City councillors will be considering changes to Toronto’s Winter Maintenance Program, after Mayor Olivia Chow said the city’s snow clearing services were a “systemic failure” and called out staff for ignoring over 99 per cent of service requests earlier this year.
Speaking with reporters on Wednesday, Chow emphasized that reports by the Auditor General and City Manager found issues in the city’s snow removing process that have not been addressed for years.
“What the city was claiming about the status of snow clearing didn’t match the reality on the ground,” she said to the media ahead of an Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday.
According to her, since 2020 the city has conducted four different investigations into its Winter Maintenance Program, making recommendations that should be taken to improve the system. However, the city has since failed to address these issues.
Earlier this year, Toronto endured three, big consecutive snowstorms in February that covered the city’s streets with 58 cm of snow in total. Amid residents’ complaints and travel advisories, the city said it could take up to three weeks to clear up the snow at the time.
Months later, a report revealed that nearly half of the city’s snow removal equipment was not operational during the snowstorm period.
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An Auditor’s General report released last month identified several issues in the city’s response to the February storms, including failure to respond to requests, problems with equipment purchases and lack of proper reports by staff.
The study found that the city received 29,000 calls for help through the city’s non-emergency line, 311, regarding snow, primarily about road plowing, sidewalk clearing, sidewalk salting, and blocked driveways. But according to Chow, staff only responded to 51 of those calls, ignoring 99.83 per cent of them.
@nowtoronto Mayor Olivia Chow said the city’s #snow clearing services were a “systemic failure” and called out staff for ignoring over 99 per cent of service requests earlier this year. @mayoroliviachow #Toronto ♬ original sound – Now Toronto
Additionally, the mayor revealed that staff who were in charge of managing snow responses “had no idea what was happening out in the field” and failed at their jobs.
Chow said the inspectors who were on the field also failed to properly document their findings, which is essential for the city to determine which requests were properly addressed or still need attention. The report found that over half of the reports had at least one piece of information missing.
“Some didn’t even bother to sign their names into reports,” Chow said.
In addition, according to the mayor, the snow plowing equipment purchased by staff was not adequate for the service, such as the recommended ones used by other Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Calgary, and Montreal.
“The snow plows broke down when we needed them most because the staff allowed privately-contracted companies to use the wrong machines despite the contracts specifying which machines to use,” she added.
CITY TO CONSIDER WINTER MAINTENANCE CHANGES
On Wednesday, the City Manager is set to present the reports’ findings to city councilors during the Executive Committee meeting with recommendations of changes to the service.
One of the recommendations includes developing a detailed plan for major snowstorm response, including mapped routes, defined roles, task checklists and more measures that are aligned with the Emergency Operations Centre protocols.
The report also suggests that the city should look for more effective snow removal contracts with proper equipment that is ready for use and can be included in its major snowstorm action plan. Plus, the city should implement a modern communication approach, with clear distinctions between routine updates and emergency updates, according to the report.
Other suggestions include supplementing its current GPS system that identifies affected areas with tools like photo updates for more accurate reporting, and implementing a year-round Winter Operations Unit to coordinate winter readiness.
Speaking with reporters prior to the meeting, Chow says she plans on accepting the recommendations in hopes of fixing the long-standing issues with snow response.
“I will accept his recommendations as the first step to address this systemic failure. However, key recommendations from the previous auditor general’s reports dating back to 2020 remain outstanding,” she said.
“Much more city action will be coming in the next few months. We must fix this failed culture of ignoring residents’ basic needs. People need to get around during and after a snowfall.”
