Mayor Tory looks to extend coronavirus state of emergency in Toronto

Mayor John Tory plans to ask council to extend the state of emergency in Toronto due to the coronavirus when councillors meet online next week.

Next Thursday, April 30, will be the first time city council has ever met by video conference. Due to physical distancing rules, councillors cannot gather together in the council chambers.

Tory said the first item on the agenda will be to ask council to support his request for an extension.

“I’ll move a motion that it should be extended for another period of time and council will get to make that decision,” Tory said.

Tory declared a state of emergency on March 23 — the first time the city has done so. The declaration allowed the mayor to make all the decisions that city council can make, but without the need to go to a council vote.

Toronto Public Health is also exploring ways of collecting COVID-19 data based on race and income.

Tory said it is important to know if specific communities in Toronto are being hit harder than others.

“We’re trying to get all the information we can so as to know who fell more victim to this more so than others, try to learn from that, and try to deal with it in the short-term in terms of making sure those people are given the care and support they need, ” he said.

As to when Toronto might be able to ease restrictions, Tory said that won’t be realistic until June at the earliest.