September 14, 2018
Visitors to Toronto City Hall will undergo baggage screening to access certain areas of City Hall starting Monday, September 17.
Baggage screening will be located on the east and west sides of the main floor rotunda and at the Hagerman Street entrance of City Hall. Baggage screening will not be required to access City services such as the library and the property tax and utility payment counters, and the Service Canada Centre in the rotunda.
"The safety of all those who work, visit or do business at City facilities is the top priority of the City of Toronto," said Dwaine Nichol, Director of Corporate Security. "These security measures strive to seek a balance between enhancing our current security measures from foreseeable threats while still maintaining an appropriate level of public access to City Hall."
The baggage screening, conducted by corporate security staff, will be similar to what is presently conducted at City Council meetings. Visitors will now be asked to place their items on a table and open them for security staff to conduct a visual inspection.
More information about the baggage screening process is available on the City's website at http://toronto.ca/visitorscreening.
At its meeting in June, City Council approved a number of enhanced security measures for City Hall, including baggage screening in the rotunda, patron screening using walk-through metal detectors for the Council Chamber and the installation of physical security measures in City Hall's committee rooms and the Council Chamber. The remaining enhanced security measures will be implemented later this year.
This news release is also available on the City's website: https://bit.ly/2MuFALX
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/TorontoComms, on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/cityofto or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/cityofto.
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Media contact: Erin McGuey, Strategic Communications, 416-392-9418, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.