Candidate Profile: Mitzie Hunter
Bio
- Mitzie was a Member of Provincial Parliament for the riding of Scarborough-Guildwood from 2013-2023
- During her time in the Legislature, she held several Cabinet positions and was deputy leader of the Ontario Liberal Party for one year.
- Mitzie was the CO of the Greater Toronto Civic Action Alliance. She was also the CAO of Toronto Community Housing.
Key Themes
- Transit
- TTC: Restoring service, lowering fares and providing free rides for seniors and Wheel-Trans users.
- Kickstart construction of the North York Scarborough subway.
- Drive forward construction of the Waterfront East LRT.
- Housing
- Integrated family-friendly communities with satellite library branches and dedicated public health facilities.
- 17 acres of new green space, including parkettes and playgrounds, plus more green, neighbourhood-friendly buildings including solar-panels, energy conservation heating and cooling to reduce carbon footprint.
- Will create more city-owned affordable rental housing providing greater protections for existing tenants.
Hunter has a five-point plan to deliver more affordable housing and increase the supply of homes available to both rent and own:
- Unlock public lands to build more new affordable housing than any other candidate including the only plan to build affordable Shared Equity homes that regular people can afford to buy;
- Create real incentives to give meaning to an end to the multiplex ban so more affordable housing can be created in low-rise multiplexes of up to four units in every part of the City;
- Permit rental apartments of up to eight storeys on major streets and near campuses;
- Speed up building approvals and construction; and
- Protect renters and save current affordable housing.
The centrepieces of Hunter’s plan are a new Toronto Affordable Housing Corporation (TAHC) and a Tenant Advocate and Rental Housing Integrity Unit to protect tenants.
Under Hunter’s plan, the existing “Taking Action on Tower Renewal” (TATR) Program will get a $35-million boost in annual funding. This program offers grants and affordable loans to repair these older buildings. This new funding will allow eligibility to be broadened to cover more basic repairs to apartment units and building repairs including “quality of life” items like better elevators, improved community spaces and on-site parks and playgrounds. Finally, the maximum allowable amount for a building project will also be doubled to $10 million.
