Covering City Hall

A couple weeks ago, my News Reporting class went to Toronto City Hall. We were to cover one of the issues on the table for the day. I never expected that the atmosphere would be so relaxed and informal, and it was very easy to get to talk to a councillor. Sometimes it seemed a little disorganized, but at the same time it was nice to feel like it was easy to be involved as a citizen.


Here's the story I covered and wrote:

Toronto’s hen lovers will be allowed to keep their chickens. For now.

A proposal by councillor Joe Mihevc, (Ward 21, St. Paul’s) backed by councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon (Ward 32, Beaches-East York) , was sent back Wednesday to be reviewed by Toronto’s municipal licensing and standards division in February 2012.

Until then, those who have hens in their yards may keep them without facing a fine.

“I’m very pleased that the process has started,” Mihevc said Wednesday in an interview after the council voted not to debate the issue right away.  “And this will kick off what I call ‘community conversations’ around backyard hens.”

Other North American cities such as New York, Vancouver, and Kingston, Ontario have already adopted new regulations allowing hens in homeowners’ backyards. Many, especially Mihevc, believe it’s time Toronto got on board, too.

            “I think there is a big urban agriculture movement going around…people are seeing a different relationship with the land, and a different relationship with the food that we eat, purchase, and plant,” Mihevc said.

However, some councillors, including councillor Giorgio Mammoliti (Ward 7, York West) oppose the idea.

“Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side,” joked Mammoliti to reporters. “Now we’re going to have thousands of chickens crossing the road, and we’re going to have neighbors fighting against neighbors because they don’t want to hit the chickens.”

The puns didn’t end there.

“This chicken thing has got to go away, and if it doesn’t I’m going to cry fowl,” Mammoliti said with a grin.

Noise issues were also seen as a potential problem, but according to Mihevc, this is nothing to worry about.

“We’re not allowing roosters, it’s only hens,” he said. “They don’t make noise.”

Residents won’t be allowed to open farmers markets, either.  Hens will be for personal use only, with a maximum of three to four birds.

           “You can’t do a henhouse,“ Mihevic clarified.