YONGE VOICES ISSUE 001
OCTOBER 2023
VOLUME 1
POLIZINE
A MINI-POLITICAL MAGAZINE ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND A HOT TAKE ON TORONTO'S MAYORAL CANDIDATES.
TABLE OF CONTENTS YONGE VOICES
ENGAGE
02 LETTER FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM
A note from the editorial team on the first edition of Engage’s Polizine
04 TORONTO’S ABYSMAL HOUSING MARKET
An introduction to the housing market in Toronto
06 SHORTLIST OF TORONTO’S MAYORAL CANDIDATES
05
We dive into the mayoral candidate from Toronto’s 2023 mayoral election
XXX
23 HOUSING POLICIES IN TORONTO
LESSONS & TAKEAWAYS
26 CONCLUSION
Concluding remarks and takeaways
06
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EDITORIAL TEAM
Baher Hussein
Anjelica Ramsewack
Dael Vasquez
EDITOR
EDITOR & DESIGNER
EDITOR
Carolyn Dallimore
Elaine Ng
Nicholas James
CONTRIBUTOR
CONTRIBUTOR
CONTRIBUTOR
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Letter from the Editorial Team Hello South-Siders, God…remember when we used to say that? We really hope not, almost as much as Trudeau wishes people would forget about SNC; they’re rebranding you know, to move past their scandal. Maybe this will be a good thing for them. We’ve certainly enjoyed our new brand – professional, but still somewhat jovial. That’s not to say that we plan to keep it. Like most things in life, we’re constantly changing, improving, and learning. It’s this process that brought us where we are today with our first Polizine. When we first conceived the Polizine, we died of cringe, but then we leaned into it. Why shouldn’t politics be funny, we jokingly asked. Problem was, we’re not that good at writing jokes. Nevertheless, we gave it a good ol’ Canadian try - like Maxime Bernier giving birth to his homegrown terror cell, the PPC - and came out with our first issue.
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In line with our second topic on Affordable Housing, we wanted this issue to capture the lessons we learned and distil them in a quirky little package, kind of like if our Housing Report was written by Jimmy Fallon. Our team had a great time assuming the role, and while we took some liberties in the way we presented the facts, we always made sure to preserve their veracity (‘factual-ness’ for the less linguistically inclined). Coincidentally, the elections in Toronto were underway around the same time. So it hit us: wouldn’t it be absolutely poggers to make a costly coalition out of these two topics? The answer would soon become yes.
So we looked into the housing policies of Toronto’s winner and losers and found that the losers’ housing policies really sucked. So to the 37.2% of you that voted for Chow: thanks . Granted, it’s still too early to tell how well she’ll do, but hopefully she stops taking L’s like she did with her GoFundMe for asylum seekers.
😊
We hope this issue gets you thinking about policies in a novel way. While we don’t expect to induce a psychedelic experience with our nascent page-turner, we at least hope that we managed to make policy fun. So take a read and let us know what you think! Just don’t be bullies, a simple “L + ratio” will suffice if you don’t like it. However, if you did enjoy your read, then give us a follow. As we walk the walk on branding and learning, we’ll use your feedback to make a better second issue! Sincerely,
The Polizine Editorial Team
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Toronto's abysmal housing situation Life hasn't been easy for Torontonians. “Six god” John Tory has recently been disgraced and the housing situation in the city is so abysmal that many Toronto tings are looking for sugar daddies to pay the rent. CMHC found that 1 in 5 households in Toronto are spending more than a third of their income on substandard and insufficient housing. The rest of their incomes are going towards Blue Jays passes and tickets to see the queen herself, Taylor Swift - arguably, the only redeeming quality of the 44th Parliament. Like Justin Trudeau’s desperate attempt to get Taylor to come to Canada, mediocrity has become par for the course in Canadian policy design. It's time to make it easier to build new homes more quickly, reduce housing costs, and cut red tape. More cash money needs to go to local governments to increase the housing supply at a rapid pace, with bonus incentives allocated for affordable housing construction. Addressing homelessness is crucial to ensuring we live in a vibrant city where everyone can continue to whine their batty during Caribanaaaa!
IT'S TIME FOR ME TO SHAKE MY ASS ON A YACHT
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Shifting our gaze to the housing sich in the six, we find ourselves welcoming a new mayor, one which promised to build more homes instead of just allowing more people to live in the same house (smh…). As we celebrate the victory of the Happy Valley’s comeback girl, Olivia Chow, we thought it’d be nice to reminisce on the policies of Toronto’s mayoral losers and breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that some of these wonderful people didn’t take the W.
A Shortlist of Mayoral Candidates (the ones who matter)
Wannabe Eric Adams, Mark Saunders promised to help build homes faster by removing barriers to construction if elected.
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Saunders explained that at the current rate of construction, it will take
45 years
to reach Council’s 10-year goal to build
40,000
affordable housing units.
The former cop also argued that it would be a great mistake to increase taxes. Unable to come up with many substantial policy points, Saunders instead attempted to position his campaign as the inverse of Chow’s.
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Councillor for Ward 19 and urban planner junky, Brad Bradford, campaigned to prioritize affordability and access to housing in Toronto. Serving as the Chair of the Planning and Housing Committee, he brought bungalow-sized insights to the table.
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During Brad's five years as a city planner, he did very little to challenge zoning bylaws, which have remained virtually unchanged. Worse, in 2019, Brad voted against rent control on Housing Now sites, and in 2021, he voted against accelerating the rollout of his own policy. Looks like Toronto dodged a major bullet with this one.
15% vacancy rate in downtown office buildings, Brad introduced a new zoning framework to aid office-to-residential conversions. He promised to eliminate the requirement to replace all office space foot-for-foot, as long as new developments
convert 20% of units to affordable housing. But office-to-residential conversions are as popular as bike lanes in Toronto - you’ll find haters in both camps. Reason being that this process is very expensive, lengthy, and challenging; much like student residence life.
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To address the 15% vacancy rate
Former clown-in-training and reformed centrist Josh Matlow promises to set a new direction for housing in Toronto. He’s certainly had two decades to wipe off the face paint and put on the mask of a career politician.
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Matlow believes: 1. City hall should support first time home buyers. 2. Government should build houses and give them to homeless people. However, our former improv-kid will have to go up against a government that has historically preferred to play keepaway with the housing market.
Matlow had a
$407.6 million plan to lower the cost of housing, support homeless residents and create more great places to live in neighborhoods that include childcare, schools, infrastructure and parks.
30 percent
of their income on housing.
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He successfully acknowledges that nearly half of Torontonians spend more than
Ana Bailao, a housing expert and former Deputy Mayor of Toronto, brought a TTC busload of insider know-how to the table (which can be a lot or a little depending on the bus). Her plans reflect a good understanding of the issues affecting the delivery of affordable housing in Toronto. She aimed to double the number of modular supportive homes built in Toronto, with a
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8-year target of 1000 homes
Bailao also aimed to allocate
$5 million to expand the Dufferin Grove Park Pilot Project across the city, helping individuals find stable housing options. The multi-million dollar investment would have been directed to assist non-profit and charitable shelter operators with post-pandemic recovery, employee retention, and attraction.
Additionally, Bailao sought to direct
toward rental assistance to provide safe and secure housing for women and gender-diverse individuals escaping domestic violence.
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$5 million
Bad b**** and Policy Analyst, Chloe Brown came out of left field with an action plan to take over Toronto. Brown was known for her
charisma, bluntness, and being fed up with the status quo as a working class citizen. She brought forward authentic and real struggles to support her plans.
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y t i n u m m Co vity i t c e n n o C ce Commer
Her plans included: Improve housing and protect against unethical behaviour from both renters and landlords. With a plan taken straight out of Elon Musk’s book of machinations, Brown wanted to implement AI to prevent fraud in real estate; identify housing, tenancy, and shelter violations; and use smart home technology to ensure healthy and safe conditions for the city's most vulnerable renters.
Book of ion t a n i h c a m
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Uniquely among our top candidates, Brown understood that the cost of a home isn’t just the mortgage or the rent, but also the services one has access to in their neighbourhood.
Compared to a $2500/month apartment surrounded by all the transit and all the Nofrills you could dream of.
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A $2500/month apartment in the middle of nowhere, with only a Farmboy in sight and not so much as a bus stop, is ultimately going to cost more in living expenses.
The ever-prepared girl scout, Mitzie Hunter presented a hot-girl platform to bless Torontonians with more than
2 square feet of living space with her chonky
72 page plan.
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Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC). To diversify Toronto's housing supply and end hatred towards fat, stubby buildings, Hunter sought to repeal the multiplex ban - and promote construction of more 10 storey buildings.
Additionally, she planned to take measures to protect existing tenants and preserve at-risk rental buildings. Under her plan, the TAHC would have built
108 new developments on city-owned land, offering a range of affordable units. Notably,
68%
of these units would have rents at or below the Average Market Rent imagine if she applied this ingenuity at the Ontario Liberal Party.
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Hunter's Tenant Protection Plan, sought to unlock public lands and establish the
6% increase for homeowners with a combined income over
$80,000, and a
3% increase for households earning less than that threshold.
She suggested using the city's reserve funds to "future-proof" Toronto, ensuring it is prepared for future challenges. Additionally, Hunter aimed to generate approximately
$177 million per year in revenue by increasing the vacancy tax to five percent.
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Regarding property taxes, Hunter proposed a
At this point, we know that trying to find affordable housing in Toronto is seriously lacking. In fact, the city is losing affordable homes as much as 14 times faster than it is building them. So, what did home slice Olivia Chow promise to bring to the table as newly elected Mayor of the 6ix?
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Olivia Chow’s plan to put some less eye-watering options back on the market stands out among the top candidates for its practical use of underdeveloped City-owned land to build 25,000 new, non-profit, rent-controlled homes. That’s almost enough not to be entirely bought out by wealthy, foreign investors.
Apartments for non-profit, community, and indigenous housing groups
In fact, Chow even wants to give the city “first right of refusal” – that means that the government would be allowed to place an offer on for-sale buildings before the Real Estate Investment Trusts (picture Monopoly men) even have their morning coffee.
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Chow also pledged to help non-profit, community, and indigenous housing groups to buy apartment buildings on the market, keeping them out of the greedy hands of whichever corporate landlord you’ve personally had the worst experience with.
She vowed to increase the land transfer tax – a tax levied when someone buys a new property – on homes valued over:
3 million dollars. That means that your 60-year-old parents who bought their house in the economic downturn of the 1990s won’t be affected, but that one Dogecoin millionaire from college who never contributed to your group project will finally have to pay his share.
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Housing Policies in Toronto: Lessons and Connections Now that we know how Toronto’s Top G (Olivia) compares to the rest of the rabble, let’s look at the direction Canada’s three levels of government have been moving in to figure out how Toronto mans fit into this ménage à trois. Municipal Government As the local-level governing body responsible for local housing policies, the City of Toronto plays a crucial role in addressing housing affordability and accessibility.
Key municipal policies include: Inclusionary Zoning: Toronto has implemented inclusionary zoning policies that require developers to include affordable housing units in new residential developments. This approach ensures the integration of affordable options within the city's expanding housing market.
Repurposing land: Building more houses on underutilized crown land is one of the strategies of the municipal government to increase land supply. Underutilised crown lands or properties, for example, the parking lot at 158 Borough Drive Scarborough, school sites or underused land in northern Ontario cities were discussed or already allocated for such purpose without encountering much opposition.
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Affordable Housing Initiatives: The City of Toronto collaborates with non-profit organizations, private developers, and other partners in the private sector to promote the development of affordable housing units through various programs, incentives, and grants, such as those in the HousingTO 2020-2030 Action Plan.
Lessons: Toronto's focus on inclusionary zoning and collaborative efforts demonstrates the significance of local-level policies that prioritize affordable housing within the city's growing urban landscape. Underused lands turning into multi-use sites increases the density of housing but also offers more leisure or cultural spaces to the residents, increasing the efficiency of land use, and benefiting both new and original residents. Using Crown lands also lessens the chance of bringing up legal disputes by appeals. This is a generally more feasible way to build as the city is able to make sandcastles out of its own sand. Taking civic action to improve municipal policies can involve: attending more public conferences and consultations to support inclusive zoning policies and advocating for partnerships between public and private sectors and better utilization of crown lands.
(The better logo)
Provincial Government
The provincial government plays a crucial role in shaping housing policies that impact Toronto.
Key provincial policies include: Rent Control and Tenant Protection Regulations: The provincial government has implemented rent control measures to limit rent increases, providing stability and affordability for tenants in Toronto's rental market. Ontario’s regulations safeguard tenant rights and provide mechanisms for dispute resolution, enhancing the security and well-being of renters in Toronto.
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Building more houses and increasing the supply of houses: It is estimated that Ontario is expected to grow by more than two million people over the next 10 years. Ontario’s More Homes Built Faster Act adopted by the Ontario government in 2022 aims to support the government of Ontario’s plan to build 1.5 million houses over the next 10 years (read our hot take about this plan here).
Lessons: Toronto's experience with provincial rent control regulations and tenant protection initiatives highlights the importance of advocating for robust tenant rights and promoting policies that ensure affordable and stable housing options. Building more housing can relieve the supply-side, upward pressure of housing prices given the demand is certain to increase alongside population growth. Taking civic action to better provincial policies can involve: advocating for strengthened tenant protection laws and collaborating with provincial authorities to address the unique housing challenges faced by Toronto. It is also necessary to continuously monitor and conduct research on the affordable housing built by government or public-private partnerships to examine whether newcomers, residents and homebuyers can access these houses.
Federal Government The federal government also plays a significant role in shaping housing policies within Toronto.
Key federal policies include: National Housing Strategy: An $82+ billion plan creating housing for a new generation of Canadians to fina a place to call home. It provides support and funding for affordable housing initiatives in Toronto. This strategy aims to address housing affordability and homelessness challenges across the country. Infrastructure Investments: Federal infrastructure investments, such as transit expansions, can indirectly impact housing accessibility and affordability in Toronto by improving connectivity and reducing commuting burdens.
The Feds’ involvement in this threesome of housing regulation highlights the importance of advocating for continued investments in affordable housing and infrastructure that directly or indirectly contribute to housing accessibility and affordability. Taking civic action to demand more from Ottawa can involve: engaging with federal representatives, promoting the expansion of the National Housing Strategy, and advocating for additional infrastructure to address housing demand.
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Lessons:
Conclusion Understanding the housing policies implemented by the municipal, provincial, and federal governments offers 200 IQ lessons for effecting civic action and policy influence within Toronto and across Canada. Olivia Chow has a bold plan to give the nearly
50%
of Torontonians who rent their homes, more power, more affordable options, and more security so they can stop having one eye open when they sleeping. Chow’s policy agenda will help fix Toronto's housing crisis by putting
25,000
sugar babies in brand new rental over
the next 8 years.
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By peeping the big wigs’ plans, Toronto mans can also learn how Trudaddy, Ford F-150, and family man J. Tory deal with Toronto’s most pressing housing issues:
inclusionary zoning, collaborative affordable housing initiatives, rent control regulations, and tenant protections.
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This avengers-level team up, begrudging as it may be, underscores the importance of coming together for the good of Canada’s most important city (sorry Montreal). Notwithstanding the progress we’ve seen so far, there’s much more to be done.
By engaging in civic action - slacktivism accepted citizens can actively pop open a champagne bottle, flick the bird, and bite on the gold medal of a well earned victory as they help shape housing policies in Toronto and beyond. So if you’re ready to stand up for affordable housing, you know who to call
(it’s us…call Engage).
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