What will the new mayor do to Toronto?
Who Olivia Chow is and what she plans to do as mayor.
Usually people preparing to immigrate to Canada are not interested in the news of individual localities and their administration. But for Toronto, an exception can be made: this city attracts people from all over the world and many immigrants dream about it.
Toronto recently elected a new mayor. Olivia Chow of the New Democratic Party was elected. The city's standard of living, budget, development priorities and problems will now depend on her. Whether it gets better or worse is her responsibility.
The new mayor has already announced what she plans to do about public safety, prices, housing affordability and other pressing issues. Chow's program has sparked debate among residents across Ontario: some approve of her plans, while others find them appalling.
Expenditures and budget
Toronto is currently CAD 1 billion short of its budget. The mayor faces the challenge of either finding where to get it, or cutting spending in certain areas of city life. Chow has no intention of cutting funding for most of them. Instead, she wants to slightly increase the property tax and raise the tax on vacant homes to 3%. She has also proposed raising the municipal land transfer tax for homes that cost more than CAD 3,000,000. The latter applies to purchases of any property in Toronto in addition to the provincial land transfer tax. A new cost item Chow plans to introduce is affordable housing for renters.
Many people like the idea of raising taxes on the rich and wealthy, so Chow's plan met with no resistance. But some Torontonians were embarrassed by the idea of a small increase with no concrete figures. It's a subjective estimate that could mean a lot — 1%, as much as 10%, or even more. However, the citizens decided to give Chow a chance and rely on her discretion.
In the comments below the news about the new mayor, Canadians note that at least Olivia expects to raise funds on her own and does not plan to take out loans. The previous mayors had done that and put the city in debt.
Affordable housing
Chow wants to create 25,000 units of affordable housing in eight years. She plans to work with developers to build more rental housing, including social housing. The buildings would be maintained by nonprofit organizations.
Chow will spend CAD 100 million each year to buy back and renovate already-built housing that can be set aside for affordable rent. They will be given to municipalities, non-profit organizations, and indigenous peoples' organizations.
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Chow is going to raise the municipal occupancy tax to better fund programs related to culture and the arts. She wants to keep the city's libraries open longer, including on Sundays. The new mayor also promised that she would open more free city swimming pools and launch recreational programs. Public pools will open earlier, in late spring. Toronto will give preference to developers whose residential projects include gyms, playgrounds and other public recreational spaces.
Public safety
Ontario Premier Doug Ford thinks the province needs more police officers. Its crime rate has gone up. However, Olivia Chow is not going to increase the police headquarters in the city. Instead, she wants crisis services to hire more officers and operate throughout the city. At the moment, they are not available in all neighborhoods.
Also, the new mayor wants to reduce the number of accidents by limiting the speed of traffic in certain areas of the city and putting more cameras. New roads will be built, putting safety as a priority.
Rights of tenants and landlords
Chow intends to pursue a tenant protection policy. She will invest money and time in organizations that oppose wrongful eviction of tenants. She also plans to create thousands of apartments available for rent. Landlords and homeowners will remain in the same status and will not be added to their rights. In the provinces, the landlord is considered to be legally protected as it is.
