meeting like that, when we can't even hear you. This is a professional atmosphere," says Nunziata to Monaco. Bradford agrees.
85
"We have to stop being afraid to break the mould and try something different," says Bradford of his subway safety motion.
He says council has to stop focusing exclusively on stats and listen to TTC riders and "take real steps today" to make people feel safer.
He says council has to stop focusing exclusively on stats and listen to TTC riders and "take real steps today" to make people feel safer.
86
Councillor Matlow moves to amend part of Bradford's motion to reference the TTC MoU on shared responsibilities.
"When I first heard about Councillor Bradford's motion, with all due respect, I thought it was a political stunt," Matlow admits, but he's come to see it as important.
"When I first heard about Councillor Bradford's motion, with all due respect, I thought it was a political stunt," Matlow admits, but he's come to see it as important.
87
"Whether this came from Olivia Chow or Brad Bradford or anybody else who wants to run for mayor, I think we need to be together on focusing on our common priorities," says Matlow. He urges colleagues to support Bradford's motion. Peace in our time.
88
TTC Chair Jamaal Myers apologizes for Monaco's answers. He says he'll be talking to senior staff at the organization about being more prepared for meetings.
89
Councillor Nick Mantas, ready to go home, calls the question on this subway safety item. That FAILS to get the two-thirds support it needs, after a 13-9 vote. The speeches shall continue.
90
Holyday says he supports more cops on the subway but NOT platform edge doors. "They're so exorbitantly expensive, it's a trade-off on other really important things that need to be done on the TTC. We have to think of the highest and best use of money."
91
Bradford's motion to commit to begin installing platform edge doors with a pilot project starting no later than Q4 2027 CARRIES 19-4.
92
The rest of Bradford's subway safety motion is APPROVED 23-0. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
93
(A win for Bradford, but was that the outcome he wanted?)
94
On an item now about the city’s cultural district program, Cheng has moved to add Little Iran to the cultural district list. And Bradford has moved to add Banglatown. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
95
One. Item. Left.
It's Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to oppose any presence of ICE at the FIFA World Cup.
And wow, no one wants to give a speech. It CARRIES 21-1. You know the one. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
It's Mayor Olivia Chow's motion to oppose any presence of ICE at the FIFA World Cup.
And wow, no one wants to give a speech. It CARRIES 21-1. You know the one. secure.toronto.ca/council/agenda…
96
Finally, the end. Council's meeting is OVER.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this thread and found it useful, the best way to say thanks is to buy a subscription to my newsletter, City Hall Watcher. It keeps these threads going and going and going toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/subscribe
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this thread and found it useful, the best way to say thanks is to buy a subscription to my newsletter, City Hall Watcher. It keeps these threads going and going and going toronto.cityhallwatcher.com/subscribe
