What the mayoral candidates’ platforms say on jobs, transit and housing

Illustration: Sam Bullis/The Dialog

Jobs

Olivia Chow proposes that companies with city contracts should be required to hire and train young people. Chow’s target is 5,000 new apprenticeships and jobs for youth in four years.

John Tory says he would double the number of companies in the Partnership to Advance Youth Employment, which he claims will result in thousands of new jobs.

Doug Ford’s stand on jobs is thin, but he claims that the Rob Ford administration created 58,000 jobs. Ford promises to cut taxes and “red tape” as his job creation strategy.

Transit

Toronto’s public transit system remains a political hot potato. All of the candidates have various transit platforms which range from increased bus service and Light Rail Transportation in Scarborough and along Finch Ave. West for Chow, to Doug Ford’s mantra of “subways, subways, subways” and Tory’s regional “Smart Track” plan of electrification of the GO train lines. Both Ford and Chow say that the building of a downtown relief subway line is a priority while Tory argues that the electrification of the GO tracks with frequent commuter service and 22 new stations would relieve the strain on the Yonge line.

Housing

Chow promises to create 15,000 affordable rental units in four years through a target of 20 per cent of new residential towers being designated as affordable units.

Ford has pledged to cut the land transfer tax, which generates over $300 million a year for the city, by 15 per cent. He claims that this would put money back in the pocket of home-owners. Ford says he would also try to re-hire Toronto Community Housing Corporation CEO Glen Jones who resigned after a scathing ombudsman’s report that outlined complaints over raises for managers and unfair firing of employees.

Tory says that the real money for projects like housing has to come from the provincial and federal governments and that he would work with other levels of government.