TORONTO – Single file bicycling, condo advertising, councillor’s records, the Toronto Star’s complaint about Mayor Rob Ford and an update on emergency shelter services are among dozens of motions scheduled to be discussed during Wednesday’s city council meeting.
Update on Emergency Shelter Services
City council will also review an update on the city’s emergency shelter services during Wednesday’s council session.
The availability of shelters beds came to the forefront of municipal politics in recent months after Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) staged several sit-ins at city hall and in front of the mayor’s office.
The report before council on Wednesday suggests the city activate the 172 emergency beds throughout the shelter system in order to achieve an occupancy rate closer to 90 per cent.
Currently, the shelter system operates at an occupancy rate of approximately 96 per cent.
The report also asks the city to track client experiences more closely in order to alleviate anecdotal complaints of people being turned away from shelters.
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Single file bicycling
UPDATE: City Council has adopted this motion.
City council will vote on a motion by Councillor Karen Stintz to rescind a pre-amalgamation bylaw that forces cyclists to ride single file.
Prior to amalgamation, Etobicoke was the only city to have the rule but it became a bylaw throughout Toronto after amalgamation.
The motion would allow cyclists to ride next to each other.
The motion was introduced in February.
Condo Advertising
Councillor Josh Matlow recently introduced a motion calling for changes to how developers can advertise condos in Toronto.
“While Toronto’s planning process provides forums for resident participation, many community members are under the impression that a development has already been approved due to misleading advertising,” according to Matlow’s motion.
Matlow’s motion seeks to force developers to state on advertisements and applications that the development is pending city approval.
Making councillors’ records public
A motion introduced by Councillor Paula Fletcher aims to make councillor’s records subject to freedom of information requests.
Currently only the mayor’s records are subject to the requests.
The motion would allow councillor’s schedules, work e-mail and communications with lobbyists to be accessible through a freedom of information request.
Star wars continues
City councillors will also review a report from the city’s integrity commissioner on the ongoing dispute between the Toronto Star and Mayor Rob Ford.
In December, the newspaper complained to the integrity commissioner about the mayor’s alleged blacklisting of the newspaper’s reporters.
In her report, to be reviewed by council Wednesday, the integrity commissioner sides with Ford claiming his attempt to blacklist the newspaper was haphazard and informal.
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