Toronto looks at army help in ice-storm mop-up
I think it’s important right now to clean up this mess as quickly as possible NORM KELLY
TORONTO — Toronto deputy mayor Norm Kelly says that his office is “exploring” what the Canadian military could do to assist the $75-million cleanup from December’s devastating ice storm.
Kelly told reporters Friday that his office made preliminary calls to “mid-level” Defence Department representatives to see what the military could do to assist the cleanup, estimated to take six to eight weeks.
“When I learned from staff it was going to take nearly two months to clear the debris … I thought ‘What would be the next available source of manpower?’ and I think that’s the army,” he said Friday.
“I think it’s important right now to clean up this mess as quickly as possible. I’m not saying ‘call in the army.’
“It’s exploratory phone calls to see what could be available and what protocol could be invoked to formally request the assistance of the armed forces,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of debris hanging around for two months … and if we can use the army in one fashion or another to shorten that time and look after our parks to make them safer rather than wait two months to do that, why not look at the options?”
He also wants to figure out the procedure, in case another storm hits Toronto while the two-month cleanup effort is underway.
The deputy mayor said he learned that it would be up to the province to ask the federal government for assistance. It is not clear if the authority to make that request of the province lies with him, Mayor Rob Ford or city council.
Calling in the army drew mixed reaction from city councillors. Gloria Lindsay Luby, who represents Etobicoke Centre, welcomed it, but suggested it was too little, too late.
Coun. Denzil Minnan-Wong said help from the army would be warranted in certain dangerous situations, such as the Alberta floods, but this is different.
“We’re involved in a cleanup right now. … I don’t think the life and limb of the population is at risk,” he said.
Kelly also told reporters that he told Ford to declare a state of emergency during the ice storm. He said city staff initially recommended declaring an emergency but later changed their minds.
Ford was against calling a state of emergency, which would have transferred emergency powers to the deputy mayor’s office. A council motion stripped him of many of his powers following his admission in November that he had smoked crack cocaine.
Ford’s office says he was advised not to declare a state of emergency.
The City of Toronto said Friday that deputy city manager John Livey did initially send an email to Kelly and Ford saying they should consider declaring a state of emergency. But it was later clarified that funding and assistance from the province did not require such a declaration.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne has been dealing with Kelly exclusively throughout the ice storm crisis.
Toronto has been mocked throughout Canada since then-mayor Mel Lastman called in the military to assist with a 1999 storm.