Toronto mayoral candidate Olivia Chow wants to lift people out of homelessness and keep them housed.
She says she’ll fund that in part by boosting the land transfer tax for homes sold for between $3 million and $4 million by one per cent, and a percentage point for each million-dollar range above that.
Chow said that represents about two per cent of all the homes sold in Toronto.
She also wants the province and Ottawa to chip in on providing affordable homes for those in shelters and the homeless.
“At any given night, 200 to 300 people are turned away from shelters,” Chow said. “They have no place to go. “They go to our streets, the TTC, libraries, street corners, or even parks. Housing is so expensive that more and more people are being evicted and becoming homeless.”
She said daily meals and a shower are among the things people take for granted every day but homeless individuals don’t. They lack a 24/7 place for them to rest, to get access to service to connect with hosting service providers to connect with all the services that are available for them.
Statistics Canada released on May 10 data that shows that the number of homeless support sector workers grew in nearly every province. There were 10,130 people working in the homelessness support sector in 2021, an increase of 3,825 people or 60.7 per cent, compared with 2016.
Toronto accounted for 15.6 per cent of all homeless support sector workers in 2021, according to Statistics Canada. However, food banks are full and people have to wait for hours to get necessary groceries.
“As mayor, the first thing I would do is open up respite centres, drop-in centres and access centres,” Chow said. “Because when you become homeless, the first thing is that you are in crisis mode. You don’t know what to do.
“You need a place to have internet access to help you get your ID, to help you find shelter, to help you, maybe even get a job, get back on your feet,” she said.
The mayoral candidate who is running against 91 others vying for the position, shared statistics about homeless people’s lifetime.
“On average, women in Toronto live to 84 years old. If you live on the street, 42 years is premature death and a shorter life expectancy,” she said.
Also, Chow wants to provide $14.6 million in rent supplements to help 1,000 families currently in shelters into stable and affordable housing. She said she’ll be urging the provincial and federal governments to match her investment to create 3,000 new units.
Colin H Johnson, skilled in working with marginalized populations including African, Caribbean and Black, incarcerated, PWUD, and volunteer management, said he experienced homelessness and supports Chow’s plans.
“It’s not complicated. People need housing. Get them housing. People need to build places so people can make it easy for them to build places for them,” Johnson said.
“Is it because you’re always having problems with your family or young children, or because you’re being evicted,” Johnson said. “Housing is complex. I get that. But the solutions themselves are not complex.”