Bring Back the Don in Limbo

At the May city council meeting, there was a debate about the fate of the city's advisory committees. The discussion which spanned late Wednesday night and Thursday morning was long and convoluted. Several councillors stood up and made passionate defences for some of the committees. This mirrored the impassioned pleas (which fell on deaf ears) of some of our citizens. Some even suggested forming brand new advisory committees. I won't bore you with the details but the upshot was that only the Aboriginal Affairs Advisory Committee was re-established. All the remaining ones including the Task Force to Bring Back the Don were referred back to the mayor's office for further consideration. Another discussion will take place at the July council meeting.

While the Task Force is not quite dead we are currently in limbo. We can't hold meetings and can't make decisions. We can't recruit new members which is a priority for us and we certainly can't spend any money. Our main projects - the Don Trail and the Cottonwood Flats restoration project are up in the air.

The mayor was in favour of shutting us down but he couldn't muster enough votes to do so. What will come out of this two month hiatus is anyone's guess.

**Update** The National Post has weighed in with a pro/con debate on the advisory committee issue. Worth a read for a more in-depth look at this topic.