“This is a good news budget,” Tory’s budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford told reporters after the budget launch Thursday. But that balancing act for 2018, council critics say, relies on a “risky” strategy of continuing to bank on a hot housing market while omitting $41.2 million worth of programs and services aimed at fighting climate change, tackling poverty and improving transit. Toronto city staff have presented, for the first time this term, a preliminary budget that is already balanced. “This budget is incredibly risky.”If the market softens mid-year, Perks said, council would be forced to consider immediate cuts to service. The budget does find money for cash-strapped Toronto Community Housing to make repairs.

Source: thestar November 30, 2017 22:07 UTC