The mayor of Toronto is still planning to cut the budget of his parks department in spite of the fact that falling tree branches have injured several people and killed one, reports The Globe and Mail newspaper. Pruning trees became an issue in June after a falling branch at a city park killed a 30-year old man.
The mayor is cutting the budgets of all city departments by 2.6 per cent next year. But he says that within that, the parks department could reduce spending in one area and increase it on tree maintenance.
At least 20 injured, reports newspaper
The Globe reports that at least 20 people in Toronto have been injured by falling branches in the last seven years and that the city has paid out more than $2-million in damages.
There are more than four million trees under the city’s management. The Globe says the city has fallen well short of a goal it set in 2008 to prune all trees every seven years. The newspaper says it only prunes them every 15 years on average.
Many Canadian cities face budget shortfalls and are trying to reduce spending.
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