Susan Chapelle

The Mayor and City Council

My priority is making growth work for Ward 14. We are adding housing and density, but transit, infrastructure, energy capacity, parks and local services must keep pace, while we protect our employment lands and small businesses. I live and work here, and I know these neighbourhoods. I also served two terms on municipal council, working with complex budgets and chairing transit and public services. As a researcher and operator, I use evidence, collaboration and practical experience to make policy work for my neighbours and colleagues.

Housing

I would protect existing affordable housing while building more. Enforce strict anti-renoviction rules and expand MURA so non-profits can acquire aging rentals. Keep public land public, using long-term ground leases for permanently affordable and co-op housing near transit. Tackle the TCHC repair backlog and return vacant units to use faster. Shift more resources from managing homelessness through emergency shelters to permanent, supportive homes. The UHN model of Dunn House is a great example of supportive, healing, accessible healthcare.

Cost of Living

My priority is reducing the everyday cost of getting around Toronto. I would protect affordable TTC fares and improve reliable service, while protecting employment lands so people can live closer to where they work. We cannot build housing alone and call it a complete community. Toronto needs jobs, local businesses and services within walking and cycling distance. Affordability means spending less time and money travelling across the city just to work and meet daily needs.

Safety in Public Spaces

Feeling safe matters as much as the statistics. I would prioritize clean, well-lit public spaces, reliable transit and visible staff. But we cannot police our way out of failures in housing and healthcare. Safety means addressing disorder upstream, with supportive housing, mental-health and addiction treatment and crisis response, while allowing police to focus on violence and serious crime. Healthy, supported communities are safer communities for everyone. We need a UHN Dunn House model in Ward 14.

Getting Around the City

I would prioritize reliable transit and streets that work for everyone. In Ward 14, that means better TTC service, safer intersections, maintained roads and sidewalks, and bike lanes designed with loading, accessibility and local businesses in mind. We need to stop pitting drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders against each other. I grew up using transit in this ward, and I’m still a transit nerd. Good transportation gives people practical choices for getting where they need to go.

Confronting Hateful and Hostile Behaviour

Everyone should be safe from hate and harassment in Toronto’s public spaces. Peaceful protest must be protected, but threats, targeted intimidation and violence should never be normalized as political expression. I would create one clear way to report hate incidents, track patterns by neighbourhood, and improve coordination among the City, TTC, police and community organizations. When people gather in our neighbourhoods and threaten others, residents need to know their safety will be taken seriously.