A chance to remedy Toronto’s budget

Another alleged “face slashing” committed on a Toronto transit system all too familiar with random acts of violence; a hollowed out downtown core yet to recover from a devastating pandemic; a city facing a housing and homelessness crisis; a budget with a billion-dollar hole in it; and to top it off, a mayor who, a few days before that budget would be debated, admitted to an inappropriate relationship with a former staffer when she worked in his office and announced his resignation.

In Toronto, when it rains it pours.

And yet, where the city’s progressive leaders are concerned, there is a silver lining in the sky. Tory’s bombshell admission may have thrust city council into chaos at a time when Toronto faces enormous challenges.

But on Wednesday, Toronto Council will vote on the 2023 budget, giving its left-leaning leaders one final opportunity to push progressive solutions to the city’s challenges.

This is a budget of the mayor’s making. He delayed his departure from the mayor’s office to preside over Wednesday’s deliberations. (Indeed, there are rumblings about his desire to stay put.) He can use his strong mayor powers to challenge any changes he doesn’t like.

And yet some on council see a diminished mayor and an opportunity to adjust the city’s financial blueprint, a $16.2-billion operating budget and $49.3-billion capital plan.

It’s possible, as some city hall watchers suggest, that the mayor won’t use his extraordinary powers to force his way with the budget; that he wouldn’t dare use the controversial veto power to determine the fate of a city he will soon ostensibly no longer be at the helm of.

It’s also possible that in light of Tory’s potential exit from politics, his allies can be swayed to vote their conscience when it comes to the budget—as opposed to voting with Tory in the hopes of gaining his favour.

The Star recently reported that Parkdale-High Park councillor Gord Perks as well as other left-leaning councillors signalled a plan to “reopen parts of Tory’s budget to reverse a planned increase to the police budget and cuts to TTC service.”

They are also reportedly hatching a plan to find the funding required to keep warming centres for homeless residents open 24-7—a move that could reverse city council’s shameful refusal last week, to heed a recommendation to keep the centres open around the clock until mid April.

This is welcome news, mayoral scandal or not, because status quo solutions are clearly not serving Toronto. Violence continues on the TTC despite a heightened police presence on the system; planned cuts to transit threaten to reduce ridership further, thus spelling an even more difficult future for the city’s core and its economic recovery; and too many homeless residents don’t have a place to warm up indoors when it’s cold outside.

Some of Tory’s allies—including Beaches-East York councillor Brad Bradford—would have Torontonians believe it is irresponsible for councillors to attempt to make major alterations to the budget at this time.

“I would urge my colleagues to exercise caution when playing politics around a document like this that really is important for us to help move the city forward,” Bradford told the Star.

But what exactly are councillors elected to do if not politics?

Tory has declared his intention to leave. It is entirely fair and quite possibly in Toronto’s best interest, for other councillors to put their own stamp on a budget that will direct the future of the city.