"I will find ways of targeting the wealthiest - property owners who have more than one property in toronto, and construct creative taxation rules to target them. Same with undeveloped properties, or properties sitting vacant."
Matti Charlton
Question from TRREB
Q1: In your opinion, what are the two greatest challenges facing the City of Toronto today?
candidate response
Homelessness (tied to housing), and safety. See https://homelessness.matticharlton.com/ and https://citypeacecorps.matticharlton.com/
Q2: If elected, will you support and accelerate the commitments made in the 2023 Housing Action Plan, including ending municipal exclusionary zoning by-laws and policies in Toronto that will allow and encourage more medium-density housing and purpose-built rental units?
Yes
Q3: If elected, would you support reducing approval times and other red tape barriers that limit the building of new housing in Toronto, thereby speeding up development?
Yes
Q4: If elected, would you push for more investment in critical infrastructure, such as transportation, to facilitate growth and housing by finding creative ways to secure funding from the provincial and federal governments?
Yes
Q5: If elected, would you commit to capping municipal costs added to new housing in order to limit further affordability erosion, and instead work together with the higher levels of government in finding new and sustainable funding mechanisms?
Yes
Q6: The City’s biggest and main source of revenue is property taxes. What would you support by way of annual property tax increases to maintain and/or improve the current services and programs the City provides?
Unsure
Q7: If elected, would you be willing to explore reform or adjustments to the Municipal Land Transfer Tax in Toronto? This might include increasing the first-time buyer rebate and indexing the MLTT rebate and tax thresholds to account for housing price inflation.
Yes
Q8: If you become the next mayor of Toronto, what is your top priority that you want to accomplish in the first 100 days in office?
Let me state this outright. I will find ways of targeting the wealthiest – property owners who have more than one property in Toronto, and construct creative taxation rules to target them. Same with undeveloped properties, or properties sitting vacant. These will be subject to huge taxation or fines while people are on the streets without homes. Or condo developers not including subsidized units in their developments – I will find creative ways of pricing building permits so that it becomes horrendously expensive for these companies to build condos WITHOUT a large percentage (10-20 percent) subsidized units.
And just to clarify why I answer “YES” for the next question, I want to make sure you understand: I believe in working together. HOWEVER our first priority needs to be making sure everyone has a place to live and is not going hungry. if council disagrees, then, frankly, they are wrong. Look into your hearts. Every citizen of Toronto needs basic human rights. That’s priority #1.
If elected, will you use the “strong mayor powers” to modify the budget to pay for your key priorities?
Yes
