Big city issues resonate in municipal elections

Wendy Landry is worried about affordable housing, accessible public transit and infrastructure.

Her list of issues, which reads like a snapshot of big-city newspaper headlines, encapsulates some of the challenges facing the small northern Ontario community of Shuniah, east of Thunder Bay, where she’s been acclaimed to a second term as mayor.

Like most of the 417 municipalities where local elections are taking place on Monday, Shuniah’s campaign unfolded quietly in the shadow of Toronto’s more high-profile race.

Most of the airtime was consumed by the city’s bruising battle with the provincial government over the size of city council, but the list of issues dominating Toronto’s campaign trails is known well beyond its borders.

Its contents resonate with voters across the province, Landry said, adding many of the concerns typically framed as unique to big cities transcend town lines and are relevant in communities of all sizes.

Now that the Toronto fight has come to an end, Landry said she hopes those in higher orders of government can work with newly minted councils to tackle universally pressing issues.

“We weren’t getting any of our issues addressed,” Landry said.

Simon Jefferies, a spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford, said Municipal Affairs Minister Steve Clark “has been working day-in and day-out with local governments on the priorities that are important to them.”

Landry cites mass transit as one of the top issues facing much of northern Ontario, including her community of about 2,700 people. Residents, she said, have few if any options for traversing the hundreds of kilometres between communities and require a broader bus network.

Other municipalities have tried to take action on transit over the past four years, with some turning to the private sector for either inspiration or direct help. Innisfil, west of Lake Simcoe, struck a partnership with Uber that sees the ride-hailing company provide service to designated areas for a flat fee subsidized by the town.

More recently, Belleville established an Uber-style bus service in which residents travelling at night request pickups from buses that then follow routes based on demand rather than predetermined stops.

Landry said accessible housing is another broadly relevant issue, adding the existing supply is not well-suited to the needs of an aging and changing population.

Liz Huff, retiring councillor for Leeds and the Thousand Islands in eastern Ontario, agrees.

She said the single-family homes that dominate rural communities ecome too unwieldy for seniors whose health needs may grow complex over time. That supply is stretched even thinner, she said, by an influx of retirees and working professionals relocating to areas beyond the expensive cities.