Elections
Hamilton has been experiencing a slow-motion crisis in housing affordability. Do you support an expanded role for the City to provide more affordable housing? If so, what should Hamilton do? If not, why not?
Responses to the question: "Hamilton has been experiencing a slow-motion crisis in housing affordability. Do you support an expanded role for the City to provide more affordable housing? If so, what should Hamilton do? If not, why not? "
In This Page:
3 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ward 14 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Iszkula, Robert | Yes | Every citizen deserves a place to sleep and call home. The city plays a vital role in making that possible. I will work towards higher percentage of geared-to-income housing in new large developments. I will also support small scale intensification that can create more affordable options as well: shared homes, tiny houses, in-law suites, etc can be encouraged through modernized zoning. I believe the city has a responsibility to create and properly manage public housing initiatives, but the solutions require a more holistic approach. |
| Whitehead, Terry | Yes | The tax-payers of the City of Hamilton already pay well over the provincial average for residential taxes. People's ability to pay higher taxes will always be a challenge in this community. With this as a backdrop, of course we need to do everything we can to solicit partnerships with private sector and other levels of government to build more affordable housing with fewer burdens to the residential tax base. The City of Hamilton has recently committed $50 million, which a large portion of that is going towards affordable housing over the next 10 years.
Affordable housing is not unique to Hamilton. It is a challenge to every major city in finding the right balance. We also must understand that Hamilton serves as a regional centre, providing healthcare for 2.5 million people in our catchment. It is time that the provincial government recognizes regional centres like the city of Hamilton that take on additional financial burdens in trying to provide healthcare services to people that are drawn to Hamilton for these services. Lastly, I support inclusionary zoning to accommodate a prescribed percentage of affordable housing units in every new development as part of their responsibility to the community. True partnerships with other levels of government to alleviate the pressures on the static residential tax base ensures that the burden isn't being disproportionately placed on residential tax payers while still addressing fundamental housing issues. Hamilton taxpayers contribute billions of dollars to the other levels of government on an annual basis. For every tax dollar that goes to the federal government, only a small fraction of those dollars comes back to the community for services. The federal government needs to create a national housing strategy and ensure that the appropriate dollars to implement that strategy are being transferred back to municipalities. They need to make a financial commitment to assist municipalities on this significant challenge. |
| Wilson, Bryan | Yes | Yes I do affordable housing should be one of the top priorities for a lot of municipalities these days. The price of rent keeps rising faster than the price of a home and most assuredly faster than incomes. I myself have lived in affordable housing at one point and it was a huge stepping stone to getting to where I am today. One of the biggest tools the province has given us is the ability to make all new developments up to 20% affordable housing. We have the means to do this but we aren't yet and I am unsure why. With the building of the LRT we are seeing development come in at a good rate along that corridor and now would be the perfect time to ensure that we have affordable housing available within these new developments. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 3 | 100.0% |
| No | 0 | 0.0% |
| Maybe | 0 | 0.0% |
2 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ward 14 | ||
|---|---|---|
| French-Sanges, Roslyn | ||
| Samuel, Vincent | ||
