Post

Chow shouts out local productions THE BOYS, HEATED RIVALRY ("Oh yes, Heated Rivalry. Yeah," the mayor comments), and Guillermo Del Toro's FRANKENSTEIN. Del Toro told Chow Toronto is "the best place to make movies." "We intend to keep it that way," Chow says.

Dealing with some quick items now, Council votes 20-3 to APPROVE zoning for a 26-storey project on Broadview Avenue. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

On to member motions now. A motion from Councillor Paul AInslie to ask the province to allow homeless people to collect the shelter portion of the ODSP benefit CARRIES 22-1. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Deputy Mayor Malik's motion calling for "clear education for cyclist behavior" for Bike Share users on Toronto Island CARRIES via show of hands. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Councillor Chris Moise's motion directing some Section 37 funds to the Church Street pedestrianization project CARRIES via show of hands. Could be a good sign for the debate they'll have later about approving the project itself. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik's motion asking staff to look at ways to improve access to Toronto Island with ferry fare discounts is ADDED to the agenda on an 18-7 vote. Holyday holds it for debate. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Councillor Lily Cheng's motion to ask the province to let hte city use noise cameras gets added to the agenda via a show-of-hands vote. Holyday holds it for debate. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Councillor Saxe's motion calling for a referendum on the island airport expansion issue is ADDED to the agenda after an 18-7 vote. Fletcher holds it for debate. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Councillor Chernos Lin's motion calling for a road safety campaign about things like e-scooters, walking with headphones, and crossing the street with your phone out CARRIES via show of hands. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Councillor Fletcher's motion to request Metrolinx name the Pape-Cosburn Ontario Line Station as "East York Station" CARRIES 25-0. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Councillor Dianne Saxe rises to welcome members of the Bad Dog Theatre company to the chamber. They're getting a new home in Mirvish Village, she says. "Welcome. I hope you enjoyed the council meeting," says Nunziata. "I think we're all theatre in here.

Back to the e-bike item. Councillor Brad Bradford has a long motion that he says will step up enforcement. He wants the province to give Toronto cops the ability to seize illegal e-bikes and e-scooters.

Mayor Olivia Chow also has a long e-bike motion. But she says it turns out some of her recommendations are the same as Bradford's, so she has revised to strike out the duplicates.

The motions by both Bradford and Chow CARRY via show of hands. The e-bike item as amended CARRIES 26-0. Council signals its support for the province's new e-bike rules and calls for more enforcement and regulations to reduce the risk of battery fires.

Up now: should Councillor Chris Moise get reimbursed for $20,807.61 worth of legal costs he incurred during an Integrity Commissioner investigation, which resulted in a report that was NOT adopted by council? Moise leaves the room so his colleagues can discuss. secure.toronto.ca/council/agen...

Council quickly loses quorum while asking staff questions about the reimbursement issue. "It seems like councillors don't want to sit down," complains Nunziata. After ringing the bells for a while, enough people come back.

Councillor Pasternak asks the Integrity Commissioner if perhaps this whole Moise issue could have just been resolved with an apology. The Integrity Commissioner is not in the chamber, though, so the answer is unknowable. This debate is going great.

The Integrity Commish does eventually show up. But Nunziata then rules the apology question out of order, so the Integrity Commissioner cannot answer Pasternak's question. Okay then.

Nunziata explains that council has already debated and voted on the Integrity Commissioner report re: Moise — rejecting the finding that Moise breached the code of conduct — so questions about the investigation aren't relevant. Councillors need to focus on the repayment issue only.

Councillor Holyday rises to move to take no action on the report, denying Moise reimbursement for legal costs beyond the $5K he already received. ...But the clerks don't have his motion. He says he submitted it yesterday. An exasperated Nunziata declares a five-minute recess. Shambolic.

Councillor Burnside moves to reduce the amount Moise would receive, so he'd get 50% of his legal costs rather than the full amount.

"For me, as a steward of public funds, I would have never gone and spent $23,000 more [in legal costs] and put council in this position," Burnside explains, criticizing Moise for racking up the legal bill in the first place.

Councillor Paula Fletcher moves to delete the $5K threshold for eligible legal reimbursement, saying the amount dates all the way back to 2008 when... quite a few current councillors were around, actually.