Q&A: Ward 13 Councillor Moise reflects on his first year in municipal office

By Megan Bocchinfuso –

Chris Moise was elected as City Councillor for Ward 13 on Oc­tober, 24. 2022. the bridge inter­viewed Councillor Moise about his successes and challenges from the past year of his tenure.

Q: What have you done as councillor that you are very proud of?

A: One of the first things that I was able to do was opening a constituency office in the ward, in the Regent Park area. That’s something that’s never been done before, and something that the community had asked for. That was a promise that I made during the election campaign, so I am excited that it’s all come together.

Also, the Muslim community felt that there was inequity in re­gards to parking during prayer time. The Christian religion, for example, had free parking until 1 p.m. on Sundays, but when [Muslims] went to prayer on Fridays, they were always tick­eted. They asked me if I could do something about that, and I brought a motion forward for that change, and parking is now free during prayer time on Fri­day. It’s a small thing, but it’s significant.

Another thing I am proud of would be my expedition of the Ontario Line and the closure of Queen Street. It was a two-year project that broke down to one year. So hopefully by January, the streetcars will be back run­ning along Adelaide, no longer needing the shuttle buses.

More recently, citywide, is the Mental Health and Addiction Substance Strategy, which is going to the Board of Health on November 27. It is called “Our Health, Our City,” and is a men­tal health, substance use and harm reduction treatment strat­egy for Toronto for the next five years. These are the things I am most proud of.

Q: Tell me about when some­thing in the past year had a different outcome than you planned for, and you had to pivot or readapt.

A: The one that’s glaring at me constantly is Allan Gardens. We had the largest number of encampments in the city since I took office (November 2022). It’s been a very, very difficult year. My background is in eth­ics, mental health and analysis. So, I find myself being conflict­ed about how to deal with it, be­cause the other people who elect­ed me, elected me to deal with some of the issues surrounding it. The public wasn’t saying that they’re unsympathetic to those who aren’t housed, they’re say­ing that some of the behaviour was harmful, and they felt fear­ful. As a councillor, I have to be mindful of supporting the entire community.

I took the Dufferin Grove model, which was a hous­ing first approach. One of the things that I did first was I had staff working with 24-7 securi­ty teams in the parks. Second, we got a trailer in the park for our housing staff to work out of Monday-Friday from 9-5 to find housing for people that are currently in the park. That approach is taking awhile, but it has worked. It’s still working. As of November 17, we had 19 (unhoused) people left in the park, and I think six or seven of those have housing planned. (93 were unhoused in Allan Gar­dens in October 2022).

Q: Just a few weeks ago you were involved in the city re­ceiving funding for 43 new affordable supportive homes. What does your future hold for further tackling the city’s home­lessness?

A: I have tried to get housing built in the ward. There was a housing announcement a few weeks ago with the local MP, working with St. Jude Commu­nity Homes to build some rapid housing in the ward. But that’s just one of many announce­ments. For example, I was able to add an additional 600 units of affordable housing in Regent Park. Over 2,000 units are to be built in the next couple of years. I’ve actually been talking to the Housing Secretariat and other city departments about build­ing affordable housing and ser­vices across the city. Currently, Toronto Centre has 61 per cent of the city’s social services. So, we’re over-represented when it comes to providing services to the most vulnerable. My belief is that we should have these ser­vices and supportive housing across the city, not just the core. So, that’s one of the things that I’ve been very vocal about.

Q: How would you respond to your critics who say you’re not doing enough?

A: Honestly, since 2018, the ward has doubled in size and is the most complex and busiest in the city. I feel like I’m doing the work of 100 people. My day starts at eight in the morning, and I don’t get back home until 11 p.m. I also work on the week­ends.

But my team works really hard as well. We do all that we can, and I think we have done a lot in one year already. We are putting our best foot forward and working as hard as we can. And to be honest, I think many people in the community recog­nize that because people say to me, “Thank you for what you’re doing. I’ve seen the results of your work.” It’s nice to hear that feedback from people.

Q: What key lessons have you learned so far, and from what?

A: The lessons of the school board [Moise was a trustee from 2016 to 2022] have helped me be a better city councillor. I can see a difference in my attitude and the way I navigate the city versus my colleagues. I always say to my staff here, it’s not a race, it’s a marathon. You get there the right way, because if we don’t do it right the first time then I’ve got to come back to it time and time again.

But one of the things though, that’s also very important in this job, is relationships. And the one thing I always do is say thank-you, all the time. We’re doing the work to help those margin­alized in our communities and these things don’t happen by themselves. I’m not going to take credit for all the successes, because they (staff) are doing it. I’m humbled by the level of dedication by our city staff. I’m not sure if I would change anything, really. I think we’re all doing the best that we can with the limited resources that we have.

All answers are Councillor Moise’s own words but were lightly edited for brevity.