Hi everyone! This meeting is recorded. Feel free to turn off your video or rename yourself if that's more comfortable.

hi I'm Beth Wilson from Social Planning Toronto. Welcome!

Richard De Gaetano here. I'm a former SPT community planner and now a retired volunteer with Community Development Council Durham.

Hi everyone.

Hi - Brandon Haynes, President of the Toronto Public Library Workers Union (Local 4948). Nice to see familiar faces.

nice to see you all! i'm saroja she/her with social planning toronto

Hello, its Jane Rowan from Toronto Seniors Forum.

Israt Ahmed., community planner at SPT, welcome

Hi folks! Jas from YWCA Toronto. Nice to see you all

hi

Hello all, Tommy Taylor -Interim Manager, Toronto Drop-In Network (TDIN), Steering Committee, Shelter & Housing Justice Network (SHJN)

Hello everyone, my name is Melinda employee of Community Development Durham Council.

Sharon Simpson - Labour Community Services

I am Shaila Arman, working as a Social Researcher with the Community Development Council Durham.

Hi everyone! Pamela, advocacy and communications coordinator at North York Harvest Food Bank here.

I’m Chiara Padovani from North York Harvest Food Bank! Welcome everyone 🙂

Hi folk! My Sami (she/her) from YWCA Toronto.

Hello everyone, im Desiree and I am a student at York University who is doing their internship with our Local 4948. I’m looking forward to learning more from this budget meeting.

Hi everyone, I'm Gagan Nijjar - Community Benefits Researcher at Toronto Community Benefits Network. Excited to be here!

Hi there! My name is Bridget and I am the Community Development and Social Action Worker at The Neighbourhood Group Community Services. Looking forward to this town hall.

Hello everyone, I'm from Dixon Hall Rooming House Project - Community Development

Hi all— I’m Bill Worrell chair of the Oakwood Vaughan Community Organization.

My name is Sarah Gonza from Toronto Community Benefits Network.Glad to be here

Hi everyone, I'm Thevya from SCAN (Scarborough Civic Action Network)

Good afternoon, Shulan Tien from University Settlement

Hi all, it's Susan from Toronto & York Region Labour Council. What a fabulous group of people to collaborate and think together about what a great budget would be for Toronto now and in the future!

Hello! everyone / Bob Murphy Acorn Toronto

Hi all, Del Milbrandt from the Space Coalition.

Janet Maher, Toronto Seniors

slides not moving?

Lots of important points Beth.

48% of Toronto residents are renters. Of these folks the majority are worried about evictions and not being able to afford their rent. prices keep skyrocketing and poverty and inequality keeps growing.

3500 rental bldgs. excluding TCHC bldgs. 31 inspectors

theres only 31 inspectors?

TTC fair pass has contacted me and extended for another year

You can register for the Community Dialogue here, an open platform to share and hear others' budget demands: https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/spt_community_dialogue

https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/city_budget_watch_calendar

City Budget Watch blog: https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/city_budget_watch_2022

To Bob: That's great to hear. We expect Fair Pass to continue for everyone who currently has access. Fair Pass final phase is supposed to expand to low-income people not currently covered (earning ~$29,000 per year or less)

EXACTLY

never mind accessible to average person, add a developmental disability where most of these documents are not plain language and forget trying to figure it out.

☝🏽

Budgets are value statements. What are the most important things to the Council are what they give money to. Deputations don't need to have data, just express your values for the city.

I wonder if we can think a little more intentionally about what our community NEEDS rather than what city and others WANT Recognition for spending or compare with other jurisdictions, who are no more attentive to the need in their communities. Excellent that city is at least so far committing to investments for 'emotion-centred' LTC--i.e. moving in the direction of 4 hour per resident per day care set as a care standard in 1990. Meanwhile do we know how many community rooms in Libraries, community & recreation centres, TCHC buildings will remain vacant or sublet to private sector when they were originally built to facilitate community services. LTC is still woefully inadequate, accounting for 80%+ of COVID deaths but less than 1% of the population.

Thanks Jazmine. Good to hear a voice for renters and low income.

Thanks for that analysis Jazmine.

Thanks Jasmine. Very interesting points to consider.

RGi / rent geared to income

Shelagh, can you confirm that the $461.2M shortfall in TTC 2022 budget is NOT captured by the COVID $1B "assumed revenues" from Feds and Province but is separate from it?

many ODSP recipients lost medical transportation funding because their therapy programs were stopped due to Covid and applied for the fair pass funding

Here is the link if you'd like to join our meeting tomorrow night (Jan 19 at 6pm) and learn more about transit issues in the budget & get ready to speak: https://www.ttcriders.ca/jan_ttc_meeting_prep

Workers create all the wealth that the Bay Street parasites want to keep to themselves.

Hi Susan!

lol

❤️ library workers

Thanks Beth!

A lot of low income folks use the library for so many services and computers and internet.

Library workers helped keep our food banks running during this pandemic!

Libraries in Scarborough also rerouted during the pandemic and distributed food hampers

My question is for the labour council regarding the way city workers get paid (unionized) vs. nonprofit sector workers (also unionized). The city pays its workers a much higher salary -- and when funding our sector often funds us at a cost. Is there anything Labour Council can do to address this discrepancy? Because women's in the nonprofit sector are really bearing the brunt of this pay disparity. AND, we shouldn't have to provide community services -- that communities need -- at cost and be forced to fundraise to make up the difference.

As we get frailer, most of us are not interested in expanding LTC as it really looks a bit like a slaughter house. City has lots of space for community programming which would support Ageing in Place and delay or divert the flow to LTC. We're not expecting city to necessarily fund new programming, but at minimum not to further reduce, and with experience, eg in libraries and community centres could facilitate, give leadership, and call on other levels of government to support "preventive" programs like falls prevention, dementia day care, etc. One day soon they'll be there too

Tiny Home communites would be even less expensive

One contradiction after the other lowering target for connecting people to housing does not advance the anti-poverty strategy

That tweet really sums up many of the problems that have existed prior to COVID, as Beth noted in her presentation

Will these slides be available after or will there be a recording of today's session?

YES

Oh right - you said that at the beginning. Great!

Considering that we can't house and support the people we have now, should we be accepting new refugees to Toronto. Where will they live and how will they get supported? It can only mean that a group that has been waiting for services will get bumped again.

Lets not go there

We need solidarity with EVERYONE. An injury to one is an injury to all

Thank you Tommy—valuable information and your advocacy is very precious.

The City and Feds can entirely fund a proper homelessness and Refugee system if they choose. Never has to be one or the other, that's a divisive trick they like present.

Hear hear, Tommy!

hi there, I have a quick question about the budget committee for anyone who knows - when you sign up to depute, do you get to choose which day/timeslot you want to depute for? I saw that there are 3 timeslots in each of the two days.

To register to speak to the Budget Committee, you can email email buc@toronto.ca or call 416-392-4666. Indicate which date and time of day (morning, afternoon, evening) that you would like to speak. Please register by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, January 21, 2022. Speakers may only make one presentation. Registered speakers will be provided with instructions about how to join the meeting. The meeting will be streamed live here.

Thank you Saroja

Helpful thanks

Here's the $1.4 billion funds needed from prov and feds, breakdown from city presentation: COVID-19 Continued Federal& Provincial Supports*$1.4 BillionTransit - $561 MillionShelters - $288 MillionCorporate Revenues - $266 MillionPublic Health - $60 MillionOther Impacts - $224 Million

City childcare workers are the highest paid childcare workers in the city and all non-profits who are unionized target their wage demands in bargaining to the City wage. More agitation, organizing and more progressive city councillors and MPPs are needed to make it happen!

Non-profit childcare workers, that is!

Absolutely - we need to elect progressives and that will help us achieve better funded outcomes!

new revenue tools???

The 4.4% property tax increase is an average of $141 a year = about $11 a month. There are some options for people living on low incomes to deal with property tax increases.

I'm paying less in property tax for the same property in 2021 than I paid in 1991--property value has quadrupled

Beth please weigh in

The City needs to use the revenue tools that go after folks who can afford it or are making money off it -- like the vehicle registration tax, luxury housing tax, commercial parking levy, etc.

Of the 4.4% tax increase, note that 1.5% is for transit capital funding to pay for debt that has already been incurred. An additional 0.8% comes from rebalancing of residential/commercial rates mandated by provincial policy.

Janet how are you paying less. I am pay about 700 a year more.

Excellent point, Steve! Already spoken for.

I was likely overpaying in 1991 before equal value assessment

plus increase in the utilities bill - garbage especially about 2 to 3 hundred a year more.

Additional taxes for the City Building Fund will continue for another three years per a 2019 council approval. This crowds out tax room for above inflation increases to fund other programs or more transit/housing.

Here's a link to the city of Toronto's property tax, water and solid waste relief programs that the city provides: https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/property-taxes-utilities/property-tax/property-tax-rebates-and-relief-programs/property-tax-and-utility-relief-program/

https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/spt_community_dialogue

Budget events calendar: https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/city_budget_watch_calendar

thank you, Beth. I will check it out.

Thanks for organizing this -- good to see everyone. Thanks for a great conversation

Great work Jin, Israt, Beth and others at SPT. Also fellow panellists, and great questions from the participants! Thanks for this afternoon!

City Budget Watch: https://www.socialplanningtoronto.org/city_budget_watch_2022

This has been very interesting and informative.

Thank you for an excellent information session!

Thanks for organizing this! Very informative and useful. Have a great rest of your day folks.

Thank you.

Thank-you, Jin!

Thank you SPT for organizing this and keeping us informed

Thank you

Thank you!