Toronto city council has approved a plan to roll out a street food pilot project this summer, and councillors have also voted to get tough on graffiti and scrap their free dinners at council meetings.
As many as 15 ethnically diverse carts will be set up on at city squares and public parks as part of an initiative to serve healthier and more exotic fare such as souvlaki, spaghetti and soup.
It's also hoped the expanded street menu plan, spearheaded by Coun. John Filion and backed by the Ontario government, will boost tourism.
The city is going to develop an application process for selecting vendors and is currently looking for finance or partnership opportunities with charitable organizations to help kick-start the project.
At the same council meeting on Tuesday, councillors approved a plan to get tough on graffiti by endorsing a pilot utility graffiti enforcement program.
All utilities, including Toronto Hydro and Canada Post, will now be issued infraction notices whenever graffiti is found on their property. They will have 72 hours to remove the markings upon notice.
After that, officials will inspect the site again. If the graffiti hasn't been removed, city workers will remove it and charge the cost of the cleanup to the utility on its tax bill.
Councillors have also agreed to axe their free dinners at council meetings in a bid to save money. Until now, they had been served meals at a cost of $1,300 per meeting. At the end of the year, that meant more than $23,000.
Instead, councillors will be served a healthy snack around the dinner hour.
But Coun. Rob Ford, a notorious penny pincher, still wants the free snacks to be scrapped altogether, which would save the city about $80,000 a year.
"It's just a complete waste of money," he said. "We get huge trays of cookies, we get huge trays of fruit, we get huge trays of cheese and crackers, we get all-you-can-drink coffee and tea."
With a report from CTV Toronto's Alicia Kay-Markson
