海角社区官网

These kinds of hyperlocal discussions are pretty darn common. You see them play out on Facebook and in group chats all the time, sometimes getting way more heated than you鈥檇 expect for an argument about the width of a small section of sidewalk.

But this neighbourhood debate is different: it has real stakes behind it.

Because this one has a direct path to change. The small corner of the internet hosting the debate is, in fact, a website run by local city councillor Chris Moise. And if enough people vote to support this project 鈥� more than 40 have voted so far 鈥� Moise could put real money toward it and make it happen.

This internet idea could become a reality. Direct democracy in action.

But all the action could soon come to a screeching halt because of changes foisted upon 海角社区官网by Premier Doug Ford鈥檚 government.

This process, where residents submit ideas, discuss them, and ultimately vote on whether they should be funded, is called 鈥減articipatory budgeting.鈥� Moise, who first took office in 2022 as the councillor for 海角社区官网Centre, is one of just two elected representatives at 海角社区官网city hall to embrace the idea as a means to determine where to spend money. (Coun. Shelley Carroll, Mayor Olivia Chow鈥檚 budget chief and the councillor for Don Valley North, is the other. She started running participatory budget sessions way back in 2014.)

鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 a way of civic engagement, because over time, that鈥檚 been depleted. So we have to find ways to keep people engaged and make sure their opinions and their voice matter,鈥� Moise explained to me last week as we took a quick tour of some of the projects that have been chosen through this process.

We started at Wellesley Station, . We then zipped down to Winchester Park, where crews were 鈥� one for each season 鈥� and additional seating, at a total cost of about $78,000. At St. James Park, we saw , installed as part of a $20,000 participatory budgeting project.

And at Berczy Park, near the iconic dog fountain, Moise and his team told me about and pointed to new bike parking nearby that also came about via the participatory budgeting process. (The big recurring themes in this process: people want more bike parking and more park seating.)

Any councillor could start up their own participatory budgeting program, but since the funds are sourced from fees paid by developers, Moise鈥檚 booming downtown ward is an ideal test bed. (鈥淚 think councillors, traditionally, have gotten used to making these decisions themselves,鈥� Moise offered, diplomatically, as another explanation for why take-up has been limited.)

Moise also noted this process tends to deliver results fast, which is good for fast-growing neighbourhoods.

鈥淭he traditional way of things at city hall is that you put it through committee and council, and then staff put it in a queue to get it done. But this way, it sort of helps bypass a lot of that,鈥� Moise said. (Moise鈥檚 participatory budget projects are still subject to council approval.)

Sometimes the process might even be too fast. Earlier this year, Moise faced some pushback from residents after he ran with a submitted idea to . Residents argued there should have been more consultation about the name. Moise didn鈥檛 back down.

And this summer, a participatory budgeting project when on the sidewalk got a rough ride. It didn鈥檛 help that Moise put his name on the decals, which felt self-promotional. A few weeks later, many of the decals have the councillor鈥檚 name scratched off. Some have seen an alternative message scrawled on top: build more bike lanes.

For his part, Moise says the reaction to the decals has been more positive than negative, and he believes the participatory budgeting process, which so far has seen 168 proposals and participation (and votes) from more than 600 people, has been a huge success.

But it may not continue. Much of the cash that has enabled these projects came from what planners call 鈥淪ection 37 money,鈥� part of deals developers made to build additional density. But the Ford government has replaced Section 37 agreements with a more limited (and less lucrative) framework for community benefit charges. That means the pool of money Moise has been using could soon dry up, unless alternative funds are found.

Moise thinks that would be a big loss 鈥� and not just because these downtown neighbourhoods would likely end up with fewer projects to install bike parking and park seating.

鈥淥ne of the positives out of all this is that neighbours are actually talking to one another,鈥� he said. 鈥淐ommunities are coming together and learning about different things 鈥� that goes beyond just the end result of the projects.鈥�