The filed record
Request for Report on Implementation of Term Limits
The Public Gallery wrote no story on this item. What follows is the city’s own record of what happened to it, as filed: nothing on this page is summarised or scored by us.
The decision
2019-02-21 · Special Committee on Governance · deferred indefinitely
As filed
The Special Committee on Governance deferred consideration of the item indefinitely.
The vote
Defer Item Indefinitely · Carried, 3-1
The whole record, all 5 members
- Ana BailãoAgainst
- Gary CrawfordAbsent
- Gord PerksFor
- Shelley CarrollFor
- Stephen HolydayFor
Every name opens that member’s record.
On the agenda
As the city filed it
City Council on January 30 and 31, 2019, referred Motion MM2.12 to the Special Committee on Governance. As City Councillors, we have a duty to ensure the health of many aspects of our City including its finances, infrastructure, and environment. Among these responsibilities none is more important than ensuring the health of our local democracy. City Hall should represent the diverse population of Toronto and candidates of all backgrounds should have an equal chance to serve their communities.
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This vision can be made a reality by reforming our governance system. This is why I am asking City Council to support my Motion to include term limits as part of the work being done by the Special Committee on Governance. Our City is emblazoned by the motto "diversity is our strength". We should strengthen Toronto by embedding diversity in our political system. Among the many barriers to having a more diverse City Council, the largest is the statistical advantage sitting Members of Council benefit from in elections. With the changes forced on City Council in the summer, now is an ideal opportunity to consider strengthening our governance system with term limits. The work of reviewing the way we govern is already underway through the Special Committee on Governance. We should use circumstances that threatened to weaken this City as a chance to strengthen it. This Motion is not a call for Council to vote on the exact details of term limits today. This debate is not meant to question the commitment and record of our Members of Council, all of whom have served their communities with as much dedication and purpose as they can bring. This Motion is an invitation to ask "is there a way we can serve better?" In order to answer this question Council must engage in a thorough debate on better governance.
Staff recommended
Councillor Brad Bradford, seconded by Councillor Ana Bailão, recommends that: 1. City Council request the City Manager to report to the Special Committee on Governance by the first quarter of 2020 on opportunities and next steps to implement term limits for City Councillors and the Mayor, such report to include but not be limited to: a. a survey and analysis on the use of term limits in comparable North American jurisdictions; b.
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consideration for the potential impacts of term limits on levels of political engagement, public participation in government and diversity among elected officials; c. an extensive public consultation process with residents on their opinions toward term limits; d. recommended length and number of terms, and transition provisions for term limits; and e. the required legislative changes to the City of Toronto Act, 2006, and the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, to implement term limits based on the findings in Parts a to d above.