The Toronto Taxpayers Coalition is preparing to take the City of Toronto Councillors to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) over Council’s refusal to adopt a city ward boundaries by-law yesterday’s council meeting.

“We will appeal and we will prevail” announced Matthew McGuire spokesperson for the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition. The Toronto Taxpayers Coalition petitioned council for new ward boundaries under a little-known regulation of the City of Toronto Act. Under S.129 of the City of Toronto Act (COTA), any of the petitioners may pursue the issue at the OMB if City Council fails to adopt the request within 90 days of the petition being submitted.

“We were stopped by a cabal of Councillors who seem to perpetuate imbalanced wards for another four years. Taxpayers deserve better.”

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Staff deserve better than to be used as a political football by City Council

Toronto Taxpayers Coalition welcomes the release of two reports that have found Councillors Adam Vaughan (Ward 20 Trinity—Spadina) and Mike Layton (Ward 19 Trinity—Spadina) in breach of the Code of Conduct for Members of Council (“Code of Conduct”). The councillors were found to have “maliciously or falsely injured the professional or ethical reputation … of staff” as prohibited by the Code of Conduct in a series of reports by Integrity Commissioner Janet Leiper.

“This is why we have the Code of Conduct in place,” stated coalition spokesman Matthew McGuire. “Councillors do not have carte blanche to malign staff in this manner. We’re hopeful the Integrity Commissioner’s findings will guide councillors to be mindful of their behaviour.”

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Toronto Taxpayers Coalition is hosting an all-candidates debate in Etobicoke Lakeshore. This debate, believed to be the first in any of the 5 provincial byelections called for August 1st, is going to set the stage for a campaign that sees two City Councillors vying to become one of Toronto’s newest Members of Provincial Parliament.

“This particular byelection is going to set the tone for the future of relations between City Hall and Queen’s Park” noted Matthew McGuire, president of the coalition. “This event will set the tone for the rest of the campaign.”

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Taxpayers Coalition finds loophole to cut council in half

Toronto Taxpayers Coalition today announced they have forced City Council to revisit cutting the number of city councillors in half. The Coalition has forced the issue by submitting a petition to the City Clerk demanding a reduction in councillors from 44 to as low as 25.

But if councillors don’t act, the Coalition plans to bypass City Council and to force the issue at the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

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Toronto Taxpayers Coalition is commending members of the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) today for deciding against both levying a fee and an outright ban on plastic shopping bags in Toronto.

When the Coalition, believing the fee amounted to illegal price-fixing, filed a complaint with the Federal Competition Bureau last summer, City Council responded by hastily banning plastic shopping bags. The threat of a lawsuit from the coalition and other stakeholders appears to have changed the minds of councillors on the committee, who faced a fierce “bag ban backlash” from the public. The decision allows consumers to make informed choices about how they do their shopping.

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Toronto Taxpayers Coalition is asking why so many Toronto City Councillors needed to attend the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference in Vancouver this week.

Noting that the City of Toronto has two city councillors – Pam McConnell, Michael Thompson – on the FCM Ontario board of directors, coalition president Matthew McGuire was surprised to hear that 18 councillors spent taxpayers’ money to attend.

“While some on council are trying to stop the gravy train, other councillors have found a new mode of transportation: The Gravy Plane”, declared McGuire, referring to the cost of plane tickets and hotel accommodation for 18 councillors.

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David Miller is reaching out of the political grave to pick the pockets of Toronto taxpayers…again. In a stunning report released today from Auditor General Jeff Griffiths, it was revealed that former mayor David Miller’s last budget included a secret $55 million increase on a computer spending item.

“It’s obvious to me that David Miller and his budget chief knew, or ought to have known, about this secret $55 million increase,” said Coalition president Matthew McGuire. “This is something that senior staff would have brought to the Mayor and the budget chief because of the political sensitivities,” added McGuire, referring to the MFP Computer Leasing Scandal.

The irony is not lost on taxpayers who saw David Miller swept into office on a promise to clean up such practices.

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Today, Toronto Taxpayers Coalition has made good on a threat to file formal complaints to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner against Councillors Adam Vaughan and Mike Layton. The pair are alleged to have violated the Code of Conduct for Members of Council. The formal complaints come on the heels of both councillors refusing to apologize for what appears to be a series of clear breaches.

“When you accuse the City Manager of authoring a report that is ‘fantasy’, ‘fictitious’, with ‘nothing real’ in it, we believe you are injuring the professional or ethical reputation of staff,” stated Toronto Taxpayers Coalition president Matthew McGuire. “Councillors Vaughan and Layton have undermined the City Manager by accusing him of fabricating the report.”

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Toronto Taxpayers Coalition is condemning Premier Kathleen Wynne for choosing to release the Sunshine List during a very significant Jewish and Christian holiday – a move that shows contempt for taxpayers of the two faiths.

“I know we’re supposed to be a pluralistic society, but the only other day that could be worse for releasing this information would be Christmas Eve,” explained coalition president Matthew McGuire.

Political consultants know that the best way to bury a bad news story is to release it on Holy Thursday. The coalition wants to know “What is the Liberal government trying to hide?”

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Number of employees of Toronto and its ABC’s on the Sunshine List climbs 30%

It’s clear many municipal employees are walking on sunshine at the taxpayers’ expense.

The shocking disclosures in today’s release of the annual Sunshine List – a disclosure of public sector salaries in Ontario greater than $100,000 – has left members of Toronto Taxpayers Coalition shaking their heads. The list reveals that labour costs in the City of Toronto continue to rise at dramatic rates, putting considerable pressure on efforts to lower spending and reduce the cost of government.

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