Item - 2024.CC23.1

Councillor Pasternak proposed that Mayor Chow's speaking time be extended so that she could complete her remarks.

That:

1. City Council express its opposition to the proposed amendments to Part XII of the Highway Traffic Act contained in Bill 212, and any related proposed regulations, both of which contradict the stated purpose of the City of Toronto Act to allow the City to determine what is in the public interest of the city.

2. City Council request that the Province work collaboratively with cities to address congestion and road safety, and accordingly withdraw the proposed amendments to Part XII of the Highway Traffic Act contained in Bill 212.

3. City Council direct the City Solicitor to review Bill 212 and any accompanying regulations, once in force, and to report to City Council with a summary of the legislation and regulations and the potential for commencing litigation to challenge Bill 212 or the regulations.

4. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services, or designates, to appear before the Ontario Legislature’s Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure, and Cultural Policy as part of public hearings regarding Bill 212 to give testimony in accordance with the position outlined in this item.

5. City Council request the City Manager to submit written comments to Ontario’s Regulatory Registry and Environment Registry of Ontario that reflect the City’s positions outlined in this item including the City's opposition to any requirement of the City to provide support in the removal of City Infrastructure approved by its democratically elected City Council. 

6. City Council adopt the position that no costs associated with the amendments to Part XII of the Highway Traffic Act should be incurred or paid by the City of Toronto including staff time, planning, design, construction, and traffic management as a result of the congestion created by the removal.

7. City Council forward this item to the Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Leader of the Official Opposition, all Ontario Members of Provincial Parliament, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Ontario Big City Mayors, and all Ontario municipalities and include our commitment to the right of municipalities to govern their own affairs and represent the interests of their residents and electors.

8. City Council request that the Ministry of Transportation permit the publication of the results of the Transportation Tomorrow Survey 2022 as soon as possible to facilitate the use of the study in informing collaborative consultations with cities regarding options for addressing congestion and road safety. 

That City Council adopt the recommendation in the report (November 13, 2024) from the City Manager [CC23.1a]:  

1. City Council direct that the confidential information contained in Confidential Attachment 1 remain confidential in its entirety, as it contains information explicitly supplied in confidence to the City of Toronto as a partner municipality in the Transportation Tomorrow Survey 2022, conducted by a consultant retained by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario as part of a cooperative effort by local and provincial government agencies to collect information about urban travel in southern Ontario, until such time as the Transportation Tomorrow Survey 2022 is authorized to be published by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

That:

1. City Council express to the Province its support for restoring two motor vehicle lanes of travel in each direction on Bloor Street West between Runnymede Road and Resurrection Road, even if it requires removing or reconfiguring cycling infrastructure.

That: 

1. City Council direct the City Manager to report back on the feasibility of placing signs on City roads where there are traffic delays resulting from the Provincial mandate to remove bike lanes from Toronto roads and that these signs would read "This road congestion and traffic delay is the result of Premier Ford's Bill 212".

Councillor Bradford, rising on a Point of Order during the Mayor’s speaking time on the item, stated that the speaking time extension was for two minutes and that he would like the Clerk to clarify this.

Following Councillor Colles’s speaking time on the item, in response to a comment by Speaker Nunziata referring to a conversation they’d had the previous evening, Councillor Colle, rising on a Point of Privilege, stated that the Speaker is impugning his integrity by her comment and that he wants her to withdraw it.

Councillor Bradford, rising on a Point of Order, requested that Council vote separately on Recommendations 1 to 5 and Recommendations 6 to 8 of Motion 1 by Mayor Chow.