"You cannot in good faith stand up on Monday and say, 'Stop building shelters!' And then stand up on Thursday and say, 'Get everybody out of the encampments.' It is REPREHENSIBLE to do that," says Councillor Gord Perks of Brad Bradford's motion.

Councillor Gord Perks calls Bradford's speech "performative."

"Isn't it interesting that the same person who gets up and thumps the table and talks about all the harms caused by people who have lost their homes, being in encampments, has voted against building shelters," Perks says.

Councillor Nunziata defends the deal and the process. "Councillor Bradford, you say you want a city of families, but what about the parents out there that can't afford to go into a program, or pay for sports? Are those youth not important to you? Or is it just the hockey that's important to you?"

"So this is another provincial decision that will increase homelessness in Toronto?" asks Councillor Dianne Saxe of Bill 60 and potential further funding cuts.

"Correct," says Housing Secretariat director Doug Rollins.

Councillor Fletcher is frustrated that councillors have been getting info about snow-clearing plans from lobbyists representing SnowTO — the consortium holding most of the snow contracts. City Manager says he can't control what the contractors do re: lobbying. "That's unsettling," says Fletcher.

"Like this Skills Development fiasco, and all these slush funds where they're giving our money — our tax dollars — away to their friends, where there's direct family and friends links to their ministers. That money should be going toward actually building housing," says Councillor Josh Matlow.

Staff confirm that the city is dealing with a "dramatic reduction" in funding for the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit, "which has been the #1 program to support shelter flow, allowing individuals experiencing homelessness to find and secure long-term affordable housing."