Toronto council debates OMB, affordable housing funding & other issues

Toronto’s city council is debating a host of key measures over the next two days, but Monday's meeting was overshadowed by a looming transit showdown.

The council session began Monday morning. But before it began, Coun. Karen Stintz introduced a petition for a special council meeting to reconsider Transit City, which Mayor Rob Ford has all but killed. She and 23 councillors signed a petition calling for a special meeting Wednesday to debate light rail transit (LRT).

At the start of the two-day council meeting, councillors approved a proposal to remove Toronto from the Ontario Municipal Board’s (OMB) jurisdiction, and set up a local appeal body. The city will also ask the province to abolish the OMB.

“I don’t know any letters that rile my constituents more than OMB,” Coun. David Shiner said.

The OMB oversees planning and development in Ontario, and has been widely criticized for catering to developers.

The province can just “push off” those decisions that allow condominiums and go against the wishes of city council, Shiner argued.

“If you want respect for taxpayers, take away the OMB’s authority, because they do not have respect for taxpayers."

Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam introduced the motion last year and Tweeted that "Mississauga unanimously voted for land use planning autonomy."

"If the OMB were abolished ... would there still be an appeal process?" Coun. Norm Kelly asked Monday.

"Yes, it would be an appeal to the courts. ... It might be a slower process, but not necessarily, " city solicitor Anna Kinastowski said.

Coun. Raymond Cho asked if abolishing the OMB could end up costing the city more money in the long run.

"It's a possibility," Kinastowski said.

Deputy mayor Doug Holyday suggested preparing a staff report, and questioned why there hadn’t been one requested in the first place.

“This is a major change,” Holyday said.

He introduced a motion asking for the city's chief planner and executive director to consider the proposal.

Coun. Peter Milczyn asked council to oppose Holyday's motion. The motion was denied.

Earlier, Coun. Mike del Grande, a Ford ally, tried to add a motion without prior notice to the agenda regarding councillors’ salaries. But it fell three votes shy of the 30 that was needed to get the motion added to the agenda.

Last week, it was reported that the mayor and councillors are due for a two per cent salary increase this year. The increase, built into the 2012 operating budget passed last month, is about $2,000 per councillor and is based on Statistics Canada’s consumer price index for Toronto.

At the time, Coun. Doug Ford said a motion would be put forward to refuse the raise and freeze salaries.

The mayor, who earned $167,770 last year, said he would not take the increase. Councillors earn $99,620 a year.

City council approved a proposal to close a section of Gould and Victoria streets, near Ryerson University, to vehicle traffic. The area had been closed to traffic as part of a pilot project for several months.

Councillors also approved, with amendments, a plan to allocate federal and provincial funding for affordable housing, as well as approved sign variance bylaws and filling vacant positions.

The city will also debate asking the province’s Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care for money to fight bed bugs. A strategy is expected to be in place by April 1.

Click here to see the meeting agenda.

To view a live stream of the meeting, click here.

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Toronto council debates OMB, affordable housing funding & other issues