by Teresa Wright
The Voice has promised to be a sounding board for our communities - including Our Politics. The upcoming election for the city of Toronto, meant that we have been planning a piece for this September issue to help you get to know your candidates. To say that the past week or so has brought many unseen challenges in executing this goal, is an understatement. At the beginning of September I reached out to all registered City Council candidates in the then four (of 25) Municipal Wards: 19, 20, 24 and 25. After the September 10th Superior Court of Justice ruling by Justice Edward Belobaba, we re-issued our call to share with you, The Voice readers, despite the uncertainty.
While I wished to offer more time, a print publication does have a hard and firm deadline. In fairness to the registered candidates who did not respond in time to be included in this piece - this City Election Campaign has become, to be blunt, a sh**-show!
That being said, please let me introduce you to some of your candidates … as you are certainly already aware, the final decision as to how many wards the City of Toronto will be voting to elect councilors to is likely to be up in the air for the next few weeks. Nonetheless, the following candidates have thrown their hats in the ring to represent You, no matter the Ward number, no matter the boundary, no matter the size of the constituency. Some of Your candidates have placed a campaign advertisement with us in this issue – please be understanding and forgiving if the Ward they’ve chosen to identify themselves with does not match the final outcome of the provincial-municipal-judicial-constitutional challenge. At the end of the day, these are the people who have stood up and said, I will represent my community, no matter how the provincial government or the city of Toronto, or the court of appeal, defines it.
I extended an invitation to answer four questions. I believe the answers will offer a fair insight into the character and values of these individuals who are offering to represent your interests.
The three questions, below, are followed by the responses we received.
1. How do you define poverty? Given that, how would you define affordable living?
2. What percentage of your Ward’s population do you believe either lives in poverty or struggles to live within their means?
3. What solution(s) do you believe will most significantly impact affordability (housing, food, health, transportation) for constituents in your ward?
4. What place will nature, in particular the preservation of natural habitats, have in your representation if you are elected?
**Neethan Shan, Candidate for Toronto City Councillor Ward 25, responded to our questions after we had already sent the paper to the press. Here are his responses, followed by those that were published in the September issue of THE VOICE. No other candidate came forward with responses, or reached out for more time to communicate to you, our readers**
- Living in Poverty means not being able to provide for the very basic needs of food, shelter and clothes and being not able to afford to live a decent quality of life. Affordable Housing is a broad term as affordability is measured based on income of the individual/family. When more than 30% of their income is spend on housing, it becomes unaffordable.
- 2. 25% to 35%
- In order to make life more affordable for constituents in my Ward, we need to increase affordable housing options, especially for seniors. It is also important to strengthen existing income security programs offered by all levels of government. Increasing opportunities for affordable healthy food and free recreational programs can also improve quality of lives. It is important to continue creation of sustainable employment opportunities with decent pay and safe working conditions. Access to Transportation is definitely a key social determinant of health, so having affordable rapid transit system in Scarborough is critical. I have been an advocate for all these systemic solutions to poverty for two decades and I will continue to advocate in the upcoming term as well.
- The preservation of nature and the protection of environment are important issues to me. I believe that we need to defend our parks and protect Green Spaces such as Rouge National Park. I plan to continue working with organizations such as the Toronto Environmental Alliance and Toronto Regional Conservational Authority to ensure that we cherish and protect the environment for our children. I have also served on the Zoo’s Board of Directors for the last year and a half and made it a priority to ensure the conservation, welfare and compassionate care of animals.
Ward 20 or 38
Curtis Smith: I am one of the only Ward 20 candidates to have signed the Pledge on Poverty Reduction (prosperityplatform.ca) that includes increases in affordable & supportive housing units; increased shelter spaces; reduced TTC fares for low-income adults; new & subsidized child care spaces; and new recreation program spaces.
I believe that implementing these initiatives will have positive effects throughout our community. These effects won’t just be direct ones, either; there will be indirect positive impacts on economic/business development and public safety as well.
I am a huge supporter of our natural environment and would be looking to put appropriate measures in place to safeguard the Bluffs, among other locations.
Gerard Arbour: Hello to The Voice. With respect to the questions asked, I will be as succinct as possible with the uncertainty of Ward 20 or 38 in which I am running. Thought you should know I signed the Candidate Pledge on Poverty Reduction. Please note the 3 leading mayoral candidates signed as well. In it I pledged, if elected to Toronto Council, "to work with community, business and faith leaders to reduce poverty and inequality in Toronto and to support the full funding and implementation of Toronto's Poverty Reduction Strategy...including the following approved actions: 1. 7200 new supportive housing units, at least 8000 new deeply affordable rental housing units, and 1000 new shelter spaces. 2. Reduced TTC fares for an additional 157,000 lower income adults. 3. 11,500 new child care spaces, including 5,000 subsidized spaces. 4. 40,000 new recreation program spaces.
Regular Community meetings and engagement, and identifying Community Leaders, will help me keep in touch with areas in Scarborough Southwest that need support. Such initiatives as food and clothing collections will be promoted to help those in need as I have done in the past.
www.prosperityplatform.ca
With respect to natural habitat habitation preservation, we need to look no further than the Scarborrough Waterfront Project to keep attention of the scope and magnitude of this trail plan. As minimum as possible ecological footprint will be supervised, and habitat preservation will be paramount. One of my campaign platforms will be to be on the board of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority to monitor, have a say and update residents on the project. I should also note that one of my pet projects is Toronto Wildlife Centre and the rehabilitation of displaced/injured wildlife to a safe return to natural environs.
Another important preservation of natural habitat will be to protect and maintain the tree canopy in Scarborough Southwest as it relates to natural replacement and maintenance with development of residential and other properties. The name is Arbour after all, will be looking out for the trees. Regular shoreline and park Community cleanups will be part of my mandate as well.
Robert McDermott:
1. Poverty is a state of insufficiency, a lack of money, the inability to support ones self sufficiently, poor, a lack of goods or services. Affordable housing is housing within a person's financial ability to pay. Normally, one-third of a person's household income is considered to be affordable.
2. This is a tough question. The research I have done in the ward indicates roughly 40% lives at the poverty level or struggles to get by in their day-to-day lives.
3. We need to build more af fordable housing in Scarborough. There has not been any rental apartment buildings built in 40 years. The current Toronto city council is more concerned about catering to the whims of high-end condo developers and ignoring lower and middle income families who need rental accommodation. There needs to be much more collaboration between the public and private sector on housing issues.
4. I have strong environmental values and would take a firm and bold position on preserving our green space and water. Part of my election campaign platform is to enhance the City of Toronto's recycling program and to reduce the amount of waste at landfill sites, which would be beneficial to us all and contribute to a safer and cleaner environment.
Michelle Holland-Berardinetti:
1. Many people and groups define poverty in different ways but individuals and families who struggle economically to meet even their most basic needs reflects how poverty affects people’s lives. It is unacceptable in our country and City that up to 1 in 7 people live within this definition of poverty. Affordable living can also be defined differently but those having to pay more than 30% of their income on shelter places unacceptable pressure on them to meet other basic needs as well as expenditures that may fall out of the definition of a “need.” All people deserve an income that allows them to care for themselves and their families.
2. Recent census data indicates that although the numbers vary widely across the ward, using the definition of 30% or more being spent on shelter, 40% or more residents and families would find it challenging economically. Rather than determining percentages our main focus must be on working to reduce poverty or economically challenging living conditions for people in our ward and across the City.
3. The City has developed an extensive anti-poverty strategy that I have supported from the beginning along with our Neighbourhood Improvement Area program for example that seeks to ensure that all residents have access to City services regardless of economic status. Affordable, efficient and accessible transit is also very important and I have always made this a priority. The City cannot meet this challenge alone so I will continue to fight for a comprehensive approach to challenging poverty that must include all levels of government. Working collaboratively, there is simply no reason why all three levels of government cannot meet these challenges.
4. I have always been a strong supporter of preserving our natural habitats. As Chair of the Parks and Environment Committee I worked extensively on the City’s ravine strategy, I lead the initiative that had Toronto designated by Bee City Canada as the first “Bee City” (pollinator friendly) city and my efforts to enhance our parks and green space have been part of my priorities since I was first elected.
Ward 24
Priyanth Nallaratnam:
1. In Scarborough, there’s two types of poverty that’s prevalent: situational and urban. Situational poverty happens when people are either temporarily stuck in a situation where they cannot pay of the bills due to spike in rent or other unfortunate events. Urban poverty on the other hand is much more common as we see many in Scarborough suffer from the lack of services due to population density. The spike in gun crimes and influx of drugs could also be attributed to urban poverty. Absolute poverty does exist in Scarborough but rare (will increase if not checked). Affordable living therefore should efficiently (and equitably) take into account the costs of vital services and essential needs for an individual and/or a family.
2. At least 40-55% of the ward suffers from urban, situational and absolute poverty. This number will increase if our city fails to prioritize worsening conditions in Scarborough.
