We have been tasked with stepping up to meet a generational challenge - the housing crisis. For too long the forces and inertia of the status quo have had a grip on the way we think about housing. Whether it’s supportive housing at O’Connor and Woodbine or affordable housing down on Queen, I have been unequivocal in my support to get housing built for those who need it most. However, both of these experiences have exemplified for me the need to inherently change our planning framework to get more affordable options built for more people.

As a city, we need to build more affordable housing. This means continuing the work we started this past term and breaking ground on the new affordable housing projects to be built on city-owned properties across Toronto. We also need to bring our zoning bylaws up to speed in order to legalize more affordable housing forms within our neighbourhoods. The Missing Middle (i.e. duplexes, triplexes, low rise apartments) plays a critical role in creating more opportunities for people to get onto a property ladder that’s increasingly out of reach.

The task at hand is to be bold and step up to meet the ambitious target that we’ve set for ourselves as a city - reaching net zero emissions by 2040. As a local Councillor, I’ve been an advocate for the electrification of public transit and for greater investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Housing also has a role to play. By legalizing the Missing Middle, we're not only creating more affordable options, we’re building more environmentally sustainable communities that reduce the need for urban sprawl.

A good city is built to accommodate all the different ways people move and get around. That means moving forward with projects aimed at making public transit more affordable and service more reliable. It also means continuing to make thoughtful additions and improvements to Toronto’s cycling network so that we have routes that allow people to safely make their way from A to B. And when it comes to shorter trips closer to home, I am committed to making our streets safe for all users in order to realize the vision that is Vision Zero.

The city is the level of government that’s closest to residents’ lives but also the least able to generate revenue and deliver all the essential services that we need. As both a local Councillor and a Commissioner on the TTC Board, I have advocated for the Provincial and Federal Governments to provide operating dollars so that we might create a more equitable and accessible transit system. If re-elected, I will also continue to advocate for the Province to give Toronto new powers to raise revenue such as road tolls and sales taxes.

The way we approach policing in our communities needs to change. On an average day, we expect police to be mental health crisis professionals, conflict negotiators, social workers, sexual assault specialists and marriage, addiction or grief counsellors. This is not what policing is for and it’s not leading to the outcomes we want. We also need to address the root causes of violence through anti-Black racism efforts, anti-poverty initiatives and investments in community development. That is how we fundamentally reduce poverty and inequality.

If elected as the councillor for Ward 19, I aspire to build a community with better protection (More police personnel), Better waste disposal system, and better assistance program for our seniors as some of my key platforms. In addition to these, I have 7 more platforms that I would like to work on that will significantly improve our community. Starting from youth employment to professional development programs. I can assure you that these are things that I, as a member of this community have felt firsthand and desperately needs attention.

This is truly a concept with two extremes. The rental and real estate market has been on the rise significantly, especially these past few years. Basically, it boils down to the demand and supply in the area. We need to reach out to the owners of storefront properties and assist them with plans of building affordable housing on top of their building.

The next city council must focus on a better waste disposal system to reduce the effects of climate change and its progression. We need to implement "Waste-to-Energy" power plants instead of burning coal or gas. This power plant burns trash and converts it into energy. About 49% of household waste would recycled, and roughly 50% of garbage would be incinerated in power plants like this one. This plan has proved to be a success in other countries already. Ward 19 can be the first to start something incredible in Toronto.

The next city Council must do a transportation analysis for the entire ward. Currently, buses and streetcars are subject to increase traffic wherein the bus cannot keep to their schedule. Sometimes you have two buses back-to-back after waiting at the stop for a very long time. This happens because the city does not have a recent analysis on the demand in specific routes. Doing an analysis regularly will help resolve this issue as we can come up with a better plan on which route needs more public transport traffic and which routes can cut down.

City council must take a look at what the current expenditure is of the council. All of these are our community's taxpayer's money. Is every single penny of it going to good use? Do we have a proper breakdown of what the money is being spent on? We definitely pay a lot in taxes. But so much good can come out of the tax money we pay. As for city services, let's start with the basics; cleaner roads. My idea is to have a group of volunteers who will come together to clean their community. Saving money on the tax and avoiding more expense.

Better protection! This means more police personnel available in the community. Crime rate has been on the increase in this community in recent days. Where do people have to go if they have to report a crime? To a police station that is so far away, or a phone line that most seniors of the community do not know how to use? My idea to fix this issue is to have smaller police booths in the ward, where a person of authority is available to help and people of this community could walk in to get help.

The top issues in Ward 19 are housing and development as well as transportation matters. Whether it's main streets are slated for the right kind of development that is affordable and at an appropriate scale is on evryone's lips and the dramatic rise in congestion on roads is avoidable if better managed by the city. Both of these areas are suffering from residents not being listened to and I would improve this by demanding more transparency and justification for the decisions being made today that affects residents future.

The CIty needs to abandon it's affordabe housing model now as it gives away too much for too long with very few affordable units likely to result. It needs to go it alone and build on it's many properties so that a)more units can be created that are affordable and b) shorten the time to completion both of which are entirely in the hands of private developers who don't share the same priorities as in the policy of the City. Waiting on them to suit their purposes first is a mistake I would quickly push to have undone before much more time is lost

The first step to improving the City's climate response is to halt the city's unsustainable population growth. That forestalls or eliminates the huge infrastructure expansions that would be needed, from sewers to power lines to transportation networks. All of which have huge greenhouse gas costs that simply overwhelm any longer term benefits frequently claimed or needed under climate treaty committments. Greater density will only bring greater societal and financial costs to be added to everyone's tax bill.

The City needs to revise it's VisionZero program as it has done more to congest the road network than the very small number of regular cyclist's can warrant. At minimum, bike lanes cannot be used to simply clog up the city's main arteries with plans for much more of the same coming. The infamous pilot project mantra has never once been reversed and that degree of dishonesty needs to be halted as it poisons any sense from the majority of residents that their voices matter or are being heard at City Hall.

The steady increase in the City's budget and utility rates and charges is a symptom of the financial stress it's experiencing. A top to bottom review of programs and costs needs to be done to raise efficiencies and maximize benefits, if they exist, or else programs will have to reduced or cut. The recent and very likely long lasting effects of inflation add more reason to manage the CIty budget more effectively as many residents are already dealing with high costs in housing for example and have little to no room for higher taxes still.

The City has to follow through on the police department review it undertook over 5 years ago to realize the efficiencies contained in the report's recommendations. It was a document meant to help modernize and improve upon the cost of delivery of police services and the level of those services. Without doing so, we are likely to see no cost savings while crime general creeps up as there are now fewer officers to residents than has ever been before. This has not proven to be wise as the general sense of crime's prevalence has worsened over time.

Our top priority must be climate change, both mitigating it as best we can and preparing for its worst effects. We should address this firstly by striving to eliminate all unnecessary carbon emissions, in particular the monstrous amount of illegal idling in the city. We must prioritize transit, especially by electric rail, and we must do better with our canopy strategy and green retrofitting of buildings. To prepare for the worst effects of climate change we need to vastly improve our food security by finding ways to produce more food locally.

We must do everything possible to pry as much vacant housing out of the hands of speculators and investors. Then the three R’s: repair, renovate, and retrofit. We must make the most of all existing spaces before spending more carbon emissions building anew. Only after the first two options are exhausted should we build anew, and when we do it should be 100% publicly-owned and run by the city to ensure the more affordability.

As this is my top priority, I’ve already answered that in the first question.

We need a luxury homes tax. We should be making the upcoming vacancy tax even harsher, so for owners sitting on vacancies it simply makes no sense not to rent or sell. We should increase property taxes on Commercial General and increase the rebate for small businesses. City services need to increase, not just in the current services provided, but into new industries. We need to be our own internet provider (Connect TO), and we need to start producing our own food (both outdoors and indoor vertical farms that can grow 24/7/365).

We need to rethink policing and divert funds from the TPS budget to social services. We need to get better in dealing with incidents involving mental health, and treat addiction like the mental health issue it is and not a crime.

Firstly public transit needs to be greatly improved, it needs to be more efficient and movement of transit vehicles more prioritized and be more affordable. Then we need to build an actual cycling network, not the patchwork we have now.

There's no doubt that we are in an environmental crisis and for years we’ve been told that the onus is on us however not everyone has the time and resources that are required. I will work with businesses to promote solutions that work for everyone. I will vote in favour of providing financial incentives for companies like Suppli who reduce food packaging waste. This type of solution will make it easier for businesses to reduce waste. I will work towards a cycling grid to promote safe alternatives to driving, while ensuring better traffic flow.

I will vote to keep taxes low and fund increased services through other means. We need increased police presence during long weekends, times when our community has experienced increased violence. I will vote to increase waste bin collection in public spaces during times of increased use, as they are often over capacity. I will move up the inspection time of public pools to ensure any repairs can occur before they are set to open to avoid a costly "rush order". Summers are short, services during this time need to be a priority.

Propose that all developers looking to get a permit for condos need to include a percentage of affordable rental units in the plan. Look at implementing innovative plans like a rent to own plan for potential homeowners making under a predetermined annual household income. I will vote to work with more non-profits who wish to build or lease City land and/or buildings to provide housing for low-income families and individuals. Container housing could be built quickly with mixed use for individuals and family size units.

My top priority is safety. I will work to revitalize our main streets, as thriving and well-lit main streets are good for businesses and good for the community. I will push to increase funding for mental health support, addiction support, free community programming, safe spaces, affordable nutritious meals, affordable housing, and all the basics we need to not only survive, but to thrive. I will work to close the divide between people and to celebrate and learn from our differences to encourage a community of respect.

There are many options that have been tried and most have downsides in terms of being costly for the city, hard on vehicles, and difficult for snowplows. Unfortunately, most still leave us with safety issues. As disliked as speed cameras are, they only target speeders, they won't cost more in taxes, they don't impact vehicles' longevity, or plows' access to streets. Speed cameras lead to better habits of decreasing our speed, which saves lives. I support the TTC and alternatives to cars and will work to link bike lanes to keep cyclists safe.

We need more mental health resources and support for the community. Repeat offenders should have a social worker assigned to them to assist them in the rehabilitation that they require. Toronto Police Services needs a new approach to keep our neighbourhoods safe. I would support slowly phasing out the mounted unit and using those funds towards social workers and increased bicycle units during community events, and for keeping an eye on repeat offenders. We should also install more speed cameras and add more patrols to keep our streets safe.

My top priority is ensuring Toronto is a city that works for all its residents, not just the wealthy. This means working towards accessible transit, affordable housing, climate justice, protected green spaces, a thriving arts and culture scene and equitable, well resourced city services. None of these stand alone as a priority. The pandemic has shown us how interconnected our city fabric is and how easily folks get left behind. My vision is a vibrant, caring, and just city where everyone feels safe and thrives.

Council must champion housing as a human right and create publicly owned rent-geared-to-income housing. We must legalize and strictly license rooming houses to ensure low-income renters have access to safe spaces. We need to strengthen inclusionary zoning. We must also protect precariously housed residents with increased rent-bank funding, corporate landlord licensing, and strict penalties for landlords who violate municipal standards.

We need to upgrade homes & buildings to improve energy efficiency & reduce reliance on fossil fuels, including supporting homeowners in retrofits. We need to protect our ravine system to mitigate residential flooding enhance our biodiversity strategy to protect wildlife and ecosystem resilience; and invest in equitable tree-planting to cool neighbourhoods in the future. We need a local food strategy that includes community gardens and food forests. And lastly we need to invest in active and public transit options & reduce reliance on cars.

For too many, driving is the only way to get where they need to go. So too many cars are on the roads. Council must make it easier not to drive: more efficient, better maintained, & more accessible transit options across the city; new transit routes; funding for existing transit infrastructure; and more frequent and reliable TTC service. The city must look at successful complete-streets in other cities and build safe, separated bike lanes to enable cyclists, scooter-users, & other vulnerable road users to travel safely with a connected grid.

You can tell a lot about a city by what they tax and where they allocate their funds. I envision a city where the budget reflects core values like building community, caring for residents, increasing accessibility and mitigating climate change. Low property taxes have starved city services. They should be raised to rates comparable to other major cities. I would like to see the city collect congestion fees from commuters coming into downtown and implement a parking lot tax. These two tools could bring in an additional $200 million.

Policing does not make communities safe. Housing, childcare, mental health support, addictions services, well engineered roadways and public spaces, and community care create safe communities. We rely too heavily on policing to address the challenges that inequity creates. We need to return police to their core functions, and re-allocate funding from the police department to essential city services. We have seen time and time again that investing in police and surveillance do not make cities safer or more equitable.