During a 300-day campaign in 2014, now-Mayor John Tory made a broad promise to deliver a Toronto that was “more livable, more affordable and more functional.” He also made dozens of specific pledges.

With the third anniversary of his election on Oct. 27 and the next election one year away, the Star checked whether he has kept them.

Our conclusion: of 45 promises, 18 were fulfilled, 13 were broken, nine were still in progress, four were redundant (meaning the government was already doing what Tory had pledged), and one was in limbo (meaning it’s unlikely to progress at all this term).

The Star reviewed policy papers released by Tory’s campaign and public statements made by the now mayor in 2014.

Our accounting focuses on concrete promises, not broad statements. For example, Tory promised, as mayor, he would be an ambassador for youth employment (too broad to check), but specifically promised to double the number of companies participating in a youth-employment program (a promise kept).

In some cases, the promises fulfilled may have been something already in progress or under consideration by city and agency staff, meaning Tory can’t take full credit, although they did happen under his administration.

In an emailed response to this analysis, Tory said: “I ran to restore honesty, integrity and trust in this office, and I believe I’ve done that. It was the first thing I set about doing when I was elected and I have never lost sight of it in my three years here.”

“I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in three years working with council and the other governments: we’re moving forward on cutting traffic; we’re moving forward on building transit; we’re moving forward on building affordable housing and creating more child-care spaces, and we’re doing it all while keeping taxes low.”

ON TRANSIT AND TRANSPORTATION

Tory promised: To build “SmartTrack” – a 53-kilometre “London-style surface rail subway” service with 22 stops primarily on existing GO lines and including a new western spur to the Mississauga Airport Corporate Centre in seven years without using city taxpayer funds.

Status: Broken.

Though Tory has seen elements of SmartTrack advanced by council, it is not what he promised during the campaign. The city is moving forward with a plan to build six new GO stations served by GO trains and a future LRT line towards the airport. One of the GO stations, Lawrence East, is currently under review. Tory’s promise to finance SmartTrack through a risky scheme called tax increment financing — essentially borrowing against property taxes from future development to build now — remains unclear with problems concerning the assumptions made in calculating the financing plan still unresolved.

Tory promised: To start construction of the Scarborough subway extension “immediately.”

Status: Broken.

Construction on the Scarborough subway has not begun. Some exploratory geotechnical work is being done. When Tory made this promise, candidates were discussing a three-stop plan, which has been scrapped in favour of a one-stop approved alternative introduced under Tory and now estimated to cost at least $3.35 billion. Subject to a further vote of council expected late next year, construction is anticipated to begin in 2020 and finish in the second quarter of 2026.

Tory promised: To provide new express bus service on routes serving, for example, Don Mills Rd., Dufferin St. and for Liberty Village.

Status: In progress.

New express bus service was added in 2016 on five routes, including Don Mills. In June of this year, the TTC board approved a 10-year expansion plan of express service on new and existing routes. New routes to be added in 2019 include one on Dufferin.

Tory promised: To freeze TTC fares in 2015.

Status: Broken.

Fares increased by 10 cents in 2015. Shortly after his election, Tory recommended the increase to cover proposed TTC improvements, including restoring bus service cut under former mayor Rob Ford. TTC fares have also increased every year thereafter under Tory’s administration. He has promised to support a fare freeze in 2018.

Tory promised: To support a reduced TTC fare for people on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

Status: Fulfilled.

A “Fair Pass” program was approved by council in 2016, providing discounts for those on ODSP starting in 2018.

Tory promised: To add queue-jumping bus lanes at key intersections outside downtown to improve bus commute times.

Status: In progress.

There are currently two queue-jumping lanes approved for construction in 2018 at Steeles Ave. and Don Mills Rd. and Lake Shore Blvd. and Brown’s Line, a TTC spokesperson confirmed. A third location will be going to council for approval shortly and another 15 are under consideration for future years.

Tory promised: To approve the Gardiner East “hybrid” option that maintains the elevated connection to the Don Valley Parkway.

Status: Fulfilled.

Tory won a narrow victory in a 2015 council vote to build the hybrid and then amassed wider support in 2016 for the most expensive hybrid option.

Tory promised: To crack down on illegal parking during rush hour.

Status: Fulfilled.

Though the mayor can’t direct police operations, Tory has encouraged several tag-and-tow blitzes for rush-hour rule breakers and saw police officers deployed to key intersections in 2016.

Tory promised: To form a major route construction coordination committee.

Status: Fulfilled.

Tory formed a road closures coordination committee in his first year, which continues to meet regularly.

Tory promised: To expand the city’s on-street cycling network, prioritizing separated bike lanes in “sensible locations.”

Status: In progress.

In 2016, council approved a 10-year cycling network planthat would expand the on-street network, but voted against staff recommendations to conduct further studies in major corridors while a Bloor bike lane pilot was ongoing. Council will vote on making the Bloor bike lanes permanent at a meeting next month. Tory supports making the lanes permanent.

Tory promised: To increase the amount of bicycle parking at existing TTC and transit stations as well as on city streets.

Status: Fulfilled.

In 2016, the TTC added bike parking at six subway stations. Money from the federal government earmarked for TTC improvements, includes plans for 25 new storage stations to roll out starting this November and 15 more early next year.

Tory promised: To ensure bicycle lane maintenance was a separate line item in the budget “so the funding is transparent.”

Status: Broken.

Bike lane maintenance is grouped together with maintenance for roads, bridges and sidewalks in the transportation services budget.

Tory promised: To develop a tourism cycling strategy, including the expansion of Toronto’s destination cycling trail network.

Status: Broken.

There is no tourism cycling strategy. Tourism Toronto reported in 2016 that cycling is not a motivator for people to visit Toronto. City staff are pursuing various trail expansion projects as part of the city’s off-street cycling network, which were identified in 2012 before Tory took office.

ON HOUSING

Tory promised: To form a task force to immediately review and recommend changes to the corporate structure of Toronto Community Housing and report back in July 2015.

Status: Fulfilled.

As one of his first acts as mayor, Tory appointed a six-person task force, which produced a final report in 2016. The task force recommended, among other things, breaking up the company into separate entities dealing with development and operations.

Tory promised: To address the Toronto Community Housing repair backlog “immediately.”

Status: In progress.

A repair backlog of $1.6 billion remains despite Tory’s ongoing efforts. The city has contributed $1 billion in repair financing, largely through mortgage and other refinancing. The other governments have yet to contribute to a requested one-third share each, despite Tory and the city’s insistence insist that they do so. A revised plan will be debated by council during the 2018 budget process.

Tory promised: To explore financing and incentives to encourage the development of both ownership and rental affordable housing.

Status: Fulfilled.

Tory launched the Open Door program in 2015, which provides tax breaks and incentives to developers. Since then, the city has invested $121.86 million to encourage the creation of 1,869 rental and 596 home ownership units, none of which are completed yet. Housing advocates have criticized the city’s approach, saying the units remain unaffordable for many.

Tory promised: To “enhance” the Rent Bank program

Status: Redundant.

The Rent Bank program, which provides interest-free loans for those at risk of eviction, is operated by a non-profit agency. Since the demand for those who qualify for the loans and deposits requested have not increased, the program has not expanded and is increasingly self-sustaining.

Tory promised: To provide more cash for community benefits, known as section 37 funds, for affordable housing through the development application process.

Status: Redundant.

The mayor has no direct involvement with these agreements. Since 2014, the amount of cash and number of new units secured through the development process has increased. However, section 37 agreements are negotiated between staff, the developer and the local city councillor and later approved by council.

Tory promised: To increase funding for the rent supplement program

Status: Fulfilled.

This promise is only barely fulfilled as the result of a largely inflationary increase to the rent supplement program, which helps subsidize rents for those eligible. The program remained relatively stable between 2014 and 2017. Funding increased from $33.1 million to $35.1 million and the number of units served decreasing slightly from 3,645 to 3,600.

Tory promised: To ensure more city-owned land is used for affordable housing

Status: Fulfilled

Through the Open Door program, the city has made 10 sites available for public housing since 2014 compared to three sites between 2010 and 2014. Another two dozen additional sites have been identified.

Tory promised: To establish a standing committee on housing and homelessness that reports to council.

Status: In progress.

There is no standing committee for housing, though an affordable housing committee, which is not a standing committee, continues to meet regularly. Tory’s spokesperson Don Peat said there remains a possibility such a committee could be created before the end of the term.

ON TAXES

Tory promised: To keep residential property taxes at or below the rate of inflation.

Status: Fulfilled.

Residential property taxes — when you don’t factor in the already-approved Scarborough subway levy built in to the increase in 2015 and 2016, or the new increase for transit and housing projects added at Tory’s urging in 2017 — rose at the rate of inflation for the last three years: 2.25 per cent in 2015 (2.75 per cent with the subway levy), 1.3 per cent in 2016 (1.9 per cent with the levy), and 2 per cent in 2017 (2.5 per cent with the city-building levy).

Tory promised: To push the province to cut the business education tax.

Status: Broken.

There is still a portion of property taxes that businesses are required to pay towards the costs of province-wide education.

Tory promised: To “continue” with a city policy to rebalance residential and commercial tax rates.

Status: In progress.

In the 2017 budget, council allowed one half of the tax rate increase on the residential property class to be applied to the commercial property class, rather than the city’s one-third policy and a slowing down of a tax ratio reduction policy implementation with a revised target of 2023 rather than 2020.

ON JOBS AND THE ECONOMY

Tory promised: Streamline Invest Toronto, the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance and the city’s economic development division and double the number of foreign investment leads in his first term.

Status: Fulfilled.

In 2014, the now-defunct Invest Toronto recorded 158 foreign direct investment opportunities with 24 new investments in Toronto. As of August 2017, under the new Toronto Global — a joint effort between various GTA cities, provincial and federal governments with the goal of increasing foreign investment — 300 leads were identified with 19 companies in the process of establishing a location in Toronto.

Tory promised: To double the number of companies in the Partnership to Advance Youth Employment (PAYE) in his first year

Status: Fulfilled.

The employment and social services division reported at the end of 2015 that the number of companies participating had tripled to 129 in September 2015 from 40 in 2014.

Tory promised: To institute a regular report card on red tape and measures to reduce it.

Status: Broken.

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There is no regular report card on red tape.

Tory promised: To double the available open data each year during his term.

Status: Broken.

At the end of 2014 there were 165 datasets available, in 2015 there were 197, in 2016 there were 225 and in 2017 there were 255. Toronto ranked second only to Edmonton in the Public Sector Digest’s 2017 index of 61 Canadian cities open data initiatives.

ON POVERTY

Tory promised: To implement a poverty reduction strategy.

Status: In progress.

Tory tapped the late councillor Pam McConnell to oversee the city’s 20-year poverty reduction strategy, with a plan that council requested in 2014, before Tory became mayor, approved in 2015. A 2016 progress report showed that of 98 action items on that year’s work plan, a third were in progress or ongoing, another third were completed, 20 per cent were partially completed and almost 10 per cent were deferred or delayed.

Tory promised: To advocate for more child-care spaces and increased child-care funding.

Status: Fulfilled.

In the 2017 budget, council added 300 child-care subsidies. While Tory pushed Premier Kathleen Wynne to address a daycare affordability crisis, at the same time he announced a plan to scrap a city grant for daycares in schools in 2017 to fund the new child-care subsidies. Tory later reversed his position under pressure and backed a plan to continue to offer the grants while still funding the new subsidies.

Tory promised: To improve food security, including breakfast nutrition programs in school.

Status: In progress.

Tory has a mixed record on student nutrition, despite his commitment to implement the poverty reduction strategy. In 2016, Toronto Public Health was under pressure to adhere to a directive to cut its budget to meet Tory’s council-backed property tax target, putting 13,000 low-income students at risk of losing healthy snacks. The proposed cuts were not advanced to city council for approval.

ON THE ENVIRONMENT

Tory promised: To maintain the city’s 2012 tree cover of 3.8 million trees by doubling the city’s annual expenditure to $14 million by 2019 and fund the planting of 380,000 trees annually

Status: Broken.

The 2015 budget only increased the number of trees to be planted from 100,000 to 105,000. In 2016, the budget increases to just under $10 million. For 2017, the approved budget allowed for 120,000 trees to be planted.

Tory promised: To create a sustainable city advisory board and release a “sustainable city report” annually.

Status: Broken.

No such advisory board or report exists.

Tory promised: To appoint an environment advocate, with responsibilities that include the creation of a plan to prepare the city for climate change adoption.

Status: Broken.

There is no environment advocate. A chief resilience officer was hired this year to help the city prepare for the impact of climate change. Tory pushed back on the required $6.7 million needed next year for a much-lauded climate change action plan brought forward by staff. At the request of Tory’s appointed parks committee chair and executive member Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, staff have been asked to produce business cases to prioritize goals set out in the plan for the 2018 budget — something advocates say the plan already does.

Tory promised: To collect data to monitor energy use at city buildings and use the data to achieve $22 million in annual savings by his fourth year in office.

Status: Redundant/Broken.

The city’s environment and energy division already monitored energy use at city buildings before Tory took office. Annual savings are much less than $22 million. In 2016, $400,000 in revenue annually was achieved by reducing electrical consumption, $900,000 annually through LED retrofit projects and $30,000 through water retrofits at Metro Hall and city hall.

Tory promised: To proactively plan parks near new developments by linking in the parks department at the early stages of the development application process and create a transparent accountable system for tracking where park levy funds are spent.

Status: Redundant.

Parks staff were already involved in the review of development applications, have created policies in conjunction with city planning that address park deficiencies and report on how park levy funds are spent.

Tory promised: To create new corporate and philanthropic partnerships to support Toronto’s parks.

Status: In progress.

The most significant partnership announced during Tory’s term has been the creation of a linear park under the Gardiner, still under construction, known as The Bentway. The project is a result of the $25 million donation from philanthropists Judy and Wil Matthews.

ON ARTS AND CULTURE

Tory promised: To appoint a “creative economy” advocate .

Status: Fulfilled.

In December 2016, Tory appointed Councillor Michelle Holland as his advocate for the innovation economy, with a role of “championing the growth of Toronto’s technology and knowledge sector.”

Tory promised: To work with staff, arts organizations and the private sector to try to meet or exceed the $25 per capita arts funding goal by 2017.

Status: Fulfilled.

The target was met for 2017. During the 2017 budget process, a Tory-backed 2.6 per cent budget reduction request for all divisions saw staff considering deferring funding that would put the $25 per capita target at risk. Under pressure, Tory-appointed budget chief Councillor Gary Crawford reversed that plan at committee, putting the city back on track.

Tory promised: To open a standalone music office to bolster new partnerships and reduce red tape.

Status: Broken.

Tory didn’t create a standalone office like the film office. However, under his administration a music advisory council is working on a music strategy and a music sector development officer is responsible for cutting red tape for the industry.

Tory promised: To march in the annual Pride parade.

Status: Fulfilled.

Tory has marched enthusiastically, with many of his staff and fellow council members, every year.

ON OTHER THINGS

Tory promised: To outsource garbage collection east of Yonge St.

Status: In limbo.

After taking office, Tory said information provided by staff indicated the city could save far less from outsourcing than he had believed possible during the campaign. But at the beginning of this year, Tory planned to push ahead with outsourcing anyway. At risk of being defeated at council, Tory moved a surprise motion that referred the issue back to staff for further study to be completed at an unspecified date.

Tory promised: To keep Toronto Hydro public.

Status: Fulfilled.

The utility remains public. Though Tory slammed election rival Karen Stintz for suggesting privatization, in 2016 he agreed the city should look at a partial sale to fund transit and housing. His office, the Star’s sources said, took an interest in appointments to Toronto Hydro’s board of directors, while two of Tory’s key campaign advisors, the Star revealed, were hired to lay the groundwork for a partial sale. Tory denied reports earlier this year that talks were underway and said he would see the utility kept in public hands.

Tory promised: To keep a weekly schedule that is public and easily accessible and to hold at least a weekly press availability.

Status: Fulfilled.

Tory sends a daily itinerary of public events he’ll be attending to the press gallery. Critics have argued it should be posted publicly and show all meetings (including those behind closed doors) that he is attending. Tory often speaks to the media once a day, sometimes multiple times a day.

Tory promised: To introduce “real penalties” for politicians and bureaucrats who “abuse the privileges, responsibilities and trust that accompany public service.”

Status: Broken.

The penalties have not changed.

Jennifer Pagliaro can be reached at jpagliaro@thestar.ca or 416-869-4556

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