Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow touted the city’s investments in fire services Wednesday as she continued to face questions over the proposed police budget.
Speaking alongside Fire Chief Matthew Pegg at a Riverdale fire hall where an aerial truck was slated to be cut in a previous budget, Chow highlighted the fact that no such cuts are being made in the latest proposed budget, the first of her mayoralty.
“As you know, I inherited a financial mess at City Hall, facing a $1.8 billion shortfall. And we could choose to repeat what past mayors have done — cutting services or cutting emergency service; or we could protect and enhance them,” Chow said.
She said the budget includes money for 52 more firefighters, more fire inspectors and 911 dispatchers, as well as 63 additional frontline and support staff for Toronto Paramedic Services, as well as money for the new Toronto Community Crisis Service to deal with people in crisis.
Chow said there's also more money in the budget for Toronto police, but she faced a barrage of questions over criticism that it falls short.
The city’s staff-proposed budget includes an increase over 2023 for Toronto police, but it's $12.6 million less than the Toronto Police Services Board approved in the budget request it voted on in December.
Toronto police have been warning for weeks that they will not be able to keep up with the services they are expected to provide if the city proceeds with a cut to the TPS board-approved budget.
Chief Myron Demkiw and the Toronto Police Association — the union that represents Toronto officers and staff — have been advocating for the board-approved budget to be restored in the final version of the overall city budget set to be tabled by Mayor Chow in February.
“They (Torontonians) will see a continued degradation in police service response,” Demkiw warned last week when talking about the implications of the proposed budget. He added that it would constitute “an unacceptable risk” to public safety.
Toronto police have also been using their social media accounts to spread the message to the public, warning that the average response time for the most urgent calls for service sits at 22.6 minutes.
“Let me set the record straight. Your Toronto Police are receiving millions of dollar more on the budget, there's no cuts,” Chow said, referring to the overall increase over 2023, when asked about the criticism.
She said the increase for TPS is "substantial" and said the total amount will be outlined in a briefing note she's expecting.
She said that staff have worked with the police for months to try to meet their needs and that the budget committee will be providing her with further recommendations on Friday.
In terms of paramedics, Chow said she knows that they are also grappling with work overload and are struggling to keep up.
“I understand the staffing and the workload is an issue,” Chow said. “I understand the offloading difficulties in hospitals. I've seen it. It has a significant impact and I'll continue to work with the provincial government and the hospitals to look for ways so they can offload a lot faster.”
Talks with feds continue
Chow also said that she will be meeting with federal Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic Leblanc Wednesday to talk about the kinds of support that Toronto needs.
The staff-proposed budget includes the possibility of an additional six per cent levy if the federal government does not agree to provide the city with $250 million to help care for refugees and asylum-seekers. That would be on top of a proposed 10.5 per cent tax bump. Budget Chief Shelley Carroll has previously said that the levy would be included if the federal government does not commit to providing the funds in the few weeks between the proposed budget and Chow’s final version.
“Good things takes time. We still have time,” Chow told reporters Wednesday. “My budget won't come out until February 1.
She suggested that there may be room for the federal and provincial governments to provide the city with further assistance when it comes to policing.
“I’ve spoken to both federal and provincial governments to say that look, look at all the consulates in the city, look at all the demonstrations, look at the challenges we face with cross-border problems that we get where there's trafficking of stolen cars coming, leaving Toronto,” Chow said. “So we have lots of challenges that many municipalities don't have, and I have communicated that to other levels of government so perhaps they could support us even more.”’
Chow noted that she recently had “a good meeting” with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who represents a riding in Toronto, and said that "it is clear both of us love the City of Toronto. We want Toronto to be successful.”
She said the Trudeau government “have been good partners in the past” on housing, the environment, public transit and childcare.
Her comments followed reports last week that Liberal MPs were furious about the city’s ultimatum to the federal government. Etobicoke Centre MP Yvan Baker told CP24 last week that the city’s request “feels a little bit like a shakedown.”
