Toronto city council fires parking authority board

Contents of the article

Brad Bradford said it was done “under the cover of darkness.” Stephen Holiday called it “weird” and “bizarre”.

Contents of the article

Frances Nunziata, however, insisted there was nothing “underhanded” about the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA) board's ouster.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Around 9 p.m. Thursday, Bradford pointed to the dark windows and empty seats behind him. He unsuccessfully urged the council to delay the vote by a month “to do this right.”

“This is not about budgetary pressure, and Torontonians and the public don't know exactly what this is about because they are not honest and they are not transparent. They took us under the cover of darkness and waited until most of the media… they left, and they did it on purpose.”

Five members of the public who served on the TPA board of directors were fired following a motion that Mayor Olivia Chow brought forward only that same day. Chow poorly worded sentencewhich called for “efficiency” in the TPA, said the issue was urgent because the current review “will optimize savings in fiscal year 2026.”

Contents of the article

The only city agency generating income

“Colleagues,” Bradford told several councilors still in the room, “what we're missing here today is the mayor putting forward a proposal to completely dismantle and blow up the city agency board under the guise of, quote, 'efficiency.' And as we heard from the city manager and the finance director, this is literally the only city agency that generates revenue.

“For Torontonians, this is a profit center, not a cost center.”

He said TPA not only does a good job running the city's bike-sharing service, but it continues to provide money to the municipality even as City Hall takes its parking assets and uses them to build housing.

“And then, build very little housing on them. It's a joke!” – Bradford said.

Contents of the article

Contents of the article

Under the proposal, council members would be replaced by five senior City Hall bureaucrats: the city manager, the finance director, one of the deputy city managers, the executive director of the environmental department and the general manager of transportation services.

In an apparent concession, board member Paula Fletcher said she and Nunziata, who also sits on the board, could also be removed from office, something the original proposal did not require.

The vote passed 15-4, with seven council members absent. Bradford, Holiday, John Burnside and Vincent Crisanti voted against.

Bradford insisted on the opportunity to question Chow, who returned to City Hall mid-debate after speaking at Gala concert of the leaderfundraising at the exhibition site. (“The minute I finished speaking, I ran out the door and came right back,” Chow said, now wearing jewelry and a black dress.)

Contents of the article

Speaker Nunziata initially insisted that the council was “not asking a second round of questions.” This prompted a rare vote on the issue – and although it failed, Chow later spoke on her proposal and ended up answering questions.

TPA staff are not present to answer questions.

At the start of the debate, Holiday stood up to ask questions of TPA staff but was told that no one from the government was in the council chambers.

“Why aren’t they here, Speaker?” Holiday asked. In the short conversation that followed, Nunziata at one point simply replied, “No.”

“I just read part of the Toronto Parking Authority's budget proposal: $180 million in revenue, $135 million in gross expenses and a net profit of $45 million with 326.5 approved positions – 326 workers – in the organization being reviewed on a nomination motion at the end of council,” Holiday said. “And a postponement was offered, but it was cordially rejected.”

Contents of the article

“This matter comes up at the end of a council meeting where I asked to speak to the Toronto Parking Authority and the Speaker refused. I want to make sure it's on the record and if it's not, it will be on tape,” Holiday added. “Among the strangest, most bizarre things I've seen here in a very, very long time, and it makes me want to double down on the issues and pay more attention to what we're doing.”

Fletcher said the radical move was needed to give City Hall bosses “control powers” at the TPA. The chief financial officer, and to a lesser extent the city manager, she said, must “be able to look at finance in a way that is not possible for them outside of this approach.”

Nunziata said “we can find a lot of ways to improve efficiency,” such as bringing IT infrastructure into the workforce.

Contents of the article

“This proposal was not underhanded,” she added.

TPA President's Salary Raises Surprise

Chow was asked about the time. Interesting, IntegrityTO account message on X gained some traction this month when it noted that TPA President Scott Collier made about $485,000 last year—far more than Chow or Premier Doug Ford. (A TPA document disclosing executive salaries Collier's valued it at $485,665.99.)

“Let me be clear, I don't do anything without thinking it through, okay? I looked at this year's budget, it's a tight budget,” Chow said. She spoke about the recent loss of revenue from speed cameras. “We need to find money.”

Chow said the TPA board chairwoman resigned the day before her proposal was brought to the board. She said he left for a job at the LCBO and his departure was “not at all related” to her proposal. (The LCBO webpage states that Hartley Lefton, TPA Chairman since 2019, served on the Liquor Board since June.)

Contents of the article

“So the capital budget, for example, debt,” Chow said, “if we decide to have and use corporate debt, our way of dealing with the capital budget, you can't do it as an independent agency. The question is not whether there is a board of directors, should there be one on the board or who is on the board, is there a board, is there something wrong with the board of directors – that's not what we have in front of us. The question is whether this agency should be an independent agency or whether it should be run by the city.” Toronto?

Hearing this, Bradford asked if there was an idea to introduce TPA to City Hall. Chow replied, “We don't know that at this point.”

[email protected]

Contents of the article