Mayor John Tory has promised to review funding for youth programs and city-led initiatives in the wake of ongoing violence.

At the same time, the mayor refused to say whether the police budget should again be frozen in 2019.

Tory told reporters Monday that the number of homicides — which hit a record total of 91 on Monday, although at a rate of firearm-related violent crime still lower than that of other Canadian cities like Winnipeg, Saskatoon and nearby Hamilton — should not be accepted as a “new normal.”

“I think what we have to do is double and triple and quadruple our resolve to try and address it as best we can,” he said, noting the need to invest in “kids and families and neighbourhoods” and “supporting” the police.

Acknowledging a Star story that reported the Toronto Youth Equity Strategy was being severely underfunded by the current council, Tory said he has “undertaken to take a look at that” during the 2019 budget process.

The strategy was approved by council in 2014 to tackle the roots of youth violence.

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Tory said money the city recently applied for from the provincial and federal governments “will fulfil many of the same purposes” as the strategy.

In July, the city applied for funding for a five-year, $44-million plan to reduce gun violence that includes some of the strategy’s programs for youth. The strategy itself, which was intended to be funded at $15.8 million annually, has survived on less than $500,000 per year. There is no city money committed to the new gun violence reduction plan.

During the election campaign, Tory would not commit to funding the youth strategy, saying he believed there may have been “a bit of broken telephone” in the budget numbers despite city staff confirming the funding deficit to the Star.

When it comes to the police budget for 2019, which will soon be up for debate, Tory said the funding should be consistent but that the city must continue with a plan meant to have the police force slim down the number of officers while still effectively serving neighbourhoods.

Tory refused to say the police budget should be held to a zero per cent increase next year — a request made of all city departments heading into this budget cycle — saying he expects police Chief Mark Saunders to also start the budget process by seeing if the force can do more with the money already allotted to it.

“That’s going to be the subject of some discussions that are happening as we speak,” he said. “I respect the fact that when we face some challenges with respect to gun violence and other things in the city, when we’re looking to do some things that I’ve talked about myself ... that puts some pressure on them to deploy additional resources that come at a cost.”

The final decision on all budgets is up to council in the new year.

The police association representing officers has cried foul over the declining size of the uniformed contingent as a result of higher-than-expected retirements and departures. The city and service responded by committing to hire additional officers while still trimming the overall number of uniformed officers.

The police budget was around $1 billion in 2018. It remains the single biggest line item in the city’s $13-billion operating budget, costing the average homeowner $681.90 on their property tax bill.

But a request for more funds could soon be made. In a report to the police board, which meets Thursday, Saunders said savings and deferred costs in previous years are “not sustainable” and “therefore, investments will be required in 2019 and future years to meet operational requirements and enable the modernization of the service.”

Asked if the police would request a higher budget in response to this year’s homicides, Saunders said Monday that he will meet with the police services board this week to look at the numbers.

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“The board’s responsible for submitting it to the city, and so I’m certainly not going to speak out of turn with respect to that at this point in time,” he said.

“Working with the board we’ll have an opportunity to collaborate and figure out what the go forward is, looking at all opportunities, whether it’s resources and people, whether it’s resources and technology or any other aspects when it comes to the reduction of gun violence in the city.”

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With files from May Warren

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