Written by Taiba Ahmed in answer to our questionnaire, and published as given. Not our description of them.
My name is Taiba Ahmed, I am a graduating student of political science at UTSC and an avid community advocate in Scarborough Centre. I am a strong believer that leadership is about being present, accessible, and accountable. This has been absent in Ward 21 for too long. I want to usher in solutions that place community organizations and the social sector at the centre of decision-making.
I want to make true community living the top housing priority for City Hall by investing more into co-op housing, and replacing downtown-style high-rise intensification with a "gentle density" strategy that prioritizes missing middle development and mixed uses.
As a commuter, I know all too well that Scarborough relies on its buses more than anywhere else in the city. Yet Scarborough's buses are often the least reliable in the city. I aim to fix this by treating bunching as the chronic structural issue that it is and expanding the pilot program created to fix it to as many routes in Ward 21 as possible.
Finally, I want to give our youth a chance at a real future! I want our kids to stay in school and be put into jobs. This is why I will support an expansion of policing efforts through the NCO program, while also ensuring that our kids have job and volunteer opportunities in the ward, in collaboration with local businesses.
Our questionnaire
Taiba Ahmed’s own answers to the questions we put to every candidate, published as given — including, where they wrote one, their reasoning in their own words.
Yes, but I will always strongly oppose downtown-style intensification which prioritizes high-rises and condos over more appropriate housing types that don't ruin the design and character of our neighbourhoods (usually those which fall within the missing middle).
I don't believe it's appropriate to ask residents to directly pay yet another tax during a cost-of-living crisis. The city has explored other revenue-raising mechanisms that do not impact the average Torontonian, like a 2 cent commercial parking levy with exemptions for small businesses.
But as mentioned prior, these additional measures should be studied extensively to ensure they have the most minimal impact as possible on the average Torontonian, as not to exacerbate the affordability crunch being felt by most of the city.
This type of transparency measure is extremely important for a city that is constantly struggling with projects running over schedule and over budget. Allowing journalists and the general public to audit individual projects for waste is an effective way to ensure council spends responsibly.
Each card is one question, with Taiba Ahmed filed under the answer they gave and their own words underneath it. The other options offered are not shown, nor how the rest of the field answered.
How the whole city answeredRegistered candidates from the City Clerk’s official list, refreshed daily. Campaign sites are linked as published by the candidate; a link is not an endorsement.