

Chris Fox, CP24.com





City staff will be asked to prepare a report examining the pros and cons of contracting out garbage collection across the entire city in light of the success of privatized collection west of Yonge Street.

According to a review that will be tabled at council this week, the city saved more than $11 million over the last year by bringing in a private operator to handle garbage collection in the west end and did not see any uptake in resident complaints or health, safety or labour law violations as a result.

“I am in favour of saving the taxpayers money and providing quality service and the contracting out has done both of those things, so if we move through this process and the arguments point to contracting out further I will support that,” Public Works Chair Denzil Minnan-Wong said at city hall Monday afternoon. “I want to see the best price and the best collection service that we can get for the people east of Yonge Street.”

Minnan-Wong said he would like to see a report into the benefits of further privatization brought to council in either May or June.

From there council could conceivably begin the process of contracting out collection across the city before the municipal election in October.

“I don’t want to wait until 2015,” Minnan-Wong told reporters, referring to the beginning of the next term of council. “We have enough data, we know what the issues are and we need to move forward.”

Mayor Rob Ford pledged to contract out garbage collection as part of his 2010 mayoral campaign and was successful in convincing council to privatize collection in two of four districts about one year after assuming power.

Speaking with reporters at city hall, Ford said he is convinced privatized collection makes sense for the entire city and suggested that it could be a major plank in his re-election bid.

“It has proven (as a success) over and over and over again and my mind is made up,” Ford said. “Hopefully it carries in the spring, but if it doesn’t it will be my major issue heading into the next election.”

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