Category: politics

Olivia Chow’s Financial Plan Takes Form

Olivia Chow’s Financial Plan Takes Form

Last week, Olivia Chow’s brand-new Executive Committee unanimously recommended new revenue tools to stave off financial catastrophe. But can she get it past City Council—and what happens if she doesn’t? Read my latest for The Local.

A Leftward Tilt for the City’s Committees

A Leftward Tilt for the City’s Committees

Last week, Mayor Olivia Chow revamped City Council committees with her own slate of progressives, dramatically shifting the balance of power. Plus, the by-election churn continues in the wake of Scarborough councillor Gary Crawford’s resignation. Read my latest column at The Local. (And check out the nice interactive data visualization they made for me, too!)

What Can Olivia Chow Do About Climate Change?

What Can Olivia Chow Do About Climate Change?

My latest column for The Local is out! I discuss how climate change is pushing Toronto weather to extremes, Council’s patchy track record on going low-carbon, and the large and small things Olivia Chow can do to change that. Plus, the literal train wreck in Scarborough and two special upcoming meetings at City Hall.

Tracking Olivia Chow’s First 100 Days as Toronto Mayor

Tracking Olivia Chow’s First 100 Days as Toronto Mayor

In Olivia Chow, Toronto has its first progressive mayor in 12 years. How will she tackle the city’s many critical issues? Will City Council’s power balance shift? My new column for The Local tracks Chow’s first 100 days. In the first installment, I look at how the mayor—and organizers on the ground—addressed the asylum seeker crisis that unfolded at 129 Peter St. Plus, a few key items from this week’s Council meeting.

The Local: How Toronto’s Mayoral Candidates Plan to Address the Housing Crisis

How Toronto’s Mayoral Candidates Plan to Address the Housing Crisis

Yet another municipal election is nigh. In my new piece for The Local, I analyze six top mayoral candidates’ housing platforms, which range from ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ to an ambitious return to the days of government-built mixed-income social housing on a large scale.

Just the numbers (this table is in the article, too):

AMR = Average Market Rent. In 2023, AMR in Toronto is $1,538 for a one-bedroom and $1,811 for a two-bedroom unit.
Saunders Bradford Bailão Chow Hunter Matlow
Total cost Unspecified Unspecified $49M $404M $1B $407M
Source Not taxes Not taxes City Building Fund (existing) City Building Fund increase Property tax increase, reserve funds Cancelling Gardiner East, freezing police bucget
Units Unspecified At least 16,000 (as in original Housing Now plan) HousingTO targets, provincial mandate of 285,000 10,000–25,000 22,700 15,000
Affordability At least some units in developments on city-owned land 33% of housing on under-utilized city-owned land, 20% in office conversions 40,000 affordable rentals and 4,000 affordable ownership by 2030 At least 7,500 at 80% AMR, 2,500 at 30% AMR 5,660 at AMR, 3,468 at 80% AMR, 2,108 at 40% AMR, 6,135 affordable ownership 45% affordable rental (30% at AMR, 10% at 80% AMR, 5% rent geared to income, or at 30-40% AMR); subject to consultations

The Local: Candidate Tracker

Candidate Tracker 2022

The municipal election is nigh. I’ve been working behind the scenes, contributing research for The Local’s Candidate Tracker. Check it out—you can read up on Council candidates’ backgrounds, see where they stand on issues like shelter, affordable housing, and police funding, and compare them to incumbent councillors’ voting records.

Some Mastodon server recommendations

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Note: This post is very old. I don’t recommend many of these servers any more, and many new ones have sprung up, too many to keep track of. Instead, read my new post on how to choose a Mastodon/Fediverse server.

(Expanding on this viral post and this thread.)

So an obnoxious billionaire just bought Twitter, and a lot of people are signing up (or reviving their accounts) on the “flagship” servers, mastodon.social or mastodon.online. But you have more options! Continue reading Some Mastodon server recommendations

City Hall Watcher #160

This issue is not just a nice round number, it also marks City Hall Watcher’s three-year anniversary, so it’s free for everyone! For this one, I talked to folks about how winter and the pandemic are pushing Toronto’s shelter system to its limits (and, yes, crunched some numbers). I also have a preview of the upcoming City Council agenda, including SafeTO, golf, moths, an Integrity Commissioner investigation, and the first 16 inclusionary zoning…zones.

Read the whole thing at City Hall Watcher.