Toronto's snow-clearing struggles head to council for debate

City council is set to get more details Wednesday about how snow-clearing operations fared during February's major storm, and that information may lead to some sharp questions about how Toronto handles winter operations in the future.

Torontonians filed a whopping 25,318 storm-related service requests to the city's 311 line, the city manager confirmed ahead of the meeting, after spending more than a week clomping over unclear sidewalks, parking their cars amid snowbanks and seeing their ability to get around slowed even further.

Mayor Olivia Chow ordered a review after what she called an "unacceptable" response to the heavy storm that dropped more than 50 centimetres of snow on the city in mid-February.

Chow flagged a number of issues with snow-clearing and how city crews and officials handled the response to the storm, both with how the work was done and how it was communicated. She has also been critical of the work done by private contractors — CBC Toronto was first to report that most of that work is being done by two companies and their joint venture, who won a potentially decade-long contract to clear snow in almost every neighbourhood.

So what really happened when the snow started flying? The public should get a more complete picture during the discussion of two separate motions (it's unclear so far what time the motions will be debated.)

First, Scarborough Coun. Jennifer McKelvie — who this week announced she will be running for the Liberals in the upcoming federal election — submitted an administrative inquiry seeking to establish some basics.

McKelvie put a long list of questions to staff, which you can read here, asking for details on everything from how the city's sidewalk snow-clearing went, whether or not it has standards for snow-removal (it does not), and whether the city is looking at fining any contractors in the wake of the storm. 

City Manager Paul Johnson answered McKelvie's questions in this detailed letter, which includes information about the 311 calls. 

Then, Chow's motion comes up for debate. 

The mayor wants more specifics and an explanation from Johnson about why city staff was telling her office "that 100 per cent of sidewalks were cleared of snow at least once" while residents could see "no plow had visited a given stretch of sidewalk." 

City staff have defended their work but said they are committed to making improvements in the future. 

Chow also wants the city manager to confirm if the contractors are meeting the standards outlined in their deal with the city. If they're not, Chow wants information on potentially "renegotiating or breaking existing contracts."

That would be a major move for the city — with serious budget ramifications.

Not everyone is blaming the contractors. Coun. Brad Bradford has pinned the blame on Chow for not doing more to co-ordinate the storm response.