Mayor Olivia Chow's first budget was left largely intact when it went to council Wednesday, barring several key amendments, including a restoration of the police budget approved by the Toronto Police Services Board and money to save a windrow-clearing program.
Toronto council votes to restore full police increase, save windrow clearing as part of budget which will see 9.5 per cent tax increaseMayor Olivia Chow's first budget was left largely intact when it went to council Wednesday, barring several key amendments, including a restoration of the police budget approved by the Toronto Police Services Board and money to save a windrow-clearing program.
The mayor described the budget as a good step towards her promise to bring the city on the right track. "We expect a reduction in officer response times, increases in the number of available frontline officers, increases in the number of neighbourhood officers, and recruitment of more women and gender diverse people," Morley told council.Chief Myron Demkiw spoke with reporters following the vote and said he was pleased to see the full increase approved.
A short time into Wednesday’s meeting, as councillors were asking questions about the police budget, a protester in the gallery was removed from the chamber after they disrupted the proceedings, yelling for police to be defunded and abolished. Chow touted the fact that she has been able to secure money from other levels of government in order to help plug the hole, including an upload of the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway to the province, and hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government to help with housing and asylum seekers. However she said that it is still not enough.
"People voted for me to bring the city back on track to change course to fix those potholes, invest in public transit and housing," Chow said. "We can't do that without paying for it. It just won't work. That's magical thinking. It won't work. We've been doing that for a while."
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