If you really want affordable housing, prove it.
That was the message from NDP housing critic Jessica Bell on Thursday when she accused the Ford government of delaying affordable housing projects in Toronto.
The province let municipalities set out their own inclusionary zoning bylaws starting <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-41/session-2/bill-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in 2016</a>. Three years later, the Ford government <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-108" target="_blank" rel="noopener">restricted</a> inclusionary zoning only to areas near transit stations. Each zone has to be approved by the housing minister.
Toronto has asked the province to approve 104 locations for these <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/planning-studies-initiatives/inclusionary-zoning-policy/inclusionary-zoning-overview/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projects</a>, but it hasn't done so yet, Bell said.
"It’s shocking and it’s wrong that the Ford Conservatives are standing in the way of the city’s request to build affordable housing," she said at a park near St. George subway station, which is zoned for inclusionary zoning. "The Ontario government should be a leader in solving the housing affordability crisis, not a barrier to creating affordable units."
All of Toronto should have inclusionary zoning — not just near transit stations — and it should be expanded to all other municipalities, too, she said.
Bell was joined by affordable housing advocates who also want the government to act faster.
Siu Mee Chen, the executive director of women's shelter Street Haven, said unaffordable housing was the main reason that almost 30 per cent of its clients end up in shelters.
"Having more access to affordable housing will ensure that the majority of our clients will be able to live a more independent life and continue to move towards greater empowerment including employment and income security," she said.
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Housing Minister Steve Clark's office didn't respond to a request for comment. The City of Toronto didn't comment by press time.
Bell said the city has told her it's getting radio silence from the province.
"I've been checking in with the city fairly frequently to see if there's an update. I haven't got anything," she said. "We've called bureaucrats in the minister's office. I'm getting no response."
The PCs have made five supportive housing and shelter announcements this week for projects in Brantford, Barrie, Guelph and St. Thomas, worth nearly $10 million in total.
The NDP is calling for a wider approach to housing affordability than <a href="https://www.qpbriefing.com/2022/08/18/amo-2022-doug-ford-says-hell-defeat-the-housing-crisis-with-more-homes-full-stop-experts-say-thats-not-enough/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the PCs' supply-first plan</a> — including keeping rents the same between tenants and implementing broad as-of-right zoning laws. The latter is one of the main steps recommended by the province's Housing Affordability Task Force, but one which the government hasn't yet moved on.
Pressed on that topic last month, Clark <a href="https://www.qpbriefing.com/2022/08/25/opposition-grills-clark-on-lack-of-strong-mayors-consultation/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told reporters to stay tuned</a> as the new implementation team gets to work in the fall. He has previously blamed municipalities for the lack of stronger provincial movement on housing, saying <a href="https://www.qpbriefing.com/2022/03/30/theyre-not-ready-clark-blames-municipalities-for-lack-of-substance-in-new-housing-bill/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they're "not ready" for big changes</a>.
One politician apparently unafraid of big-footing local governments is David Eby, the front-runner for the NDP leadership in British Columbia. He released his sweeping <a href="https://www.davideby.ca/housing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">housing plan</a> on Wednesday, promising a new program to directly involve the government in building housing, a new house-flipping tax, increased affordable housing and more.
Bell said she liked his idea to create a public home builder, since the government can build on land it already owns and wouldn't skim off 15–20 per cent in fees like a private developer. She said his plans to further regulate short-term rentals and crack down on money laundering also stuck out to her.
"In Toronto, we have one of the strongest short-term rental laws in the province. But enforcement is poor. It will require the power of the province to step in to rein in short-term rentals," she said.
She called Eby's ideas "very exciting" and said the NDP is "looking very closely at seeing how they're implemented and applying what we can to Ontario."

NDP presses government on lack of affordable housing approvals

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