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Council meets today. I& #39;ll be tweeting out everything you need to know shortly. Mayor John Tory will be speaking to reporters at 9AM ahead of the meeting. You can follow along here: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/27/toronto-council-debates-provincial-meddling-empty-ward-22-seat.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/...
OK! Good morning, Toronto. We have 
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="☕️" title="Heißgetränk" aria-label="Emoji: Heißgetränk"> and an agenda to preview. Council starts at 9:30AM.
There’s a few items under a theme I’ll call “Toronto doesn’t have control over its own future”. That includes the hard financial road ahead: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/14/toronto-charts-a-course-out-of-covid-19-pandemic-with-a-recovery-roadmap-but-without-new-powers-or-new-money.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/...
There’s a few items under a theme I’ll call “Toronto doesn’t have control over its own future”. That includes the hard financial road ahead: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/14/toronto-charts-a-course-out-of-covid-19-pandemic-with-a-recovery-roadmap-but-without-new-powers-or-new-money.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/...
. @GraphicMatt reminds us that these financial woes are not at all new nor are they simply a product of the pandemic: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2020/10/20/think-torontos-15-billion-budget-shortfall-is-a-symptom-of-covid-19-think-again.html">https://www.thestar.com/opinion/c...
This theme also includes the ability to use ranked ballots in upcoming elections, which was recently ripped away by the provincial government under the guise of a COVID-19 recovery bill: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/20/doug-fords-provincial-government-moves-to-scrap-ranked-ballots-for-municipalities-including-toronto.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/...
There is a motion from @shelleycarroll to formally ask the province to not do that: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.MM25.10">https://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/vie...
There’s also a motion from @JoshMatlow to ask the federal government to provide the city with charter city status, going around the province: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.MM25.15">https://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/vie...
I wrote about charter cities earlier here: https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2019/06/18/could-charter-city-status-protect-toronto-from-provincial-meddling.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/city... and talked about all this with @adrianwkcheung here: https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/thismatters/2020/10/19/toronto-vs-everybody-or-at-least-the-ontario-government.html">https://www.thestar.com/podcasts/...
I wouldn& #39;t have thought this development application was controversial last week http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.TE19.5">https://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/vie... but then this happened: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/26/doug-fords-provincial-government-sidesteps-local-community-overrules-toronto-on-developments-in-west-don-lands.html.">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/... Unclear if this item gets pulled now or if they& #39;ll discuss this meddling.
Also on the agenda and one of the mayor& #39;s two key items is the future of patios in winter: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.EX17.7.">https://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/vie... Francine wrote about that here https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/21/there-is-nothing-to-prevent-covid-19-from-catching-fire-here-torontos-top-doctor-delivers-sombre-message-as-covid-19-cases-hospitalizations-climb.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/... and here https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2020/10/25/his-idea-for-patio-domes-seemed-perfect-for-a-toronto-winter-with-covid-19-except-they-werent-allowed-so-he-called-doug-ford.html">https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/...
Tory says now he hopes there will be clear regulations about what is and isn& #39;t permitted and repeats that simply have indoor-like dining outdoors in "hermetically sealed" tents is not what we want
(The mayor& #39;s first key item will be the city manager& #39;s financial report I talked about earlier in this thread)
On the province& #39;s big-footing of development in the West Don Lands, chief planner @GreggLintern has sent an internal memo to council members essentially explaining that it& #39;s possible to build affordable housing on provincial land without circumventing the community process
