A garbage collection crew is pictured in January, 2012, picking up residential trash and recycling in Toronto.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
Toronto Mayor John Tory has avoided a standoff over privatizing garbage collection after a city committee voted to push back the debate until next year.
Throughout his campaign for mayor, Mr. Tory pledged to privatize garbage collection in the second half of the city east of Yonge – though a staff report advising against it last week threatened to derail those plans. On Tuesday, the public works committee voted instead to defer the issue until late next year, allowing the mayor to avoid yet another divisive debate in next week's council meeting.
"The mayor clearly made a commitment during the campaign to outsource garbage to privatize east of Yonge. I also made a similar commitment. This is something I personally think we should do," said public works chair Jaye Robinson, who moved the deferral at Tuesday's meeting.
Ms. Robinson said that both she and the mayor still intend to fulfill that campaign promise, but at a later time. She pointed to upcoming labour negotiations with city staff – which could significantly affect cost estimates for contracting out garbage – as the reason for the deferral.
A city staff report last week urged council against privatizing garbage east of Yonge, saying in-house collection in the east end remains the cheapest and least risky option.
But at least a few councillors questioned the methodology of that report, saying that simply taking the current cost of private west-end collection to estimate the cost for the east end does not accurately reflect what the market might offer.
"That's the head-scratcher in all this. We want to know: Why is it so cheap in the west side, but we're not seeing those savings proposed in the east?" Councillor Stephen Holyday asked Tuesday. He condoned sending the report back to staff for more information.
But at least one colleague, former mayor Rob Ford, slammed Mr. Tory for pushing back the debate. Privatizing garbage collection on the city's west end – which saved the city $11.5-million a year – was one of Mr. Ford's signature accomplishments during his time as mayor.
"It should've been done in the first six months," Mr. Ford said. He pointed to another decision this week – the executive committee's vote to send a report on tolling the Gardiner Expressway back to staff for further study – as another example.
"You say you're going to do something, you move ahead with it. You don't dither and defer everything."
Ann Hui