Tory or Keesmaat: Who will improve housing affordability?

I’ve been avoiding this topic for a few weeks now, but I’m just going to come out and say it – I don’t know who should be mayor of Toronto. With regards to housing affordability, transit, and general liveability, has Toronto improved over the last few years?

I was a fan of John Tory’s SmartTrack plans, but as Jennifer Keesmaat has pointed out, it’s not quite panning out as proposed. The 22 new proposed stations are now six new stations added to existing GO lines.

Last year, housing prices in the city hit record highs. Young people can’t afford a low-rise home in Toronto, and even condos are getting too pricey for first-time buyers. A younger friend of mine and his wife purchased a one-bedroom preconstruction condo unit downtown Toronto near the end of 2016. He told me that if they had waited until January 2017, they wouldn’t have been able to afford it! They make nearly $100,000 a year together, have no debt, and good credit scores.

A young married couple like this should be able to comfortably afford a home in the city. They have talents, skills, and money to support the city and help it grow. It won’t be long before these young professionals are forced out of the city, I imagine it’s already happening.

But is this Tory’s fault? He did recently announce that the City is keeping property taxes low, increasing with the rate of inflation. And as far as I know, Jennifer Keesmaat hasn’t released any plans regarding property taxes. In fact, she hasn’t said much about her plans for Toronto.

In a release, she said she wants to build 100,000 new affordable housing units over the next 10 years. She estimates that 250,000 Torontonians are struggling to afford monthly rent, with nearly half spending more than 30% of their income on it. Tory has built approximately 4,000 affordable housing units during his time as mayor.

It’s easy to believe Keesmaat when she says she’ll build this much affordable housing because of her planning expertise and former role as the Chief Toronto Planner, but financials hasn’t entered the picture yet. I’m not necessarily opposed to higher taxes, but I believe citizens deserve to know how public money is being used.

Speaking of public money, development charges is a hot topic for me. In my opinion, it is way too difficult for new home buyers to see how much of the purchase price is going towards development charges, and it’s like navigating a labyrinth on the City website to see how these fees are allocated to public improvements and development.

I’m interested to see if either Tory or Keesmaat offer some clarity on how money collected from development charges is being spent in our neighbourhoods. Transparency on this topic could help explain some of the rising costs in our city, and it could force the powers at be to invest the money appropriately.

There are land transfer taxes, development charges, and property taxes – all of which support the growth of the city, and they’re all being paid by homeowners (and renters indirectly). I don’t know about you, but I want to know how this money is being spent.

We still have many campaign days ahead of us, and I truly believe it’s too early to have made a decision on who I’m going to vote for. Stay tuned in for more details, do your own research, and when the time comes, cast your vote for the person that you think will best lead our city.