While city hall presentations tend to be somewhat mundane, one recent speech at a Toronto budget meeting turned out to be anything but ordinary, as a local aspiring screenwriter took the opportunity to weave several Avatar references into his presentation, all while challenging the city's police budget.

During the public presentations on the 2025 capital and operating budgets on Jan. 21, Sebastian Decter made a creative case for why the massive Toronto police budget should see no increase this year.

"I want to address the $46.2 million budget increase to the Toronto Police, this of course, on top of their massive existing budget of $1.2 billion. Just for reference, the budget of the movie Avatar was $237 million, and the budget of the sequel was $460 million. So for the cost of operating the Toronto Police for only one year, the people of Toronto could produce four Avatar films," Decter argued.

The Avatar references didn't stop there, as Decter continued to draw parallels between the police board and the main villain in the blockbuster movie.

Guy won't stop bringing up Avatar in city budget meeting
byu/PorcoSebbo inAvatar

"It seems that the police board has more power to shape the budget than the people of Toronto. In fact, the way they are able to bulldoze their way through public opinion reminds me of Colonel Miles Quaritch, bulldozing the jungles of Pandora in the movie Avatar. That's why I'm asking for a $0 police budget increase for 2025," he said.

"After all, for a fraction of the money, Canadian luminary James Cameron was able to craft the immersive world of Pandora, while every year, police demand more money to adequately protect just one city on Earth."

Decter's most recent speech was a continuation of his involvement with the non-profit organization, Progress Toronto. Last year, he attended a police board meeting where he cleverly drew references to Paddington Bear in an effort to redirect police funding towards community and social services.

"Progress Toronto helps organize like-minded people to make these speeches and advocate for a better city budget. I've volunteered on a few of their campaigns before and they are always supportive. They encouraged me to speak and I've done it a few times now," he explained.

"Progress Toronto are great for me because sometimes city politics can make me feel hopeless. You start to feel like you are the only person who cares about certain issues. It can feel like staring into the abyss. But when I'm with Progress Toronto, and their wonderful staff and volunteers, I feel like I'm staring into The Abyss (1989), the sci-fi adventure movie directed by James Cameron. And by that I mean I feel good!"

Decter's urge to get involved began in 2020, after attending a memorial for Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a Black woman who died in police custody.

"Her family was leading a memorial march, and a scuffle broke out. I didn't see how it started, but I did see police ride horses through a crowd of unarmed people. I also saw that there was a police van waiting on the memorial's marching route," he said.

"It appeared that the police had planned to disrupt and arrest people at a memorial for a woman who died in their custody. There was media there, but I never saw any footage of the incident on the news."

A few months later, Decter says he saw footage of the police "violently clearing encampments" and witnessed volunteers who he knew to be part of the encampment support network "dragged across the ground for the crime of caring" about the unhoused.

"This time there was media coverage, and public outrage, but no consequences for the officers involved, or Mayor John Tory. That summer was the time I felt the most angry and hopeless about the city. In a way, I've been angry ever since. But I no longer feel hopeless. Getting involved in the budget process makes me feel like I'm having an impact, even if things don't go the way I want — they almost never do," Decter said.

"When I speak alongside so many powerful speakers who believe in the same cause, I feel a deep connection to the place I live, much like the Na'vi on Pandora."

Decter explains that he uses movie references in his speeches to grab attention, hoping it will help his message reach more people, raise awareness about Progress Toronto, and encourage more people to tell councillors how they feel.

"Avatar seemed like the natural next step to me because one, I love Avatar​​​​​​, and two, they are famously big-budget movies. I knew the police budget would be higher, but I was surprised by how much higher it was," he said.

"It's nice that people online like it, because I got zero laughs on the day. Tough room! However, I will say that city council is a lot more welcoming than the police headquarters, where the chief looks at you like you're something he found under his shoe."

"Decter says he'd be really happy if his speech encouraged someone to get involved in the budget process or city politics in general.

"Now is an important time! The budget speeches may be over, but you can still make a phone call to your city councillor or the mayor's office to have your voice heard," he said.

Decter notes that people can get involved in the budget process by joining Progress Toronto, which offers free training sessions to help individuals navigate the process.

"As you may have noticed in the video, I’m a neurotic 100-pound nerd. If I can do this, I know a lot of other people can too. The biggest advantage we have against these institutions is numbers. If we organize, we can build a better city together," Decter continued.

"And Avatar 3: Fire and Ash hits theaters Dec. 19, 2025."