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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 socialplanningcouncilyr@gmail.com

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York Region Candidate’s Pledge

If elected, I will work toward:

  1. Housing Rights

    Recognize that housing is a fundamental human right and ensure that adequate resources are dedicated to progressively advance the right to housing for all residents.

  2. Affordable Housing Supply

    Continuously increase the supply of affordable rental housing using policy, municipal lands, and increasing investment to promote the construction of safe, purpose built, affordable and deeply affordable rental housing, for all individuals including vulnerable persons which include those that require supportive housing and those with disabilities.

  3. Inclusionary Zoning

    Support the development of an inclusionary zoning bylaw in our local community to ensure that new developments include a percentage of affordable homes.

  4. Tax Vacant Homes

    Support a vacant homes tax to ensure that residential buildings are used for housing.

  5. Regional Contributions

    Support the Region’s call for each municipality to contribute 2 acres of land for affordable housing.

  6. Preserve Affordable Homes

    Preserve the existing affordable housing through advocacy, eviction-prevention policies, rental housing protection by-laws, municipal funding, and taking a firm stand against vacancy decontrol.

  7. Reduce & Prevent Homelessness

    Prevent, reduce and end homelessness by expanding the Region’s eviction-prevention programs, rent supports, systematic employment of a “by-name list”, housing stabilization supports, mental health programs and services, and promoting collaborative engagement with local homelessness sector service providers.

  8. 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 sustainable rates for Ontario Works and ODSP recipients.

  9. Equitable Funding

    Advocate for adequate funding for services in our municipalities and region, and apply those funds to services that equitably serve marginalized communities.

Candidate Responses

Legend

— Undeclared
 Yes
 No
Markham
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Frank Scarpitti
Mayor Don Hamilton
Regional Councilor Nirmala Armstrong
Regional Councilor Michael Chan
Regional Councilor Alan Ho
Regional Councilor Jim Jones
Regional Councilor Ivy Lee
Regional Councilor Joe Li
Regional Councilor Greg Marcos
Regional Councilor Sophia Sun
Regional Councilor Shanta Sundarason
Regional Councilor Srini Suppira
Regional Councilor Allan Tam
Ward 1 Keith Irish
Ward 1 Howard Shore
Ward 2 Trina Kollis
Ward 2 Larry Lau
Ward 2 Ritch Lau
Ward 2 Steven Sun
Ward 2 Yan Wang
Ward 3 Annie Chan
Ward 3 Bill Chan
Ward 3 Robin Choy
Ward 3 Sheng Huang
Ward 3 Reid McAlpine
Ward 3 Sandra Tam
Ward 4 Karen Rea
Ward 4 Vid Sansanwal
Ward 5 Ashok Bangia
Ward 5 Andrew Keyes
Ward 5 Sri Sivasubramaniam
Ward 6 Amanda Yeung Collucci
Ward 6 Darren Soo
Ward 7 Neetu Gupta
Ward 7 Shahzad Habib
Ward 7 Juanita Nathan
Ward 7 Nimisha Patel
Ward 8 Isa Lee
Ward 8 Jack Levinson
Ward 8 Nihanthan Ratnasingham
Ward 8 Deepak Talreja
Richmond Hill
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Domenic Bardari
Mayor Holo Devnani
Mayor Carmine Perrelli
Mayor David West
Regional and Local Councillor Abu Alam
Regional and Local Councillor Terrence Au
Regional and Local Councillor Godwin Chan
Regional and Local Councillor Marco Coletta
Regional and Local Councillor Joe DiPaola
Ward 1 Greg Beros
Ward 1 Weibo Cheng
Ward 1 Carol Davidson
Ward 1 Catherine Dellerba
Ward 2 Yehuda Goldberg
Ward 2 Tabinda Jatoi
Ward 2 Sigmund Lee
Ward 2 Tom Muench
Ward 2 Scott Thompson
Ward 3 Castro Liu
Ward 3 Juni Yeung
Ward 4 Simon Cui
Ward 4 Liana Falzone
Ward 4 Harry H. Harakh
Ward 4 Mahnaz Shahbazi
Ward 4 Raika Sheppard
Ward 4 Johnny So
Ward 4 Rose A. Weinberg
Ward 5 Sarkis Assadourian
Ward 5 Yuliya Benedziktavich
Ward 5 Karen Cilevitz
Ward 5 Wil Husnutdinov
Ward 5 Emmanuel Lazaris
Ward 5 Anders Lindfors-Wheeler
Ward 5 Vera Murano
Ward 5 Richard Rupp
Ward 5 Shohreh Sabaghpour
Ward 5 Tarun Saroya
Ward 6 Carol Chan
Ward 6 Sharon Chisholm
Ward 6 Kate Jiang
Ward 6 Yung Li
Ward 6 Julie Maxey
Ward 6 Michael Shiu
Ward 6 Linda Zhang
Vaughan
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Parveen Bola
Mayor Steven Del Duca
Mayor Danny DeSantis
Mayor Paul Donofrio
Mayor Robert Gulassarian
Mayor Leo Mancinella
Mayor Sandra Yeung Racco
Local and Regional Councillor Mario Di Nardo
Local and Regional Councillor Mario Ferri
Local and Regional Councillor Linda D. Jackson
Local and Regional Councillor Carrie Liddy
Local and Regional Councillor Nick Pinto
Local and Regional Councillor Mario G. Racco
Local and Regional Councillor Mandy Rai
Local and Regional Councillor Gino Rosati
Local and Regional Councillor John Santoro
Ward 1 Sony Abraham
Ward 1 Maeda Aslam
Ward 1 Stephen Fefer
Ward 1 Marilyn Iafrate
Ward 1 Justin Piersanti
Ward 1 Vince Scaramuzzo
Ward 2 Meera Anand
Ward 2 Simone Barbieri
Ward 2 Tony Carella
Ward 2 Bryan Gary Groulx
Ward 2 Lena Ibrahim
Ward 2 Adriano Volpentesta
Ward 3 Rosanna Defrancesca
Ward 3 Victor Lacaria
Ward 3 Tony Lorini
Ward 3 Gino Nardi
Ward 3 Philip James Piluris
Ward 3 Ty Ty Nguyen
Ward 4 Chris Ainsworth
Ward 4 Jacob Joel Ginsberg
Ward 4 Erlinda Insigne
Ward 4 Nadia Rosati
Ward 4 Meenakshi Sudarshan
Ward 4 Styles Q Weinberg
Ward 5 Gila Martow
Ward 5 Alan Shefman
Newmarket
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor John Taylor
Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor Gordon Prentice
Deputy Mayor and Regional Councillor Tom Vegh
Ward 1 Mark Holmes
Ward 1 Grace Simon
Ward 2 Brian Andrews
Ward 2 Hunter Murchison-Doggart
Ward 2 Victor Woodhouse
Ward 3 Jane Twinney
Ward 4 Chris Dupee
Ward 4 Trevor Morrison
Ward 4 Grant Waddell
Ward 5 Bob Kwapis
Ward 6 Kelly Broome
Ward 6 Lukas Fuina
Ward 7 Christina Bisanz
Ward 7 Nadia Hansen
Aurora
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Phiona Durrant
Mayor Anna Lozyk Romeo
Mayor Tom Mrakas
Ward 1 Nick Biase
Ward 1 Sandra Humfryes
Ward 1 Ron Weese
Ward 2 Alison Connolly
Ward 2 Marco Di Girolamo
Ward 2 Rachel Gilliland
Ward 2 Daniel Lajeunesse
Ward 3 Alexandra Bonham
Ward 3 Wendy Gaertner
Ward 3 Owen Heritage
Ward 3 Harold MacDonald
Ward 4 Iwona Czarnecka
Ward 4 Carson Day
Ward 4 Michael Thompson
Ward 5 Ian Clark
Ward 5 Steve Fleck
Ward 5 John Gallo
Ward 5 Mae Khamissa
Ward 5 Robert Lounds
Ward 6 Robert James Fraser
Ward 6 Harold Kim
Ward 6 Greg Smith
East Gwillimbury
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Virginia Hackson
Mayor James R. Young
Mayor Franco Colavecchia
Ward 1 Loralea Carruthers (Acclaimed)
Ward 1 Terry E. Foster (Acclaimed)
Ward 2 Aida Kostuck
Ward 2 Brian Johns
Ward 2 Tara Roy-DiClemente
Ward 2 David Price
Ward 3 Susan Lahey
Ward 3 Christine Glenn
Ward 3 Cathy Morton
Ward 3 Scott Crone
Ward 3 Douglas Willitts
Georgina
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Margaret Quirk
Mayor George Sheffield
Mayor Ralph Hirmann
Mayor Jeffrey Cathcart
Mayor Frank Sebo
Mayor Boris Godzinevski
Regional Councillor Naomi Davison
Regional Councillor Dawn Zimmermann
Ward 1 Charlene Biggerstaff
Ward 1 Mike Taggart
Ward 1 Mona Steitieh
Ward 1 Allison Cain
Ward 2 Dan Fellini
Ward 2 Shannon DeLenardo
Ward 2 Natalie Floyd
Ward 3 Dave Neeson
Ward 3 Andrew Edge
Ward 3 Danielle Cohen
Ward 3 Scott Wollin
Ward 4 Dale Kerr Genge
Ward 4 Mike Anderson
Ward 4 Amanda Pace
Ward 4 Laurie Pangman
Ward 5 Lee Dale
Ward 5 Kelly McCarthy
King
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Steve Pellegrini (Acclaimed)
Ward 1 Jordan Alexander Cescolini
Ward 1 Rob Payne
Ward 1 Nick Seretis
Ward 2 David Boyd (Acclaimed)
Ward 3 Jakob Schneider
Ward 3 Jennifer Anstey
Ward 3 Ryan Raymond
Ward 3 Adam Pham
Ward 4 Becky Eveson
Ward 4 Simon Lloyd
Ward 4 Mary Asselstine
Ward 4 Michael Lovisotto
Ward 5 Debbie Schaefer
Ward 5 Michael Di Mascolo
Ward 6 Avia Eek (Acclaimed)
Whitchurch-Stouffville
Position / Ward Candidate Name #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9
Mayor Iain Lovatt
Mayor Anand DatŽ
Mayor Mark Carroll
Mayor Justin Altmann
Mayor Sher Ahmad
Ward 1 Hugo T. Kroon
Ward 1 Michael Cleverdon
Ward 1 Juliette Deonarain
Ward 2 Maurice Smith
Ward 2 George Karpouzis
Ward 3 Mike Humphreys
Ward 3 Keith Acton
Ward 4 Rick Upton
Ward 4 Brad Valentini
Ward 4 Daniel Zeraldo
Ward 4 Keith Singer
Ward 5 Laura Cusack
Ward 5 Richard Bartley
Ward 6 Angel Freedman
Ward 6 Sue Sherban
Ward 6 Rob Hargrave

Background

Introduction

This municipal election, we are calling on all candidates to recognize the most pressing issues that residents of York Region are facing, by signing the Municipal Election Candidate Pledge. The pledge consists of eleven individual commitments that focus on housing and homelessness.  We hope all candidates will support all of the issues raised in the pledge, candidates are invited to support as many, or as few, as they choose.  This backgrounder outlines the underlying concerns behind the various elements of that pledge.

Right to Housing

Home is at the centre of human rights. Without adequate, accessible and affordable housing, with appropriate supports, 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. While it is understood that ensuring that every resident has access to adequate housing is not an easy task, 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

In York Region, the availability of affordable housing, with appropriate supports, where needed, has become a pressing issue. While the region and municipalities have made some strides to address affordable housing, including recognizing the housing situation as a Crisis in February 2021, the problem has worsened.  While there is an important role for the federal and provincial governments, the municipal partners are also critical and should commit to action both jointly and independently.  That means working at the municipal level, to develop new affordable homes using municipal policy tools and municipal resources, including:

  • Adopting newly available Inclusionary Zoning legislation to ensure new housing development include affordable homes, and Toronto and Mississauga have done (a helpful backgrounder is here).
  • Adopting a Vacant Homes Tax, as very strongly supported in a recent Affordable Housing Coalition of York Region survey and a KPMG study, to discourage long-term vacancies and conversions of rental units to air BnBs (for more info you can go here).
  • Pursuing the decision by York Region to set aside Regional lands for housing, and to ask local municipalities to each set aside 2 acres of land every 5 years for affordable, supportive and seniors housing (more details on these policies are here).

Municipalities can also help preserving affordable homes that already exist. Thousands of affordable homes are lost every year in Canada. Many are lost when tenants get evicted, and the rent control is lifted, and the rents rise beyond affordability. Other rental units are converted to condos, where no rental housing protection polices are in place. It’s cheaper to keep rents affordable and people in their homes than to build new affordable units (for some background look here).

Homelessness

York 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. Coordinated steps are needed to address this crisis. Programs like rent supports, that help keep people from losing their homes area good preventative measure. Supports for people in distress, like mental health and evictions prevention programs, that help stabilize tenancies, are also valuable. Once people are homeless, coordinating supports through better data tracking, “by name” lists, and expanding collaboration with homeless service providers, can manage the crisis (information on these approaches can be found here).

Income Supports

Low social assistance rates are a key factor in preventing people living on low incomes from getting and sustaining adequate housing. The Government of Ontario has initiated a “modernization” of social assistance, which includes a number of 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 and Employment Committee 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 or ODSP allocation of $1,169/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?

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