Torontonians are reacting to Mayor Olivia Chow caving and agreeing to the proposed budget the Toronto Police Service (TPS) originally asked for.
The mayor is set to approve a motion to grant the police its full budget as the city council meets today to approve the final 2024 budget.
For weeks, TPS and the Toronto Police Association (TPA) have been sending messages through social media about the consequences of having a budget lower than what the Toronto Police Services Board requested.
The board approved a 1.7 per cent ($20 million) increase to its police budget, amounting to a total of $1.186 billion, but Chow rejected this proposal and approved an increase of only $8 million.
This decision drew a lot of attention from TPS Chief Myron Demkiw who later released a campaign video highlighting the negative impacts of a lower budget, such as the inability to hire more police officers and to meet service demand.
Now, the mayor has changed her mind and is agreeing to the police’s demands. On Tuesday, she announced she’s approving the full budget increase.
According to media reports, Chow said she was involved in “promising conversations” with the federal and provincial governments about the cost of policing in Toronto.
“This has allowed me to support a motion to provide an additional allocation to the Toronto Police Services Budget that will match the request of the Toronto Police Services Board,” she said in a statement.
In response, Demkiw said that TPS will be able to provide better service and add more police officers to its workforce.
“Mayor Chow and I remain in contact and we have a shared commitment to ensure the safety of Torontonians. If our budget request is approved by full Council tomorrow, the Toronto Police Service will be able to move forward in addressing emergency response times, hiring and training more police officers for deployment, and we will proceed with our multi-year hiring plan to assist us in adequately and effectively policing our growing city,” he said to media on Tuesday.
TPA President Jon Reid also welcomes the news.
“We’re pleased to hear this update from the Mayor and we look forward to watching the outcome of tomorrow’s final meeting on the City Budget,” he said in a statement to media.
Online, users on X are disappointed at the mayor for not standing her ground.
“This is disappointing, Mayor Chow—the police have bullied, fear-mongered, and threatened to get what they want. They have inappropriately used city resources to campaign for an additional $12.5M, and City Council is capitulating. The police shouldn’t have this power,” not-for-profit organization Progress Toronto said.
“Olivia Chow sold out pretty quickly to police pressure for more funding,” another user commented.
Chow’s first budget since she was elected last June is set to be approved this week by city council.
