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Council meets today. I'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
OK! Good morning, Toronto. We have 
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
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
. @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
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
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
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
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 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
I wouldn't have thought this development application was controversial last week http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.TE19.5 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. Unclear if this item gets pulled now or if they'll discuss this meddling.
Also on the agenda and one of the mayor's two key items is the future of patios in winter: http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2020.EX17.7. 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 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
Tory says now he hopes there will be clear regulations about what is and isn't permitted and repeats that simply have indoor-like dining outdoors in "hermetically sealed" tents is not what we want
(The mayor's first key item will be the city manager's financial report I talked about earlier in this thread)
On the province'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's possible to build affordable housing on provincial land without circumventing the community process
