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What Will Your Municipal Candidate Do About Housing, Poverty and Equity?

With the municipal elections just around the corner, non-profits across the Region have worked together to get input from candidates on key issues.

We asked every candidate running for local or Regional council to make a pledge to tackle key issues affecting housing, poverty and equity.  Their commitments are below, along with the full text of the pledge commitments.  Read on to see what your local candidates think about these issues.

For details on the issues, please feel free to review the background document at the end of this page.  For information on the pledge and the non-profits leaders supporting it, please contact info@aBetterPeel.ca

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Peel Region Candidate’s Pledge

If elected, I will work toward:

  1. Housing Rights

    Recognize that housing is a fundamental human right by ensuring that adequate resources are dedicated to progressively advancing the right to housing for all residents, particularly for those disproportionately impacted by poverty and discrimination.

  2. Affordable Housing Supply

    Continuously increase the supply of affordable rental housing by implementing policy tools that will add to the existing stock of affordable rental housing, and by increasing investment in the construction of safe, appropriate, purpose-built, affordable, and deeply affordable rental housing that is accessible to vulnerable people and those most affected by poverty.

  3. Preserve Affordable Homes

    Preserve the affordable housing we already have by protecting the existing stock of affordable homes through advocacy, policy tools, and available funding.

  4. Reduce & Prevent Homelessness

    Prevent, reduce, and end chronic, episodic and hidden homelessness, by expanding the Region’s eviction prevention programs, rent supports, and housing stabilization supports, and by promoting collaborative engagement with local homelessness sector service providers.

  5. Livable Incomes

    Support decent and sustainable lives for low-income residents by using our municipality’s place at the current provincial/municipal welfare modernization tables to advocate for adequate funding for municipal services to support low-income residents, and for sustainable rates for Ontario Works and ODSP recipients.

  6. Equitable Funding

    Advocate for adequate funding in all critical service areas, including health, education, gender-based violence, supportive housing, addictions, and mental health services in our City and Region, and apply those funds to services that equitably serve marginalized communities.

  7. Equity in all policies

    Develop and implement systems for reporting and accountability for action on equity, anti-Black racism, and systemic discrimination and commit to regularly communicating actions on these to the public.

Candidate Responses

Legend

— Undeclared
 Yes
 No
Mississauga
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
Mayor Bonnie Crombie
Mayor Derek Ramkissoon
Mayor David Shaw
Mayor Bobie Taffe
Mayor George Tavares
Mayor Mohsin Khan
Mayor Jayesh Trivedi
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 1 Stephen Dasko
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 1 Andrew Gassmann
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 1 Deborah Goss
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Gulraiz Bajwa
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Silvia Gualtieri
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Syed Jaffery
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Alvin Tedjo
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Chris Cunningham
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Reead Rahamut
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Sue Shanly
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 2 Ayushe Sharman
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 3 Chris Fonseca
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 3 Winston Harding
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 3 Robert Kielek
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 3 Sarah Szymanski
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 3 Athina Tagidou
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 3 Robina Yasmeen
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 4 John Kovac
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 4 Joan Pace Jakobsen
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 4 Michelle Bilek
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 5 Carolyn Parrish
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 5 Hamid Akbar
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 5 Bradley Macdonald
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 5 Domenica Laura Simone
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 6 Ron Starr
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 6 Joe Horneck
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 6 Muhammad Kamil
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Dipika Damerla
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Amir Ali
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Ranjit Chahal
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Maisa Salhia
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Leslie Zurek-Silvetri
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Iain McCallum
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 7 Mark Freeland
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 8 Matt Mahoney
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 8 Rahul Mehta
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 8 Irfan Farooq
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Charbel Bassil
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Isaiah Bryant
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Scott E.W. Chapman
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Nokha Dakroub
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Bob Delaney
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Frank Fang
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Len Little
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Peter McCallion
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Martin Reid
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Mohammad Shabbeer
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Chacko Athanasius
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 9 Nicholas Rabba
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 10 Sue McFadden
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 10 Hamza Bajwa
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 10 Khalid Mahmood
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 10 Brennan Bempong
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 11 Brad Butt
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 11 Annurag Chawla
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 11 Kulbir Gill
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 11 Imran Hasan
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 11 Kushagr Dutt Sharma
City & Regional Councillor, Ward 11 Brian Rylance
Brampton
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
Mayor Patrick Brown
Mayor Vidya Sagar Gautam
Mayor Nikki Kaur
Mayor Prabh Kaur Mand
Mayor Tony Moracci
Mayor Bob Singh
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Stacey Ann Brooks
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Harshmeet Dhillon
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Rafiqul Islam, MD.
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Omprakash Kapil
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Steven Lee
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Tracy Pepe
City Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Rowena Santos
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Navjit Kaur Brar
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Jermaine Chambers
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Sirajul Islam
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Vijay Mair
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Joe Oreskovic
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Raghav Patel
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Hardip Singh
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Cody Vatcher
City Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Carmen Wilson
City Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Cleopatra Gooden-Simms
City Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Carla Green
City Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Dennis Keenan
City Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Jasmohan Singh Mankoo
City Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 John Sanderson
City Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Tejeshwar Soin
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Nataleigh Ballantyne
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Kuljit Singh Batra
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Baljit Bawa
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Raymond Carle
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Michael Farquharson
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Fatima Faruq Ahmad
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Damindar Ghumman
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Rod Power
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Cheryl Rodricks
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Jaskaran Sandhu
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Gagan Sandhu
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Cindy-Ann Williams
City Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Donna Williams
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Arsalan Baig
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Janice Gordon-Daniels
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Jagdish Singh Grewal
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Mahendra Gupta
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Manpreet Othi
City Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Harkirat Singh
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Idris Orughu
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Seema Passi
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 1 & 5 Paul Vicente
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Mansoor Ameersulthan
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Babita Gupta
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Azhar Hussain
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Gurpreet Singh Pabla
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Michael Palleschi
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 2 & 6 Keba Tamara Thomas
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 George Aquin
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Andria Barrett
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Martin Medeiros
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Ameek Singh
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 3 & 4 Raman Vasudev
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Michael Dancy
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Ripudaman Singh Dhillon
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Pat Fortini
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Farooq Ishaq
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Matthew Johnson
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Gurinder Sehgal
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 7 & 8 Cynthia Sri Pragash
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Aneep Dhade
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Gurpreet Dhillon
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Azad Singh Goyat
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Susan Joseph
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Gagan Lal
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Mohammad Shoaib
City & Regional Councillor, Wards 9 & 10 Gurpartap Singh Toor
Caledon
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7
Mayor Jennifer Innis
Mayor Annette Groves
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 1/2/3 Christina Early
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 1/2/3 Tom Sweeney
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 1/2/3 Giacomo Giuliano
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 1/2/3 Ramat Gill
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 4/5/6 Anthony Caputo
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 4/5/6 Mario Russo
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 4/5/6 Frank DiCosola
Town & Regional Councillor, Wards 4/5/6 Bhondhi Manjit Saini
Town Councillor, Ward 1 Lynn Kiernan
Town Councillor, Ward 1 Kate Hepworth
Town Councillor, Ward 2 Hunar Kahlon
Town Councillor, Ward 2 Dave Sheen
Town Councillor, Ward 2 Jagraj Sekhon
Town Councillor, Ward 2 John Ruscetta
Town Councillor, Ward 3 Arjun McNeill
Town Councillor, Ward 3 Derek Clark
Town Councillor, Ward 3 Doug Maskell
Town Councillor, Ward 3 Anna Murray
Town Councillor, Ward 4 Nick deBoer
Town Councillor, Ward 4 Cheryl Connors
Town Councillor, Ward 5 Tony Rosa
Town Councillor, Ward 5 Rob Ricciardi
Town Councillor, Ward 5 Stacie Roberts
Town Councillor, Ward 6 Mary Balinov
Town Councillor, Ward 6 Cosimo Napoli
Town Councillor, Ward 6 Lucrezia Chiappetta
Town Councillor, Ward 6 Angela Panacci

Background

Introduction

This municipal election, we are calling on all candidates to recognize the most pressing issues that Peel residents are facing by signing the Peel Region Municipal Election Candidate Pledge. The pledge consists of six individual commitments that focus on housing and homelessness, income supports, and equity. This pledge and backgrounder is organized by Ontario for All, The Mississauga Food Bank, the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Peel Alliance to End Homelessness, the Canadian Centre for Housing Rights, and the ABR-SD Collective.

Right to Housing

Home is at the centre of human rights. Without adequate, accessible, and affordable housing, our other human rights such as equality, liberty, dignity, privacy, freedom of expression, and even life are threatened. All levels of government have the obligation and ability to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to adequate housing.

The Government of Canada passed the National Housing Act stating that all levels of government within Canada are required to recognize housing as a fundamental human right. Since then, municipalities have started to follow suit by publicly committing to housing as a human right. It is understood that ensuring that every resident has access to adequate housing is not an easy task. However, all governments must commit to the progressive realization of a right to housing to the maximum of its available resources and by all appropriate means.

Affordable Housing

The availability of affordable housing in Peel Region has become a pressing issue. While the region and municipalities have made some strides to address affordable housing, the problem has worsened. According to 2021 Census data, 38.4% of tenant households and 25.7% of owner households spend 30% or more of their income on shelter costs in Peel. Resale home prices have been continuously increasing with the average price for a resale unit increasing by 26.1% from 2017 to 2021 (Toronto Real Estate Board).

In order to ensure that all residents can afford adequate housing, it is important that all levels of government work together to explore and implement policy tools that will increase supply and preserve existing affordable housing stock.

Homelessness

Peel Region is experiencing a homelessness and affordable housing crisis. COVID illustrated that people who were homeless or on verge of losing housing were more vulnerable than the rest of the population. Still, shelter and housing policies that existed pre-COVID have not changed and homelessness and housing precarity are increasing. As of September 16, 2022, 750 people are living in Peel-based shelters and 200 people are in shelter overflow hotels. This does not include those who are living rough (streets or in encampments) or have precarious housing (living in a place that’s in a state of disrepair, living in a spot that’s overcrowded or unaffordable, or couch surfing). These numbers continue to grow on a daily basis.

Income Supports

The Government of Ontario has initiated a “modernization” of social assistance, which includes several changes to Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). Under the new plan:

  • The province will centralize intake and allocations of benefits, increasingly on online platforms.
  • Municipalities would take responsibility for all “stability supports” including referrals to local services like housing and mental health care.
  • Various organizations, depending on the municipality, will be responsible for employment supports, in our area it is a company called WCG Services.

How all that will work is still evolving. The province is meeting with municipalities jointly at provincial municipal social assistance reform tables to work out critical details. Some concerns people have about those table include:

  • How will municipalities take responsibility for getting people access to supports when those supports, like mental health care, housing, counselling, and childcare, are underfunded with massive waiting lists.
  • How will anyone get to a stable life while trying to live on the current OW allocation of just $733 per month.
  • How can people with disability seek employment when their incomes are 40% below the poverty line and they need devices and supports to enable them to work.

Municipal leaders have a voice in that process. Will you use yours to address the issues affecting vulnerable residents in our Region?

Equity

Peel is not, by any measure, resourced in the way that reflects equity with other regions or with the needs of the community. People in Peel have about 50% less access to emergency care than other Ontarians. People in Peel have less access to Primary care than most regions. Peel schools have 6% to 10% less in funding per student than other GTA municipalities. Peel has less than 1/10 the Provincial Youth Outreach Workers Toronto has (and only about half as many as Ottawa).

Those shortfalls affect some communities more than others, and racialized and marginalized groups are clearly impacted most by these issues.

Fortunately, Peel’s community-based organizations have been valuable partners in implementing grassroots solutions that have been highly effective at addressing these challenges and the way they impact those most affected. As one striking example, local community agencies rescued the Province’s sputtering vaccine rollout, using community leadership and local knowledge to lift Peel from a national COVID hotspot and vaccine hesitancy centre to a leader in vaccination rates.

Increasing the investment in Peel, and ensuring the agencies best engaged in the communities most affected would do a lot to offset problems in our community.

Peel Council has already adopted this as a strategy, in June 2022. But strategies aren’t outcomes. Council must act on those strategies. Communities counting on that action need to be kept up to date on how those processes are moving forward, and we ask that you commit to action and open communication about progress.

Partners

Partners - A Better Peel

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