Toronto council to debate defunding the police, reforms today

Thestar.com
June 29, 2020
Jennifer Pagliaro

Council meets virtually Monday and Tuesday with a packed agenda, including proposals to defund and reform the Toronto Police taking centre stage.

Mayor John Tory has tabled a set of proposals that advocates have criticized as hollow and are expected to be presented in contrast to a motion from Coun. Josh Matlow to ask the police make at least a 10 per cent cut in next year’s budget, which some have said still doesn’t go far enough.

The proposals follow weeks of protests in Toronto and across the border over police violence and anti-Black racism that has seen calls to defund and abolish police services in favour of non-police alternatives and community programs.

Other items on the agenda that are up for debate include a city program to allow restaurants and bars to have expanded patio space during the pandemic, plans for new affordable housing, concerns over COVID-19 impacts on tenants and more.