Item - 2022.TA17.3

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Conveyed to City Council, via the City Manager, the Board of Directors’ general agreement with the proposed updates to the Relationship Framework, as set out in Attachment 1 to the report (May 16, 2022) from the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Atmospheric Fund, subject to such technical non-substantive changes to Section 5.1.1 clause (i), Section 5.2.6, Section 6.1.11 and Section 7.1,  based on the discussion by the Board at the meeting, to be reviewed on behalf of the Board by the Chair and Board member Graysanne Bedell, and finalized by the City and Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

2.  Requested, via the City Manager, City Council’s approval for Toronto Atmospheric Fund and the City to pursue certain amendments to the Toronto Atmospheric Fund Act, including:

a.  To remove or amend outdated references to the Municipal Act; and

b.  To remove the requirement for committees of Toronto Atmospheric Fund to hold Open Meetings.

3.  Delegated to Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s Chief Executive Officer the responsibility to implement the Relationship Framework and the Statement of Investment Objectives and Principles requirements, as appropriate, once approved by City Council.

The Toronto Atmospheric Fund (TAF) and the City have been updating TAF’s governance documents - the Relationship Framework with the City of Toronto (RF), TAF By-law No. 1 (By-laws) and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund Statement of Investment Objectives and Principles (SIOP) - with the goals of reflecting TAF’s growing capacities, endowment and mandate since the documents were last amended; clarifying mechanisms for communication and collaboration with the City; and ensuring that appropriate accountability measures remain in place. 

To clarify and streamline the governance documents:

-  By-law No. 1 will contain only operational and administrative matters which, with Council approval, will be within the purview of TAF’s Board to approve;

-  the RF will contain Council’s requirements and the Procedural By-law which would be approved by Council; and

-  the SIOP will contain only investment-related requirements which would be approved by both the Board and Council. 

 
TAF staff will provide an update on the proposed content of the RF, including progress since the April 25 Board meeting. In addition, desirable amendments to the Toronto Atmospheric Fund Act (TAF Act) and several other City policies have been identified through the process of updating the governance documents.  It is anticipated that a report from the City Manager seeking approval of the RF (which contains the Procedural By-law) and SIOP will be on Council’s June 2022 agenda. Updates to By-Law No. 1 will be presented to the Board for approval at its July meeting, after Council’s decision, and the Procedural By-Law for adoption.