Toronto voters heading to the polls on Oct. 26 say affordability and housing are at the top of their minds, with public safety and transit close behind, Global News reported.
More than 50 candidates are running for mayor of Canada's largest city, but polls suggest the contest will come down to incumbent Olivia Chow and Coun. Brad Bradford.
Chow has promised measures to lower grocery prices, free lunches in schools and more affordable housing units. Bradford has pledged to freeze property tax rates in his first year and scrap the land transfer tax on homes under $1.1 million.
Voters want action on affordability
Ilham Saydna, a North York resident of 30 years, said many people in the city are struggling financially and that she will support whichever candidate puts affordability first.
I am looking to see who is going to be having a good platform for food security because a lot of people are hungry right now, and people are going to food banks and they cannot afford to pay rent.
Saydna, a tenant, added that the city should do more to support renters, including redefining what affordable housing means. She said homelessness worries her more than crime, noting Toronto police data show homicides, shootings and robberies have decreased this year.
Terry Chamberlain of Don Mills said he supports new housing as long as it fits the neighbourhood, and wants the city to lobby the province to extend the Ontario Line subway beyond Eglinton Avenue.
Ross Rowlands of the Beaches said he will back a candidate willing to stand up to Premier Doug Ford, criticizing provincial decisions to ban municipal speed cameras and remove some bike lanes on major city roads. He also wants more investment in preventing crime and addressing mental health rather than what he called reactionary policing.
Homelessness plan draws mixed reactions
Toronto's 10-year plan to open more shelters, including some outside the downtown core, has received a mixed reception. Patty Wegrzyn, who lives near a shelter built in Scarborough two years ago, said she is unhappy with its location.
Everybody has a right to have a home. But do not put homeless shelters where there are small children and families.
Wegrzyn, who sold her home because she could no longer afford property tax increases, said she will vote for any candidate more sympathetic to ratepayers.
Chow has said her approach to reducing homelessness is working, while Bradford has proposed more supportive and transitional housing.
Scarborough transit frustration
The candidates have faced off in several debates, including one focused on Scarborough, a district of more than 600,000 people often described as a "transit desert." The TTC recently opened a four-kilometre Scarborough Busway between Kennedy Station and Scarborough Town Centre, six months ahead of schedule, but many residents say it is too little, too late.
The Scarborough subway extension remains years from opening, and the 18.6-kilometre Scarborough East Rapid Transit light-rail line is still in the design phase nearly two decades after it was first proposed.
Scarborough resident Leonel Juan said he wants the next mayor to speed up that work and allow more development in the district's waterfront areas to address the local housing shortage.
Toronto residents go to the polls Oct. 26 to choose their mayor for the next four years.
