Mayoral challenger Jennifer Keesmaat says she won’t raise property taxes above inflation

Thestar.com
October 12, 2018
Jennifer Pagliaro

Mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat says she won’t raise property taxes above inflation across the board.

With just 11 days until the election, that commitment puts her in line with Mayor John Tory’s centrepiece campaign promise and answers a question his team has been insistent she speak to before the polls close.

During a visit to the Toronto Star editorial board Thusday, mayoral candidate Jennifer Keesmaat said that in terms of affordability, she wants young people and those who are new to the city “to have the same opportunity that previous generations did.”

“The worst thing that we could do as a city is make the city less affordable for those who have the hardest time paying,” Keesmaat told the Star’s editorial board Thursday. “So, as a principle, that’s something that I’m committed to.”

At the same time, the former chief planner for the city noted she is willing to additionally tax the wealthiest residents, recently announcing she would place a surtax, with the province’s permission, on homes valued $4 million or more to fund a new program for those struggling to afford home ownership.

“That’s a really good signal of the principle which I will bring to governing as mayor of this city, which is recognizing that those who can pay a little bit more, who have done exceptionally well in this city, ought to be contributing to ensure that those who are new to our city or young people in the city have the same opportunity that previous generations did.”

She said Tory’s promise to not raise property taxes above inflation has been done at the expense of some of the city’s residents who are struggling most, citing the increasing cost of a TTC Metropass and other fares. She called a progressive tax like the one she’s proposed on wealthy homeowners “philosophically and inherently different” than what Tory has mandated for the last four years and what he has promised for another four if re-elected.

“Only John Tory will keep tax increases at or below the rate of inflation and Toronto residents can't afford a Keesmaat mayoralty,” the statement said.

Keesmaat claimed “how we spend money” is a key part of the tax conversation, calling Tory a “bit rich” to be talking about holding the line on property taxes while at the same time “throwing money out the window” on projects like rebuilding the crumbing eastern portion of the Gardiner Expressway, which she charges would cost the city up to $500 million more than the expert-backed teardown and boulevard option she supports.

And she accused Tory of signing up residents for an “incredibly raw deal” to pay $1.4 billion for six provincial GO stations as part of his substantially modified “SmartTrack” promise from the 2014 campaign. The Globe and Mail’s Oliver Moore reported this week that one person familiar with the city-provincial negotiations believed “there was no reason the province should pay, since Toronto had already signalled it would.”

In an interview with TVO’s Steve Paikin on Wednesday, Tory said the stations would not have been approved if not for his efforts. Aspects of that expansion, including what fares Torontonians will pay, which is a key factor in how many people will use the stations, have yet to be worked out.

Keesmaat said the responsibility of a mayor is to acknowledge that there are some residents who do not get to share in the growing wealth of the city and be willing to address it.

“We’ve become this incredibly prosperous city,” Keesmaat said. “There are neighbourhoods that have been completely left out of that prosperity.”

 

She raised, as she did at an earlier campaign event, the story of her own daughter, who has just started university and who, Keesmaat said, isn’t sure she can be a teacher and afford to live in Toronto.

“That’s a kid who’s white, she’s got every privilege and every opportunity and she can’t see her future in this city,” she said. “Then lets take that to kids who are in low-income neighbourhoods, who are not white and multiply that by a hundred. C’mon, that’s not who we are. That’s never been who we are. How can we let that happen and not be outraged?”

Tory will meet with the Star’s editorial board on Oct. 16.

The election is Oct. 22. Advance polls are open now and close Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.