Dear Women and supporters of women,

Some of you may know that our fair city is currently undertaking a Core Services Review. What on earth is a Core Services Review? Why should women in Toronto care about this? The Citys website tells us that it is reviewing the services it provides and looking at how they can best be delivered . This is because the City Council is projecting a $774 million gap in their budget (consider adding mainly due to its decision to freeze property taxes and abolish the Vehicle Registration Tax). So, theyve decided to ask residents for advice. Since mid-May, the City has been hosting public meetings. It has also included an on-line survey (Toronto Service Review Feedback Form) which gives residents, business owners and community organizations a chance to provide input. The survey is the main way that the City is collecting this advice. We hope that many of us can complete the survey on-line or mail a copy to the city. The City has hosted 8 public meetings, but councillors are still hosting several sessions. Councillors Adam Vaughan, Kristyn Wong-Tam, Pam McConnell and Paula Fletcher will be co-hosting a Downtown City Service Review and Information Session this Saturday June 11th at 2pm at City Hall, Committee Room 1 (Second Floor) Councillor Michael Layton's Town Hall will be held Monday June 13th at 7:00pm at St. Christopher House (248 Ossington Ave.) Councillor Shelley Carroll will host a session on Monday June 13th at 7:00pm at the Fairview Public Library (1800 Sheppard Ave East, 4th Floor). CUPE is hosting a session in Scarborough on Monday June 13th from 6:00pm until 9:00pm at Lester B Pearson Collegiate Institute (150 Tapscott Road). Information about the meetings and to complete the survey are available at this link: http://www.toronto.ca/torontoservicereview/index.htm To respond with a paper copy, you can drop off the Toronto Service Review Feedback Form to: Toronto Service Review, City Managers Ofce 10th Floor East Tower, Toronto City Hall 100 Queen Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 2N2 Completing a paper copy allows you to add additional comments and suggestions beyond the electronic version.

The nal date to respond to the on-line survey is June 17.

TORONTO WOMENS CITY ALLIANCE

Email: info@twca.ca Phone: 647-235-8575

Making Equality Matter...

Web: www.twca.ca

TWCA calls for the establishment of a Toronto Womens Equalities Ofce that could spearhead the development of an action plan for equality for women in all their diversity. This ofce could monitor city services, create recommendations to end the systemic discrimination against women, prepare a Report Card and connect with and provide support to organizations working with women across the City.

A feminist guide to responding to the Citys Toronto Service Feedback Form

Question 1: Important Issues
1a List three issues that are most important. Women have told us that the following three issues are particularly important for their quality of life: Efcient, affordable and comprehensive Public Transit network Affordable and appropriate Housing Accessible programming/services for women and their families (childcare and recreation services) 1b This question asks you to identify how important an issue is to you. From our perspective, all of these issues are Extremely Important. A city that is prosperous and liveable takes all of these issues into consideration and does not consider one over the other. 1c This gives you an opportunity to identify additional issues that should be considered important. Wed suggest re-iterating these issues: Affordable Housing Access to Parks and Recreation services Public Transit Civic engagement & Access & equity issues participation

Question 2: Service Priorities

2a This section asks you to prioritize the services of the City. We think that the services provided through our Citys government are ALL Necessary for the City. It asks you to review a list of 35 City services. While you may not need these services today, or know anyone who is currently using them, these services help to make Toronto liveable for all of its residents. 2b This section asks you to consider the same list of 35 services, but this time to consider WHO should provide the service. It is important to note that the notion of contracting out is unclear in the survey. Sometimes, the City partners with community agencies and not-for-prot organizations to deliver services. We support not-for-prot partnerships with the City, particularly when appropriate grants are in place, and allow for advocacy. Too often, contracting out means that the City uses our tax dollars to pay private companies to deliver the service. In this case, it can be difcult for the City to ensure that the services are provided fairly and equitably, and that private companies follow the rules put in place. This is why we think that the fairest answer for women is that the City should provide the service. While there are some services included in this list that have a very obvious impact on womens lives, we think its important to think about how each affects the lives of women and girls. Everything from funding and programs for vulnerable groups to police services, the libraries and public transit helps women and girls in the city.

Question 3: In-Depth Questions

This section is the most complicated to complete. In the paper from, you can choose 3 services to discuss. On-line, you can discuss all 35 services. For each section, you are asked to choose a service. Then, you list the activity numbers that are associated with the service. This information is listed in the accompanying kit that describes in more detail the 35 services. Once you have listed the activity, you are asked to rank from 1 to 5, which is most important. We think that all of these activities are crucial to each service and that maintaining the quality of all of the activities is essential. In the on-line survey only one activity can be given a 1. In the paper version, you can rank all the activities as most important by ranking each as a 1. Next, for each activity, you are being asked to select one of three options: Maintaining the quality, Lowering the cost, Dont know. Of course, the challenge here is that there is no room to talk about improvements and investments or even expanding access to these services! Here are our ve key services for women please consider including these in your response. No 2 Housing No 6 Funding for vulnerable groups No 4 Childcare No 18 Shelter No 34 Transit The next portion of this question includes an opportunity to discuss how the City would pay for these services. Again, the options are quite limited. Your options here include: Increase user fees, Increase user fees for those who can afford them, Increase property tax, Use a mix of property tax and user fee increases. Here, we would suggest responding with Increase property tax. While there may be other models for funding or nding new revenue, there is no place here to elaborate on this. To ensure accountability and accessibility for Toronto women, we believe that this is the best way to respond. Lastly, you are asked to assess Who should deliver this service. You are given four ways to answer this question, but we think the fairest answer for women is that the City should provide the service. Because the city does not have adequate mechanisms to ensure that there is compliance and enforcement through private, contracted service delivery, we want our city to provide these services and activities.

A feminist guide to responding to the Citys Toronto Service Feedback Form

Question 4: Governance Issues
This section asks about the services that are part of the operations of the City government. This includes everything from research, accounting, maintenance and staff development. You are asked whether you want the City to Invest and improve, Reduce costs or Dont know. We think that the fairest answer for Toronto women is to Invest and improve service. Getting rid of these functions would be like trying to bake a cake without a cake pan. If you want to bake a great cake, you need to have all the ingredients and equipment. You cant bake the cake without something to bake it in. A city government cant operate without having control over its own functions, especially one the size of Toronto! We think that the City must maintain all of this capacity. The next section asks again about Who can provide the service and whether it should be the City. Again, we think its very important for the City to provide these activities.

Question 5: Paying for City Services

5a This question asks you to think about the overall quality of our services. We think that we should not be comparing ourselves to other cities, but rather that we want services that meet the needs of the particular diversity of Toronto women. In this question, we would choose the option that Toronto should not compare itself with other cities. 5b This question is about where new funding could come from for our services. Again, there is no room to elaborate on new funding models or ways to generate revenue. We think that the fairest answer would be to Increase property taxes to keep the same level of services. It is very important to note that there is no room to add that you want to enhance services! If you are completing a paper version, we suggest that you add that this improving and enhancing our services is important. 5c Property Taxes: This is an opportunity to tell the City that an increase in taxes is possible! We in Toronto pay some of the lowest property taxes in the GTA. You can list 0-10% as possible property tax options. It is very important to note that you cannot choose to increase property taxes over 10% and that even a 10% increase would not be able to fully fund the anticipated budget gap! Listing 10% would be the fairest response for women and would send a signal about the role we want for our government. 5d Here is an opportunity to list some possibilities/suggestions for funding services. Here are some recommended options: Road tolls to fund public transit Reduce off-paid duty police services Reinstate the Vehicle Registration Tax Lobby to receive 1%of the HST sales tax Advocate for more money from the federal and provincial governments (especially to support affordable housing, public transit and childcare) Property taxes that are more fair (explore options to have property taxes based on income and options to lower rate on rental apartment buildings) The City must meet the needs of vulnerable populations Ensure the Tower Renewal project goes ahead Invest in the transit network and ensure affordability and comprehensiveness No one should be asked to disclose citizenship status Services that currently receive less than 2% of the city budget should not be eliminated or reduced

5e Here is an opportunity to write down some nal thoughts: The City should uphold its own policies around human rights and access issues If the City chooses privatization, good oversight/ enforcement must be in place to ensure compliance to City policies (especially hiring practices) Public dollars should pay fair wages for all employees The City needs a Womens Equity ofce Targeted funding to priority neighbourhoods should be continued

Some nal details to know about the Core Service Review survey: You can ll in paper and drop it off to the City: Toronto Service Review, 10th Floor Tower, 100 Queen Street West You can do as many times as youd like You can ll out as resident / or if youd like, you can identify as a member of the Toronto Womens City Alliance