April 15, 1998

To:Special Committee to Review the Toronto Transition Team Report

From:Chief Administrative Officer

Subject:Organization of Licensing Commission

Purpose:

This report recommends the reorganization of the Licensing Commission functions.

Financial Implications:

There are no budgetary impacts.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the Toronto Licensing Commission be continued as the Toronto Licensing Tribunal to conduct hearings as required under the Licensing By-Law;

 (2)the Tribunal be composed of 7 citizens appointed by Council through the Nominating Committee using specific qualification criteria appropriate to their duties;

 (3)the Tribunal organize itself into 3 panels of 2 members each and a Chair to act as alternate for any absent member;

 (4)the Tribunal report at least semi-annually to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee outlining any policy or administrative issues which need to be addressed by the Committee;

 (5)the City Clerk continue to provide secretariat services to the Tribunal and the City Solicitor report further on the provision of legal services;

 (6)the General Manager and staff of the existing Licensing Commission be integrated into the City administrative structure and the General Manager report to the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development and continue to administer the issuance, renewal and suspension of licenses and advise on licensing policy and administrative issues;

 (7)the Emergency and Protective Services Committee, with the advice of staff and with the benefit of public input through deputations or other means, recommend new or revised licensing policies to Council;

 (8)the City Solicitor prepare the necessary By-Laws to effect the restructuring of the Licensing Commission and prepare City By-Laws to replace the by-laws of the existing Licensing Commission;

 (9)the Chief Administrative Officer, in consultation with the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development and the General Manager of the Licensing Commission, report back to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee on the arrangements necessary to implement the transitioning of staff;

 (10)the City Clerk be authorized to begin the process of citizen appointments to the Toronto Licensing Tribunal;

 (11)the implementation of the restructuring with respect to policy matters and adjudicative functions be phased-in as follows:

 (a)effective immediately, all new licensing policy issues be forwarded to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee for consideration;

(b)the current Licensing Commission continue to consider matters pertaining to the taxi industry until the recommendations of the Task Force for Reform of the Taxi Industry are considered by Council, after which such policy issues will be considered by the Emergency and Protective Services Committee;

(c)once the schedule for selection of citizens for the Licensing Tribunal is finalized, hearings for new cases be scheduled for the Tribunal and the current Licensing Commission will complete any hearings in progress; and

(12)the appropriate officials be authorized to take the necessary actions to give effect thereto.

Council Reference:

At its meeting of January 2, 6, 8 and 9, 1998, City Council referred recommendation 96, 99, and 128 of the Toronto Transition Team Report to the Mayor for a report on the structure of the Licensing Commission. The former Metro Council also considered this issue at its meeting of August 13, 1997 and approved the recommendations of the Human Services Committee as contained in an attachment to this report. The City=s Emergency and Protective Service=s Committee struck a Working Group, chaired by Councillor Fotinos, to consider the former Metro position and the recommendations of the Transition Team and forwarded recommendations to the Mayor. Following consultation with the Deputy Mayor, Chair of the Emergency and Protective Services Committee and Councillor Moscoe representing the Licensing Commission, the Mayor endorsed the direction proposed by the Working Group and requested that the Chief Administrator=s Office report on the actions necessary to effect this restructuring. This report recommends to the Special Committee a course of action which is essentially the direction outlined by the Working Group.

Discussion:

The Working Group=s position is consistent with the direction outlined in the Transition Team Report and the report adopted by the former Metro Council. The fundamental premise is that the policy development and adjudicative functions of the Commission should be separated. This means that policy should be developed and approved by accountable elected representatives of the people, while the quasi-judicial hearings process be conducted by non-partisan peers of the public (i.e. private citizens).

The current Toronto Licensing Commission is a board that oversees the administration of the licensing function, recommends changes in policy and may establish some policies itself, and also adjudicates any cases which require hearings. In order to separate these functions, it is recommended that the General Manager and staff of the current Toronto Licensing Commission become staff of the City of Toronto and the commission be renamed the Toronto Licensing Tribunal which conducts hearings.

The Toronto Licensing Tribunal would be comprised entirely of citizens appointed by Council recommended by the Nominating Committee. Specific qualifications should be developed in order to assist the Nominating Committee in selecting citizens who are qualified to carry out these specialized duties. The Working Group suggested that three panels of two members each could be scheduled to address the workload. However, it is necessary to ensure that hearings are not delayed due to absence of individual members. It is recommended that seven members be appointed including a Chair of the Tribunal who could act as an alternate for any absent members.

The Tribunal would conduct hearings where applicants, their representatives, and others would appear before the Tribunal to present evidence and facts. However, deputations regarding policy or administrative issues would be presented to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee.

 The Tribunal, through the Chair, would report directly to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee and should report at least semi-annually to the Committee outlining any policy or administrative issues which need to be addressed by the Committee.

The City Clerk would continue to provide the secretariat services necessary for the Tribunal. The City Solicitor should report further on how legal services should be provided for the Tribunal.

The staff and General Manager of the existing Commission would become staff of the City of Toronto. The Executive Director of Human Resources and Amalgamation has advised that CUPE Local 79 represents both the Licensing Commission staff and a major portion of the former Metro clerical/technical staff. Labour Relations is already in the process of reviewing the many bargaining units and the impacts of amalgamation and would include this restructuring within the review process. The organization structure, compensation levels, and administrative linkages would also be considered within the context of the administrative restructuring for the City.

The General Manager would report to the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development and would continue to be responsible for the administration of the licensing functions and for advising on licensing policy issues as well as maintaining on-going communication with the Tribunal.

The Emergency and Protective Services Committee would be responsible for recommending to Council all policies and licensing by-law amendments.

The City Solicitor advises that the existing Toronto Licensing Commission oversees By-Law 20-85 of the former Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and other By-Laws enacted by the Commission itself. It will be necessary for Council to enact the latter and consolidate, amend or supplement these by-laws in the course of time.

 The City Solicitor has also advised that the City has the authority under Provincial Regulation 214/96 to make these structural changes to the Licensing Commission. A City By-Law would be required to finalize the restructuring and there are a number of administrative details to be attended to. It is recommended that the City Solicitor draft the appropriate By-Laws and the Chief Administrative Officer assign the appropriate staff to work with the Commissioner of Urban Planning and Development and the General Manager of the Licensing Commission in developing the necessary administrative details and report back to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee on the necessary arrangements and timing of this restructuring.

It is also recommended that the City Clerk be authorized to begin the process of citizen appointments to the Toronto Licensing Tribunal.

Several months may be required to complete the selection process for citizen. In addition, the Task Force for Reform of the Taxi Industry is scheduled to report within the next three months and it is desirable that the current Commission provide input to the Task Force. In order to maintain continuity while expediting the restructuring, a phased approach to implementing the transition for policy matters and adjudicative functions is recommended as follows:

 (a)effective immediately, all new licensing policy issues be forwarded to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee for consideration;

(b)the current Licensing Commission continue to consider matters pertaining to the taxi industry until the recommendations of the Task Force for Reform of the Taxi Industry are considered by Council, after which such policy issues will be considered by the Emergency and Protective Services Committee;

(c)once the schedule for selection of citizens for the Licensing Tribunal is finalized, hearings for new cases be scheduled for the Tribunal and the current Licensing Commission will complete any hearings in progress.

Conclusions:

Three separate review processes undertaken by the former Metro Council, the Toronto Transition Team and the Emergency and Protective Services Working Group have concluded that the existing Toronto Licensing Commission be restructured to separate the administrative functions and the adjudicative functions. This report makes specific recommendations to approve this approach and set in motion the actions necessary to effect the restructuring in a phased manner.

Michael R. Garrett

Chief Administrative Officer