Transcript - Park Revitalization Debate Deferred - Executive Committee

your mayor Olivia Chow here, chair of the executive committee. Good morning. We have quorum. I am now calling meeting 29 to order. Welcome everyone. It's a a new room. The furniture is slightly different. Eh, uh, today's meeting is being held by video conference and in person at Toronto City Hall at the C, uh, and this meeting is also livereamed online at YouTube.com, Toronto City Council Live. Although we may be meeting in different locations today, the committee would like to acknowledge that the land we are meeting on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Missaga of the Credit, the Anesnab, the Chipoa, the Honoson, and the Wendat people, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Matei people. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Missaga of the Credit. If you are interested uh in speaking if you register, please listen for me to call your name. I will call speakers in the order they appear on the list and the list of speakers can be viewed online by visiting the executive committee page toronto.ca and clicking the speakers box for today's meeting. And if you are here uh just come up and we will uh press the mic and we will hear from you. And um are there any declaration of interest? Seeing none, uh let us proceed. Deputy Mayor Angley just moved the minutes from the meeting on December 9th, 2025. Thank you. All those in favor? Opposed? Carrie. Thank you. Um before we begin to run through the agenda, may I have a motion to add some new businesses and um EX 2913 window search capacity on snow shuffling. Uh and uh I have Yeah. Uh, Deputy Mayor Moy will uh, also there are two new items cracking down on bad landlords and keeping Toronto beautiful. One is dealing with remedial action. The other one is uh, clean and beautiful. Um, um, each of those. Pardon? We'll display I'm sorry. We're displaying each of those. So, okay. will display when when it's ready. So, I just want to make sure people have time to take a look at them. Um, and here they are. They are in front of you. This is um asking uh just keeping the initiative cleaning it run waiting till normally at the end of the April we have the the initiative instead of waiting till April because the weather just got warmed and everything got the snow melted and we see all the garbage so it just starting it earlier. Okay, I'm very happy to move uh that as new business, madame mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Uh all those in favor post carry on the bad landlord take take your time to take a read of it to the end. We we'll just add it on the agenda. Um and uh let me just go through the item if that's okay. And the first item is being held because there is a uh uh a presentation. It's the Boomsburg um sorry uh challenge and uh item two Portland flood protection and anyone there speaker oh I'm sorry let me just get into my list of speakers item three has speakers. And item um just one second. Item three is the Western Foundation donation. And we have item four, the potholes have speakers. The item five, street furniture uh has speakers. Item six, the city of Toronto environmental social governance. Um, there is no speaker. Let me see if any counselors want to hold it. Anyone? No. Okay. Um, we have uh Deputy Mayor Aninsley. All those in favor adopt the recommendations in front of you. Opposed? Perry. And item 2. Item seven. There are no speakers. Okay. Um, Metro Link subway program update. Do you know if councelor Fletcher usually have comments? No. Um, anyone moving it? Deputy Mayor Malik. All those in favor of this Metroink subway program update. Thank you. All those in favor of opposed. Carrie, thank you. Item eight, we have uh a speaker and item nine, FIFA World Cup. Do we have any speaker? I don't see any speaker. Um I believe deputy mayor, you want to hold that item down? Uh number nine. Number nine, which is Yeah. Yes. Yes. Okay. Help by Malik. Um, item 10 is the procurement plan update. You want to hold that one also? Okay. And Meridian's Arts Corporate Partnership item 11. Is anyone interested in that? Someone from North York. Oh, okay. Deputy Mayor Cole is not here yet. Corporate partnership. uh renewal. Uh I don't think there's Yep. Deputy Mayor Aninsley. All those in favor? Opposed? Perry. Thank you. Uh the NHL Stadium series uh at the Rogers Center. C Inley, it's yours. Oh, we have a speaker. Okay. Snow shuffling. We have speakers. We have a speaker. My list is not is not complete. The speaker list we have added. Okay. Um there are new speaker coming in. All right. When you have time, give me the latest newest speaker list. The dos row I'm holding down um which is 14 for people to take a look at it. Keeping Toronto beautiful. It's basically starting early. Um you want to hold it. Okay. Take a read. Okay. Okay. So what we have done is we have a presentation number one. We have speaker at two. Let me just see. So far we have approved item six. We have approved item seven. We have a speaker on eight. We have approved item 11 and the rest are held for the time being. That'll be a fairly long meeting. Okay. All right. Are we ready? Why don't we have a quick presentation on item one and deal with that? Um, you ready? Thank you, uh, Madame Mayor. Uh, so we're here today to, uh, talk a little bit about an award the city has just been, uh, has just won. It's the Bloomberg Philanthropy's mayor's, uh, challenge winner. So, what is the mayor's challenge? The Bloomberg's mayor's challenge, but we're we were the 2025 2026 uh, challenge winner. There were 600 applications, over 600 applications worldwide. 24 winning cities selected and over 20 countries represented and this project is all around our our school food program. A very uh ambitious project we're about to set out on uh worked on by many city divisions, Toronto Public Health, our colleagues are here, social development, the protocol office and our and our friends in the mayor's office. So very exciting. So what does it mean to win the mayor's war award? We are the recipients of 1.4 million Canadian dollars. That's hundred or $1 million USD and that comes with operational support and technical guidance from the folks at Bloomberg. We get some dedicated staff funding in addition to the 1.4 million to help us kind of get this project off the road and we get operational dollars to do some uh to pilot some school food hub models which I'll talk a little bit about in the next slides. So what are we going to do with this project? We're going to move from fragmentation to coordinated school food hub models. So if you see the picture on the right, a lot of our school food work right now is is uncoordinated. So we're kind of trying through this project to move to the future state on the on the on the right hand side of the of sorry the right hand uh picture of the slide. Um a school food hub is really just a multifaceted facility that does food storage, food prep, um workforce development and and really kind of gets the food to where it needs to be so we can get it into the children in the schools. through the project. You know, we before we were the a first top 24 city, we're a top 50 city and we got a little bit of feasibility or a little bit of uh money to do a feasibility study. So, we did a feasibility study with our friends at North York Harvest and found that, you know, when we when we use school food hubs, we can use more locally sourced foods and we can support more job creation. And I'll talk a little bit more about that um in a minute. So, what are we going to do in this pilot or in this in this project? So, the first thing we're going to do is we're going to integrate. We have a lot of people in the city that do school food, our our friends at the Toronto Foundation for Student Success, the Angel Foundation for Learning, um you know, parents, uh other community organizations. So, we're really going to take some time to learn and integrate with the current systems we have. Then, we're going to select schools to do small pilots with our friends at North York Harvest. you know, as we test and pilot, we're going to refine, make things better, and then finally scale uh this as far across the city as we can. Really looking to reduce the cost uh of food through bulk purchasing. Really looking at relief for Toronto families. We know that groceries are expensive these days, so really universal programs based on these models will ensure that students have access to food and re and reduce financial burden on families, right? We really want to lower that per item food cost through hubs and make school food programs more sustainable. The other thing we have to do here at the city is look at our own levers and pulleys and our purchasing power and logistics at the city and to see if we can use that as part of the project. We have a commitment to inclusive local economic development. This is hot off the hot on the heels of the report that's coming in April. So really looking at you know support for community based food systems including workforce development and support for small businesses and entrepreneurs is a key pillar of this project. You know we want to access locally uh sourced foods and we really want to integrate and advance inclusive economic development as part of this project. So it really validates our approach and this win is very exciting for the city. We want to innovate how we purchase and deliver food and we don't want to just feed children. We want to strengthen our community and fuel our local economy. So if you have any questions, you can always ask me or my colleague in social development, Brandy Halen. But thank you, mayor, and we look forward to the project. Thank you. Thank you for your good work. It's a prestigious award and uh yeah, getting $1.4 million and doing both purchasing, creating local jobs, and feeding kids. Can't ask for more. So keep up the good work. and uh uh and and the partnership with second har so pardon me the north York office uh it's it's very precious so uh any questions seeing none um let us adopt the recommendations in fact yeah uh councelor bravo second thank you uh uh mayor I just wanted to take one little second to say how important this win is um being able to put forward forward such an innovative project that speaks to dealing with the social determinance of health. Um, every dollar spent invested in a child's future saves many, many dollars down the road. It's just scientific proven. Um, and we were so far behind in Canada. This idea of school nutrition really originates in Toronto. It's a a movement that's taken decades to build up. I'm just so pleased to be a counselor today. Um to be sitting at this table. The first time I came to city hall to do a deputation. Um more than 25 years ago, uh the mayor was at the time was championing uh this program. We wanted it expanded to secondary schools. Um and to see it become universal is really something that I think we should be very happy about. The circular economy elements are really crucial here because every dollar that's being invested is actually recirculating in local economies. So this is an opportunity not just to feed a child but to make sure that that child's family, the parents have access to other opportunities and the workforce pathways that are going to be created here. The fact that a dollar uh uh spent here is going to keep circulating and amplifying and um means that we're actually uh sharing in the profits of of our activity, our economic activity. And uh this is what uh Bloomberg has recognized. And I I want to emphasize that when you talk to other cities globally about what Toronto does, we are so far ahead in so many ways. And today I think we should all feel proud proud of this uh public service and the work that was done and and proud of the leadership demonstrated here. Thank you, Mayor. Uh Malik, thank you. Um, I just want to echo um the congratulations to the mayor and the city staff who have worked uh to bring this initiative forward and um as councelor Bravo said, this has been um the outcome also of advocates over many years and from one end of this city to the other and this is a credit to your incredible work as well. Um, as we have been working to make this program universal, we know that there are so many programs that are happening in our neighborhoods and our communities um to ensure that no child, no teenager goes to school hungry. And that is so important as we, you know, continue to see this program uh recognized. We know that it's one of the best things that we can do in Toronto, not just for students, but as was said, for communities, for families, for the types of neighborhoods that we want to see. It's also one of the best things we can do to continue to work towards a city that is as affordable as it can be. Lifting one thing off of the the shoulders of families and with investments. I really want to emphasize in the bulk buying program is a gamecher. We are also making it more affordable for the city to deliver and invest in our local suppliers which is so important in this moment when we talk about shopping local and buying Canadian. This is us as a city demonstrating the leadership and how that's done. Investing in our own food systems, in our own food and agriculture businesses. It's another key opportunity to strengthen our local economy to make it more resilient and to ensure that we are creating also good, decent work in our communities across Toronto. And this is the type of work that we're here for, the one that makes lives better for Torononians. And as always, as always, we invite other levels of government to be alongside us to keep building out this program with us. uh let's keep that work together. Let's keep expanding the program for all uh it can it can do and to make sure that we are nourishing uh the youngest people in our communities um in every way possible. Thank you. Okay, thank you for that councelor Fletcher and I'll come just second councelor Shen first I'll um visit her. Oh. Oh, of course. Pardon me. Councelor Fletcher, thank you. Uh, I am very, very excited about this. I will just tell a little story that when I was a school trustee and Bruce school was going to close, I worked with a certain MP that you would know very well, mayor happened to be your late husband, Jack Leighton, uh, and someone who else you know very well, Valerie Ma, who was the principal. That school had a breakfast and a lunch and a snack program and it was determined to be closed down by the new Toronto District School Board. That was one of the reasons for low-income kids, the neighborhood full of low-income kids that we managed to keep the school going because of that kind of service. And it was very um rewarding to be able to do that. And watching kids be able to come to school and not worry about being hungry is probably one of the most important things that we can do because you do worry if you're hungry. You feel the grumbling. You feel that your head isn't quite clear and then wow, you have something to eat. So, thank you very much for making sure every child has what the kids in Bruce School have. And I'm so happy we fought that good fight back in 2002. I'll also say that there's uh that there's thousands when we have to thank the thousands of mostly women parents who worked in every school to prepare that food to make sure kids had food. It wasn't flown in like when you're on the airplane already done. there were it was building a community and if you couldn't pay for it you made a little donation but generally it was free to your kids so there are so many people on whose shoulders we're standing this morning but it was a program I know mayor you started when you were the children's advocate you were such an advocate for food and here today you've come full circle so I do want to congratulate you as well for never letting this drop off your radar for one second. And those parents are volunteers. Yes, they are volunteers. Yes, I'll be volunteers. Yeah. Thank you. Um, council Shan, thank you. Um, yeah, I want to begin by congratulating the staff as well as the mayor on receiving this award and and the kind of continuous push to have this program. as a as a former educator and a TDSV chair um you know I see the direct benefit I've been seeing it uh in schools and this expansion has given a lot of hope uh my colleagues have talked quite a bit about the benefits of the program so I won't uh I won't go further on that but I just want to say it's some of the things that this particular proposal is uh starting to tackle is important because universal programs are only effective if some of the local challenges are addressed and scar bro the local challenges include storage includes uh transportation, workforce development and bulk buying. And I think these four challenges as if you talk to any any of our schools that are offering the program or wanting to offer would have identified as key challenges. So as we embark on this universal uh uh food nutrition and nutrition program uh tackling some of the structural challenges that exist in regions like Scar Bro uh is critical. So, I'm glad to see that being a major part of this grant because asetime grants, capacity building becomes pretty critical. So, thank you very much for that. Appreciate it. Thank you. Um, Deputy Mayor Molly, as a kid who has benefited from school food programs uh over the years, I just want to echo uh the really I think important words of my colleagues and congratulations both to city staff uh and the mayor for the leadership. This is a really important way that we in government can level the playing field for our residents to be successful and particularly our young people who we owe a lot to. So, uh really really proud and privileged to be on this council as this great work is moved forward. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Thank you. Any other speaker? No. Um thank you for your hard work and all those in favor of the adoption of the recommendation post. Thank you. Uh, next item only have one speaker. Uh, Portland's flood protection. So, what I'm going to do is there are items that are fast. It's just one or two speaker. I'm going to knock all of them off. Uh, item three has about 30 speakers. So, okay. So, I I'll do my best to get things moving as quickly as I can. Uh, broke coatworf. This is about protecting flatland. Um in the uh hi, good morning. Oh, there you are. Go ahead. Wait. Thank you very much. Uh I'd first like to reflect and remember that every word spoken in this chamber, every light bulb, every salary paid, including those of city councilors, is funded almost entirely by the hard work and earnings of taxpayers and property owners. Nearly all the city's $18.9 billion budget comes directly from them. We acknowledge that while taxpayers and property owners have endured an almost 20% increase in the last three years, only a small and insulated group decides how much of their income is expropriated to sustain a burgeoning municipal bureaucracy that continues to grow regardless of outcomes and results. We pay respect to those taxpayers because without them, this institution could not indulge in ideological excesses like greening streets and public squares, painting roads with inferior and environmentally damaging red paint, nor fund harm reduction programs that result in a steady stream of drug paraphernalia littering our streets, sidewalks, parks, and playgrounds. Are you speaking on the very first one or the second one? I'm just doing a land uh sorry, a taxpayer acknowledgement. I think this allows for a muchicular speaking to the right item. I didn't make a mistake. Right. It's item two. That's correct. Yeah. I I just want to do my taxpayer acknowledgement. Um this allows for a much more circular and inclusive approach to city governing. Thank you. Uh we pay respect to those taxpayers because without them this institution uh I've done that. We'll skip that part. In the spirit of acknowledgement and with an eye to the future, we recognize the Toronto taxpayer and rever their tolerance for being taxed. Members of executive committee, thank you. The Portland's flood protection project is an impressive engineering accomplishment. It protects neighborhoods, restores the mouth of the Dawn River, and opens new land for development, but it also creates a long-term responsibility to protect the ecosystem we have just rebuilt. The report notes the city will now undertake an ongoing dredging program to remove sediment from the Lower Dawn and the Keating Channel, expected to cost roughly 12 to$15 million annually once the current backlog is cleared. My first question for the executive committee today relates to the public private nature of the portlands. Major industrial operators remain active in the area, including aggregate and cement facilities that handle and process large volumes of material. Those operations generate particulate matter and dust that ultimately settles across the Portland's landscape into the same waterways the city will now dredge indefinitely. What environmentally accountable or contribution is being required from private industrial operators in the Portlands as part of the city's long-term sediment management strategy? My second question relates to the ecological corridor created by the naturalization of the Dawn's mouth. One of the goals of this project was to restore habitat and reconnect the river to Lake Ontario. Salmon return to Toronto's rivers each year to spawn and the new river system has attracted a number of both wildlife and recre recreational anglers. What coordination exists between the city and the Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority and the province to enforce fishing licensed requirements and protect the restored habitat during spawning season. The city has invested more than a billion dollars in rebuilding this river system. Ensuring that both industrial impacts and human activity are properly managed will be essential to protecting that investment over the long term. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um does uh any have any question? Yeah. Sorry. Where where does that sediment come from that's being dredged? I believe you must be Paul Machuzi. Is that correct? Are you Mr. Makuzi? Um, no. I'm Mr. Coatsworth. Oh, okay. I don't see your name on the speakers list, so that's fine. I'm the only person on the speaker list. Paul Coswer. Paul Coatsworth. I'm just looking at what was there before. So, my apologies, Mr. Coorth. Hey, seeing no other questions. Yeah, the question. No, the question. The sediment that you're speaking about. Do you have any idea where it's coming from? Uh, the Lafarge facility. Pardon me. The LFarge facility. Oh, really? as well as the other industrial. Is it not coming from the Dawn River? Is it not coming down the Dawn River? Is that where the sediment has always come from? I understand that's where it comes from. And so the concrete that's in the air, you don't believe settles into the Dawn River at all? Well, uh, no, I'm not I'm not answering your questions. I'm just determining that for all of the, uh, Toronto Regional Conservation studies, for all the sediment studies, sediment has come out of here for uh, dozens and decades. And that sediment is coming from the Dawn River. I just want I want want to make sure you're aware of that. It's not I'm very aware of it, Paula. Thank you. Very aware of that. I am. Yes. I've lived in your ward for my entire life. Um I'm very aware of the settlement that's been in the Dawn and I'm very aware of the amount of water that the city spends on a daily basis in order to clean the new park that you cut the ribbon at last year. Um, it's ridiculous how much money you guys are spending to clean up concrete sediment and particulates in that park. I wish the river would get cleaned up as well. Well, the fact is it's actually sediment from the Dawn River that's been dredged for years and years and years and is continuing to be dredged. So, just to set the record straight for you that is that the same sediment on the roadways and the uh infrastructure is a name I recognize. So, it's very nice to meet you. Thank you so much, Paul. It's Brooke, actually. Thank you very much, Paul. Thank you very much, Brooke. All right. Um, thank you. Any other questions to the deputent? If not, uh, councelor Fletcher, would you like to speak, um, speak to uh, okay, pardon me, Deputy Mayor Osma Malik wants to speak to this item? Um, thank you very much. Um, I want to just start by thanking staff for this update. Um, this is um, a pretty incredible milestone. The Portland's, uh, flood protection project, uh, reaching its substantial completion is a generational achievement. And when we look at what has been accomplished as part of this project, it is and should be all inspiring uh, for the the depth and breadth. This is a project um that is incredible for Toronto uh and decades in the making, but also one that is being looked at as an example uh from jurisdictions across the globe. And over the last 20 years, we have seen the results when governments come together to invest in our waterfront. And this is one incredible example what can be achieved when we support an agency like Waterfront Toronto that gives leadership and focus to that revitalization. Uh we are in good hands. And I want to really give um a particular congratulations to councelor Fletcher for the years and years of work that has gone into this and being a champion of the Portlands. Um this work is yours and to the incredible community uh you know neighbors coming together seeing the potential of what was here. Um a a big shout out to the task task force to bring back the dawn whose work and commitment and persistence and innovative thinking over decades has also uh resulted in this tremendous project. I also in thanking city staff who have been working on this project. I do want to give uh specific congratulations to David Stonehouse uh our de um who has been working and giving leadership to this project for as many years as it has been coming together um and who is retiring at the end of this month um and to ensure that we are able to share with you what an incredible legacy this project is and thank you for your leadership in in seeing it through. Um, and finally, as the mayor's designate to Waterfront Toronto, I want to keep working on what it takes to not just achieve big projects like this, to continue to improve, to refine them, to continue to hold them up as an incredible example of what we do uh in Toronto and what we do together. I also want to thank uh finally uh all of council for continuing to advance the interest in this project and showing uh what can be done to make our waterfront a place that all of us can enjoy. Thank you. Um before other counselors, I just want to uh do a special shout out to uh David Stonehouse. We will miss you. The knowledge you have, the institutional wisdom that you have and knowledge you have on the waterfront is phenomenal. uh from every part of the waterfront and the work you've done uh from the bring back the dawn task force with my late husband Jack Leon and a huge number of the David Wilsons of this world all the uh uh the private citizens that have joined in and put in several decades of their life in together getting the Dawn River flowing into Lake Ontario. once again cleaning it up, building the bedy park and my god it is uh it's the work that you and the all the citizens out there have done is celebrated worldwide. We will miss you a great deal. But like all good leaders, I am sure you've done good succession planning. But don't be surprised that we might in your retirement occasionally call you say oh my god we need your help. So just saying uh as we face different challenges in the waterfront as you might know. Uh so thank you for your good work uh and uh especially uh all the the willingness to work in partnership with the public and harnessing the energy both from the elected folks and of course the city staff and the public to make the waterfront the beautiful place it is that it's also becoming. Um so just bottom of my heart. Thank you for your work because I've seen it through several decades. Thank you, U. Councelor Fletcher. Thank you. This really is uh a report on the second stage and uh of the waterfront, but this is the Portland's flood protection. It's not just something we decided to do. It's something that was a very important project. It was an environmental assessment took many years in order to flood protect the eastern part of the city. Corktown common and west lands was protected earlier. This is protecting the east. Nothing can be developed on our waterfront without flood protection because you can't build so many wonderful things and then have it all inundated with floods. And if you've ever seen the Dawn River and those of us who are counselors on rivers like you, Councelor Morley and myself, you know what happens. And sorry, Councelor Perks, you too. uh you just know what happens when the Humber swells and overflows or the Dawn River swells and overflows. So it this is for the future. It is a project for the future. It is an amazing project. And by the way, it is taxpayers from all three levels of government that have paid for this one-third one-third one-third. Our one-third was in very early. It was in our budget in 2013. the other levels put it in in 2017. I have been very honored and it's been my deep pleasure to be able to start with the environmental assessment here all the way through to seeing this river built and seeing the amazing restoration of the wetlands. We're restoring something that was there before. These industrial lands were brand new. The port was filled in its landfill. When you go and you start digging up the things you find because it was landfill, it's being restored as the natural habitat. And I think we're so respectful in restoring it. We've restored it. It's Bidasque Park. It's the black cherry tree island. Black cherry trees are there. And it goes back to what it was originally. I think we've often talked about when it was being dug up, seeds that were dormant for a hundred or more years were found that were native species that are now growing along that riverbank. It's probably one of the most exciting projects ever and it was the biggest civil works in the whole country. So, I wouldn't want to leave a bad taste in anybody's mouth. All of that silt was coming down the Dawn River getting stuck at the Keading Channel, which if you've ever been there was a hard 90 degree angle. Water never goes on a 90° angle. It was in tuned in a dock wall and tin. But that sediment is coming from all the way very far vaugh other places and gathers there and must be removed and it's taken to the Lesley Streets bit which is also a landfill. We have two beautiful natural areas on our waterfront which are both starting with landfill and have been reclaimed. I will just want to say that uh as we've said about Davis Stonehouse starting with Bring Back the Dawn which was a tremendous citizen group with John Wilson, John Su, David Stonehouse and it actually had a status here at the city of Toronto. It was a city committee bring back the dawn. It was tanked in 2010 when the then mayor Ford removed all of these kinds of citizen committees from our agenda. It would be great to go back to those days where citizens had such a big role in developing policy and projects, but uh that's a for the for the future because we don't have it yet. And then David, you went to Evergreen. You then went onto the river in a different place up at Evergreen and then you moved down the river to the waterfront where you have really given us tremendous leadership on the developing of our waterfront which tonight we're going to be having a a uh from plan to reality at Jimmy Simpson Community Center showing the work that the city has done over decades here to realize the dream of a developed waterfront. How are we doing that? And over a thousand people have signed up to come to this. There is tremendous interest in this project from across the city and nothing makes Torononians prouder than seeing us develop this undeveloped gem. So, it is an exciting moment tonight. It's great we have this today here. And I join with thanking you, David, and everybody else who's made this a possibility. The funders, the city, the province, and the federal government all stand proud for this incredible, incredible project. Thank you. Thank you, uh, Deputy Mayor Angley. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Um, I just like to thank staff, uh, our city staff, our waterfront staff for all of the amazing work they've been doing as a board member of the Toronto Region and Conservation Authority. I'd like to thank all the TRCA staff for the work they do. Uh, Madame Mayor and Councelor Fletcher will be very happy to hear this. Uh, last week I was in Washington DC as a city representative on the Great Lakes St. city initiative and we met with a number of uh members of Congress, members of Senate. Uh one of the things that we were advocating for um on the American side of the border, they have a Great Lakes restoration initiative, which is money that their waterfront cities receive um from the federal government and they're continuously each year advocating for it. Uh President Trump is not a big fan of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. He actually seems to think it's a waste of money. uh when I was meeting with uh members of Congress and Senate and they were looking at me and saying, "Well, you know, deputy mayor, what's Toronto doing?" And I was able to talk about our waterfront uh the billions of dollars that we're spending. The tagline that I more often use, I said, you know, the environment doesn't recognize the international border uh that goes across the middle of our Great Lakes. What happens on one side of the Great Lakes, the Canadian side or American or vice versa, deeply impacts the other side of the Great Lakes. And so, uh, a number of mayors, the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, actually, uh, was here last summer. He was telling me he spent a lot of time walking up and down and along our waterfront. He exp he was in the Rouge National Urban Park. He was out at the Humber, walked along our waterfront, seeing everything that we were doing, uh, looking at the amazing work at the mouth of the dawn. So, you know, the work we're doing is internationally recognized here, improving the quality of the Great Lakes. Uh the other thing I was able to speak about our harbors uh designated an area of concern. It's had that designation for decades. Uh we're on the cusp of having that removed. Um so I think it really recognize recognizes all of the amazing work our staff here in the conservation authority are doing and recognizing councelor Fletcher's advocacy as well. So thank you very much. Thank you. Any other speaker? If not, uh, councelor Fletcher is in your ward. You have moved happily to do that. Yes. Uh, the recommendations. All those in favor and adoption post carry. Thank you. Um, next item. Let's do it quite quickly. Uh, pot sorry host. Uh, Daniel Tate and Paul uh machi but uh Daniel you take to start there's only one speaker no uh you here or Paul Machuski they're not here um Paul host um councelor Fletcher do you It's uh or this it's seeing no other speaker. You have a motion. Okay. Deputy Mayor Angley has questions. Ah okay. Pardon me. Councelor Morley. Question to staff. Thanks Madame uh Mayor. Uh just a few quick questions of staff. I'll try to keep it brief. Um but I know this is an issue impacting all of us in Toronto at the moment. Um and uh just wanted to get some clarification on the record. Uh, how many additional roads were added to the repaving list under the fixing roads faster program approved last summer and how many were completed in 2025 through the through you madame mayor. Um, thank you for the question councelor. Um I don't have the exact number for that one with me but my recollection is it was it was around about 18 kilometers that we added and we completed all of them last year. They were all completed. Okay. They were. Thank you. Um the pothole reports uh from our understanding have increased from about 1,400 in February last year 2025 to 6,839 in February of this year citywide. Um what factors are driving this significant increase through the chair? Uh it well it's a factor of a number of things. Primarily it's a change in temperature during the day and evening. So during the day the temperatures warm and we see melting conditions or rain and overnight uh th those wet roads freeze. That water gets through cracks and as it freezes it turns into ice and expands. And when vehicles drive over that expanded or lifted ashalt, that's what causes the break. And with successive driving over that, it creates a larger pothole. So essentially the significant extreme weather in terms of cold and snowfall this year has been dramatically different than last year and that's largely adding or contributing correct to the chair. That's correct. Okay. Thank you. Uh to what ex Well, we just talked about that. Um, and then what steps is the city taking to ensure road repairs are more resilient to severe weather and that winter maintenance practices like salts uh and winter equipment are not contributing to our road deterioration uh through the chair. So yeah, we have a a salt management plan that we use as part of our winter operation and and basically what that is is we apply salt. We use a controller within the salting vehicle itself and we spread salt according to the conditions and the type of road. So rather than the previous day where it was just full spreading, we can now monitor the amount of salt that we apply. Uh how we store our salt is is uh an improvement over historical years. We contain it. Um we prevent uh leeching as best we can. Um and then this goes with our our sidewalk treatment as well. We we only tried to use salt when absolutely necessary. Um unfortunately this past winter, as everybody knows, it was extreme. Um and we we did need to use more salt than we would in a normal winter. Um unfortunately. Okay, I'll leave it there. Thanks, Madame Mayor. Uh Deputy Mayor Angley. Uh thank you through through your mayor. Um I just want to follow up on questions we had yesterday at general government committee about minimum maintenance standards and um the concern I had was I um so if there's a pothole uh it gets reported to 311 transportation staff will go out mark it u put a cone on it and then somebody else goes out eventually and fills the pothole. Um, and this ties into the minimum maintenance standards, and I would like to understand further how we give input to the province on minimum maintenance standards if they're not meeting the goals and objectives for pilling filling potholes and road repair through the through the chair. I I can uh speak briefly to that that um as was mentioned yesterday, we are members of the Ontario Good Roads Association. We have membership uh and directors on on that committee. Uh we do bring items through for a review. Um not just from a city of Toronto perspective, but when they're reviewing the minimum maintenance standards, it it is done from a provincial lens, but that's not to say that we can't bring um recommendations or areas to be investigated. Okay. But do we do we proactively reach out to the province and say, you know, based on data we have from 311, these are the the potholes or the road issues we have. This is how long it's taking to do. It's meeting it's following the minimum maintenance standards, which is minimum. Is is it time to review this? We're asking you to review this and change the standards instead of just going through good roads. So through the chair, I'm not aware that we've specifically reached out on in in that respect. What we do do as staff though is we we uh follow the council approved service response standards for pothole filling both for um emergency repairs for larger potholes, but then our our time period for normal ones. If council so wished us to reach out um to the province around the minimum maintenance standards, we're more than happy to do that. What I would flag is obviously that will have staffing and cost implications if we do move our service response standards to respond in a different way. Okay. And just for as a basic example, so if my car hits a pothole, so the way that I understand how it works now is that if my car I hit a pothole, I make a submission at 311. I get a service request order number. Somebody from the transportation department will go out and paint an orange circle around a pothole or put a cone on the pothole until another crew comes out and actually fills the pothole. Is that correct? So through the chair, it would depend on the size of the pothole. So we aim to when we go out and initially inspect the pothole, our staff do do carry um cold mix ashfelt with them. So, if they're able to uh repair the pothole, then we would expect them to do that, and that's what they would do. If the pothole is larger, that would be when they would mark it up um and then uh put a cone there and then arrange for a crew with a hot mix truck to come back and deal with that pothole. Okay. And is that that process that we just agreed happens, is that a city directed process or is that the minimum maintenance standard the province directs? uh through the chair. That's our city standard. That's the way we deal with them at the city. Okay. And then further to that, my understanding is that I report that pothole using that process and then councelor Morley comes out to my ward to visit me and hits that pothole with an orange circle around it. Uh oh. and that our claims our claims our claims adjuster will deny councelor Morley's insurance claim because I've already reported that pothole and it's been marked with an orange circle. Correct. Through the chair. Um that would be a question that you would need to direct to our insurance people. Um I can't comment on the way that the city deals with the claims that arise from potholes. What I can comment on is how we as a city deal with those potholes. Okay. Well, I can say rhetorically that if councelor Morley had that situation, she would have her claim denied. Thank you. Appreciate it. That's all I have to say, Madame Mayor. Okay. Uh Council Fletcher, and then we Yeah. I just have a motion. Thank you. But I I want to know that uh percentage-wise the number of potholes that we have, how does that compare to Markham to Richmond Hill to uh Missaga? Do we do you have any way to count that outside of the good roads or is there some way you can bring that information or maybe that's through the somehow through our city manager where they're meeting. There do seem to be an inordinate number of Toronto potholes uh through the chair. I don't specifically have those numbers, but we can certainly reach I can reach out to my counterparts at those organizations and get those to compare them. I do what the information I do have is the Toronto year-over-year change. Sorry, it's hard to hear you. Could you repeat that, please? Sorry, counselor. Is that better? Um, I said I can reach I'm more than happy to I don't have those numbers to hand, but I'm more than happy to reach out to my counterparts at those um municipalities to obtain those numbers. What I do have is numbers for Toronto year over year. Yes, if we have them for Toronto year over year, I think it would be very uh interesting to see if Missaga, they have the same weather weather conditions that we have, I believe, um and the other surrounding GTA cities have the same percentage of pothole problems that we have. Would you be able to have that for council uh through the chair? Happy to do that. What I would just flag is it wouldn't be pothole numbers. It would be the number of potholes that get repaired. We can obviously obtain from those municipalities the number of service requests relating to potholes which might be an indicator of the number of potholes there are. So then there's nobody or we're we're waiting for service requests. In other words, you're waiting for this public to tell you that there's a pothole. Is that how it works? Uh through the chair. No, that's that's not how it works. We proactively monitor the ride of way and um consistently fill significantly more potholes than are reported through 311. For example, last year in 2025 there were 11,300 potholes reported through 311 across the whole city, but we filled 257 and a half thousand potholes. So that would be helpful then to know the number that were filled in other places, the reporting and just the pavement standards. Who looks at those pavement standards or the patterns? So you might find that in a certain part of the city or certain roads are more susceptible to potholes. Do you do that kind of work the standard of paving through through the chair? Abs. Absolutely. both through our um asset management team who monitor the conditions of the roadways and identify roads which uh need both resurfacing and reconstruction uh but then also through uh both the 311 service of Quest on our own patrols. We also heat map where we're where we're having those pothole issues so that we can target specific blitzes in those areas. Would you have something to say, well, here's an area that was excontractor and there seem to be 20% more potholes in that area than there are in other areas. Do you do that level of fine detail or can you through the chair? I'm not sure that we'd have information around the specific contractor that was responsible for for constructing that road, but we can certainly heat map where we we can certainly heat map road condition and then overlay that with um pothole service requests as well. You do hear that I'm just looking at standards for contractors that they're at the top grade rather than a quick grade. Correct. Is there some way of of monitoring that uh through the chair? Um I'm not sure there's some quick way of doing that. We do obviously monitor contractor performance when they deliver though when they deliver infrastructure for us. Yes. Um it's a bit more tricky to map it over the whole city because obviously the city roads have developed over a period of 100 or so years. We're going to map a contractor and then if those roads tend to be the ones where you have one of the 250,000 potholes, a large number of them, do you ever match those things up? I'm I'm very interested in this just standards for contractors in roads. Probably your last question. Yep. Through the chair. So we don't we I'm not sure we specifically have that information, but we do as part of each contract that's been performed for us do ashfelt quality testing. So we do know the quality of the ashfeld that's being laid and then we do warranty assessments as well. All right. Thank you so much. Okay. Um questions or Yeah. Uh thank you through you ma mayor. What percentage of work would you think um is 311 initiated and what is proactive you you mentioned proactive monitoring um that gets done and and do you have um just following up from councelor Fletcher's question around GTA I would also be more interested in seeing what the distribution of work is within the different uh parts of the city particularly scar bro so through the chair yeah we I certainly have all service request spoken down by specific wards um for the past three years. So I I can certainly provide that information. Um in the absence of doing some quick math, as I said, the 2025 number was 11,325 service requests for potholes and then we filled 257,000. So I don't know, it's maybe 80 85% that we identify ourselves and then maybe 15% or so which comes from the public. Okay. So, do we and and and you mentioned just to confirm that you mentioned that you tracking what which of the streets avenues might be consistently uh having multiple requests to proactively monitor uh as part of the work because one of my concerns is that 311 calls we know through previous reports uh are disproportionately uh lower in certain regions of the city. uh that doesn't really necessarily mean the potholes are disproportionately smaller. Yep. Through the chair. Yes. Thank you, councelor. Thank you for flagging that. And that's one of the reasons is so in terms of our identification of potholes, we we identify those through both um through both our proactive patrols through 311 service requests, but then when we're identifying where we're going to do pothole blites, we also apply an equity lens as well. We recognize that some parts of the community are far more inclined to call in their potholes or general city issues and other areas aren't. So we do apply an equity lens to all of our pothole and and mo repair work as well. Okay. I would be interested in maybe getting a followup afterwards around what that equity lens looks like as well. Um happy to do that counselor. Thank you. And and in terms of uh in terms of the repair work uh being done um is there a way for um it might already exist uh just like snow plowing uh a real time kind of a thing. Is there a ways to see uh what is being completed not simultaneously I know it takes a lot of data but at least in a in a reg on a regular basis for some of the regions to see what's being completed. uh through the chair. Um we don't currently do that on a on a daily basis. We do log the number of potholes we fill on a daily basis, for example. And yesterday, I think we did just over 3,000. Um but but we don't heat map that at the moment, but but we certainly can do. It's certainly something that we'd like to move towards in the same way as we do with with winter. We proactively map everything that we're doing. Yeah. Thank you. Uh it could even be uh uh by the size and by the amount of work that's done on some of those potholes. Not every single pothole, but maybe the the larger ones. So it would be appreciated if there's a process that could be done. Thank you. Appreciate it. Okay. Um to the deputants that here on the uh Queens Park. Yeah. I'm going to do the next item. Yours. Okay. Um just uh pardon me. I I thought the the item was fast, but it obviously is not. How many other speakers are there in terms of uh councelor Fletcher speaking to the item? And councelor Angley has a motion and I would now take the the next item. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. Council Niada, go ahead. You have a question for the staff. Last question because I was listening to it. So, just to staff as far as the communication on potholes, um other than uh residents contacting 311, which a lot of residents don't do, um I know that I put that in my weekly newsletter to have them contact 311 or my office. Um do we do are we engaged? Do we drive out do we have staff driving out to the main streets, residential streets, and looking for potholes or do we wait until a complaint comes in? uh through the chair. Yes, we have staff proactively. We have maintenance patrollers who are proactively out there on the streets every day. Okay. So, you identified them. So, we don't we don't wait until someone actually complains and then puts in a claim that we we're very proactive in that way. We're very proactive and as I explained, we we maybe over 80% 80 to 85% of of all potholes we've identified as opposed to coming through service. Oh, if somebody reports a pothole, um how long does it take for it staff to repair that p uh that pothole through the chair? So, it it depends on the roadway type. Um and then it also depends on if it was classified as a priority one. So, if it's a big pothole or if it's a normalsiz pothole. Um so, if for for roadways if it's a priority one, then we would repair that within 24 hours. So if it's a large pothole, a large pothole would be um something that's larger than a shoe box. Um and if it's a priority two, then we have 14 with we would repair that within 14 days. Okay. Thank you. That's it for my question. Okay. Uh speak councelor Fletcher two speaker and then we should uh move into I'll go very f Thank you. I'll go very fast. I did ask my constituents for potholes. uh my eblast and I'm happy Mr. Curtis I'll be showing you those some big some small. I think there's a number of them that are along TTC tracks and along street car tracks and I would probably assume those are more dangerous than something else because they will affect the the um integrity of the tracks. And I will say to you, councelor Shan, that when you have a brand new road, I have driven in your neighborhood, it's new. There are not a lot of utility cuts there. So utility cuts of which I've had 11,000 just on seven or eight roads. Bell, Rogers, Enbridge, water, hydro, you can imagine constantly patching that. I believe those roads actually now are h have less integrity than a road that has been properly done in a subdivision. So, I know there's potholes everywhere, but I'm going to now say that I want to look at what happens with utility cuts and uh because the utilities have all been put in before the road has gone in in some areas and new subdivisions, it's now being dug up to go in and increase the sewer size, do all of those things in the old parts of the city. So, I do think that that adds to pothole problems. And it is a real problem to have, as Mr. Curtis called them, shoe box potholes. And I started noticing one. Well, there's one right out on Dundas between Mutual and Jarvis. If you wanted to go and get that one started right now. It's not just a shoe box. It's probably a Amazon delivery box. It's very, very big. So, uh, this is good that we're focusing on this. and mayor, thank you for putting this on this agenda because it's something that really when when spring comes, people really notice it. It has been a particularly difficult winter. Let's see what's happening. But I also want to make sure that Missaga doesn't have if they don't have as many potholes and Markham doesn't have as many potholes and this one doesn't have as many potholes, why do we have so many potholes? That's a question that I think we need to answer for ourselves and for our residents. Thank you. Thank you, Coun. Uh, Deputy Mayor Inley, you have a motion. I do. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh, so I'd like to move a motion that city council requests the general manager, transportation services, and the other any other required divisions to accelerate the chatbot and AI integration pilot currently underway with the city's 311 platform in order to support council's request for an ongoing datadriven pothole blitz strategy. And just uh for some background, Madame Mayor, so this item sets the direction. It follows the urgency in the item that you've brought forward for us today. Uh I'm moving this motion build directly on the work that simply asks that we use a technology the city already has access to the AI and the 311 integration pilot with Microsoft and Salesforce to help transportation services prioritize pothole repairs in real time. This delivers datadriven pothole priorit prioritization that this item requires. This is a natural step to operation operationalize your strategy which calls for a continuous pothole blitz model, improved prioritization and better real-time information for operational planning. To make this possible, we need a tool that can generate continuous datadriven priorities, not just seasonal reports or manual mapping. This motion ensures we ensures we use the existing AI pilot with our 311 system to provide capability immediately. It directs staff to accelerate the chatbot AI integration pilot currently underway with Salesforce which are ex is our existing 311 platform and system of record and Microsoft Canada which is our analytics and AI vendor. So I just want to be clear there's no new no new procurement for this. Uh there's no new system and it's a faster deployment of our pilot program pilot program that's already in progress. Uh transportation services staff have confirmed with me if they have the appropriate access to this system that they can set up an AI based pothole prioritization system within a week. Oh well done. Okay. Thank you. That's good. Um any other speaker? No. All those in favor council deputy mayor Anginsley motion post carry. Thank you and the adoption of the recommendation in front of you. All those in favor opposed carry. Thank you. Uh item three, update on the Western Foundation donation for Queens Park North Revitalization. Uh earlier on I thought there's items I could quickly deal with, but that didn't turn out that way. Apologies. Um, so councelor Sex, thank you for coming and joining us in your ward. I have a list of speakers starting from Joseph Lawson. Are you here, Joseph? Ah, have a seat. Thank you. Good morning to you. You have five minutes. Yep. Uh, you may need to press that button in front of you. Press it screen. Okay, here we are. Good. Thank you. I just want to say it's a great pleasure and an honor to be able to come here and say a few words. Um I'm a financial analyst and an accountant and I've lived in the area here beside the park for over 20 years. I was involved in a previous round of consultations when the park underwent its previous redevelopment. That was about 2019. I think I would at that point I'd um raised the issue of the festivals that took place in the park previous years that there was a lot of destruction and the park got run down and it was very nice to have the park redeveloped at that point in time. My I guess my criticism of the plan then as it is now is that the landscape architects and the people behind it have come up with a lot of different concepts, different ideas and so on to put on a space that is somewhat limited. And my argument would be that sometimes less can be can be can be more. Sometimes it can be beneficial to put less stuff on a on a limited limited area because certain things that can look perhaps look good on paper when you sit down and you're actually sitting in the middle of it. The more geometric man-made objects you have sitting in the middle of it, it can become distracting and it takes away from that sort of relaxing feel that you get when you're sitting out in nature. At the time of the redevelopment, I guess the city did a historical impact study. I went and did my own and I gathered up a lot of documents and pictures and so on from historical Toronto. It was interesting to see that the original plan was set out on what they called a picturesque concept which is similar to what they had in Britain. If you look at Blenheim for example is one example of a picturesque where the architectural concept uses sort of curving lines to create a more natural you can get kind of a geometrically um geometrically somewhat distorted. It creates a concept of being in nature. You can make a small area look bigger than it really is. And when you come in with a lot of very hard lines, it changes the perspective completely. Now, in around 2019, the landscape architects were very determined to come in and put what they called a mall, a linear boulevard down the middle of the park from the senotap down to the King Edward statue. And that boulevard provided certain benefits. It creates a very elegant look to it, but it also somewhat took away from the natural view of the park. So my argument would be please be careful in terms of the number of things that you want to impose on it. I argue that at some point you reach a point where the the area becomes optimized and to continue to put more and more and more things on it can potentially detract. I mean, it depends on what your view of what your view of a of a park is. As far as I can see, $50 million is a lot of money. That's a lot of money. I would argue that it might there's an argument for perhaps doing less with a little bit less money. Maybe taking some of the 50 million and putting it towards other worthwhile projects like developing homeless shelters for many people in the city who are without without um homes and so on. Um, other aspect I would like to just bring up is the Queen's Park was dedicated to Queen Victoria and it reflects Canada and Ontario and Toronto's connection to the home country England to the British Empire and reflects some of the historical benefits that we got from that relationship. Although colonialism is perhaps not much in as much in fashion as it used to be. Uh we derive a lot of benefits in this country from our historical relationship with England. Some of the interesting facts I would just like to re review without taking up too much time. When the park was opened, I think it was 1850, no 1860. At that time they the city wanted Queen Victoria to come to open it herself and she couldn't come. And so she sent her 18-year-old son, Albert Edward, to go and open it uh because she couldn't come. He came to Canada. He was here for two months. It was actually the very first royal official royal tour by any member of the royal family, i.e. the monarch or the or the prince of Wales. And Albert Edward who was not perhaps known for being a very stellar academic. This is his first major outing. Did very well because of his intelligence and his socialility. The tour was a huge success. In September, he went over from Windsor over into Detroit, went through the United States. We may and then back to England. Okay. May have to wrap up with five minutes is up. It's interesting history. Okay. It's unfortunate we don't have too much more time. I have to respect the other people who want to speak as well. The point being there's a very important historical connection here. We hear you. You five minutes. is up. The statue, the statue of King Edward, I suggest should probably remain where it is. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Thank you for your time. Oh, pardon me, Councelor Fletcher. Um, while not agreeing with you about that statue, not why not just Well, I don't have to not answering your questions. I'm just letting you know, but I think you're posing two things. One is a restful restbite. Yes. in the middle of the city and the other is an animated park space. Would you agree that's the picture that you painted to start? Well, my argument is it should be retained as a restful space. So, you've painted two different things and you're talking about a restful rest bite. Thank you. I just want to clarify. Thank you and let me know about the other thing. Thank Thank you. Next speaker is Melanie Duket Wilson. Melanie, there's a mic in front of you. Come have a seat. You have five minutes. Hello everyone and through you Madame Mayor uh Chowo thank you for letting me have the opportunity to speak today. I'm going to be speaking along very similar lines um about the respit of Queens Park North. I first sat in Queens Park North as a child and then as an undergraduate at uft and then as a teacher and principal in training and later I watched my own children and my students marvel at the wildlife around the park and play amongst the trees. Today, I still seek its shade and calm between events and the city's bustle. Not once in all of those times did I wish for something that wasn't already there. This park's century old trees and its ancient soil are a living system. They store carbon, absorb storm water, cool surrounding streets, and sustain the biodiversity of the city. Mature trees provide exponentially greater climate benefit than saplings and cannot be replaced on any timelines that match our climate commitments. The soil is just as ancient and is critical to its ecosystem. So disturbing established root zones in one of our most visible green spaces spaces would contradict the very promises Toronto has declared and committed to through transform and its biodiversity strategies. It's supposed to protect and expand natural systems like it's been we've been hearing about today, not build unnecessarily in and on it. This land holds cultural significance for the Anesab, including the Missaga of the Credit and the Chipa, the Hades hot confederacy and the Wendat nations and forms part of, as we've heard, of Ontario's civic heritage. The city's project team clearly has been working hard and appears to recognize that this is not solely a donor-driven vision and that the commercial structures are not wanted by the rights holders or the social associations and environmental groups that I happen to be part of uh and that's clear from the from the recommendations to the report. Moreover, this is a lease land from the U from U of if if we're going to look at it in colonial terms um with that values historic environmental and cultural integrity. It's also to ask it's fair to ask in my opinion as has already been mentioned why other underserved parks or communities like the houseless or the school food programs that we've been talking about this morning that scramble for 1.5 or 4 million when we're talking about 50 million here. um why they're not being considered uh uh for as a priority for this kind of philanthropy. Upgrade concerns could be addressed at Queens Park North through targeted low impact improvements, efficiency lighting, permeable services, native plants, waste diversion, and better tree care, which the plan itself is actually including. These measures strengthen the climate resilience. Regeneration which is used repeatedly in the report means the act of restoring carefully what time or neglect has eroded. It's not it's sorry it's about stewardship not convenience infrastructure primarily designed for modern comfort risks also um altering the very qualities that regeneration is meant to protect. cement washrooms, a cafe, and the infrastructure that comes with that like sewers uh and electrical wiring and cables are not enhancements to the visitor experience in my opinion for the many who have voiced concerns for those who care about climate emergency that we've declared or for the existing biodiversity and ecosystems of this particular area of the city. And this is what future generations need. individual cubicle washrooms on the existing periphery of the concrete around Queens Park could be sufficient if we're looking at convenience upgrades for humans. Queens Park was ser has served the public for over 160 years as it is with uh upgrades a little bit here and there or some rejuvenation here and there as it as was mentioned in 2019 2020. Protecting this space is large in its la natural sorry protecting this space in largely its natural state would show that Toronto understands a simple truth. Some places are valuable precisely because we have the wisdom to leave them be even in the heart of the city. I urge this executive committee and the city to pause for a moment and ensure that rigorous environmental protection, meaningful recognition, a meaningful reconciliation with uh more of more of the urban um indigenous peoples that were invited to um general community group uh meetings, but not specific to themselves. And social equity guide and social equity guide the planning. Queens Park is a living heritage landscape. how it is preserved is of key importance to current and future generations. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions to deput? Council sex. Yeah. Thank you, Melanie. Um, thanks for coming. I I know you've you've been stating your concern uh a number of times. You're aware we can't force the donor to fund something else. That's right. We can always refuse a donation, though. Well, okay. Do you think we should refuse? Are you asking this committee to refuse this donation? I'm asking this committee to go back to the donors and appeal to them to what the majority of of input to the the consultation has suggested. So are in other words, do we have to have the restaurant in the washrooms? That's basically what we're talking about are the big disruptors here. and particularly the size of the restaurant or the cafe that they're calling it as a 3,000 square feet if I'm not mistaken which is quite a significant size to plop right in the middle of Queens Park North. So if it's a choice between having the building with the cafe and the washroom or returning down the donation entirely are you asking us to turn down the donation? Absolutely. Okay. Um do you agree that we need to do more to protect and look after the mature trees in Queens Park? Uh u I think that's a possibility. There are other municipalities that are bringing in natural cap capital uh programs uh where where I am up in Aurora actually they're looking at protecting protecting mature trees and identifying which ones need protection um and classifying them within a particular list so that they can't be disrupted. Uh currently right now for example in Aurora they've identified five to 14 trees this year alone that have spe now have special protection. So that's something that the city could look at. Yes. So, you know, that's something that's in in my my letter, right? That we protect the distinctive trees. Is that something you support? Sorry, say that again. Uh, you noticed in my letter I proposed that we should protect provide extra protection and ensure no harm to the distinctive trees. Is that something you support? Yes, that's correct. I've seen that in the report. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, any other questions? If not, thank you very much. Daniel Tate, Integrity TO is the next speaker. Good morning. Good morning. It's lovely to be back. Let's start my deputation in a good way by acknowledging the hardworking and tired Toronto taxpayers. Without their hard-earned money, this entire institution would crumble. And despite the increasing hardships that they face, they are focused to watch their money fuel an ever growing and inflated city bureaucracy that focuses on ideology and the need to continually make itself larger and larger. While city services become more and more inefficient, we pay homage and acknowledge the Toronto taxpayer and remind ourselves of all they have done for this city. Now, on the topic of the Queens Park North uh project, um Queens Park North is Toronto's oldest municipal park and one of the most historically significant civic spaces in the city. Before approving a proposal that could reshape the park's governance, design, and character for decades, several fundamental questions deserve clear answers. One, who ultimately governs a public park? If Queens Park North will be governed through a triparty structure involving the city of Toronto, the Western Foundation, and the University of Toronto, who ultimately answers to the public when decisions arise regarding programming, maintenance, design, or park use, will the final authority rest with elected officials accountable to Toronto residents or with a governance structure involving private and institutional partners? Two, are we comfortable setting a precedent for donor-driven parks? If a single philanthropic donor provides up to $50 million to reshape a major civic park, does that create a precedent for private influence over public space? Philanthropy can be valuable, but should be the evolution but should the evolution of Toronto's most historic parks be shaped primarily through public planning processes or through projects enabled by the availability of large private donations? What precedent does that set for the future of other public spaces in Toronto? Three, why are procurement rules being relaxed? Why does the proposal request authority for a non-competitive procurement contracts exceeding $500,000 in order to meet donor timelines? Major public projects should follow the strongest standards of transparency and competitive bids, particularly when significant public infrastructure is involved. Should Toronto relax procurement standards simply because a project is tied to philanthropic funding? I would argue no. Four. Should council look Four. Should council lock in a 20-year governance structure? The proposed operating agreement would govern the park for approximately 20 years? Why should city council commit Toronto to a multi-deade governance structure for one of the city's most central civic spaces? Why should city council commit Toronto? What happens if the model provides ineffective or the parties in the governance structure become negligent in their duties? Uh these are all concerning questions that we all need to tackle. Five, should civic commons become commercialized spaces? The proposed design includes food and beverage services such as a cafe. Even small commercial elements can gradually transform a civic space. Should one of Toronto's most important democratic gathering spaces, Queens Park North, evolve into a programmed destination park with commercial activity rather than what it was always designed to be, a simple civic commons open to spontaneous public use. Queens Park North has historically been a place for public gathering, civic expression, and protest. That character shouldn't change. Are we protecting six? Are we protecting the historic character of Toronto's first park? Queens Park North opened in 1860 as Canada's first municipal park and remains one of Toronto's most historically significant landscapes. Will new features, structures, and programming infrastructure preserve the historic character of the park or gradually transform it into something fundamentally different? What happens to the existing monuments and statues in the park that help define its historical identity, including the majestic King Edward II statue and other historic commemorations throughout the Queens Park North Precinct. Toronto has already witnessed the removal or neglect of several historical elements across the city. Uh the list goes on and many residents are raising concerns about the loss of civic heritage. Uh this discussion about Queens Park North is certainly within the realm of that conversation. Uh and then lastly, why is why are tens of millions of dollars being concentrated into one park when so many other of our city parks uh are in disrepair and could use a big chunk of that investment. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Any question to the deputent? Seeing none. Thank you. Um Ceda Sorry. Thank you. I'm going to run. Go ahead. C. I need some water. Got it. Good morning. Five minutes. Chair is low. Uh, good morning everybody. Uh, my name is Ceda Ram Kalan Singh. I'm chair of the Graange Community Association and our eastern boundaries are adjacent to University Avenue. I I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today and I've been involved in many discussions in the last few weeks about this and I've had some communications with some of you. Um I will not take up my full five minutes because much of what I might have said will be spoken to by the other deputants who with whom I've been involved. We understand from the sta staff which is what they've told us that the primary purpose of this report is to accept the donation and all that goes with that. We agree that the funds should be accepted. What we do not agree is uh a cart blanch approval to the rest of it. You will hear from many of my colleagues that there are that um there should be no the final design approved today which is some of what is outlined in appendex three and four of the staff report. So you need to be we would like you to be really clear that there's no approval being given to the final design. As I noted in my letters uh to this executive committee, my letters dated March 8th and March 5th that there are many many missing elements uh and information that we do not have such as the terms of reference such as the relationship of the university to this process and so on and so forth. We believe that there should be answers to those questions in the next report that comes back. Um and and finally what I would like to say is is that I was involved in a major revitalization process downtown that is Graange Park. There were funds donated some of which actually came from the Weston family. But what was really clear and unique about that process was that it was a collaborative process between the Art Gallery of Ontario and the institutions around Graange Park and the local residents. every single discussion and and decision was actually made through that advisory committee. It wasn't hived off somewhere in some other place. It was there. And what was really clear about that process was that there would be no um that all of the elements, the structures were to the edge of the park such as the washrooms and so on. uh we agreed that there was to be no advertising and that all of the signage had to be very very discreetly placed. We think that some of those principles should also apply here and I'm not going to take up any more of your time simply to say that make sure you don't approve the final design today. Make sure it comes back when there have been wholesome and more detailed community conversations. Thank you very much. Any questions to deput councelor Saxs? Yes. Thank you, CEDA. Uh I know you've been involved extensively in the many consultations have taken place. There's a whole year of consultation here. Um so first of all um uh you know that it's the position of staff and mine that we're not we're not approving any design today and that's going to be clear in in the motions going to be made on my behalf. Right. Well, it's only today become clear to me that that's what would go forward. No approval on the the actual design. Yeah. Despite what's in the appendices to the report. Yeah. I'm sorry that wasn't more clear was intended to be, but we we will make it clear. Um, how do you think we should be selecting members of the community advisory board here? That's something that's not been fleshed out yet. Do you have suggestions for us? Um, yeah, I do, but not right now. I would like to go through a process that's similar to what we undertook with Graange Park uh in terms of the terms of reference, the composition, how you would actually define who would be on that advisory board. Uh and and and I'm actually concerned that there be a singular chair. I think maybe that process should be co-chared with the University of Toronto because in fact they're going to be managing the process, right? uh after the next phase of uh design consultation has taken place. Right. You've referred to the graange process a couple of times that was in the context of an OM proceeding where the AGO was seeking reszoning and the neighbors had standing to appeal. This is this is quite different. But if you've got suggestions for how we should be selecting the advisory committee, uh are you willing to put those to me in writing? Uh sure, happy to do that. And I just want to clarify the Graange Park process came about because the gallery agreed to work with the community and with the ward counselor on the next phase of revitalization. So even though there it was certainly true that an OM uh appeal triggered the settlement that took place with then led to the revitalization but the process afterwards was fully collaborative with everybody. There was no particular hierarchy involved. Okay. I look forward to getting your letter. Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks, Mayor. Thank you, Councelor Fletcher. Thank you. Uh good morning. Good morning. Uh, not only the Graange has that type of committee, but the Bentway has that as well. Correct. It's a model that we've used in a number of significant locations for parks in the city. Greed. Yes. And um, just tell me what changes were made in Graange Park that from its original configuration. I know there were some playgrounds that were put in there for the neighborhood, correct? But in general, there weren't wasn't a million different things that went in to um I mean I could go to length of this but the major changes elements. Yeah. The the major changes really had to do with the complete revitalization the soils, new trees. There was certainly a new park, certainly a new playground feature and there was a water feature paid for by the Westons that was installed at the north end. But I think that the major change I'd like to in emphasize was actually the establishment of a formal advisory committee which guided all of this activity. Once that was completed, there's a new community council and at some point comm the city city council approved uh a notion or the principle of community management of the park and I'm pleased that councelor Malik is our counselor on this and she chairs the new great advisory committee. So when that was done and I remember there wasn't the same type of commitment to indigenous consultation back when the graange was done. Would you agree with that? Um, there was limited. Yes. But it wasn't the central. It was not central. And we didn't have a uh truth we didn't have a truth and reconciliation implementation. That's correct. So in looking at this, would you say that that I I'm I'm just a bit concerned that that indigenous consultation was not perhaps in the most organized way that it could be. It seemed that there were four folks from Missagas and two from here and two from here, but that might not be the standard way that we would have that type of a consultation for for a city facility. Yeah, I I agree that's important and I'd like to note that the Graange Park revitalization process was completed in 2014, 12 years ago. No, I understand. I'm saying things have changed now. So would you agree with me that that's a new element that may not have been fully realized in this initial consultation? Would you agree with that? That's correct. And in subsequent projects in the neighborhood, there's been a lot of indigenous cons consultation. And how much do you care about the statue of the prince out of 10? It's it's not my brief. Not your brief. If it was moved, that's not a big problem for you. Not for me. All right. Um, are you aware of what instructions were given to the landscape architect? I noticed that we are talking about kind of restful respite uh versus really animated busy area. I'm unclear what instructions were given as to the direction for this redesign. I'm not aware. I will ask that. And um are you aware that all those trees came from the George Lesley tree farm on Queen's Street East? That is their origin. So I think everybody needs to know they came from the East End many years ago. Uh thank you. Great. Thanks. Interesting history. Um thank you. Any other speaker I sorry any other questions? If not um next speaker Paul Machu Machuski. Yeah, you are five minutes and there's a mic in front of you. Chair and members, my name is Paul McKusei. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm both a business owner and resident of W 11 and someone who enjoys the charm of this park regularly. Following the consultation, I was left with asking many questions more than were answered and uh I'm hoping many of those can be answered. Uh firstly, in regards to governance and accountability, the report provides broad discretion to parks and wreck, the donor and the university, including exemptions from competitive procurement for contracts over half a million. But why are we bypassing city rules as regular practices when justifications are simply timelines and donor funding while limiting competition and public value? The report also states that an executive director will be hired and dedicated to the QPN to be employed by the University of Toronto, but it's unclear on the reporting relationship. Who pays this salary? Will the city have to reimburse the university? And who exactly will hold this person to account? Additionally, uh transparency is key and feels as if it's a missing component here. When it comes to the donation itself, creating a dedicated reserve fund would be the most appropriate to allocate funds for the project as needed and to provide the public with regular reporting on spending operations and outcomes. In regards to the proposed tree walk, many residents view it as an unnecessary eyesore with high maintenance costs, safety risks, and pressure on existing tree roots. consultation feels as if it's incomplete without a real presented plan or defined scope. Personally, I believe it should be eliminated as it's been overly requested by residents to preserve the park's open and quiet character. Lastly, in regards to food and beverage operations, the report proposes a central cafe, but as many have described, to minimize interior disruption, a consideration to relocate this cafe to the southern border makes the most sense, especially given the recommendation for no fossil fuel uh vehic fossil fuel vehicles unless approved by the general manager, more so because it just makes more sense for the operations of the cafe itself. For example, does the city currently own electric snow removal vehicles that would remove snow in the event of a snowstorm in the park? Uh, will bureaucratic signoff be needed every time something as simple as cleaning up leaves or garbage removal has to be conducted? How long will approvals actually take through the general manager? Will this force ongoing delays or favor only approved companies? Uh, does the city already provide year- round services without fossil fuel f fuel vehicles or will taxpayers be forced to fund a new electric fleet along with infrastructure as well? I'm hoping that food and services can enhance a user experience while still operating with regular procedures. I'd also like to know if whether the cafe will be commercialized or a small business will be supported in in the cafe. Uh, there is no need to over complicate things. A low a design a design of a low impact cafe that can operate practically with respect to the climate and standard operating procedures is all that's really needed. This is a rare chance to make an enhancement without the use of tax money. I hope we can get it right. We should protect the trees, ensure realistic operations, and deliver genuine accountability. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions of deput? No. Seeing none, thank you for that. Um, our next deput is Sue Dexter. Hello. Am I permitted a personal remark to you? Absolutely. Hello. How are you? This is an old friend. 34 years ago, I was um I'd done a a virtual degree in botany at the University of Toronto and I was upset about the trees on Spadina and and Mayor Chow, then counselor Chow plucked me out of it and changed my life. And I think you you guys have to know that acts like that are really important because you're creating a citizen base that's involved and committed and respected and I thank you for that. It's great to see you again. Absolutely. I'm Sue Dexter, Harvard Village Residents Association, and my concern is trees. Make no mistake, residents of communities surrounding the park do not project support the project, which has remained virtually unchanged since last summer when we had our first public meetings. Through some miracle, Queens Park North is home to a stand of trees which had begun growing 300 years ago before General James Wolf set foot on the plains of Abraham. I think today we need to reverse the onus. I think I think is taking the most aggressive steps to ensure their survival, not the principal fiduciary duty of any council over time. The forest knows nothing about mitigation. Consider its hidden life underground. Every shovel, every augur, every truck of every kind needed to realize the favored staff designs will hit the life supports of the forest. Not just major roots, but the mycelium and fungal network that feeds the trees above, the flow of water, and micronutrients that are life itself. The magnificent oaks are only the visible part of a system that has endured heat waves and drought, extreme seasonal change, wash, air pollutants, chemical and salty runoffs, blights and pests, and the occasional woodpecker. and interventions by nature's gardeners, the squirrels, and human trampling. It is drama itself, 300 years, leaning and bending, stressed, but enduring. And now the fate of the trees has presented us with a democratic challenge. Give us a return to council to review a recommended design after consultation with not just the community but the professional independent old growth forest experts who will appear today. To do less is an affront. It will be seen in the community as a green light from council for an unwelcome overhaul of the park they treasure imposed at the behest of a donor. Is council really prepared to relinquish its decision-making role to a bureaucracy and leave the public with no forum to express their opinions on a final design and for council to actually deny elements. These trees are a miracle of survival. They escaped the axis of early settlers and land profitering of the ruling class. They've lived through the creation of a paved city, of a country, through world wars and market crashes, plagues and pandemics. There are roots in nature, and we feel it when we're there. Today's question for all of us is will they survive us? And I really feel it. I I cannot tell you in 25 years I cannot tell you how strongly I feel this. Thank Thank you. Um bang on five minutes. Um, councelor Oh, uh, Saxs and then Madlo, don't don't go, Sue. Hello, Sue. Um, you've been very involved in the consultation over the last year. You've seen the photos of the park in the 1800s, right? Which showed it was completely clear-cut. It can't be a clearcut because how would 300 year old trees stills be there? Okay. So, you did see the photos. I thought I thought the interpretation of the photos was entirely misleading. Okay. You're aware, you heard, councelor Fletcher, that the trees in the park were transplanted there as part of the park. These couldn't have been transplanted because there weren't nobody was there. It was forest. Okay. But you did you did see the photos. All right. Moving right along. Um, do you agree that we should be doing everything we can to protect and look after the mature trees in this park that are threatened by the the thin compacted soil? I don't think there is any question that you do that. The question is what else are you going to do? Okay. And from a from our point of view, if you just if you just be patient, we've been involved now in in consultations since last the public. It came to the public really first last summer, although it had been underway for a good year. Since it began, the plans, the interventions have not changed. public meeting after public meeting, working groups, consultations. What do we see? We see a canopy walk that's that's folding its way at at 3 m in height. That's a trunk walk. That's not a canopy. You're not anywhere near the canopy. And and it's the length of two football fields. It needs BMS. Doesn't matter. It's going in with an ography. Canopy walk has been has been turned down every time by the community and it's still there in the plans and the and a 3,000 square foot restaurant that's 10 times the size of the restaurants on Harvard Street. So you you absolutely do not need a restaurant that size. I think I think the issue is that we're headed for a real impass and as a friend of council I would advise you aside from my passion about it what I see in all the consultations is that if those elements are not removed from the plans you're sentencing all of us to months of anguish and fight and trying to claw back some sense of reason about the number of interventions you're putting in that park. And and it's it's just it's like a bad boyfriend. The boyfriend's bad, you know? Don't think another two dates will fix it. It's it just it just won't. So So that you know, it's that's my view, but I'm giving you that as as an observer. I used to be a reporter, so there's a bit of me that's, you know, like councelor Fletcher, there's a bit of me that's always been a reporter. And that's what I see. And I thought yesterday, we're just going to we're just going to be here at an impass again. And why wouldn't you say, get rid of them? It's simple. I don't think Hillary Weston has any interest in having a bad reputation. I think we should we should cherish her and we should spend the money. You know, we shouldn't do this because somebody gives us $50 million doesn't mean we have to spend it. And there's no way that Hillary Weston's going to walk from this project. I mean, she can't she's she's unfortunately deceased. But I think the Western Foundation is is a responsible agency and we need to just sit down with them and say and maybe maybe you could facilitate it, Mayor Chow. You're good at these things and just say, "Okay, let's just relax. Let's just relax and let's do the right thing by the park and the people of of and the chipmunks. They have chipmunks. I don't I'm so I can't One of them came to my house one day which is Anyway. So, all right. That's I was I did actually have two two other questions if Okay, you do have two more minutes. Sorry. Go ahead. Right. Um so, do you agree that we shouldn't be cutting down any mature trees in order to build structures in the park? That's that is so little compared to what what's at stake. Of course. All right, let's start with that. And what is your advice as to how we should be selecting the advisory board for this park? You know, we have talked about getting uh someone like Ken Greenberg could be on that board, you know, if you appealed to him. Um you need you needs you need to the consultative process needs to add people not sub subtract so Ken ringing an independent voice the community should be represented absolutely these guys are just spending they've spent six weeks of their lives and anguish on this project and trying trying to help and that's to say nothing bad about the staff I think the staff are just doing what staffs do, but please please so again if you have specific suggestions on how the advisory board should be selected well I would expect the the the selection of the advisory board should be part of the consultation process. How about that? Thank you. Council Matlo, by the way, I I came here this morning to listen to you speak. Uh you you were so articulate and so uh wonderful, and I just I just want to express that to you. Well, thank you. I mean, I cried at the at the working group. Nobody knew what to do, but I was in tears at my own words. Well, that came through in your words. Oh, yeah. It's in my gut. You know, it's it's it's an ethical thing. It's a passionate thing of do no harm. Just don't. So, in uh to to reference what you said earlier in your many wonderful remarks, you're asking for an opportunity, what I'm hearing you say is to perhaps accept the money, but relax for a moment and ensure that the design is right and does no harm and supports the the the best interests of the park and the community. So, uh would you would you agree that by accepting while accepting the funds that if we move as part of a motion that uh that that includes that the design concepts will not be will not be approved today that we'll we'll wait until report comes back in May and that we give some more time the relaxation as you described that moment to breathe and that uh that the community along with the ward counselor can have more discussions and then hopefully we come back with with the right concept and the right design to move forward. Yeah. Well, it has there has to be option put in it. There's no optionality so far. Okay. It's treewalk restaurant. Okay. And huge restaurant. I asked why the restaurant had to be in the middle of the park and they said cuz it's too big to put on the edge. And I said well who decided how big it should be? They decided it it it I think we need we need a pause to simply say how do we engage with this? How really do we engage with this where options can be taken off the table? Other thoughts can be brought to bear. I mean you've got uft forestry almost the whole department is here today and they should be included. They should be right on the front of things. Yep. Gotcha. Okay. I think I think we got you too. Yeah. Well, it's it's all of us, isn't it? Don't don't go yet. Councelor Fletcher has a Are you okay? Councelor Melo, you okay? Council Fetcher, I have a question. Good morning, Sue. Good morning, counselor. I was very privileged to work with you when I happened to work in that area for Dan Leki as you'll remember. And you beta. You betcha. Uh that great counselor. So number one, would you kind of agree that there's this decision point restful restbite or animated exciting area and that decision should be made about this nature of this space and perhaps it hasn't had that highlevel decision yet. I would think from hearing from you that that conversation does need to take place. Correct. We've we're beyond that conversation. So it didn't take place. Yeah, it has to take place. Yeah. So it didn't take place. Do you remember Afroofest when it was there? Remember Afroofest that started? It started in that park and then it had to be moved. It got moved down to Woodbine because of the impact on the soils. And somebody's nodding that yes, they remember that started in 1997 and it was there for a while. Um, and then it was just too much for the trees, too much for the soil, compacted so much. Can you shut Yeah, they shut the park. They had to shut the park down with the level of engagement that existed in and and there are people here. I not I noticed some nodding so I think people do remember that. I just want to go to the tree canopy walk. I think we'd probably agree that this is an elevated tree canopy walk. Correct. Are roots not a really important part of understanding a tree? Roots. So if you're above it at a trunk walk, you're not going to see the the real the biggest part of the tree, which is actually underground, which is what if you're having a tree walk, you want people to understand the nature of a tree, which completely includes its roots, how wide they are. when you realize that the roots are as wide as the crown. It's something that if there are these beautiful trees there and I think we'll have a look at everything because I understand that those are George Lesley trees from our tree. We have some in Lesley Grove Park. There's a few in the city still left but that still means they're very significant trees. So I just wanted to understand that tree walk a little bit that elevated don't see the roots walking around looking at how can at the trunk at the trunk rather than at the magnificence of each tree which might be possible to include in a narrative somehow but not having a trunk walk as you call it. Well, I think education is to I mean to really talk about root systems, you'd have to take a tree and and and excavate all its roots and you wouldn't see them except except under a microscope, but you do see them at ground level. You understand? You see you see the the original roots. Do you think there's room to have a I know there's a garden a Hillary Weston garden that really is something that is I I believe the Weston family be great. So that that's not a controversial thing in any way to look at having a beautiful garden there that recognizes Hillary Weston. So there's some pieces that could proceed while other pieces that would be part of a restful rest bite the garden. That's right. But they're proposing seven gardens. Every time you turn around in the park, if it goes ahead, you're going to stumble into a garden, including a maze that has a hard surface and you walk on. I mean, oh, the garden notion, I think it's spending spending $50 million is hard. So, um, if well, you know, my suggestion is there there are there are stands of trees. You don't have to look at a canopy of of of majestic old already under stress 350, you know, General James Wolf trees. you you'd be better to go into to to take the idea and say, "Let's build a canopy walk where you could really have a canopy walk." Correct. With the canopies. That's right. And I have to ask my statue question. Do you care a lot about the prince statue? As long as it's not a Prince Andrew statue. We don't want that one. But do you care? Oh, actually, I' I'd appreciate it just as a reminder of what thou shalt not do. Oh, okay. That one. All right. But what about the current one? The Edward does it have to be there as a centerpiece? No. Well, I mean the that's a contest between this is all contest. Yeah. I'm just asking your personal opinion. My personal opinion. I don't have feelings for him. I I'm sorry. But as a space Well, you can have a you can have a center space and with anything in it as you know. Okay. Thank you. Or nothing. Or or you you now have an indigenous element there. Yes. But the nature of that could also be more statuesque rather than Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Thanks. Any other questions to the deputent? Nope. Thank you so much. Uh Paul Farley, it's me. How are you? We can take whichever you we can help you set up if need be. If you need any support. Yes, sure. No, we good. Yes, you got the mic going. Okay, got the mic on. Thank you very much. Really appreciate the opportunity to be here. Uh again, um I spent eight years on the preservation board. Uh got to say the digs are just fantastic. I think the sound is great and uh we just fixed it. Yeah, it's it's a real it's a real improvement. Um, I've been uh nearly 40 years living within less than a mile uh of this park and um I've been there all my life or all it's it's really the most important space in my life uh without a doubt and um the last few weeks have been uh so intense uh the amount of uh consultation engagement uh that's going on uh is is really something else. And uh meeting all the day with Sue Dexter and Elizabeth Cism, whom you'll hear from later, I thought I'd uh sort of go up a u,000 ft or whatever at 35,000 ft. This is um the Civic Spine, Queens Park and University Avenue. And so we're we're talking about uh 1860 getting getting the park on the lease. And the important part of the lease is uh still very valid. It's for the public and it's for the university. So uh this um I'll give Yeah, put your mic back on. This is um really very important uh because uh Hillary Weston looking out at Queens Park uh from her uh vice regal office looking at the state of Queens Park North. Uh the only planting is around the fountain and a little bit more planting at the monument to the Highlanders. um it it's a park but it's very little planting whereas Hillary Weston uh in her life has written a book on gardens uh she's uh all the estates a 39 acre estate uh Fort Belvier in London uh the Dunvean road here in Toronto Roundwood in Dublin all big estates in where horiculture is a very big part of her life and uh gardening and interest in that. So this is the impulse uh you know to how you elevate uh Queens Park North to St. Stevens Green in Dublin uh you know which is a an amazing place. Um okay so Hillary Weston uh came from rather modest beginnings. Uh her father died when she was 17. uh she was sent out to work and uh uh with her mother uh so that the boys in the family could go to university. Um she became Ireland's top model and uh Galen Weston saw her on a billboard uh arranged to meet with her and they connected and the rest is history. uh he bought uh Brown Thomas department store which is the kind of high-end department store in Dublin and uh she was a curator of couture uh she was basically taking Irish couture to the world and of course with Holt Renfruit uh this is the big operation here uh a designer uh very involved in the beginning of Primark uh a CEO a chair and then uh Don John Cretzian appointed her um as the lieutenant governor of Ontario and in five years she did 628 speeches and those speeches are remarkable remarkable to uh talk about our modest beginnings to talk about volunteerism to talk about carers in hospice uh situation and um she was very wellreceived. It went to a 100 of the 103 U writings in Ontario. Uh her motto, gentle in manner but vigorous in performance. Um and uh one of the philanth philanthropy she founded was the Ireland Fund of Canada and you were there um Madame Mayor last week. I was the executive director there first full-time for 10 years and worked closely with her uh particularly around grant awards and uh we were working for peace culture and charity in Ireland north and south in a very uh difficult time but we were focused on community level self-help projects throughout the island and it's still going it'll be 50 years uh in a couple of years And there's other funds uh around the world that uh subscribe to the same values. Well, you're five minutes up. May I trouble you wrap up please? Sure. Lots of other people wanting to speak. Uh just give it a minute, you know, just sorry I didn't realize the time. So it's it's basically the university is coming back in the game uh in in their park and uh I think it's a very good thing. You see how incredible they have achieved in their landscaping of the heartouse and that would be the standard in Queens Park would be an an important thing. But we have uh we have friends and we are the friends and you'll be hearing from the rest of them. And we are engaged in uh there maybe six or seven uh neighborhood associations involved. Maybe you can forward this deck to us. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Well, I just wanted to thank you for telling us so much about Hillary. It's it's a great story and adds to our understanding. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Thank you. Anybody else? Thank you, Paul. Okay. Glenn Wheeler. Ah, how are you? Thank you. Good seeing you. Been a while. Good seeing you. Good morning everyone. Uh my name is Glenn Wheeler and um I live in a lame way house on Croft Street near Harbor Ba. Uh I'm here um on my own behalf as a as a member of the community. And I think for those of you who uh who don't live in the area, you might not know what the community is uh around Queens Park. You see U of on one side and U of on the other side, the ROM institutions, but um Queens Park is uh is an important very important space for people who live in the general area because it's our major it's a it's a major um green space for us, a a place of uh of of peace. Uh the harbor of Ba'athist area has a has a density that's twice as large as the city average. Uh we have students, we have seniors, we have uh uh density of student housing, students who live in um what used to be single family houses on on Bay Street in those condos. The the density is 10 times the city average. So we have a very we have a very intense uh population and uh that's not to argue against density is what makes our our community great. Um, it's diverse uh in terms of culture, age, income, and we all we all depend on on Queens Park North because it's uh it's a place to go where you can the the the park programs itself. Uh you see people there playing frisbee, they're sitting there doing nothing. uh parents bring their their their kids. Um but to this point, the community has been overlooked in the consultations on this project. I've attended three consultations on this um on this project. The last the most recent was last week at the Y the downtown Y. Uh it was packed. There was not a single person there who spoke in favor of this project and I think that speaks for itself. Uh obviously people who went there care they care enough to take an evening to go there and they were solidly opposed and as has been pointed out the same the same proposal comes back has come back three times even though the community has spoken out against it. So, I would uh I would ask you as um as counselors to make sure that there's space for the conversation on this important project to continue. Uh we have the uh the opportunity for this uh uh donation from the Western Foundation. Um, but at this time we don't h we we have a we don't have a balance between what the parks department vision is and what the community vision is. And so I think you in the council process must make sure that you allow that space for the conversation to continue because right now um we have a problem. Thank you. Yeah. question counc. Yeah. Um, uh, thank you Glenn. I was at the meeting as well. Um, certainly people at my table had a different point of view, but that's that's different tables have different points of view. Do you agree that it's important for us to do more to protect and look after the mature trees in Queens Park North? Yes. But I I don't see how the some of the key features that uh are in this uh this plan, the restaurant, the the washrooms, um the the tree walk, I don't see how they protect the trees. One of the concerns that people had the at the meetings had is that we haven't looked at the impact of these structures on the root structure. I mean the roots as we as we know about even those of us who don't know a lot about trees we know that the root structure covers a very wide area and there hasn't been enough research yet on what the impact of these substantial structures are on the on the root structure which is underneath the ground. I mean I I find it very hard to believe there would be no impact on root structure from those um proposed additions. Okay. Would you agree with me we shouldn't be cutting down mature trees in order to build a washroom? Yes. Okay. Um, how do you think Well, first of all, you're clear that we're not going to be approving any concepts today. I think that's uh that's good news. Okay. Um, how do you think we should be selecting members of the advisory board? Well, I think the advisory board I my concern is that uh the advisory board being meaningful and not performative. Very often, especially when you have institutional players like you do here at UFT and the institutions, you have the advisory board that uh is told what the decision is after the decision has been made, which is kind of like what's happening in this process. So it would be very important that it have terms of reference and that would have meaningful input and not merely be uh the people who find out uh what the decision is after the decision has been made. Uh I understand that but how do you think we should be selecting the members of the board? Well there uh I would uh there are many organizations that have been very active in um in protecting uh Queens Park North over the years. Friends of Queens Park North, for example, there are community groups. There are citizens. So, there's a large community from which you will have no shortage of talent for your for your advisory committee. Oh, I I have no doubt about that. Okay. Thank you very much for coming today and thank you for your passion for this park. I've also loved it for many decades. Thank you. Thank you. Uh just before you go, um Deputy Mayor Inley has a question to you. Then thank you. Um I just wanted to ask you said uh at the tail end of your presentation there's a lot more work to be done and voices to be heard. Do the public consultation process that's taken place so far um to hear from the community? Do you feel it could be more wholesome or more detailed longer? How do you think we should be proceeding forward with to hear from the public? Well, I think uh you uh in your council process, I think the decision has been made to bring uh the project back to the infrastructure and environment committee. Uh so I think that's very important because right now um or under the current process the as set out in the um in the staff report, my understanding is that parks department would um would kind of run with it from uh from here on. But I think it's very important that it come back to a committee and there be opportunity for deputations as there are here today. Sorry. Deputations to fine-tune the process or like at this point you wouldn't be happy if parks and recreation took this over and ran with it. No. No. Certainly not. I'm saying quite the contrary. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, mayor. Yep. Thank you. Uh, no other questions. Okay. Uh, our next deput is Elizabeth Oh, hello. There's a bit of a deja vu here. I know 90 well almost 98% of all of you. But anyway, well again many years. All I can say is we haven't changed, have we? Uh you have five minutes. Thank you very much and thank you for the opportunity to speak to members of the executive committee today. Uh as you know my name is Elizabeth Cisum and I live in close proximity and am a frequent user of Queens Park North. I'm a retired architect and university planner. previously the AVP of planning at U of and then later associate vice president of planning at Harvard University. My 40-year career has focused on campus and community planning, including the preservation of heritage resources, both built and landscape cultural heritage. I also served on the Toronto Preservation Board. I want to first express gratitude to the Weston Foundation for their very generous philanthropic pledge to revitalize Queens Park North. This donation represents a significant and welcome opportunity to secure the future of the park. It's one of Toronto's most valued spaces and fitting to honor the legacy of Lieutenant Governor Hillary Weston. In 2020, the Queens Park Heritage Precinct Coalition was incorporated to oppose what we believe to be overdevelopment of the planetarium site at 78 to 90 Queens Park West. There were over a 100 letters and many deputants uh that arrived at TYCC. The coalition appealed the project to ELPAT and the outcome of mediation was a project significantly modified to fit the cultural landscape. With final approval in February 2021, the city council directed the chief planner and executive to immediately undertake a cultural heritage landscape study of Queens Park precinct. Counselors, we are still waiting for that study today. For reference, it was 2021 mm28.35. Now, we're on a collision course to cause irreparable harm to the people's park, Queens Park North. Why is this happening? Well, intensification and growth in the downtown core creates the need for additional park amenity space and increased use of existing parks. Planning for this park is informed by city policy policy for all parks, parks and recreation master plan, parkland strategy and to core. These reports and policies do not differentiate priorities between local parks and special parks that are grounded in heritage. All parks are equal. Queens Park North is a historical, cultural, ecologically significant area with old growth forest and a mature tree canopy. It has its own distinctive sense of place and character. As a result of park's policy, too much program is planned for this park. Notwithstanding condition continuing objections, the concept plan and the extensive construction program remains in place. More is added in every meeting. At a recent meeting, staff were asked specifically whether any element of the concept plan could be eliminated should it be found that the old growth forest would be harmed. They dodged the question and finally it was put again by the facilitator. Tell us yes, no or maybe. Again after some hedging we heard that the design would be refined. This word has been used many many times during conversations. Then we heard that the answer was no. In other words, no part of the proposed program will be eliminated. I have also been in communication with the donor's representative over concerns on the concept design. Recent email correspondence dated March 4th to me. She stated at the executive committee meeting on the 10th, Toronto City Council is being asked to consider the recommended terms of the donation. They are not approving the design. Hopefully, you will be reassured in the coming days and weeks as more material and detail is shared both on the design and process. Well, I attended the community meeting held on March the 5th virtually the day after I received the message from the donor. There was no visible support for the program voiced by the public. And I can say we're not reassured at all. It certainly appears that the community engagement has been disingenuous and is with a predetermined outcome, anything but transparent. Piecing together dates of specific discussions and project materials, it appeared to us that consultations and drawings were more advanced than we were led to believe. Consequently, we filed a Freedom of Information request in February to clarify the project information and timelines. Of course, we have yet to receive this information. Today's report delegates city council oversight decisions to city staff. Now even though the consultation process is incomplete I would like to just finalize thank you just to say that other building projects have a mechanism for appeal mediation and resolution there's OOLT and TAB both agencies provide opportunities to secure resolutions and agreement currently that is not possible here with delegation to staff so we respectfully ask that the infrastructure and environment committee be charged with this important role and have the project come back twice. First to confirm the concept design before contract administration drawings are complete and then come back with the final design for approval. If we wait until the final design is complete, the drawings will be underway. There will be no change permitted to the drawings. it will be a waste of money. We've seen that happen before. Thank you for the opportunity of speaking with you. Thank you. Uh question to the deputants. Councelor Fletcher, I'm wondering if you could just tell me a little bit more about the uh LPAT decision that included this area. Did I hear you say that properly, Elizabeth? Yes. So, so the ELPAT decision ended up in a mediation between the coalition, the Queens Park Coalition and the the um University of Toronto as a matter of fact, and and the city because the project had been approved at the city. And when it came back to council, the councelor at the time, um, Mike Leightton made the member motion that this cultural hand cultural landscape study for Queens Park should be initiated and council approved that. Hasn't been done. It's on the work list, but it hasn't been done. So, Queens Park, including the park. Yes. Yes. So, we can find that and it should inform some of this. And you're I think you hit in the nail on the head what I was asking about the concept plan because you heard me earlier say is it a restful restbite or is it an animated fun location? I I don't think that decision has been confir it has been confirmed but it actually is the decision the pivotal decision about this space. Would you agree with that? Well, it is and and if you read the vision statement that's been posted on the city's website, I mean, it's a clear vision statement, but it's how you interpret it. So, you know, there's restoration. It's supposed to be peaceful. There's going to be animation. Um, we want all of these things. It's the level. It's the level of everything that's being introduced. There's a lot of things being too many things. In fact, at the beginning, they were called big moves. Well, they shouldn't be big moves. You know, the place is good as it is. It needs revitalization, and yes, there should be improvements, but it should not be destroyed. It should not be changed into something else. And that motion that was made by then councelor Leighton, uh, that was part of that planning exercise as a result of the mediated settlement. So, in this one, yes, we have the parks department, but that was a planning exercise, correct? It was through city planning. So perhaps maybe the chief planner could be added to some of this conversation. That's also an interesting point because this project was led by the parks department and it wasn't until we started speaking with other city folks that um in fact heritage planning was in became involved and and the conversation expanded. This is such a significant area. It should not be treated as a pocket park. Um, a few days ago I spoke with with a city staff member and and he pointed out to me that not every park could come back to council. He had a park across the street from where he lived and it was moving along perfectly well. I would argue that those types of parks which are frequently pocket parks or small little neighborhood parks are not the same as this park. I don't know what we have a you may know that there's a designation for all parks and I'll be finding out what this one is. Uh and um that's would you agree that the the tree walk as established s Sue calls it a trunk walk and I I have to agree with her that it's a nice idea but really when you're trying to establish trees and you're the important role that they play you might need to be a little more a little more holistic than having just a walk around the outside. Indeed, at a public meeting, we suggested that rather than having a tree walk, because we're opposed to it for exactly the reasons that Sue has stated and you're raising now, that perhaps appropriate signage might be put in place that could be used um as an educational tool. There was something called Murmur at one time and you could log into your phone. Why does this have to be a treewalk that is going to deteriorate over the course of time and become an encumbrance to the city after the 20 years of of maintenance uh from the Weston? So perhaps the direction was given to kind of animate, put a restaurant, do all of these things, but now you're saying maybe that's not the right way to go. Let's rethink the concept of this space and put things in that that match that desired concept. That's really your message today. That's exactly right. And I think it's and the staff are doing what the policies say, but there's no differentiation between these parks. That's the problem, I think. Thank you very much. Thank you. Um, any questions? Council me. Oh, sorry. Councelor Councelor Sax, I'm sorry. Uh, hello Elizabeth. Thank you. Hello. Um, so one of the things that I I you you spent a lot of time on heritage. One of the things that some of my colleagues probably aren't aware of is the historical band shell that was in the center of the park with the washroom. Um, and that was there for many years and then torn down because, as I understand it, gay people were using the washrooms. Well, what really happened was it was not safe. The washrooms are in the center of the park and there was no oversight over those washrooms, which is exactly what might happen here. There's no nobody's arguing about putting washrooms at the park. It's the location of those washrooms. You know, there's Jane Jacobs and Eyes on the Street. Well, guess what? There's no street in the middle of the park. So, if you want to have washrooms, let's put them where people are really going to use them. when where there's going to be oversight. That's the issue. What kind of oversight do you uh would you like to see? Well, I think public oversight occurs when when activity nodes are occurring where the general public walks. Now, there's a lot of there are many people that walk through Queens Park, but I can tell you when I leave meetings on this very project that end at 9:30, there ain't no people walking across Queens Park. So, if those washrooms are going to be there, there is going to be a problem. Okay. So, one of the things you're concerned about is oversight. That's that's good to know. You agree that we need to do more to protect and look after the mature trees in Queens Park? Absolutely. All right. And you're aware there are no old growth trees on this park. Um I think that's contradictory um that's contradictory uh information from what we have heard. Okay. But you've seen the photos. I have. Those photos were taken in the winter when there were no uh no leaves on the trees. So of course it looks like there aren't too many trees. There's probably a handful of old growth. Not every tree is old growth, but there are a handful. And in fact, there's a slide that my colleague is going to put up in a few minutes, and you will see that the tree walk goes right by about three or four three or four um rare trees that have been identified by the consulting arborist on the project. Yeah. So there, why are they rare if they're recent trees? That doesn't make sense to me. I'm sorry. Well, okay. Those are different things, but um you and I h have, as we've talked before, uh I mean, I share a lot of your concerns about the treewalk, but perhaps you can briefly explain to the committee what your concern is specifically about the treewalk. Well, when we have discussed the treewalk in various committee meetings, the consultants have always said they're going to mitigate damage to the roots. They're going to do some investigatory work and see what happens. Well, mitigate means lessen damage. It does not mean do no harm. So that what you to to so there's going to be damage. The question is how much. Okay. And that's the problem. All right. So can I take it from that that you agree with my proposal that we should require there be no damage to the distinctive trees? There should be no damage to well yes but not just distinctive trees. So let's not narrow the proposal. I think what we're asking for is that before any program element is introduced and we've been asking this from the first time we met that there needs to be um an assessment done by foresters and to do no harm. Let's get someone that is different from an arborist who arborists are used to do dealing with trees on a tree bytree basis frequently on properties when we want to develop a property or do an addition. We need something broader than that and an interpretation at a higher level to this. We've also said from the very beginning that the the concept needs to be viewed from the perspective of a heritage lens. Well, guess what? The landscape is also heritage. It's not just the structures that you put on the her on this land. So, it has to be encompassing. Okay. Thanks very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. Other questions? No. to deputent Nick Speaker Eraki L. You have five minutes. Hello there. Good afternoon, executive committee members. I'm speaking today as chair of Friends of Queens Park North. We have existed for 14 and a half years. You could come closer to the mic or move the mic closer to you. We have existed for 14 and a half years and we have worked with the city of Toronto on the 2019 revitalization of Queens Park North and with the TDC on the second entrance exit for the museum subway station in the park. Our membership was expanded in 2025 to include residents associations abiding Queens Park precinct beyond the Bay Clover Hill Community Association. We have all been involved in the community consultation that started in 2025 for the revitalization of the park. Many of us live within two blocks of the park and use it daily. I have lived one block from Queens Park for the last 26 years and I know it very well and like other speakers I'm very passionate about Queens Park. We are thankful for the generous donation offer from the Weston Foundation. We are thankful for the extensive public consultation on the revitalization of Queens Park North that has occurred over the past year. We agree with the report's recommendations regarding the donation agreement and the triparty agreement. We welcome the opportunity to sit on the advisory board. The report before you does not recommend a final design. However, we have concerns about several of the items shown on the draft concept design for public engagement phase 3 shown in appendix 4 of the staff report. These are identified in our our letter emailed on March 9th to executive committee. Specifically, the proposed 3meter high elevated treewalk would have a large footprint that would visually dominate the park. It would negative negatively impact on the mature tree roots systems. I have a couple of sketches. The first one, um, may I ask the staff to AV to assist? Okay. Oh, sorry. Whoops. Uh, oh, it was 21 with two minutes. Yeah. Okay. Let me This is the sketch that we were provided. The proposed length of the treewalk is 200 m. That's the length of two football fields. The yellow section would be 3 m high. And I just did a measurement this morning. The walkway around Nathan Phillips Square is lower than what we're talking about here. The the height, yes, of the elevated walkway is actually higher than the one around Nathan Phillips Square. The red sections are the ramping up uh sections to that height. The proposed elevated tree walk would obstruct the view corridor to the abuing heart house. We'd like to see actually an elevation that shows that relationship between heart house and this proposed structure and I think you would see it's going to be quite detrimental. We believe that the tree walk would be a barrier and an obstacle to the accurate movement of the park. We believe that the proposed washrooms and cafe would be located on the per should be located on the perimeter of the park and we have benchmarked and looked at other parks and a lot of them have small cafes on the perimeter of a park. We believe that the proposed design does not adequately address the needs of a large amount of children in the area. We have other design concerns such as new irrigation systems being proposed and their impact on the root structures, walkway locations, and the the maze that is being proposed. We look forward to working through the design concerns in March and April. We agree with the other speakers earlier today with respect to bringing a a draft concept plan to infrastructure and environment committee and we also agree with the second item that the final finalization of the design should be done through community input uh and that that final design be brought to infrastructure and environment committee. This is uh further to what Elizabeth was talking about. Uh I'll put it north south. This is what we've been provided in terms of the significant trees and you can see on the western side or the left are uh the vicinity of those trees. The walkway as is currently proposed would involve the removal of two Norway maple trees and two other trees, but the the walkway would be in very close proximity to some of the other trees you're seeing here outlined in red. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions? Uh, council of sex. Yeah, Al, thank you very much for all your hard work on this and many other community issues. Um, you mentioned children because this is also something I've been wondering about. Is your group advocating for some playground equipment in Queens Park North? What is your suggestion for for accommodating children? Yes, and we've had similar discussions around this in parks like uh Allen Gardens where there was a child facility that was put in. This is a heritage landscape, so it might be a more naturalized kind of a playground. We do think that would be useful or at least an emphasis with some of the gardens that are being proposed that they would be um children focused in terms of their educational element. We think that would be helpful. There's an existing heritage fountain on site that over the years we've talked about turning it into a splash pad or something else that might be more child- friendly. That could be another alternative. But through continued dialogue, I think we'd like to explore other options to make it child friendly. Okay. But not just child-friendly. It sounds like you're asking for something specific to add enjoyment for children. Did I understand you correctly? Yes, that's correct. All right. Um, did I also understand you correctly that really one of the primary objectives of your group is to to see the tree walk eliminated? Is that is that a fair summary? Yes, that would be correct. Like I I actually went out as part of our consultation. I looked at other elevated walkways. We have the David Onley walkway at Toronto Zoo. Um, it's kind of a different situation. It's a larger land area. There's one up in uh York Region that we looked at as well. And for a park of this size, we just don't think that the structure is of an appropriate u an appropriate element. Uh it's too dominating. It impacts on view corridors to heritage buildings in the area and would act as an obstacle. We're thinking long term about University Park and that relationship at the western end of the park which roadway would go and there would be a continuous landscape expression between heart and the indigenous garden in front of heart. Yeah, I certainly hope I live to see that happen. Um, but again, if u u if we do eliminate the treewalk from the final design, would you agree that that would be a significant concession to the community's requests and indicate the comm that community input has been taken very seriously? Yes, that would be correct. All right. Um, do you have particular advice for us as to how the advisory board should be how the members should be selected? Definitely the neighborhood associations that you're hearing from today should be represented on that advisory board. Uh, there are other institutions in the area that I know have an interest in in the park. Um, there should be a strong representation with forestry professionals, I think, on that advisory committee as well. All right. So, if you have specific suggestions so that way you send them to me. Yes. All right. Again, thank you for all your hard work on this. Really appreciate it. You're welcome. Thank you, counselor. Nice to see you. Uh I think you spent many years in city planning, did you not? 26 years with the city of Toronto, including being a manager in three of the four districts of the city of Toronto. Welcome back to City Hall with your expertise. And one of the things of course that you would have to think about as a planner is the fit of everything. And I think that's the lens that you're trying to bring to this in your still professional. I don't know if you've given up your planning credentials, but you never really give those up that in in using that lens that to make sure that elements that are introduced fit with the nature of this space as this park. Would I be right to say that's your main concern? That that is correct. And there are some elements that the themed gardens I think is a really good addition and um a good memorial for the um for Hillary Weston. I think that um what we've been trying to emphasize to you today, there are other items that we just don't feel are at the right scale or a park of this size. So, uh, that would be the tree walk or the trunk walk as Sue is calling it now. And did you say correctly that the the raised walkway around Nathan Phillips Square that the tree walk would be higher? Yes. Than that the the measurement uh is 2.5 for the walkway around Nathan Phillips Square and this is 3 mters high. Granted, it would it's proposed as a kind of transparent Yes. um railing uh that would occur as part of the structure. So things could be dropped off of that. Correct. There's just could fall apart the um how about the restaurant, the 3,000 square foot restaurant. Do you think that's just a perhaps is it too big, too small, or just Goldilocks the right size? I was the one that went out and did an inventory of all the food services in the area, including the 18 vending trucks that are on St. George Street. Uh, so the area is already well provided with food services. We do regular neighborhood cleanups of the park and we we kind of get a sense watching people, but also doing the cleanups where the garbage where where the products are coming from. And there are lots of coffee shops in the area. So I would and I'm just back from six weeks in Australia. I can tell you the parks have food services on the perimeter high parkime which has a similar configuration with railway tunnel underneath it almost the same as as Queens Park. It's a little bit larger. It has food services on the perimeter and they're small and they're small but smaller than what's been court with that. And then the washroom for that facility. I think people have said that in the middle of the park there's no eyes on it. It may be difficult. Are you thinking that's wise to have one somewhere again on what goes on the perimeter and what goes internally are things that are being brought up here today and the size and the location and the nature of these elements. So what is your opinion then now for the washroom? I am a firm believer of Jane Jacobs and what she exposed and definitely eyes on his space. I think it would have more eyes on it if it was on the perimeter. We definitely agree that there should be a washroom. That certainly is a city of Toronto initiative. Uh again, we did out we went out and we did benchmarking. We looked at the new washrooms at Graange Park for example and you know they're fairly small in their their footprint. I know that there accessibility requirements so that makes some of them some of the units smaller. Um but I do think that they could work quite well um at the perimeter of the park. The uh there's the notion of having more public washrooms, you know, they have in France and other places where you can simply use those. Is that something that may they're not portaotties but they're not builtin infrastructure? Yeah, that that's what the park has easily right now. It has two porta potties that are put in at I'll emphasize at the perimeter of the park not in the center of the park. So we again we did benchmarking um about washrooms. I know there's a standardized because of the heritage landscape. We wouldn't want to see a standardized kind of boring uh construction design for for that unit. $50 million there could be something that would more architecturally $50 million there could be litter bins that match the park. There's so many I so many um design elements that could be built in that would be special for this space. Would you agree with that and should be considered? That is correct. The other benchmarking that we did was we looked at the existing washrooms in close vicinity to the park. Sorry. The existing washrooms that are in close proximity to the park. So for example, all the libraries at the uft have washrooms and Kelly Library is a half a block away on St. Joseph Street. It's a it has a accessible library. So, you know, there is a need for washrooms, but I'm just saying that that people already know that are using the park that there were other washrooms in close proximity. Also, heart house has washroom facilities uh half a block away. Uh so, I do think it would be a good additional layer to have a small washroom area in the in the park. Thank you very much. Thank you. Always welcome. Oh, sorry, Councelor Deputy Mayor Mley. Thanks, Madame Mayor. I just wanted to make a quick comment to acknowledge Al's incredible 26 years of service with the city. Uh as a new counselor, I got to learn an incredible amount uh with Al as a manager of our uh West District planning team, and I'm glad to see you enjoying retirement by staying busy with city building projects. Um but I'm sure your expertise and engagement is a big benefit to your colleagues and esteemed uh neighbors here today. So good to see you, Alan. Thank you for your ongoing good work for the city. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you. Absolutely. I have seven more uh deputants and I think there will be a lot of counselors that wants to ask questions and participate. It is 12 almost 12:30. If it's okay to everyone, we'll take a lunch break. We will be back at 1:30 sharp. Please do come back. Thank you. Do not go far. Um May I ask people to take a seat? and Eric Davies, are you here? Hello, University of Toronto Forestry. Thank you for ticking the time. You have five minutes. You I know you have to press the but button of the mic. Try again. Okay, we're on. Yep. Okay. Um, thank you very much for having me. My name is Eric Davies. I'm a forest ecologist. I teach at University of Toronto. uh and I help public and private land owners in Toronto and the GTA develop stewardship plans. Uh probably my greatest expertise is on old growth trees and forest which I've been doing since the '9s uh with ancient forest exploration and research. I'm still on the board there and I would like to thank Susan uh Dexter for the invite to come here. Uh she reached out to uh me and Sandy Smith and some colleagues at UT forestry concerned that there was enough ecological oversight in this project. So we went to that meeting uh just last week and we were surprised to see that it it did seem very cursory. Now when this meeting started there was the talk about the Dawn River and I I found it so uh what's the word like um inspirational that so many people here in this room have fought so long to do something so wonderful at the Dawn River. And I think that's the kind of spirit we need here at Queens Park. And the three points I would like to make, one is basically uh the forest, the trees and the seeds that those trees have. So the um the thing there was a neat thing at the presentation on Monday where I think Michael Mlullen pre presented some photos and the one that he stopped on was an amazing photo of Queens Park, black and white photo and it it was open like a lot of Toronto was open but there were trees there and you I think Sandy will talk a little bit about this foresters that's where we start. That's where this stopped. If you were to look at that photo in greater detail, you would see the undulating surface of Queens Park. And I am just getting some emails coming in now. These are unofficial, but just in terms of the the um what that site is. And just just here's one example that I've got right now. The topography is undulating and uneven that this basically suggests that those soils are original soils. There's not many locations left in Toronto. On the way up here, I took a I looked at that white model of Toronto and look where Queens Park is. That's the last flat wilderness ecosystem in downtown. And it says that uh you know, again, these are probably original Foxy sand loms that's part of the same Iqua sand plane physioraphic feature that is is in High Park. And so this ecosystem, I think what's happened here is just the the analysis didn't go deep enough to to appreciate that this ecosystem is almost like a painting in the AGO. It's like if someone were to discover a group of seven painting in your garage and you wouldn't even know what it was. And then once it gets verified, you wouldn't want to start drawing your own trees on that painting, right? because that painting is it's already beautiful and you can't you you you can't you can't make it more beautiful. And I don't want to belabor you with quotes, but there was there's just one I I really do like from from Teddy Roosevelt when they wanted to put in buildings in the Grand Canyon. And I kind of paraphrase this, but he says, "I hope you will not have a building of any kind, not a pavilion, a washroom, or anything else tomorrow. The wonderful grandeear, the sublimity, the great loneliness and beauty of the park. Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been work at work on it and man can only mar it. But what you can do is keep it for your children, your children's children, and for all who come after you as one of the great sites which every Canadians should see. And I think if we take a more wholesome look at this park, we will discover that it is an ecological jewel. And I think if you even go further back from that with indigenous exploration, you will find that this is probably one of the last places where there were indigenous people actually on the land before it has been disturbed. Like we have a lot more to discover here. those trees there. Out of all the trees, there's really only eight, probably maybe nine if you include the the one on the top that are absolutely significant trees that are that are greater in value and cultural significance than I think any painting at the AGO. And if we were to discover this uh and work together, I think um even the donors, I think, with their history of conservation in Canada would appreciate that the opportunity here that we all have is to restore the the beauty and and use this park uh as a bit of a a road map um both philosophically and ecologically for moving forward. So, I would just like to thank you all for the invite to speak here tonight and and thank my colleagues who have joined. been really impressed with what everyone has said and I'm very proud to be here tonight and uh and mention this. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any questions? Councelor Saxs. Thank you. Um yes. Uh Eric, thank you for for your work. Can you explain to us briefly the difference between an arborist and a forester and why you think we need a forester for this park? Great question. Um an arborist uh is basically like a tree physiologist. It would almost be like a dentist, right? Their their uh their specialties is on the physiology of tree growth and how tree growth, the health of tree growth is is impacted by abiotic events like weather and compaction. So, it's kind of that's that's the expertise there. Whereas a forest ecologist, a forester is much more of an ecologist. It looks at the like an arburous is at the level of the individual tree whereas a forester is at the level of an ecosystem. like what you have at Queens Park is a remnant probably original soil profile ecosystem and and and just I don't know if if you guys know this by the way but John Rollson Saul who's here was at the meeting I had the privilege of walking back home with him through Queens Park in the end and the statue of William Lion Mackenzie it has a person with a plow and in the hand is a broken harness and we were trying to figure it was dark and it's a plow that is at rest there and that's basically where that plow has come to rest like that's the last unplowed region of Toronto like we're talking about you know so again that's what a forester does it's what's the system what's the ecosystem h what's the health like an arborist has extraordinary depth of knowledge on tree branch uh architecture and how we could improve the health of trees you know so very essential but it is is um it's it's more of a technical field than an ecological Okay. So, as you know, one of my concerns here is how we improve the health of these trees given that the very thin soil, all the compaction, all the footsteps and so on. So, um, so you and I had a few minutes to talk about key things that the city could do to improve the health of the most valuable trees in this area. Um, and I know you want us to have an overall plan, but in in terms of tangible inputs, did I get it right that the three key things you wanted us to do is to amend the soil, like improve the soil, um, remove poisonous trees like the Norway maples, and keep people off the roots at least some of the time. Did I get that right? No. Okay. What What are the key three key things you think would improve the health of these trees? So, the first thing would be a forest management plan. I know. But in addition to a plan, like what? That's where you figure out what's important because you know you we might figure out that this is the one this is the last place that indigenous people had three sisters agriculture. We might find out a whole bunch of things about this site that are very important that would influence a trajectory of where it would go. And I I think you know Sandy always talks about objectives. When you have a forest management plan, you at the beginning identify what are your goals and objectives. And so one of them for this should be preserving and restoring the ecological integrity and beauty of this park. Okay, I got that. But I want to get back to the trees. Do we need to amend the soil? Well, you need to get someone out there yesterday to figure out what diseases those trees have. Some of them I've been tracking them for over 10 years. And I'm sure at this point someone would have evaluated whether or not they have anthrachnos, whether or not they have any tree diseases, what you're doing about that. Because if those trees are already weak, any type of development in that area could exasperate the root quality and then expedite the death of those trees. Right? So you would you'd have to understand the health of those trees, do tomographic work on the trunk, exploratory work in the roots and and understand that and again there's so many wonderful people at the city of Toronto forestry as well as the University of Toronto forestry that have rich expertise in this that I think you you need more foresters in there and I I really think that when you do have foresters look at this, you're going to be amazed at what you have and and I think everyone's going to have a much richer appreciation of of the opportunity. And I truly believe the Western family as heroes of conservation would would would really appreciate this effort that we're all putting in here to help ensure, you know, you got to be careful. Like you've seen what happened to the the ROM. Like some people like it, the crystal, some people don't. But this is beyond a building. Like we don't you don't have a lot of second chances with this one. Like you can't like once you put in buildings, you can't the damage is done. I keep trying to get back to specifics. So talk to me about the Norway maples. What's your view about the Norway maples and how do they affect the valuable native trees? You know again this would be a detail of the report but Norway maples are uh what they call an alilopathic tree. They exude toxic chemicals through the roots that kill the native microisal fungi in the soil that inhibit the growth of indigenous plants. And we all appreciate this now. There's so much good work in the city of Toronto and all the different groups are really we're working to remove invas we have the biodiversity strategy at the city the pollinator strategy the ravine strategy all these great strategies ubiquitously identify these major things we want to do remove invasive species does that include the Norway maples it would include well again a forestry plan is all about phasing right so over time you want to restore the natural ecological integrity of the park you don't go in there and take it all out in one Okay. But you would phase out Yeah, you would phase out the Nora maples. Okay. So, why would you take out the Norway maples? How do they hurt the the valuable native trees in in a whole bunch of ways? Like you can look at the roots, they're exuding alopathic toxins in the roots. But even the canopies are rubbing against like if you go and look at those beautiful old trees, you'll see the Norway maple branches are up in the canopy rubbing against them causing wounds. It's it's a very comprehensive thing like the the ability of those trees to cross-pollinate with each other. It's let me try to get one more question in. Um you have five minutes, right? Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Uh we have the next speaker uh Sandy Smith, professor. Yes, you've got me finally. Thank you. Uh appreciate the time here. Um, so many people have said so many things before. Uh, and I'll try not to repeat. Uh, I am a professor, so I will try and you better set the clock on me. Um, I'm a professor of forest health and ecology for oh 35 years. I think the university just gave me a pin. I do not represent forestry or I I don't represent the University of Toronto. I represent forestry in the discipline. I'm a resident of the Harvard Village Residence for over 30 years as well. So, I know the community well. In the last 20 years, I've spent time as an urban forester working with trees in cities. So, um I have two points that I really want to make and sort of emphasize. One is I think the process is wrong. It feels backwards. It feels like there's a cart before a horse here, if I can use that analogy. And secondly, in terms of that, we need more forestry input. And you've heard a lot of that and Diane, you just talked with uh Eric about this and more details. Uh you need to understand that this is a forest. I am of course interested in trees. Um but trees, I'm more interested in the forest of which trees are an element of them. Um, I I want us to put the forest first and I see that the proposal is about revitalization. When I hear that, I hear about revitalizing the ecosystem. Um, not about animating and revitalizing the people's use of it. We've heard a lot at the one meeting I was at. We heard a lot about how people want to use this forest. Um, if we get the forest right, the people will come. I don't think that's an issue. I think that they're very much tied together. Forestry in terms of process, um, we were just hearing about it. Maybe I was missing things last year when this first came forward, but when it was brought to my attention, it's quite clear, um, that there's been a lot of thought and and good plans in there. But those plans are sort of starting at the design end of a park that's for people use. And I think the value of the park is more in the ecosystem and the ecology. Eric's talked about the uh ancient trees. It is a remnant heritage park. It is old growth. A few of those trees. Do old growth forests change over time? Yeah, we can go out and see all sorts of old growth forests. Um are they what they were 300 years ago? No. But they still have elements that are really critical and important to keep. Um, we've got this, we're being asked to approve, and I understand it's not about the design to approve what's going on here. Um, and it's just been brought on, but it feels like uh I I'm I know parks has brought this forward and has sort of been the lead, but I wonder where environment, climate, and forestry is in this. I mean, for me, I always see this happens. Forestry is put at the back end um to sort of ask are is it okay for the trees? um are we going to keep the trees alive? And there's a lot more that should be there at the front end of this process. And so I'd like to see that. That's never a good process to leave us at the back end. And it's not just my bias. It's my personal experience of seeing urban forests over the years. Um this is a remnant forest. Uh the pandemic showed us how important it was for people to make use of this forest. Um UFT has made a lot of use of this forest for teaching, uh inventories, research. We collect data. We have inventories. It's an important piece for us. I guess it is our uft forest after all. And we would like to see more of that. Why can't we see more of this vision to be us using it as a research or an educational institution um Forest Park that is important on an international scale, but that the city of Toronto holds. So that's really uh I think what needs to be uh spoken to. My last point is really about time and space. I always tell students when I speak to them about forests, you're about to enter a different world. I I trust me, it's tree time. Time changes. Uh we're no longer 80 years isn't the lifetime. We could be thousand years some of those trees on the escarment. This is an old forest. We're going into tree time. Um for sure these trees have been there and the soil beneath them has been left by glaciers. So I I think we want the biodiversity. We want the integrity of what this still has. It's one of the few green oases in the city. Uh that should be part of uh green infrastructure, how we would call it in urban forestry, the values of uh mitigating climate change. That's why I would think climate would be there, a water runoff uh sponge to absorb water when we need it. Uh we don't want to lose that value. And in terms of scale, Eric's already spoken to that about trees and forests. I can answer more questions if people want to hear. Um, trees are short-term, forests are long-term. Um, I think it's hard to understand how activating it, putting a cafe and a walkway that that doesn't actually even see the trees anymore than you being down below is really going to change it. Thank you, Sandy. I want to end enhancing with a light touch is what they talk about and I don't see how that is going to a light touch is not going to survive this force. So, thank you. Thank you so much. Any questions? Councelor Saxs? Yeah. U Thank you, Sandy. Um so, first of all, in terms of the treewalk, um you as you saw from my letter, what I'm proposing is the first rule should be no harm to the distinctive trees. Can the tree walk be built in your opinion without harming the distinctive trees? No. Okay. Um, what other what interventions do you think we could make that would improve the health and longetivity of the the unique and valuable trees in this forest? Um, in the light-hearted way is keep the people out, but in the more serious way. I know. But, but what do you mean by that? Well, it's just human use is obviously impacting those sites and the the spongy nature of the uh the soil and Eric's talked a lot about the soil and those relationships, the biodiversity, the structural um the way the forest is constructed with understory and and young seedlings, understory of uh overgrowth trees, gaps. there would be some natural gaps um in contiguous canopies um I don't know if I've covered all biodiversity the I'm an entomologist by trade so there's lots of bees and butterflies and all sorts of insects that are in there and the birds that come for those you need a lot of insects to feed birds okay well let me see if I can break that down a little one thing you mentioned is understory right now it's grass and trees should we be having shrubs and would that help the health of the trees I think having a a staggered uh structure like a vertical structure, what we would call vertical strata is good. And that means shrubs. Yes. I guess the answer to some of that as long as they're native species, as long as they fit in. I like the idea, you know, the indigenous involvement with a fire pit. But I kind of think, well, let's get the indigenous community to talk about their medicinal plants and what should be many of those are shrubs, small trees, large trees. Okay. I'm part of it. Yep. Keep going. Um, you talked about keeping the the people out. Do we for the health jokingly a downtown? But I'm asking you a question. If if preserving the health of the unique trees is primary, do we have to keep people off the roots of those trees? And and if so, how often and for how long? The less the better. I mean this has always been the argument about forests is you you've got to lighten the the footprint the e the ecological footprint which we put on that forest. So ideally uh no people in there but in reality and this is in urban forest you're always balancing what you need. um this project has initiated there's other interests beyond just having a place for people but they want to have it in a particular way and so I think that's just when I see all the pieces I think it's just it's activating it too much for people and you're going to end up like the caravana issue where there's too many people in there and that really does compact it. You could probably be in there more in the winter because there's less compaction. We had a great winter where it was frozen ground and that was better this year. But that's not always the case. And so you have to be really strategic about it. And I would echo what I probably told Eric many years management plan. And I know that I know whenever you say plan, sorry to the planners, planning it's not that exciting, but it is a context of time, right? Do we need to be using either fences or plants to keep people off the roots of the trees? Yes, we could try and do that, I think. And what would the would that help the health of the valuable trees? Yes, I think so. I mean, the city's done a wonderful job with a high park out there uh bringing back naturalizing it. They still have grass and lawns that other people, you know, different people in the community want the grass and lawns. Other people want the the ecosystem, the trees. You're not going to keep the trees with mowed grass and lawns. That was the problem with High Park is not no regeneration. and acorns weren't coming back and and the concern was the squirrels were getting the ones that were there. So you you were going to end up with uh grass in the end, right? Which is what we've got now. We've got grass compacted soil. Well, we got beautiful trees and great soil under that grass. Okay. Um so in um so in terms of promoting the health of the trees, you mentioned understory, you've mentioned keeping people off. Do we need to also be amending the soil? Um, yeah. I mean, yeah, probably. I haven't looked at the soil and I'd want, you know, the technical thing, but I can't imagine that it's it's pristine. All right. What about the the Norway maples? I mean, again, do you agree with Eric that the Norway maples are harmful to the valuable native trees um over time? Yeah. I mean, you don't you want to discourage you want to reduce them over time. And this back to the plant, you would be reducing them and not letting them reproduce. And you would be pulling cutting some down and planting in the opening gaps where and it might be shrubs. It might always not always be trees that you're putting in. It's whatever would be conducive to whatever else is being planned back to the people. Some of these elements that are in the proposal make sense and and could be integrated if foresters were at the table first. And I think that was my my first point is that you need one of them at the beginning. Okay, we got loud and clear. We need foresters. We got that loud and clear. And I think I volunteered you for committee. Absolutely. Let's move it on. We have many items. Anyone else? Thank you so much. Okay, great. Thank you. Um, our next speaker, Katherine Hoden. Katherine, are you here? I am. Ah, there you are. Have a seat. Sorry to You probably been waiting since this morning. Where are yours? You're going to have to come and do this. You can just turn on the mic. We can hear you. Yeah. I picture on the screen. Okay. Got it. I apologize. I'm legally blind and it gives me a lot of trouble from time to time. On the screen you can see a picture that in which Queens Park North is dominant. Queens Park South actually the full Queens Park circle. That is the extreme western boundary of the BCCA area in which I live. Bay Clover Hill Community Association. I have over the years used Queens Park the way a community park is intended to be used. I have gone there to just enjoy nature. I have taken a brown bag lunch. I have met people there. I have walked the track. I have done many things. There are two park kinds in our city. There are community parks and there are city parks. Queens Park North at the moment is a community park because the attributes of the park are the attributes that draw in the people of the community for a place to spend a quiet time of relaxation, a time for children to play kickball, things that a community likes to do in a park. When I moved downtown, Queens Park North was the only park in our community in and that was around well quite a few years ago. And in in the last 10 years, our community has become very proactive in creating new parks for our small community, which as you can see runs from Queens Park to Young Charles to College. We have two new parks. One is less than an acre, Clover Hill Park. The other one, Dr. Lillian McGregor Park, is less than two acres. Queens Park is just a bit under 10 acres. These are the only parks we have. We have no hope of getting more parks because there is no more land. And truly, the land has been developed. We are asking you not to put in a treetop walk, not to condone a treetop walk. I realize that is not the topic today, but that would be the position of the BCCA. We do not want intervention of any kind to interrupt the well-being of those trees. We are asking you to allow the community to be part of the decision makingaking for the design of the park. And on that I end my comments because we want to keep it a community park, not a destination park, a city park. Thank you. Thank you. Uh any questions to deput? No. Seeing none. Thank you so much. Uh Terry Hawks of the Annex Residence Association. Terry, are you here? Anyone from a AR here? Yes. Ah, hello. Here. I was hiding. I'm I'm not too tall. Good day, Mayor Chow. Counselors, staff, residents. I'm Terry Hawk, an annex residents association board member and co-founder of the Dalton Road Residence Group and Art for Youth. I'm deeply engaged in grassroots community service, proudly live and work in W 11, and I'm here today representing the Annex Residence Association and its planning and development committee. Having collectively attended all of the Queens Park North public meetings, we stand with all the other residents associations and this exceptionally knowledgeable group of debutants in requesting that the executive committee accept the generous financial gift of the Western Foundation for which we are extremely grateful and require that both the concept and the final design for Queens Park North be considered and approved by meetings plural of the Infrastructure and Environmental committee only after the final consultation on the design has been fully assessed and has incorporated public input through satisfactory community engagement. We believe that numerous public uh meetings have revealed a dissonance between the general public's wishes and the well-intentioned staff priorities. The primary concerns of the residents include the health of the rare old growth grove and mature tree canopy and honoring the heritage significance of this unique park in ways that differentiate between treasured local parks and unique local treasures like Queens Park North, which Hillary Weston defined as one of the city's most historic natural spaces. So, how should we honor that natural space? By honoring nature rather than exalting structures, food service, and built treewalks in a small and fragile ecosystem, it is nature that supports our mental health. Mental health in a challenging urban environment. And we honor that natural space by honoring community. Community members who breathe deeply just walking through this restorative passage. and also community that gathers naturally already for respit in nature like this last sunny Sunday when I blissfully shared coffee with a friend in Queens Park North from one of a dozen nearby cafes I might add where we marveled together at a young woman who was completely transfixed looking up at this oak tree I'm sure she was there for the whole time we were there she just kept looking up into the branches into the sky and I thought to myself this this is the jewel of the crown of Queens Park North. Uh we kind of wiggled while we watched a group of students dancing on the lawn and we admired an elderly couple peacefully chatting on a bench and enjoyed the children playing hide-and-seek on the natural and historical grounds without play structure equipment. Nature and community. It's a simple recipe, yet it's magical. And yet the staff design seems not to trust the value of these natural elements. In the consultations, it seems as though community was heard but not listened to. Councelor Saxs earlier today referred to a year of consultations. Four months prior to the first public consultation of last summer came the city's press release in March 2025. It states, quote, "Renewal of Queens Park North will provide opportunities for indigenous placekeeping, winter activation, arts and cultural programming, environmental education, and yearround amenities such as food and washrooms while protecting the existing tree canopy." End quote. The current design, despite extraordinary community objection, remains eerily the same as that press release of a year ago. So let us not squander the voices of our community here today. These knowledgeable residents and experts, let us include them in a tangible way rather than having them bear witness to shoehorning a predetermined design into an illequipped city policy. Let us get this local treasure right. We request that the executive committee defer their decision until city staff recommendations can be modified with expert oversight and meaningful community consultation. Last spring in North Toronto where I lived for many years and enjoyed the re enjoyed the ravines which you don't have the luxury of in this ward at a park naming for a respected late counselor. I heard the chair of this meeting speak eloquently of the healing power of nature. I appreciated your words then, Mayor Chow, and they remind me of the mental health benefits of nature in the local treasure that is Queens Park North. Thank you. We hope that Mayor Chow and the executive committee will join the residents of W 11 in vowing to love and protect the people's park and its natural treasures, a place of healing and restoration for community, the current and future residents of an increasingly densified Toronto. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Questions, Councelor Saxs. Uh thank you, Terry. Uh just by the way, we do have ravines in this ward and in particular all the work that we're doing on the veil of Aoka. So just so you know, we prize it. We're working very hard on it. Thank you. I thought it was just outside the boundary, but I accept that. Thank you. Big wart. Um I I I want to ask your reaction to the advice we've had from the foresters that the key things we need to do to protect the trees first of all are to gradually reduce the Norway maples. Do you support that? I'm not equipped to answer that question, counselor. That's not my background. I That's why I value so much the expertise that we're hearing today. It's it's a good place for me to learn as well as many of us, I'm sure. Well, but do you accept their advice? I would like to not be put into a corner to accept one or two experts pieces of advice. I think that a more comprehensive look with different experts, both the city planner experts as well as University of Toronto experts as well as outside experts might be a way to go. And once again, I'm not equipped to answer that question directly. That's fair. We're going to have a forestry committee. Um, but also part of the point that both foresters made is that for the health of the trees, one of the key things we have to do is keep people off the roots. Mhm. Um, we can do it with fencing. We can do it with shrubbery, but we've got to give the roots a chance to recover again. Is that something you'd support? Councelor, I so appreciate your attention to detail. It's not the first time I've had conversations with you about detail, but I don't think it's fair for me to respond to that. Okay. I mean, I think those are very interesting comments. It makes sense to me. I'm not a forester. I'm not an arborist. I don't think I can answer that with answer that with authority. No, no problem. Thanks for coming. Thank you, councelor. Thank you, councelor Saxs. Any other questions? No. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time. Our next speaker is Linda from Federation of North Toronto Residence Association. Online. Ah, you're online. Okay, we can hear you maybe. Okay. Uh, I'm I'm unmuted now. Uh, Mayor Chow and members of the executive committee, my name is Linda Bred and I'm secretary of the of the Federation of North Toronto Residents Association, Fontra, and I'm speaking to to our letter attached to the agenda. Fontra recognizes the importance of Queens Park to all of Toronto, if not the province and Canada. I remember visiting from it from Albertie many years ago. As such, we submit that the the propo that that any proposal for change um any prop any proposal for change, including a redesign, deserves careful consideration and appropriate consultation and governance over oversight. We appreciate we're appreciative of the generous donation proposal from the Western Foundation while also recognizing the need for involvement of the community their buy in to the final design by meaningful dialogue with them. We also generally support the condition set out in the letter from councelor Sachs which encompasses many of the concerns expressed to date. I would also like to acknowledge all of the work that councelor Saxs has done on informing her constituents, including the tall town hall she uh held for uh residents associations which I attended. Our relator makes two recommendations for further for further count council oversight of the project through the infrastructure and environment committee which does not appear to be contemplated in the donor agreements. First is a reporting of the design after consideration of ongoing community feedback comments from the design review panel and further consultations with stakeholders before the detailed design. The second the second is a similar is similar reporting of the final detailed design prior to tent tendering the project. These conditions set out here and commented by others may require amendments to the donor agreement and we encourage ongoing dialogue to ensure the end agreements meets these needs. We look forward to seeing this project evolve and encourage encourage you to ensure proper governance is followed by passing the above requested motions. As aside, I have memories of such things as pay which circumvented normal procedures and their outcomes. Once completed, the city cannot go back and provide appropriate governance or the pro appropriate model. My personal comments uh what I have seen over the last few days and inhering deputations of the lack of understanding of the overall objectives or goals of the revitalization as well as what is before you today. Councilor Sax's letter provides some of what would be contained in the first statement of a goal andor visions but needs to be addressed as to who it's to serve active versus passive and I believe counselor uh some of the counselors have mentioned that as well and Alzoski's letter addresses the issue of children for example what lenses do we want to place on this or if council wants to place on this as to what the end result should be I don't think that's clarified as well as it should be and I think you've heard that from many deputants today. If there's such a vision state, then it is clear it is not well understood nor does it currently have a buyin by the community which is crucial uh for a successful project projects. Another point just it's just a kind of aside in listening to the deputations of questions of deputants you may want to consider a view by Toronto Police Services of the appropriateness of the design elements for crime prevention with an ACT acronym of DEFCP. Uh they want at one time had and may still have someone with specialized training to provide such a review. Um so I I thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak on such an exciting and important uh initiative. We are not we are not as intimately involved as as many of your uh deputants have been but we felt it was worthwhile sharing that this is a this is a something for everyone and Vontra uh is very supportive of of what you're doing today. Thank you. Thank you for taking the time. Uh, any questions? Councelor Saxs? Linda, just one question, please. Um, is it your view that this park is to serve the people, just the people who live within a couple of blocks or is to serve a larger community? Well, I think it does serve a larger community. I mean, people come and visit Queens Park from all over. I mean, I visited it back in 19 1967, quite frankly, and um other people in Ontario and other cities uh come to visit Queens Park and also also go over to see the uh the north the north Queens Park area. I'm wondering if I leave around 3:30 or 4 if you'll be okay for um just one second. Keep going. I'm I'm worried about losing Corum, but go ahead. Yep, it does. Okay, thank you. Um, I'm just going to speed things up a bit because uh we have many items in front of us. Thank you. Any other questions? If not, um, Adam Wayne, Toronto East York Community Preservation Panel. Adam, are you here? Are you online? If you're online, turn on your mic. Um, good afternoon. Can you hear me? It took a moment for the uh the clerks to unmute me. Go ahead. And thank you. I see I have screen share um privilege now. I'll turn that on in a moment. Thank you uh Mayor Chow, members of the executive committee. I'm the elected chair of the Toronto and East York Community Preservation Panel. I'm going to go through my materials quite quickly as I know I only have five minutes to speak. I want to thank NIOU for acknowledging the indigenous elements of the site and towards a push towards decolization and truth and reconciliation. I note that the documents still omit all reference to Sand Hill. The area immediately east of Queens Park North was a sacred Missaga burial site. Um, this site was used uh last in the War of 1812 to bury an indigenous soldier that died defending the city of York. And many of the burials occurred prior to the contact of the British or the establishment of the colonial city in 1793. Uh, it's mentioned in legislation in 1797. And while many of the bodies were desecrated and ground up to use in building mortar materials for Young Street, Bay Street, and the surrounding Bay Clover Hill neighborhood, uh there are likely still sites with remains on them. Uh and to date, the city of Toronto has refused to acknowledge Sand Hill in any formal capacity, whether it be the archaeological ret register or plans like these. I've been trying to get it onto those for over six years now. Uh I was first brought to my attention by um when I was passed an envelope of Jane Boft's research briefly before her death with a request that I assist in identifying uh the sites marked there as indigenous burial sites. Furthermore, on the uh west side of Queens Park North, there's an orphaned piece of parkland that was originally part of Queens Park North. The original Queens Park was about six times larger than what we have now. It's been greatly reduced in size over the past 166 years. The orphaned piece of parkland extends between the Canadiana gallery uh the vice regal suites of the Lieutenant Governor uh upwards to Welsley Street. Um within that site is Toronto's oldest freestanding monument in a severe state of disrepair covered in animal feces and missing many components. It's called the Limebridgeidge Memorial Canadian Volunteers Memorial. It was uh stabilized with emergency stabilization work in 2006, but has been identified as requiring emergency maintenance by the city of Toronto since at least 1929. Within um that site as well is one of the last remnants of Tabel Creeks Ravine. Um the accessibility of that monument has been flagged as a concern since 1869 with the monument being unveiled a year later in 1870. Uh adjacent to Queens Park North on the west side, we also have the Zebing project, the indigenous landscape project at the University of Toronto. There's a great opportunity here to bring that orphaned park piece of parkland into the dialogue connecting the Canadiana gallery, connecting the indigenous landscape project in Queens Park as a whole and better restore and um protect the uh Toronto's oldest freestanding monument. Uh we also there's been great discussion today around better protection of trees uh in Queens Park. I've noted that there's been a push for many years now for a heritage tree program to be established at the city of Toronto. Um this has been pushed by many people including Edith George and Weston and my understanding former Missaga Chief Carolyn King. To date the city of Toronto does not have an active heritage tree program. These character trees in uh Queens Park are noted by the Royal Ontario Museum and our speakers today as being historically significant with on-site interpretation by the Royal Ontario Museum. I encourage the members of council here today and Mayor Chow to seriously establish a heritage tree program. The Ontario uh heritage act does allow for it under section 29 and the forest councils Ontario only has a commemorative program with no actual legal protection for heritage trees. I also note that there's been discussion around restaurant elements and cafes. If I was a billionaire sitting in my boardroom, I would seriously look at the art deco skyscraper at the Whitney block on the east side of Queens Park as a restaurant site rather than the park itself. That beautiful 16story art deco skyscraper. Everything above the sixth floor has been emptied since the 1960s. There's a great opportunity there to put a restaurant or better revitalize that space. You get your million-dollar skyline view. you leave the park space alone. Um, or if you want to put one at ground level, look at the surface parking lot at the northeast corner of the Queens Park building on Welsley Street itself. That's been largely empty. 80% of the time would be a great spot for some intensification or better community use. Uh, I also note that Linda Brett and some other members have mentioned safety concerns. I seriously consider line of sight studies and activity studies of what's happening at Queens Park after dark. Uh, just for general safety. Um, I've been followed home by or followed through Queens Park at nighttime by way too many people uh who are soliciting for a number of illicit activities. It's really quite an alarming situation. So, I strongly encourage that be examined as well. And I want to note the water feature. This is my final point. I see I'm running out of time here in a few seconds. The water feature in the park is significant. It was designed in the 1950s. Uh, I'm a bit baffled by the discussion in the documents of converting that to a garden and putting a new water feature in the park. got revitalized. We're revitalized existing one. Thank you. Thank you very much. Are there any questions for the speaker? All right, seeing none, I will go to our last and final speaker, John Rstonall. Thank you for your patience. Uh you have five minutes to speak. Um and please start whenever you're ready, and I'll let you know when you're getting close to time. Thank you, Scott. I'm sorry I don't have much of a voice um today. Deputy Mayor, thank you very much. Counselors, it's great honor to be here. Um, I uh live uh just north of Blure uh in the annex and before for 20 years. And before that, after a little break in Ottawa, I lived for 20 years on Hazelton Avenue in Yorkville. So, uh 40 years. And whenever I walk downtown, which I do all the time, I walk through Queens Park North. So it's uh one of the parks that I I love the most and I'm very familiar with and see all sorts of things that happen there. Um I think people have spoken today very beautifully about the uh the the the importance of the land of the trees of the historic nature of uh this forest. Um I want to add to that another element which may sound contradictory at first but I don't think is which is you know this is the legislature of the people of Ontario. It's the most important provincial legislature in Canada and uh since it was built um it has always been a gathering place for citizens not necessarily to protest the government of Ontario. They just gather there because, you know, just the way people gather on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, citizens need a place to gather. They either gather in front of city hall or they gather around um uh uh Queens Park. And I remember very clearly in 1990 when Nelson Mandela came to Canada because Canada had so supported him that 30,000 Torononians came together to hear him in front of Queens Park. that would no longer be possible because that whole part of the south side of Queens Park has been landscaped so that citizens cannot gather there. It's been all broken up. You can say it's pretty, it's nice. Citizens, this is a place of citizens and they cannot gather any longer in front of the legislature in large numbers. So, it's still true that the other side, the side we're talking about, is a place where citizens can gather. And we have to keep that in mind. This is a place of democracy of citizens and they have to be allowed to gather and anything that's done like restaurants or uh what is it called? Canopy walk are getting in the way of the ability of citizens to gather quite apart from its effect on the forest and the nature of the place. What we're talking about is on the one hand a forest and I I what can I add to what's been said and the gathering place it's two real functions and then people like me and all of you walk through it and we sit and we have our lunch and all the rest of it. Those are the functions of the place. uh bringing in a restaurant with the attached toilets and the attached large garbage bins and the music which will come in spite of everything that the authorities can do to stop it in the middle of the park is a disastrous idea. It gets right at the center of this historic and important park and interferes with a really kind of cheapening of it by putting in these things which as somebody mentioned I can't remember how many cafes there are within close walking distance. There is no need of a cafe on these grounds. Zero need a cafe on these grounds. As for toilets, I mean put them somewhere in a corner, put them next to the the subway. They don't need to be in the center. Um and and that let me just insert a tiny thing about the current statue of um uh the important imperial figure. This is not a Canadian statue. This statue was made by a British imperial uh sculptor for India to celebrate the British in the Indian Raj. It's an Indian British statue. It was taken out by the Indian government and put in a warehouse before being melted down and mysteriously was then saved and brought to Toronto and put in the center of one of our most important parks. So, I understand that the plan is to move it to a corner. I don't know why it would have a corner. It doesn't belong in Toronto. It has no historic significance at all in this city. It should just be taken away and auctioned off to whoever wants it. That's all. there's no purpose in it. So, um, and if we have the restaurant, well, we're looking at garbage bins and we're looking at toilets and we're looking at music and looking all the rest of it. So, let me just finish by saying I think that, and you've heard it today, we have to make this a a center of perhaps of tree education. We have this wonderful forest of forestry research. I was talking with people about this when the break. uh a wonderful amount of that money that's been given could be spent on great hardware to identify the trees and talk about the trees so people will actually what is the entertainment of this forest the forest is the entertainment the trees are the entertainment and so the better job we do at describing it and making kids feel excited and parents feel excited and I would bring my friends when they come to visit Toronto to see this and to read about it that's what it's about this should be a temple of trees And people will love this and they will come for this. Thank you very much. Well, thank you. Whoa. Well said. Thank Thank you very much. Um questions. Uh Councelor Fletcher, thank you so much for clarifying the statue for me as I've asked about that. Can't resist it. I'm glad you did. That was very clear. You do have a strong opinion. The history probably one I appreciate and in looking at I just think that you've been very clear with us today and I thank you. So for me the clarifying the concept of this park uh clarifying the nature of this park clarifying the historical elements and nature of the park and its relationship to the history of the residents and the governments seems to me to be the first thing or that that's missing. There's a lot of things that have been put in here that might not fit or that if you haven't If you haven't done those things, now you're picking from a list and putting things in there. Would you agree that that would be an important exercise that that's been missing? Yeah, it feels as if um you know, it's it feels to me as I gradually understand better what's happened. It's it's sort of backwards and I don't know how that happened. I'm not blaming anybody. The staff are fantastic. So, I'm not blaming anyone. But you you know it's it's maybe it's when there's a vacuum that people start putting things in. Let's have a restaurant. Let's have let's have toilets at the center. Let's have a skywalk or whatever. Um, you really have to have an idea. Well, what are we doing here? Well, what we're doing here is we have a fantastic forest. We have a a fantastic history. We have a place people want to walk through. That's a lot already. This isn't that big. I mean, the last You don't need to distract people with restaurants and there's just no need for any of that. It's it's like, you know, bad painting doesn't get better if you just keep adding stuff. We'll put a blob here and a blob there, you know. So, it really is the nature of it currently, as I've said, is a restbite uh and a restorative location and a gathering place and a gathering place. But there aren't too many places like this in this area. No. south of south of blue or anywhere like university avenue you can't actually prominad along those parks along university so and they're quite pretty but just the nature of that space I think could be clarified and and it will be designed for the nature of the space there's no agreement yet on what that nature of that space would be irrespective of it's this tree or that tree or Norway maple or a sugar maple but to me that's missing at this point Yeah, I think that that Eric described very well the He still is. There he is. You know, very well that you know how you have to kind of look at what is the ground, how did what's the history? How did the trees come to be there? What are the trees? I mean, that's all that's so exciting. I think you we must be very careful and I say this to elected people, you know better than us, what must never insult the public by saying they're too dumb to find this exciting. We have to give them toys to excite themselves. People will be excited by this park being celebrated as a park. And I think we have to go to the nth degree to celebrate it as a park and as trees. There's no interpretive elements there at the moment. They're little bits but but not not in a meaningful the I I think you know a surprising amount of money could be spent on producing the finest interpretive things. I don't mean that big machines. I mean elements the me metals you're using and and the the way you identify the trees and things. I think that could be a really interesting what I would call highquality project which would then make Queens Park the park of Toronto that everybody what they say well what do you do about you know this what do you do about uh Norway Maples what do you do about they say well what did they do in Queens Park it becomes the point of reference for the city and I think you know I love city this city and I walk around it all the time during co we just walked and walked and walked my wife and I and and and and I think what the city needs in a way is a central reference for its parklands and its trees because it's a great tree city and yet we don't know how to talk about it in a way we don't know how to make sense of it and I think the discussion about nor maples is a really good discussion you know I mean we probably I don't know what do I know I'd probably get rid of them but I'm not a forester you know um okay thank you councelor fetcher any other questions if not Thank you so much for your time. And that is our last speaker folks. Um I think uh councelor Saxs uh you have to floor and then I'm going to say a few words. Uh and then I think councelor Matlo has a motion. Oh yeah. Oh question to the staff first. Uh council sax. Yeah. No thank you. Uh thank you very much. Um, so Kim, st them here somewhere. There we are. Hello. Okay. So, um, Kim, uh, first of all, do you agree that the mature trees, the valuable trees in this park need additional support and protection than what they're getting now? Uh, through the chair, I would agree with that. Okay. And do you agree with Sandy that it's not possible to install the treewalk as proposed without damaging the distinctive trees? So through the chair, the the current conceptual design is built within the tree protection zones uh of several trees. Um and as uh professor Smith pointed out, um there would be some impact to that. So for that installation Okay. So I think you're saying that uh you're agreeing with her that building the treewalk as proposed would harm the distinctive trees in this park. To the chair, I think that's a accurate statement. Okay. Thank you. Um a question to um to the park department. Um is this a local park just for the people in the immediate vicinity? Through the chair of the city's parkland strategy defines this as a city park given its size and its connectivity across the city. Through the chair through the chair the council approved parkland strategy defines this as a city park. So, not just a community serving park, but a city park serving the entirety of the city. Okay. And what is a city park supposed to have by way of features, amenities, characteristics? So, a city park should serve that local community. And we've heard today from many people how important this green space is among the few that are in the downtown, but it also should have amendities or reasons to bring people to the park such as the forest elements that have been spoken to. Okay. Um, one of the concerns that was raised was about the procurement provision in your in your recommendation. Will the construction of anything to be built in this park go through the normal tendering process? Thank you for the question. I'm glad we're able to clarify that. So there was a clause a recommendation in the report that speaks to non-competitive procurement that is only for the city to take on board existing consultant contracts but the actual construction contract would be tendered by the city following our policies as we do with other capital projects. Okay. In the normal way. Um we also had a number of deputent suggest that the Weston's money should be used for other purposes, other parks, other public purposes. Um, did you discuss with the Westons whether they were willing to give these funds for other parks or other purposes? That has been discussed with the donors that the donors are very specifically interested in improving the condition of this park over the long term given their personal attachment to the park through their mother Hillary Weston as well as their investments elsewhere in the neighborhood. They do also support uh activities such as the Meadowway, Evergreen, and other public realm efforts elsewhere in the city through other donations. All right. But is it open to us to take the $50 million and do other things with it through the chair? I think it's open to the city to push the city's priorities and objectives in this partnership. Understanding the donor would have an opinion as well where they want to see their money go. Okay. But as it stands at the moment, is it open to us to take this money and use it for other purposes? No. No, it's not open as proposed here in the terms of reference you see in the report. It's for this park project specifically. Okay. Um, and you've seen you've seen my letter and the motion that's been developed from it. Do you support that motion? Yes, we do, counselor. Thank you. Okay. Others uh question. Deputy Mayor Malik. Thank you very much. Um, I heard today mentioned um, Graange Park um, and sharing the example of the agreement there. I would also raise the Bentway as an example of agreements like this at the city of Toronto. Uh can you share how this agreement or the way that it is looking to be shaped is similar or different from other agreements in the city um that has uh an approach that shares park space and um and through private donations through the chair. Thank you for the question. The approach here in terms of the proposed operating model outlined in the attachments to the report comes from a detailed study of different partnerships, different arrangements we have across the city, including the Bentway, Toronto Botanical Garden, Graange Park for sure. We have certainly learned lessons and and discuss what is most appropriate. It's not really a cookie cutter approach. So, we're considering what's most appropriate to Queens Park North. In this case, for example, I'd highlight the intention of having funds dedicated to the maintenance and repair within the park and not just the capital upfront capital investment, but also note like with the Bentway meetings having dedicated staff as well as an advisory board approach. Um, so building on that, there has been quite a lot shared today. Thank you to all the speakers who um you know we heard from about public engagement and community uh consultation in the decision-m and the ultimate kind of uh design of the park. Can you uh share a little bit more about how public engage engagement and community consultation has been addressed and will be included on the ongoing work in this park? So community engagement has been ongoing since middle of last year and it's certainly not over. We're deep into another round of engagement which kicked off with an open house last Thursday. We intend on meeting with the various focus groups we set up uh having other activities through the months of March and April um and advancing discussions on the design on operating model on maintenance approaches and all the topics discussed today. Okay, my turn. Yeah. Yep. Any other questions? Council Fletcher, just that that last comment, it just sounds to me like that is uh already determined. Um going to have a conversation about these elements. We're going to have a conversation about the operating model. Uh can you just clarify that this is just a concept plan? That's correct. It certainly isn't ready for tender. Correct. That's that's definitely not ready for tender whatsoever. It's a concept plan for further feedback. sounded a bit more like something that's been completely decided on, which it may have been, but I think from today we're going to be making some directional um suggestions. Uh I guess the question about the money is it's 50 million that's for this location, but it doesn't have to be used immediately. it can be developed whatever is going to go there and then a plan for over time for the maintenance of this space and anything else that happens. Would I be correct to think that? You would be correct counselor. There's a generous offer but it's up to the city to determine how spend the 50 million on everything that we're talking about at this very moment. Thank you, councelor. If I can clarify, it's 50 million for the capital investment and an additional 40 million or more for maintenance and repairs over is the c is there a time frame? I'm going to ask the partnership office for that for that uh donation. Does it say you must spend that $50 million within x time frame? Is that in your contribution agreement or not? I'm asking the partnership office because I don't think you I don't think you did that agreement or maybe you did but I think it's partnership. Parks and recreation are negotiating the agreement with advice from the partnership office as well as legal and other parties. So something that comes in for a partnership that then goes to parks and recreation or it's dealt with at the partnership office where it's developed by the variety of divisions I named and presented to council for direction in terms of who has carriage of the partnership agreement. I'll ask the general manager in your division. Terry can jump in if she wants. council directed us in March to directed the general manager of parks and recreation to negotiate this next donation agreement which we're presenting today. So you're negotiate that on. Thank you. Uh for a tree protection zone, I'm just going to remind everybody through Miss Statham, when you build something, you have a tree protection zone if you're going to rebuild your front or rebuild your home. That's the area around the tree and it cannot be encroached upon. Correct. Sorry. That right. So, you said that some of that canopy walk would be within the tree protection zone in our own park. Did I hear that right? That that's the current plan. That's that's correct. So, that isn't ideal, is it? Because what we expect of the public, we should expect in our own parks. I just want to clarify this notion of a city park because when I chaired the parks and environment committee many years ago, we we determined the designations for parks, the destination park, the district park. Uh what do you not have those designations any longer? We do, counselor, and you're right that there's been different definitions over time. The 2019 parkland strategy defined this as a 5 to 8 hectare city park. Okay. So maybe you'll bring all of that back so we can confirm that because it's really clear. It sounds like it is a destination park. We have the island as a destination park. We have High Park as a destination park. There seems to be a difference of opinion as to what that would be and what the destination would be and we're hearing a lot of thoughts about that today. Um, I just want to ask lastly the concept was that where was the concept first brought? Was it brought as a concept to the community? Uh, who developed the concept of the canopy walk, the restaurant? Was that the donor? Was that the landscape architect? Was that city staff? Or was that from a public kind of uh concept meeting? you know, we have the meeting saying, "Here's this space. Let's talk about what could go there." Which one of those four was it? So, a a vision and principles were developed through engagement through last year with public participation. A concept in response to that vision has been brought forward through multiple rounds of engagement and refined over time by the project team. Somebody says, "Let's have a restaurant, then that's why it's in there." Am I right? It's in part a responding to city council direction on including food and beverage in parks where appropriate in parks but somebody's making that decision that so I'm what I'm hearing so far is there's a vision here's everything everybody wants and and I think Mr. Saul said it properly. It It's nobody's fault, but everybody had an idea and now it seems like all the ideas are reflected somewhere in this park. But the concept of whether it's kind of an active park, you've got music and um restaurants and big washrooms and everything or is it this restorative relaxed glade? that concept was that two differences brought to the public or was it just a visioning exercise through the chair? I believe that we are actually very aligned with what we've heard today from deputants in terms of the the vision and expectations for this park. It's the matter in which it's delivered. We always talk about the trees first and last and we want to make sure we have the appropriate plans in place to have the values of this park, the qualities of this park endure over the long term. Thank you. Hey, thank you. Any other questions? Nope. Uh, speaker counselor Sax and then Yeah. Um, yes. Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, as everyone can tell, this is a matter of great interest to many people in my ward and across the city. Um, it is incredibly generous of the Weston family to come forward offering the city a donation of what's really hundred million um $50 million up to $50 million in capital works in this park and $2.5 million a year for 20 years which adds up on my math to another $50 million to maintain the park. Um what we know all across the city is that the city is cash trarapped. We don't have the money to provide the level of capital infrastructure we wish we did. We don't have the money to provide the level of maintenance that people demand and want to see. And as we intensify the pressure on public infrastructure, public spaces and public parks is multiplying and multiplying rapidly. I see that at a very high rate in my ward. Um I have more uh subway stations than anywhere else. And so with transit oriented development, there's been an enormous pressure to intensify along the blur and young spines. Um which is adding tens of thousands of people, most of them with no private outdoor space. Uh and a ward that already outside Rosedale was one of the most park deficient in the city. So we have extraordinary demands being placed on every inch of parkland and not enough money to keep them in good enough condition to meet those needs. So it's in that context that the generous offer of the western family has to be considered and worked with and judged. Um, I thank the staff for the work they've done. I thank the community members. I know that many people have put a large amount of time in this. I think we heard some really really valuable um contributions from the deputants today and of course I've also heard them from my community outside today. and and the one thing on which I think we have heard reasonable consensus is that the treewalk doesn't fit right um everyone agrees I think almost everyone agree well actually people don't agree all of them about anything but there is general agreement that the most important feature about this park is the trees and I love John Rston Saul's description of this being a temple of trees and in particular There are there's a significant number of distinctive native trees, mature trees, including some of the last butternut in Toronto, some of the last butternut in Ontario, um that need protection that are in trouble right now because the soil is thin, it's compacted, um too many people walk on the roots, it gets shaken from the subway. So, the trees need help and we heard some some really good suggestions about how we do it. Um and we've also heard a lot of interest u reaffirmed by this council places to eat, places to go to the bathroom in parks. Um we heard um Al's comment about the need for facilities for children, the interest in gardens. So we do have needs in this park. Um we don't yet have consensus on what the concept plan should be. We don't have signoff from the heritage planning. We don't have sign off from urban forestry. We don't have sign off from the university which owns the land and nothing can be done without their consent. Um so I'm glad I'm grateful that my colleagues in the mayor's office have agreed that we this needs to come back uh and it will come back in May with with an actual concept plan proposed and hopefully answers to these questions um as to what best makes this a temple of trees. How do we improve um its attractiveness for children? How do we make it more engaging for people? I've got my my personal favorite of QR codes on. There's 300 odd trees in this park. Each one could have a QR code. You look take put your phone in that code and you hear a story told by someone about something, the ecological history, the cultural history, the human history, um and the university's interest in extending that across east and west to their premises. So there could be again a knitting together of town and gown which I've been trying to do for the last several years. So there's a lot of opportunities here. There definitely are some pitfalls we don't want to fall into. I thank everybody. I thank my colleague um councelor Matlo is going to make make the motion that we've worked on. I appreciate that. Uh I know this took a lot of time everybody today, but this is really important to a lot of people and I appreciate your help getting to what I hope is going to be a really good result for the city. Thank you. I'm gonna just say a few words and then councelor Matlo you have the motion ready and councelor Fetcher. Yep. And councelor Perks just one second. Well, thank you to all the deputants that oh been here since 9:30 this morning. Thank you for your time and thank you for your patience and your participation in this process. developing a vision that uh is not easy and uh number one yes there's very generous donation. is historically the biggest donation the city have received and also is groundbreaking in that normally the city would uh receive capital that donation of this kind just for capital but this one actually has maintenance and operation attached to it so it's unique opportunity for us to do something spectacular number two what I'm hearing is that protect what we have what what is most special about this? Okay, I heard about trees and forests. As someone that spent quite a bit of my time when I do have time in the wilderness, I I do understand how wilderness or trees or anything green or water or the sky uh really lift us up and really situate us uh in in this universe and how important it is for any number of reasons whether it's mental health, physical health and etc. I hear that yes, revitalize the park, but don't destroy what you have. Um, that's came across really clearly. I think there are two questions we need to ask. Who is missing? Who are not in this park that should really enjoy this park even more? And how do we bring them there or how do we attract them? And when they're there, what element of this park is so special? And we've heard some suggestions. And then how do we bring people together so that division that we have is not is compatible that there's no huge conflict, right? There's always some differences but uh as long as there's some established principle then I think we can move forward. It requires a lot of listening a lot of give and take. What I've heard is that you've gone to three meetings and it was a lot of listening but there wasn't any giving which doesn't help. That's why we're here. So we are saying now that we have in March yes we could go and receive with great deal of thanks but before we approve the conceptual plan let us work together hear each other make changes find out who is well we already know who is missing and talk about how do we get there and at the heart of it. How do we capture the be beauty that I think the Hillary the Western family really wants? And I think there's some element of the Irish Canadian their contribution to this city given that they there were 38,000 that came in 1987 at the time in the city only have 20,000 people. Right? So that history is also a part of it. Where does that history situate? Should it situate? Should there be a piece of it, right? That that element of it in a very light way, not to overwhelm, not to uh because I'm hearing the overwhelming part should be nature and trees, right? But aside from it, what else are there? What other elements? Because I think Paul was very clear. Um is it Paul? I think. Yeah, Paul Fairley. Um, so there's a lot that we can do together and I think in the next few months there will be lots of opportunity to do so and that's why I fully support what councelor Matlo is going to be moving together with a whole team counselor and others that we could work together. Okay. So um, thank you for the time and councelor Matlo is yours and then councelor Fletcher. Uh, thank you. Uh thank you, mayor. Um so I am I am putting forward a motion that is uh based on uh a very helpful letter from the local counselor uh to address many of the issues, concerns that she's been hearing along with contributions from my colleagues including the mayor uh who uh really put in writing what she's put in words which is that uh that the community is important as part of this discussion. um and uh along with with my contributions and the thoughts of others. Uh this is local democracy at work. You are watching this happen in real time. Uh and it's not just those who are at the horseshoe. It's those who we represent. I can also give credit to inspiring words from many of the residents including Sue Dexter who I just love hearing speak along with uh counselor Seda Ram Kalawan Singh. You get to keep your your honorific I believe. So, uh who um who uh is a remarkable advocate for her community along with uh those of you here today who are making your voice heard and um you know, Queens Park North is uh as has been said several times, um a jewel for so many people across the province and across the city. and those of us who don't live nearby, including myself, value it and love it and appreciate the um the old growth oaks, the forest that is in the heart of our city. And you never get that back. And it's so important to to be a steward, a collective steward of the nature that we have in our city. And as Olivia, as the mayor said, I'm I'm another one who uh take great effort in this busy life to find places of nature, to find respit and to find joy and reflection and come back to myself when it's right in the heart of our city. Why would we ever want to see that lost? But um but I also recognize that, you know, there are there are many voices here that want to be part of this conversation. And while it's important to all of us, there's there are no one there are no people who actually appreciate it and know it better than those who live nearby. Uh I might visit it, but the people who spoke today see it as this common space for the community. It's the place where they will go on a day-to-day basis if I go maybe every so often. And that's why their voices are are so critical to this conversation. So what we're doing today is that we are putting their priorities into this motion and again the local counselor really did make effort to reflect those priorities in the letter and she should be acknowledged for doing that work. It's a lot of work. It's difficult work and I wanted to acknowledge that work. Um but together as a committee uh you know with with the mayor as our chair we recognize that this needs to be done in stages in a way that we don't go ahead of the community we do it with the community and that's why this will not be uh a done deal today. Uh yes we are accepting the money. Why wouldn't we? And I think most people who spoke today acknowledge that we want to do something good with it. We want the park to be remarkable. The question is what does remarkable really look like? So let's have that conversation over the next few weeks and that conversation will happen. Uh there will be another report brought back to the infrastructure committee in May. Nothing will be set in stone. Nothing will move rapidly forward before that. And then no shovels can go in the ground, no changes can be made without council approval. And this motion assures the community of that too. And that was a contribution I want to acknowledge the mayor put in because of her commitment to that cons that genuine genuine consultation approach. So I'm very proud of this collective effort. I think this is the right approach and then hopefully through that collaborative approach that will be uh done through the leadership of the local counselor and the leadership of the community. I'm hoping that and and then of course all the experts that need to be there to inform the decision. I'm hoping that we have something to be proud of in May that we can support and if we don't then we'll have to make a different decision. Thank you. Thank you, uh, Council Fletcher. Uh, thank you, Mayor. Uh this really is a wonderful opportunity to get such a generous gift for such a precious part of the city and we should thank the Western family for their interest and commitment to this and I'm sure they're listening and understand that this is a special place and must remain a very special place for the city. I don't think there's a deadline. I've just asked the deputy city, there's no deadline. You must have that concept by X day. It there must be a shovel in the ground by X time. This is 8 5 to 8 hectares. It's a 16 17 maybe 20. It's a big place. So I think we should disabuse ourselves of on May. We have to have the exactly what's going to happen. I don't believe that. I think this is a process we're entering into now with many voices and it's important to get it right. If you don't get it right at the beginning, it's never going to be right. That's the first thing. I want to thank the deputants. Um, these are real community leaders. We don't often get these deputants in such numbers on an issue here at the city with their levels of expertise and different their experience. reminded me uh almost that we would be they would all be here to talk about this Fedina Expressway and now they're all here to talk about this particular beautiful park and we have to listen because you don't often come together in this configuration as a community to speak to city hall. So when you're here I'm listening. That's what I want to let you know. I do believe that here and I think Mr. Saul said that the best way. John Rston saw that, it does seem to be a little backwards. And while when I asked staff that didn't seem to judge it in the same way, but this notion of the concept, what is the concept of this 5 to 8 hectares of city space in the middle of downtown behind the seat of government for the province of Ontario? What's the concept? It has it did have a concept. It does have a relationship to the community. Is it a tree temple? Is it a glade? Um we can't have a tree canopy walk proposed that imposes on the tree protection zone that we're imposing on every developer in the city of Toronto. I don't think that's right. So already just hearing that I know we have some fixing to do here today. I want to just note that Lesie Spit, you know, there's always been a lot of pressure. Put this on the Lesley Spit. Why don't you do that? Why can't I drive right out in my van to the end of the Lesley Spit? No, you can't. You can't drive through the Lesley Spit. Here's the nature of the spit. When we developed the Dossay, here's the nature of that park. And believe me, it took a whole number of years for the concept and then the development. It is a sister to the Lesley Spit. There is some children's area and then behind that it is all naturalized area and the Dawn Greenway which again mayor I'll remind you and everybody that that I always tried to finish all the projects that Jack Leighton had and that was one of them. I do think we should clarify the uh concept, clarify the nature. I'll say that as the chair of parks and environment, which I was, which set up all of those designations, there weren't any until a Ryerson group did that for the city of Toronto. I want to make sure we have that nested in the right way. That this is going to come to infrastructure and environment. I will not have 20 deputants there opposing or saying no. I'm letting you know that now councelor Saxs I will be involved to bring a product there. Is it May? Is it June? Whatever date that it's coming it has the consensus. It is what is a beautiful concept. It's how we're going to spend the money and that is my what I am saying I will do today. So for this motion, I'll support it, but I think it needs some fixing, which I will do between now and council to make it clearer what the aims are, what the goal is, what the deadlines are, what the process is, who does an advisory group. I'm still unclear who chooses them, how that happens. Councelor Sachs, you're going to have a very big role in this park uh changes or or how it's going to be enhanced. I don't want to say change. There's an enhancement coming. What is it going to be? But we will not have everybody here saying you didn't get that right in May or June or whatever date that is. That's all I'm going to say for this moment. Not happening. People, we're going to get this right to start with. You're going to be happy. You're going to write your letters. Please don't all come if it's good because we have a lot of deputations. Just tell us tell us that we did a good job. Thank you. Thank you, counselor. Counselor Perks. Thank you. Um, I love this place. I just love this place. So, for about 20 years, I sat in those chairs as a a community activist on environmental issues and, you know, would watch the committee change its mind in in real time. And now for almost 20 years, I've sat on this side and I've changed my mind a lot of times. Not as often as some, but yeah. But the thing that's amazing about this place is how utterly priceless this process is. There's no other government in North America of our size where we have conversations like this where you know Sue can come and remind us about how community is built in a neighborhood and Paul can tell us about what a planner sees and John can teach us a whole lot about statuary that we didn't know. Uh, and and Sue, I had about a hundred questions about the bugs, uh, and the, you know, the the the kinds of bugs that can't live in non-native trees and their contribution to the ecosystem. And I'm going to phone you and you're going to tell me all about it. Okay? But when when you add up that advice, when you add up that creativity, you get a suddenly very different idea of who's being generous and what's valuable. What we heard today in so many ways is worth more than $50 million. And I want to thank everyone who took the time to come and and uh very generously grant us the gifts of their wisdom, experience, and knowledge. uh you've made a change here today and that change will continue. I you know I can't think of two people that uh will be more relentless than councelor Saxs and counselor Fletcher in driving what we've heard today home. So, you know, in closing, I really love this place. It works. Thank you. Democracy in action. Any other speaker? If not, councelor Perks can sorry councelor Matlo you have a motion on behalf of Tata. Here we are. Folks have taken a look previously. Thank you for pulling it all together. All those in favorose carry. I think it's unanimous. Thank you so very very much. and the item itself. All those in favor oppose. Carry. Thank you. All right. Thank you for your time. Now, we have 10 other things we have to do. Uh because of Ramadan, sunsets at uh will be soon. So, let us get through this agenda because we have a few more items we have to do. I think our next one is about litter bins. We have two speaker, Daniel Tate and Brooke Coatswerf. Daniel Tate, are you still here? Thank you. Uh, and let we will I feel like an expert on trees now. I We learned a whole lot about trees. Go for it. Okay, we're ready. Okay. Where are we here? Okay. 29.5. Street furniture and little bin. Okay. Um I want to bring up the elephant in the room, which is our garbage bins suck. They are terrible. They're decrepit. They're an absolute embarrassment. Um I'm not going to beat around the bush here. Uh I've heard this is not just my own experience. This is the experience of every citizen in the city. This is what tourists say and we're absolutely the laughingtock of the the the western world because our garbage bins are in utter utter pathetic state of uh uh a state of hardware. How did we get here? So in 2007 we signed a rotten deal with a media company. Why were we giving a media company operational control over a core essential service, your street furniture, garbage bins? I don't know why we did that, but looking back, we can see that councelor Carol voted for it. Any voted for it, Fletcher, Perks, Nunziata, and Peruta. So, there are people in this building who are directly responsible for this terrible deal. The design was terrible. The garbage bins were infer of inferior quality. Uh there was problems with maintenance and they're incredibly easy to break, which is the problem we're in right now. Anybody who is high on drugs uh or otherwise out of their mind can easily break into these garbage bins, which causes a tremendous amount of mess on our streets. Uh, and that is very demoralizing to taxpaying, law-abiding citizens who have to walk around as if it's like the third world. Just getting here today, I had to step over all sorts of litter and I walked past four or five garbage bins that are in complete disrepair. Why did it take so long? I understand the Astral deal is expiring next year, so maybe that's why we're talking about it. But this city council got elected in 2022. this mayor was elected in 2023 and you had ample time to reopen that agreement and make the required amendments or just cancel it outright. I don't understand why we've left it to the last minute during an election year. And by the way, uh the four people who voted against the Astral deal in 2007 were councilors Davis, Jenkins, Vaughn, and Ford. Rob Ford voted against it. Um so here we are. We're now dealing with the great Toronto garbage plague, which is the state of affairs that we are in. And people all over the city are very disgusted with the amount uh of litter that's on our streets, and that's definitely part and parcel to the pathetic state of our garbage bins. Here's one example out of Blur Sherburn, uh Chris Moyes's Ward. This bin is completely off its rocker. Like, it's it's been removed. It's it's just hanging off a snowbank. Um look at look at this one. the the doors completely open. Uh and it's just this is we can't claim to be a worldclass city if we have garbage bins like this. It just makes us everybody in city hall. It makes you all look bad. Um and that's just that's a normal rational point of view. So we're we are in a world of hurt here and we have to understand that any new deal uh and this I think is a unique uh moment where me and the mayor actually agree we need to bring garbage back in house. Okay, contracting this out to third parties, bad idea. Especially contracting it to media companies, really bad idea. Um, just looking at the clock here, I want to give you an example of what's going on in New York. Uh, let's see how they how Time Square does their bins. Is going to give us a little lesson on how to properly do garbage bins. Look at these. Pretty heavy duty. Even got the little step thingy. Pop it in. Closed. Nice and sturdy. These doors look pretty pretty tough. Nice and clean. And advertising opportunity. There's even some down there with Michael Jackson on them. Look at that. MJ on the garbage bin. New York knows how to do it. Toronto, we got to get our act together. Okay. So, there's great examples of welldone garbage bins in other worldclass cities like New York where the hardware is excellent. Uh we should have a very competitive RFP process where companies that specialize in this stuff uh can produce excellent uh street furniture bins for us. Uh it's again, it's another revenue source. You can sell advertising. also a great opportunity to showcase local artists. So, thank you for hearing me and appreciate your time. Thank Thank you. Any questions? Oh, thank you for showing us what New York is doing. Um, next speaker, Brooke Coatsworth, are you here? Brooke online. You online? Can we hear you? You can hear me. How are you? I'm good. Go ahead. Thank you. I'll keep this short in honor of your time this afternoon. Members of the executive committee, thank you again for hearing me today. Uh, as the city considers decoupling litter bins from the street furniture contract, I would encourage you to think about how existing city staff can help support the program and clean up our city. Uh, Toronto has recently expanded its crossing guard workforce across the city. These guards already walk to major intersections where litter bins are located and presumably encounter significant litter on their way. Uh a simple operational idea would be to equip them with one or two garbage bags during their route uh to their posts and any litter collected could be left at a designated pickup spot for solid waste crews. Uh it's a small step, but using an existing working force uh to collect litter along the roots could help prevent overflowing bins and improve street cleanliness being scheduled between collections. That's all. Thank you. Thank you for being brief and to the point. Questions to deputent. If not on the item, councelor Fletcher. Well, I just wanted to clarify something with Mr. Keller who's I believe here two staff. Yep. No, sorry. Sorry, Mr. Curtis, because right now there's two different I don't think we could have just canceled that contract. There would have been a significant penalty. Is that not right? I mean, we can't walk out of the 20-year contract. It's going to end. So, now is the moment when we can make these changes. Just to clarify. Okay. Uh to the chair, I'm just going to answer this for Mr. Curtis. Uh again, contracts are very complicated. No, you could not just walk away. There would be legal ramifications. It would be need need to be discussed. Thank you. So, just to clarify for anybody that thought we could cancel, couldn't cancel. We'd be in court for a long time. Probably have the bins we have for a long time. Thank you. But I'm happy to move that letter. Mayor, thank you. Just say that we have this great opportunity to bring these in house. Uh as noted in our letter, the litter bins are generally no longer part of a street furniture contract. So even if we said we wanted somebody to do that in Vancouver, they did and everybody said we're not doing that. So, this is real life we're in now with a really great opportunity to get ahead of it and I think it's probably a pretty exciting moment to change out some of the broken old pedestals and things that Mr. Tate was talking about and I can't wait to get at it with you. Thank you, uh, counselor. Uh, I do have some questions with staff, madame mayor, but I in the interest of time, I'm happy to save those for council if this item's going to advance there. and uh not coming to council. Okay, I will take my few moments. Sorry, Madame Mayor. Um if you could start my time. I just have a few quick questions for staff uh on this update. Um we've heard about potential separation from the street furniture program for the litterbin um collection. How would responsibilities currently shared between Astromedia's solid waste management and the street furniture team change? what would look different if litter bins are separated from the street furniture program. So through the the chair um so councelor the anticipated end state would be that um solid waste would be responsible for the installation the maintenance and the upkeep of the bins which currently Astral does right now. Um and we are um we we right now collect from those bins and we will continue to collect from that in the future state. Great. Thank you. Uh if solid waste management assumes responsibility which it sounds like for your answer that's what the the future state will be uh for the installation maintenance of these bins. Does the division currently have the tools and resources needed to take this role on? No. Can you give us a little bit more context and color what you anticipate additional resources might look like? Uh so through uh the mayor to to committee um that's some work that we will have to uh put together over the next few months working with transportation getting some detailed information from Astral on their service standards and align that with uh you know what work we would need to do to increase those service standards within the division. And then we would be bringing back um a report back to council on the resources that we would need and based on this letter incorporate that into our working budget for next year. Um great. Is that work that's underway or does that need to be um moved as direction? Uh that's work that's currently being uh done right now. Great. Um and the timeline that you anticipate that report back. So, we're looking at uh early next year to to come back with a full report and uh direction on any RFPs that may be required at that time. Great. Thank you. Uh given solid waste management does already service litter bins um in some cases, how would separating bins from street furniture contract help reduce overflow specifically? So councelor, we'd have more um you know dedicated eyes on those bins. So right now when we look at the the program as a whole, we are bringing in some of our littervac work and those littervac operators will um have the ability to report uh on those bins back to staff, back to their supervisors uh versus reporting to Astral to take care of those bins. So, we have a better line of sight through more active management of our in-house staff who are already deployed to get more intel back to supervisors and the team to dispatch crews to either uh address the the cleanliness of the bins or to repair the bins and take any necessary measures that we need to do to enhance that service. Great. That sounds good. and look forward to that report back on the service standards and how we might expedite uh find more efficiencies within this future state. Um just a last quick question on how the waste management strategy for FIFA World Cup I identified litter hotspots and what criteria will determine the number and placement of additional bins during the tournament. So, councelor, we're just finalizing our waste management plan right now in collaboration with uh the FIFA secretariat transportation services uh MLS and a number of other divisions and we'd be glad to to walk you through that once it's uh fully um fully done. I look forward to that opportunity. Uh those are all my questions. Thank you, Madam Deputy. Thank you very much. Are there any other questions for staff? Uh uh Deputy Mayor Cole. Uh yes. uh to uh Mr. Keller. Uh I guess about three years ago, I raised the questions about these bins and uh I asked whether or not we could examine the possibility of using the solar powered compact bins that are used in Germany and Denmark and in Japan. Uh did we ever get a report on that through the chair? Yes, councelor. We updated uh infrastructure committee on that and when we are looking at next steps uh when the division when solid waste is responsible for these bins. We are absolutely looking at those solar power compacting bins as a potential option uh moving forward uh in the uh in the overall program. now that we will be responsible for all of the bins um across the city. It's something that uh we can dig into a little bit more in terms of the uh the viability of that uh versus having a few uh of the solar powered bins kind of dispersed throughout the city. This will allow a more comprehensive analysis of of the cost benefit of that. So this uh request here, the letter from the mayor and councelor Fletcher does not preclude you from looking at those alternatives that I asked for three years ago. Absolutely not, councelor. We're going to look at uh a number of different business models, operating models, and receive some direction from council uh in the uh near future. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, I'm happy this if anyone else doesn't have questions. Pardon? I'm happy to move the item if there are. Okay. All right. Anyone else question? If not, uh, motion. Oh, sorry. Council council Matlo to speak or question to speak after the move. Yeah. Like just put me on the list. That's Go for it. No. Well, I'm not I was just gonna move the item. So, she's just moving the item. Okay. Well, then I'll I'll wait for councelor Mley to move the item and I'll just say a few words. Uh, or have you? Oh, that literally was your speech. Okay. Yes, we're very polite. Let's It was such an inspiring convinced. Um, well, well done. Um, no, I'm I'm I am so happy to see this here. Uh, you know, as as the mayor knows, I've I've advocated for this for many years, as have many of you. Councelor Cole reminded us today of his uh I think really wonderful contribution about looking at solar powered bins as well like the compacting bins. There's a lot that we can do if we want to do this right. But um you know the astral contract is just it it is the is the perfect example of the absurdity of contract contracting out basic services that people rely on every day because it removed service and it removed accountability. It is an absurd model where just for the advertising money, we give up the ability to actually effectively manage a basic service on our streets. When residents call 311 about an overflowing or broken bin, then the city then needs to go and beg an external private company to go do something that they may or may not do and in most cases don't. So what we have today as an outcome are bins on streets throughout our city that are broken, overflowing, doors missing. It is embarrassing. I mean, it is embarrassing, but even more than embarrassing, it affects our well-being, our quality of life. We should be able to walk down our city streets and admire uh where we live. The first thing all of us do when we move into a new home is we do things to make that home beautiful. Uh we want it to be a place of pride, a place that we're happy in. Why should we be treating where we all live together any less? So I am so enthusiastically supportive and grateful for this this effort now uh to to remove us from uh uh from leaving the responsibility uh uh and and the management uh of of basic street furniture like our bins to an external company and to bring it inhouse. And ultimately what this will do is it allows us to choose good quality product to put on our streets that can be wellmaintained and can fit into the aesthetics that we choose for a beautiful city. And that's what the whole toward a beautiful city initiative is all about. Moreover, sometimes things don't work. Sometimes mistakes are made. Sometimes things aren't done as quickly as possible. We all know that if we're to be honest with ourselves. But then we then take back the accountability. Then if there's a problem, we can go and deal with it. When something is broken, both literally and figuratively, we can go and fix it. When a resident has a problem, they know who to hold to account. That is better government, that is better service, and ultimately a better city. So, thank you. Thank you for your focus on uh beauty, right? Um we have a design to uh that we were celebrating on how we can design things that are not only elegant, beautiful, but functionally very very efficient. So if you look at some of the Nordic country for example, small numbers in terms of population but they incredibly creative IKEA of this world and you can be functional and beautiful at the same time. Uh so I look forward to people's participation on it. I I can't tell you. I think one of these days I don't know if anyone will put some kind of video cam beside any of these these garbage bins because it went from if you looking at historical the foot paddle broke and then they you know try to stuff your coffee cup into a hole that's way too small and then and then the slime that gets caught in that flap. Oo and my god. And then the door won't close and it flaps around and the wind is a is a hazard trying to walk by. Anyway, I can go on for at least an hour, which I won't, but thank you for your support of this motion, councelor Bravo. Yeah, I I'm very pleased right now to support the mayor and her leadership um to take control of this really important piece of of um asset that we have in our communities. and and I'm really happy to be in this council now uh because the tide has so shifted. There was a time when consistently in city council debates all of the discussions were about how much better the private sector did work. And now we know very well as many of us would have argued at the time that in fact it's public services publicly accountable and delivered that provide the best value for money. um that we know that when we call 311 uh we know who's uh responsible uh and that all of the work and all of the discussions and all of the deliberations about improving service actually happen in the public and under the sunlight like we do here with all of the public servants present answering and counselors able to ask questions. We are going to get better results and I appreciate your leadership uh madame mayor and I'm I cannot wait to vote for this. Okay, let's go do it. Okay. All those in favor of the motion uh opposed carry. Thank you. Uh and the next item, FIFA traffic management. Uh Barut's com online. Online. You have five minutes. Are you turn on your mic so we could hear you? One, two, three, four, five. Uh, are you there? If not, there if Oh, there he is. Okay, please go ahead. You have five minutes. Please go ahead. Sir, can you turn on your mic so we could hear you? You're in a car. You're in a car? Oh, maybe a room. But are you available? If not, I'm gonna skip the item and come back to it. Item and come back to it. No, no, no, no. I am available. I'm here. Okay. Just go ahead. We can't hear you. Go ahead. We can't hear you. Are you able to hear me now? Yes. Go ahead. Yes, go ahead. All right. Uh, first of all, the good afternoon. Uh, it's been a very uh busy afternoon for everybody. I was the whole day all the discussion that you had uh my name is be cam with the taxi industry I'm here today to talk about the events that coming up in June and want to be part of it and we already had a few meeting with uh the transportation the organizer managing the world cup before that's coming in June so Uh thank you for the opportunity to speak today. As uh Toronto prepares to host matches during the 20 26 people World Cup, transportation will play a critical role in how visitors experience our city. Moving thousands of people efficiently, safely and in an organized manner will be essential to the success of the events. Taxis have a major operational advantage during the large events because they can operate through organized taxi stance. Vehicle lineup in one designated area. Passengers approach the stand and the first vehicle taxi depos immediately. This system avoids the confusion of the vehicle circulating around the venue trying to locate passengers. With ride share services, drivers must identify a specific passenger through an app which often led to vehicle stopping, waiting and creating congestion on the venue during the event where thousands of uh people leave at the same time and an organized taxi queue system can move passengers much faster and more efficiently. Another important advantage in safety. All licensed taxi in Toronto are regulated by the city and are equipped with the in vehicle camera. These cameras provide an additional level of security for both passengers and drivers and can assist authorities if any incident occurs. For a global event like the FIFA World Cup where many visitors may be unfamiliar with the city, having a clearly identified, regulated, and monitored transportation option adds confidence and protection. Axis are clearly marked, professionally licensed and accountable under municipal regulation. Managing traffic around major venue like VM field will be extremely important. Organized taxi stands help prevent random stopping travel parking and vehicle circulating unnecessarily. This helps keep traffic flowing and improves overall safety and for pedestrian and vehicles. As Toronto prepares to welcome the vote for the people who car, I respectfully encourage the city to prioritize well organized taxi stands. Clear signage directing visitors to taxi and coordination with the taxi industry. By using taxi as a structural transportation solution, Brerter can move people more efficiently, reduce congestion, and provide visitors with a safe and reliable way travel. So, taxi stands create order while random pickups create congestion. All Toronto taxes are regulated and equipped with the safety camera. A simple system can move thousands of passengers quickly after a match. When 40,000 people leave a stadium at the same time, the most efficient system is the passengers walk to the taxis getting to the next available vehicle. This is what I wanted to share with you guys today and I hope that we can do a great job and show our city to all the visitors that come to this city. Thank you so much for your deputation and question to your deput. Thank you. Uh yep. Go ahead. Thank you. Uh thank you, mayor. Um so through the city staff, um given that a priority that we do know is that transit will be uh a core focus of trying to get people around during the games, will street parking continue to be permitted in all areas of downtown? uh through the chair, we will be limiting street parking and we will be looking at uh coming forward with a plan to the FIFA subcommittee in March 30th that will provide details on exact restrictions for street parking. It will be limited in specific areas around Liberty Village, Fort York, um again in working with TTC to ensure we can provide the best movements and operations for transit. Does it does our plan um is it limited to just the area around exhibition or for example there are going to be days where there are going to be games in other World Cup cities but there'll still be large congregations of people on areas like College Street and other areas where uh masses will come out to cheer on the teams uh through the chair. So the restrictions will be in place for um the time from the beginning of the first match in Toronto until the end of the last match in Toronto. The um there are key matches including uh the final uh it'll be started about an hour before a Blue Jays home game. Has there been any outreach to Major League Baseball or the Toronto Blue Jays to see if there's a way that these two major events might not conflict with each other? Uh speaker, yes, there has. FIFA uh globally out of Miami worked with Major League Baseball. We have done some outreach locally. Uh there's very little room for the clubs themselves to do much on that. The work done with Major League Baseball uh did not did not have an impact on the schedule. We are still working with the Jays uh who did move the time of the one game which was in conflict with the Canada match. We're working with them on the second conflict which is a direct uh competition for the same time a 700 p.m. start on I believe June the 23rd. So we're working as best we can locally but the efforts of FIFA to work with Major League Baseball Glo uh across North America didn't result in a in a shift. And uh I say I say this uh uh genuinely respectfully uh because I don't know the answer to this, but it's just I'm I'm cognizant of our timeline. Why is there not a very clearly articulated traffic plan to share with the public today? Given that we are already getting through March and June is just around the corner. Um how long like why don't we have something ready yet? Short answer is this is the time frame that all cities are working with FIFA on. So uh FIFA is looking at the plans, traffic plans across all the cities and this is the time frame that that's occurring in. Uh so we also have to work with FIFA to ensure that that not only do our plans work for Torononians as first and foremost, but also it does match what FIFA's uh um expectations are around it. So this work as you heard is coming in March. It will uh be ready very quickly for um for dissemination and we've done things like looked at some of the high level pieces which have already come out about some of the major road closures but we'll get much more granular within the next few weeks. If if I could just add um part of the the timeline was in respect of when the uh teams that were playing in Toronto were announced which happened uh in December. Um once we worked back from that date, we had to kind of look at which teams we had. There was outreach with some of those local uh team organizations to try to understand when they would be arriving um how much you know travel contingent might be coming with them. So that does take some time uh working with police on what those plans would be and that's why we're at the March 30th timeline that I mentioned with respect to um uh you know parking closures and and you know material changes to how we either move or park in the downtown core. I I would I would imagine that there are a lot of people whether it be you know vendors, delivery trucks, uh etc. uh along with other residents who would want to have sufficient heads up to change how they get around, where they go, how they do business. what work is being done to ensure that they have a reasonable heads up uh that there's communication to the public to ensure that we don't just say, "Hey, we've got some plan and then we drop it on them," but that there's sufficient and reasonable time to both ensure that there's that communication to businesses and residents, but also give our city enough time to, you know, recognize that sometimes the first draft of a plan isn't isn't always perfect and there might be significant changes based on feedback. back uh that we need to make. So that's why I I pressed the point about the time frame because again June is is really not that far away. Yep. We we hear you. So what what is what is the plan for all that? Um what I would say to the chair is that we have done a significant amount of consultation with local communities with local businesses. Uh to your point about transportation demand management, we are we are working on that strategy as part of our plan that will look at how to communicate with businesses with residents about what can they can expect uh how they may change their travel patterns on match day so that they minimize the impact for themselves and uh and and that's sort of what we're bringing forward on March 30th. Thank you. Thank you. Um on C deputy mayor Malik, please. I'm gonna speak. I don't have You just want to speak? Um, Council Matlo, did you want to speak or you have motions? Deputy Mayor, did you want to start? Um, thank you very much. Um, I am moving a motion to refer this back to staff and it's on the screen. Um, and it, uh, states that it we refer the item to the executive director, uh, FIFA World Cup Toronto Secretariat to consider as part of the report on March 30th. um at that meeting of the FIFA World Cup 2026 subcommittee on transportation planning for the FIFA World Cup in Toronto. Um as we heard here here and um as is anticipated uh this report uh is imminent. I've been working with city staff for several months to ensure that um the city is moving forward neighborhood specific preparations particularly in Liberty Village and Fort York. But of course we know our whole downtown is impacted. Um this is where the event is taking place and we're taking that very very seriously. As a city manager shared um we are doing uh moving this forward uh with the importance and the urgency. I'm hearing that from my communities and FIFA has requirements that we have to continually check in with and align with. Um I know if this was in our hands alone, we would be putting this out uh much earlier and much sooner. And even given that I have been working very closely uh to provide opportunities uh dedicated and targeted public engagement in my communities particularly Liberty Village and Fort York to share the plans as they continue uh to be finalized, refined and um and settled. I have been sharing and I as we as our planning has continued forward and I will share it here again that my priority is that our downtown communities along with Torononians from every corner of the city can enjoy and benefit from this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity um and to do that while safely um and and with as much information as possible navigating their neighborhoods before, during, and after the games. I thank my colleagues for their interest and their support on this issue um and to continue to work together to make this a success for for our communities. Thank you. Councelor Matlo, you have a motion for Yeah, it's it's it's coming. It's coming. That's okay. Why don't I step down this item and come back to it? I just want to do the landlord one. Is that okay, Deputy Mayor Cole? I just want to quickly get done on the cracking down on bad landlords because um we need to move on it because it's a situation is really desperate. I'll come right back onto your item. Okay. Uh the 2914 Muel are you here as a speaker? Wid are you here as a speaker? I am okay. I'm all yours. Go ahead. Um, hello, mayor. Uh, thanks so much for bringing Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. I just wanted to say that uh I'm just conscious of losing quum, but go ahead. Yeah, I do support your um your your motion to uh crack down on bad landlords. uh specifically uh the example of 500 dos road is one uh chron uh chronic problem that the city has and is not the only landlord in the city of Toronto. Many of us we have shared experiences with bad landlords but and also uh the city of Toronto is also the landlord as well and with Toronto community housing. Um so uh I think it's important to uh bring to our attention that there has been a lot of evictions in the last uh couple of months and my brother Wal Kali and the region park neighborhood association we have brought to attention with Toronto housing the large number of evictions of tenants predominantly black and indigenous peoples. So don't be a bad landlord. The only big people for unreasonable reasons instead try to focus on how to invest in improving our housing stock. We have a state of good repair for the next 10 years that is not funded. So, we hope the mayor cow if you get reelected in in next election, we hope you can make sure that to uh we we we secure $21 million billion dollars to repair our uh and maintain our units who may be closing down and we may become a bad landlord. Thank you. Thank you for asking us to focus on TC. Another speaker. Uh, Wid is not here. Ryan online. Ryan. Wita or Ryan, are you both online? Please open up your mic. No longer online. If you're online, please turn on your mic. Rale, are you online? Okay. He's not. Ryan, you're online. Can you please turn on your mic? Going once, going twice. Ryan, are you gonna be on? Can you hear me? Yeah, please go ahead. Hi there. Sorry, I just jumped on to WebEx. Um, I didn't really have a a a speech or anything prepared, but that's okay. I noticed the item this Yeah, I noticed the item this this morning and I just wanted to extend a thank you to Mayor Chow and her team just for the um tremendous amount of attention to detail that they've um allocated to this issue. It's a long-standing issue and it's not only affecting uh residents at 500 road, but it's really um a city-wide issue and as the years roll on um it's becoming increasingly visible. You know, we have a lot of purpose-built apartment buildings, you know, built during the post-war era and a lot of them are coming apart. Some of them are being relatively well-maintained and some of them aren't. And just one thing that I really want to touch upon in the mayor's recommendations which I think are phenomenal um would be really the interdivisional aspect of it. Uh that's something that um personally in my own capacity I've been advocating for. I'm a member of Toronto ACORN and ACORN has been advocating for this and I think that um generally speaking this is something that um tenants across the city have been asking for. Um I can speak to my own personal experience um I've engaged rent safe. I've engaged municipal licensing and standards and one of the most difficult things and one of the most frustrating things that I've encountered is you'll go to rent which is ostensibly a one-stop shop for tenants to communicate their concerns only to be told well that's a that's an issue that relates to Toronto building or this other issue over here well that has to do with um Toronto public health and As a result, there's that lack of cohesion, there's that lack of communication. Um, your issue is referred to in other city division might be city legal if things escalate. And, um, it just kind of feels like it goes into the ether. Um, so I think you know we need a process in place that ensures that every single actor within the enforcement system um is trained on what enforcement actually is at every single stage. And that is not a discussion that is housed solely within municipal licensing and standards. It's Toronto building. It's also city legal, especially when um violations persist and higher order enforcement tools need to be utilized. Um a lot of these issues necessarily involve conversations with city legal if uh a matter is going to be prosecuted or litigated or if remedial action is something that's being contemplated. And I'm really very pleased. I don't know how much time I have left. I can't see the clock. You have one one and a half minutes, but I'll keep it. Yeah, I'll try to keep it as short as possible, but um really happy with the recommendations um being put forth by the mayor has they have my personally and I and I I don't know if I can really speak on behalf of ACORN, but I think it has ACORN's full endorsement uh because this is something that's crucially needed. I've participated in uh the latest round of of consultations with rent safe and one of my biggest concerns was is there going to be that interdivisionality and is the remedial action plan going to be good because a lot of that aspect of things which I think is the most important has been kept in the dark. So I'm just going to leave it at that. You can see my remarks um in the communication that I submitted to um to the executive committee through through email. And um and just on a last note, I will be present for the planning and housing committee meeting where I think some more things along uh rent safe and enforcement options are going to be discussed. And I look forward to being part of that process and I look forward to um submitting a bit more. A lot of this is just being said. Um a lot of this is just being said. I'm at work right now. So I'm just kind of speaking off the top of my head my No, you you're doing fine. High level my my high level thoughts on on the recommendations. And thank you very much. Thank you so much. Uh councelor Matlo to speak. Any question to staff? Seeing no question to staff, I'll just introduce the motion in front the the series of motions in front of you. Uh because I grew up in St. Jamestown. I know what it feels like dealing with um the landlord happens to be quite good and um but I understand the challenges of living in a building if there's a pest infestation for example it's not easy to deal with and if you have a landlord that are negligent on not doing it uh if people have to put all their belongings into plastic bags to keep them away from whether it's bed bugs or or cockroaches or the eggs and it's just horrific way to live or you can't step out on the balcony because the balcony is not safe. It's just or everything is moldy and leaking. Um there's peel um drywalls peeling off and what I when I brought together the staff team um including the fire chief, the um legal building department um the associate medical of health MLS all together and we compare our notes and each of that department has a list that is my longer than my arm each of them about this building for example I'm just taking that one building $500 and it's phenomenal that we have not been able to really and so far the fine was I think it was $30,000 or something very very low and the fire chief reminded me that quite a few years ago I think it's councelor Perks that moved a motion that asked us to consolidate the reports of what is happening. Yes. And you now begin to remember all the charges that are that all the complaints that are filed to all the different departments into one place, one centralized place. And we didn't get that done at the time. I think it's because of costs or or any number of reasons. and I had the the uh opportunity to on the International Women's Day to speak to the fire chief and the uh the police uh sorry it was the police um association and the firefighters association. They said when they walk into a building, they would like to know what is happen what has happened in the building and a police officer if there's something happening in the in the balcony or the fire department, you need to know if that balcony is safe or not. Okay? And uh and if you don't have that information right now is to stay there in the dark. And so even for safety reason for because of different departments we need to consolidate a lot of the problems we are receiving that we're hearing from the tenants about each of these buildings. So consolidating the information, taking action, we've almost doubled the number of rents safe officers. Councelor Matllo and I uh meet with the the various um tenants representative. They've had very good instruction. You've taken leadership council Matlo on this file for quite a few years and so have councelor Fletcher Perks. Any number of you have been at it for a long time. I remember councelor Janet Davis was at this file all the time about this building and but it takes time. Yes, we consolidated all the charges took them to court. The court is have said that we won in uh and there's still some that are coming through. The appeal period has to be over which is now over in some of those. Now we can move ahead and go in and do the repairs. And it's not easy to find contractors that quickly. And um the QP 416, TCHC, there's other folks that we work with to say we're willing to help you. We understand the situation. We'll provide a list that can be readily made available so we can go in and do the work. Um we have asked for a list of contractors last May. I have not seen the cont I have not seen the list. So, we need to use contractors that are available and let's get on with it. We have to send a message to these slum lords that that we will not tolerate their behavior and we have to act and act as quick act now. So, I hope we can uh get these motions passed. Thank you. Um it's good to get it off my chest just at five minute. Um, councelor Matlo counselor Fletcher. Yeah. Well, uh, thank you. Thank you, Mayor, for Let me try that again. Excuse me. You're having choked up. Um, no, thank you, mayor, uh, for bringing this forward. And this really is the result of um some very active listening uh because, uh, as you know well, and as was said before, this is about 500 Daw Road, but it's not just about 500 Daw Road. This is about uh representing uh roughly half of Torononians who are renters. Uh some are fortunate enough to live in homes that have good landlords who recognize that their building isn't just a source of revenue, but they have responsibility for people's quality of life and health and safety. But unfortunately, uh we have some landlords in the city who are not good at what they do. They don't care enough about the people who live in their buildings. They're negligent and they need to be held to account and they cannot be relied on to address the basic needs of individuals and families who are feeling so ashamed of where they live, who don't want to invite family and friends over because of the state of disrepair that their building has been left in. Um that they are worried about the bug situation. They're worried about the pest situation. Um they they don't have a home that they feel safe and healthy in. So we can't rely on them to do what needs to be done. And what the residents of 500 Daws and many others in buildings across the city have been saying to this place for years is you are the people who represent us. You are the people who should care about us. And if the landlord isn't willing to do the right thing, then get in there and get the work done and to build them after the fact. And I'm I'm so grateful that there is now substantive work moving forward to get that done. And I really appreciate this uh Mayor Chow and everyone who's been working on this, including your staff. Um this is this is substantive work. There's a lot of things that we debate and we discuss here that is either you know less important sometimes performative um sometimes political often but this is this is about touching people's lives. This is about genuinely changing people's lives. Um I've just heard too many stories for too many years uh where people just feel trapped. They feel absolutely trapped in their own home and they don't feel safe in their own home. That's not acceptable. That's not a condition that we would want for anybody that we love or care about in our own lives. So why should anybody in our society in our community be treated that way? So I also see something that um is really important. This is this is going to be under the execution of this is going to be under the housing secretary. There's been a culture here, and we've heard this from tenants throughout the city. There's often been a culture here where when it comes to enforcement and inspection. The client has far too long been seen as the landlord. In other words, the landlord is where who is addressed. The landlord is who is worked with. The landlord is who is given a second or third or fourth or fifth or 10th chance. And I think this is a recognition that this is act the focus should be on the tenant. The focus should be on the housing. The focus should be on ensuring that the voices that are coming to us for help are genuinely heard. And I'm grateful for I think uh a structural change in how this is done is being reflected in in this motion. So I'll I'll sum it up by saying um I hope this now moves forward. Um, I know that I want to acknowledge ACORN and FMTA, uh, and many other organizations that have been at the front lines for advocating for this for many years. Um, and again, I'm just, um, I'm both personally and professionally grateful to see this because I just, um, I've heard so many stories from individuals and families who have just been desperate. 500 Daws, like I've How many years have they been coming making deputations, you know, pleading for change, and now I see some some real efforts to make change happen. So, thank you very much. chair on a point of privilege. Oh, sorry. On a point of privilege. Oh, okay. Yeah, I mentioned your your motion that you had. I have a point of privilege. Yeah. On a separate thing. All of us are passionate about this work to protect tenants, but I heard councelor Matlo say that moving this to the housing secretariat overcomes a culture of treating the landlord as a client. The implication being that other divisions in the Toronto public service have not taken seriously the rights of tenants. And I think I would like councelor Matllo to withdraw that. The Toronto public service in every branch uses the tools that are available that to them to enforce regulations. The fundamental problem of course is that the the provincial legislation limits what we have been able to do. And I I profoundly resent any member of this council implying that members of the Toronto Public Service have not treated tenants with the respect they're due. You do have a choice to file a integrity commissioner complaint. I'm sorry, it doesn't. My memory is that the procedures bylaw actually has a clause in it because public servants can't stand up and defend themselves that members of council may ask other members to withdraw remarks that impugn the motivations reputation and work of the Toronto public service. And on that basis, I'm asking councelor Matllo, understanding that he's, you know, passionate about this to withdraw that implication. Sorry, Mayor. Can I just weigh in? The notion that it's deliberate versus the notion that it's somehow not a council priority, I think that is what we're dealing with here. So if councelor Matlo could clarify that then that would be helpful because I don't think anybody deliberately leaves anybody living in a difficult situation. I know that's not true. On the other hand, if it's not a priority, which it now has been clearly your priority in the many myriad of things that staff have to do, it might not be on the top shelf. So in that vein, I think councelor Madwell could clarify what he meant. If you want me to make a ruling, I am not going to because what is in front of us is in fact there are some changes in uh who has the best expertise to deal with remedial action. Okay. licensing are there to manage the licensing and do the inspection and they do very good work in inspecting. Um but it the coordination because right now what we're seeing is the coordination is needed and councelor perks had already raised that it's important to have a coordination of different department and um having because it is housing related having a housing secretariat to bring a table together to coordinate the fire the building the MLS the public health makes sense and they have done if you want me to actually go into it they have also done the renoviction bylaw and they did the coordination and it worked out really well and it's working so uh having uh a different bodies to do the coronation there's absolutely nothing wrong with it we're not saying making judgement as to who is doing whatever kind of work. We're not impugning anyone. I hope councelor Matlo that is not your intention. If you want to clarify that would work. I think I think councelor Perks might have interpreted that you think that people are not doing their job. I don't I hope you're not saying that. So if you want to clarify it. Um uh happy to clarify. and maybe someone could record it so that councelor Perks can hear it. So yeah, go ahead. Be happy to convey this to councelor Kirks. I I perks um I respect I think there was an extrapolation. Um I uh we we hear from tenants the term sort of the the landlord as as a client is actually I'm just repeating kind of what I what we've heard from deputations about how they feel about this place, right? It's it's a general feedback we hear, but um but it's not it's not to point finger at any any any specific staff or anything like that. Uh I think that just the change toward the focus on housing is is I think gives them the message that that's that they're the priority. Uh but it's not it's not about sort of referencing anyone. Thank you. Um councelor Fletcher, did you want to speak on this item? If not, no. I think that um we're running out of time in quorum. So, just to say what I said earlier, there's nobody who deliberately makes life difficult for anybody from staff. There are professionals. I work very well with MLS and uh they're always at the ready to fix things. And thank you, Mr. Katz, for all your fixing of different things that go on and focus on enforcement for tenants and business friendly for businesses. we're getting to a good place and um I don't think this should be seen as we're don't have faith but there is it is part of housing so TCHC all those they're all in one place let's try it if it's not working can always move back okay thank you motions in front of you all those in favor carry thank you let's get through the other items uh deputy Oh, sorry. There are speaker Daniel Tate and Frank Capusi. Two speaker. Daniel, are you still here? Okay. Frank Krooy, I think Krooyank is Frank online. Uh, going once, twice. Seeing no speaker on this one, Deputy Mayor Angley, your motion. Are we on number 12? Yes, we had 12. All right. Um, so sorry, just to speak to it very quickly, Madame Mayor. I know everybody's we're on a timeline. Um, so this motion is very straightforward request. simply asking for the city manager and economic development staff to be in a conversation with MLSC, the NHL and Rogers about the possibility of hosting an outdoor hockey game here in the city of Toronto. There's just to be clear, there's no commitment, no financial approval, and we have no obligation attached to this. It's just what I'm asking for is the first step in exploring this opportunity if it's feasible is we look ahead to the Toronto Maple Leafs 100th anniversary next year in 2027. This could be a major monument for our city, our residents, and our local businesses. So, I'm asking for your support today to allow staff to start this conversation and report back. Thank you. Thank you. All those in favor of the motion in front of you, oppos, thank you for that initiative. Winner search capacity snow shufflers. Uh Muel, you want to say a few words about it? He's online. He's online. We are four years. Hello. You want to shuff snow? Are you know people that wants to do some work? Yes. Uh barely able people of our community. I I want this job opportunities to go to the youth. Um we can do much better than the city of New York. Um but you have identified two barriers. Um liability and operational issues. Uh my question is um how on board are the local unions who uh work on the city uh roads? Are they willing to accommodate more staffing? Perhaps this can become a seasonal job for our youth who are a able-bodied people to work on the streets. Uh shoveling is snow especially for all residents in the city of Toronto. Um the other thing is um um in 1999 this city become the last stop of the of the of the of the country when we call the army to clean up the snow uh on of the streets. So with Mayor Mandani uh leading this example, Toronto can do much better, can hire um members of the community who are ableies willing to uh help out with the snow clearing which happens every 10 to five years. So if we if we're going to um approve today, let's make sure that this is a seasonal ongoing yearby-year uh uh hiring process that will enable people to have jobs. And the other thing is um um yeah, let's do it. Thank you. Okay, let's do it. All right. Uh the motion in front of you. Ah, okay. Deputy Mayor Cole, I just say just be very careful. Everybody's got a uh simple uh offtheshelf solution. They're doing New York. We can do We've tried this before. It was a total disaster. Oh. And what happened is uh we had people that were supposed to shovel snow. They held up senior citizens for money. One senior citizen got knifed. Uh how are you going to control these people that come off the street and say they're going to now represent the city instead of snow? How are you going to do a background check on them and to see whether they've got a criminal record? What's their work record? What kind of people they are? The vast majority of them may be fine, but believe me, anything that happens, they're going to say, "The city had this person come and shovel my snow and he broke into my house. We've done this before. We stopped it right away because it was a nightmare." So, just be very careful with these simplistic New York solutions to trying to deal with Canadian snowstorms. Okay, that's all I'm going to say. Good point. Thank you for That's why uh institutional knowledge is priceless. Council Fletcher. Yeah. I just wouldn't want this to pass without uh somehow the city sending out a big thank you, a big shout out to all those people that shoveled their neighbors snow, that did all the sidewalks, that did the street. There were so many Torononians that did that. and up on Leroy or Le uh somebody did the whole street. They've got a snowblower. They do that. That's the Toronto spirit. So, I don't want people to think that we don't appreciate every single flake of snow that they shoveled off because they're a good neighbor. I think same can be said about the 600 plus volunteers that are city staff that have fall that have stepped up that and they they said, "I'm a good public servant. I will help out, right? And over and over again, not only are they doing the snow, they actually helping us with the potholes. Uh so these are really uh dedicated above and beyond. It's recognized. Absolutely. Uh councelor deputy mayor, you had a point. I have an amendment. Uh go ahead. Yep. Um so it's on the screen. So I know we mentioned New York City in the the initial motion. I just wanted to add on um Minneapolis and Montreal for implementation of best practices through their experience. Uh I've done a lot of research on this, Madame Mayor, and um I think we have something that we can learn from all three cities. They do a lot of this um paid snow shoveling or have volunteers. Um what I can say quite clearly is no pure city relies on volunteers enforcement strictly anymore. and the most successful models pay pay people, limit the scope and deliver through trusted intermediaries. Um, so I think there's something we can learn from all three of those cities and so that's why I'm making this amendment. Thank you. All those in favor of the amendments in front of you oppos. And the motion as is. Pardon me. Yeah. Okay. Um, carried. I think we this item is done. We're coming down. Last one. Keep No, no. Oh, back to FIFA. No. Uh, you we were uh there was a deferral and deputy mayor, you want to speak on this? Uh, and you had a motion. Is your motion ready? Yes. Oh, let's hear the motion and go for it. Um, so my motion is essentially a collection of the questions that I asked that I'd like as part of the report that will lend to the deferral uh motion from uh Deputy Mayor uh Malik. Uh and uh to say it very simply, this is about just ensuring that we are ready uh uh to uh to address uh a variety of concerns that have been raised and to ensure that people can get around us both both who are visiting both of us and both those of us who who work and live here. Excellent. Thank you. Deputy Mayor Cole, you wanted to speak on this. Yeah. Listen, I just want to put something into perspective here. Uh we've had city staff working on issues regated the related to FIFA for the last year and a half. Hours and hours of meetings uh and they've been dealing with all these complex issues, traffic, etc. I don't think people appreciate quorum. Hang on. Quorum. Can we can we uh here? Okay, just finish and then we'll we have one more item and we're ready. Okay, councelor Fletcher is here. She's here. I was I can sign out in my office. Okay, go go go ahead. Sorry. So, I I just want to, you know, for council's edification and for the public to understand, it's not as if staff haven't been putting hours and this has been above and beyond their normal workday. The FIFA file is very demanding. FIFA expectations are you wouldn't believe what their expectations are. Uh and I'm not even going to talk about the cost of uh all this stuff. But so staff has been uh diligently uh transportation, public health, uh uh fire, uh we've had everybody involved, provincial government, federal government, there's been maybe 300 meetings, you know, so I just want to remind people it's not as if this hasn't been looked at and and it's all right to raise questions about this. And you know, councelor Malik herself has been involved in this from ground one, giving a lot of it's going to be impacting down in her ward. So, she's at ground zero there. But I just want to say that let's make sure we don't overreact. We had over a million and a half people on St. Clair in 1982 when Italy won the World Cup. There was no committees, no transportation plan. Uh there was no media outrage and frenzy. It happened spontaneously. There was no crime. There was no uh the world is falling uh from the press. It happened spontaneously. A million and a half people came spontaneously to St. Clair. They did it again in the next in two 2006 on St. Clair in that whole area Midtown Toronto. No crime, no end of the world. It happened. Uh and uh so let's not, you know, be uh overly pessimistic about this. I think there's going to be challenges. There's no doubt about it. There's going to be challenges. It's not easy to host. And the time frame, remember, we don't know the schedule yet. We cannot determine where and what things are going to happen because there still are playoffs going on uh in uh March 26. We won't know whether who the teams are till those games occur the end of March. So therefore, you can't say, well, we're going to uh prohibit uh traffic in Little Croatia. We can't do anything in Little Portugal because we don't know whether they're going to be in or not. So that's why the final details of uh traffic management is not going to take place until we find out who wins and gets into the World Cup. We don't know that yet. That's out of our control. And just remember, we did a great job transportation and staff, very few thank yous. Uh Taylor Swift, they said, "Oh, Taylor Swift is going to be the end of the world." Because Taylor Swift's got me in Toronto for six concerts and there's going to be riots in the streets and the Titi Boppers and Swifties are gonna are going to cause all kinds of mayhem in Toronto. It didn't happen. It was a wonderful explosion of spontaneity. It happened. Nobody said, "Hey, that was good." Not one person on council ever has said, "Thank you." I think councelor Malik said, "Yeah, she was involved on ground zero there." We did Taylor Swift. We did the World Series. Okay, Mike, you've got four. Okay. And I just I haven't spoken all day. Okay. You've spoken a lot. I haven't spoken all day. Okay. Uh so therefore, we did the World Series and it came across beautifully in Toronto and we pulled it off except for that damn uh guy on third base that didn't. Anyways, uh so so just keep that in mind. Thank you. That's all I'll say except for the wall. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. All those in favor of councelor Matlo's motion. Uh, thank you. Referral and then to the deferral, that's yours. Yep, that's yours. Yep. All those in favor of Mayor Malik. All those approved. Carrie, thank you. No one opposed. Now, we have two items. Stephanie, Mayor Malik, can you just release the motion that you have on 8 and 10? Fever well Cup 9 and 10. Sorry. Uh nine and 10. Pardon me. Um so it's a community benefits. There's question I'm sorry. Okay, both of you have questions. Just give me a second. Uh keeping Toronto 2019 uh on 15. Are there any speaker on 15? We can get it. We have um Daniel Tate and Miguel, are you here? Daniel, Tate, no online. Uh Miguel online, can you quickly speak because we are teetering on losing on uh the litter cleanup? I am sure you want to see that happen. Would you like to say a few words about it? Yes. Yes, Mayor Chow. Um, every year I proudly uh volunteer with members of my region park community and cleaning up our our city streets, parks, ravines, and this year is going to be interesting because of the huge record snowfall that we had. So the litter out there is is humongous. So I will encourage more participation of the community, more incentives, more uh business partners to come and make donations. So maybe provide with lunches. That will be uh an incentive for people to participate also to have a good uh for the youth to have a a letter to recommendation for the school for volunteer volunteer hours. That will be uh tremendous. And and just want to end up by saying that uh Wii Kali was on the line for item EX 2914. He had trouble uh getting online. I wonder if you can allow him to speak. No, we've already done that item. I'm sorry. I called his name. He wasn't there. My my apology. Thank you so much for your volunteer effort in keeping Toronto clean. Thousands and thousands of residents do the same thing in April. We just need to get a head start on that item. Anyone want to speak to it? Question. Councelor Malo. Uh okay. So Toronto's share of the FIFA budget was uh 178. I just I'm just doing keeping Toronto clean, moving the uh the bits the cleaning. No, I think it's wonderful to keep it clean. Okay. Yes. All All those in favor of post. We're going to start a bit earlier because of the weather have changed on us. If we can, we'll do it. All right. Oppose. Carrie. Thank you. back to your uh the question about um this is we're dealing with number nine which is the update on community benefits plan social procurement etc legacy initiatives councelor Matlo you have questions are we on nine we are on nine right now so uh I'm just trying to finish rapid fire here um so uh our share of the cost uh as we know it today is still around 78 to79 million uh dollars. Uh and the report uh indicates that the full amount is covered under reserve funding, the increase to the municipal accommodation tax and other funding including commercial rights sales and rental fees. Does this revenue um include uh the sweep stakes, the hospitality assets, uh host city allocated tickets, uh merchandising uh and uh and music royalty fees. through the chair. I can answer that question for you. Um the commercial rights include some of the hospitality and the ticket sales. Under other funding, we have um put just a lump sum in for music royalties and merchandise and those are of course guesstimates. Um and what is not included here is the sweep stakes. So we haven't developed a revenue line for the sweep stakes as that came a little later in our planning so it wasn't included in this document. As uh as we've we've mentioned several times, the federal and the provincial governments have more of an opportunity to make themselves whole or at least nearly whole or maybe more, I don't know, uh more than whole because they have an HST. They have a revenue tool that grows with the economy and we don't have a share of that. I would editorialize we should uh but we don't today. Um, are there any opportunities to uh not just make even, but also perhaps even recoup some of the large costs that we're putting toward these games that could have otherwise been put toward the many other competing priorities that we want to focus on. Through the chair, I can say $178 million. Yeah. through the chair. I can say that you know the team daily we are managing budget and uh where we have costs where we can have savings uh and continuing to manage the budget on a daily basis and and uh anywhere that we can have savings we are making sure that we allow for that. And is there ongoing work? I mean, I' I've seen the report, but is there any ongoing work or any interest in doing more work to look for any other creative ideas or working with, you know, uh uh you know, different groups, organizations, um anyone in the city, frankly, to identify further ways to bring in revenue uh to to try to recoup the large cost of these games? Or or has that has that ship sailed? Now we know what we're doing and we're moving on to just put you know putting on the games. Yeah. Through the chair I can say that we're we're fairly locked into the categories and opportunities that we have to raise funds. So there are minimal as we've all known in commercial operations uh and sales uh due to FIFA global partners and staying in our swim lanes on on that regard. But um you know what we are doing now is trying to maximize those opportunities that we have and our our team continue to maximize the hospitality and ticket sales that we have access to. Uh certainly we're working to make sure that we are promoting merchandise sales all those things to maximize the revenue opportunities that we do have as a host city. Thank you. Okay, any other questions? Uh, councelor Shan, thank you. Um, through you uh may cha just on on the legacy initiatives uh the second set that's being presented. Is there a way to look at uh an equity analysis or even regional uh impact of those initiatives? Uh is that available somewhere? uh for example what it looks like in terms of how those investments would support uh equity serving communities or even scar bro area. Sure. Through the chair um that was part of our criteria um as we looked at um legacy opportunities that were brought forward by the various program advisory bodies. So these ideas came forward from uh people working in the community in the various sectors of our legacy themes. uh and we uh use sort of a a measurement criteria tool to determine which ideas and which projects we would go forward with um and certainly sort of reach uh the type of community that would be reached uh were two areas of criteria that were part of our selection. So would it would it be possible to understand what that looks like for those initiatives? Is there some documentation that could be shared um you know in terms of equity uh on some of the intersectional identities? I see that by the names of these programs uh looking at disability and different abilities, refugees and so on uh and human rights. But I I I would like to see a little bit more understanding of I would like to get a bit more understanding of how it uh spreads to other parts of the city outside the downtown core. Sure. I I think some of these items it's definitely part of the work that we will do when we roll out the legacy item. For example, you know, soccer community of practice is definitely one that's geared to under reppresented groups and bringing together the soccer community that aren't necessarily part of the broader Ontario soccer uh organization as it has today or as it stands today. You know, you see there sort of blind soccer, refugee soccer. There are a number of initiatives here um you know in our human rights category, children's rights, accessibility, uh you know a number of areas across our legacy themes uh that all represent and and will have an impact on under reppresented groups. Yeah, I I I I get that part uh from reading the descriptions. I'm just wondering if it's possible uh to get a regional understanding of how some of these because some of the infrastructure for these work aren't easily available in this. I'll go to my next question because that'll that'll reinforce the point is that we look at the community grants for celebrations and a lot of BAS have applied and we know out of 80 plus BIA I don't know what the number is close to 90 90 BIA we have five in scar bro for 25% of the population. So uh existing structures that are that are easy to engage in this process sometimes is not available in in in the suburbs. So I I went through the 63 uh grants that are or 63 recipients and I see very few u in scar bro as well. And so would it be possible to get uh get that list as well to see W by W and what the allocations are just to make sure that the the impact of the legacy that we are talking about is is uh is is received in communities that are often not beneficiaries of these projects. Sure. Through the chair, I'm happy to get you the background details on on the legacy work and the criteria that we use there. And I'll maybe let my colleague Pat uh respond. Thank you to the chair. Yes, we can get you that breakdown, counselor. Okay, good. Thank you. Thank you. Questions? Yep. Um I just wanted to ask about in terms of um legacy projects in the community. Um I'm so I was I saw some numbers around the total cost of FanFest for the five weeks and I don't know if that's a public number yet, but I was quite surprised by the total. Is that the total value of what we're expecting to pay on FanFest or is that what we've allotted? There certainly is a budgeted amount for FanFest and we're working with our vendor on delivering that event and we're also looking at some other opportunities for um additional um revenue to support enhancement of some of the plans that we're we're looking at for FanFest. And we will be coming out with a wholesome plan around FanFest in the coming weeks. We're just refining some of the aspects of it and we intend to do a full announcement on all aspects of Fan Festival. Okay. And sorry, is that number public? I'm just being very careful right now, Sharon. I don't want to Yep. Is that a public number? So, what I'm looking at is total potential costs of the city, including option periods and applicable contingencies net of HST recoveries. Sorry. Through the chair, I can get back to you on the specific number and and um discuss with you sort of the what we've allotted for the budget. Okay. And is is that the costs that are all allocated within that number? Is that Yeah, I think is that part of our $60 million one-third that we're paying for FIFA? Right. So, I think you're sorry. Can I just clarify that you are looking at the um confidential attachment with the procurement report which is item 10. I'm looking at a multicolored chart. Okay. And there's a green dark green bars at the bottom. Okay. Because there are some details in the confidential attachment that's with item 10 uh as part of the procurement plan. So I'm just so forfest. Yes. That's part of our one-third cost and we're responsible for that for all of the monies that go into FanFest. Like that's not shared by the provincial or federal government. That's all us. No, there will be federal and provincial contributions to FanFest. Yes. Okay. Okay. Yep. 1/3. the same as the overall numbers or actually provincial contribution is probably the greatest of the three for FanFest. Yes. Okay. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you. Um, Councelor Matlo, um, I just want to use this opportunity uh, once again to say that um, it is uh, well, when when this agreement was signed, it should have never been done without council being told um, what share we would be receiving from the provincial and federal governments. and it was wrong and it shouldn't have gone ahead. Um and uh we are literally paying for it today. Uh $178 million uh when there are so many competing priorities in our city that are unmet. These games are going to be fun. Uh and there's going to be they're going to be a source of pride. They're going to be communities that are going to just love uh seeing teams from countries that they love um uh playing right here in the city that they chose. and their kids have grown up in. It's going to be um it's going to be a great celebration for so many people, but it's coming at a cost and uh a cost that council was not made aware of uh when this moved forward. And the reason that it is so critical to do everything we can to make this city whole and make taxpayers whole as to the best of our ability in every creative way possible to bring in revenue is uh because we don't have what the province and the federal government have. We don't have a revenue tool that grows with the economy. Uh we should have and we should continue to advocate for a share of the HST. Uh 80% of Canadians live in urban areas. Local governments matter. Local governments are where so many priorities to residents are delivered and we need the means to be able to do so. But we don't today. So, I want to thank staff for their work on finding new and creative ways to bring in revenue uh to support these huge costs that have been committed to uh FIFA. Um I hope that that work will continue. Frankly, I I I I don't want to see the end of it. Uh even as we continue uh organizing for like actually producing the games, uh I want to see every effort made to bring in every possible dollar to offset the 178 179 million dollar that uh was dedicated to this um at a time when every single budget cycle I mean you just went through this uh mayor yourself along with your team there's a struggle to even figure out how to put the puzzle together to even just like keep keep the roads paved and the and the parks maintained and and helping people who need shelter and um and all the different priorities that we have in our city. And uh I just I hope this is a lesson. I mean, we're not going to turn back the clock, but I hope this is a lesson for us that any new shiny ball, any exciting project, any big initiative that looks incredible, and some are incredible and some are not. They're just sold as such. We have to understand what we're walking into before we open that door. And frankly, even the estimates, I think the early estimates from staff to council was that the whole thing was going to be what, $40, $50 million. It was never real. It was never realistic. And now we're trying to recoup the costs. So, I want to thank staff for doing your effort to do so. I want to continue your creativity. And ultimately, let this be a lesson that we never ever do anything like this again without knowing exactly how much we'd have to pay. Yep. Thank you. Uh to speak. Anyone else? Deputy Mayor, you had a motion. I have it on the next on on the item. Okay. On this item, all those in favor? Opposed? Carrie. Thank you, Deputy Mayor Malik. Yeah, thank you very much. Um I will be quick but just building on the previous item and speaking to this one. Um I do want to just recognize and especially um as a counselor who was not here when the decision was made uh to host FIFA but have been working very hard to make sure it's good and as the auditor general had also recognized Mayor Chow's leadership in uh cleaning up the governance and the accountability on this um you know and to to be very focused on making sure that we deliver excellent games. I do have a I do have a motion um and it's on the screen. Um this motion uh is related to our procurement target targets and making sure that we are getting the numbers from FIFA Canada on its own local procurement in order to ensure um that we have all of the information about what uh what those benefits to our communities look like. Excellent. Okay. Thank you. Any questions to the mover? If not any speaker if not all those in favor opposed carry and that item as amended. All those in favor oppose carry. I think that is the last item. Thank you everyone and council me move adjournment. I move adjournment. Thank you so much.

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