Tory’s out-of-control spending rivals that of Justin Trudeau and even makes Doug Ford look like a penny pincher It’s time to dispel a years-long myth: former mayor John Tory was no friend to Toronto taxpayers. He shouldn’t let the door hit him on his way out of city hall. Tory ran for mayor as a…
But, as Margaret Thatcher wrote, hindsight is "sadly denied to practicing politicians The late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wrote this intriguing passage in The Downing Street Years: “The wisdom of hindsight, so useful to historians and indeed to authors of memoirs, is sadly denied to practicing politicians.” Is this a valid assessment? Let’s see…
Land use policies the main culprit. Just look at Toronto The Ford government’s plan to expand the land supply available for housing has evoked the usual dog whistles about “urban sprawl” by interests apparently unaware of the strong connections between an organically expanding city, housing affordability and upward mobility. The reality is that the Toronto…
Bill 39 would allow a mayor to pass laws with the support of only one-third of council Ontario Premier Doug Ford is hitting the cities of Toronto and Ottawa with a wrecking ball that will undermine accountability and democracy. The Ford government introduced Bill 39 in an attempt to break the gridlock often experienced by…
This has been a cakewalk or, if you prefer, a sleepwalk for the incumbent Toronto mayor
Several Canadian provinces are in the midst of municipal elections this month. B.C. residents voted on Oct. 15. Many mayors were either re-elected or acclaimed. A few were defeated, including Colin Basran in Kelowna (by businessman Tom Dyas), Mike Morden in Maple Ridge (by former Liberal MP Dan Ruimy) and Fred Haynes in Saanich (by…
Taxpayers could get soaked with higher taxes and reckless government spending
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s promise to hand the mayors of Toronto and Ottawa more powers could be a dangerous gateway to higher taxes and runaway government spending. Hardworking taxpayers wouldn’t trust one person selected by someone else to unilaterally manage their household expenses and retirement savings. Yet, that’s essentially what Ford might have up his…
Government land-use regulations a principal source of this inequality
Canada’s housing affordability crisis is a matter of considerable concern, especially for young people trying to buy a house. The worst problems are in the Vancouver and Toronto markets with their excessive land-use regulation. Extensive international research associates stronger land-use regulation with diminished housing affordability. Vancouver and Toronto are experiencing substantial net migration of people…
Young people aren't able to afford the homes they grew up in
A poll by highly respected IPSOS, released by BILD-GTA, shows a strong awareness of the Greater Toronto Area’s severely unaffordable housing. In the 15 years from 2004 to the last pre-pandemic year of 2019, the median detached house price rose more than 160 per cent (inflation-adjusted), about 5.5 times the rise in the consumer price index.…
Urban containment regulations on the urban fringe must be relaxed
For 18 years, I have been monitoring international housing affordability as author or co-author of the Demographia Housing Affordability series. The latest edition rates 92 major markets in eight nations using the “median multiple”: the median house price in a place divided by the median pre-tax household income. In the early 1990s, median multiples in…
Good judgment on Canada’s streets and highways has gone the way of the dinosaur
I planned to write about a different issue this week but had a sudden change in plans, thanks to the (ahem) ‘expertise’ of Toronto drivers. Some of them, anyway. After a massive snowstorm last week, the city was hit with another five to 10 cm of snow on Monday. Far less than what we faced…