City Hall Task Force

Photo of one half of Toronto's City Hall building

City Hall Task Force

In Fall 2016, Gabriel Eidelman co-convened a City Hall Task Force — made up of politicians, public servants, academics, journalists, and civic leaders — to produce the first general review of Toronto governance in over a decade and improve the quality of deliberation and decision making at Toronto City Hall. The goal of the task force was to propose reforms that City Council could act on quickly, without any major legislative or regulatory changes. Members of the task force solicited feedback, collated research, balanced important perspectives, and made recommendations to improve City Council’s core decision-making processes and procedures. 

Task force members

  • Gabriel Eidelman (convenor), Assistant Professor, School of Public Policy and Governance
  • Brian F. Kelcey (convenor), Founder, State of the City Inc.
  • Adrienne Batra, former Press Secretary to Mayor Rob Ford
  • Shirley Hoy, former City Manager (2001- 2008)
  • Sevaun Palvetzian, CEO, CivicAction
  • John Parker, former City Councillor (2006-2014) and Deputy Speaker
  • Joe Pennachetti, former City Manager (2008-2015)
  • David Soknacki, former City Councillor (1999-2006) and Budget Chief
  • Zack Taylor, Assistant Professor, Western University
  • Ange Valentini, former Chief of Staff to Councillor Adam Vaughan (2007-2014)
  • Bianca Wylie, Head, Open Data Institute Toronto

Executive summary

Overall, the task force concluded that there is no need to completely overhaul the system. Rather, what is required is sensible, incremental reform, centred around six key priorities.

Recommendations

To address these concerns, the Task Force proposed 14 recommendations, which reflect two core principles at the heart of the group’s deliberations: that City Council must strive, first and foremost, to act strategically and focus on city-wide problems, and second, behave in a more accountable, transparent, and participatory manner.

City Council can act on these recommendations quickly, without provincial intervention, using powers the City already enjoys. Some reforms will require leadership from the Mayor, others changes to the Municipal Code; the path to implementation varies. But fundamentally, each recommendation is politically realistic, capable of drawing support from a diverse group of Council members.