‘We are ready to build:' Toronto mayor to meet with PM Mark Carney and request money for housing, public transit
The meeting is set to take place at 1 p.m. and marks the first time that Chow will sit down with Carney since he became Prime Minister in March.
During the recent election campaign. Carney proposed a series of initiatives that he said would double the rate of housing construction to 500,000 units a year.
But in an interview with CP24 on Thursday, Chow pointed out that much of that work will take time, especially with the federal government not expected to present a budget until the fall.
She said that her pitch to Carney will be simple: why not fund help Toronto fund some existing programs designed to increase the pace of housing starts right now?
'He (Carney) has said that the federal government is back in the housing business which is great. we have been waiting for that for three decades and he is finally doing it but it will take a while to ramp up so what I am trying to say is in the meantime there is a whole lot of things we (the City of Toronto) can do to partner with you so that we can do the building of housing and giving rent supplements right now,' she said. 'We can help people right now. So I am presenting him with a plan on how to start now and not wait until the budget comes in the fall.'
In March, the federal government announced that it would provide Toronto with $2.55 billion in low-cost financing to help deliver nearly 5,000 new rental homes, including a minimum of 1,075 affordable units.
But Chow suggested that the city could incentivize the construction of even more units if the federal government were to provide additional funding to a pre-existing program, where development charges and other fees are waived so long as a developer commits to building a certain number of affordable units.
'He (Carney) also wants to build right? Remember he said 'build, build, build.' So we are ready to build,' Chow told CP24.
Chow said that she will also press Carney for funding for a number of priority transit projects, including the Waterfront LRT.
'I just can't go and build housing if people are stuck in traffic. The waterfront is bad enough already. We are putting in 100,000 (more) people there. How are they going to move in and out of that area?' she said.
Chow first travelled to Ottawa on Wednesday and has already participated in a number of meetings with federal government officials, including Minister of Housing Gregor Robertson.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
4 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Flight attendants' union rejects Air Canada's request for binding arbitration as strike deadline looms
The union representing Air Canada AC-T flight attendants has rejected the airline's proposal for binding arbitration, leaving bargaining suspended as time winds down toward an impending strike deadline early Saturday. The airline and the Air Canada Component of CUPE have been in contract negotiations for months over an agreement for more than 10,000 Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flight attendants. Both sides have blamed the other for stalled negotiations and misinformation about offers on the table. The main sticking points have been wages and time for hours worked. On Thursday, federal Jobs Minister Patty Hajdu said Air Canada had requested binding arbitration and that she had given the union until noon Friday to respond to the request. In a statement Friday afternoon, CUPE urged Ms. Hajdu to reject the proposal, accusing Air Canada of depending on government intervention to avoid an impending strike and grounding of a massive portion of its fleet. There were no talks ongoing as of Friday afternoon. 'Rather than continuing to negotiate in good faith, Air Canada appears to have anticipated government intervention and has opted to suspend meaningful discussions, contrary to its legal obligation to bargain in good faith,' the union said in the statement. On Wednesday, the union gave Air Canada notice of its intent to strike, which enables its flight attendants to walk off the job just before 1 a.m. Saturday morning. In response, Air Canada issued notice it will lock out those employees shortly after that deadline, and began winding down operations across the globe. About 1,000 flights are expected to be cancelled on Saturday, grounding about 130,000 customers, according to Air Canada. Flights had already begun to be cancelled on Thursday as Air Canada wound down operations. As of noon on Friday, just under 300 flights had been cancelled and about 56,000 customers affected, the airline said in a post on social media. Air Canada anticipated about 500 flight cancellations Friday, though it expects additional cancellations as about 300 flight attendants did not report for work, the airline also said in a social media post. The strike is not expected to impact flights operated by Air Canada Jazz or partner airlines. In a post late Thursday night, the airline said about 300 flight attendants did not report for work, which would lead to additional cancellations.
National Post
4 minutes ago
- National Post
Wife's ADHD cited by Federal Court in reasons for delaying deportation of man from India
A Federal Court judge has temporarily stopped the deportation of a man from India over Ottawa's handling of health concerns by his Canadian wife who has ADHD, and financial problems his departure would cause his sister. Article content Jagjit Singh, a citizen of India, came to Canada in 2021 on a temporary resident visa and made a refugee claim for asylum. While that claim was being processed, he met a Canadian woman, in November 2024, and married her the following January. Article content Article content Article content The woman, identified only by the initials L.B., in the court decision, submitted a spousal sponsorship for her new husband to become a permanent resident of Canada a couple of weeks later, after which he withdrew his refugee claim. Article content Article content While one arm of the immigration system was processing the spousal sponsorship, another arm was dealing with a man who was no longer seeking refugee protection and so had overstayed his original visa. Article content In May his wife was notified she met the eligibility requirements to sponsor Singh and, in July, Singh was given a removal date for August. He asked Canada Border Services Agency officials to delay his deportation until after his wife's application was adjudicated. Article content CBSA refused his request. Singh then sought intervention from the Federal Court to delay his removal. Article content His case was heard by Federal Court Justice Avvy Yao-Yao Go on Tuesday and her decision was released the same day. Article content Lawyers for Singh claimed five grounds for a delay, including various ways that the CBSA mishandled and misapplied evidence in the case to a degree suggesting they had not reviewed the submission Singh had made. Article content Article content The judge said not all of Singh's grounds were persuasive, but only one serious issue was needed for a stay to be granted, and she saw one. Article content Article content 'There is at least one serious issue with respect to the Officer's assessment of the evidence the Applicant submitted in support of his deferral request, and the Officer's interpretation of the scope of their discretion,' Go wrote in her decision. Article content She found the border officer did not properly consider the issue of irreparable harm. Article content 'Irreparable harm refers to harm which cannot be compensated in money; it is the nature rather than the magnitude of the harm,' her judgment says. It doesn't have to be the person being deported that is harmed, it can be 'specific harm that is demonstrated in regard to any persons directly affected by the removal, and who will be remaining in Canada.' Article content In this case, Go found that there was evidence of harm to Singh's wife, who has ADHD, and to Singh's sister, who will suffer financially because the couple pay to live in her house. The CBSA officer's dismissal of the concerns was not based on evidence before the court, Go said.
CTV News
4 minutes ago
- CTV News
Blackstone-backed Legence files for U.S. IPO
Engineering and maintenance service provider Legence, which is backed by the world's largest alternative asset manager Blackstone, said on Friday it had filed for an initial public offering in the United States. Engineering and maintenance service provider Legence, which is backed by the world's largest alternative asset manager Blackstone, said on Friday it had filed for an initial public offering in the United States. The terms of the proposed public offering were not disclosed. The U.S. IPO market has seen a resurgence in activity with a flurry of companies coming forward to list their shares to tap growing investor confidence, after a slowdown in April due to trade policy changes. Transit-tech firm Via also publicly filed to go public in New York on Friday. Shares of cryptocurrency exchange Bullish more than doubled in their New York debut earlier in the week, while space tech firm Firefly Aerospace also received a blockbuster response earlier in the month. In 2020, Blackstone acquired Legence from private equity firm Gemspring Capital. Before the deal, the company was known as Therma Holdings. The San Jose, Calif.-based company offers services for the built environment, including sustainability, consulting and green construction, helping clients reduce operating costs and carbon emissions. Over the years, Legence has bulked up through acquisitions of rivals such as Corporate Sustainability Strategies, P2S, A.O. Reed and OCI Associates. Blackstone last month said it is preparing more companies to go public than any other time since the record IPO year of 2021. Goldman Sachs and Jefferies are the lead book-running managers for the offering. The company intends to list its shares on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol 'LGN.' (Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
