In July 2018, the “Better Local Government Act” was introduced by the Government of Ontario. Bill 5 would shrink Toronto City Council from 44 seats (although 47 were contested in the 2018 election) to 25 seats. As problems were encountered with the legislation, it was replaced by Bill 31 “The Efficient Local Government Act.” A battle ensured between the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario in the courts, which resulted in a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in October 2021 upholding the law. The 2018 election took place with the election of 25 Councillors and Mayor. Toronto now has perhaps the most populous wards of any major city in in North America and Europe. In order to manage this volume of work, at its first meeting of the 2018-2022 term of office, Council increased their staff budgets and in a 18-8 vote Council passed the following: 14a - Motion to Amend Item (Additional) moved by Councillor Anthony Perruzza (Carried) That City Council request the City Manager to review Councillor compensation and recommend an appropriate level of compensation for Toronto City Councillors to City Council by the first quarter of 2019 and to obtain advice from one or more third party. Since that time, no report analyzing this issue has come to Council. It is widely understood that the report is complete and that a third-party consultant was retained. This motion restates Council’s desire to review and debate the contents of the report and staff recommendations that accompany it.
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