The marathon executive committee meeting chugged along Monday night as more than 300 constituents voiced their concerns on proposed budget cuts that target affordable housing, subsidized daycare and snow removal, among other services.
The meeting, with about 324 concerned citizens scheduled to speak, was expected to stretch on for several hours at Toronto's City Hall as the city debates more than $100 million in proposed service cuts.
On Monday, Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said that action is needed to deal with the projected budget shortfall.
"We're not going to sit back and throw up our hands and do what the previous governments have done and increase taxes and spend, spend, spend and tax, tax, tax," he said, adding that the most he would raise taxes next year would be 2.5 per cent.
However, earlier on Monday, Mayor Ford said that he wasn't ready to start shutting down public libraries, reported CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson in a message posted to Twitter.
Library closures were targeted as a potential cost-cutting method at City Hall last July. The suggestion was met with mass opposition, sparking citizen petitions and even prompting Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood to weigh in on the raging debate over Twitter.
City Manager Joe Pennachetti presented Monday's service cuts report, which is based on a comprehensive core service review conducted by consulting firm KPMG.
KPMG's original report drew the ire of many citizens for suggesting several controversial savings including police staffing reductions, library closures and transit cutbacks.
Tension over the initial review culminated in a marathon city hall meeting in late July. Up to 350 constituents had showed up to speak at the 23-hour long meeting. By the end of the night, only about 200 deputants voiced their opinions — many unable to wait for their turn.
At the start of Monday's meeting, the executive committee voted to reduce the speaking time of each deputant to two minutes. The original time limit was five minutes.
Mayor Ford warned citizens that he would shut off their microphones if their speeches ran past the time limit, Johnson said in another tweet.
A grassroots group called The Toronto Stop the Cuts Network is expected to be at the meeting. Members of the group plan to deliver a deputation urging Mayor Ford's administration to stop what they call "a manufactured crisis."
"All public services are vital to communities. We reject the attempts to divide and conquer by pitting community groups against each other in a battle for funding," said the declaration issued on Monday.
Ontario's NDP leader also weighed in on proposed service cuts on Monday. In a morning news conference at Ossington subway station, Andrea Horwath urged City Hall to halt any discussions on transit cuts until after the election.
If elected, Horwath vows to ask Ontario municipalities to freeze transit fares for four years.
Mayor Ford was elected to city council on the promise that he'd "stop the gravy train" and cope with Toronto's projected $774-million budget deficit.
CTV Toronto's Natalie Johnson is keeping up with the meeting at City Hall. You can follow her on Twitter here.
