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AGAR: The fun and games of World Cup soccer and city spending

Report says City Hall to limit road work from May to end of July

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Once the fun and games of World Cup Soccer are over in Toronto, look for numbers as people who brought the games to the city try to justify the unbelievable expense and social upheaval.  

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The latest mind-boggling move is reported by Toronto Life: “Last month, the city declared that vast swaths of Toronto would be off-limits to road work from May 1 to July 31 to keep streets clear, what with the deluge of soccer fans expected to descend on the city. These restricted zones would cover everything south of Bloor Street to the lake between Sherbourne and Landsdowne as well as Parkside Drive, Roncesvalles Avenue, and long stretches of Dufferin, Bathurst, Avenue, Broadview and Yonge north of Bloor.”  

AGAR: The fun and games of World Cup soccer and city spending Back to video

Three months of prime building season — for games that will run on six days from June 12 to July 2, — starting 42 days before the first game and 29 days after the last.  

This in a city that has a housing shortage as arguably its major issue.  

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Builders concerned about construction restrictions

Richard Lyall, president of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON), Ontario’s leading association of residential builders, is worried about it.  

“It’s just another fresh hell facing the industry,” says Lyall. “We found out about this a few weeks ago. Our industry doesn’t turn on a dime. Projects have been years in the planning.”  

He says that the move the city is planning, without a clear set of rules or remedies in place, “is a little crazy.”  

Why is the month of May included?   

“I can understand that they have to move people around the day before the game, the day of the game, but a lot of people will be making a lot of money from these games, but they turn around to our industry and say you can pick up the tab for part of it without much notice,” he says.  

Lyall adds that the people in charge don’t know anything about construction, although he notes that he understands there were more productive conversations around the issue in Vancouver.  

That is encouraging to hear, as productivity is not the norm at Toronto City Hall.  

Lyall says the city seems to be ignoring issues related to home warranties, safety, commercial matters, contractual matters, and delays that could be significant.  

Industry says city rules are unclear

What is the economic impact of all of this?   

“Well, it’s huge,” Lyall says. “There are penalties to be considered. You don’t know whether that contractor can return in August. We didn’t shut down for COVID. Residential construction was considered an essential service.”  

Lyall was unable to guess as to what the negative economic impact would be, saying, “We don’t even know what the rules are yet.”   

The shutdown, if it happens, is only six weeks away.  

Any assessment of the cost/benefit of the World Cup will have to be done on a ledger that considers not only the actual cost in money laid out by the various levels of government, but the cost of things like a construction shutdown and its negative impact on the economy.  

Any failure to honestly consider the cost will only demonstrate what is most likely to happen. The games will be fun. The accounting will be funny numbers.   

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