The race is on.
The first all-candidates’ meeting for the Aug. 1 Etobicoke-Lakeshore byelection has been scheduled.
Toronto Taxpayers Coalition hosts the 90-minute debate this Thursday, July 11 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Royal Canadian Legion at 3850 Lake Shore Blvd. W. at Forty-First Street. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
After Mayor Rob Ford failed to reach a consensus at city hall to study reducing the number of city councillors, the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition has taken up the fight by submitting a petition to the City Clerk demanding council to reconsider.
The non-profit group wants a reduction in the number of city councillors from 44 to 25, therefore making it more closely in line with federal and provincial ridings.
Mayor Rob Ford has spoken out publicly about his desire to decrease the seats at city hall but just last month, councillors voted down his plan to study the concept.
AM 640 reports on Toronto Taxpayers Coalition’s petition to City Council under section 129 of the City of Toronto Act. The coalition is looking to redraw the ward boundaries to match the newly redrawn federal riding boundaries – a proposal that is fair, inclusive, cost effective, and time effective. If council doesn’t implement the changes, the coalition will make their case to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
Two city councillors violated the code of conduct when they condemned a casino report from city manager Joe Pennachetti in April, the integrity commissioner has found.
Councillors Mike Layton and Adam Vaughan both strongly criticized the report from Pennachetti in comments to the media after its release on April 8, with Vaughan saying there was “nothing real in the report” and that it was “fantasy” and Layton calling it a “fictional report.”
In separate reports released Wednesday, Integrity Commissioner Janet Leiper found that both Layton and Vaughan’s comments were in violation of Section 7 of the code of conduct, requiring all councillors to be respectful of staff.
AM 640′s John Oakley interviews Toronto Taxpayers Coalition president Matthew McGuire on the group’s petition to City Council under section 129 of the City of Toronto Act. The coalition is looking to redraw the ward boundaries to match the newly redrawn federal riding boundaries – a proposal that is fair, inclusive, cost effective, and time effective. If council doesn’t implement the changes, the coalition will make their case to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
A right-wing political lobby group wants to succeed where the mayor could not.
After city council rejected Rob Ford’s proposal to cut the number of seats from 44 to 25 last month, the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition wants to carry on the fight.
The move would put wards more in-line with provincial and federal ridings.
The Toronto Taxpayers Coalition says it will attempt to “force” the city to cut council in half, after Mayor Rob Ford failed in his quest to do the same.
The mayor wants council slashed from 44 councillors to 25, to bring the city more closely in line with federal and provincial ridings. But last month, councillors rejected his plan to study the concept.
The taxpayers group, led by Matthew McGuire, says it will now rely on a “little known clause” in the City of Toronto Act to petition for a reduction in the number of wards. If councillors fail to act, the coalition says it will “bypass city council” and argue the issue at the Ontario Municipal Board.
Mayor Rob Ford and the Toronto Taxpayers Coalition slammed 18 city councillors for all attending the Federation of Canadian Municipalities conference in Vancouver on the weekend.
But Trinity-Spadina Councillor Adam Vaughan, one of those who flew across the country for the nation-wide municipal meeting, said there was only one problem with the number of councillors who went west.
As the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) conference was held in Vancouver, Toronto Taxpayers Coalition came out questioning why an excessive number of city councillors attended the conference, placing an unnecessary burden on taxpayers. The group called for a policy limiting future delegations.