Promises, promises
A recap of what Tory and Keesmaat have vowed they’d do as mayor,
On Monday, it’s up to you to decide who calls the shots.
Chief among the positions open for election on Oct. 22 is that of Toronto’s mayor, expected to lead a now 25-ward council after one of the most chaotic election periods in the city’s history.
Whoever that person is will be responsible not only for representing the city — with Premier Doug Ford’s eye on the TTC subway system and other municipal matters — but for driving an agenda at city hall over the next four years.
In a city that remains unaffordable for many and with concerns about road safety, climate change and gun violence top of mind, here are the major, concrete promises made by leading candidates John Tory and Jennifer Keesmaat during the campaign. Affordable housing
Tory: Create 40,000 new affordable rental homes in 12 years; expand the Open Door program offering land and financial incentives to developers; create an affordable housing secretariat to co-ordinate the city’s affordable housing initiatives.
Keesmaat: Create 100,000 new affordable rental homes in10 years; unlock city land that is not surplus as incentive to developers; make new units affordable starting at 80 per cent of average market rent and keep them affordable in perpetuity; create a rent-to-own program to make home ownership more obtainable for 10,000 families. Safe streets
Tory: Continue with the council-approved Vision Zero plan currently funded at $109 million for five years; outlaw motor vehicle right turns on red lights in areas where it makes sense; implement controlled crossings at bus and streetcar stops where feasible; create new sidewalks during road reconstruction in consultation with local communities.
Keesmaat: Reduce the speed limit to 30 km/h on all residential roads; redesign 100 “most dangerous” intersections and school zone areas within two years; make the Vision Zero approach a requirement of all infrastructure and development projects that involve roads and sidewalks.
Taxes
Tory: Keep property taxes at or below inflation for the next four years.
Keesmaat: Tax luxury homeowners with properties at or above $4 million in value at an additional 0.4 per cent to pay for an affordable home ownership program.
Transit and transportation
Tory: Move forward with the councilapproved network plan that includes: six SmartTrack GO stations within Toronto’s borders, a relief line and a onestop Scarborough subway funded in part by $910 million of city property tax revenue, a Waterfront LRT, an Eglinton West LRT to the airport and an Eglinton East LRT to Malvern; maintain the discount for seniors on TTC fares; build bike lanes on Beecroft Rd., parallel to Yonge St. Keesmaat: Move forward with a network that includes: building a relief line subway three years faster than currently projected, making the King St. pilot permanent, removing two SmartTrack GO stops at Lawrence and Gerrard, building a three-stop Scarborough subway paid for by the provincial and federal governments only, building an Eglinton West LRT that extends to the airport, a Jane LRT, a Waterfront LRT and the Eglinton East LRT to Malvern Town Centre; creating enhanced bus service “where appropriate”; request municipal representation on Metrolinx board; remake Yonge St. from Sheppard to Finch Aves. with the staff-recommended plan of bike lanes on Yonge; accelerate the city's cycling network plan to be built out in the next four years.
Public safety Tory: Hire 200 police officers by the end of 2019; match province’s $25 million in funding to tackle gun violence, spending one third on neighbourhood officers and two-thirds on additional recreation spaces and employment supports for youth in low-income, priority neighbourhoods; expand the neighbourhood officer program to a total of 60 communities; support a council request to federal and provincial governments to ban the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition within Toronto’s borders; establish a community safety advisory panel in 2019.
Keesmaat: Hire double the number of mental health workers who work with police officers; implement neighbourhood-based policing in Toronto’s 140 neighbourhoods within four years; provide economic opportunities and community supports for youth; bring 911 response times up to national standard; support a council request to federal and provincial governments to ban the sale of handguns and handgun ammunition within Toronto’s borders.
Arts and culture Tory: Set a new target for per capita arts funding; double the City’s Culture Build Investment Program to $660,000; declare a year of public art in 2020; increase the StreetArt partnership grants to $1 million; create a citywide public art master plan; create an annual mayor’s building design award; take annual industry missions to L.A. to pitch Toronto talent; create a Chinatown gate downtown and in Scarborough.
Keesmaat: Double per capita arts funding in five years; build five new culture hubs outside the downtown core; conduct citywide assessment of gaps in arts and funding programs and facilities.
Economy and jobs Tory: Cut youth unemployment in half from the 2014 rate; create special employment zones to “cut red tape” for small businesses to create new work spaces; double the number of job fairs where the city is a partner, focusing on neighbourhood improvement areas; make local job creation a key factor in city procurement of new technologies.
Keesmaat: Make community benefit agreements a mandatory part of every major public infrastructure project.
Roads and infrastructure Tory: Move forward with the eastern Gardiner hybrid option approved by council.
Keesmaat: Remove the eastern part of Gardiner and replace it with a “grand boulevard.”
City services and bureaucracy Tory: Provide streamlined online portal for services like paying bills, tracking 311 requests. Keesmaat: Adopt gender-responsive budgeting; require gender parity on city boards; implement gender parity for senior police staffing positions; turn three city-owned golf courses into public spaces, community hubs; review agreements with all city agencies to increase transparency to same standard as council and committees, including protocols for holding public meetings; increase the number of local community councils and delegate more decisions to that local level; allow communities to vote on how to spend part of the city’s budget to improve neighbourhoods.
Climate change and the environment Tory: Continue with TransformTO plan approved by council to address climate change. Keesmaat: Implement a dedicated stormwater management charge; create 100 kilometres of greener streets every year and include green design in new road safety measures; expand green infrastructure projects.