Councillor John Filion should be commended for trying to add spice and variety to Toronto's street food fare. Put a little jerk in the chicken, add some bite to the dog, and toss in some salads for the vegans and crepes for the sophisticates.
But oh, how they've wrapped and trapped the spring rolls in red tape and bureaucracy at city hall.
You'd have thought this to be a simple matter: Change provincial laws that prohibit the sale of anything but pre-cooked meat; establish testing and inspections; announce the new regime; watch enterprising vendors enter the marketplace. And Torontonians are smiling in their samosas and crying in their hot curry.
But no, too easy. The meddlers had to engineer it into delay and confusion. First, the city wanted to borrow $700,000 to buy 35 carts and lease them out for $450 a month. Why not just set the cart standards and leave it to the private sector to provide and sell? Because the city wants to block "conglomerates" from taking over this new venture.
The goal is to have the little guy get a fair chance at making a living, Filion and others said. Think how many residents from Toronto's at-risk neighbourhoods could get on the gravy train, advocates said.
When the public didn't buy the idea of the needless cash outlay from a cash-poor city, Mayor David Miller short-circuited the lease plan. But the micromanaging philosophy remained – as seen in a report to the executive committee next Tuesday.
For one, we won't get the new foods until next spring at the earliest, not this summer as hoped, because of the confusing and complicated start-up plan.
Secondly, the bureaucratic, legal and financial requirements are so lengthy and strangling that the little guy will surely be turned off and turned away. Consider:
You must lease or buy a cart from the lone city-selected provider. Cost is $26,100 for a non-refrigerated cart and $32,300 for a refrigerated one. Lease rate is between $7,056 and $8,796 per year. Minimum interest? 12.5 per cent.
That preferred rate is good only for vendors with food business experience and above-average credit. Others – remember the poor guy from the at-risk neighbourhood that we are trying to shelter from the cart conglomerate cartel? – will pay more.
That hurdle cleared, does the vendor now hit the street and start selling and if people like what they taste they'll return for more? Not the way the city sees it.
Vendors are to be selected based on the diversity and quality of food, nutritional content and use of local food where appropriate. An expert panel from George Brown and some guy from Whole Foods will sample and choose the winners.
How did we get ensnared in such an involved, time-consuming, entangled, bureaucratic web? All a guy wants is a patty and coco bread, without the taste testers and fancy carts and lease plans.
Some 3,557 people responded to a city online survey regarding their preference for expanded street food and, apparently, suggested the following menu, in order of popularity: Chicken/pork souvlaki, spring rolls, corn-on-the-cob, noodle dishes, hot beverages, samosas, tacos, fruit salads/skewers, dim sum, baked potatoes, falafels, roti, rice dishes, fish and chips, jerk chicken, salads, crepes, pretzels, curry dishes, soups, empanada, waffles, enchiladas, sushi, kebabs.
We're starved already. Can city hall just let us eat? Please.
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