Top-six Toronto mayoral candidate Mitzie Hunter has issued an update of her plan to create housing through a new city agency while renewing her criticism of her rivals’ housing plans.
In a June 5 release, Hunter said the housing plans of Mark Saunders, Brad Bradford and Ana Bailao represent a status quo that has failed, relying on developers to create housing, while the proposals from Josh Matlow and Olivia Chow, who would create new public housing agencies, “are unfunded and require magical thinking to believe they will work.”
Hunter’s new agency would be called the Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC).
In an interview with the Daily Commercial News, the ex-provincial Liberal cabinet minister and former CAO of Toronto Housing also noted she has gone “toe to toe” with Premier Doug Ford before and believes she can defend the interests of Torontonians from across the city without resorting to strong mayors’ powers to override council decisions on housing and other issues.
Two days after relaunching her housing plan, Hunter announced a proposal to work with other big city mayors across Canada seeking a “new deal” that secures one point of the existing HST to benefit all municipalities. She has previously said she would raise property taxes an initial six per cent for most homeowners, close to the latest Toronto increase of 5.5 per cent, to fund her six-point plan of priorities to “fix the Six.”
“The strong mayors’ powers are really undermining the democracy that we have,” said Hunter, indicating she would ensure councillors from all Toronto wards are able to represent the interests of their constituents.
“Coming from Scarborough I know what it’s like to be on the outside. You’ve got to bring that inside city hall, and I want to unite people and co-ordinate around a common set of priorities that help the whole city (such as public transit).”
The new TAHC would build 108 new developments with nearly 22,700 total units on city-owned land, delivering “missing middle” housing on small and medium-sized lots in every part of the city. Other candidates’ proposals rely on towers of 40 storeys or more, Hunter said.
Unlike other candidates’ proposals, she said, the majority of the housing units developed — 68 per cent —will be affordable units with rents at or below the Average Market Rent reported by the CMHC.
The city will provide 10 per cent of the cost of each development with the balance funded by CMHC-provided mortgages.
“I haven’t been part of the problem like some of the city councillors, so I bring fresh eyes and a fresh perspective to solving the challenges,” she said of her housing plan. “I will be speeding up building approval and construction and will do that by hiring 50 more city planners, as well as expediting the development application reviews to get new housing approved more quickly.”
Hunter said she will support the private sector building housing of eight storeys along Toronto’s 1,200 kilometres of major streets, spreading out density and creating new neighbourhoods.
Hunter distinguished her approach on taxes and other issues from that of Chow, who has topped most polls taken during the campaign.
“We don’t need 1990s solutions for the challenges that we’re facing in 2023.
“I promised to have a fully costed plan before voting begins in June, which I’ve done. And I’m the only one that has provided that comprehensive plan, so voters will know exactly what they’re getting when they vote for me as their mayor.”
Hunter said she supported maintaining current collective agreements with the major building trades on city construction projects, suggesting reworking agreements to include non-union and alternative union workers would slow down building affordable housing.
She would use union labour on TAHC projects and is supportive of community benefits agreements.
Hunter would oppose provincial government plans to tear down the Ontario Science Centre, which she said is a valuable public resource serving the local community, and to reduce public access to Ontario Place through contracts for private attractions.
“Limiting public access is wrong,” said Hunter, noting she sat at the cabinet table when the former Liberal government created Trillium Park and the Bill Davis Trail at Ontario Place. “We should think about the public access, how do we expand and improve it.”
Byelection day is June 26.
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