Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow thinks city hall has a spending problem when it comes to consultants – and her predecessor is taking the blame.

City council passed a motion Thursday evening that called for a review to find ways to minimize spending on consultants, singling out city hall’s “top five operational areas” for consulting services.

The motion, brought forward by Councillor Josh Matlow and seconded by Chow, says spending on outside consultants “rose markedly” over the tenure of former mayor John Tory. It says consultant spending ballooned from $11.2 million in 2014, Tory’s first year in office, to $57.7 million in 2023, the year when Tory resigned and Chow was elected.

“This figure does not capture considerable additional expenditures on consultants involved with the delivery of ca

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