City Council meeting of May 30 - June 1, 2001

Revitalization of the waterfront
Council approved the creation of a Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation to begin four waterfront projects: the Front Street extension, improvement of the Union Subway Station platform, a Don River environmental assessment and Port Lands remediation. Once in place, the corporation will present a business strategy and development plan to the federal, provincial and municipal governments for approval. Council also approved the creation of a Waterfront Reference Group of councillors to work with the corporation, and endorsed measures to ensure public participation in the planning and implementation of waterfront renewal.

Names of the community councils
Five of the six City of Toronto community councils have new names. City Council agreed to the following names: Etobicoke Community Council (replaces "West" Community Council), Humber York Community Council (formerly "Southwest"), Scarborough Community Council (formerly "East"), North York Community Council (formerly "North") and Toronto East York Community Council (formerly "Downtown"). Midtown Community Council was not changed. The names will come into effect when City Council amends the Municipal Code, anticipated at the next Council meeting (June 26 to 28).

Towing of illegally parked cars
Council adopted consolidated bylaws governing the enforcement of regulations for parking on private and municipal property across all of Toronto. The bylaws, which take effect January 1, will provide a 30-minute grace period in many but not all circumstances before a vehicle is towed away. At present, bylaws inherited from the pre-amalgamation municipalities provide different grace periods in different areas of the city.

Affordable housing initiative
Council authorized the sale of three surplus City-owned parcels of land at below-market value to Metropolitan Toronto Habitat for Humanity for the development of affordable housing.

Additional taxi licences
Council agreed to issue 262 new "ambassador" class taxicab licences to qualified drivers this year in addition to the 100 already approved for 2001. With the additional ambassador licences, Toronto will have more than 4,000 taxicabs serving the public, operating with either standard, ambassador or accessible taxi licences.

Collection of leaf and yard waste
A working group of councillors will review promotion of the City's leaf and yard waste program. Council directed staff to promote the use of rigid, open-top containers as the preferred container for leaf and yard waste pick-up by City crews for composting. Kraft yard waste bags are also acceptable as yard waste containers. The City no longer accepts leaf and yard waste put out in plastic bags. In addition, the City does not collect grass clippings as either garbage or yard waste.

Improvement of Nathan Phillips Square
Council approved the establishment of a reference group of City councillors to discuss the possibility of holding a design competition for the revitalization of Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto's premier civic square and outdoor event venue.

Immigration and settlement policy
Council approved a policy framework to enable the City to attract newcomers and provide supports to help them participate fully in Toronto's social, economic, cultural and political life. The policy places emphasis on working with other orders of government.

Toronto labour force plan
Council approved a work plan in support of a labour force readiness strategy intended to develop and retain a Toronto labour force with the skills necessary for success in the knowledge economy. The project is part of the City's new economic development strategy. Work will focus on three industry clusters: construction, tourism-hospitality, and information technology-telecommunications.

Support for financial services industry
Council adopted a new strategy for working with the financial services sector. A sector alliance will be formed to develop an action plan enabling financial services to continue to thrive in Toronto in the face of pressures such as globalization and centralization. Council voted to ask the federal and Ontario governments to formally recognize Toronto as Canada's financial services centre.

Cancer prevention action plan
Council endorsed a plan identifying actions for the City to take in support of cancer prevention. Developed by a broad coalition that Toronto Public Health helped to establish, the plan includes programs and policies involving diet, smoking, physical activity, carcinogens and exposure to ultraviolet solar radiation.

Consolidation of operations yards
Council approved plans for Works and Emergency Services to assess opportunities to further reduce the number of its yard facilities and sell the resulting surplus properties. Council was advised that the elimination of more operations yards will require renovating or re-developing other yards.

New life for old tires
Council approved a six-month pilot project for sending used tires that are in good condition to Third World countries for reuse. The tires will be sorted from those delivered to the Dufferin Transfer Station for recycling. It is estimated that 200 tonnes of tires could be recovered annually through the program.

Master Accommodation Plan
Council discussed a proposed master plan for accommodating the City's office-based staff and referred the matter back to the Administration Committee for further study.

Previous Council Highlights

Council Highlights is an informal summary of Council's recent decisions, produced for readers' convenience. Any questions about this summary can be emailed to Strategic Communications at stratcom@toronto.ca

The formal documentation of Council's decisions is available at http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/index.do

Questions about the formal documentation can be emailed to the City Clerk's Office at clerk@toronto.ca