Civilian experts rather than police officers will respond to 911 calls dealing with non-violent mental health crises, under a pilot program approved by Toronto City Council this week. The plan calls for four crisis support teams, responding to calls in different parts of the city.

Its introduction follows incidents of people with mental illness being killed by police, including some instances where there appeared to be no imminent danger to the public or police. Because many of those killed were racialized members of society, the call …

by Markus O’Brien Fehr, Chief of Staff

Though many haven’t been so lucky, if you’ve been able to afford to rent a property through the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 may have offered you some relief in rental rates or availability. But experts warn that this relief will be short-lived.  Before we return to a period where housing availability is a big problem, it’s time to discourage people from leaving entire homes empty, often for years at a time.

Earlier this year, I advocated that the time was right for …

The City of Toronto is looking for ways to better respond to non-violent crisis calls.

Community-based crisis response provides an alternative to police attendance at mental health crisis and/or substance use related calls, wellness checks, and non-violent disputes between community members (like neighbourly disputes) among other incidents. It can take a number of different forms but generally involves sending staff with training and/or experience in mental health care, non-violent conflict resolution, harm reduction, and de-escalation of crisis situations rather than police.

The City is inviting your comments …