Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow defends city’s police budget, denies any cuts

(Aanchal Nigam / Red Maple) 

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow defended the city’s police funding amid growing criticism of the budget being viewed as a cut. 

On Wednesday, Chow spoke alongside Fire Chief Matthew Pegg at a Riverdale fire hall where she reinstated her commitment to fund emergency services.

While she is scheduled to roll out her first mayoral budget on Thursday, Chow said there are no cuts being made in the latest proposed budget.

“As you know, I inherited a financial mess at City Hall, facing a $1.8 billion shortfall. And we could choose to repeat what past mayors have done — cutting services or cutting emergency service; or we could protect and enhance them,” Chow said.

Moreover, Chow said the budget includes funding for more 52 more firefighters, more fire inspectors and 911 dispatchers, 63 additional frontline and support staff for Toronto Paramedic Services, Toronto Community Crisis Service to deal with people in emergency situations.

She said there are even more funds in the budget for Toronto Police as the questions around her budget continue to increase. 

Meanwhile, Toronto Police has been reportedly waging a public and vocal lobbying efforts to ramp up its allotment of $17 billion of operating budget.

Earlier last week, police Chief Myron Demkiw told the budget committee that the proposed budget for Toronto Police fell short from their expectations by millions of dollars. 

As per reports, Demkiw has called the city's funding for this year a budget cut, even though his budget is going up by more than $7 million. But this rise is less than the $20 million increase that the Toronto Police Service Board agreed to last year.

But, ahead of the official unveiling of the budget, Chow said, “Let me set the record straight: the Toronto police are receiving millions of dollars more in the budget. There’s no cuts.”

Under the proposed budget by the staff, the police would get around $1.17 billion, which is the city's second-largest expense after the TTC. The TTC is set to get $1.23 billion if the budget passes. Additionally, last year, the TPS got approximately $48 million in the last budget under John Tory.