Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is calling for an investigation into the city’s winter maintenance operations, as piles of snow remain on sidewalks and roads after multiple snowstorms this month.
Chow says she’s “frustrated” with the response, and she’s asked city manager Paul Johnson to conduct a full review of winter maintenance contracts and consider renegotiating or breaking contracts with snow clearing companies.
The mayor also says she’s asked the Toronto auditor general to investigate how the city handled this month’s winter storms and determine whether previous winter maintenance recommendations were implemented.
Chow says she was “repeatedly” told that “100 per cent of sidewalks had been plowed” as of this morning, but says that’s untrue, as several sidewalks and streets remain blocked by piles of snow.
Chow adds that the city’s winter maintenance contracts with private companies were signed before her time, and were locked in for seven years.
She says “there will be consequences” for contractors that did not fulfil their winter maintenance duties, but she hasn’t specified what those might be.
