SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO REVIEW THE

1. POLITICAL STRUCTURE FOR EAST YORK.

City Clerk.

(February 20, 1998)

Advising that the East York Community Council on February 18 and 19, 1998:

(1) recommended to the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team, the following:

(i) a third Councillor be granted to Ward One, East York;

(ii) the City Clerk be requested to conduct a by-election no later than September 1998 to fill the third Councillor position;

(iii) the Province of Ontario be advised of the City of Toronto's decision to grant the third Councillor and seek concurrence of the Province or initiate appropriate legislation to ensure the third councillor position is implemented; and

(iv) the Province of Ontario be requested to fund the cost of the by-election to fill the third Councillor position; and

(2) requested the City Solicitor to report directly to the Special Committee on various legal queries raised at the Community Council meeting including, but not limited to the following:

(i) the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing's exclusive authority under Bill 26;

(ii) the conditions under which an appointment can be made or an election can be held in accordance with the Municipal Elections Act; and

(iii) the status of using the federal boundaries for the municipal elections.

2a. Ms. Sylvia Giovanella, President,

Etobicoke Federation of Ratepayers and Residents.

(February 18, 1998)

Advising that the new Toronto City Council serves a population larger than all but four Canadian provinces; that the ability to effectively operate a city of this size depends very much on the delegation of local matters to the Community Councils; and forwarding recommendations in regard thereto.

2b. Mr. David Vallance, Chair

Confederation of Resident and Ratepayers Associations.

(February 5, 1998)

Forwarding the following motion that was passed by the Confederation of Resident and Ratepayers Association (CORRA) at its regular meeting on February 4, 1998:

"CORRA supports in principle strong Community Councils with real effective control over local issues or no Community Councils at all, with a letter of explanation.";

and advising that it was agreed that Community Councils will be essential if this government is going to have a chance to function with any efficiency at all; and forwarding reasons for this.

City Clerk.

(February 19, 1998)

Advising that the East York Community Council on February 18, 1998, referred the communication (February 17, 1998) from Ms. Margaret Simpson to the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team, requesting the allocation of monies from City Council to each Community Council to undertake local initiatives.

Councillor Frances Nunziata, York-Humber.

(February 19, 1998)

Respecting the accessibility of the York Community Council to the public; advising that outlined in Council's Procedural By-law governing Community Councils reference is made to the responsibility of the Community Council to hear public deputations, involve citizens in neighbourhood issues and dealing with other local issues; and suggesting that the first day of a required meeting of a Community Council be held in evening session as this would facilitate greater accessibility to the public to these meetings as well as heighten awareness of the role of the Community Council and issues that come before it.

4a. City Clerk.

(February 20, 1998)

Responding to the communication (February 19, 1998) from Councillor Nunziata, York-Humber, respecting the accessibility of York Community Council to the public; and advising that until such time as the Special Committee has reported to Council on the Role of Community Councils, it is appropriate for any Standing Committee of Council, or Community Councils, depending on issues being considered, to hold evening meetings.

City Clerk.

(February 12, 1998)

Advising that City Council on February 4, 5 and 6, 1998, adopted, without amendment, the following motion by Councillor Miller and seconded by Councillor Pantalone:

WHEREAS, pursuant to the Planning Act, the local municipalities held such meetings, with the result that one public meeting could be held for related official plan, zoning and subdivision applications; and

WHEREAS City Council is currently obliged to hold public meetings relating to subdivision applications but, on an interim basis, has delegated to Community Councils and the Urban Environment and Development Committee the responsibility of holding the public meetings regarding official plan and zoning matters; and

WHEREAS it would be most efficient if committees of Council were delegated the authority to hold public meetings regarding subdivision applications; and

WHEREAS, prior to January 1, 1998, local municipalities within the Metropolitan Toronto boundaries also held public meetings regarding community improvement plans, pursuant to s. 28 of the Planning Act; and

WHEREAS City Council is currently obliged to hold such meetings; and

WHEREAS it would be most efficient if the responsibility for holding such meetings were delegated to committees of Council;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT each Community Council is delegated the authority to hold any public meeting regarding plans of subdivision and community improvement plans as required by ss. 28 and 51 of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1991, c. P.13 and O. Reg. 196/96, in respect of land within the part of the urban area it represents and that the Urban Environment and Development Committee is delegated the authority to hold such meetings in respect of land that is within the geographic area represented by more than one Community Council;

Chief Administrative Officer.

(February 19, 1998)

Recommending next steps in dealing with selected issues respecting Agencies, Boards and Commissions; and further recommending that:

(1) Council dissolve the Board of Management of the Guild and notice be given for the introduction of the necessary by-law;

(2) the term of citizen appointments to Agencies, Boards and Commissions be for the term of the Council which appoints them unless otherwise specified by legislation;

(3) recommendation No. 87 in the Toronto Transition Team Report be referred to the Board of Directors of the Hummingbird Centre for the Performing Arts for consideration within the context of developing and implementing the Centre's Business Plan, and that the appointment of citizen members be deferred until such time as the board reports further on this issues through the appropriate Standing Committee;

(4) recommendation No. 90 in the Toronto Transition Team Report be considered within the context of the potential integration of Ontario Place and Exhibition Place and that citizen appointments be deferred until this issue is resolved;

(5) the City Clerk be authorized to begin the process of citizen appointments to the following boards when there are sufficient numbers of appointments to be made to warrant the cost of advertising:

(a) North York Performing Arts Centre;

(b) St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts; and

(c) Toronto Economic Development Corporation; and

(6) the appropriate staff be authorized to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Chief Financial Officer

and Treasurer and City Solicitor.

(February 10, 1998)

Recommending that:

(1) the TDHC (Toronto District Heating Corporation) be requested to submit business plans to the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of the City of Toronto to support the proposed expanded mandate of the TDHC, encompassing heating, cooling and co-generation, with such business plans to be the subject of a further report to the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee;

(2) in conjunction with Recommendation No. (1), above, and before any legislative amendments, the TDHC be required to enter into a revised agreement to fully repay the existing $30.6 million loan, such agreement to be the subject of further review by the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee;

(3) the Province of Ontario be requested to ensure that any change to the TDHC Act require as a condition precedent an agreement satisfactory to the City for the repayment of debt that predates the legislative amendments and that until the City is no longer required to guarantee the long-term debt of the TDHC, no debt for capital purposes be issued without the express approval of the City of Toronto and title for property utilized by the TDHC rest with the City until all debt owed to the City is repaid; and

(4) a request of the former City of Toronto to the TDHC be reiterated, requesting the TDHC to recommend required changes to the composition of the TDHC Board to fulfil the proposed mandate of the Corporation.

Councillor Jack Layton - Don River.

(February 20, 1998)

Advising that City Council on January 2, 6, and 8, 1998, established a number of task forces, including the Homeless Strategy Task Force; that having been appointed Chair of this task force he is submitting a report on the Terms of Reference of the Homeless Strategy Task Force which has been prepared in close consultation with Mayor Lastman, the new Homeless Action Task Force, its Chair Dr. Anne Golden, and many others.

Councillor Rob Davis, York Eglinton, and

Councillor Brad Duguid, Scarborough City Centre.

(February 13, 1998)

Forwarding the draft Terms of Reference for the Task Force on Community Safety; and advising that the report will be finalized once the Committee members have had an opportunity to meet and review the document.

10a. City Clerk.

(February 16, 1998)

Advising that the Emergency and Protective Services Committee on February 10, 1998, gave consideration to a report (January 27, 1998) from the Acting Commissioner of Emergency and Protective Services recommending that when the Terms of Reference for the new Task Force on Community Safety have been prepared, they be sent to the East York Safety Council, the Emergency Planning Advisory Committee (Metro), the Etobicoke Crime Scope, the Safe City Committee (Toronto), the Safety Council (Etobicoke), and the Taxis on Patrol Committee (Metro), together with a copy of this report, and that each committee be asked to comment on the ongoing need for their work, if any, on their relationship to the Task Force, and on their ongoing staff support needs; and that the Emergency and Protective Services Committee took the following action:

"(1) referred the foregoing report to the Co-Chairs of the Task Force on Community Safety and to the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team to review the financial implications of continuing the committees listed therein and to report back to the Emergency and Protective Services Committee; and

(2) requested that the forthcoming report include information on staff time and other costs related to continuing these committees and that this matter be dealt with in a timely fashion."

City Clerk.

(February 13, 1998)

"(2) the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team be requested to re-examine why the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee and the Budget Committee review and make recommendations respecting Human Resources issues, given the existence of a Corporate Services Committee;"

City Clerk.

(February 13, 1998)

Advising that City Council on February 4, 5 and 6, 1998, in adopting, as amended, Clause No. 3 contained in Report No. 1 of The Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team, headed "City of Toronto Administrative Structure", directed, in part, that the issue of the names for the service clusters be referred to the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team for further review and, in no instance should the word "strategic" be used as part of such names.

City Clerk.

(February 16, 1998)

Advising that the Corporate Services Committee on February 16, 1998, inter alia, took the following action:

"(2) requested the Special Committee to Review the Final Report of the Toronto Transition Team to consider a more streamlined process for dealing with budget items that require Budget Committee approval prior to final approval of the Operating and Capital Budget, and report thereon to Council."

Mr. Douglas H. Lee, Chairman

Committee of Adjustment.

(January 30, 1998)

Advising that the Committee of Adjustment for the City of Toronto, was pleased to read in the report "New City - New Opportunities", the Toronto Transition Team's proposals for the Committee of Adjustment for the New City of Toronto; noting in particular that until the recommendations of the Toronto Transition Team can be more fully implemented, the existing Committees such as his, should continue to operate for each Community Council; further advising that among the proposals put forward by the Toronto Transition Team is the suggestion that the City should review the possibility of delegating certain minor variance decisions to the Chief Building Official in accordance with criteria set by City Council; offering several comments in the belief that they may prove helpful to the Special Committee should the Special Committee be preparing guidelines for City Council to enable the Chief Building Official to make minor variance decisions as well as proposing amendments to the Planning Act allowing for this to take place.

Ms. Lorraine Purdon, Co-Chair,

Downtown Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force.

(February 9, 1998)

Advising that the issues of substance abuse affects all parts of the new City of Toronto; that there is concern on the part of communities, agencies, police, citizens and government to want to address these issues; that the Downtown Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force is a coalition of individuals, organizations and groups who endeavour to find a variety of innovative ways to reduce the harms associated with drug use and distribution in the downtown Toronto are; that their mandate is to facilitate co-ordinate harm reduction strategies in downtown Toronto with a focus on encouraging strong community involvement, as well as seeking innovative approaches and techniques for harm reduction; and submitting recommendations in regard thereto.