I attended Thursday night’s sleepover at Toronto city hall — the sleep part is a joke since we were up all night — to hear public deputations in a Toronto city council executive committee marathon meeting that went for almost 23 hours from the morning of Thursday, July 28 to the morning of Friday, July 29, 2011 (the meeting ended at 7:57 a.m.).
The public deputations were part of the public consultation process included in the Core Service Review Project which saw people stay up all night camped out at City Hall waiting for their turn to address councillors — while many more deputants were unable to attend due to work or family obligations, especially since the meeting ran through the night. Each deputant was given three minutes to speak.
Here is a backgrounder on the meeting here: Playing with Team Ford
Here is a compilation of some of the deputations from the overnight session. Unfortunately, I did not receive an updated copy of the speakers list (no clerks around to make photocopies overnight until early morning) so I will not post names until I can confirm accuracy. You can also help by giving me the correct spelling of a deputant’s name.
**
11:00 p.m.
Dep asks the Fords about Toronto: “Do you have more Tim Hortons than libraries or more libraries than Tim Hortons?”
**
11:24 p.m.
Dep: “A Toronto without libraries would be an abyss.”
**
11:22 p.m.
Mayor Rob Ford leaves room.
**
11:37 p.m.
Crossing guard Dep makes dig at Rob Ford for driving with cell phone and chastises him for disappearing during the public deputations he asked to hear.
**
11:51 p.m.
Mayor Rob Ford returns, smacking on gum.
**
12:00 a.m.
Dep says, “stopping the gravy train does not mean the end of civility.”
**
12:01 a.m.
Dep says, “I don’t think any of you (councillors) will be affected by any of these cuts.”
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12:03 a.m.
Dep says, “if you mishandle this situation, I guarantee you won’t be here four years from now.”
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12:13 a.m.
Dep says, “this city is not a business.”
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12:19 a.m.
Dep says, “there is no gravy train, but there is a Ford Nation Express… and Torontonians are going to pull the hand break.”
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12:40 a.m.
Dep says, “I am a taxpayer and I would pay more taxes to keep services going.”
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12:42 a.m.
Dep indentifies as speaking from the GLBT community and pleads against cutting funding for GLBT community programs, citing the high youth GLBT suicide rate. “The GLBT community is not a special-interest group.”
**
1:13 a.m.
Dep pleads for councillors to not cut neighbourhood programs; long cheer from the audience.
**
1:19 a.m.
Parking authority employee Dep pleads for council to save his job.
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1:27 a.m.
Dep stops talking and yells at Rob Ford: “Are you listening because I don’t think you are!”
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1:34 a.m.
Dep noted that the city is “obligated to promote equality…this city must conduct an equity budget review (equity budget statement) to review whether these cuts will hurt citizens” and warned council that failure to do so would open them up for a lawsuit for breaching the Human Rights Code.
**
1:49 a.m.
Group supporting libraries deliver boxes with petitions containing 45,000 signatures supporting keeping public libraries public.
Councillor Mihevc petitions council over the right to speak after crowd cheers for libraries during his one-minute allotted time to speak. His request was denied by Rob Ford. Councillor Mammoliti threatens to shut meeting down because of the cheering with over half the deputants on the speakers list.
**
1:54 a.m.
Dep says: “Good morning Toronto, I am proud to be a member of Toronto’s filibuster against service cuts.”
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2:00 a.m.
Dep pleads to councillors to save public housing. “Everyone deserves a decent home.”
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2:07 a.m.
14-year-old Deputant brings room to tears as she pleads to keep libraries open. “I’m not a director, I’m not a president, I’m just a 14 year old from Scarborough.”
**
2:22 a.m.
Dep talks about the importance of city funding for community partnerships, as services help her deal with being a newcomer from the GLBT community.
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2:25 a.m.
Dep says, “my children and many others would be locked out of necessary services such as libraries” because of cuts.
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2:28 a.m.
Zoo employee pleads council to save his job.
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2:43 a.m.
Dep Dave Meslin is asked to leave the room for “being disruptive.” He is in his PJs with a stuffed rabbit.
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2:44 a.m.
Dep says, “these cuts with devastate my community” in reference to potential cuts to public services for high priority neighbourhoods; fears a return to the 2005 Summer of the Gun.
Also notes that for his community needs good paying jobs: “We need libraries, not more Tim Hortons.”
**
3:02 a.m.
Dep speaks through sock puppet named Roy. “The mayor is clearly breaking his election promise to not cut services. We would rather pay a little bit more (in taxes) than watch our investments into the future crumble.”
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3:17 a.m.
Dep criticizes the format of an all-night meeting that “silenced those who could not stay the night with you.”
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3:24 a.m.
Transit needs for the marginalized (dis/abled TTC riders) must be protected.
**
3:27 a.m.
Rob Ford leaves the meeting for roughly 17 minutes.
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3:34 a.m.
Dep pleads to keep programming as part of the Toronto Public Library budget. “Libraries are not just warehouses for books.”
**
3:38 a.m.
Dep describes how citizens of Alexandria, Egypt, protected their library from looters during this year’s Arab Spring uprising; asks what Toronto is prepared to do?
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3:45 a.m.
Dep tells Councillor Mammoliti to “Shut up!” because he was heckling her.
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3:48 a.m.
Dep describes the power of storytelling, in tears, saying, “I am who I am today because of authors,” as she pleads to pleads council to keep libraries open.
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3:57 a.m.
Dep challenges councillors over speaking-time limit. “Can you learn in three minutes?”
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3:58 a.m.
Dep sings beautiful deputation about the love of books and reading: “One book was all it took.”
**
4:00 a.m.
Dep criticizes Rob Ford for his absences during deputations since it was his idea in the first place to pull an all-nighter.
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4:11 a.m.
Rob Ford reading the morning edition of the Toronto Sun while a city outdoor employee Deputant pleads for councillors to save his jobs from cutbacks.
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4:15 a.m.
Future doctor Dep describes the potential cuts to public health as, “not just bad economics but bad health care. You are creating as a health-care crisis.”
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4:23 a.m.
Dep describes outsourcing social services akin to, “renting out the House of Commons to a gambling house or biker gang.”
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4:26 a.m.
Dep says, “where there are books, there is community.”
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4:29 a.m.
“I resent being called a taxpayer, I am a citizen. A citizen who is a patron of the arts and a member of the community.”
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4:58 a.m.
Dep yells to get Rob Ford’s attention. “Do I have to call you on your cell phone to get your attention?”
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5:08 a.m.
Dep criticizes meeting format: “This meeting was intentionally set up to exclude people who had to go home to their families.”
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5:20 a.m.
Dep says, “you want to cut the Blue Night (TTC) route? You might as well force women to be whores for rides.”
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6:06 a.m.
Dep says, “KPMG, you do not represent Toronto.”
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6:18 a.m.
Dep reminds Rob Ford: “If you make an election promise to not cut services, don’t cut them.”
**
6:38 a.m.
Dep reminds councillors that “there is a difference between making rash decisions and rational decisions.”
**
6:41 a.m.
Public deputations end.
**
7:57 a.m.
Executive Committee meeting of the Core Service Review Project is adjourned.
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