Statement from NDP MPP Peter Tabuns on affordable housing rally

NDP MPP Peter Tabuns attended a rally Tuesday focused on repairing inclusionary zoning regulations in order to make affordable housing more available in Toronto and throughout the province. He released the following statement:

“Toronto is a fantastic place to live and grow a family, but too many in our city are struggling with the very basics. Today, I joined families that are being let down by Kathleen Wynne -- families that are losing hope that they'll be able to raise their kids in the neighbourhood where they grew up, folks that are priced out of the neighborhood that they call home, and people that have no options for getting into a safe, affordable home.

Setting aside a portion of residential developments to be affordably-priced homes -- a policy known as inclusionary zoning -- is a critical step towards fixing Ontario's housing affordability crisis. But, Kathleen Wynne is letting people down, and catering to developers. Just days before Christmas, Wynne snuck new inclusionary zoning rules into regulations.

She excluded renters and rental units. She capped the number of units allowed to be created under this new regulation to just five per cent (or 10 per cent if the development is near a rapid transit station), compared to the 10 to 30 per cent experts recommend. And she forced municipalities to pay 40 per cent of the costs for those units, ensuring so many communities will build none.

New Democrats have a plan that offers hope to people that want to remain in their neighborhood and raise their children in the city that they call home. We’ve committed to strengthening inclusionary zoning policies. And Andrea Horwath and the Ontario NDP have committed to funding one-third of the costs of repairs to current affordable and social housing units in partnership with municipalities and the federal government.

With the wait list now at a shocking 185,000 -- more families waiting than there are affordable homes in the entire province -- we simply have to do more to ensure people can afford a place to call home in the city that is their home."