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| Metropolitan Toronto Council | |
|---|---|
| Name | Metropolitan Toronto Council |
| Founded | 1953 |
| Disbanded | 1998 |
| Jurisdiction | Toronto |
| Headquarters | Metro Hall |
| Members | Borough and city mayors, controllers, aldermen, and regional councillors |
Metropolitan Toronto Council was the regional deliberative body created in 1953 to coordinate services across the urbanized area around Toronto. It brought together elected officials from constituent municipalities such as City of Toronto (1855–1998), Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, York, East York, and Uxbridge (later adjustments) to manage regional infrastructure, transit and planning. The Council operated alongside municipal councils, evolving through political contests involving figures like Fred Gardiner, Alan Tonks, David Crombie, Mel Lastman, and Art Eggleton until its dissolution in 1998 under the provincial government of Mike Harris.
The creation of the Council followed postwar debates involving entities such as the Toronto Transit Commission, Metropolitan Toronto and York Township planning advocates, and provincial actors including the Ontario Municipal Board and premiers like Leslie Frost and John Robarts. The structure was formalized by the Metropolitan Toronto Act of 1953 after inquiries and reports from commissions including the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority-era planners and influential administrators such as Frederick G. Gardiner who became the first Metro chairman. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s the Council intersected with projects steered by figures like Paul Godfrey, Ralph Day, and William J. Allen and institutions such as Ontario Hydro, Toronto Harbour Commission, and Canadian National Railway on expressways, sewers and waterfront redevelopment. Debates over expressways engaged groups linked to Jane Jacobs, David Crombie, and urbanists associated with University of Toronto faculties and the School of Architecture, University of Toronto. Fiscal crises and provincial interventions in the 1980s involved actors like David Peterson and later the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario under Mike Harris, culminating in the provincial amalgamation policy influenced by advisors around Hugh Segal and institutions such as the Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
Council membership combined mayors, reeves, controllers and regional councillors drawn from constituent municipalities, with ex officio seats for the Metro chairman and heads of agencies like the Toronto Transit Commission board and the Metropolitan Toronto Police Commission. Notable municipal members included Mel Lastman of North York, Barbara Hall of Toronto era allies, and suburban leaders from Etobicoke and Scarborough including Dennis Flynn and Gus Harris. The Council operated through standing committees such as the Works Committee, Planning and Development Committee, and Finance Committee, coordinating with organizations like the Greater Toronto Services Board precursor entities, regional utilities including Metro Toronto Works and crown agencies such as Ontario Place Corporation. The administrative apparatus linked to offices in Metro Hall and earlier locations employed civil servants from units influenced by standards of practice from Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat models and consulting firms like Dillon Consulting and Delcan.
Metro Council had statutory authority over regional infrastructure projects like arterial expressways, sewer systems, regional planning, and transit, working with the Toronto Transit Commission and provincial carriers such as GO Transit and federal transport policy via Transport Canada. Powers derived from the Municipal Act (Ontario) and the Metropolitan Toronto Act allowed the Council to levy regional taxation, issue debt through mechanisms paralleling Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation borrowing instruments, and manage public works delivered by entities including Toronto Hydro-Electric System and Peel Region partnerships. The Council oversaw policing policy in coordination with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police only for federal matters and set strategic objectives for social services delivered via municipal partners such as Catholic School Board (Archdiocese of Toronto) and public boards like the Toronto Board of Education.
Operationally, Metro administered road maintenance, waste management, water and sewer services, and regional transit planning in collaboration with the Toronto Transit Commission and GO Transit. Major infrastructure programs included relationships with agencies such as Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation for municipal revenues, coordination with utilities like Enersource and Toronto Hydro, and capital projects often contracted to firms including EllisDon and PCL Constructors. Public safety coordination involved the Metropolitan Toronto Police (later Toronto Police Service) and emergency planning with provincial bodies like the Office of the Fire Marshal of Ontario and federal partners such as Public Safety Canada analogues. The Council also influenced cultural institutions including funding decisions affecting the Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal Ontario Museum, Harbourfront Centre, and major event coordination with organizers of Canadian National Exhibition and Molson Canadian-sponsored events.
Political life on Council was shaped by tensions between urbanists and suburban representatives, fiscal conservatives and progressive reformers, and conflicts over growth exemplified by the expressway fights involving advocates like Jane Jacobs and proponents tied to construction interests and provincial transport ministers. Debates over transit expansion saw interventions by figures like David Crombie, Barbara Hall, and June Rowlands and policy inputs from academic actors at York University and Ryerson University. Fiscal policy clashes involved provincial premiers such as Bill Davis and later Mike Harris, as well as municipal reformers like Stephen Lewis and labour organizations including the Canadian Union of Public Employees. High-profile controversies included waterfront redevelopment disputes connected to PortsToronto predecessors, controversies over the sale and privatization of municipal assets reminiscent of provincial debates involving Bob Rae, and policing matters that drew attention from civil liberties groups and unions like the Ontario Federation of Labour.
In 1998 the provincial government enacted amalgamation policies that replaced the regional council with a single-tier City of Toronto led by advisors and politicians including Mel Lastman and overseen by decisions from the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The abolition catalyzed legal and civic responses from municipal activists, academics at University of Toronto and York University, and organizations such as the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The legacy of the Council persists in regional infrastructure, the institutional memory within agencies like the Toronto Transit Commission, planning precedents archived at the City of Toronto Archives, and ongoing debates about metropolitan governance seen in entities like the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area coordination efforts and periodic studies by the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance.
Category:Politics of Toronto Category:Former municipalities in Ontario