Jamaal Myers

The Mayor and City Council

The most important thing I would act on as a City Councillor is to advocate for Toronto's first-ever seniors' hub in Ward 23. Roughly 1 in 3 residents in my ward are seniors and a seniors' hub would be a space specifically designed for seniors to access programming, services and opportunities to socialize to help them maintain their independence. My strength and experience in helping to make this happen, is that I successfully opened two youth hubs in Ward 23 (Agincourt and Woodside) and one just on the border in the Malvern library.

Housing

As City Councillor, I championed a successful multiplex pilot that helped Toronto secure $471 million federal funding to build 11,780 affordable rental homes across Toronto. I would continue to prioritize gradual changes to neighbourhoods, that gently densify them with affordable homes while respecting their unique character. I will continue to support safe and supportive housing for those that are unhoused to get them off of the streets and in contact with appropriate, wrap-around supports and services.

Cost of Living

I would prioritize continuing to make public transit more affordable. Under my leadership as TTC Chair, I froze TTC fares for three years in a row, worked with the Province to introduce One Fare, saving transit customers up to $1200 per year and introduced fare capping at 47 rides per month. In the next City Council, I would want to lower the fare cap to 10 rides per week (making all subsequent trips in that week free) and introduce $1 TTC fares for seniors during off-peak times when the system has additional capacity.

Safety in Public Spaces

To help people be and feel safe in our public spaces, Toronto should adopt a 'zero-tolerance approach' to public disorder (ex. public intoxication, encampments, and so on) and public disrepair (graffiti, broken lights, litter, and so on). We should adequately fund city services to ensure repairs are done in a timely manner and community safety officers such as police officers, TTC special constables and mental health workers can immediately address and/or prevent anti-social behavior, public disorder or those in a mental health crisis.

Getting Around the City

Properly funded transit is the key to moving people around Toronto efficiently. City Council must prioritize securing a predictable funding stream from the provincial and federal governments in order for Toronto to have a reliable, fast and convenient transit system. I will continue to also prioritize building the Scarborough East LRT and ensuring commuter parking is available as part of the Scarborough Subway extension to provide drivers and transit customers alike with more options to get around the city.

Confronting Hateful and Hostile Behaviour

As misinformation and hate speech spreads, it's incumbent upon the city to stand united and firmly against hateful and hostile behaviour. As City Councillor, my focus would be on building interfaith, multiracial and politically diverse coalitions and forums where different groups are able to come together, interact with one another and work together to combat the spread of hate speech and misinformation. City agencies such as TPL,TPS and TTC would also be used to combat misinformation and provide forums for gathering and understanding.