Don Valley North is one of the fastest-growing communities in Toronto. My top priority as Councillor is ensuring that residents have their voices heard in the planning process. New housing developments in Don Valley North need to make sense for our community–I want to make sure that growth in our neighbourhoods is still community-planned and has the infrastructure necessary for an affordable and liveable community.

Toronto relies too much on property taxes to fund our city, and the cracks in this system are showing. Constantly pressing the provincial and federal governments to fill this gap is not a solution–we need to create new tools that grow with our economy.

Residents across Don Valley North agree we need more affordable homes, and fast. The next City Council needs to prioritize building more affordable and rental housing, maximizing the affordable and social housing we already have, and urging the other levels of governments to provide us with the tools we need to solve this issue. We also need to look for opportunities to negotiate affordable units into new developments. Since 2018, I have secured hundreds of new affordable units and if I am re-elected I plan to keep doing this.

Safety needs to be our #1 priority when we think of our roads. We need to continue Vision Zero with the goal of completely eliminating road-related casualties; this includes reducing the speed limit on local roads, more school and senior safety zones, and road design changes to force people to drive more safely on our roads. We also make it easier to get around the city by investing in transit and expanding alternatives like carpooling. By reducing the number of cars on the road, we can make commuting easier for everyone–including drivers.

Cities really are the governments with the greatest opportunity to do climate change work, as we’re the government closest to the ground and the one delivering the bulk of infrastructure. We have adopted the TransformTO Climate Action Strategy, but it’s critical that we keep our commitment to fully implement it. This includes moving faster on cleaner public transit and scaling up deep retrofit programs for all buildings. As a Board member of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, I have the experience to help us meet those goals creatively.

In response to calls for reform in 2020, Councillor Thompson, Mayor Tory, and I introduced significant changes to policing and safety in Toronto, including: creation of non-police response for people in crisis, increased investments in Poverty Reduction and Anti-Racism Strategies, increased transparency on Police budget, and expansion of Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams. The next step is accountability & action. TPS will always be on duty to serve and protect you, but with a difference. We need to transform our service to rebuild trust for all.

If elected Councillor of Don Valley North Ward 17, the Top Priority would be to focus on Traffic/Congestion/Environment. My Platform Policy would lower the TTC to $1 / ride. The policy would Reduce Traffic/Congestion/Pollution and would make it Affordable. This Policy would be DIRECT ACTION in fighting Climate Change &give Torontonians the option to take Public Transit, instead of their car. By lowering the fare to $1 / ride this would BENEFIT EVERYONE. A cleaner, safer, more liveable City in which Taxpayers would see their dollars well spent.

The lowering of the Public Transit TTC fare to $1 / ride would be the most beneficial policy to mitigate Climate Change in Toronto. The reduction of Traffic/Congestion/Pollution would be immediately seen in lowering TTC fare $1 / ride. Currently ridership is 62% & Public Transit is implemented to provide us with the best infrastructure in transportation. We need to make it AFFORDABLE to provide the Better Way. $3.25 +$3.25= $6.50 to go to a job interview or to get groceries in Don Valley North.

The City Council should address housing by 1st looking at Retrofitting any buildings that could be converted to Affordable Housing. The emphasis should be on ACTION, instead of talking about it. We need to CONVERT Office Buildings that are vacant. We need Developers that do reasonably profit, but also the City Council ensures that 100% of unit's would be occupied if there were any vacancies. There is a Risk to any Developer to undertake a development, but this ensures a Solid Business Plan Approach to building Affordable Housing in Toronto.

If elected Councillor of Don Valley North, I believe we must freeze property taxes and respect how taxpayers dollars are spent for services. After 2.5 years of Covid, there has been a dissemination of Toronto’s small businesses and loss of jobs. We also must address the 40 year high inflation which Torontonians are negatively affected financially. By keeping property taxes the same as this year, we will be able to help Torontonians get through these hardships.

I believe the City Council should discuss the need in hiring at least 4 full time civilian community outreach workers in each Ward. By hiring these outreach workers for non-violent situations, our Police resources would be focusing on more serious altercations. Mental health situations that may arise, would be dealt with a better response and outcome by these specialized outreach workers. Also, I would advocate the call for the strengthening of Neighbourhood Watches. I believe these initiatives would improve greater safety in all Toronto wards.

As a new Councillor’s Voice on the Toronto City Council representing Don Valley North, I would advocate Public Transit in lowering its TTC fare to $1 / ride. I believe we already implemented the transportation infrastructure that proves to be the safest and most efficient form of traveling across Toronto. By lowering the cost to $1 / ride, we incentivize, that this is “the Better Way” around the City. I also believe Cycling and Escooters will play a greater role in how efficiently we get around Toronto.

My top priority is to listen to the wants and needs of my constituents. While I have my own thoughts and ideas, they only represent a single voice and I believe it’s important that every voice be heard in a democracy. I’d address that by not only being responsive to the community’s inquiries, but also holding frequent town halls as well as ongoing surveys on how the council can better service their needs.

The Council needs to look into stiffer taxes on vacant properties and short term rentals. These steps should ensure that there are more available properties for long term rental or ownership on the market to help alleviate the supply deficit. Additionally we need to address the issues facing affordable housing in the city. Not only is the availability an issue but too frequently are TCHC in the news cycle for the wrong reasons. These properties need to be frequently inspected and have health and safety incidents addressed.

One step is to improve the state of traffic and congestion in the city. I would like to work with the province to reduce or eliminate transport trucks from major roadways during peak periods, either via legislation or a viable express highway bypassing the city. We need the TTC to be a competitive option for Torontonians, while continuing its transition to greener vehicles. We should also be looking into an expansion of work from home or hybrid work opportunities.

Public transit access and service needs to be improved so that it’s not only perceived as an option, but the best option. We need a proper citywide rapid transit system that builds upon the foundation we have so that every resident lives within a 15 minute bus ride of rapid transit. We should also look to expand USB charging stations through subway stations and trains as much as feasible.

Police fill a vital role in keeping the peace in our city, but there has been an erosion of public trust over the years, not just locally but world wide. Bridges need to be built within our communities to rectify that, and reinforce an acceptable level of accountability. Furthermore, we need to look at ways to offload some of the workload placed upon Toronto Police Services with community outreach and mental health programs. Policing should focus on de-escalation as the main objective in resolution.

It’s important that the City has a balanced budget. To accomplish that we need to take a thorough look at how we spend money and make sure that our tax dollars are being spent in the most efficient manner, while still providing the levels of service a world class city deserves. I believe that we can look for cost saving measures without experiencing any detrimental change in service levels.

I firmly believe in letting the community set the top priorities, as I am simply someone who tries to act upon what matters to them. It is critical that I establish a direct forum (i.e. virtual and in-person town hall meetings) where I am able to hear from constituents directly, clearly understand what they are looking for and then implement their recommendations.

In regards to housing within Toronto, it is crucial to determine where the Don Valley North (DVN) community fits within the proposed five-point plan aimed at creating more housing and addressing affordability challenges in the city. It will be critical to involve the constituents in the planning and roll-out phases, so that we can comprehend where the issues in housing lie. As such, this would entail a customizable strategy which is both unique to DVN, but also fits snuggly within the broader Toronto housing mandate.

My company, Rio Dayne served as Associate Producer on the internationally award-winning film, “The Antarctica Challenge" by Mark Terry. This film was a means of educating the public about climate change which has direct detrimental impacts on vulnerable populations. We must review pivotal guidance documents such as the "Shed Light, Build Resilience” report and align recommendations with those who are most impacted. This calls for robust partnerships between legislations and jurisdictions, as it is an immensely difficult issue to tackle.

Transportation has been a long-standing issue in the City of Toronto. Given its complexity, it is imperative to assess the issue as a “whole ecosystem” approach which looks at multiple modes of transportation. This could encompass strategies for increasing hybrid vehicle usage, increased bike lanes, and even looking at better transportation solutions for vulnerable groups like women and children. Public transportation space needs to account for the specific needs of gendered communities and their issues.

It is crucial to include more transparency around municipal taxes and city services, given that my constituents are highly dependent on the city’s services. There are also cross-cutting issues of the demographics of the municipal service providers and highly vulnerable taxpayers which need to be addressed.

My prior experience as Lead Researcher for the Province of Ontario's Task Force on Race Relations and Policing helped addressed the importance of policing within the city. Despite the 52 recommendations that our ground-breaking report made, there has not been another investigative report on these key safety issue. Rather than “defunding” the police, we need to determine how best to use funds in order to keep the community safe. There must also be opportunities to explore intersectionalities between the police and community safety organizations.