Susan Chapelle

Gentle density and sixplexes where services can keep up. Growth without transit, parks, schools and water is just crowding. Plan for complete communities, not numbers on a map.

If appropriate indoor space is genuinely available and meets a person’s accessibility, safety and household needs, public parks should return to public use. The City must pair this with housing, treatment, mental health care and supports that help people remain housed.

Toronto should improve transit and transportation alternatives before adding another charge to getting around the city. Road pricing can disproportionately affect workers and residents who have no practical transit option. Better service and infrastructure must come first.

Deferring repairs costs more. Use dedicated local tools first, cut waste in contracts and software, then add targeted revenue if needed. Keep pressing Queen’s Park and Ottawa for their share. Pay for what we build and keep assets working.

Every major project needs a public dashboard: budget, timeline, change orders, delays. Residents pay for it. They should see if it is on time and on budget.

Without support workers, every crisis becomes a police call. Put money into people who can house, treat and stabilize. Officers then deal with crime instead of doing social work on the sidewalk.

Keep the police budget whole. Do not cut frontline response. Add civilian support beside it, not instead of it. Prevention plus a funded service is how streets get safer.

Other cities publish who can search, how long unused plate scans are kept, and they audit the logs. Ontario privacy guidance says unused scans should not pile up. Toronto should match that standard.

Riders feel frequency. They lose it when signals fail, cars are out of service and stations are broken. City dollars should keep the system we already own running. New lines are mostly Queen’s Park and Ottawa. Service improves when the fleet and signals work.

Main streets have to work for emergencies and for economic development. Keep people moving, keep shops supplied, keep response times down.

Cut months of process and fees that do not buy a pipe or a park. Keep growth charges that are published, tied to real infrastructure and spent in the area that grows. Homes stuck in process cost more than an honest development charge.

Create a Toronto housing authority with a build-and-manage mandate, public land, and published targets. It partners with non-profits and builders. Currently 5 separate organizations. The authority delivers units people can actually live in, with supports where needed. Not another waiting list.

Put height and multiplexes on Danforth, Gerrard, Broadview and station areas first. Gentle density in neighbourhoods only where water, schools, parks and transit can keep up. Growth without services is not a complete community.

Most delay is process. As-of-right rules and automated permits cut months and extra consultant bills. Development charges should pay for the water, parks and streets that communities need, and that spending should be public.

Overruns come from weak contracts, late scope changes and systems that do not work. Give the people already on the job the authority, training and tools to run the file. Publish the budget and the schedule. Do not change the plan after construction starts. Also: altering scope without a budget NO.

The City has to be able to plan, inspect and finish work itself. Keep that skill on staff so files do not restart every time a contract ends. Use outside help for peaks, not for the core jobs.

Taxes pay for services. The gap is real and there is no painless new pot of money. Hold the residential increase to inflation and population while the City closes waste and gets senior governments to fund what has been dumped on Toronto.

New growth has to help pay for the services and infrastructure it uses. That still will not close a multi-billion-dollar gap by itself. It is one honest tool, not a magic fix of a massive infrastructure and capital expenditure gap.

The backlog is $11.5 billion now and on track for about $25 billion by 2035. Roads, the TTC and community housing are driving it. Water got better because repair money is dedicated. Stop adding buildings the City cannot maintain. Put the next dollar into assets people already use.

Toronto runs most of the daily services and keeps a small share of the tax dollar. Say that out loud. Then pass a budget that still works if Queen’s Park says no. Asking is not a plan. A plan that depends on a cheque that has not arrived is how the massive repair backlog grows.

Democracy is a vote in public. Taxes, zoning and the budget belong to Council. Special mayor powers that skip that vote weaken the chamber residents elected.

Core services. Twenty-three years of unpaid infrastructure and party politics left Ward 14 with sewer backups and assets that fail. Fix the pipes, roads and local service first. Growth only works if the basics work.

Resolve or dispatch 95% of constituent inquiries within 5 business days and clear 100% of Ward 14's identified park and facility state-of-good-repair backlog by Q4 2029.

I fully support protected bike lanes, but true safety means streets that work for everyone. Danforth went in as a pilot with zero business consultation, stranding delivery trucks. We need smart redesigns that protect cyclists while ensuring safe loading zones and access for local retail.

Protest is legal. Blocking a hospital, a streetcar or someone’s way home is not. Freedom of movement is a right. Keep the routes open. Do not confuse a blockade with speech.

If we can't measure outcomes, we can't fix delivery. Toronto must invest in transparent data systems that track divisional performance, road repairs, and service delivery in real time. Accountability to taxpayers and measurable results must drive every dollar spent at City Hall.

Before cutting frontline services or raising household taxes, City Hall must modernize from within. We must audit bloated third-party consulting contracts, eliminate redundant administrative red tape, and direct every possible resource directly to frontline community delivery.

Time is money for local businesses and builders. Endless administrative backlogs, delayed inspections, and multi-year permit reviews stall housing and kill small retail before doors even open. Streamlining approvals removes the friction choking Ward 14's Main Street vibrancy.

Employers locate where their workforce can afford to live and commute reliably. Chasing corporate bids with one-off handouts wastes tax dollars. Getting transit moving, keeping streets safe, and delivering attainable housing creates the durable environment that draws real investment.

We can’t fix our housing shortage with outdated, slow construction methods. Toronto must fast-track municipal building permits for CSA-certified modular homes and standardize pre-reviewed design catalogues. Boosting building productivity delivers quality homes faster and at lower cost.

Before launching showcase projects, Toronto must get the basics right. Safe sidewalks, cleared snow, clean parks, working public washrooms, and maintained roads are the foundation of a functional city. Investing in basic upkeep directly improves daily life in our neighbourhoods.

Grants cannot replace beloved cultural institutions once they are bulldozed. Toronto must protect historic music venues, maker hubs, and creative workspaces from speculative displacement using smart zoning and tax tools so artists and independent venues can permanently remain in Ward 14.

We cannot govern or plan what we cannot measure. Autonomous vehicles cannot repeat rideshare mistakes that clogged curb space and overwhelmed corridors. Mandatory, transparent data on routing, safety incidents, and curb dwell time gives the city the tools needed to safeguard streets.