Perhaps. The map identifies it as “Designated Waterfront Area”. It could be that this means the area under the bailiwick of the Waterfront Toronto organisation, or it could be a generic description of the geographic area. Either way, I can see why people are concerned that there’s an ambition to extend surveillance and services like self-driving cars beyond the small Quayside area (without extending the Google-subsidised affordable housing or the nifty infrastructure elements that will be built from scratch in the Quayside area).
One of the on-going problems with this project seems to be poor or opaque communications to the public by stakeholders (Sidewalk labs, the city, the province, etc.) regarding intent and larger ambitions. Since a company like Alphabet is in the communications business, this situation seems to be intentional rather than accidental.
I looked up the document in question which had been out since July and there’s they talk about possible additional lands in the “Designated Waterfront Area”:
12.01 Additional Lands
In the event that either Waterfront Toronto or Sidewalk Labs or any Sidewalk Labs’ controlled affiliate
acquires or obtains an option to acquire or obtains any interest in any real property (the “Additional
Lands”) located in whole or in part within the MIDP Site or engages in substantial negotiations (arising
at such time as discussions reach the point of the execution of binding term sheets and reasonably in
advance of any public announcement and not prior thereto) with a third party to acquire or obtain an
option to acquire or obtain an interest in any real property located in whole or in part within the MIDP
Site, such Party will promptly notify the other Party of such acquisition, option or interest, or substantial
negotiations, and any Additional Lands acquired by a Party or in which a Party obtains an option or
interest shall be included in the plans included in the MIDP and fall within the MIDP Scope.
If I’m understanding this legalese correctly, if Google’s Sidewalk Labs or Waterfront Toronto organization gets access to more land they have to notify each other before getting the land so that it could be possibly included within the scope of their plans.
Basically Union Station is not going to fall under Google’s control as neither Google or Waterfront Toronto will gain control of it. Could Google’s Sidewalk Labs buy out a piece of land, that is a possibility but I’m guessing they wouldn’t be interested in anything except for pieces right beside their initial project. So there is that risk but it is also worded that it sounds like Waterfront Toronto wants to hear about it long before it happens, almost like this was put make sure if this did happen that they could be prepared for it rather than catch off guard.
So it sounds like there is a bit of concern possibility of the project expanding but not nearly as much as the article is claiming. That said, I’m not a lawyer and I also didn’t read the whole document (it’s pretty huge and not easy to understand), I just scanned it to find where that waterfront area was being referenced in the document.
This Toronto Star article mentions the definition of affordable house as defined by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s average market rent for the GTA which would be $1,202 per month for a one bedroom unit. That is also the average showing on the City of Toronto website. That is using numbers for all of the GTA which is a lot less than numbers I’ve seen for just Toronto, which most recently was set at $2,260.
If Sidewalk Labs are using that GTA measurement for rent then it could be significantly lower than the Toronto average and really be quite affordable. However, I haven’t read anywhere confirmation of where Sidewalk Labs will be getting their numbers.
Obviously there needs to be more funding for affordable housing across the board but we’re developing it already with subsidies like Toronto’s Open Door program and the CMHC co-investment fund. It’s not necessary to sell out tenant data in order to build it.
Ultimately it would be great if there could be a LOT more funding of affordable housing in Toronto. That it’s unfortunate that we have politicians who don’t provide enough funding that we are considering an option through Google. As ultimately, that is where I would rather the city be. However, with that not happening this to me seems like making the best out of a bad situation. Once again, assuming that it is actually proper affordable housing in which Google is subsidizing it rather than any program from the city.
That said, once this is set up what happens with Sidewalk Labs becoming a tenant and will there be anything beyond bad PR forcing them to keep those rent rates low.
Well if Doug Ford does anything to prevent municipalities from collecting development charges, the cities will have no money at all for affordable housing.
The City’s Social Housing Office enforces contribution agreements. If any development fails to agree to the terms of its agreement, they will suddenly find themselves owing a lot of money to the City. I believe that what they would owe would exceed what they would earn from breaking the agreement.
The concern is about Alphabet extending the Quayside surveillance network and self-driving vehicles into the larger waterfront zone under the same secretive terms. That won’t require Sidewalk Labs buying new real estate properties, just pliant members of the city council and the Waterfront Toronto board.
Uber is currently driving their self-driving cars in manual mode through the streets of Toronto collecting data. So it wouldn’t surprise me if Alphabet’s Waymo does expand their self-driving cars through all of Toronto. I don’t think they need any agreement with Waterfront Toronto for that to happen.
That said, setting up sensors & surveillance around the rest of the waterfront is definitely a concern. The Rabble article references this agreement between Sidewalk Labs & Waterfront Toronto about how Sidewalk Labs might want to expand their reach, However, from what I see of that document it is just about detailing what happens if Sidewalk Labs or Waterfront Toronto organization gets more land. It’s a long 51 page document, but it doesn’t seem to say anything expanding the scope in that area.
There is plenty to criticize about this project and reasons to put pressure on politicians in handling this project without expanding that into what looks like a misreading of the agreement documentation.
As I understand it from reading some of the plans, the self-driving vehicles in the Sidewalk Labs experiments will themselves be tightly integrated into the “smart city’s” surveillance and analytics network in a way that Uber’s are not. In other words, the cars themselves become sensors and feedback mechanisms that are as integral to the project as the devices mounted on street furniture or embedded in the pavement and buildings.
Extending the Quayside sensors (cars included) out into the greater Waterfront area is what most people are worried about in this case, and a document like this one does nothing to assuage those concerns. From the article’s discussion of who has final say over extension of the sensor network beyond Quayside:
The development agreement between Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto hedges that point by saying “the creation of such a plan does not itself signal any right to implement all or any part of it. To the contrary, the parties acknowledge that in many cases, the implementation of plans … will be subject to various contingencies, such as the receipt of certain governmental approvals and clearances, approvals of or agreements with landowners or other third-party consents.”
It also states that any proposed options shall be “supported by robust business planning and financial analysis.”
However, there does not have to be a vote by Toronto city council, the Ontario legislature or the federal government on whether to approve or reject the master development plan. Rather, there only will be votes on issues that required to implement the plan, such as changes to bylaws and procurement policies.
From the news reports I’m seeing and the resignation letters from tech advisory panel members, there’s a profound and well-founded lack of trust in Waterfront Toronto’s ability to put the concerns of those who live and work in and pass through the area in front of the demands of Sidewalk Labs.
