Item - 2018.RM44.1

CALL TO ORDER: 9:39 a.m.

Speaker Nunziata took the Chair and called the Members to order.

The meeting opened with O Canada.

Monday, July 23, 2018

Speaker Nunziata acknowledged that City Council was meeting on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.  Speaker Nunziata also acknowledged that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Speaker Nunziata called upon Mayor Tory.

Mayor Tory's Address to City Council

I will be moving that we recess today's meeting until this afternoon out of respect for the victims of last night's attack.

An unspeakable act was perpetrated Sunday on Danforth Avenue in our City.

On behalf of all Toronto residents, I want to extend condolences to the families of those mourning the loss of their loved ones and to those in hospital this morning.

We are all praying for a complete recovery for them.

Our entire city has been shocked by this cowardly act of violence.

As I said earlier this morning, I am of course angry that someone would carry out such an attack which really amounts to an attack on the City itself.

Gun violence in any part of our City is horrible and completely unacceptable.

As the shots rang out last night, our police officers, fire fighters and paramedics rushed to the scene.

And, just as we saw earlier this year, we are all once again immensely proud and grateful for the courage and professionalism they showed.

I want to express our collective gratitude to all first responders who came as quickly as possible to help people in the wake of this horrific incident.

I am continuing to get updates from Police Chief Mark Saunders about the ongoing investigation.

I could see for myself at the scene where I was joined by Councillors Fragedakis and Fletcher, that every possible effort was being made by our very capable police service so as to determine exactly what happened and why.

I have total confidence in the ability of our police under the Chief’s leadership to determine what did in fact happen here.

I want to publicly thank Premier Doug Ford and Federal Minister Bill Blair who were both immediately in touch to offer condolences as well as any assistance Toronto might require.

In times of such horror – it is good to know Toronto is not alone, and Toronto will never be alone, and more important of all, the people of Toronto will never be alone.

While our City will always be resilient in the face of such attacks, it does not mean such a terrible act committed against our residents is any less painful – this is an attack against innocent families and our entire City.

This is a tragedy – another tragedy in our City this year.

I promise all of the people of Toronto, but especially those directly affected by this tragedy that we will be relentless in getting answers about why this senseless attack happened.

I've said for some time that the city has a gun problem in that guns are far too readily available to far too many people.

It is something I spoke about very directly at a Federal Government conference held last year on acts of violence.

As I have said repeatedly, this is an international problem and this is a domestic problem.

There are far too many people carrying around guns in our City and our region who should not have them.

You have heard me ask the question why anyone would need to buy 10 or 20 guns which they can legally do under present laws.

That leads to another question we need to discuss – why does anyone in this City need to have a gun at all?

I know even answering that question won't fully eliminate tragedies like this but even if we can prevent one of these incidents then in my view it is a discussion worth having and having soon.

To that end, I will be reaching out to both the Federal and Provincial governments and urging them to sit down with us at as early a date as possible to discuss a range of public safety issues including illegal guns.

I believe it is fitting for us to revisit this issue, yes, to protect our City but also out of respect for those who have lost their lives to this senseless violence.

In the meantime, I will continue to do whatever I can to comfort and heal our City and to assist the police in getting the answers we all need arising out of this senseless act.

The following Members of Council also spoke about Sunday's tragic events:

Councillor Mary Fragedakis

Councillor Paula Fletcher

Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti

Members of Council observed a moment of silence.

Speaker Nunziata recessed the meeting to 2:00 p.m.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Members of Council observed a moment of silence and remembered the following:

Chantelle Almeida

Benjamin Danzig, and

Garry Lowe 

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Members of Council observed a moment of silence and remembered the following:

Dr. Gordon Joseph Chong

Reese Fallon, and

Edward Svelnis