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Race to replace Mike Layton as University-Rosedale councillor a battle of progressives

Leading candidates promising action on housing affordability, transit and climate change

Cbc.ca
Oct. 12, 2022
Ryan Patrick Jones

Voters looking for a spiritual successor to outgoing city councillor and progressive stalwart Mike Layton have a wealth of options to choose from.

Three high-profile candidates with left-leaning credentials are among 12 council hopefuls battling it out to represent Ward 11, University-Rosedale -- one of seven seats where there's no incumbent in the running.

One of the best known is Ontario's former environment commissioner, Dianne Saxe. Also running are Toronto Catholic District School Board trustee Norm Di Pasquale and Robin Buxton Potts, who was appointed interim councillor for the nearby Toronto-Centre ward this summer.

While their platforms emphasize similar issues -- housing affordability, climate change, strong communities and better city services -- each has a unique background they say makes them the ideal candidate.

Campaigning in Rosedale
University-Rosedale is a diverse downtown ward that includes Rosedale and Yorkville -- two of Toronto's wealthiest neighbourhoods -- alongside the Annex, Little Italy, Kensington Market and the University of Toronto campus.

According to Canadian census data from 2021, the ward's population is 106,216, just 1.8 per cent higher than 2016. The average annual household income is more than $170,000, but around 17 per cent of residents make less than $20,000.

Saxe arrived to canvass in the neighbourhood around the Rosedale United Church last Thursday on her bicycle, wearing a helmet, a bright yellow pinny emblazoned with her name and sturdy hiking shoes.

Alongside two volunteers with matching pinnies, she went door-to-door, pitching voters on why they should choose her.

"I've been knocking on doors and talking with voters for most of the last two years," said Saxe, who placed fourth when she ran in University-Rosedale during this year's provincial election for the Ontario Green Party. She's temporarily stepped down as the party's deputy leader to run for council.

As Ontario's environmental watchdog between 2015 and 2019, she was an influential critic of the Ford government before the government folded the office into the auditor general's office.

"I really got to look closely at what's coming. We have a very short window to make it better and if we don't it's going to be awful," she said.

"We need a climate champion on council. And right now, there isn't one."

Saxe said she'll help ramp up the city's action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making infrastructure resilient to climate change. She'll also push for the building of "15-minute communities," where it's safe and easy to walk, ride bikes or take transit to nearby amenities.

Voters want affordable housing
Di Pasquale, who first gained notoriety as the leader of a grassroots campaign to ban jets from Toronto's island airport, said he's hearing from residents that the lack of affordable housing is pushing people out of the neighbourhood.

"Reality is reality, and if you can't afford to rent in the neighbourhood anymore, well, it's time to go," he said. "This is happening to too many people."

According to Statistics Canada, the average rent for the more than 50 per cent of ward residents who rent is $1,976 per month.

Di Pasquale told CBC he would focus on encouraging faster development approvals for all kinds of housing, and the use of more city land for affordable housing projects.

 "We have to get quicker because people need houses now, not in five years, 10 years," he said.

Both Layton, the outgoing councillor, and the advocacy group Progress Toronto have endorsed Di Pasquale, who argues he's the only candidate to have been previously elected by University-Rosedale voters.

Buxton Potts also heard about the challenges of finding affordable rental housing when campaigning Thursday.

While knocking on doors on Brunwick Avenue, she met 20-year-old University of Toronto student Connor Broughton, who told her "it was a nightmare" trying to find a place to rent after living in student housing last year.

Buxton Potts, who has worked in offices of former councillors Kristyn Wong-Tam, Joe Cressy and Adam Vaughan over the past 10 years, said she supports zoning changes that would allow the building of more mid-rise housing and multiplexes in areas currently zoned for single-family homes.

"Finding ways to bring in new residents in ways that doesn't totally disrupt the character of these neighbourhoods, to support student housing and support small businesses is going to be really critical," Buxton Potts said.

"We need to build more housing faster and it needs to be deeply affordable. There's ways of doing that that does not rely on giant towers."

More money, better services
Buxton Potts said she's also hearing that voters want a return of basic service delivery, from ensuring the garbage is picked up to accessible washrooms in the winter.

To do that, she said the city needs to use additional revenue tools beyond property tax increases to pay for it.

That's something Saxe agrees with. She supports bringing back the vehicle registration tax and implementing a stormwater charge and asking the province to allow the city to collect a one per cent sales tax.

Here is the full list of the candidates running in Spadina-Fort York from the city's website:

Axel Arvizu
Michael Borrelli
Robin Buxton Potts
Norm Di Pasquale
David Fielder
Adam Golding
Andrew Layman
Peter Lovering
Alison Pang
Dianne Saxe
Heather Shon
Pierre Therrien